This chapter is the final one before I start to follow the re;birth 2 game. And now onto the chapter.
Three days later, during the evening Desmond returned to the basilicom. He walked through the door and called out "I'm back!" as he started to walk toward his room.
"Where have you been!?" IF yelled at him as she walked over to him and proceeded to slap him upside the head. Histoire and Compa showed up behind her.
"Ow! Hey!"
"No, you get no hey. You left here for three days without contacting us. What were you thinking, we were worried sick, we were starting to think that something happened to you. All three of us couldn't find any info on where you've been at." IF complained as she hit him a few more times in frustration.
"At least he's back and safe now, IF" Histoire said trying to calm IF down.
"Yes, but it looks like he has some bruises and scratches." Compa said worried.
"Don't worry Compa, I should be fine in a few hours. Nothing for you to worry about." Desmond reassured the young nurse.
"If there is anything I can do just let me know" Compa said with a smile.
"If you wouldn't mind, could you get me something to eat? I haven't eaten anything since I left." He asked.
"Sure, what would you like." Compa asked.
"Anything would be fine, thank you. I need to take a breather, so I'm going to head into my room ok." Desmond said as he started walking toward his door.
"IF, I need your help with some work, so if you'd please." Histoire said.
"But…" she looked at Histoire and back at Desmond still a little angry, then let out a big sigh "ok." She said as she walked over to Histoire.
Desmond walked into his room, sat on the bed and let out a large groan of frustration with his hands on his face. He then laid back on the bed and relaxed. About ten minutes later there was a knock at the door and the person entered. It was IF and she brought a plate of food. "Compa told me to give this too you." She placed the food down on the side table "I need to talk to you." She said as she sat on the bed. "First I would like to know where you've been."
"I've been searching for any clues that would help us free Neptune, Gear and the other CPUs. So, I looked throughout Planeptune's… less desirable areas, to try to find something and nothing. I went to the outskirts to an old rundown building when I caught wind of a rumor that ASIC members would meet up there. Of course, it ended up being just a rumor. So, three sleepless days and nothing to show for it." He raised his head to look at the ceiling and let out a sigh.
"So, you've been trying to find a lead for three days without sleeping or eating anything?" she asked.
"Basically." He responded as he reached for the plate of food.
"You idiot." She said calmly with a heavy sigh "Are you trying to make yourself pass out? What's with all the bruises anyway?" IF asked.
"Oh, that. Some muggers tried to rob me earlier today, we fought, I won, and that's the end of that story." He stated and went back to eating.
"Ok. Now for the other reason why I'm in here. We need to find a way to get you back home as soon as possible. This is not your battle, you don't belong here and we don't need more innocent people getting hurt." She told him with all the fun sucked out of her face.
He looked at her, swallowed the food in his mouth and began to speak "I've already told Histoire to stop searching for ways to send me back."
"What!? Why?" IF asked in shock.
"I have nothing to go back to." He simply answered.
"What do you mean?" was all that she could muster.
With a grimace of pain that came upon his face, he began "About just over a year before I came here. My family were in our vehicle going home from a day out in town, when…" He lowered his slightly and he grit his teeth for a second "we were hit by an oncoming truck… I blacked out shortly after, when I awoke I was at the hospital. I was told that my parents were died instantly from the hit. Then I was told that my two brothers passed away in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. The only survivors were my sister and myself… and she was in critical condition. I somehow was able to get away with a broken leg, fractured arm and cuts scattered about. The next day the doctors told me that my sister was not looking good and that she wasn't going to make it. I asked if I could see her and reluctantly they agreed. When they carted me in there… she looked like a mess. So many machines hooked up to her, so many cuts delivered to her arms and legs. She was conscious, barely, she always was a tough girl. I tried talking to her but all that she could was groan in pain and cry. All I could do was hold her hand" Tears slowly fell down his cheek "Here I was her older brother and I could do nothing as she slowly died." Desmond hit the end table with a closed fist. IF saw a look of pain and anger pulsing through his eyes as he sat.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know." IF said softly.
"It's ok, you couldn't have. I didn't tell anyone and I'm from a different dimension then you anyway." He stated with a slight chuckle as he wiped the tear stains from his face.
