The halls echoed loudly with the chaotic sounds of endless gunfire and the screams of the dying. They mixed together to form a sound so incomprehensible it made the ears ring. Tomo, Lucy, and Number 7 slowly walked from level to level, climbing higher and higher up the floors closer to Kakuzawa's office, killing anyone who came within range. From armed guards to scientists trying to flee with their lives, no one was spared. Nana cringed from behind, shuttering at every sound of a person being severed by vectors, while Lucy joined in the massacre, but only half heartedly. Tomo, however, found the carnage to be the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. More beautiful then that sunrise at the beach, more comforting then the trees and plants of the garden back at Kaede House, and more surreal then the feel of the breeze and sun on his skin. He slaughtered them with a feeling of justice and passion that only increased his feelings of elation. He moved with purpose in every step and with every human he cut down. He spared a quick glance over his shoulder to view as to how Lucy and Number 7 were reacting.
Number 7's behavior was downright embarrassing. She walked so tight and so closed it was a wonder how she was managing to keep up with his powerful strides. It was obvious to even a blind man that she was still attached to the humans and afraid of her won diclonism. If that didn't change soon, he would have to dispose of her as well. He then turned his attention to Lucy, who was acting more appropriate, but still not entirely there. She killed just as elegantly as he, but her body was slow and unenthusiastic, and her face was distant. It was almost like her soul had left her body, and it was now moving strictly of its own accord. It appeared she still needed more convincing. But
for now, she was here, and that was all that he needed. She would turn to his side eventually. Right now, they had more important things to focus on.
A female scientist with flowing brown hair tried to sneak from around a corner they had just passed, hoping to escape with drawing their attention. But she had moved too suddenly, as Tomo reached out and grabbed her before she could even make the turn. He removed both of her arms, letting her scream in agony in the air, holding her up there to simply bleed to death in lagging suffering. Her body became limp, and Tomo tossed it against the side wall, the blood still pouring from her shoulders splattering the smooth white wall. As they turned the next corner, a blockade of guards stood before them, firing off their automatic machine guns, sending rounds of bullets at them. Lucy used her vectors to block the bullets as easily as she would block the rain from falling in her eyes.
The men screamed battle cries as they continued their vain attempts. As their guns emptied and they quickly tried to reload, Tomo sliced all of their guns in two, leaving them weaponless. He used one of the bluntest pieces of the gun and hurtled it into one of the men's face. He fell forward dead, as the others shakingly back away. One of them felt a surge of bravery as he pulled a knife from his belt and charged at them, holding his blade to the sky. Tomo dispensed of him happily, his body still flying forward due to the momentum of his charge. He picked up the dagger, and again launched it into the face of another soldier. As their companion fell, they turned to take off at a full
run, but Tomo killed them before any of them had taken their third step.
With each floor they climbed, it remained much the same. It was starting to get to the point where Tomo wasn't giving Lucy or Number 7 any time to kill others. So fast were his reflexes that he could kill them before either of the others realized there had been another human. Tomo was having the time of his life. And all the while, there was this calm smile on his face as he whistled the tune from the music box.
Aoma was starting to think this day couldn't get any better. After killing Number 55 and with the termination of the other silpelits, he figured any fun from this place had been sucked away for good. But he was wrong. When he heard the alarm sound, he thought it was because one of the subjects was giving someone a hard time with its extermination. But it turned out to be something much better. Number 86, Number 7, and Lucy had returned. Not only that, but they were killing off tons of people and the order had been given to quell them. All SAT units and security guards were required to arm themselves and fend off the invaders, and the scientists were told that if they could fire a gun their assistance would be greatly appreciated. Finally, Aoma thought as he was handed a weapon, I get to finally see some real action. As he followed the sounds of screams and gunshots, he savored the feel of his hands on the metal barrel and his fingers on the trigger.
Running down the halls, peering around corners, Aoma felt like one of those soldiers he'd seen in those countless war movies he loved so much. And he'd seen enough action in them to really know what war was about. Hell, with movie technology what it was these days, they had to be able to capture the reality of war and death. Aoma cast a disapproving glance to the scientists running and yelling past him. What a bunch of wimps, he thought to himself.
