Giving a Lot of Damn About Not Giving a Damn

Melanie side glanced at her sister, watching the Lust girl set down the radio and bring her knee up to her chest, lining her foot up with the device on the cement. Pride was a dick so Phoebe's reaction made almost too much sense to the Lust twin, but her sister's actions as of late made Melanie question whether or not she was actually going to go through with it. She braced herself for the loud impact, but it never came, the Phoebe's foot hovering just above the device. Sighing, she sat down next to her sister and finished checking her weaponry.

"Is it really that hard?" Melanie asked, sticking a gun into the holster at the small of her back. "I mean, I can imagine not putting a bullet through his brain, but not destroying his voice on a dispensable radio? Seems a bit weak, don't you think?" In response, Phoebe slammed the magazine into the bottom of her handgun a little harder that she needed to. "I don't know why you're so mad. I'm just trying to point out—"

"Just drop it, okay? I'm not brainwashed or under mind control so stop trying to snap me out of it, or whatever the hell you're doing. Let's just get this over with."

"Why? What do we owe him? Hell, what does any of this have to do with us?" Phoebe mumbled something but her sister couldn't make it out. "What?"

"I said, nothing!" she screeched, the knife in her hand flinging into the dirt like a fatal punctuation mark. "This has absolutely nothing to do with us! There, happy?"

"Then why, Phoebe? Why do this? Damn it, I should've fled when I had the chance."

"Then go. This is the only way for me to get free from him, but you obviously have no reason to stick around."

The accent wasn't lost to Melanie and she sighed. It wasn't easy to be around someone so dedicated to serving another person; dedicated to the point of unhealthy obsession. Sister or no, it was hard to see the benefit in death. "Get free of him how? Dying?"

Phoebe grabbed her knife and stood, wiping off the blade before she put it in her wrist sheath. Reaching down, she held out a hand to her sister. "I don't plan on dying. Are you with me?"

It took a moment or two, but Melanie finally grabbed the hand, pulling herself up and wiping off her pants. Apparently, her blood connection ran a bit deeper than her anger. "I get Lexi. Pride may faun over her, but I happen to hate that little bitch."

"As long as you know what you're up against." The twins shared a nod and then Phoebe grabbed the sniper rifle, the two girls walking in opposite directions.

"Lexi, where are we going? Do you even know where to find them?"

The Berserker sidestepped around a rock chunk in the middle of the road. She really had no idea how such a huge block of concrete had gotten there—because the place had been abandoned, not attacked—but since the rest of the satellite was trashed, it was almost comforting to see. If the place looked clean and just abandoned, it would probably be even creepier, like there was a threat neither one knew about.

"Lexi, did you hear me? Where are we—"

"Do you ever shut up?" Eclipse asked, turning past a downed power pole, the top leaning against a business building of some kind. "We're heading the right way, that's all you need to care about."

"Well, good, but I still don't think we're armed well enough."

"Berserkers are better when we're up close and personal."

"Sure, but bullets vs. fists is no contest. And knives can only go so far."

Sighing, Eclipse pivoted and put a hand on Namarra's shoulder, smiling when she felt the Natural tense. "We're armed about as well as we were near Orb; carrying what we can." She patted her shoulder and Namarra's eyes narrowed. "They'll be just as armed as we are."

"Remember, there's more of them than us."

The Berserker smiled again and patted her shoulder once more. Somehow, Eclipse seemed scarier like this than when she was pissed.

They walked for another twenty minutes or so, stopping briefly in order to figure out a safe route around more sparking power lines. For the most part, electricity was passed through the ground, but some of the older satellites were made so the outer layers used the energy mostly for emergency systems and defenses. That meant the electricity had to be transferred via power plants and cables. The people had made the most of it, however, having the "unsophisticated" look remind them of Earth. It was amazing the sparks didn't ignite any of the surrounding rubble or buildings though, only going as far as scorching the concrete.

"Well, if there was any doubt there was electricity," Namarra muttered, leaving the punch line to linger in the air and turning back onto the main road. They had to go a block out of the way in order to avoid the mess bit it all worked out in the end. Eclipse didn't answer and the Natural started to get worried. This berserk was scary because Eclipse was acting almost normal. There were no snide remarks, no devilish smirks or freaky laughs. Surprisingly, Namarra missed it; probably because it felt so normal. How long has she been snapped? the Natural thought. Going on eight hours. Holy shit. She gulped.

"We're getting—" Eclipse started, but stopped herself, holding up a hand so Namarra paused as well. At first the Natural didn't know why they had stopped, but soon she felt it; her training honing her sixth sense enough to notice such an eerie feeling.

A sniper's scope.

"Down!" Eclipse hissed and pulled Namarra to the ground as she fell flat. A bullet hit the cement a foot behind them and it took a second, but the Berserker ended up laughing excitedly, offering an uncharacteristic squeak when another hit behind them. "Welcome party's here!"

"It'd be nice if they weren't cowards though!" Namarra shouted and a bullet hit the cement on her right. The shot ricocheted off the ground and hit the glass door next to her, shattering it. The sound was so loud amid the silence the Natural thought she was going to go deaf and the echo of the glass falling to the ground was like test tubes tumbling off a table. She shivered with the memory.

"Alright, I'm going north and you go—" she began, but when she turned to find Eclipse, she saw her zigzagging down the road toward a female at the end of the street. "Of course," she muttered and rolled off to the side to get out of sight. Whoever was shooting wanted to play a little more instead of going for the kill because he or she was taking a lot of effort to miss. "Great. Fish in a barrel."

Scrambling to her feet, she braced herself against the corner of the wall and poked her head around, trying to figure out where the shooting was coming from. Another bullet ricocheted off the bricks near her head, glancing off the wall and solidifying the fact the shooter was behind her and up. She was hoping the bullets had been coming from the other direction—that meant she had a bit more coverage—but she just had to make due.

Shrugging—and taking one last glance to see what had happened to Eclipse, but not seeing the Berserker anywhere—she took a breath and walked out into the open with her hands above her head. "This isn't really a challenge if you just keep shooting long range," she shouted, swiveling her head to see if she could catch sight of the enemy. "C'mon. I wanna say hello face-to-face."

The response was instantaneous. Namarra tensed when she saw movement in the second story window of the business building across from her, but her muscles pulled her body back behind the wall when she saw what was falling. The shooter had dropped the sniper rifle from the window and Namarra had no way of knowing if it was still loaded. With her luck—even though it was far better than Eclipse's—the gun would go off the second it hit the cement and even if she felt out of sight, there was always that chance the bullet would hit something vital. Holding her breath, she listened for the crash. There was no gunshot when it hit the cement, but the Natural waited a couple more seconds before venturing out again. The next sound reminded her of keys falling onto a tiled floor, but given the situation, she knew it to be bullets and shell casings. Apparently, the shooter didn't want either of them to be able to use the weapon again.

"Is that all? I'm not usually one to agree with suicide, but if you wanna jump, I'm not gonna argue." Namarra shrugged and stepped out of her hiding spot once more, looking up to see Phoebe now standing in the window. The Lust girl was leaning on the windowsill with one foot on the frame and a hand propped up on the side. The building looked practically new, but with no one caring for it, the vegetation had decided to take up as a caretaker. Apparently, the life systems were still operational if the rain cycle was still working on a schedule.

