Sorry if it took so long to update this story! But I really wanted to finish one of my other stories because it was really close to being done. Fun fact: I typed this over two Batman movies playing on the side. The Joker is AMAZING! And I can't wait to watch the third movie! Now that that's done, on with this chapter! Update: Gah! I had to reupload this chapter because I accidentally used my Bleach OC instead of my Guilty Crown OC. This is one reason I don't like writing multiple fics from different fandoms at the same time.
purity
"Tsugumi! Now!" Daryl and Ayase charged towards their battle field.
"Aye!" Tsugumi leaped into the air and twirled. From all around her, 3D pink balls exploded from all over her body and flew to many green, digital vortexes floating in her domain.
Almost instantaneously, every Endlave out in the battleground was in a state of hysteria. Screams that their connection was cut from the main server was heard. Yelps that their screen views were malfunctioning were heard. And Endlaves were stopping in their tracks because the leg components malfunctioned.
"Jackpot." Daryl smirked.
One by one, Ayase and Daryl quickly defeated each Endlave that stood in their paths. Both shot bullets into the chest plates. Both charged at full speed to off as many opponents as possible. Ayase leaped over one Endlave, shot him, and promptly proceeded to make rapid gunfire on an entire squadron. Daryl flashed out his huge combat knife and violently shoved it into the enemies' chest plates repeatedly. And he cackled like a maniac along the way.
"Aya-nee! Two on your left!" Tsugumi quickly typed in more hacking commands.
"Got it!" Ayase activated the missiles on her Endlave's left leg and let those shoot towards her enemy. Easily, one Endlave went down and crashed into the one beside it. Both exploded in the collision into a cloud of red, orange, and murky grey.
"Daryl. Three at two, one at six, and one at nine." Jessica similarly reported.
"I don't need you to tell me!" Daryl yelled, spinning around counterclockwise, only pausing to snipe each Endlave coming at him. Accurately, each shot either went for the chest plate or the head. One even managed to hit in between the legs…of an Endlave…not one of the soldiers.
Ayase groaned, rolling up to her partner in fighting. "That's a cheap shot."
"It gets the job done." Daryl reloaded the gun in his arm and shot behind Ayase. "You're welcome."
Ayase swiveled behind her. An Endlave fell back when a headshot got him. She scoffed and shot a bullet right at Daryl's head with a flick of her wrist. Her Endlave moved so fast that the bullet actually narrowly missed his head in the curve and hit the Endlave behind him. Another headshot. "You're welcome."
"Bitch."
"Guys…" Jessica deadpanned.
"You're surrounded." Tsugumi also said.
Ayase and Daryl quickly got back into action. They swiveled against each other, back to back, weapons ready and loaded. It was true. It seemed like all the remaining Endlave forces were on Daryl and Ayase. They were the biggest threat out of the US base forces.
"I can get better than you." Ayase challenged.
Daryl smirked, "Then, you can start digging your own grave." He launched forward his wild attacks.
Jessica switched screens from the main battleground to the area that Yahiro and Shu were guarding. Tsugumi was in the room beside hers, but Jessica still had a camera on her. Jessica kept all cameras on at her other screen, but strangely, either than Ayase and Daryl's screens, none of the other places seem to have an activity. Even Yahiro and Shu were beginning to grow tired of just standing around.
"Jessica. Why is there no activity around the meteorite?" Yahiro asked.
"I don't know. And there seems to be no enemy forces heading in your direction." Jessica pulled up a map with the base's security cameras tracking any enemy forces. "Tsugumi! Did someone hack us?"
"I didn't find any hacks in our system!" Tsugumi swept her whole interface, bringing up numerous data charts and images from security cameras. "Everything is running normally!"
"Normally, huh?" Daryl scoffed at the idea as he shot another Endlave. "Did you do a widespread check on the system? Did Yahiro and Shu encounter anyone?"
"Yahiro reports none." Jessica replied.
"Then, it's obvious. The meteorite is not the target. Something else is. Do a full sweep of the entire facility."
"Yes Major General." Jessica flew by with typing commands and bringing up multiple security screens. "Tsugumi. Handle the east and center wings!"
"Aye! I'm way ahead of you!" Tsugumi enthusiastically created a yellow ball and threw it up in the air. The tiny golden ball exploded into pixel dust and images jumped out to fill her interface and twirled around Tsugumi. "Empty. Empty. Empty. Empty." Tsugumi listed as she flew by at least a hundred screens. "Ah! Found a suspicious one! I'm sending it to you Jessie!"
