Chapter 3
Deus Ex Machina
-:-
Vermillion Hotel, Tokyo. Dawn
"3a(112x + 5d) – 7c= 98… What the hell is this?! Is THIS suppose to challenge LE RAPHAEL (said in fake French accent)? Pathetic! I'll show the Department of Education the error of their ways!"
Raphael scribbles and calculates with the ferocity of a fierce god. No math problem is beyond him when he is on the roll
"Subtitute this with that….. divide thi- HA! Almost fell for that! Nearly didn't see the Pythagorean Theorem there…Well played….. BUT NOT ENOUGH TO FAZE LE RAPHAEL!"
Now, you're probably wondering. 'Why the hell is he doing math problems at the crack of dawn?'
Answer: Ever since the beginning of summer 12 days ago, Raphael's morning routine consists of going to the following: Go to the Vermilion Hotel Gym, head back to his room, take a bath and slowly work on his summer homework.
Yes….. he is actually doing his summer homework AT THE BEGINNING OF SUMMER! He is the pinnacle of awesome.
But that doesn't answer the question, doesn't it?
The true answer is simple, he is desperately trying to distract himself from the naked blonde roommate sleeping in the only bed in the room. 12 days since the beginning of summer, and about 13 days since the War of Forsena filming started, Raphael Norton was forced to share the same room with Remirura Hiiro.
Emphasis on the word FORCED.
There is a long and annoying story behind it, but we'll do our best to keep it short. However, in order to tell that tale, we need to talk about the very basics of STORY TELLING itself. It may be a bit boring but it is the root of all Raph's current problems, thus cannot be ignored.
There are 2 important stuff that an entire story revolves around, and that is the PLOT and the CHARACTERS.
Since everyone pretty much knows what a Plot is, then there's no real need to expound it.
Characters, on the other hand, needs a fair bit of attention. Everyone knows that there are 2 types of characters: the PROTAGONISTS and the VILLAINS.
Depending on the creator's culture and birth place, stock Protagonists tend to vary greatly.
In Japan, stock protagonists have the following characteristics:
1st Annoyingly Kind
2nd Stupid, or Under Achiever if you want to sugar coat it.
3rd Dense as hell.
4th A pacifist yet he is willing to kill when he is forced to.
5th Always helps those who are in need (and for some reason, those in need are normally girls)
6th He just wants to protect everyone he cares about.
7th Honorable.
Mind you, there is absolutely nothing wrong with these traits. The problem lies with the 4 WOF protagonists themselves, or more specifically, their IRL positions. 1 is an actor, 1 is a singer and the 2 others are idols.
As you can see, their position actually prohibits them from being anything other than a standard japanesse protagonist. They have their fans and their reputations to protect. They cant just use the most effective (and sometimes most evil) strategies and expect to survive the public backlash that follows.
With 4 unoriginal, uninteresting characters as protagonists, the story now hinges on the one who dictates the fate of Forsena, the VILLAIN. Thanks to his privilege of performing hideous deeds without restriction, it is in Raphael's…. no, Samael's actions that decide which of the protagonist will bite the dust first.
This is exactly the reason why the identity of the Villain was never revealed to anyone. If the sponsors were able to get to him, they could convince him to destroy their competition and throw the game in favor of a certain protagonist. In order to keep the playing field as fair as possible, MANEKI NEKO has been extremely strict at safeguarding his identity.
However, anyone with a decent amount foresight has already predicted that his identity and his affiliation will get out somehow. That is the main reason why at the very first day, the Hiiro Group approached the ORGANIZATSIYA and requested that they would safeguard Raph during the duration of the filming.
"The best place to hide is the place where everyone least expects" was the line Takamura Hiiro used when he met with Catherine Yvoska. Who would think to find the villain in the main heroines protection?
Surprisingly, it only took a couple of seconds for Catherine to agree, and with good reason. Only 2 days after he left THE LITTLE KREMLIN, a man from one of the protagonist's side was able to deduce that the Russians were the villian's sponsors.
What happened after that was sketchy at best. However, there was a news headline the following day of a man that was shot to death in one of the dark alleys of down town Tokyo. Based on the ballistics, the poor slob was shot in the right leg from 50 meters away, left shoulder at 20 meters, and had his brains blown to bits at point blank. Shells left on the scene suggests that a gun capable of firing .44 Magnum rounds were used.
Raph only knows one person capable of firing a large caliber handgun easily while being fairly accurate despite the recoil. One thing is for sure, Catherine Yvoska has outdone herself this time.
But enough about that. Right now there are more pressing matters at hand. More specifically, it's the soft yet firm mass of matter that has been pressing on his back that requires concern.
"Ara. Summer homework at the beginning of summer? How industrious of you Raphael-sama" says the naked Remi as she hugs him from behind.
'Why is she naked?' you ask?
The answer can be expressed in a simple mathematical equation.