Namarra walked forward, pulling out her handgun at the same time. "Where's your posse?"

"What makes you think I have one?"

"SIN-ED's huge."

"And dead."

Namarra blinked, bringing her firearm up and tapping it against her cheek in thought. "Really?"

"You look surprised."

"And you don't seem to care."

Phoebe shrugged. "I'm over it."

"How mature of you."

"So, it's just me and my sister."

"Ugh, Lust again?"

"What, you're the sidekick, so forgive me if I'm just as unenthusiastic. And I really don't give a damn this so let's get it over with."

Rolling her eyes, Namarra brought up her gun and aimed. "You might want to a little bit."

The Berserker found herself rather impressed with the Lust girl. Eclipse had been swerving down the street mainly so the sniper couldn't get a good fix on her, but Melanie strolled backwards as the Berserker gained ground. She had a cocky smirk on her lips and that misplaced confidence made Eclipse slow to a walk. The sniper didn't seem to be aiming anyway so her real problem stood in front of her.

Eclipse shook her head. "I admit I haven't seen someone with that expression in a while." Melanie had stopped by that time and the Berserker walked right up to her, doing the full body checkout to size her up. No doubt the Lust girl had seen her fair share of wandering eyes, but somehow having Eclipse do it raised the bar on creepy. "At least not when I'm like this, that is."

"Don't flatter yourself," Melanie hissed, trying her hardest to throw some spit off her lips with the final 'f'. She managed a couple of drops, and the Berserker flinched, wiping the saliva off her nose.

"Flatter myself? My dear," Eclipse smirked and reached up, dragging a finger down Melanie's cheek. The girl tensed, but she was a brave little Sin. "What makes you think I need your opinion in order to feel—well—anything?"

Melanie grabbed her fingers and twisted, but Eclipse's reflexes were far better than hers. Swinging her left arm around, Eclipse's fist connected with Melanie's jaw and sent her stumbling to the side. She landed on her knees, one hand holding herself up and the other still acting like a vice.

"Let go," the Berserker ordered, shaking her captured hand, but it didn't seem to loosen the grip.

Melanie recovered and chuckled slightly. "Was that really necessary?" Turning her head, she spit some blood from her mouth and looked over at Eclipse bending down nearby. Since Melanie still had her fingers, there really was no other place for her to go.

The Berserker shrugged. "My immediate answer is, yes, it was very necessary, but after thinking on it more," she paused and tapped a finger thoughtfully on her upper lip, "yes, it was still necessary." She shook her hand again. "Now, c'mon, you're not my type. Stop fondling what you can't have."

"Again, stop flattering yourself!" Melanie showed a bit of athleticism then, rolling up onto her free arm and pulling Eclipse down at the same time. Kicking out, she probably hoped to catch the Berserker off guard, but the only damage she could really do was a minor connection with Eclipse's left shoulder.

The Berserker crumbled to the right with the attack, falling into a forward roll and twisting Melanie's arm awkwardly enough so she was forced to let go. Getting back up quickly, Eclipse jabbed her heel down at the crouching Lust girl, but Melanie had done a back somersault to get out of the way. The Berserker's foot stomped hard onto the pavement just as Melanie aimed her gun. The loud click of the safety was enough to make Eclipse smirk, but even though the Sin was kneeling on the ground—with a pretty good shot—Eclipse knew she could switch the advantage easily enough.

Turning, the Berserker held her arms up at her sides and faced her opponent. "Oh, pity, you got me. Now what?"

"Such a cocky response from someone at the other end of my barrel."

"Oh, honey," Eclipse cooed, a small laugh escaping. "You're one move away from death. I believe they call that 'Check.'"

"Alright, I'll humor you. What move is that?"

She shrugged. "Pulling that trigger."

"How so? You'd be dead."

The Berserker laughed again and bit childishly on her tongue to keep her excitement under control. "I'm assuming you know of my track record?"

"Ah, but you don't know mine."

"My dear, have you fought against a Berserker before?"

Now Melanie smiled. "Actually, yes."

Eclipse reacted just as she pulled the trigger, ducking back to her right and kicking the gun from her grasp. The whole thing was too easy, the Berserker knew, and when she saw Melanie running away she picked up the gun.

Empty.

Laughing, she threw it off to the side. If the Lust girl was smart, she knew fighting a Berserker in hand-to-hand combat meant something short of disintegration, but if she was running because she was scared, Eclipse was going to be in for quite the treat.

"Oh, little girl, what am I going to do with you?" Licking her lips once more, the Berserker stretched a little then chased after her.

They ended up in a playground. How they got there, Namarra wasn't sure, only that there was a lot of running involved. Phoebe was a lot faster than the Natural had anticipated, but she was able to keep pace with her pretty well. Namarra even got off some decent shots. None of them hit, but the Lust girl did end up stumbling.

Phoebe ran onto the playground first, grabbing the gymnastic bar and swinging herself around on the woodchips to fire off a couple of quick rounds.

Namarra slid under the see-saws on the opposite end, reaching under the bar in order to push the one side up and have the other side down as she went past. She almost over-skid the see-saws and had to scramble back behind a seat before Phoebe's good aiming happened to clip a limb. Amazingly, the see-saw held up to the abuse. After all the years, Namarra expected it to crack and break right away and with her body huddled behind the plastic, there was really nowhere she could go if a hole should form. An inch to the right or to the left meant a crippling wound and with the fight just starting, an injury of that substance meant trouble. Luckily, the only bullet to go though the see-saw was the last of Phoebe's magazine and that went safely into the woodchips.

Grabbing her gun, the Natural reached around the seat and fired off some shots of her own, aiming for the Lust girl still standing near the gymnast bars. One bullet hit the ground near Phoebe's feet while another hit the bar near her face, ricocheting in a different direction. One more veered down another path, grazing Phoebe's thigh as she tried to retreat towards the jungle gym. Namarra smirked when she saw her stumble, but had to reload, giving the Lust girl time to make it safely around the corner. Abandoning the see-saws, the Natural followed.

Phoebe probably had enough time to climb the rope ladder and gain the high ground, but she must have been playing it safe. Namarra glimpsed her fumbling around with a new magazine and nodded to herself. Suddenly, her choices made a little more sense, but that didn't stop Namarra from sending up a barrage. Having no other choice, Phoebe cowered behind the closest plastic wall.

Namarra kept shooting, timing her shots to when her enemy tried peeking around and keeping Phoebe pinned down. There was a plastic slide roughly five yards away that—after some quick climbing—would give Namarra the higher ground, but it was tube-like and a bit too crunched for the Natural to get up within any safe amount of time. Desperation might bring her to that decision, but there had to be better alternatives. A ladder and ramp went up on the opposite end of the playscape, but there wasn't much coverage if Phoebe should get a chance to aim. Her last option led her attention over near the swings where the monkey bars could allow for some kind of aerial attack. Definitely dangerous, but it looked like so much fun.

Tempting.

