Ch 21: Standoff

No emotion crossed her face, she did not smile, she did not laugh at her victory. She looked down at the murky water where the body of Kakuzawa Torino had fallen. She closed her eyes, stopping a tear from falling down. All those Diclonius, who had been sacrificed for this man's own power. Humans were such…terrible creatures. They take and never give. She stood at the edge of that sinned lake for who knows how long. After an immeasurable amount of time, she turned her head to the door behind her. She could still hear the fighting going on out there. She had to leave, there was still yet one person she had to deal with.

Lucy Elfenliar.

Her body turned slowly, this was the power of The Queen. She reached out with her vectors, feeling the ground and ceiling as she walked to the door slowly and surely. Her black eyes did not return to their usual crimson color. They remained pitched, and she saw more things from it then ever before. She opened the door and went back into the building. The other Diclonius called her name, she listened but did not answer. The soldiers rushed her, brining out their guns and unaware how she had changed. She dealt with them, she killed them on the spot and did not pay a passing glance. She merely continued to walk slowly through the buildings. Every so often she would pause and see a number.

42

40

36

All these were once Diclonius. How could she let her kind be tortured and killed in these facilities? No more. She had attained her right as Queen. She now perfectly understood her power. More Diclonius joined her, but they didn't attack. Celia did the attacking. Every soldier that came her way she butchered. Around her, she could glorious cheering but herself? She did not smile, she did not laugh, she said nothing. She merely glared into the frightened eyes of each guard before she killed them. Some she just murdered quickly, others died slowly. The stench of the blood was sickening and yet Celia just didn't care. She would never allow anyone to interfere with her life again. She had lost everything that day when she was a mere child and now they would pay.

The soldiers swiftly came down. They shot from a distance which did little more than nothing. They gasped as they felt the vector slide into them. They shook their heads in pleading mercy. They felt their legs come off. They could smell their own blood, they could taste the warm, sickening flavor. By the time Celia go to the top of the stairs, 30 soldiers were dead. She never moved and eyelash. She had finally attained her power, it had taken a lot…but she had it.

This is what it meant…to be Queen of the Diclonius. She thought through her head during that walk of death. She wondered for the briefest of moments how the likes of Lucy, Nana and Mariko could have become that way. It was a foolish notion to make.

She came to the last hall way, the one most easily guarded. She walked and the bullets were deflected as if she nothing more than a walking shield. The Diclonius around her cheered, but at this moment all she could see was blood. Blood sprawled around her from her fallen comrades. The soldiers turned tail and ran she grabbed them with each arm and brought them to her face. Her expression was just as her action…murderous.

She crushed 5 against the wall, letting their blood slide slowly down. She took 6 by the neck, twisted until it snapped. She tore out the organs of others, she ripped many in half. She tore out the brains of one . The entire hallway exploded in a bloodbath of hatred. And throughout it all, Celia never smiled or said anything.

Seeing the iron doors she paused. Those doors lead to the outside. Outside was Lucy Elfenliar, The Old Queen who had chosen to live with the humans. How could she? She would rectify this mistake once and for all.

She stopped right at the doors. All was silent on the other end. She closed her eyes. She could feel her signature, Lucy's unique Queen-like aura that was so similar to her own. She could feel another close by to her, Nana perhaps. She was just the same, they had to die.

With one final movement, she opened the door. The salty sea hair hit her face hard, gripping her nostrils. It was good having been in that God forsaken place for so long. She could hear the gentle crashes of the ocean. The real ocean, not some mixture. It felt good to listen to it. She stepped out and she heard the gasps and movements of ones getting ready to attack. She put her hand up to stop them before they got out of hand.

There was a single man out there, the last one of the soldiers.

"Please my Queen." A Diclonius pipped in, glaring angrily at this last man. A smile played on everyone's face except Celia. This man was fool for being here. "We will deal with this idiot." He said.

"No you won't." Celia said, deliver a shock to the group of Diclonius.

"But.." The boy stammered.

"None of you have the capability of killing him. He would destroy you as easily as I have destroyed all the other soldiers. Back away everyone."

"But Queen?"

"Back away." she repeated just as calmly as before.

They listened, slowly forming into a U-shaped arc between Celia and the other man. Queen Celia's black iris were unforgiving and unmoving. Likewise the man's eyes were unfeeling, cold. He did not shake from fear. He did not beg for mercy. He stood there with his grey coat fluttering in the salty wind. His hands held tightly around two black guns. His brown hair, flowing down his back. He never blinked those silver eyes.

Jericho.

There was a moment of silent so long it seemed perpetual. The shiver of anticipation went through the spines of the Diclonius which formed the arc around the two combatants. Pitched black and steel silver plunged into each other, weighing their odds against each other. They moved slowly, assessing the situation at hand. Celia hated him, she hated humans more than anything in the entire world. However her transformation had allowed her mind to become more settled, before she would have attacked without regard. Now she waited with patience as the other Diclonius wondered why she was letting this human live this long. She could easily kill him! Was it to humiliate him, to make him see just how pointless it was for him to challenge her?

He lifted his gun, the black Tungsten 50 caliber and aimed it directly at Celia's forehead. The girl didn't blink, but merely leaned forward, crossing her arms in the process. 50 vectors circled around her so that she began to kick up the dirt in the vortex that surrounded her. "Move back." She said, looking at the Diclonius around her. The obliged, but still wondered what was taking her so long to just…do something as simple as kill this man."

Her vectors swarmed around, not only reaching towards Jericho but behind him as well. He didn't flinch as Vectors came inches within his face, he didn't shudder as the passed behind his back. He took no concern that Celia had affectively trapped him, leaving no room to escape. The smiles between the Diclonius were unanimous. This human would get it soon. Oh yes he would. This human, who dare think he can look into the eyes of their Queen like that! He would pay for such a blasphemy.

The finger tightened on the trigger. Jericho's eyes seeing his opponent, anticipating the attack to come. Likewise Celia's concentrated her efforts in a pure declaration of power. What had once been a whirlwind became a full blown storm.

She looked for the opening, she watched his movements which was more or less just the fluttering of his hair and coat. The gun still pointed directly to her head made little difference to her. It was not that she thought she couldn't win. She, as well as The Voice knew she could win. It was not a question of winning. It was a question of beating this man in the best way possible, in a way that left her as undamaged as possible.

While she hated this human, perhaps more than any human she had ever met. She knew him now as a person who could threaten her. A human who could threaten a Diclonius, especially The Queen could not exist. Not physically, not mentally, not ever. Once she killed him, she would be rid of that one threat and could continue her journey to kill the other threat. Lucy Elfenliar lay just beyond that sea, perhaps killing her fellow Diclonius like the traitor she represented.

One more minute passed…and then they attacked.