Twilight

Tororo collapsed at his terminal as a dead-defying static screech blasted from speakers of ship, destroying the speakers themselves and cracking all the glass in the control room except for the protected windshield. The control room's technology buzzed and zapped as broken glass sliced through wires and smoke smoldered from beneath the controls. Tororo crashed to the floor beneath him, his own glasses shattered.

Outside in Sepron's face, the Zoruru, Taruru and Garuru stood frozen when the first transmission line cut out.

The time has come…EXE

Density…….it's calling. Isn't it lovely? I love it. I think fate is the most beautiful things in existence!

There are some who believe in coincidences. I am not one of these people.

Hey! Wake up already! Tch...you mortals are really the fragile type!

Kururu half-opened his eyes feeling a light, cold hand take his hand. He let out a gasp fighting for air when he realized he was alright. His vision was blurred for some reason. Reaching up he pulled off his glasses. 'What…?'

"Finally!" A cool, soft figure wrapped itself around Kururu's neck, embracing him. Snapping awake Kururu held his arms out away from him, when he was able to see a transparent silver mass hugging him. "Who…?" he gasped. He let out another gasp when his voice failed to sound. The silver mass released him after a brief moment and when they stood separate Kururu was able to see that it was nothing but an airy cloud of energy in the form of a dense mist. "Welcome to my realm, Kururu Souchou." it said.

Kururu glanced around studying his surroundings. It looked as if they were standing inside a crystal in Sepron's Face. Purple crystal formed a giant room around them, with a purple fog trailing from the ceiling and along the floor. Was it possible to be inside a crystal in Sepron's face? Trying to keep rational thought Kururu struggled to remember what had happened before. All he could bring forth was the sight of a huge energy beam, and Tororo's scream over the transmission line.

"Who are you?" Kururu tried to ask the silver mass. It swirled in the air a moment before responding. "I'm life." it said. "Mortals could refer to me as energy, some even called me an angel, immortal, a god. You can call me whatever you wish though." Kururu didn't know what to say to that but reached out towards it. "Where am I?" he asked, still hating the silence that followed. Despite the lack of sound, there seemed to be an acute understanding between them. The silver mass twirled around his hand, sending off a frigid sensation.

"My realm. It can be anything you want it to be. Right now, it's what you last remember." it said. Kururu had so many questions, and with the way things were going so far, he wondered if the silver mass would really just straightforwardly tell him everything he wanted to know.

"I will." it said, answering his thoughts. Kururu flinched taking a step back. "Did that frighten you?" it asked, flying about him despite his frantic movements. "Kururuuuuu…." it said when a hand gripped his wrist, stopping him. The silver mass had reached out and seized him with a Keronian-like hand. It was a shimmering white and from there the rest of the mass began to form a shape mimicking his. A pair of glowing purple eyes looked at him, and it smiled.

"Well?" it said spinning around and posing.

"Can't you come up with a name for yourself?" Kururu said, in silence. The silver keronian frowned at him making a face. "Fine then….how about…EXE? That's what your little group kept calling me back in the mortal realm."

'Mortal realm?' Kururu wondered. Realizing that EXE had been reading his thoughts the whole time, and that he had been unable to speak, Kururu lifted his hands to his face. Besides his suit being gone he realized in horror that his hands were transparent, as was his whole body.

Kururu felt a chill on his shoulders. 'Am I….dead?' he thought his amber gaze locking onto the generated eyes of EXE. EXE smirked at him crossing it's arms.

"Dead? Well…have you ever tried to think of it as, perhaps you were never alive in the first place?" it said lifting off the ground. "No, you're not dead. You're living for the very first time!"

Kururu's gaze narrowed at it, his hand fisting. "You killed me!" he shouted, his voice still silent. It seemed like the strangest thing to yell at someone. However EXE only smiled more, seemingly prepared for such an outburst. It's eyes stole into his, a look of affection.

Jumping with surprise, he couldn't believe it. 'You can't be serious….' he thought.

"I am!" EXE burst out. "I'm here! I'm right here! Look at me!" it screamed, it's voice so rapidly becoming shrill, resembling the static screeching voice he had heard before, and perhaps the same voice Tororo had heard. "Why won't any of you mortals look at me?! Why do you all always turn away!? Look at me Kururu Souchou!"