"Now, where was I. When I was released from the hospital it was during the beginning of the summer so I had some time to recover. Once school arrived, it was… different, people knew about what happened. My friends were worried and visited me shortly after the incident occurred, they still tried to be as supportive and good as possible to me, and I'm thankful for that. They helped me through the early days a lot. Many other students found out from the news, ya the wreck was that bad. Anyway, they seemed like they didn't know how to approach me. People were awkward toward me and I isolated myself with reading, playing games, and working out. Pretty much anything to stay away from human interaction. So, after time my friends and I kind of drifted apart and did not speak with each other as much. So, that's why I feel like there is nothing for me back in that world, and that's why I need to find a way to save the CPUs. I can't lose anyone else. You all have become so important to me over the time that I've been here, so the thought of anyone dying… I just… can't… it'd be like…" he started to break down slowly, but anger still visible in his face.
IF scooted over and embraced him in a tight hug "I can't imagine what you've gone through. And I don't know what I should say. So, all I got is that we'll save everyone, ok. And If you're going to stay here in this world then we will need your help to get them back. That doesn't mean you can go running off like you did the past few days we need to work together to get everyone back, and passing out from hunger and lack of sleep won't help anyone. Ok." As she spoke he slowly wrapped his arms around her.
"Ok, there is another thing I would like to ask of you IF. Ever since the incident my anger tends to boil over and I go into a rage. If it's bad enough for me to completely snap, well, there was I time when I almost killed two guys that had been bullying a girl for months at school. I was fed up with them, so much so that one guy had multiple breaks in one leg, an arm, and a messed-up nose. The other guy, I broke as many bones in his left hand as I could, dislocated his shoulder and crushed his right kneecap. So, if it looks like my anger is ever getting the better of me, please stop me, calm me down. Some way or another, I don't care if you have to hit me as long as my focus is off of who or whatever is angering me. I don't want to do that to someone again, I more or less blacked out during the time that I had beat them down. But I could still see everything, like I couldn't control my body. I'd rather never have that happen again, so please." Desmond asked with a quiet and slightly shaky tone in his voice.
"Of course." Was all that she responded with as they were still hugging.
"Thanks, you're… such a… good… friend." He said as he fell asleep and his arms fell from her back.
"See, told ya you'd pass out from all that." IF said as she laid him down on his bed and pulled the covers over him. She smiled at him and kissed his forehead, as she raised back up 'Why the hell did I just do that!?' flew through her mind. 'Is it because he opened up for once. I mean all that we knew about his past is that he had a couple of brothers that fought with and the mentioning of a sister. Or is it because it's getting late, so I must be tired and that's why I did it. Ya, that must be it.' She walked to the door opened it turned around "goodnight." And closed the door.
The next day Desmond opened his eyes, sat up, and stretched. He then got dressed for the day and walked out the door to get some breakfast. After eating a bowl of cereal, he started walking toward the door. Before he got to it, it began to open as IF walked in "Hey, good to see you up. Have a good sleep?" She asked closing the door.
"It was good, even though I don't remember actually laying down though. Did I end up wiping out while we were talking?" he rubbed the back of his head as he spoke.
"Ya, you did, told you didn't I. Anyway, where were you heading to?" she questioned with a hand on her hip.
"I'm going to Lowee to check on the situation there. Then I plan on checking up on the other two nations after that. Leanbox probably has it the worst right now without a candidate. So, I'll probably be in Lowee for today and maybe tomorrow, then I'll try to finish up with the other two and be back within a week. If you want to talk to me just call." He answered with a small smile.
"Ok, just be careful out there, ASIC have been converting more people lately, so just keep an eye out." IF stated.
"Ok" he walked up to her and hugged her and she tensed up a bit "thanks for the talk last night I needed that. I haven't talked to anyone about what happened long ago, and what you said gave me the focus I needed." He kissed the top of her head, which caused a great deal of red to flow to her face.
"W-w-what was that f-for?" she stuttered looking down 'Was he not completely asleep last when…' she thought before inwardly shaking her head to stop the thought.
"That was just a friendly gesture, a thank you of sorts. See you later" He said as he walked out the door.
