After Nikki had passed out, Sabrina turned back to normal, and so did all the other girls. Creed managed to get out of the mess of chain, that was still around him, and got away. Duke was right by Nikki, taking off his jacket, and tying it around her shoulder to slow the bleeding. Sabrina and Sugar had to fight him, to keep him from picking Nikki up, since it wouldn't help to move her round.
"How are we going to get her the proper help she needs, if I can't take her to Miss. Fountain?" Duke asked, his red eyes full of all kinds emotions that Sabrina has never seen them full of.
"We'll get Dorothy do what she can right now, and then take her." Sabrina said.
"NIKKI!" Rail called running over, after he raced down the cliff's path.
Duke stepped in front of the young boy, so he didn't have to see Nikki, the way she was. Rail's golden eyes were pull of tears, and panic, he just wanted to see her, he didn't care about the blood. He wanted to make sure she's alright.
"Let me see her, let me see Nikki." Rail cried trying to fight Duke.
"No, I don't want to pain you with, what you will see." Duke said Kneeling in front of Rail, for he was still in his line of view.
"I don't care. I want to see her. I want to help her, bring Reaper wasn't enough. Please, I don't don't want the last time I saw Nikki, be one with her mad." the young boy cried.
"SHE'S NOT GOING TO DIE! I WON'T LET THAT HAPPEN!" Duke yelled.
Rail looked at Duke with wide eyes, he had never heard or seen him mad. He usually was full of patience, kindness, and other soft sided things. He didn't understand why he was yelling now. This only made Rail cry even more. Duke pulled the young boy into a hug, since he didn't mean to yell at him.
After about a half hour, they were able to get Nikki to Miss Fountain. Miss Fountain could only do so much for Nikki, she didn't have any blood to do blood transfusions with, or any thing to use for operation, since a lot of the muscle in Nikki's shoulder was torn very badly. She could only stitch her up, and hope that she'd recover by herself, until they could get a real doctor over to take a look.
Little did they know, that the nanomachines in Nikki's body were already working on the muscle, and the cut skin as well. The blood was up to the body. Miss. Fountain found it hard to say no, to Rail, who wanted to stay with Nikki that night since he was so worried.
No one knew what to do. Most of the gang was confused on what happened. Duke and Rail had to lie and tell them that Nikki fell, and her weapon caused it. Miss. Fountain was going to take it, and lock it away, but Rail told her, that Nikki needed for important things they weren't allowed to say without Nikki's okay.
That night, Sabrina and the other girls took turns watching Rail for Duke, who only wanted to be alone and clear his head. Sabrina and Sugar took the first shift, since it would be a long night, with a young boy, who couldn't sleep. They brought Rail, to Sabrina's dorm room, since there was a TV, for Rail to watch in there.
Even though they both knew Rail was upset, he still wanted to play and do anything to get his mind off of Nikki, for a while. He had Reaper with him, carrying it with one hand, and a part resting on his shoulder, everyone couldn't believe that he, a young, small, boy could carry the heavy weapon with ease.
Nikki at first was in a dark place in her mind, she didn't know where. But then all kinds of images passed quickly before her eyes, she couldn't even make any out. But she could tell the same ones where passing her. They soon started to slow down. She some of them her bangs where different and she was smiling truly happy smiles.
Then one was a surprise to her. Was one with a woman, who looked so much like her, only difference was she older, holding a five year old girl with red eyes, and brown hair. Then there was an older version of Duke, they looked happy.
Nikki wanted to know, what it meant. She leaned forward, only to do a front flip. She was weightless here. She kicked her feet a bit, and touched the image. And she saw what it meant. She and Duke would grow up and have a child, she didn't understand why, but it made her feel warm inside, a feeling she'd never truly felt.
Then there was a bright light behind her. It wasn't to the other side, it was to wake up. She slowly turned toward it, her long hair falling into her face. She couldn't tell up right, from upside down. She didn't know if she was ready to face the world, after Duke and Rail saw her using her nanomachines, and they might think she's a freak now for sure.
Then she noticed her right hand was becoming warm, like someone was holding it. She gave a shy smile, and then started to the light. She wanted to know who was holding her hand, and plus, she had to take care of Rail, even if he found her a freak. She still had a lot to do in her life, she couldn't stay asleep forever.