A small knife flew over her shoulder as she thought, the muscle near her neck receiving the brunt of the damage and leaving a bloody mess on her shirt. "Shit!" she cursed, circling back around and heading towards the swings. Namarra swerved as she ran, offering another curse when a knife hit the woodchips right behind her. The impact sent more chips flying, a couple hitting the Natural as she kept running. Hearing a window for a counterattack—or at least a distraction—she pivoted and fired. Both shots went wide, but they had done their job, making her opponent hesitate for the split second so she could reach the swings. Weaving around the seats, she pulled at the chains in order to create some kind of chaos behind her.

Phoebe stepped out of her spot and started firing as she positioned herself for another knife throw. Namarra was a good distance away, but the Lust girl must have had a lot of confidence because the Natural felt the brief break as she aimed. Grabbing onto the nearest chain, Namarra twisted around and pulled the swing in front of her. The knife wedged itself in the chain, the Natural's grip not even enough to keep the seat from flopping side to side. She sighed and let out a quick laugh, her eyes nearly crossing as she stared at the silver blade inches from her nose. "That was actually a pretty good throw."

Phoebe cursed and abandoned the jungle gym, gaining some distance by running to the mini merry-go-round near the wooden train for cover.

Namarra smirked—still amused by her creative survival instincts—and stepped up on the seat, tightening the chain enough so she keep the dagger from wobbling and stepped down in order to pull it out. Curling her arm back near her head, she let the weapon fly and reached for her handgun to volley off a couple of shots.

Instead of merely dodging the attack, Phoebe spun the merry-go-round hard and ducked underneath the outer edge, causing the knife and bullets to ricochet unpredictably. The intent was probably to send the weaponry spinning back at the Natural, but that kind of counterattack called for a bit more luck than actual skill. Phoebe, apparently, didn't have much luck at all and the knife went flying off in the total opposite direction of either girl, sticking into the wooden fence too far out of reach. The bullets made their own paths, wedging themselves either into the ground or the plastic playground gear. Whatever the case, Namarra had no choice but to duck back behind her limited coverage in order to avoid the ricocheting ammo.

Phoebe dove over to the wooden train, pulling out her handgun and having a little more time to reload the magazine. She fired at the merry-go-round, probably liking how the unpredictably kept her enemy from shooting, but she had to have had a large amount of ammo is she was going to be so reckless.

One of the bullets flew dangerously past the Natural, nearly catching her in the hip if it had been a couple of inches closer. "Holy shit!" Namarra cursed, trying to find better cover—since a skinny pole wasn't doing much—but the closest thing was the plastic slide roughly twenty meters away. Having no other options, she sprinted off.

Phoebe continued her manic firing despite the fact Namarra's sprint put her into a more open position. That could have been a mixture of desperation and stupidity, but the Natural didn't have a lot of time to dissect her intelligence. Two more bullets whizzed past her, only one landing a decent hit between her left middle and ring fingers. She didn't feel anything as the bullet passed through, but once the shot was already wedged into the ground, an interesting burning sensation crawled up her nerves as the blood trickled down her fingernails.

"Son of a—" She stopped mid-curse, hearing a yelp from behind her and, taking advantage of the ceasefire, slid behind the circular slide for cover. Catching her breath, she listened for any sign of Phoebe. It was almost funny, Namarra knowing that cry was probably from the Lust girl herself as a bullet either hit or grazed her. She was hoping for a fatal wound.

Namarra's fingers throbbed and looking down at her left hand, she could see where the bullet had passed right in between her two fingers, grazing the sides of each and leaving a path of bloodied tissue nearly reaching as far as the bone. It wasn't a crippling wound—and there was no time to bandage it—but it was quickly rising on the annoyance scale.

Still hearing more curses—and not being able to resist the temptation—Namarra caught her breath and shouted, "You alright over there?" A bullet buried itself into the ground about a foot to her right. "Well, you're alive at least." There was no hostile response that time, but with the gun fight practically over, the only things audible being the shifting playground toys. Maybe she's out of ammo, the Natural hoped, not hearing anything that sounded like she was reloading her automatic.

The merry-go-round squeaked as it came to a halt, the old metal not used to such abuse. It was nostalgic in some way and Namarra waited for the noise to stop before she took another deep breath and brought up her handgun. Spinning around, she shoved in her last magazine and aimed down to where Phoebe had taken cover.

The Lust girl was crouched behind the wooden train, one arm around the caboose and aiming at the Natural while the other dripped blood onto the woodchips. Namarra couldn't tell the extent of the damage, but still hearing her quick breaths, she suspected it hurt at least.

"Well, that was a dumb idea," the Natural mocked, firing off one shot before ducking back behind the plastic slide when Phoebe started pulling the trigger. She smelled the ugly scent of singed plastic before she smiled once more.

Dumb idea or no, the game was still on.

The Berserker hated playing games she wasn't winning. That didn't mean she didn't know she would be the victor in the end, it just meant she was eager to get on to her real targets. After all, it was a bad idea. Melanie led them back over to the downed power lines among other pieces of rubble sharp enough to skewer some unlucky person if he or she tripped at the perfect moment. But whether or not everyone was having bad ideas that day really didn't matter.

It was all fun in the end.

Eclipse fired a round at Melanie, finding her movements a little harder to anticipate than she had originally thought. For the most part, prey's zigzagging was predictable—the same length on each side—but Melanie had obviously practiced a little. While the Berserker always enjoyed a good challenge, she had better things to do than play tag with a Sin who ran swerving drills in her spare time.

Melanie dove into an alcove, her only cover now the stone doorframe of an old café. Eclipse could hear her body smack against the wooden door and then the all familiar sound of a fresh magazine being loaded into the butt of a handgun. The silence was so vast even the smallest shift in rubble a mile away was noticeable.

Hm, Eclipse thought, diving into an alcove of her own, coffee sounds pretty good right now. Melanie's first shot ricocheted off the stone near her head, sending a small rock chip to pass near her eyes. The Berserker didn't flinch, sighing and listening for the echo of both the bullet and the stone as they hit the ground. Hearing the rattle, she stepped out and fired a volley, walking forward to Melanie's hiding spot. The Lust girl reached around for another shot, but was forced to cower when Eclipse aimed her way.

A pile of concrete blocked her path, the top of one business building deciding it didn't want its third floor, apparently. Taking her time stepping on the stones, she climbed up and continued her trek. "Ugh, this is boring."

"Then just give up!" Melanie shrieked, spinning around the doorframe now with an automatic in each hand.

Leave it to her to go all commando on me. Eclipse cursed and skidded down the rubble and back into the street. Running, she ducked into another roll, a sideways turn that brought her closer to the girl. Melanie adjusted her shot, but not well enough.

Eclipse grabbed three knives, two longer and the smaller one in her right boot heel. Crouching, she threw one longer knife high and the other one at Melanie's stomach. She flung the small knife right after and dodged her opponent's attack. One bullet clipped her lower back as she moved, the delay from the knives enough to make her a half second slow. The bullet went across cleanly, her clothing taking the brunt of the assault, but the stinging graze was still very real.

