Hey you all! Its Alito again! Sorry I took so long to put up a new chapter because of College work piling on me! Suck to, because I like doing these fanfics. Guess I'll have to wait to have actual free time to do so. But for now, this is what I've produced until my next chapter to come.
(P.S. The keyboard I'm using near the end of this chapter and within the chapter in general sucks so some words might not make sense but just know it's the keyboard, and not me.)
Now here we go!
Disclaimer; I own NOTHING
Chapter Ten: Something calls me…It wants me…
"Hmm?"
Alex's eyes quickly darted to the sky as his whole body turned to the left and looked up in the air. He felt a strange and almost familiar feeling course through his veins as he walked slowly towards that direction to try and get a better feel.
"What's the matter, Mercer-chan?" Kazehana asked.
"Something's not right…" Mercer uttered, while still looking in said direction. "Something feels off in this direction…" He took a moment to try and familiarize himself with whatever feeling he was getting, and instantly debunked it as his own genes, but a mixture of those genes as well. "…It's Heller. No…there's…two of them?"
"Two James Hellers?" The Yashima questioned. "But how is that possible?"
"No…it's not entirely the same." Alex pointed out. "One has…different genes within him along with Heller's…it grows stronger and stronger with each passing minute. Whatever it's, gonna be too much for the bald idiot." He finally turned back to his three Sekirei and ordered, "We need to go to where this DNA is resonating from, and put an end to it quickly. And judging by the distance, it's definitely coming from Minaka's tower."
"Another good fight is just what I need." The grey haired Sekirei smirked, tapping the hilt of her new sword. "I could use a victim to test this bad boy on."
"I guess you're about to get your wish then." Kazehana smiled.
"We should hurry, before Heller is killed." Yashima suggested.
"I don't give a fuck abut Heller." Alex made clear. "I just don't want another one running around, on my ass. Now then, off to the tower! Let's move!" Alex ordered and with that, all four simultaneously leaped off of the street and onto the building closest to where the energy was coming from with Alex in the lead. Soon they jumped from different rooftops, off to the origin of the strange feeling Mercer felt.
XXX
Back at Izumo inn, Musubi and Tsukiumi stood outside, on the roof of the inn, and looked forward at the horizon for where the orange smoke resided in the part of the city, and where Minaka's tower was straight ahead.
"We must make haste, Musubi." Tsukiumi reminded her. "The longer we stay hesitant, the more lives could be lost."
"Mm-Hmm I know the situation." Musubi nodded with a competitive smile on her face. "I'm ready to kick some butt, and save the city!"
"Please take this event with more fervor." Tsukiumi sighed.
"Heh, sorry. Guess I got a bit too excited." Musubi giggled. "I just never thought I'd get the chance to save a city like the superheroes on T.V. This is gonna be awesome!"
"Think of it what you will, however remember we are doing this for the freedom of the world from this virus." Tsukiumi reminded her.
"Got it! Let's go!" Musubi said confidently as the two were just about to leap off the roof and head forward.
"You guys, wait!"
The two quickly stopped in their tracks as they looked over the edge to find the little Kuu standing before them from below. They could see from the roof that she was currently crying her eyes out while trying to rub her eyes as well.
"Kuu-chan, what's the matter?" Musubi called out.
"I-It's…its Big brother!-!"
XXX
The blond and brunette haired Sekireis quickly ran into the inn with Kuu carried in Musubi's arm, and entered the main living room, only to find Homura, and Matsu kneeling over Minato, who was shrieking in pain on the floor, while grasping his stomach tightly!
"M-Minato-san!" Musubi cried out. Her and everyone else witnessed in horror as Minato was screaming out something in pain! Something in a different language that was unfamiliar to all of them. Whatever he was screaming though was almost hysterically, and was rapid! He couldn't stop yelling this foreign word and for some reason, his body began to shake violently on the ground, trying to clutch for something!
"B-Big brother!" Kuu called tearfully. "Please, someone help him!"
"W-What's he even saying?-!" Homura questioned rashly.
"I-I think it's English!" Matsu translated, "H-He…! I-I think he's saying—!"
