U-DO
Chapter 6
"Enough! Get out of the way!" MOMO shouted getting frustrated as their battle with the robed man wore on. "The longer we fight him, the less chance Ziggy has of surviving."
"There's no need to worry about Ziggy," the robed man declared. "He's quite fine. Worry more about your own well-being."
"What did you do to him?" MOMO questioned.
"Like I said, little doll, worry more about yourself."
/Z
An excruciating pain flowed through his entire body, but he did not cry out in pain rather he tried to work through it. With even more effort, he rose to a standing position. He grimaced as the throbbing seemed to increase agitated, he realized, by any type of movement. But he knew that he needed to move. The same apprehension from before was there again and he knew his instincts had never steered him wrong before.
One foot step, a burst of flames seemed to crawl up his leg. Another foot step, the same sensation in his other leg. Each step, the pain seemed to intensify until it became near unbearable. He had to keep reminding himself who he was doing this for, why he was subjecting himself to such discomfort. When the name MOMO came to mind, he would take another step forth.
"Why do you continue, Sauer. Lie down and die."
Ziggy knew that voice without ever turning to him, but he ignored it as he took another step.
"You must revel in pain, shunning the comforts that any sane man would gladly want to experience."
He couldn't waste his breath or muscles on responding so he didn't. Another step was taken. His hands clenched involuntarily as he felt the same type of sensation rushing through him.
"There won't be any reward at the end of the road, Sauer. Why struggle? Why waste your time on such weak ideals which possess even weaker foundations?"
On the next step, he felt his knees buckle a little, but he willed himself to remain upright. If he tumbled to the ground, he knew he wouldn't be able to lift himself again. Red sparks continued to plague his sight and with each step they became more plentiful.
"They're dead. The ones you call your friends-they are all dead."
Ziggy stopped in his tracks-one of the more easier maneuvers to do. "Don't…lie to me," he managed. As soon as the words left his mouth, he wished that he hadn't said anything at all. The pain surged through his body once again.
"Now why would I lie?"
Ziggy could think of a million reasons why it would benefit the other to lie, but he said none of them.
"I told you that you could join me-and you could. That wasn't a lie; it still isn't. You can end your suffering right here and now if you want."
Ziggy remained immobile.
"But I know you. Somehow, in your mind, you believe that if you suffer more, then you're doing the right thing. Defying me was the worst decision you've ever made in your life. Admit it, Sauer."
Ziggy took another step and it was as if a rock had land on top of him and he had been utterly crushed-he let out a strained groan.
"Why don't you stop? When will you realize that this is completely pointless?"
"Trying to manipulate my mind is pointless! Ah!" Despite the punishment he would receive for responding, he did so anyway.
His sight was failing him. The edges of his vision was slowly turning to darkness, but the red, the red was always there.
"Such a waste really. We could use you. You could finally be appreciated in a form that befits you not this imitation of one that you have now. You would feel no more pain."
He couldn't tell where he was anymore. It felt as if he was staring directly at the sun as a bright red orange overtook his vision.
"Whether you decide to give up or not is irrelevant. Soon your body will answer for you. Your will can only take you so far."
He stepped forth aimlessly now as the brightness in his sight changed to a complete, uncompromising red.
"Not much longer now."
When Ziggy sensed some kind of barrier in front of him, he reached his hand out instinctively and felt the wall. He soon had both of his hands pressed upon it as he leaned his entire weight onto his arms. His energy continued to dwindle as the minutes passed and as he grew faint.
"Let it overtake you, Sauer, let it solve all your problems, let it grant all your deepest desires."
His hands were shaky only stilled by the fact that it was pressed against a wall and then he heard MOMO's voice.
"Ziggy, Ziggy! We're here! Hold on!"
"Give up, Sauer."
Ziggy heard their feet hurrying towards him despite it all.
"Voyager…" he whispered. That was all he could manage
"Ziggy, it's alright, we're here."
His attention was redirected to them.
"Can you do anything?" Shion asked Jr.