Duke was sitting next to Nikki's bedside, waiting for her to wake up. It's now class time, but Duke chose to miss class, he wasn't much for dueling. He was only there so he could protect Sugar Baby, but that didn't matter as much any more. He wanted to protect Nikki from that man, Creed. He hated that he almost lost Nikki.
Just then, there was a grunt from Nikki, as her head turned to the left, as her eyes twitched. Then they flew open, and she sat up, gasping for air, but then let out a groan of pain. She held her shoulder, and her eyes squinting from the pain. Duke stood up and put a hand on her other shoulder, only for her to brush it away.
But then after she got used to the pain, she looked at him. She gave a weak smile, and laid back down. She sighed and looked at the ceiling, then closed her eyes. He could tell she didn't know if she wanted to speak to him or not, as she just laid there, looking at the ceiling. He sat back down, looking at his lap, unsure of what to say.
"Who's taking care of Rail?" Nikki asked looking at her.
"We are." a girl and guy said with black hair, and tan skin said walking in, with Rail in between them.
"Huh, who are you?" she asked looking at them as Rail ran up and climbed on to the bed.
"We're the Hassleberry siblings." they said together.
"I'm Kiara Hassleberry, the younger sister." the girl said.
"And I'm Tyranno Hassleberry, the older brother." the boy said.
"Oh, Nikki's awake. Kiara and Hassleberry are going to make sure you stay in bed until you get better." Sabrina said walking in behind them.
"What, no. I'll be fine. I'll be fine by tomorrow." Nikki said looking at the ceiling.
"What? How?" Rail asked sitting up since he was laying down next to her.
Nikki sighed, she wasn't sure if she wanted to tell them, but had to. If they were going to understand her better, they had to know about the nanomachines in her body. She could move her shoulder, it only hurt because the muscle was still torn from Creed's chi blade.
"I don't really know my mother. I was kidnapped by this organization, called Chronos. They raised me, and plus they trained me to be able to kill, when there was someone throwing the peace of the world. I didn't know that I was taking until I meet, Train Heartnet, and Sven. They came on the day I became a known as number zero, and then Jim became a number too, to keep me away from them.
We were making our way to the back exit, when Creed showed up and tried to fight with me. In the end, Jim was killed, and Train took me with him. They wanted me to meet my mother, Eve, but I wasn't ready to meet her. I wanted to come here first, get use to living a normal live, but Creed keeps showing up.
I found Rail in the ally away next to the hotel I stayed in before getting on the plane, and brought him with me. I don't know how to explain the reasoning behind that, but I can tell you, I've grown to care deeply for Rail.
Now, here's what I need to tell you, the reason why, I'll be better tomorrow. Because of my mother, my body makes these machines, called nanomachines, they allow me to change the shape, and hardness of my body. I read about Eve, when Jenos wanted me to understand my powers.
The nanomachines, they'll fix the torn tissue in my shoulder, and make me back into tip top shape. If I was just a normal person, I probably would never be able to move my arm again." Nikki said.
"Why, I still don't understand that, but it tells us a lot about you." Sabrina said.
"Here, nanomachines are these really small machines that are in my body that allow me to heal faster, and change the shape of my body. That's all I really know." Nikki said propping herself up with her pillow.
"I don't get it, how do you change the shape of your body?" Hassleberry asked.
Nikki lifted her hand, and turned it into a blade, everyone looked shocked, but Sabrina. Nikki looked away as her hand turned back to normal. Sadness and tears filled her eyes, she tried to look away, but Duke turned her back, and whipped away a tear that ran down her cheek.
"I won't mind, if you find me a freak, I'll go back to my old emotionless ways, and not give a damn about a thing. I'll leave and go back to Chronos, they'll want their best number back." she said not looking at Duke.
"No, you can't leave me, Nikki. I still need you, I don't know my real family, your the only family I know." Rail said laying his on her rib cage, and hugged her the best he could manage.
"No, Nikki, I won't let you go. You don't have the eyes of a killer, and I won't let you get them. You're needed here, everyone here needs you. Creed won't leave, and Rail still needs you." Duke said.
"But, I was born from a clone, that was made to be used as a weapon of mass murder, how can you say that. Chronos, they went and trained me to do the same. I'll only going to bring back things to you." Nikki said sitting up quickly, making the tears run down her face even faster.