Before Matsu could translate the very words Minato was screaming, Minato suddenly stopped screaming and opened his eyes wide while he quickly sat up! He stopped shaking and looked as if he had seen something so strange and horrifying that he was breathing heavily in the very remembrance of it. Something had entered his mind…something so dark and twisted was forced into his head, making him witness such strange evil that it almost felt natural now.
"Minato-san?" Musubi said, hoping to get an answer.
Minato quickly looked towards Musubi and Tsukiumi with a shocked expression on his face still and sweat dripping down the side of his face. "M-Musubi-chan! Tsukiumi-san…! P-Please…! I-I need to go with you two into the city! To Minaka's tower!"
"What?-!" Tsukiumi outraged, "We will not allow such an action! You were just shaking upon the ground, and now thou expects us to deliberately take you into the field of battle?-! What thou need is to—!"
"Tsukiumi-san, please! I beg you!" Minato pleaded as he stood up, wobbling a bit, but was able to stand with the support of Musubi holding him up. "I-I need to get to get there! To whatever's calling me!"
"Calling?" Musubi repeated.
"Yes…" Minato nodded, holding a troubled expression on his face. "Right now…something's calling me…And I feel like if I don't go to it…it will hate me…and I don't want that."
"But what or who would hate you?" Matsu asked.
Minato grabbed his head. He remembered perfectly what he had said. "Someone…very important to me…I have to go…I have to go!"
Minato quickly got on his feet, and grabbed his cargo jacket and an off to the door! He slipped on his shoes, and opened the door, running out of the lawn and down the street with the speed his legs could give him. He could hear Musubi and the others calling after him, but he didn't listen! He only continued running down the street and not stopping at all.
Upon running, he noticed himself not getting tired at all and was even beginning to pick up speed as well! He was now running a little bit faster than a moving car and was storming past a normal human's speed. Even so, he wasn't concerned with that. He needed to get to Minaka's tower quickly.
"I hear you…! I hear you…!" Minato thought in his head. "I'm coming…! Wait for me…M*****!"
XXX
Heller ran at Minaka with great force, arm blade on arm, but Minaka was simply dodging all of Heller's attacks with little to no effort at all. Each swing from James felt like it was going in slow motion for the white haired mad genius! Finally, Minaka found an opening from Heller attempting to slash Minaka in two, but only resulting in the white haired man side stepping out of the way. Minaka swung his arm blade and it slashed right through the black man's stomach and from there, Minaka harshly kicked Heller away from him, making him slide back quite a distance!
"Marvelous!" Minaka admired.
Benitsubasa and Haihane charged in next as Haihane swung her claws at Minaka with great fervor and speed, but it was only child's play as Minaka was simply dodging the attacks swiftly and hardly exercising his strength against the grey haired Sekirei. Minaka dodged her last strike to the gut by turning on the heel of his foot to turn to the side and swing his giant blade and hit Haihane away to the side. Haihane recovered her own footing before she fell all the way off the edge!
"Amazing!" Minaka grinned.
Benitsubasa leaped into the air and slammed her hammerfist into the ground, aiming right for Minaka, but it only ended up hitting the roof's ground, making it crumble intensely from its powerful weight! Minaka then appeared behind the pink haired Sekirei to strike, only for her to block that attack with her hammerfist just in time. But the impact of Minaka's giant blade arm resulted in her too being sent back, tumbling on the ground, but able to regain her footing before she too got to the edge!
"Extravagant!" Minaka called out hysterically. He raised his arms in the air as he felt a powerful euphoria course through his very body, and his body getting stronger and stronger with every passing minute! "Never have I felt so powerful! I must say being a Bio-weapon has its advantages, doesn't it Sgt. Heller!"
"Too bad you're not gonna live long enough to know the feelin', you white fuck!" James said angrily as he turned his giant blade into his tendril arms.
"Ah, yes. The Tendrils." Minaka smirked at, "Quite an interesting move if I do say so myself. But unfortunately I know all the qualities of it. It allows tendrils to act as a bartering ram to slam with tendrils and even keep them hoisted in the air for a finishing attack to be used. Nice try James Heller, but I also know that the tendrils will only work if your fist of them hit the opponent!" Minaka held his arm blade at the ready, grinning like a psychopath. "I know it all! Because of me taking your DNA, I know all about the Bio-mass and all the abilities it possesses!"