Melanie's curse stopped the Berserker's dodging enough to see what had happened. Judging by the scrapes on the Lust girl's right handgun, she had managed to knock away at least one blade, but Eclipse's other long blade was sticking through the barrel of her left gun. Apparently, Melanie wasn't as ambidextrous as the Sin had hoped she would be. Either that or Eclipse's insistent sharpening had finally paid off. The small blade was by far in the most interesting place, however, sticking through her index finger and pushing down the trigger.

Her arm flailed with both the pain and the recoil, bullets flying in more unpredictable directions than before. The Berserker had no choice but to dive behind the PLANT's electric version of the minivan with two flat tires in the back. A downed power line sparked nearby, making Eclipse cower away so much so she nearly received a shot in her shoulder. There was the distinct smell of burning rubber—and seeing the melted tire near her hiding spot only verified the scent—but even that was thrown away as a minor inconvenience when another one of Melanie's shots hit the vehicle. Her next scream confirmed she pulled out the knife and the reckless shooting proved she was more pissed than in pain.

"Just tell me where Stray and FS are and I'll spare your other hand," Eclipse said. "To be honest," the Berserker continued, pulling a knife out of her wrist sheath and twisting around to take off the license plate, "we'll both get to save some ammo too."

"I'd gladly give them up, actually," Melanie shouted. She sounded roughly fifteen yards back and to the right. "Just give me a chance to kill you first." She was moving, coming at the van.

"Geez, what is it and people wanting to kill me? What did I do?"

"More like the memory of you." Her scoff sounded closer now, the girl probably cowering into the alleyway roughly ten feet back. She was doing her best to hide her position, but there was only so much a person could do in that kind of situation. Hell, shutting up was a pretty good idea.

"Great, I'm being blamed for someone's insane mental image of me. How comforting." Knowing Melanie's position, the Berserker crawled around to the opposite side of the vehicle, carrying the license plate with her. Putting the knife back into its sheath, she bent the plate and scooched up towards the driver's seat.

"I don't think you realize how much of an obsession you are for those two. It's gotten to the point where Pride tried to force my sister to be you."

"Am I supposed to be flattered?" Using the license plate, she adjusted the mirror so she could see the Lust girl standing in the alleyway. She was being a bit cocky, kneeling behind some rubble with her chest and up exposed.

"Some kind of emotion would be nice."

Watching Melanie shrug, Eclipse jammed the bent license plate into the side mirror, dropping her arms before the Lust girl could see what she was doing and shoot. "Stoic, that's an emotion." In response, Melanie shot the front windows. If only she knew she had just solved a problem. "No need to get angry." Shaking her head, the Berserker vaguely felt the glass shards cutting her skin, but her ears did ring for a while from the high-pitched shattering.

"You probably think I sound like a jealous girlfriend."

"More like a mother hen being over protective of her chick, but we can go with the jealous girlfriend if you really want to." She expected another couple of bullets to riddle the side of the van, but once she heard the echoing click of the Lust girl checking her ammo, the Berserker turned and aimed her gun up at the bent license plate. Taking a second to adjust the angle, she shot twice, the bent metal curving the bullets enough for one to graze Melanie's right forearm. The ricochet had cut the bullet's momentum by a fair share—not to mention Eclipse was aiming for the Lust girl's exposed forehead—but no matter where the wound was, the Berserker planned on taking full advantage.

Standing, Eclipse grabbed the knife from her right ankle sheath and slid across the hood as she threw it at the recovering Sin. The knife stuck into the wooden crate facing the Berserker and fell backwards with the force, distracting Melanie who was now buried underneath it. Aiming her handgun, she tried shooting through the slits between the boards, but Melanie had recovered faster than she had thought.

Rolling, the Lust girl threw the crate to the side and balanced herself on the balls of her feet. Before she could aim and fire though, Eclipse had already adjusted and was shooting. Cursing, she took off at a sprint. Her path took her dangerously close to the Berserker and Eclipse tried tripping her, but Melanie jumped over. Spinning into a crouch, the Berserker aimed and fired three more shots, not wanting to waste bullets on a fleeing enemy. The first bullet went high, the second went wide, but she overcompensated on the third and hit the Lust girl's left heel. Yelping, Melanie tumbled onto the street, her hands hitting first and even though Eclipse found her perseverance inspiring, crawling up the curb to get to the roadside apartment door was pathetic. Eclipse smirked and aimed, the bullet ricocheting off the cement right next to her.

Melanie made a short, shrill scream as she crawled through the doorway. It was amazing how quickly confidence abandoned its master the instant the advantage shifted.

The Berserker laughed and pulled her knife from the crate.

Namarra knew the slide would hold up—it had to be pretty thick to hold even the largest of the munchkins—but watching the plastic bulge and swell like crispy red sausages as the bullets hit was rather unnerving. She wasn't sure how stealthy a crawl through a tube would be, but judging by the number of sausages and their placement, the Natural wasn't as stealthy as she had thought. "Oh shit!" she hissed, hearing another shot bend the plastic near her left ear. It was amazing how loud the muffled sound was when it hit right next to her head.

She was close to the top, the mouth of the "tunnel," so to speak, looking a lot brighter than the hazy red she had been seeing for the past few minutes. Damn, how much ammo does she have? Namarra thought, cringing away from another attack. Based on the shots, she didn't think Phoebe had left her post and remembering how the injury looked, if the Lust girl was smart, she would take the time to tend to it.

There was cover at the end of the slide, Namarra knew. It was attached to the rest of the playground equipment—normally used to prevent little kids from falling and now, ironically, being a barricade between automatic weapons—so that meant the higher ground advantage.

Namarra put her bloodied hand on the outside and was just about to pull herself out of the slide when the most disturbing echo bounced off the interior. The sound was distorted, but even though the plastic muffled much of it, there was no mistaking what it was.

A scream.

Namarra had heard her fair share of screams—and on rare occasions being the one to do it—but that one was definitely the most frightening shriek she had heard in a while. On a scale of one to ten, she'd probably give it an eight for vocal effort. Shivering, she shook off the feeling running down her spine and pulled herself onto the platform. "That must've hurt."

"Melanie?"

That voice was Phoebe's and it seemed to be in the same spot the Natural had left her. Good. "My friend must've turned up the heat."

"If she hurts her…"

"You'll what, kill her?" Groaning, she pulled her feet out and sat back against the thicker plastic wall. "Based on that scream, I'd say she's become an exaggeration to your understatement."

"Then get out here and let's finish this. I have other things to do."

Namarra rolled her eyes. "Seeing as you can't go 'kill' Lexi," she did the air quotes mainly for her own amusement, "after you 'kill' me, forgive me if I don't give a damn about your To Do list. I'll die when I fuckin' wanna die." She paused, the childish side of her hoping for some pouty response, but nothing was audible. "Besides, I'm not about to give that bitch any more pleasure than…she…" Namarra trailed off, watching a diamond-shaped object bounce around on the plastic in front of her. She blinked, cursed, then kicked the grenade down the slide and leapt over the opposite side of the playscape at the same time.

The grenade went off in a deafening explosion, sending the Natural flying in the air far enough to crash against the surrounding fence. Sliding down to the ground, she was all but unconscious. Her whole body throbbed, the blood in her ears and limbs pulsing heavily as her brain tried to comprehend what was and wasn't hurting. Part of the playscape fell next to her, mere inches from her left foot and another hit the top of the fence. Luckily, it got caught there, dangling just above her body with the flames eating away at the plastic like a knife sawing at the string holding a guillotine blade.