"Jessie?" Jessica questioned. Well…at least it was better than Brat. She scanned the security video, noting that a black figure had appeared by hacking through the doorway. This room was pitch-dark. The only light source seemed to be coming out of a large tube that Jessica couldn't even see what was inside. But what room was this? "Tsugumi! Which room is this?"
"Room 51 in the East Wing." Tsugumi reported back.
"East wing? That's not even near Yahiro and Shu's location. It's in my area." Jessica mumbled. This was so peculiar! That meant the actual target was definitely something in that pod! It had to be! Or it was the information on the computer system. She went back to the security video. Damn it! She didn't have any time! "Yahiro! Get to Room 51 in Sector V, East Wing! Quickly! We've been infiltrated! Shu! Keep guarding the meteorite! Tsugumi! How good are you at multi-tasking?"
"Huh?"
"I'm handing all controls to you!" Jessica frantically unhooked her headset and grabbed her gun.
"Jessie!" Tsugumi screamed back, but there was no reply on the other end. Soon, different windows began to pop up on her interface! Status windows of Daryl and Shu popped open along with multiple security videos, a map, tracking units, and even more such data windows. "Ah! Ah! Stay back!" Tsugumi frantically pushed back all this data that now crept over to her at an alarming rate. This was too much! Being a hacker by taking down enemy communications and Endlaves, managing all her friends statuses, as well as being the main line of communication.
"Tsugumi!" Ayase screamed. "Switch!"
"Aye! Aye! Aya-nee!" Tsugumi targeted the furthest back enemy Endlave and took over all controls. She quickly bailed Ayase and at the same time, switch her over to the next Endlave behind enemy lines. While the enemies were watching Ayase's forgotten Endlave explode, Ayase was already offing everyone in the rear.
"Tsugumi! Seal off all possible entrances. Reinforcements may come in." Daryl yelled while shooting Endlaves from a high ground. The jets were a success. But he still did not meet the opponent that made him install these jets. Just where was that black Endlave?
Tsugumi jumped and grabbed a duck hanging in the ceiling and yanked it right down. Sooner or later, all doorways were closing, trapping them all in. She hoped Ayase and Daryl were doing well in there. It looked like quite a battlefield! But they both seemed to be doing fine, especially Daryl.
Oh! That's right! "Daryl! Jessie disappeared!"
"Jessie? You mean Jessica?" Daryl grunted. "Don't worry about her! We have more urgent problems!"
"A-Aye!"
-GC-
Where the hell is Yahiro?
Jessica silently crept along the walls outside of Room 51. Her gun was already loaded and ready to fire. She had it out in front of her. And peering into the room, she could see the perpetrator was still inside. It seems like he was trying to get the pod opened. Like hell that was going to happen?
"Freeze!" Jessica ran behind a study desk and began to shoot.
But shot after shot, the mysterious person dodged each and he also jumped behind a set of computer interface desks. He brought out his own gun and began firing shots at Jessica.
Jessica ducked back and let the bullets hit her desk and the walls and the ceilings. She shot a nearby desk, hoping the metallic plating would cause the bullet to ricochet to the guy. But he easily dodged her trick shot and ducked behind a set of cabinets. And afterwards, a flurry of bullets came after her. Jessica scrambled to get to the other side of the desk and she kneeled up. Arms perched on the desk, she fired repeatedly at the guy hidden behind a cabinet.
She only needed to hold this out for a bit longer! Only until Yahiro comes! Her gunshots were not that good, but she knew how to hit a person in their chest. And she can also hit their legs if she wanted to hinder them from moving.
"Ah!" Jessica yelped when a bullet grazed her shoulder. Shit! He had the upper hand!
Jessica frantically fled near the computer end of the room, right in front of the shining pod. She didn't bother to look inside; she just pointed her gun right at it. "Drop your weapon or I'll shoot it!" Jessica bellowed.
The figure didn't move. He slowly raised his hands and let his gun drop to the ground.
Jessica kept her eyes on this person while her gun was planted firmly against the glass. "Now step forward."
The person obeyed and slowly stepped out. His face was obscured by a mask and he was covered from top to bottom in black clothing. This was definitely a Pallbearer terrorist. And another recognizable feature was his skin around his eyes was really young and fresh. This terrorist was a kid!
Right at that moment, Yahiro rushed into the room. "Jessica!"
"Yahiro!" Jessica dropped her gaze for just a moment. And then...her shoulder was shot by the boy. Yelping in pain, the girl tenderly held onto her aching shoulder and she slid against the glass and hit the floor. Already, there were streaks of blood against the glowing glass, blocking the face of the thing inside.