Kururu lowered his head covering his ears as EXE screamed in fury. The transition from calm to explosive had surprised him. He had no idea that EXE could be so easily upset. If he was honest with himself, he really knew barely anything about EXE after he had realized that EXE was an actual person, or being. "I hate you mortals! I hate your hate! I hate it all!!!" Rising higher into the air the crystal that composed the room turned from a sentimental purple to a fiery red. "You cannot be the intelligence you are by existing! You cannot be complete by existing! You cannot exist like I can! I give and give everything to the mortal realm! I AM LIFE!! And what do I get in return!? Nothing! Nothing but hate from you mortals! Nothing but silence, nothing but hate and fear!"

"But you exist in my realm..." Kururu said, looked up at EXE seeing that despite it's cries, it could not truly cry, because that was such a human expression that EXE lacked. It was then Kururu was beginning to realize just what had happened to him, and what was going on. He didn't believe it at first that there was another 'realm' in the universe, or plane of existence, he however he knew there was an afterlife. Spirit-chan back on pekopon was proof of that. But even then, Spirit-chan had existed on the mortal level of existence. But did the incarnation of life truly dwell in plan of the afterlife? Or was this truly it's own plane of existence? And was he really dead? He was unable to tell at this point, and EXE seemed too distressed to ask. A god in distress sounded ironic, but it made sense. Kururu had been chosen by a god.

"Why me?!" he spoke up trying to shout over EXE's ear splitting shrieks. EXE stopped in it's fury looking down at him. "Why…?" it parroted blinking. Kururu growled internally. 'Why' had been the only thing he had never been able to understand. Why, had been the only thing he could never figure out, and the only thing that he needed to know. Why had EXE picked Kururu, of all people in the entire universe, to be it's host?

EXE smiled weakly at him it's fury dissipating as soon as it had come. It lowered itself down to Kururu, wrapping it's arms around him once again. "You did me an act of kindness." it said. Kururu's gaze widened at EXE's response, unable to understand what it meant. "You protected me from your planet's army didn't you? You sent me away because you know I'd only be used. You sent me away to protect me from those mortals. You protected me from the universe." EXE explained.

"Protected you?" Kururu searched his memories of the day he sent EXE away. "But…" He had sent EXE away to protect the universe from it. Not to protect EXE itself. Was that really the only reason why? Had it been anyone else in his place would they have had to go through all this? A coincidence sounded just about right at this point.

"And now those horrible mortals are back again for me. And yet, here you are again to save me." Exe continued. "I don't care if you were a mortal like they are, it doesn't matter anyway. You're mine now. And they can't harm us anymore." As EXE spoke it slowly slipped it's hands tighter around Kururu's neck, squeezing with delight.

"Explain." Kururu whispered in thought. EXE grinned, "See for yourself." A static thundered growled all around them coming from the crystallized boundaries. "You're mine forever." Exe whispered as it reached up behind Kururu digging it's hands into his back. Kururu flinched as his vision whirled and darkened.

A brief moment later the two appeared back in the real world, or so Kururu thought. EXE released him and turned away. "Look." it mumbled pointing in front of them. Kururu moved next to it to see what it meant when a loud explosion erupted from where EXE had pointed. The velocity of the explosion didn't seem to effect them, however. When the smoke cleared a roaring static noise vibrated from below. And on top of a huge crystallized plateau, stood a two foot tall keronian comprised of pure energy. "What is that?" he asked. EXE said nothing, but as they moved closer to the mass, Kururu was able to get a closer look at it.

It was Kururu's body.

"It rips matter apart, atom by atom, and could destroy whole galaxies, and everything in them within two seconds." EXE said, quoting Kururu's own words which was assumingly pulled from his own memory. Smirking, it looked over at the thoroughly disturbed Kururu. "You think you've let yourself become a monster now haven't you? You can be so unoriginal sometimes."

Kururu trembled slightly, not knowing what to think. This was much more backwards than what he had thought, or anything he could have tried to imagine. His world had been flipped, and even more than before, there seemed almost no way out. "Tch…" he gasped, seizing his hand to cease the shaking. 'Run…they have to run. They'll be the first ones I kill!' he thought, horrified. Tororo, Zoruru, Garuru, Taruru, Pururu too! But they didn't know!

He felt a hand on his shoulder wrap around him in another embrace. Quite the clingy type this EXE was...