Ringing; that was really the only sound her mind could comprehend as she lie there, unable to move and find a way out of the uncomfortable situation. One thing at a time, she thought and took a deep breath. First her fingers responded then her toes. Soon, bigger appendages started to listen, twitching up and down as they built up enough energy to push her over onto her back.

"Well, that hurt," she muttered, focusing on breathing through the pain.

"Aid due siding buy pet?"

Namarra opened one eye, figuring Phoebe was the one talking, but her damaged ear drums weren't able to make sense of it. "You'll have to speak up." She pointed to the sides of her head. "I'm a bit deaf." The Natural was definitely out of it if she didn't even hear the hammer click back on the Lust twin's gun.

"Have you decided to die yet?"

Namarra laughed. She really didn't think Phoebe would shout it at her, but there she was, her lips exaggerating the words as well. "Wow," was all she could say. Gasping, the rapid breathing hurt her chest, but the whole thing was just too funny.

"I poo fling?"

Again, she couldn't make out the words and her ears' translation was quite humorous. There was really no other option than to keep laughing. The barrel came dangerously close then, pressing cold and hard against her temple. The coolness actually felt good to her aching skin, but for some reason using a loaded gun as an ice pack seemed unhealthy. Her body reacted nonetheless, grabbing the gun—with speed she didn't think her body could obtain in such a state—and pulling it down. Slowly, she opened her other eye, focusing in on Phoebe as the girl's gasp made the Berserker smile.

"Now you have to kill two of us, bitch."

The Berserker found it most inconvenient. Melanie's resolve proved to be better than Eclipse had anticipated and when she turned to see if she had an easy shot at the girl, the only appendage left seen on the stairwell was her injured left foot being dragged around the corner. Sighing, Eclipse didn't want to waste the opportunity so she gripped the knife she had just recovered and took aim. She threw the weapon at the disappearing limb, the sharpened blade cutting through her Achilles tendon with a slick slice. The knife thudded into the wall just as the initial blood hit the cement stairs and only milliseconds before Melanie screamed in pain. It was a comforting sound and where Eclipse might have been disgusted, the Berserker licked her lips in excitement.

"Keep running, little pet," she cooed, exaggerating a stomp just to watch Melanie pull her flopping foot around the corner and head upstairs. "Pray God sent you an angel on the next floor."

Eclipse took her time getting to the corner, enjoying the feeling of being the predatory cat chasing the wounded mouse. Passing her tongue over her teeth with a satisfactory "Tck," she pulled the blade from the wall and wiped it on her pants.

Turning, she caught sight of Melanie's gun barrel just before it fired and ducked back behind the wall. The Sin was standing—definitely an impressive feat with only one good leg and a foot half attached—but her hand was shaking so badly her shot went high, ricocheting off the ceiling and back down the hall.

"It's called aiming," the Berserker mocked, hearing shuffling footsteps and a curse as Melanie slipped. Poking her head back around, she saw no sign of the girl's body, say the blood trail on the stairs and the four fingers grasping the corner for support. Eclipse smirked and slung her gun up. The bullet travelled parallel to the wall, clipping Melanie's middle fingernail and cutting up to severe the knuckle. Her hand jumped back with the force, a mere trail of skin left as her finger.

"Hm, your left hand seems to be a good target today," the Berserker said, having to shout over Melanie's painful cries. "You're right handed, correct? It'd really suck for you if you weren't." There was no response—not like Eclipse expected there to be—but the girl still showed some signs of resilience. She disappeared up the stairs again, the blood trail getting thicker as she climbed. The Berserker shook her head and followed, kicking the severed finger back against the wall and putting a hand on the railing to steady herself when she slipped. Laughing, she mocked her own clumsiness and avoided the red stream on her way up, humming Namarra's ballad between her lips.

"Alright, I admit the grenade was a good touch," Namarra commented, feeling the adrenaline already numbing her new injuries. Crawling to her feet, she kept her hand on the gun, ready for Phoebe's retaliation but nothing ever came. Stretching her neck, she heard it crack once or twice before she continued talking. "You should've thrown it in the street instead of sniping us though."

"I'll remember that next time."

"Hah! Next time." The Berserker smiled. "How naïve."

Phoebe fired the gun even though it wasn't pointed anywhere dangerous, probably aiming more to distract than anything else. The bullet sank into the ground, but the sound acted like a fighter's bell announcing round one. Namarra let go of the gun—to avoid the recoil—and spun in a roundhouse kick. Phoebe tried blocking the attack with her right forearm and shoulder, but the kick was too strong, sending her falling to the side. She brought the gun around to aim for another shot, but only managed to get it as far as the Berserker's shoulder. Firing, her aim was off and the bullet went high and wide.

Namarra crouched down and leapt forward, tackling the girl hard against the ground. She pinned down the gun hand and put her right knee into her diaphragm. Namarra's free hand grasped Phoebe's throat as the Lust girl tried to claw off the Berserker's grip. It was amazing perseverance, actually, since that arm had already been injured thanks to her stupidity earlier in the fight.

"Ouch, that hurts," Namarra said, leaning closer to Phoebe's face. "No, really, keep trying. I'm sure you'll break free."

Phoebe made a sound close to a growl and reached out for Namarra's face, her fingernails aiming for the eyes. The Berserker was quicker than that, however, her teeth reaching out and biting down on the exposed fingers.

Phoebe screamed.

"You're weaker than I thought you'd be," Eclipse mused, looking out behind the Lust girl at the building tops. It was amazing she had managed to climb all four floors to the rooftop and even had enough strength to pull herself to the lip, attempting to make some kind of escape, she figured. "Somehow I thought I'd at least have something dislocated."

"Sorry to disappoint," Melanie responded, her speech strained and thin. Seeing how much blood she had lost, there was really no other reason than stubbornness to suggest why she was on her feet then. Leaning against a bit of rubble, her eyes flickered back and forth, trying to stay conscious.

"Meh." The Berserker shrugged, the gun barrel moving up with the movement. Melanie—probably hoping it was a relapse in concentration—aimed at Eclipse only to receive a bullet in her right shoulder for the effort. Apparently, desperation really didn't mean intelligence. "Wow, really?" Melanie made some attempt at a painful scowl. She spit near the Berserker's feet as she brought her mangled hand across to grasp the wound.

"Where're FS and Stray?" Eclipse asked, not really caring about her bodily fluid.

"You lover's insane, y'know?"

"I've known that for a while."

"And yet you gave us all those chances to kill your family? Wow, some scary Berserker—"

Eclipse fired again at her shoulder, the bullet going through her crippled hand. "Maybe I should've tried cutting out your tongue instead. After all, you have enough fingers on your other hand to point me in FS's direction."

Melanie spit again, but that was more for her physical benefit than her psychological one. Blood splattered onto the pavement near Eclipse's foot. The Berserker frowned at first then started to laugh at the sight, watching the liquid soak into the soles of her shoes.