"Y'know you remind me of another shithead named Koenig back in NYZ." James said threateningly. "He was a mad fuck-o just like you. I crushed his head into the ground and ate him. Too bad you'll have to share his death!" He extended his arm as a mass of tendrils shot out and aimed right at Minaka!
"I thought I told you, I know all about Bio-mass!" Minaka exclaimed as he simply dodged the tendril punch and ran at Heller, blade at the ready to carve Heller in two! But unfortunately, Minaka didn't rule out one of the key aspects of the tendrils and that stopped Minaka in his tracks, a few steps away from Heller!
"W-What the hell?-!" Minaka questioned in shock. He turned and saw that Heller's extended tendril fist was kept frozen over the edge of the tower, and a single tendril had stuck itself to Minaka's back while he wasn't paying attention.
"Hey Minaka, you said you knew all about Bio-mass, right?" Heller grinned as he used his free hand to stab a single finger into Minaka's body. Instantly, Minaka was covered in Tendrils as he struggled to break free from them, but it was useless. "Ever heard of a Bio-bomb? Have a nice fall, motherfucker!"
James kicked Minaka back and sent him flying off the edge of the building, breaking his tendril arm free. But before he fully descended to the ground, thick long tendrils shoot from his body, grabbing pieces of his own tower, other buildings, and even cars from the very ground level! Suddenly, all those tendrils slammed right back to its origin and crushed Minaka in with a loud explosion!
James walked over to the edge to look down and see a fiery mess hit the ground hard. His two Sekirei also walked to the edge to see the results as well. "That was for Collette, bitch."
"Is he done?" Haihane asked.
"Yep, that's that." Heller nodded.
"Wow…I never thought we'd be able to stop him so easily." Benitsubasa said in astonishment.
"We?" Haihane questioned as she held a small smirk on her face, but trying to cover it with her claw. "Weren't you the one getting your butt kicked across the roof?"
"Nobody asked you!" The pink haired Sekirei exclaimed as she turned her hammerfist into her hands and pointed at the grey haired Sekirei. "And besides, you weren't doing so hot yourself! Who lets themselves get thrown almost to the edge, huh?-!"
"You were at the edge too, remember?" Haihane teased. "You're lucky you had small boobs otherwise you'd be tumbling all the way to the ground by now."
"What was that?-!"
"You heard me, flatty McFlat tits."
James sighed as he walked from the edge and the Sekirei followed, continuing their bickering. "Like Sabrina Galloway all over again…" Heller mumbled.
But amongst the teasing and annoying yelling, Heller suddenly felt something; something that seemed more powerful then the last time! He quickly looked over the edge along with Benitsubasa and Haihane, to find that someone was standing there, smoking all over his body. They recognized the pure white hair now dirtied with black smoke, and his white suit chimed a bit. He was breathing hard, but not from exhaustion, but rather, by the large grin forming on his face, he was…excited about something.
"Heh…heheheh…! Heheheh…! Hahahaha…! AHAHAHAHA!-! Yes! This is truly magnificent!-!" Minaka laughed hysterically. "I just love this bio-mass and its abilities!-!" He then died down his laughter and looked at Heller with cold maniacal eyes and a toothy grin that touched both cheeks. "I must thank you once again, Sergeant James Heller…Because of you, I now have more knowledge then I at first believed possible…" He then stood straight as more bio-mass ooze covered his entire body, and once it dissipated, Minaka stood perfectly clean of smoke, and his suit and long cape perfectly white once more. His hair was also snow white along with his glasses fixed. "…Looks like I won't have to worry about dirty clothes anymore huh, James Heller!"
"Humph, so now you're as white as the clouds, big fuckin' whoop." Heller said as he and his Sekirei turned their arms into the bio-weapons again. Heller pointed his long claws at Minaka threateningly. "Hope the red from your blood doesn't damage that tuxedo."
"Oh, I won't have to worry about that at all." Minaka said, "For you see, there's something else I must thank you for." The white haired man crouched a bit as he spread his arms out, and all of a sudden, bio-mass formed around his arms and became thick vein-like large arms with sharp fingers. Heller and his Sekirei were shocked to find that Minaka now had Tendrils of his own, but these tendrils were now a pure white color and glowing a dim bright white light.
"No…!" James uttered.
"That can't be…!" Benitsubasa uttered as well in disbelief.