He came to a long wall covered by elevators doors and pressed the nearest button. Minutes later, the elevator to his right finally arrived, the arrow above the doors glowing a florescent white and giving a small chime as it blinked on and off. The doors slowly opened, and Aoma stepped inside, pressing the button for the next floor down. He felt a small lurch as the elevator began moving. Aoma started tapping his foot impatiently against the floor, cursing the facility for having what he called, "the world's slowest elevators". The elevator gave a quick stop that made him buckle slightly, and a small number began blinking above the doors, signaling that he'd arrived at his desired floor. When the doors opened, Aoma's sense of excitement grew even more. He literally felt like he'd accidentally walked right into the set of an action movie being filmed. The pale lighting had been robbed from this floor, the bulbs shattered and what few remained flashed from life to death, sending the room into darkness, then into light, and back to darkness. Their quick transitions from on to off gave off the feeling of lightning being contained in the hall. Up ahead, bodies were scattered and sprawled every which way. Aoma pressed his back against the wall and crept along its side. His heart was pounding with anticipation. He felt like a real secret agent or something.
From around the corner, he could hear three different sets of feet making their way toward him. There was no mistaking who it could have been. Aoma took a deep breath and told himself it was now his time to shine. And if he was a religious man, he would have prayed to God. And he certainly was going to need that soon.
Aoma jumped from behind the corner and without looking to see who it was, raised his gun and fired a volley of bullets randomly. Shutting his eyes, he yelled so hard he felt like his voice box might explode within his throat. He held his finger firmly on the trigger until the gun clicked its sound of having an empty magazine. He kept his eyes shut, waiting for the sound of falling corpses. But the only sound he heard was the sound of tiny shells falling to the floor like marbles, not a single one having hit its intended target. Just as he opened his eyes to see what had happened, his gun was wrenched away from him and tossed off into the darkness of the hall beyond what any light could reach.
Standing before him were three figures; one male and two females. One was unmistakable Lucy, but for some reason, no longer had her horns. The other girl he'd never seen before, but would most likely guess it was that silpelit that escaped a few months earlier. The male was the most frightening of them all. He, like Lucy, had no horns, but the look in his eyes that he was giving Aoma was everything he needed to know what this man was. He stood naked before him as casual as if it was nothing. His hair was long and down to his shoulders, its color as black as the room surrounding them. It was ruffled and slightly messy, giving him a bedeviled look.
The bravery and desire for action that had driven Aoma to this act and been sapped from him in seconds. Now he stood there, shaking so violently it was hard to stand. He felt fear encompass him and felt like he was going to be sick. A warm feeling ran down his leg, and he realized he'd wet himself. Finally, he managed to work his legs into a running motion. He ran down the length of the hall, repeating in his mind that he didn't want to die. The male diclonius waited a few seconds before using his vectors to launch his body at Aoma, cutting him off before he could disappear around another bend. Aoma tried to react, but was quickly pinned against the wall, his arms and legs spread like a crucifix. The diclonius smiled at him grimly, picking up a large piece of steel from the floor and stabbing it into one of Aoma's palms. While Aoma screamed in pain, he picked up another piece of broken steel and shoved it into his other palm. Then launched a large piece of glass into his foot, then another until his body was suspended on the wall.
Supported by his makeshift crucifixion, Aoma began crying out for his mother like a weak and fragile child, no longer feeling brave and eager for excitement. Only fear and pain.
"MOMMY," he screamed through tears. The diclonius watched him cry for a second or two before picking up one final piece of debris and slowly inserted it into his throat. Unable to speak or breathe, Aoma gasped for air and words, but only succeeded in choking on his own blood. A few minutes later, his lungs now full of blood, Aoma slumped over, still hanging from the wall. Tomo watched his lifeless body for another moment, and then left him where he was. He joined Nana and Lucy by the elevators, pressing the top most button, which would lead them to Kakuzawa's office.