Young Perverted Boy + Seductive Yandere Girl + LOTS and LOTS of hormones = Nightly Bed Wrestling
He hates to admit it, but Remirura Hiiro has always been skilled at manipulating people and he isn't completely immune to that.
"Down Boy Down!" Raph mentally commands a certain part of his body. "Stand up even just a millimeter and I'll smash you back in!"
He goes to his happy place in desperate attempts to quell the devilish lust welling up in between his legs….. but to no avail.
"Fu fu fu" Remi laughs at his pitiful attempts at reaching spiritual peace. "If you desire, I would gladly help you with your…. Math problem? Fu fu fu"
"Im just about done, so will you PLEASE get some clothes on!"
Remi giggles seductively as she heads to the bathroom.
Raph sighs in annoyance and returns to his math homework. The only thing standing between him and a homework free summer is his beloved math. Once again, he focuses in his homework with the (unnecessary) ferocity of a war god.
30 minutes later, he was done.
"Finished in 12 days! Damn I'm awesome!"
Raph stands up and stretches.
"Congratulations are in order then." Remi says as she hugs Raph from behind. She seductively presses her front bumpers with every intent to give Raph the bed wrestling package. "Can I tempt you on a … scrumptious dessert?"
This time around though, Raph rolls a successful mental save, thus resists Remi's mental attack. He gently forces his way from Remi's embrace and rushes to the closet.
"Sorry but Ayala said he had something important to show me. Since it's related to my work, I cant really pass on it" Raph says as he wears the very first clothes in the pile.
The unhappy Remi cutely pouts at his statement. " Work? I find that a peculiar thought. Once you marry me, petty things such as money problems will no longer be your concern"
"And what makes you think that I'm going to marry you?"
"Fu fu fu. Such a decision is not yours to make Raphael-sama"Remi replies sarcastically as she smiles sadistically at him. "We are already bound by the red string of fate. Nothing, and I do mean NOTHING, will impend our union. That I promise you"
To most people, her words are dismissed as playful teasing. To Raph, every word from Remi is a real and serious threat. Even after all this time, Remi still holds Raph's family as hostage. The main difference between the past and now is that Remi has grown really fond of Ange and Kaori. She would even go as far as call them her only TRUE friend, which makes it increadibly hard for her to inflict any sort of harm on them.
Unfortunately, everyone that is barely connected to the two (distant relatives, family friends, family doctor, etc.) is now fair game. Now, for the sake of 2 little women, Raph has to protect the people he doesn't even know.
"What a pain."
And what pisses him off is the fact that Remi has already grown on him. Sure, there are some moments where he wants to strangle her to death, but they rarely happen now a days. Besides, he did say that he was tired of killing, and he meant it.
Sure enough, Remi reminds Raph of his best friend Gino. And the thought of Gino reminds Raph of his desire for revenge. However, Gino's parents begged him not to pursue his vendetta. Apparently, it is not something Gino would want.
Whatever the circumstances may be, the fact that Raph has barely any urge to kill Remi pisses him off a fair bit.
"Well, whatever. I'm not the type of guy who enjoys doing nothing." Raph says as he leaves. "Why don't you play ALO for a while. Im sure the others are there right now."
"A splendid idea. Very well then, I shall do just that."
Remi takes out an AmuSphere from her drawer and lies down. "Well then, I shall entertain myself till your arrival."
With that, Raph leaves the room uncontested.
"It's still way too early for my meeting with Ayala….. might as well play around."
-:-
ALfheim Online, Central City Aarum
Username: LAZNI
Password: ************
The next thing Raph saw is the familiar branches of the towering Yggdrasil Tree. Seeing how the AmuSphere allows him to view the sight as if he was there, Raph cant help but be speechless.
"Crazy as he might have been, Kayaba Akihiko is a genius. The world lost a good one when he died."
Raph is currently situated amongst the lower branches of Yggdrasil, just above the Central City Aarum. He has a thing for high places, but for some reason, he never could love flying. The thought of having no visual means to support himself during flight makes him a bit uneasy. He would rather free run his way through the trees than fly.
"Well, no use just lying around here. Better look for something to do."
An annoyingly familiar feeling of disorientation hits him the second he stands on his feet. This is the main reason why it is standard practice to use their IRL height in VMMORPG. The brain obviously recognizes the body exactly the way it is. Any sudden changes, such as height or overall body structure, causes the brain to malfunction a fair bit and it will stay that way until the brain finally adapts to the new configuration.
Raph's current character is named AI and is a Cait Sith version of one of the most terrifyingly deliscious loli in anime history, ENMA AI of JIGOKU SHOUJO. Aside from the small cat ears on her head and the designless black kimono, Raph's Ai is a perfect carbon copy of Enma Ai.
And to add icing to the cake, his Lazni account is capable of hacking his character. Mind you, the hack doesn't do anything game breaking, but it does allow Raph to do one impossible thing that is absolutely required to copy Enma Ai: the complete lack of facial emotion.
No matter what happens, Ai's face will remain stoic and her voice will remain emotionless. The perfect loli Kuudere!