"Who cares if they're killed? I already told you. Now that we're together, we can destroy this universe, and be safe together in my realm for eternity." it said.

Kururu violently shoved EXE away from him, furious. However, EXE had him at every advantage, except for one. Kururu wasn't one for being random, but his mind was clear as ever for the first time in a while. Knowing EXE's explosive and uncontrolled emotions, he pried on one of the few things he knew how to do best in his life.

"Kurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukurukuru…"

His thoughts emptied, and his resonance vibrated ferociously. EXE's gaze widened and it jumped back from Kururu with an exasperated expression. "What are you doing? Stop that!" it cried. Kururu's face fell blank, his amber eyes fixed on EXE. "I said stop it!" EXE shouted growing offensive. "Shut up! Why are you making such a weird noise?!"

"SHUT UP!!" EXE screeched reaching out and smacking Kururu across the face. He stumbled back a few steps his mind and voice both encased in silence. Using the bewilderment to his advantage, EXE too, was feeling the silence unable to read a thoughtless mind. "Kuru-Kururu…!" EXE gasped. It clinged to Kururu once more. However it failed to realize his patience had long since dried up for it's games. He grasped it shoudlers holding it back from him, glaring down into it's helpless purple eyes with irritation and anger.

"You call yourself a god?" Kururu's thoughts protruded, breaking the silence. "You call yourself life? Is 'life' really this desperate? Is this how you think it's proper for a god to act? You've the same persona as a sociopath."

"Sociopath? How dare you! You realize I am in control!? Do not question me!" It barked back at him.

'A god with a god complex...' Kururu thought rolling his eyes inwardly. However EXE had surprised him, he expected nothing more than the relfection of his own rage as he had chewwed her out. Irregardless, Kururu roze over EXE, pity was now out of the question as he developed something rather short of a plan. "You're more alive than I could have ever thought..." he said drawing closer to 'her'. Since he had laid sight on EXE, he knew that it truely had no gender, but if life had such human traits, then it had a heart to believe itself whatever he wanted.

His gaze softened, and she gasped as Kururu took her hand. "You're right though. You are in control. And I belong to you. We hold everything in the mortal ream in our fingertips." he said. Darkness protruded around them. The real world faded into a black mass, to the point where the only source of light radiated from EXE, barely illuminating Kururu beside her. Reaching up lightly touching her face Kururu frowned. EXE looked so sad, even for Kururu. She looked like someone who had dwelled in the darkness for millennia.

'Life...that dwelled in the darkness…'

"Life destroys Nature,

They're separate because they cannot coexist.

Fire, water, Air, earth….light and darkness…"

EXE's voice slithered through the air around him as she closed her eyes, not moving. "Twilight."

Kururu looked up silently as he understood what she was describing. "Separation of what can be and what is, elements seven in all…" he whispered acknowledging her prose.

"Thoughts are a mass of life, energy is without dependent needs, Existence defysit all." EXE continued. As the pure-energy keronian-shaped god thought to herself, she began to glow brighter little by little. Kururu held her close, trying to stop her rage. "Don't kill them." he whispered. "Let them live in the real world."

"One life for every death."

Kururu flinched at her last words. 'Please don't kill them.' he thought, his pride cracking and shattering to pieces. "I asked them." EXE said slightly pulling away from Kururu and looking into his eyes. "I asked existence if I didn't have to be alone. I had worked so hard, for so long, and created so much. But, when I realized that every time I gave apart of myself to the mortal realm, I would lose more than what I would get back. It was then I realized I can do anything. The only thing holding me back was the depressing thoughts from the mortal realm." Kururu didn't understand what she was talking about, his thoughts no matter how hard he tried to concentrate began to worry more and more about what was going on in the real world. "One life for every death, one destiny, and one fate for all of the mortal realm." EXE added.

'For the mortal realm…?' It made perfect sense, because it was common sense. But, what was she getting to? "You're right Kururu. I'm no god compared to the mortal realm's standards huh? No, I'd rather just be me. But…I guess I was wrong."

EXE pitched forward and kissed Kururu on the cheek before pulling away. "I want to see the mortal realm, and I want to be with you. But…." EXE then stopped as she drifted away from Kururu going a little higher and farther away. "I was wrong. Mortals could never give up what means the most to them. Even if their lives will still end, it changes nothing. Even the most sinister of mortals amongst them still have something in their heart. And, I have a heart of my own. I, life itself, have a dream." EXE then stopped hugging herself closely as she dispersed back into the silvery mist that she had originally been.