The hallway that lead to Kakuzawa's office was long and in sharp contrast to the ones that lay below it. Whereas they were littered with corpses, debris, and entirely unrecognizable, this one was untouched. The lights worked perfectly, emitting that whitish hue that had become the facility's signature color. The floors and walls were clean and spotless of even a single speck of dust. And at the end of the hall was a large pair wooden doors; an even greater contrast to the rest of the hall coated in metal. Tomo ripped open the doors with his vectors and lead Lucy and Number 7 into the office. The office was as finely decorated and trimmed as it had always been. The only room with any color, its blue walls and carpet floor were a beautiful aqua. Framed with hints of gold, various forms of comfortable looking furniture, and exotic potted plants, the room was definitely a show of refined and privileged taste. And standing behind his desk, looking out his windows with his back to them, was Kakuzawa. Almost as if he'd been expecting them like this.
"Welcome back," he said coldly, still not turning to greet them. Tomo and the others continued to march for the desk. "You've caused quite a mess around here. But no matter. Now that you've brought Lucy and Number 7 back to me, they are no longer needed. We can find new scientists to find the virus. In fact, I should thank you for having dealt with them for me." Kakuzawa was as calm and collected as ever, even in the face of possible death.
"There seems to be a misunderstanding between us," Tomo said as he reached the desk. Kakuzawa finally turned to meet him, seemingly unfazed by Tomo's nakedness. Their two pairs of red eyes burrowed deep into the ones across from them as they starred down each other.
"Oh is there?" Kakuzawa stated interestedly.
"Yes. You see, we don't serve you anymore Kakuzawa. In fact, we never did. We were just waiting for the moment when you'd mess up and set us free. Then we could rise up against you. We were just playing the obedient little guinea pigs. And now we've killed everyone on this island. You're all alone. You don't have anymore of your little servants. You've got your back against the wall Kakuzawa and there's no place to go. I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but you're going to die today," Tomo said powerfully.
"It is you who is misunderstanding the situation. Because I know who'll obey me," Kakuzawa confidently declared.
"And why would we do that?" Kakuzawa reached up and removed his wig to reveal his bald head and two horns, tossing the hair to the floor. While Lucy and Number 7 gasped in shock, Tomo remained silent.
"Because I'm the same as you. We belong to the same race. And you need me to eliminate the humans. I have the money and resources that will make our job so much easier. Only I know the best way for us to destroy the humans. Only through me can you be faithful to your destiny. These horns mark me as a diclonius, and you wouldn't kill your own would you?" Tomo extended two of his vectors and simultaneously cut off both of Kakuzawa's horns.
"What horns? I don't see any horns," Tomo said patronizingly as Kakuzawa fell on his knees in pain. Tomo used his vectors to lift up the desk as easily as if it was weightless and through it out the window. The enormous glass shattered and small broken pieces showered the room. Tomo paced around Kakuzawa like a vulture and looked down on him as sternly as a judge waiting to pass punishment on a condemned convict.
"You think a pair of horns makes you a diclonius. Me and Lucy don't have any horns and we're more diclonius then you could ever hope to be. When will you humans get it? It's not about having horns or even vectors that makes you a diclonius or not. It's about your state of mind." Forming a fist with his vectors, Tomo gave a hard right hook to Kakuzawa's left cheek that sent him to the plush carpet. "You think you can fool me? I know the real reason you've done all of this. You want to be a diclonius. A pure one and not some disgusting half breed that's more human then anything. You couldn't care less about our destiny. You're just as power hungry as any other human. But I have news for you." Tomo grabbed Kakuzawa by the head and lifted him up into the air. "There is only one king...and that's my job."
Kakuzawa's face became frantic and desperate. Things were obviously not going as planned. Tomo lifted Kakuzawa high into the air, then let him dropped back down to the floor, watching as he landed oddly on his front. From the sound of his impact, it was almost certain he'd broken a few ribs.