IF just stood still 'He said it was just a thank you. So, why does it bother me.' She thought before shaking her head and moved on to talk to Histoire.
Sometime later Desmond was approaching Lowee's basilicom. He wondered if the twins knew about the situation yet or not. Well, he was about to find out. He started to open the door to the building and walked only a foot or two into the place before a book flew toward his face. He caught it with his hand.
"Take that! What's taken you so long Blanc, it's been four days!" Ram yelled before she saw who was there "Oh, hey Desmond, what are you doin' here and what's with the sad look?"
"Hi, Desmond." Rom said quietly.
"Hey where's Mina? I need to talk to…" Desmond asked but he was cut off when the person in question walked in. "Mina, we need to talk. Preferably away from the twins for the moment." She just nodded and they walked off into a room and closed the door. "So, the twins don't know?"
"No, they don't. I wasn't sure how to tell them." Mina replied.
He leaned his back on the door "I'll take care of it."
"Come again?" she asked.
"I'll talk to the twins about the situation." He replied.
"I can't let you…" she started.
He held up his hand "No, don't start saying it's not my problem. I've known you all long enough that it's become my problem too, and I can't let you do all of this by yourself, run the nation without Blanc and try to take care of two kids. That's too much for one person, so I'll help around here when I'm not taking care of things in Planeptune. I'm not taking no for answer." He told with a strict tone.
Mina waited a few moments before responding "Ok, if that's what you want." She sounded a little defeated in her answer.
Desmond nodded "Thank you." He then walked out the door and toward the twins. Once he got to them, he beckoned the two with a move of his arm and the two walked toward him as he sat in a chair.
"Hey what is it? Do you know where Blanc is?" Ram asked.
Desmond looked into the eyes of the two young girls and sighed "Yes… yes I do. But you two are not going to like it." The two girls were about to speak up before he held up his hand "No talking till I'm done ok. Blanc and the other CPUs… have been captured by the organization ASIC. And we don't know how to actually get them without some large sacrifices."
"W-what!? What do you mean Blanc been captured? She wouldn't let that happen." Ram said in a panic.
"B-Blanc… i-is." Was all that Rom said as she started to tear up.
Before either one could continue Desmond wrapped each one with an arm and hugged them "Hey, don't worry. We'll get them all back then have a big party. Ok, I'm not going to let my family happen to everyone else. So, no crying, you two need to stand up stronger than ever now, ok."
After his talk, he let the twins go from the hug, Rom was wiping tears from her face and Ram gave him a short smile before asking "What happened to your family?"
His face turned somber "They died… a while back before I came here. I can't let you two go through the same." He deadpanned. The twins then gave him a quick hug before letting go. Desmond smiled and said "Thanks. Now let's find a way to get your sister back." He then stood back up and walked off as the other two cheered behind him.
About a year and a half later not much had changed in regard of getting the CPUs back. Desmond has been working within Planeptune, Lowee, and Leanbox. He had not done much in Lastation due to the nation have a strong oracle to help run the nation, and from what he had heard a good candidate taking care of the place as well. So, he left them alone, of course though his time was stretched rather thin as it was and also Kei told him to do so during his brief visit. Also during this time, he gained a new ability, he could construct and manipulate fire, and no amount of heat could affect him.
He was in Lowee at the time, turning in some quests that he had finished earlier that day. He then made his way toward the basilicom, before some shouting hit his ears, a familiar voice. He ran toward the sound, when he got to the source he saw Rom and Ram cornered by some thugs. Ram was standing in front of Rom while she screamed at the group. From what it sounded like they were saying, they were followers of ASIC, that alone caused his blood to boil. "Rom, Ram. Get out of here!" He yelled out.
"Desmond. We can handle it…" Ram started.
"Don't talk back, do what I told you and get away. Go back home, I'll meet back up with you there." He commanded Ram then nodded and transformed with Rom and the two flew off.
One of the thugs spoke up "You really think you'll see them again. There's five of us and one of you, what do you think you could do to us."
"Hmm, five low lives thought they could take down not one but two CPU candidates. Ha, don't make me laugh. As for me though I'm a lot deadlier than those two could ever be, so I suggest that you start praying now." Desmond spoke with venom dripping with every word.