"Check the other satellites," Melanie said.

"Gee, thanks for being vague."

"I'm not sure myself. If I was, I'd tell you straight away."

"I take it you don't like them either."
It seemed like she tried to shrug, but given her injuries, it looked more like she was trying to bend over to retch. Then again, maybe she was trying to do that too. "Now what?"

The Berserker took a step forward, having to do some kind of skip to the side in order to avoid another one of Melanie's spits. Sighing, Eclipse put her hands on her knees as she leaned forward. Tilting her head to the side, she grinned. "You fry."

Melanie didn't even have time to respond, the Berserker standing to put her shoe on the Sin's injured shoulder and collarbone. She pushed. Melanie's left hand came around to grasp Eclipse's foot, but not being able to grab onto anything other than her own blood, it wasn't a strong enough grip to keep her from going over the edge.

Eclipse cocked her head to the side, smiled, and then waved. "Bye now. Send Satan my regards."

To her credit, the Lust girl didn't scream, at least not until the involuntary sound was torn from her throat when her body fell tangled into the draping power lines below.

The Berserker peered over the side edge just in time to see her clothing catch fire and smell the delightful scent of burning flesh. She took a moment to bask in the screaming a little more—and played an imaginary drum set to the melody the sparks were making—before taking aim. Waving again, she put a bullet through Melanie's open mouth and one through her chest before turning to move onto the bigger game. Another scream bounced around the city interior and Eclipse smiled as she bent down to run her fingers through the pool of blood near her feet.

"Such sweet music."

Phoebe didn't have a lot of options. Her left hand was pinned to the ground, her right between the teeth of a psycho with a biting fetish, and more air was probably being pushed out of her lungs than coming in. Namarra found it all amusing, of course, but based on the Lust girl's contorted look, she didn't.

Oh well.

"Kai!" Phoebe screamed. "Kai! Kai! Ka—"

Namarra tightened her fingers around her neck and—at the same time—her jaw clenched, stopping her teeth mid-grind. Tears fell from the corners of Phoebe's eyes, trickling back into her hair because of the awkward angle.

"That doesn't work as well," the Berserker mumbled, "since I'm already berserk in some form." She doubted the Lust girl understood—or even cared at that point—but the words were mostly for her benefit. Her brain had still reacted, quickening her breathing and sending her body into some confused stupor. Shaking her head, she felt her head clear a little, but by then her advantage was slowly slipping.

Somehow, it didn't seem fair. The Berserker was seconds from another kill, Phoebe's fingers oozing between her lips as the skin grinded between her teeth, and a good grip on the only firearm out in the open. A picture-perfect moment, actually.

Until the debris burned through the top of the fence.

It fell awkwardly on Namarra's back, forcing her jaw loose and throwing her off balance. She tried to maintain the hold, but ended up releasing Phoebe's neck in order to catch herself on the ground.

Panicking—there was really no other way Phoebe could have gotten the upper hand—she managed to wiggle out of the pin even more and free her gun. Just turning the weapon in the general direction, she fired twice and forced Namarra to abandon her advantage and roll further out of grabbing range. Her back throbbed and based on the burning sensation, there was probably still some debris lying there. Looking up, she checked for her opponent, but only saw her sprinting out of sight.

"Running away?" Namarra breathed, sinking down to one knee. "Fine, just give me a couple of seconds." That explosion had taken more out of her than she had originally thought. Even the Berserker had limitations, it seemed. Or maybe just me, she thought, sitting on the ground and looking the opposite way of the disappearing Lust twin. Leaning back on her hands, she let her head fall and her mouth drape open as she tried to regain her composure.

It was a peculiar sound, reminding the Natural of coins falling out of a slot machine, but when she brought her head up to find the source, her breath caught in her throat. Eclipse was walking towards her, flipping a couple of the sniper shell casings up into the air and catching them before they fell to the ground. That explained the sound, but the blood splatter on her pant legs and the suspicious way her shoes squished on the pavement added to Namarra's discomfort. To make it even creepier, she was whistling the same song they had sung in the hangar not too long ago.

"Did you have fun?" Eclipse asked when she had gotten closer, the phrase sounding like its own mockery of music.

Namarra narrowed her eyes and willed her body to remain alert. She didn't notice it at first, but as her companion drew closer, she realized how terrifying her situation really was.

Eclipse was still berserk.

"Hm, you look hurt and why are you swaying like that? Oh, nice job with the scenery though."

The Natural tried taking deeper breaths as she followed her comrade's exaggerated movements, but her vision refused to stay clear.

"Hey, you okay?" Eclipse crouched down next to her, the smell emitting from the drying blood on her hands mixing in with the burning plastic. While it was a valiant effort, there was really nothing Namarra could do.

Shit.

She blacked out.

Namarra had no idea how long it had been. That was both the blessing and the curse of falling unconscious. Based on the aching in her body and the sizzling of the coals next to her she could confidently say about an hour. Other than that, she was terrified.

The Natural wasn't sure what Eclipse was up to then, or even what she had been doing while Namarra had been out. Another unnerving thought because Eclipse was still not herself, at least she wasn't the last time Namarra had seen her and that was all of—well how many hours she had been lying defenselessly unconscious.

"Shit."

"Morning, sleepy head."

Namarra jumped and rolled around onto her stomach, immediately regretting the sudden movement, but sometimes survival instincts beat out pain. Looking up, she saw Eclipse squatting down in front of her, her head resting on her hand as her elbow was propped on her knee. With the other hand she waved, her fingers moving like a centipede as they rippled.

"You mutter in your sleep."

"Hopefully, bad things about you."

The Berserker smiled, a devilish little thing that involved too much teeth and a head cock either too impossible for a normal human or her neck had muscles no one else did. Namarra shivered at the sight, her comrade looking more and more demonic by the waking second. She tried moving to a more defensive position, but ended up cringing in pain. She heard the Berserker chuckle and glared. "You could have dressed my wounds at least."

"But why? You weren't dying or anything. The only major thing involved your two fingers and they're both attached."

It was amazing how much sense that made to the Natural, but she still wasn't pleased. "Alright, point taken." She paused, watching her comrade continue her demented grinning. The only difference in her posture was the small bounces she made as she was squatting. "Antsy, are we? How about using your brain to figure out what the hell we're gonna do now? Are we going after the rest of SIN-ED?" Namarra probably should have mentioned Phoebe's escape, but somehow she doubted the Sin would be back any time soon.

Eclipse shook her head and shrugged at the same time. "Since only Lust met us here I have a feeling something's happened we don't know about."

"My opponent hinted at something, but she never elaborated," Namarra explained, groaning as she pushed herself into a sitting position. Eclipse didn't even offer to help.

"Probably nothing short of large scale slaughter, I'm thinking." She chuckled and the Natural held back another shiver. "It would explain how foolishly desperate they have been lately."

"They could just be upping the ante a notch and Lust was trying to throw us off the trail."

"Then why were only two sent after us? And both Sins? They weren't even powerful enough to be considered enemies, but they were still high up in the hierarchy. You'd think they'd sent someone disposable."

"SIN-ED's never really worked in big groups, especially not when it concerns the Sins."