"No...wait!" Kakuzawa coughed up. Tomo ignored his pleas, cutting off the arm that Kakuzawa was reaching out with.
"We don't need you to do our job. We'll destroy the humans without your help. Now, I think it's time we repay you for all the pain you've caused us," Tomo cursed hungrily. His eyes narrowed. As Kakuzawa cupped his severed arm, Tomo sliced off his other, and before he even finished his screams, cut off both legs at once. Lucy and Number 7 just stood idly by, watching the events unfold with an odd sense of pity, and yet with some grim satisfaction. Kakuzawa lay flat on his back now, motionless and limbless. Tomo picked up the Director that now resembled a lifesize rag doll torn to pieces.
"I think its time to finish this." He placed the Directors head in-between two of his vectors into a vice like grip. He then slowly began increasing the pressure between them, forcing more and more strain on Kakuzawa's head. Tomo laughed as Kakuzawa tried to fight against the pressure, flailing his armless body around. Kakuzawa's face began thinning with the growing pressure, and his eyes were starting to bulge from their sockets. Then, with a great explosion of blood and brains, the Directors head was crushed. Lucy and Number 7 used their vectors to shield themselves from the raining blood, while Tomo let it cover him. Kakuzawa's misshapen heap of a body fell to the floor with a thud.
And just like that, it was over. After years of suffering oppressions at the hands of this beast of a man, after decades of his manipulating and planning, after breaking almost every morale code humanity had, Kakuzawa's life was finally ended at the hands of the very creatures he so feverishly wanted to become and control. In the end, not matter what he thought, he suffered the same fate of his equally delusional son. Their arrogance had been the doom of them both.
Tomo walked up to his limbless and headless corpse, removing the bloodstained tie from around what used to be his neck. After working with great difficulty to remove it properly, he turned around and tossed the garment to Number 7 who caught it in the air. "There. A nice little memento of your 'papa'. You like these things right?" Tomo said with cruel glee. Number 7 looked tearful as she tightly held the once clean tie between her fingers. Without another word, Tomo brushed past Lucy and Number 7, heading back toward the door. "Let's go," he commanded as he reached the door frame when Lucy and Number 7 failed to follow. They quietly obeyed him and they all made their way back down the halls. The facility that had just rung clear with the sounds of chaos was now as silent as the charnel house it now resembled. Bodies lay all over, their limbs scattered across the hall away from them. The rubble was still sending out echoes of the havoc that had just passed them, death continuing to emanate in the air. Lucy looked on with a guilty eye as he walked by the victims she recognized as her own. More faces that would now haunt her in her sleep. And these victims would surely haunt her even more because she didn't hold any malice towards them. Their deaths to her had felt so...meaningless.
They finally made it to the bottom level and back out the door from which they entered. Though the sun shown brightly, only Tomo felt its warm rays. Lucy and Number 7 on the other hand, could only still feel the cold of the confined metal halls they just exited. Tomo raised his arms high to the sky, taking in a deep breath of the salt air.
"Hear that?" he asked, bringing a finger to his ear. The others listened carefully, but heard no other sounds then the waves crashing against the rocky basin below. "That, my friends, is the sound of a new age beginning." Tomo turned to face them directly, standing erect and tall, his hands held behind his back. He looked like a general who was surveying his soldiers after a major battle. "You did well Lucy," he complimented her, brushing a strand of her beautiful pink hair from the side of her face. "But you," he said sternly, turning to Number 7, "I must say your actions in there were quite pitiful. I'm almost ashamed to call myself a diclonius." Number 7 gave him a very hard look through the last remnants of tears falling down her cheek.
"But you'll learn eventually," he said slyly.
"Talk all you want, I won't do anything you tell me," Number 7 defiantly denied. Tomo just smiled sweetly at her, bringing his face nose to nose with hers.
"Let me tell you something," he said to her just as sweet as his smile suggested, "Just like when you where here, the only reason you're being kept alive is because of your abilities. If you continue to defy me...well, use your imagination."