"How dare you talk like that. ASIC will take over this world." One of the men yelled as he ran toward Desmond with a sword in hand.
Desmond simply materialized his sword and parried it. A great grin brewed over his face, the other four followed suit and attacked Desmond. Desmond then brought out his other sword and effortlessly blocked every attack that came his way.
The five were gasping for air out of exhaustion "Who is this guy? He's insane."
Desmond then turned to him "Who? Little ol' me. I thought you said that I couldn't do a thing that you would kill me. Now am I wrong? Did you not say that I wouldn't see those two girls again? Well then, HIT ME! FIGHT ME! GIVE ME A HUG!" His grin morphed into a malicious smile. The thugs were a bit shaken by this. "If that's all you've got, then I'll start having my own fun." Desmond stated as he let out a menacing laugh. He immediately moved forward, dematerialized the sword in his right hand and morphed it into his hand blade. He started to move faster, parried the incoming attack from the thug and cut his arm from just below the elbow. Nothing but screaming was heard for the next several seconds before he turned to look at the others. He teleported in front of another one and sliced the man's left leg just above the knee. One of the remaining three tried to attack from behind but was met with a lighting blade to the hand, removing three of his fingers on his right hand and then he suddenly lost the toes on his left foot. The last two stood side by side shaking from fear. Desmond removed the hand and weapon of one of them as the man fell screaming in pain, Desmond turned to the last one. The thug had dropped his weapon and backed up to a wall, Desmond grabbed him lifted him up slightly and brought the blade close to the man's heart.
"Please, stop, don't do it, don't kill me, I don't want to die." He pleaded as he started to cry.
"Hmm, interesting, you five were willing to take the life of not only me, but two young girls. Without the thought of any repercussions, so why should I let you live. Hmmm, tsk, tsk, tsk. That is a tough question, oooo. I know what to do, I'll let you all live. But…" Desmond undid his hand blade and placed the hand on the side of the man's face "I'll brand you a traitor of the nations, so everyone will know what you did. You five pissed off the wrong man." Desmond then increased the heat of his hand until it left a handprint burn mark on the man's face, Desmond just smiled through the whole process, through the screams. After he finished with him he did the same to the other four.
After leaving the area he went back to the guild and told the place that anyone with a hand shape burn mark on their face was a traitor and that the guild was not to allow them to take on any quest. After he did that he went to the basilicom for the night.
It was two years after the CPUs had been caught. Desmond was in Lowee after spending two weeks in Planeptune and a week in Leanbox. It was the middle of the night so he was in the guest room that Mina allowed him to use during his stays in Lowee. There was a knock at the door that woke him up "Come in." he said as he sat up. To his surprise, Rom opened the door and poked her head in "Everything ok?" he asked
She shook her head "I had a nightmare…" she sheepishly said "If it's ok with you, can I sit with you for a little bit?"
"Sure." He patted the spot next to him "My sister used to do this sometimes, she was too scared to go back to sleep because of a nightmare so it's fine."
"Thank you." She walked up to the bed and sat down.
"Do you want to tell me what happened?" he asked.
She looked down for a few moments then nodded. "I dreamed that… sis, didn't come back… she died. And you were taken and badly hurt… and Mina…" she started to cry.
He placed a hand on her shoulder "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, Mina's not going anywhere, and we'll get your sister back, ok." He told her with as bright of a smile as he could make.
She looked at him and smiled "Thank you."
"You know, I still have nightmares from time to time." He told her.
"Really?" she asked.
"Ya, after I got here, one night. I dreamed that I was back in my old world, back in my lifeless world with nothing good left. None of you were there, it freaked me out a bit. Thankfully it didn't last long. And that's on the nice end of what I've dreamt." He finished telling her.
"That sounds terrible. Hey. Can I ask you something?" Rom asked.
"What?"
"Can I call you big brother? You help us and protect us a lot, like Blanc. So, you seem like a brother." She asked sweetly.
He pondered for a moment than smiled at her "Sure, it might be nice to have a little sister again." He put a hand on her head "It's late so we need to get to bed ok." He turned off the lamp next to the bed and laid down. "Night."