The person quickly ran to make a getaway while shooting Yahiro at the same time. But the older man was not scared at all. Yahiro firmly held his ground and pointed his own hand gun at the young person who was also noticeably shorter. When the boy suddenly stopped in hesitation, Yahiro took this opportunity to kick the weapon right out of his hands.
"You're cornered." Yahiro declared.
"Shit…" The boy quickly reached back into his belt, but Yahiro grabbed that arm and wrestled the boy the ground.
"I said, you're cornered! Don't try any tricks!" Yahiro planted the gun's barrel at his hand.
"Heh. I already did."
"What?"
"Yahiro! Yahiro! Are you here?" Shu quickly ran into the room, fully decked out in a black and green plugsuit like he was just bailed out.
"Shu! What are you doing here?"
"The enemy has withdrawn. All of them have left this facility!"
Yahiro took the boy by his head and plunged it into the ground, hard, all while yelling, "What the hell did you do?" He got no response. Damn it! "Shu! Jessica is wounded! Bring her to the medical ward!"
Shu nodded. He left Yahiro and the mysterious infiltrator and rushed towards Jessica. A noticeable trickle of blood ran down her torso and she tenderly clung onto her shoulder. She leaned next to the glowing pink glass and her blood already stretched from one end to another. Shu grabbed onto Jessica's unwounded side and pulled her arm over his shoulder. She was light, so she was easy to pull up and balance to walk away. But when Shu was about to lead her away, his eye caught onto the tube that Jessica laid next to…
Shock and terror overwhelmed him. He dropped Jessica.
-GC-
Three men stood before one little boy, who was strapped into a white chair with his hands behind his back. Everything in this room was bright and stark white, enough to drive a person mad. One man was clearly pissed off as he paced back and forth in front of the boy, rambling questions and demanding answers. Another man stood in the background, but tried to keep the mad man in check. The last man merely stood off at the side, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed against his chest. He only stared down at the floor while ignoring the whole interrogation.
"Ryo…I said, who sent you!" Daryl yelled, grabbing the boy by his neck.
Yahiro walked up for the umpteenth time and placed his hand on the guy's shoulder. "Major General, with all due respect, you're not going to get any information like that."
"Listen to the man, Yan." Ryo smirked. "He's more competent than you'll ever be."
Daryl socked him.
"Major General, how about I try?" Yahiro whispered and nudged the man aside. He pulled up another white chair and sat calmly in front of their culprit. "Comrade Ryo. Is that what your group calls you? Or should I just call you Ryo? Anyways, I did a background check on you and it seems you have quite a grudge on our Major General. Care to tell us why?"
Daryl scoffed in the background.
Ryo shot him a dirty look and scowled. He turned back to Yahiro and spat back, "How about you tell me this! Why are you siding with a psychopath like him?"
"Calm down." Yahiro shot back before Daryl even reacted. "Ryo, I'll assure you that our Major General has calmed down over these eight years…mostly because of one of our members."
"Ah, the girl with the cat ears, is it? I remember her…well, when she was getting beaten up."
That caused another blow to the head respectfully by Daryl. He cracked his knuckles in fury before shoving it in to his pockets. "Keep it up and I'll pull out the gun."
"But he revealed some crucial information." Yahiro proclaimed, whipping out a cellphone. "Bring her in." He faced the strapped boy once again. "Ryo. You've met Daryl once before, haven't you? He was commissioned into the GHQ army ten years after Lost Christmas and he was one of their bad apples. At that time, he was called "Kill 'Em All Daryl". He must have done something to you or any close relative or friends during the beginning of his career. That was the time where he directly killed civilians instead of Funeral Parlor members."
Daryl interjected, "I never met him before in my life."
"You may have not, not directly, but I'm sure you've met a family member." Yahiro pulled up his laptop and began running through different GHQ interfaces from the records. "I had Tsugumi give me these. She likes to keep records of Funeral Parlor's "awesome" moments."
Yahiro found the correct video, which featured blindfolded men at the feet of armed soldiers. He intently watched the boy's face contort into pure horror and disgust as the segment of a woman pleading the guards to release her husband played. Daryl also felt a little uneasy when his part came up. He, along with Ryo, watched his seventeen year old self waltz out, untroubled with the hysteria around him, while taking a whiff of a flower. The mother ran up to this Daryl, grabbing onto his arm, desperately pleading for him to help her.
"Please don't kill him!"