"Maybe so, but given their display, they obviously wanted to get our attention. Don't you think it would have been a trap or something? I mean, even the sniper missed every shot." Eclipse yawned, tracing her hand aimlessly over the cement. If she was drawing something the Natural didn't know what it could be, but watching the dried blood flake off made her a bit nervous.

"Then what do we do now?"

"Heh, we?" Namarra cringed, having given that look enough to understand how deadly it really was. Her body tensed, but the Berserker seemed more amused by the torture image in her head than by wasting the energy doing it. "Yeah, I guess the action of killing another Berserker is far inferior to the thought of causing misery with one."

"So I'm gonna live?"

"Well, I'm not gonna kill you at least—unless you do something totally moronic that is. But whether your stupidity will allow someone else the chance is up to you." Reaching out, she patted Namarra's shoulder and jumped to her feet, doing a little twirl as if acting juvenile would make her less terrifying. "And now, I'm starved! Care for anything?"

Apparently, the serious conversation was over. She wasn't about to argue. "Just something edible."

The Berserker made a mock salute and walked off. The Natural sighed and sank back to the ground, laying her arms out flat and resisting the urge to scream in frustration. Eclipse was still berserk. That meant Namarra needed help to snap her out of it. Shit. Time to make a call.

The phone she had gotten from the Earth Alliance was amazingly resilient. Not only had it survived a grenade, it was still working perfectly say for the numbers 5 and 6 gouged out. She could still dial and—only for this reason—she had memorized the technician's number on the Archangel. The woman must have been waiting for the call because she picked up right away.

"Please tell me—"

"Erika, it's Namarra."

"Lexi's friend, right? The one who ambushed me the other day?"

"Yup, that's me."

"It's about time you guys called in! How are you?"

"Fine, but we need to skip the pleasantries, so I'll get to the point," the Natural said, switching the phone to her other hand and quickly checking the battery before she started talking again. "I'm a Berserker too so I know that I'm talking about when I say there's something wrong with Lexi."

"Wait—what?"

"I don't have much time so you have to keep up. Lexi's been berserk for—how long have we been gone?"

"About three days now."

"Add on the eight hours she was shacked up in the Stealth before we clocked and do the math. She's been berserk the whole time and there's no sign of her going back."

"Where are you?"

"I can't say. Lexi'll kill you." Namarra could hear the technician sigh on the other end of the line and she rubbed her temples in response. "Listen, just calling you for help is a step towards maturity for me, so we gotta work together here."

"You're asking for help?"

Now Namarra sighed. "Just because I'm a Berserker too doesn't mean I know what's going on. I've never been snapped for more than a couple of hours. Remember what I asked you before we left?"

"To go over that data, you mean?"

Namarra nodded even if she knew Erika couldn't see. "Find anything?"

"Not much. I haven't really had a lot of time." The Natural didn't respond so the technician could explain. "Athrun decided to visit his father and—out of some dumb luck—we're about to gain a new ship, the Eternal, with Lacus Clyne and Commander Waltfeld at the helm."

"Athrun went back to the PLANTs?"

"To try and talk to his dad."

"Commander Waltfeld?"

"He's coming with Lacus Clyne."

Namarra smiled and thought on that for a second. "He might be of some use if things go even more south, but just tell me what you know of the data."

"Alright, here we go. Apparently, there was a Berserker case study done that started this whole escapade. It was presented by two scientists—husband and wife from Earth—and published."

"Names?"

"They were erased a long time ago along with every copy of their paper. But whatever information was in there, the PLANTs compared with what little info they gained from Lexi."

"What kind of comparing?"

"It looked like they were focusing on the Berserker take over severity or—as they call it—its decomposition."

"I'm not following."

"The first research done on a Berserker was when the candidate was really young. It looks like—at least from what data they could gather—the older the candidate, the more 'decomposing' the Berserker can be. It's still just a theory but—"

"Erika, we're walking myths, so both theories and facts are practically the same to me. What does 'decomposing' mean?"

There was a pause. "The older you guys get, the more powerful the Berserker becomes."

"So, in the end, it might have enough power to 'decompose' us entirely?"

Erika was hesitant again, but finally she replied in a more confident voice than Namarra expected. "Most likely."

"Great." She sighed and rubbed her forehead. It wasn't really something she had wanted to hear, but there wasn't anything she could do about it until later on. "How do I help Eclipse now though?"

"You don't."

Eclipse's hostile response was expected, but the Natural's instincts were still pretty quick despite her injuries. If she wasn't bracing herself for the next attack, she might have had the time to be proud of herself. Whipping around, she nearly dropped the phone as she brought her arms up to defend her face from the punch she knew was coming.

Eclipse's fist hit hard, forcing the Natural to stumble back a couple of feet. Her new bruises—a bit more painful now—didn't help much and trying to catch herself only made her body whine in response. Her knees buckled first, sending her into a position the closest thing to defenseless she had been since Shani had nearly cut her suit in two. Somehow she didn't think anyone would block the attack for her this time. The Berserker's sidekick came next and Namarra barely managed to bring her forearms up in time. The top of Eclipse's foot connected with the block and the Natural's head just above her ear. If the Berserker had been serious, Namarra would have been knocked unconscious, but—luckily for her—she was only given a migraine with a side of whooped ass. She tensed for her counterattack, but when she swung her empty hand around to punch the Berserker, she was gone.

Just a game.

Why was it always a game?

She waited for a couple more seconds until she brought the phone back up to her ear. Erika was as broken record with her name as the refrain.

"Namarra!"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Was that Lexi?"

"Just tell me what you know."

Erika sighed, probably frustrated the Natural wouldn't tell her anything useful, but there really wasn't much Namarra could share. Eclipse would definitely pull some kind of stunt and get them all killed if she knew there were more "targets" coming to visit. "I don't have much to tell you on why she's been berserk for so long, but if the Berserker is much like a separate personality, I might have some theories."

"Go for it."

"Lexi might be hiding in her own subconscious."

Namarra heard a sigh and tensed, Eclipse's statement breathing against her own cheek.

"Meh, that might be a possibility, but I think you just underestimate me."

The Natural managed to jump backwards again, amazed at how well Eclipse was able to sneak up and actually put her ear near the other side of the phone. Things were about to get really ugly if Namarra couldn't even feel her presence anymore. Crouching low, the Natural flexed her fingers only to find the phone missing from her grip.

"Erika? It's Lexi," the Berserker said, her shoulder holding the phone against her ear as her one hand used a knife to pick the blood and dirt from under her fingernails. "Huh? No, I'm fine."

Namarra watched her carefully, her eyes darting around to try and see if there was anything of use for self defense. The only thing she could find was a large plastic splinter from the destroyed playscape but it was twenty feet too far away.

Eclipse would attack her long before she even got there.

"Tell him to stop worrying; we're doing A-okay." There was a pause. "No, he should stay there. We'll be back soon." She smiled and Namarra shivered. "Yes, soon."

Somehow, "soon" didn't seem near enough.

Shutting the phone, Eclipse tossed the device back to the Natural and proceeded to let out an obnoxious yawn mixed with hand gestures and stretching appendages. She was like a giant feline.

"I thought you went to find some grub."