"Night." She responded as she quickly fell asleep.
The next morning Desmond woke up, stood up and stretched. He looked at Rom still asleep and walked out the door. He went to make some breakfast, he decided to make French toast for everyone. After a while Ram walked in "Hey good morning, how are you?" Desmond asked.
Ram yawned "Mornin', I'm good. Have you seen Rom? She wasn't in our room when I woke up."
"Ya, she had a nightmare last night and asked if she could sleep next to me. She's probably still lying in bed." He responded and placed a plate of food in front of Ram "Now, eat."
"Thanks, looks good." She said as she begun to dig in. "This is great!"
"Thanks, after you eat go and get your sister up. We're going to do some quests later, so I need her to eat first." He told her.
"Ok, what kind of quests are we doing." She asked between bites.
"Just some simple ones for now, you two are still too inexperienced to take on tough enemies right now." He stated as he readied a plate for Rom.
The rest of the day went by smoothly.
A month later Desmond was walking in the outskirts of Planeptune when several loud noises came from a nearby town, including explosions, gunfire, and screams. When he got closer to the source of the commotion, he could see a handful of what looked like soldiers. Not from any nation, he recognized them as ASIC troops. There were about twenty of them, not that difficult. Desmond saw a couple stragglers in the back looking down alley ways.
Desmond came up from behind one of the two, materialized a metal knife, grabbed the guy's mouth to mute him, and severed the connection of the guy's brain with the rest of his spinal cord. After carefully laying down the body, he quickly moved over to the other formed his hand blade and decapitated him. He was going to continue his stealth attacks until he heard one of the soldiers speak.
"Take the building out! Use your rockets!" five soldiers started to line up pulling out launchers.
After hearing that he thought screw stealth, let's go guns ablaze. Desmond was going to use his railgun but decided against it to not cause more damage, so he gathered a large mass of electricity and hurled it over to the group. It set off like a grenade, sending sparks and killing a few from the high voltage. The rest looked over to Desmond and proceeded to fire rounds of ammunition in his direction. Desmond suspended every shot in mid-air with a strong magnetic field.
"Is this all you've got… pathetic. You really made the wrong man mad." Desmond muttered to himself, before throwing the shots back killing several of them. Seven remained, he materialized his sword and teleported in front of two soldiers, stabbed one threw the chest. The other he pushed back and pulled the pins off the grenades, the shrapnel was caught in his magnetic field before dropping to the ground. Desmond moved over to a soldier and quickly snapped his neck.
The last five were grouped together. Desmond walked over to them, materialized his pistol, shot two of them. He then proceeded to throw, what looked like their leader up against a wall, grabbed one of them and tossed him on the ground placing a foot on his head. And shot the hand of the last one, causing him to drop his gun, Desmond left his gun pointed at him. Desmond then turned his attention back to the one on the ground.
"Don't think that you all could get off with such easy and painless deaths. No, no, no, not after you attacked innocent lives, and the nation that I am so fond of." He materialized his knife again and stabbed the hand of the man on the ground. A piercing yell filled the air, and the temperature of the surroundings rose "I'm sick and tired of all of your organization's crap! ASIC this and that, trying to tear this world apart, while there are people like me trying to keep it alive! And you all are just reaaaalllyyy pissing me the hell off!" Desmond yelled with spite as he kept stabbing the man, his face full of hatred and anger. And small flames flowed out of his body, after a few moments he looked up to the one that stood at gunpoint. The man saw Desmond's right eye that looked a pure red flame flowing from it. After killing the guy on the ground Desmond moved toward the one standing. Stopped in front of him, looked over to the one suspended on the wall and then went to work. He grabbed the un shot hand of the lower ranked man and placed his pistol in it, he then told him "Shoot him." The man looked at Desmond with a look of half scared and half confused. "I said… shoot him." Desmond then pointed toward the officer on the wall.
The officer started to panic as he saw the other soldier's arm start to raise "No, don't do it!" "I'm trying not to, it's moving up on its own." The other spoke back. Desmond slowly forced the man's arm up by using the gun, the man tried to move it away from his higher up but found it difficult to move it more than a quarter inch.