"What the fuck did you just do? You stupid bitch! You'll infect me! How dare you fucking do that?"
"Mama! Mama!"
Daryl firmly shut down the laptop just as his seventeen year old self pulled out the gun. "That's enough." He said.
Yahiro also agreed and put away his laptop. "I'm sorry you had to witness that again, Ryo, but confirm this for me. Was that you?"
"It is him." Daryl confirmed for him. "He matches the five year old and that woman."
"Don't you dare call my mother that!" Ryo exploded in his scream. He tried to wrestle his way out of his chair, wanting to reach out and claw Daryl's face off. If it were not for his bonds, he would have managed to do just that.
"You both have serious mother issues." Jessica sniped at the moment. "I brought her in." She pointed behind her where a woman in a wheelchair and a petite girl was following her.
Yahiro gestured for Tsugumi to come up to the front. "I believe you've both met each other."
"Yes. We have." Tsugumi sauntered up to the boy and held him up by the chin to look at her in the eyes. "He's an Endlave pilot within the Pallbearers, one of the best in the entire organization. He drives the iconic black Endlave that you fought, Daryl Yan. His organization primarily plans to eradicate the forming government system of Japan and build a new one in their stead. They want to take over Japan, in a sense."
"No we're not! We are cleaning up the mess GHQ made eight years ago! Our organization fights for justice and integrity!" Ryo spat out. "Besides, even your current government system and this wretched country is not free from their guilt! The both of you are still as corrupt as ever! Just ask the man who's keeping his mouth shut!"
At that moment of silence, everyone stared at one another. Only one person had not opened his lips during this entire interrogation. And he was standing off in the corner, still as pissed as ever. Now, he marched up to the front of this entire group and let his palm whip across the young boy's face. "Tell me." He grabbed onto the collar of the boy and pulled him up face to face. "What the hell were you going to do to Inori!"
"Inori?" Ayase gasped. "She died!"
"No. She didn't." Shu hoarsely replied back. "I saw her…with my own eyes! She was in the room where we found this guy."
"That would be Room 51 of the East Wing." Jessica walked up to a computer interface of this room and typed in some commands. She quickly brought up a security camera view of that room, only refueling the back side. "It's one of the least guarded areas of this facility. America here probably wanted to draw all your attention to the meteorite and not to this girl. And I believe she was Pallbearer's target all along."
"This is wrong!" Shu darkly mumbled and a cry was felt in his voice. "Inori doesn't deserve to suffer again. I won't allow it."
Ryo snarled back, "Well, you better believe it! All along, ever since attaining that rock, the United States has been trying to maximize its full potential. This time, they were careful to not end up like Japan. Soon, this country will revolutionize science just from knowing how to use a rock. And what better way to start than by trying out Japan's initial approach?"
"Plan Eve?" Daryl suddenly said. "It's a risky approach. Japan never even went through with it."
"Wimps", Ryo rolled his eyes.
Daryl glared down and scoffed, "That's because a certain terrorist group came in and took away the Eve." He eyed specifically to Ayase and Tsugumi.
"Gai's idea," Both deadpanned back.
Shu glared at both Daryl and Ryo. "What was Plan Eve? And what does it have to do with Inori?"
"Plan Eve was an idea to put the Apocalypse meteorite into a container. Not only does this keep the radioactivity in check, but it also provides a source from where new weaponry and inventions cane be mobilized. A good example would be the Void Genome. But that one was a special case. A genius scientist managed to invent that all on his own." Daryl explained, "This American base was probably planning to initiate the plan again by essentially reviving Inori, or in other words, Mana."
Yahiro slowly nudged Shu aside. "Ryo, what is Pallbearer planning to do with Inori?"
"No idea." Ryo smirked. "Leader never tells what he really wants. He just gives orders."
Yahiro sighed and pulled away. "I believe that's all we know as of right now. It's better than nothing. I think our best bet is to immediately bring Ryo back to Japan as a prisoner and we pull out of here with what we need. I don't think these Americans are going to welcome Japanese visitors when Japanese terrorists attack."
"And Inori comes with us." Shu insisted.
"And what makes you think they'll let us walk away with their Eve?" Daryl yelled back just as furiously. "Besides, what's more important is the meteorite!"
"Then we take Inori and let them have the Apocalypse meteorite!"
"Shu…" Ayase patted him on the back and at the same time, gripped onto his shirt to pull him back. "Please think this rationally. You don't know if this Inori is the same Inori that we know and love."