"I didn't find much," Eclipse admitted, reaching into her pocket and throwing what looked like sausages at the Natural's feet. One was charred black while the other was a juicy red color. Eying the Berserker suspiciously, Namarra squatted down to get a closer look and ended up back on the ground with more than a few curses falling from her lips.

They were Melanie's fingers.

"I wasn't sure how you liked your meat cooked. Rare or well done."

"What the hell?" Namarra kicked the "food" away and crawled backwards until she put a hand on a piece of plastic and slipped to the side.

"Huh? It's edible."

"To a cannibal."

"Then what're you complaining about?" It was a bad joke, but Eclipse didn't seem to care. Reaching around, she untied a small pouch hanging off her belt loop and reached inside. Namarra couldn't see what she popped into her mouth, but it went down just fine.

"Here."

"What is it?"

"Dried fruit."

"You sure?"

"You doubt me?" The Natural frowned and Eclipse shrugged. "Check for yourself."

Namarra caught the bag and peered inside. Nothing felt out of the ordinary and after tasting the objects inside the pouch, she agreed it was dried fruit. Grabbing some of them, she tossed the rest back her comrade. "Now what?"

The Berserker shrugged. "You're too injured to do anything fun so I'm gonna see if I can find a map of the surrounding satellites. I'm sure the ships have one, but I really don't feel like going back yet. Besides," she continued, stretching obnoxiously once more, "I feel like exploring a bit."

"And I'm gonna what, stay here?"

"Do you really have a choice?" Namarra's frown deepened and Eclipse waved as she walked away, whistling a different song this time, one the Natural didn't recognize.

Eclipse was an interesting Berserker. While Namarra thought—no, knew—she was scary, Eclipse just had this horrific aura surrounding everything she did. Even the way she tucked her hair behind her ears seemed threatening in some way. Knowing that, it was amazing the Natural got her phone back, but even though she had the electronic device, there was nothing productive she could do with it. Even making some kind of explosive device seemed useless, and that might kill Eclipse instead of bringing her back. Then again, that was a tempting notion.

She could call Erika again, but she wouldn't tell her anything new. Useless; everyone was useless. She stared at the screen then, her breath catching in her throat as her finger lingered over a single name, Orga. There was no guarantee he would have any answers. Hell, he probably wouldn't even pick up, but the idea of hearing a comforting voice was too appealing. The phone rang four times before someone picked up. Her lips curved into a smile then instantly drooped when the voice was all too familiar, but in no way consoling.

Azrael.

"Hello, my dear Chicabo."

"Don't call me that."

"What, 'Dear' or 'Chicabo'?"

"Neither."

"Now, now, no need to get snappy. Where are you?"

Namarra didn't respond.

"Well, how about, what do you want?"

Still silence.

He sighed. "Y'know, I might not be able to hurt you directly, but there are three guys who happen to travel everywhere with me. I'll ask again—"

"How do you break a Berserker connection?"

Namarra could almost hear his skin creak into a smile. He knew she would answer when he threatened her teammates. "You would know better than me."

"From the outside." That remark actually caused some hesitation and Namarra started getting nervous. Azrael quiet usually meant something like slaughtered bunnies or skinned puppies.

"Trying to warn your new friends?"

"I just wanna know."

"Or did you meet another one?"

"Azrael, it's a simple question."

"So is mine." The shrug in his voice was obvious and Namarra gave a relieved sigh when he didn't press the matter. Perhaps he was short on time. She could hear some movement in the background and it sounded like he was outside. Based on the seagull calls, he was at a port of some kind. "A good shock to the system might do it."

"Emotionally?"

"Or physically."

"Fine."

"Oh, and remember, Legund, you find a friend, you bring it home."

"No."

Azrael snorted. "Breaking orders, are we?"

"I proposed a trade, not a kidnapping."

"The guys do their job and you do yours then you're all free to live your pathetic lives. It's that simple."

"The guys for her, my last offer."

"Oh, another female?" He sounded too intrigued and Namarra cringed. She probably shouldn't have mentioned that.

"Azrael."

"I can't spare them now. And besides, I think we'll be seeing each other again pretty soon."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He didn't respond and she tried not to get frustrated. "No deal. I'll do it my own way."

He laughed, one of the more genuine sounds she had ever heard cross between his lips. "Because you're doing so well with that so far. Enjoy your rebellious stage, little Chicabo, and remember my offer." The line went dead. Namarra's attention went instantly to her surroundings. If Eclipse had heard that conversation, she would be in some pretty deep shit. Then again, she thought, trying to remember where the street was with all the downed power lines, maybe she'd understand.

The Berserker's pistol followed Namarra until she stepped out of range. Even if she had only heard the Natural's side of the conversation, it wasn't hard to know what she was talking about. Who she was talking to made all the difference because Murata Azrael was a well-known enemy, especially considering his role in Orb's destruction. If Namarra was playing for two teams, she should just kill her now and get it over with. Backstabbing the others was fine by Eclipse's standards, but backstabbing her was something the Berserker couldn't tolerate.

Switching the safety on the gun, she leaned back against the brick wall and rubbed a finger across her lips. It didn't sound like Namarra was going to try and capture her anymore—and she really couldn't blame the girl for using Eclipse to protect her brothers—but she had to start being a little more careful. Perhaps Namarra's sudden impulse to stay in Orb wasn't as unplanned as she had originally thought. Regardless, the Natural was in over her head, and the last thing Eclipse needed was a stupid teammate. This must be one of those moronic movements she had warned Namarra about, so perhaps it was about time the two Berserkers had a serious chat.

A/N: Hey guys, I know this chapter took a little longer than usual, but it's been a very depressing month for me and writing has been on the back burner for a while now. Not to mention whatever I write doesn't really sound like me so I have to edit it constantly. It's been…frustrating on many levels and not all of it writing. Anyway, enough of my depressing life, let's move onto Lexi and Namarra's.

We see a bit more of Namarra in this chapter and she's officially become a main character since most of it is in her POV. Yay for her, she's moving up on the importance scale! You'll be seeing a lot more of her from here on out so I hope you all like her.

As I'm sure you guessed, this chapter was pretty action oriented. Practically a 180 degree switch from the last one where there was more lighthearted fun. Not anymore because it's about time we start bringing things to a close. Alright, I take that back, there might be some more fun, but no guarantees!

Thanks for all the support even through the long-ish breaks. I really appreciate the patience because life really sucks sometimes and while it's nice to retreat to the back areas of my mind and hide, it's not always realistic. Thanks for enjoying my mental vacations.

Shout out to my betas CSSStravag, Death-Scimitar, and Maderfole for helping me through all this.

Corrections to the Narrative:

I really don't think I changed anything to the timeline itself, merely strayed away from it so I could do my own thing and make the days go by a little faster. Besides, having Lexi come back and hear Athrun went off alone to confront his father and got shot for it just sounds like so much fun.

Questions/Gripes:

Not many gripes, it seems, and I really appreciate that. I'm also glad to see you all liked the flow to the chapter and Strip Go Fish was a matter of necessity. There was just no way I wasn't gonna do it.

Thanks, guys, for all the support and I'll see you in the next chapter!

Strata