"So what, that means you can change. You got away from them, now you can be whatever you want to be. You can go on without a care in the world, for all I care. But just don't go back." Duke said raising his voice, making everyone shocked.
Nikki threw he legs over the side of the edge after she moved Rail off of her, and threw off the blanket. She got up and pointed a finger at Duke, shoving into his chest as hard as she could. Her purple eyes were full of some emotion they couldn't read, but her eyes were cold.
"Duke, tell me. Why would you care so much about me? You stepped into my fight, you could have gotten yourself killed." She said raising her voice, in a playful way.
Duke looked at her shocked, but then relaxed into a smile. He couldn't believe that's all she wanted to know. He tried to hold back the laughter, but it came out, and he had to hold his rib cage to stay up. Nikki got mad at the fact he was laughing at her.
"W-what's so funny? I don't see anything funny." Nikki asked as her cheeks started to tint red from embarrassment.
"I'll tell you when the times right. But until then, Nikki, be who you want to be. And try to figure it out yourself." he said calming down.
"What? Huh? Someone tell me." Nikki said, as everyone else smiled.
"It's nothing, but you should get more rest." Sabrina said.
"No, I'm fine." Nikki said as Duke was walking out of the room, "Hey, I'm not done talking to you." she went after Duke.
It took Nikki a bit to catch up to Duke, since he was like seven inches taller then she was. She rushed up to him, and grabbed his arm in a strange manner, she used both of her arms, wrapping them around his arm. Making him stop, and he looked at her as she went on to one knee. He smiled, and helped her up.
In the processes of pulling her up, he pulled her close, and wrapped his arms around her. He couldn't help it, it was something he's been wanting to do since she woke up. He rested his chine on her shoulder, as he held her there. Nikki was too shocked to do anything. She just stood there with wide eyes. She had never been this close to someone, since Jim died, since he died in her arms, basicly.
"Nikki, don't be reckless next time, I could have lost you. You've brought me to the understanding of my people. I never thought I would do something, that I always thought was impossible. Don't leave this place, ever." he said before letting her go.
"W-what do you mean? Understand your people? Are you not human?" she asked looking up at him.
"No, I'm from a completely different world, a world full of hate, and no love. But you brought the warmth of love, thank you." he said.
Nikki didn't understand, was this the reason why he wanted her to be who ever she wanted, or was there something more to it. She didn't know, but all she knew was, it made her want to cry, and her chest tight and warm. She only nodded and smiled, even though she didn't understand what he meant.
"Nikki!" Rail called, running into her.
"Rail, did you get enough sleep last night?" Nikki asked looking down at the young boy.
"Not really, I couldn't sleep since I was so worried about you." he said.
She picked him up, "Then let's go and take a nap. You look like you need one." she said.
While Rail and Nikki slept, Duke sat by the bed side. He knew what the other girls were doing. They were looking for Creed. But they didn't know where to find him. For all they knew, he had a hide out on another near by island, or back on the main land. Duke wasn't sure about anything, only that he had to keep Nikki and Rail safe now.
Rail mumbled in his sleep as he rolled onto his side and nuzzled closer to Nikki. Duke couldn't help but notice how Nikki's hair was almost as long as she was. How does anyone grow their hair that long? But then he remembered his cousin was born to have very long hair, but Nikki, was basicly a human. He couldn't help but brush some of her bangs out of her face.
Sabrina, and the other girls had split up and searched the whole island. The only place that hadn't been looked at was the abandoned dorm. Both Alexis and Sabrina meet in front of it, both seemed a little uneasy about it, but they had to find Creed.
"Well, this has to be the last place to look." Alexis said.
"I know, let's hope we find something." Sabrina said with a nod.
They both stepped in, and they felt a gust of wind, and some old glasses fell to the ground. Both girls covered their faces so they could see. Once the wind died down they heard yelling, but they couldn't make out the voices. They looked at each other and nodded.
They followed the sound of the voices to the dinning room, there was a group of people, Creed, was ahead of them. They noticed a man in his 30s standing up and looking angry. He had greenish-blue hair from what they could tell in the dark. They couldn't see his face, but he seemed upset about something.
"Now, now Leon. Let's not get hasty." Creed said.
"And why not! You're after my daughter, you sick bastard!" the man named Leon yelled hitting his fist on the table.
