Author's Notes:

Just gunning these chapters out one after the other, aren't I? Les'see how long I can keep this up for, I'm still feelin' the hype of creation…

Disclaimer:

Iji belongs to Daniel Remar and his company, Remar Games. I claim no ownership to it, or any references found within this story.

Iji: Demimortal

Chapter 2: Stranger Danger

Iji Soundtrack: Hade Shade

Two glowing ruby orbs stared back at her. Raven-black wings sprouted from his back, and pointed ears were suddenly visible from his head. Little fangs glistened in the light when he grinned. Understandably, the young woman was now mildly frightened. Reaching for the Nanogun on the floor, she abruptly discovered that it was now in his grasp. "Hey, now, I may look a bit intimidating, but that's no reason so shoot me on sight, now is it?" he inquired, a small smirk now present on his face. "An interesting gun you have here… I wonder what happens if I–" A sudden bangrang out, and the wall he was looking at now had multiple holes in it. "-pull the trigger. A Shotgun, hmm?" The girl began to slowly back away, growing more scared by the second. "Hhh! W-what are you!?"

His smirk simply grew wider. "Well, that's rather rude. Asking what I am rather than who I am, I mean. Now let me try to alleviate the tension a little bit; let's start over, here." He put the Nanogun on the bed. "Hello there, young lady. May I have the pleasure of your name?" She still looked quite apprehensive, and didn't say a word. "Oh, take your time. I have all of it in the world. But, are you going to keep your brother waiting? Let's get on with it, already. Your name?" He said, a little forceful this time. She put a frown on her face, but, seeing no other option, again, she answered, "… Iji. Iji Kataiser." "Good, you made the logical decision. Well, I am Satuxim Umbra, Angel, dimension hopper and, perhaps most importantly," he suddenly vanished, reappearing behind Iji and grabbing her shoulder again, "a dark sage of great renown. I'm basically just another alien, except not a member of the Tasen race. Oh, and far more powerful, of course." She spun around, seeing him bow, one hand over his waist, the other over his back, and he also said, "A pleasure." Iji merely gasped in surprise, and, not thinking, reached over for her new Nanogun pointed it at the now-named Satuxim, and pulled the trigger.

"Well, again, that was rather rude." He abruptly appeared in front of her, her wrist in his hand, and he pulled the Nanogun from her grip, then backed off a couple of steps. She gaped in surprise. "I'm sorry if I'm intruding and making a bad first impression at the same time, but, really, I can't help it. I'm just being myself, after all. Now, calm down, as your brother told you. Are you going to try and save him, or not? I can assist, you know." She began sweating profusely, extremely nervous, but, yet again, she had no choice but to say yes. "Good. We're finally getting somewhere. Now, I'm going to run ahead, and report back with any interesting news I find. Be back in a moment…" He said, opening the door and walking out, not really waiting for any sort of response.

Iji let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, and slumped down on the floor in surprise. The speakers came to life again, and Dan's voice spoke through it, "Sis! Who the Hell was that!?" Iji merely shook her head, and said, "I don't know, bro. I don't know. I'm just glad that he's gone." She then realized something, and looked over at a crate in the room, noticing the Nanogun was there. "Woah, actually, wait… He left the gun in here. What's he going to defend himself with…?" she asked herself, a tad concerned, even though she didn't really like him. She wouldn't intentionally harm a person, after all, be it human, or alien. Then she came to an epiphany. "Oh, God, I could've killed him with that…!" She clutched her head, trying to calm herself. Needless to say, it wasn't working.