Once the arm was fully extended Desmond overlaid his finger to place the soldier's finger on the trigger. "Now, let's see what happens when we squeeze this just a little more…" A shot fired just missing the man on the wall "Ooo, so close. Let's try again, but this time let's hit our target." A second shot, and a cry was heard. The bullet hit the officer's shoulder "Good, good. A hit, but not a bullseye quite yet. Now just a little more." A third shot hitting the other shoulder, more screams were heard "Hmm, you just flipped your last shot. Let's try to connect the dots shall we."
"Why are you doing this?" the soldier holding the gun asked with worry.
"Why? Really, you are asking me why I'm doing this. Is it not obvious, you killed civilians, destroyed part of the town, and you are part of the group trying to kill this world. How do you not think that reparations would be in order? If not, then you must be just stupid and blind. But at least you don't have a bullet in your head, now do you." Desmond spoke without mercy, and caused him to pull the trigger that led to a bullet to the brain of the man on the wall. After that Desmond took his gun back and dropped to body off the wall and the soldier dropped to his knees. "Wow, look at that. You killed you own comrade. Aren't you suppose to entrust each other, fight through thick and thin, protect each other with your life. And look what you did… you… shot… him. That must make you feel real bad now doesn't it. I'll offer you a solution." Desmond placed the gun to the back of the soldier's head "Either I can shoot you now and get it over with. Or, you can leave here, tell the others the dangers that face those who oppose the CPUs and those that follow them, and after all that leave ASIC for good. If you don't I'll find you and torture you till there is nothing but bone left from your body, got it." Desmond stated with venom brewing from each word.
The man just shook for a few moments before speaking up "I-I'll go, spare m-me. I'll do as you said." Desmond dematerialized the gun and stood the man up.
"Good, now tell me your name." Desmond asked.
"J-Justin." He said.
"Ok, Justin two weeks from now meet me in the Planeptune guild at noon, so I know you did what I told you." Desmond commanded.
"Y-yes sir." Justin responded.
"Good, now go." Desmond said before turning around 'Man, this is going to take a while to fix back up.' He thought before letting out a heavy sigh. 'I do go a little over board when I lose it don't I. It would be nice to get that under control, but all well, I guess they did deserve it. And it allowed me to get rid of some pent-up frustration.' Desmond then walked back to the basilicom for the rest of the day.
A few months later, it was in the evening Desmond was IF were walking back to the basilicom after completing a day of quests. Desmond stretched his arms upward "Man, today was tiring, don't ya think?" he said with a sigh.
"Ya, I guess it was. It's nice to see that your skills are improving since we last fought together." She stated.
"It has been a while hasn't it. I also notice something while you were doing some of your special attacks." He told her with a slight smirk on his face.
"What?" she asked curiously.
"Somethings that you say during your attacks seem quite… well like something a kid might say while playing a fantasy game with their friends." He stated as his smile widened.
"W-what do you m-mean? Of course, I don't say things like that." IF stammered with a dust of blush across the face.
Desmond moved a little closer to her face "Are you sure you don't have a chuunibyou past Iffy~?" he asked in a teasing tone.
IF's face grew increasingly redder "Ahhh, SHUT UP!" she screamed and took a swing at him, missing as he dodged the attack. A few more punches thrown and none connected.
After a couple of minutes of teasing and attacking, Desmond grabbed both of her arms to stop her from hitting him and said "Calm down, ok. For being a bit mean, I'll buy you some ice cream or something before we head home ok."
She looked at him with a rather annoyed face, she then took a sigh "Fine. But I'm getting the most expensive thing there." She told him.
"You're just as bad as Neptune sometimes." He stated.
"Don't compare me to Nep's childish behavior." She angrily said.
"Your right… at least she isn't a chuunibyou like you." He joked as he laughed. She didn't take to kindly to that as she tried to kick him as her hands were caught. "Sorry, sorry, last one, promise. I just couldn't resist."
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, review and tell me how I'm doing. I'm going to have some kind of romance interest, but I'm not sure if I'm going to have it be with one person or a harem, most likely the latter but I guess I'll decide in time. This was also one of the quickest chapters that I have written, which is nice so I can get it out to all of you, and as always have a good day.