"No doubt though…!" Haihane confirmed.
"Oh yes. That's right you three…" Minaka smiled as he stood back up and got into fighting stance with the white tendril arms. "It's time I level the playing field!"
XXX
"Shit…!" Alex hissed as he suddenly stopped and walked to the edge of a building. The other three Sekirei of his also halted behind him.
"What's the matter?" Karasuba asked.
But before he could answer them, Alex suddenly felt a harsh throbbing in his head and quickly grasped it as he shrieked in pain! He slowly fell to his knees as the pain was getting worse and worse with each passing second! It was like an intense ringing that wouldn't stop yelling in his head and was getting louder the more he tried to resist!
"Mercer-sama!" Yashima called as she ran to him and took a knee by him. She placed her hand on his back for support, and felt something vibrating within his back as well. "Mercer-sama, are you alright?"
"What happened?" Kazehana questioned with concern as she too ran to him and took a knee by him, holding his back to feel the vibrating as well. "His back is starting to vibrate for some reason. Is it the virus inside you that's causing this?"
"Ugh…No…!" Mercer struggled to answer. "It's…something calling out to me…! Something making me…go to it!"
"Calling?" Yashima wondered. "What do you mean by that?"
"I don't know…but all I know is something's really getting on my nerves." Mercer sighed as the pain started to go down now. "And it's coming straight from Minato's tower."
"Not surprised." Karasuba said, arms crossed. "Something weird is always coming from there."
"Then it's gotta be Minaka's doing." Karasuba confirmed.
"Hey! You guys!"
The Mercer team turned to look and see a single girl leaping onto the building they stood upon. It turned out to be the usually over-excited brown haired Musubi. But this time, she didn't seem as bubbly as she was before. In fact she looked rather worried about something upon running to them.
"Musubi-chan?" Kazehana said.
"Musubi?" Karasuba said with honest surprise. She then smiled kindly and said, "It's good to see you again, Musubi."
"Karasuba-san!" Musubi said happily as she greeted the ex-Black Sekirei. "It's so good to see you again! It's been days! How did that assignment go?"
"It went well. I see you've been doing quite well for yourself." The grey haired Sekirei noticed.
"Mm-hmm! Real well!" Musubi nodded.
Alex and Yashima were rather surprised at how Musubi and Karasuba knew each other so well, but Kazehana know all along that the two knew each other, and also knows why Karasuba has such an interest in the naïve girl. Musubi then looked over to great the others as well. "Oh! Hey there Kazehana, Yashima, and Alex!"
"Uh, hey there." Alex said flatly.
"Hello again, Musubi-san." Yashima said with a smile and a bow.
"Hey there, Musubi-chan." Kazehana winked.
Musubi then noticed something strange about this pairing that is set up before her. She noticed that Karasuba's clothes were the same black color as Yashima and Kazehana's. Suddenly, a light bulb flashed within her head and she was shocked as she blurted out; "W-Wait! Are you now Alex's Sekirei, Karasuba-san?-!"
"That's right. Couldn't you tell by the clothes and my new blade here?" Karasuba said with a false kind smile. "I'm one of Mercer's now."
"B-But what about your original Ashikabi? What happened to him?" Musubi wondered.
"Who knows." The grey haired Sekirei shrugged, "Probably died and now I got this guy here." She pointed back at Mercer, who was a bit insulted in annoyance that someone pointed at him like he was a burden. "But that aside, tell me why you're here in this zone."
"Oh yeah, that's right!" Musubi said, quickly remembering the purpose of her mission! "We have to find Minato-san quickly! He ran out of the inn and is heading to MBI tower!"
"Minato-chan? Why would he be running to MBI tower?" The raven haired wind Sekirei wondered.
"Because he said that's what's calling him to go there!" Musubi explained. "He was on the floor, yelling out some word in pain, and couldn't stop for a while! He said he needs to get to the tower quickly and just ran out of the inn!"
"Calling him?" Yashima repeated. "Mercer-sama, you said something about that as well, didn't you…Mercer-sama?"
Yashima, along with his other Sekirei looked back at their hooded Ashikabi only to see him not make a single sound. He only held his eyes widened in an almost shocked expression. Alex quickly caught wind of what Musubi had just said and felt his entire body go numb for a few seconds. He then looked back at Musubi and asked. "Wait…you mean to tell me…someone called out to him?"