Satuxim exited the door, and took a right, towards the door that was glowing pink. "Hmm… The pink stuff must be the Nanotechnology so I've been hearing so much about." Satuxim tried touching the door, but quickly recoiled back. It hurt. A lot. "Argh! Gods damn it that hurt!" he exclaimed almost yelling, holding his hand in pain. Just to try again, and ignore all common sense, Satuxim tried tapping the door with one of his feet. For some reason, it didn't sting this time. "Ah. Must affect only bare skin…" He tried kicking it down. That, almost surprisingly, worked pretty well. "Well, that was a rather… delicate door, I suppose." He then walked through the rubble that he formed, and noticed three dead bodies. It didn't deter him, however, and he kept on walking. He eventually came by a little contraption, though he had no idea how to operate it, so he just walked it by. He found two more, and a Poster at the end of the room, as well as another one of those contraptions. He immediately figured out who the four people on it were. Without even a word to himself, he began walking back towards Iji's room.

A knock on the door roused Iji from her thoughts, and, walking cautiously over to the glass, saw Satuxim knocking. She twisted the knob, letting him in. "… Iji. You might wanna take a look at what I found. Follow me." he said in a tone that implied that is was less of a request, and more of a demand. "Don't follow him, sis! You don't know what he's trying to-!" Satuxim glared at the camera in the room. Dan shuddered in his control room, even though he knew Satuxim was several miles away. "… Fine. But don't you dare hurt or, or I'll...!" "You can try to kill me, yes. But I can guarantee that you'll be the one to die first." Both Dan and Iji inwardly shuddered, knowing that he would most-likely follow through on what he said in some way or another if Dan tried anything. Needless to say, they both shut up at this.

Iji shakily followed Satuxim through the corridor going to the right, not saying a word. Satuxim didn't, either. It was about a five minute walk, and when they arrived, Iji almost got the temptation to gag again. They were the bodies of those scientists, evidently dragged of by some Tasen so they didn't get in the way of anything that they were planning later on. Blood-stains covered the floor, and insects were hopping about to get as much food as possible. Iji bent down, tentatively, and touched her fingers to a body's neck. "H… He's not breathing… And no pulse…" Again, she almost felt like breaking down and crying on the spot. Satuxim, seeing this, put a comforting hand on her shoulder, and pulled her into a hug. Iji, despite hardly knowing the Angel for twenty minutes, wept into his shoulder, grateful for the comfort. After a minute or two, she got her feelings straight, and muttered a quick thanks. "'S no problem," he said, rather casually. "Now, this isn't the only thing I wanted to show you. Follow me, still, careful of the bodies…" Iji willingly did as he asked, as he wasn't really demanding for anything this time.

When the two came by one of the machines, Satuxim asked what these did. Iji, not entirely certain either, picked it up, only for her eyes to suddenly lose focus, dimming a little bit in the process. Satuxim, not aware of what was going on, reached for her shoulder again, gently shaking her. "… Iji?" Hello?" Figuring that he couldn't quite snap her out of whatever she was doing right now, waited. After a few more seconds, Iji shook herself, and said, "Huh." "Well, what are those things, then?" he asked. "Apparently logbooks from those…" her voice grew quiet near the end, and Satuxim understood immediately. "Ah. Well, there were three more of these things lying around. Let's continue, shall we?" he said, Iji nodding.

Satuxim paused every time she read one, and, at the end of the room, there was a Poster. Iji, recognizing the four people one the Poster, said, "Hhh… Guys…" sniffing in despair in the process. Satuxim once again put a hand on her shoulder, though this time, Iji shook it off, muttering, "I'm fine…" Satuxim let her sit there for a few moments, then asked, "Am I to presume that they're your family?" "… Were." "Ah. However, I'm going to have to request that you be grateful that one of them is still among us. Be thankful for that, at least." he said. Iji could've sworn that she saw his eyes glow a little brighter at that comment. "Anyways, there's still one of 'em over there. Care to read?" She complied, taking a little longer than average to read it through. She gently put it down, muttering, "Bro…" Satuxim merely shook his head, figuring out quickly enough who wrote in that one. "I'm sorry for sounding inconsiderate here, but who's dead is dead. Mourn however much you wish after this conflict is over with." Iji sadly nodded in agreement, and slowly got up, following Satuxim out, and on to the next room, past the one she woke up in…