"Is that a threat," Number 7 demanded. She surprised even herself by her sudden assertiveness.
"I don't know...is it?" Number 7 could no longer hold herself back. Trembling from the sudden wave of emotion she was feeling, she launched on of her fake arms at Tomo's head, which he dodged. But before she could react, Tomo extended one of his vectors into her brain, squeezing the pineal gland and disabling her vectors. Unable to use her limbs, she fell on her back, dazed and confused at what had just transpired.
"That's a neat little trick you know," Tomo said down to her arrogantly, "Once Kakuzawa learned of your 'unique' ability, he made sure to teach it to me as well. I think I'm quite good at it don't you? Now I'll let that slide. But don't do that again," he threateningly told her. Tomo walked toward the edge of the landing platform just where the grass began to grow, letting his toes dig into the feel of the dirt. "We'll wait for her to regain control of her vectors, then we'll head back to Kaede House to kill Kohta and Mayu."
"WHAT," Lucy and Number 7 yelled together.
"We have to make sure that nobody knows about our existence. If anyone were to have any knowledge about what we are, it would only make our mission that much more difficult," he responded quickly to their response, like he'd expected their reaction and had prepared a reply.
"But I thought you said you'd let Kohta live if I came with you," Lucy asked.
"I lied." Tomo looked at Lucy again. "It's something you should be used to by now right? That girl from the orphanage, Kohta about taking Yuka to the carnival, Kurama about saving that girl...Kohta about loving you."
"Kohta does love me!"
"Are you trying to convince me, or yourself? Think about it, how could he possibly love a monster like you? The person who killed his sister and father. I'll answer that for you...he can't. He loves Nyu, not you, and is only waiting for her to come back." Tomo paced behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders and messaging her shoulders sexually. "But here's the difference between him and me, I can love that monster. In fact it's what I love most about you. Only I can love you for what you truly are," he whispered lustfully into her ear. "I know you still hear them Lucy. Those voices that tell you to kill. I hear them to. Would you like to know what they are? They're our vectors, trying to guide use down the right path. Don't resist them. Don't shut them out. Listen to them. They aren't your enemies. I'm not your enemy. I love you." Lucy starting shuttering with every breath of his she felt burying into her skin infecting her. Then, clenching her hand into a fist and grinding her jaw, shoved him away from her.
"No," she said unyieldingly, "I'm not listening to you anymore."
"What did you say?"
"You say were so different from humans, well I think we're the same. We laugh, cry, love, feel pain, hate, and even die just like they do. Why do we have to be so different? Just because we have horns and vectors? We're all capable of both good and bad, humans and diclonius alike. I understand that now. I've always felt like I was different and separate from them, but it wasn't just them doing it. I was doing it to myself as well. And you're doing the same thing. You can't even see that you've become just like the humans you hate so much. You talk about loving me but you don't even understand what that word means. You're too consumed by your hate to know anything else. And even if the humans don't accept me, as long as I'm accepted in that house by my family, that's all I'll ever need. So I'm going to keep trying. Because unless I let go of my hate, I'll never be happy. Until I finally put it behind me and move on, nothing will change."
Tomo looked totally dejected. He sighed thickly, hanging his head low below his shoulders. "I guess I can't change your mind?" Lucy shook her head in a clear sign of 'no'. Tomo gave another disappointed sigh. "Then you leave me no choice." The vector came at her so quickly Lucy barely had time to avoid it as it came crashing down on the place were she was standing, kicking up gravel and concrete in the air. Lucy rolled on her side and rising gracefully back on her feet.
"What are you doing?!"
"You've been corrupted by the humans Lucy. It's obvious to me now that you are beyond saving, and I will not let you hinder my destiny. It hurts me to do this, but I will do what I must...for the greater good of all diclonius," Tomo said simply, releasing all of his vectors.
"But I thought you said you needed me," Lucy asked him.
"I'll think of something," Tomo said as he lifted himself up into the air with his vectors, "After all, God is on my side." Tomo launched himself full speed at Lucy, and the final fight between king and queen began.