"Oh, come on Leon, this might be a good thing. You'll finally get to meet your daughter." a girl in her later 30's early 40's said.
"How can you say that? Kyoko, you don't know what it feels like." Leon said.
Both Sabrina and Alexis looked at each other, and stepped away as quickly and quietly has they could. They went into a hallway. They made sure no one noticed them, and started to speak in low voices.
"That's not a good sign if Nikki's father's on the team." Sabrina said.
"I don't think he wants to do whatever it is they're going to do with Nikki." Alexis said.
"What ever do you mean?" they heard Creed's voice asked.
They turned, to see Creed standing behind them, he was holding a strange needle in his hand. Both girls stood up taller, and where ready to fight back. But Creed didn't attack. He seemed to only want to toy with them. But they weren't sure.
"What's in that needle?" Sabrina asked.
"Oh in this?" he asked pointing to the needle, "You see if I put what's in here, into Nikki or even her mother, their nanomachines take over, they can't control them, and they become killing machines. It's one of the few draw backs to having nanomachines."
"You monster. Nikki only wants a normal life. You have her father in there, and he doesn't even like this plan." Alexis said.
"That's alright, it's not like he's ever going to be able to hold his own child. She'll have to be kept under lock and key once we're done here." he said.
Both girls didn't know what to do. They knew they had to get back to the school, for all they knew, Nikki's guard could be down. Plus she was still wounded from when Creed's sword got her in the shoulder. Just then Sabrina used her powers to make the dust cloud, which they used to get away.
They went straight to the school, and went to the nurses office to find Duke was at Nikki's bedside, and Rail was fast sleep next to Nikki, both looking very peaceful. Duke looked at them, his eyes a little wide since they basicly slammed the door open.
"What's wrong?" Duke asked standing up.
"Creed's a very open guy, he told us his plan, we just don't know when he'll strike." Sabrina said.
"What?" Duke said.
"He want's to make Nikki into a killing machine, and if he does it on the island, she'll kill everyone on the island, no matter what." Alexis said.
"I won't let him get near her, to do that." Duke said looking at Nikki.
"Duke, what's going on? We thought you weren't the type to be protective over anyone but Sugar." Sabrina said.
"I know why my kind where never allowed to fall in love, because they'll go out of their way for that thing." he said.
"Duke, are you saying that you-" Sabrina started, but stopped because Nikki and Rail started to sir from their sleep.
"What's going on?" Nikki asked trying to straighten Rail's messier hair.
"It's nothing you need to worry about right now. You still need to rest." Duke said smoothing down some hair that stuck on the side of her head.
"What aren't you telling me? I want to know." Nikki said looking up at him.
"I'll tell you later, first get some more rest." he said.
"NO! There's something going on, and I want to know." she said almost yelling.
Duke's bangs covered his red eyes, he didn't want Nikki to worry so much about what Creed wants to do to her. He didn't know what it would do to her. But her determined eyes made him give him, even Rail wanted to know. He wanted to be able to tell her everything, but he didn't know everything.
"Creed, he wants to turn you into the killing machine. He has this needle full of this stuff that's going to make your nanomachines go haywire." Sabrina said looking away.
"He...what?" Nikki asked with a worried look in her eyes.
Nikki was in shock, she never knew it was possible for anyone to get their hands on whatever it was, she knew Chronos had the only needle, unless there was another they didn't know about. Her hand flew onto her chest as she tugged at her shirt, was her breathing started to speed up, she was panicking, something she was taught never to do.
"I have to hunt him down. I have to get ride of that needle." she said getting out of the bed.
"Nikki, don't be rash, you're still healing." Sabrina and Alexis said as the other girls joined them.
"No, only I can do this. I'll kill him while I'm at it." Nikki said.
Everyone wasn't sure what was going on since they didn't hear the first half of what they were talking about. Sabrina was trying to get Nikki to stay in bed, but Nikki's eyes they filled with an emotion they had never even seen, or maybe there was no emotion in them at all. Duke seemed the most upset out of everyone there.
Then out of no where, there was a huge noise, and everyone was looking at Duke. He had slammed his fist into the wall, and he looked angry, he looked at Nikki and said, "Nikki, stay in bed, let Sabrina and the other mews take care of it!" He said in a loud voice, everyone was shocked from this, even Nikki.