Gone were the red sparks, in fact if it weren't for Ziggy's apparent exhaustion, there would have been no telltale sign of U-DO. But his eyes were closed in pain and no one could possibly see the state of his pupils.
"I can sense it," Jr. said finally, "Old man, how do you feel?"
Ziggy had to muster up quite a bit of effort to respond, "Pain," he responded singularly.
"Pain where?" Jr. continued.
He held on to the wall so tightly that when he sank to his knees a loud scraping sound emitted from the dragging contact of his metallic fingers. He didn't have the presence of mind to simply lift them so the others were subject to the earsplitting screeching sound the entire way down. They gathered around him now.
"Pain where, old man, tell me where?"
He was so still that for a moment, Jr. thought that he had lost him completely.
"Everywhere," he managed.
"Wait-"
"I told you, it's too late," said the same voice from before.
The group turned to the robed man who had appeared before them.
"You're supposed to be dead!" Shion declared, "How can you be alive?"
"Because I'm invincible. Understand."
The entire group-Jr., Shion, MOMO, KOS-MOS, and chaos-stood protectively in front of their injured friend sensing that the robed man was part of the reason he was in that condition to begin with.
"Fools. Perhaps, you should be trying to protect yourself. He has no need for it."
"We'll kill you again if we have to," Jr. shouted, "This is my ship and you're not welcomed."
Ziggy heard the arguing voices of the others. While it was encouraging, their voices were fast fading away from him.
"Open your eyes, Sauer. Perhaps you might see them one last time before…"
"Before what?"
Ziggy gritted his teeth after he spoke as he felt the pain continue its dominance over him. Gradually, he felt his consciousness vanishing along with his resolve.
"Before you die, of course."
The wall in front of him appeared as he opened his eyes yet there was something wrong with it. There was something wrong with the world. The red tint was always there altering his sight. He felt something move under his hand and then roll under his other hand. The round form continued its way into the center of his view. He had no idea what to make of it or if he was the only one seeing this. All too quickly, a clawed hand ripped through the wall and grabbed his entire face. As hard as he tried, he couldn't resist its grip and he felt himself being dragged and pulled into the wall, into the hole that the claw had recently made. His voice wouldn't work, nothing seemed to work.
"Die," came an unfamiliar voice, "Die."
When his head was completely submerged, all he could see was darkness. The rough hand still gripped onto him, but there was nothing to see.
"Ziggy! Ziggy! Please don't be…please don't be…" MOMO's voice cried out.
"Damn it, he was just a diversion!" Jr. proclaimed in realization.
All their voices sounded muffled and odd, but he knew it was them. He tried to pull himself out of the wall or at least away from the hand's grip, but he realized that he couldn't move.
"Ah, c'mon, old man-you're not really dead, are ya?" Jr.'s voice called out to him.
"Your eyes. Open your eyes. Show them," Voyager's voice encouraged.
It was the same phenomenon from before, he couldn't open them under his own volition. Only when the weight was lifted, only when the key was unlocked would they obey his command. He heard a gasp when he stared up into the bright world; somehow he was on his back and all he saw was the ceiling. He felt his body being lifted as if some other force was doing so for him. It was as if he were watching a movie, he had no control of the scene before him. He saw Jr. first, then Shion, then KOS-MOS and chaos, and finally MOMO which his eyes stayed on for a moment longer than usual.
Why were they edging away from him? For some reason, his feet stepped forth without much effort at all. It was then that Ziggy realized that the pain was gone.
"Z-Ziggy? Are you alright?" MOMO asked trying to hide her fear.
"Yes, I'm fine," Ziggy had wanted to say, but those were not the words that came forth. "It is time that the Compass of Order was obeyed. All of you will die."
Ziggy was startled by the new voice-it was his, but there was something sinister about its, something that hadn't been there before. More and more he felt as if he was simply being privy to someone else's life. The words that he wanted to say wouldn't come forth, his actions were completely involuntary and that was when it hit him-he was being controlled by another force.
"Yes, Sauer, now you understand. You will help me now. You are my slave."
"No! I know he's in there somewhere! Leave Ziggy alone!" MOMO cried out.