"But still…" Shu closed his eyes, now with the edges brimming with tears. His knees grew weak and he wanted to collapse on the floor. He stammered, "I can't let Inori suffer through all this again. She never lived for her own. Ever since she was born, she was thought only as a weapon and a monster. She was never happy. Only when she sacrificed herself for me, she was finally happy. She was smiling… That's why… That's why…"
Daryl silently watched this tearful scene unfold. Tsugumi and Ayase looked sympathetic at Shu's break down. Yahiro was only trying to calm him down and bring him back to his senses. Jessica was the only one stoic about this entire situation…probably because she never met Inori and therefore, she didn't care what the outcome was. She was only standing near the interface, staring intently at everyone else, especially Ryo. Daryl was the same. Inori Yuzuriha and he always stood on the opposite sides of that war. He was GHQ's sharpest blade and she was Funeral Parlor's princess. He was basically raised to think of her as a tool.
But these people thought of her as a friend, family, and love.
If he took Inori, they lose the meteorite. If they took the meteorite, they lose Inori and Shu from the team. Either way, there was a loss. He didn't know which option was better. If they took Inori, then their ally loses their opportunity of Project Eve. If they took the meteorite, Inori might as well be killed off, or worse, taken by Pallbearer. And then, history repeats itself. This choice was not easy.
But seeing his team like this…he had to make a choice.
"We're taking Inori Yuzuriha." Daryl declared.
"Daryl!" Tsugumi gasped.
Yahiro narrowed his eyes at him. "Major General, are you positive of your choice?"
"I'm positive."
"You are choosing between a man-made life form and a radioactive meteorite that caused disaster to Japan eighteen years ago." Yahiro calmly pointed out. "And you choose the girl…"
"This country's main goal was Project Eve. We take away the Eve; the project fails. She was also Pallbearer's target. We take her away and that terrorist group comes with us." Daryl explained. "We have every reason to take Inori back because Project Eve was initially Japan's idea. And I think they are more likely to give us an empty life form than a meteorite containing the ultimate power source."
"Daryl." Tsugumi interjected, "Hypothetically, if they give us Inoreen, what are we going to do about the meteorite? Its potential can still be manifested in other ways. They still have power over us."
Daryl placed his hand on her shoulder, softly rubbing her skin with his thumb. "I'll figure something out." He quickly released their connection and began to walk away. "Tomorrow, I'm going to have a talk with the board of directors. I'll try to convince them to let us walk away with only Inori. After what happened today, we'll be lucky if they even consider."
Ryo finally cackled, making Daryl stop in his tracks. "Pallbearer will find a way to gain the upper hand. You may have gotten the ultimate manifested being for the Apocalypse meteorite, but all you've gotten was an empty shell. I see who this Inori person is to all of you. You've walked away from this ordeal with nothing, but a weak spot. And Pallbearer will strike your weak spot to bring you down…just like I already have." He finally glanced over at the young girl standing off to the side. "And you know, I was aiming for your head…I just missed."
The young girl finally stood up. Her pink eyes narrowed at the boy while she adjusted her glasses. But Daryl could see that her grip on those glasses frames. She was ready to snap. Her gloved hands flew for her belt and she stomped up front and center, pushing out everyone who was in her way. Jessica leaned in close. Her pink eyes connected well with the brown orbs of the little boy. Soon, her hand swept across the little boy's face, leaving a bright red mark. Her teeth bit into her lips and she jabbed the barrel of her handgun sharply into Ryo's chest.
Jessica snarled, "Little boy…you are poorly mistaken."
Daryl stepped up, "Jessica." He didn't stop her though.
Bang! Jessica held her stand while she calmly watched Ryo double over from a gunshot in his leg. "That's for the shoulder." Bang! Bang! She shot the other leg. Twice. "Those are for my eyes." She turned around to walk away. "Stop crying. Those were only flesh wounds. And…" For a moment, her pink eyes connected again with him. "We've gotten an advantage."
Her rosy pink eyes widened as she glanced around the whole room. Her sights fell upon Yahiro, Ayase, Tsugumi, Daryl, and finally Shu, in that order. Her gaze was a mixture between being intrigued and cocky…like she had known something all along that the others did not. She kept this guise even as she neared Daryl and pulled him close to her.
"Don't you forget," She whispered into his ear. "We have the King's Crown."
Daryl felt a chill rise from his chest. Why did Jessica have to come to that conclusion? How did she? No! He was not losing that!
"Isn't that right?"
Kaleidoscope.
Gasp! Jessica knows discovers Voids! How? When? Review and you'll find out when I type the next chapter.