"I want to learn."

Kururu lowered his head upon her words. A god wanted to learn? Once more it made no sense, but every bit of sense. There was nothing in the darkness, and if life was always giving itself away mindlessly to what it was creating, then, there would be nothing for it to know. Nothing but darkness and the isolation of ignorance. It was not much that she wanted to learn, but that she wanted to know. She wanted to understand what was out there. Even in her existence in the mortal realm, she dwelled in isolation as a weapon that destroyed everything it touched. And because of that failed attempt to try her own hand within the mortal realm, all she knew was the death of what she created, and that wasn't much to know. Despite his short understanding of the motive, Kururu didn't understand why life premitted life from it's own isolation, and yet, death in the mortal realm? Perhaps life and death were of the same coin, instead of two separate entities. What EXE represented wasn't the method by which it created, but the energy transfer involved in creation. As if the universe ran by a single lifeforce. A circulating energy of light, the sun, or even the electricity generated by a heartbeat. She wasn't manifestation, but the energy of life. So in a sense, she wasn't really life or death, but existence with free will. So then, why was she sad?

Reaching out a hand to the silver mist, Kururu looked up with determination. "I will help you learn!" he shouted, smirking.

EXE gave a short chuckle before spiraling down towards Kururu. "Protect me. Teach me. You will?" it's voice whispered across Kururu's mind. As EXE got closer it changed substance from it's silvery mists to a bolt of lightening. Crashing into Kururu's chest he absorbed it falling back from the force of it and EXE's darkness became his own.

At first he panicked as he could no longer see around him. Though he quickly calmed down, and was surprised to feel no change in himself.

"…Kururu…?"

Jumping Kururu glanced in all directions to figure where the voice was coming from. "EXE…?" he called out. However it wasn't EXE's voice. It was someone else's, and it sounded…human. Waiting in the darkness for something to happen left him in a suspended animation. However before long the scene changed on him like a flashing fast-forwarded movie. Images of his past flashed before him, as if EXE was going through his memories. However the flashing movie stopped on one scene.

"…Kururu…?"

He stood within a small apartment house, and it looked nothing like Japan. The smell of curry perfumed the air, and he relaxed. He hadn't had curry in far too long, and it brought on a feeling short of homesickness. He looked up as he noticed a human standing before him. She had short light brown hair, reading glasses and looked astonishingly like Hinata Aki. Studying the human for a moment, he frowned. "Who are you?" he asked. However she seemed frozen in time, as if he was standing in a photograph. Frownign again he looked past her seeing another human, taller than the one with the glasses. She was tall, lean and thin as ever, with unkempt short green hair and bloodied bandages around her arms. She had a hard expression, he didn't care much to look at her but noticed the symbol on her shirt looked like Giroro's. Scanning the room around him he saw Giroro turned around, facing the girl with the green hair. "Giroro!" he called out, finding himself full of conflicting feelings. He looked back to the girl standing before him, trying desperating to imprint her face into his memory. Her sad expression had so quickly reminded him of EXE. But who was she? And how did she know his name? Sighing in thought, he glanced about him, knowing the freezeframe wouldn't last. He obviously had not experienced this moment, which made him wonder who the two girls were, and why Giroro was with them. Was this the future? Or something that could be? As fast as the memory had come, the darkness returned.

'Exe…' he thought, understanding what had just happened. Kururu closed his eyes as the roaring of a thousand winds sounded along with a screaming static noise. Over the thundering noise Kururu heard EXE's voice for, perhaps, the very last time.

I chose, and I loved it.

AN- I really should thank you guys. Reading over the reviews, I was surprised to find people were still reading and reviewing despite me not updating for the longest time. The story is technically finished. I've already completed the last chapter. However, they're still in roughdraft form and there's a few bugs i need to tweak and fix and add to keep the story making sense. *pushes up glasses* Despite the reviews about the pairing that never was really going to happen, you guys have been really good. No matter how long it will take, the story WILL be finished, since it technically is kinda finished LOL. (Though I do suppose it was a bit cruel to go poof on you guys right on the biggest cliffhanger) LOL KU-KU-KU~