"Y-Yeah." Musubi nodded, "He was also screaming out some weird word the whole time he was in pain."
Alex then turned and walked right up to the brown haired fist fighter and grabbed her shoulders roughly and demanded with a furious demanding voice. "Tell me…! What did he say?-!"
"W-What?"
"ANSWER ME, DAMNIT!" Alex yelled while shaking her a bit. "WHAT. DID. HE. SCREAM?-!"
Musubi was, admittedly, fearful of this hooded man, especially when his eyes began to glow a horrid red right before her. She thought that nothing would be able to scare her or make her tremble in fright anymore upon this world; however it appeared she was wrong at this point. Musubi could honestly say she was standing before death itself, and depending on what she did next could very well cost her life. So she swallowed and was sweating a bit, but even under such circumstances still was able to hold what was left of her ground and look that red eyed hooded man in the face and tell him.
"H-He was screaming some weird word I've never heard of!"
"WHAT?-!"
"I-It was…! Muthir…! Mothur…! Mithur…! Mathier…!"
Alex had finally understood the true word Musubi was trying to say and instantly went cold even down to his Bio-mass bones. He slowly let go of Musubi and stood back a bit while also stumbling to get his proper strong footing back. His eyes lost its red glow and were replaced with an almost distressed expression along with slight panting and sweating accompanied, slowly dripping down his cheeks. He knew now just what was going on. It was all adding up so clearly that he almost felt dumb for not realizing it from the beginning. He uttered the true words;
"Mother…"
"Yeah, that's the word!" Musubi confirmed. "What does it mean though?"
"It's English for Mother." Karasuba translated for her.
"Wait, so he was calling for his mom?" Musubi naively wondered.
"…Of course…I understand it all…" Alex muttered.
"What do you mean?" Karasuba wondered.
"I couldn't touch him…He had something within his body that rejected me." Alex said, pacing back and forth. "There have been theories of me being the artificial attraction to non- coding regions from genetic manipulation…But he could be a natural release of coding in the genome…" Alex then stopped as he wore the look of realization. "The perfect realization of all non-living regions…the final purpose of all life on Earth… Something Minaka would want…So that means that…could he really be…?"
"M-Mercer-chan, what are you—?"
Kazehana was interrupted by Mercer looking towards Musubi and walking to her, once again standing before her. "Woman, tell me, who is Minato's mom?"
"Takami. Sahashi Takami." Musubi answered.
"I thought so…a false mother." Alex confirmed, "Listen, Musubi, right? I want you to find Minato and take him far away from MBI tower!"
"What, why?-!"
"Don't fucking question me, just do it!" Alex ordered.
"Mercer, what's going on?" Karasuba questioned.
Alex looked at all of them with a troubled expression on his face. He didn't know what he was going to do if he really does go to Minaka, but he did know one thing; he will make sure that Minato wouldn't get within yelling range of MBI tower. He walked ahead of the Sekirei and looked afar at the tower that was still far away from them.
He took a deep breath, and then sighed. "Yashima, Kazehana."
The brown and raven haired Sekirei listened attentively.
"Do you remember when I told you the story of my past…and Hoe, Idaho?"
"Yes…" Yashima said unsurely.
"Of course." Kazehana nodded with concern. "You spoke of Ragland, the purging, and the only survivor being Elizabeth Greene."
"Wait, I've heard of this before." Karasuba recalled, "The great purge of Hope, Idaho. There was only one survivor of the terrible outbreak from 1964 to 1969. There was only of survivor of that terrible event."
"Well…that was a lie." Alex said. He turned and looked towards them all with eyes filled with concern and anger. "There wasn't just one survivor of Hope, Idaho. There were two…and Minaka's attracting him."
XXX
Minato had finally ran far enough to where the tower was finally right down the road from where he stood. It still stood quite a few yards away from him, but even so, he felt as if it wasn't that long of a run to get there for an odd reason. In fact he felt his body generally getting stronger for some reason, but that was put in the back of his head as the tower was so close in his sights.
"Just wait…I'm coming…" Minato said confidently as his fist clenched tightly. "I'm coming…because I remember now…I remember it all...I remember Hope, Idaho…my home…and you…Mother."