"MOMO," he wanted to respond, "Get out of here-it isn't safe," but no such thing came forth. Instead: "He is no longer of your concern. Now all of you will have to face your deaths-there is no way around this."
"I don't get it? If you wanted to kill us, why take over his body? Why not someone who was younger…more capable," Jr. asked.
"No, I wanted him, boy. Call it a…personal vendetta. Besides, one doesn't need too many advantages to destroy all of you. It's a miracle you've managed to live this long."
And Ziggy felt himself being strangled with sudden ferocity. "Die, you nuisance. Just die." And finally after his long struggle, he lost consciousness.
His eyes seemed to shine brighter as he finally gained full control. Somehow the others knew as well that all was lost. Even MOMO who had been trying to convince everyone not to attack him knew that they would have to soon enough. The battle began soon after. Jr., of course, was in the forefront, but soon Shion, chaos, and MOMO joined in. However, the efforts did little to faze the empowered cyborg. KOS-MOS stood at ready fully aware that her teammates would do little especially since they couldn't bypass his defenses. As they lay on the ground in defeat, KOS-MOS ran forth at maximum speed.
Soon the cyborg and KOS-MOS were in a one on one battle and it seemed as if they were equally matched. One well-placed punch by KOS-MOS, however, sent the cyborg flying. She didn't allow for him to retaliate as she followed him to his landing spot, grabbing his hand to pull him forth and ram another hard punch in the face which sent him reeling.
"KOS-MOS!" Shion shouted in warning, "Don't kill him!"
One metal hand held his face gingerly as he climbed back to his feet. KOS-MOS stood confidently before him. From a side-glance, he sent her a chilling glare, one that sent KOS-MOS on guard seconds before the cyborg sprang to his feet and was attacking her once again. He was even more fierce than before and KOS-MOS was forced to take some damage. For some reason, when KOS-MOS tried regain her offense she was always thwarted. Her sensors relayed to her then that Ziggy was actually becoming more and more powerful. After calculating what the cyborg on his own was capable of, she knew this fight should have been over much sooner, but that was not the case.
He grabbed her by the hair when her energy stores began to be depleted. Her view was immediately blocked by his metal hand. Before she knew it a large spark of electricity flashed from his hand and she fell like deadweight onto the ground.
"I know who should be next, Sauer-if you can hear me-it should be MOMO. I sense that you are quite connected to her. It would give me great pleasure to do the honors."
The cyborg stood motionlessly for a moment searching for any sign of Ziggy's will, but there was nothing.
"I thought you would put up more of a fight. Was that a preview before or was that all you had?"
The cyborg's echoed footsteps moved towards the weakened MOMO who had only then begun to struggle back to her feet. The others had been trying to do the same. Before MOMO could get far, the cyborg pulled her up by her neck. The others winched as they heard her distinct choking noises. It was clear that he was going to suffocate her to death.
"Z-Ziggy!" she managed.
MOMO looked fearlessly into his blood-red eyes and for a short second they disappeared and his blue eyes could be seen, but just as suddenly they returned to its previous hue. His grip only became tighter.
"You don't have to listen to them, Ziggy. You don't have to listen to anyone," she croaked.
"Shut-up, you wench! It seems realians don't know when to die."
MOMO quieted immediately, frightened of the voice and her choking noises resumed.
"Let her go, old man!" Jr. cried drawing his attention. The telltale sign of red dragon mode began to appear as a red mist began to rise around him.
"Finally, someone who wants to put up a decent fight," the cyborg said with a grin. "Alright, I'll play your game a little longer. Entertain me."
The hand that clutched MOMO thrust her off to the side with surprising strength. Before MOMO reached the ground even before Shion could shout the order out, KOS-MOS leaped to her feet and caught the sailing MOMO in her arms.
"You pick on her, you pick on me, old man. I don't know what's gotten into you, but this has to stop!" Jr. yelled out.
Red Dragon Mode was activated.
"Let's see what you got, boy," the cyborg cried with relative intensity.
Red power enveloped the cyborg and expanded responding to Jr.'s sphere of anti-U-DO waves.