The hack did have an unexpected….. benefit/bug(?), but as stated earlier, it is not game breaking.
Note: From this point onward, Raph will refer to himself as Ai, not because he has to, but because he feels like it.
Ai stays still for a second to get her bearings. A couple of deep breaths later, she runs through the trees in order to get used to her body.
Once again, she is bothered by a certain mystery that has haunted her since the creation of this account.
"How in gods name can I run so fast while in a freaking kimono?"
She knows it's a senseless question, but it is food for thought.
Eventually, she stops as she runs out of running space. The sight that greeted her was awe inspiring to say the least.
The vast and colorful AlfHeim world made her look so small and insignificant to the greater scheme of things. In a way, being a mere speck in the world gave her a strange sense of peace. It also reminded her of a certain individual that she knew for only a brief time, yet that person gave Ai the impression that would last the rest of her existence.
The memory of the invincible little imp invoke a sense of guilt in Ai. Ever since Ai met the ABSOLUTE SWORD, a question has plagued her endlessly
Why does someone who deserves to live is destined to die? And why is Raphael Norton, a person who deserves to die, continues on living?
If anything, Raphael was jealous of the Absolute Sword. Atleast she entered the afterlife without a hint of sin.
Ai pauses for a moment of silence.
"…. I did promise her that I was going to beat her record…." She thought as she stares at the city hundreds of feet below. "I wouldn't want to make myself a liar now would I. Better if I take another shot at it."
Ai jumps from the branches and freefalls to the city below.
-:-
Central City Aarum, In front of the World Tree Gate
For a couple of months now, the ALO GMs have continuously hosted the ABSOLUTE SWORD CHALLENGE in honor of the greatest ALO Player, the late Kono Yuuki.
The rules are simple. Beat Yuuki's record of 65 consecutive 1 vs 1 duel wins and receive an item of the player's choosing, along with the title ABSOLUTE SWORD. If the participants log out, their win count will be reset.
It goes without saying that many have tried, none succeeded.
However, there is one that might actually have a chance at pulling it off….. and Czarina is currently realizing why.
-A couple of hours ago-
Despite its shady background, MANEKI NEKO is known to be a good company that takes care of its employees. With WOF main cast composed mostly of highschool students, the company decided to give them the weekend off to take care of whatever highschool business they had.
With that in mind, Ange demanded the entire group to meet up and go boss hunting. With no concrete plans at the moment, the group agreed to meet up in front of the World Tree Gate.
Unfortunately, not everyone was able to make it.
Agil had a prior arrangement with his wife's family. Ange understood and allowed him to be excused.
Klein just got out of the graveyard shift and was too tired to participate. Ange doesn't give a damn about him, thus allowed him to be excused.
Raphael-anisama said that he had a job to do and could not attend… He obviously didn't get the memo. When Ange demands his presence, she expects him to be there even if hell freezes over. She doesn't care if it is a matter of life and death, or the fate of the world is at stake. When she demands his presence, he better be there!
The thought of Remi monopolizing him for the last few days pisses her off!
Too cool off her head, she decided to find an unfortunate individual and beat the living daylights out of him. Fortunately, there was an unlucky victim at their meeting spot….. and now, she's in a very bad situation.
Her enemy is the cait sith Ai, a fairly well known mercenary that normally works for Sakuya of the Sylph race. For some reason, Sakuya has a sort of motherly affection towards the black Cait Sith. Ai was repeatedly subjected to being a dressup doll for Sakuya's entertainment, earning Ai the respect and pity of many.
Thanks to Ai's good relation with the Sylph Lord, Sakuya arranged a boss hunt specifically to get Ai the dagger that rivals The Holy Sword Excaliber. The White Hilt CARNWENNAN.
Mind you, despite being at the receiving end of many good things, Ai is a formidable dagger wielder that has beaten many of the best ALO players, some of which are champions in fighting tournaments.
Based on what little Czarina knew about her, Ai has challenged and lost multiple times to one person alone, Yuuki the Absolute Sword. In a sense, by taking on the ABSOLUTE SWORD CHALLENGE, Ai is honoring the memory of her beloved rival.
Anyways, back to the situation at hand.
Czarina is currently the 64th consecutive opponent of Ai in her quest to become the ABSOLUTE SWORD. The ones before her were Asuna(63nd), Leafa (60th) and General Eugene (51st). Kirito is also present but has not fought yet because there's something about Ai that bothers him.
Before fighting Ai, Czarina listened to the advice of her fallen comrades and decided to change her load out. Czarina swaps out her trademark ZWEIHANDER and heavy armor for the lighter NODACHI and shrine maiden themed armor. The Nodachi may only have 20% the damage of the Zweihander, but it can strike at a considerably faster rate which makes up for its defects. The Shrine Maiden armor sacrifices protection for mobility, allowing Czarina to fight agile opponents better.
The loadout change also allows her to practice the same stuff that she uses in WOF
Yet despite her preparations, Czarina had the truth shoved into her face….. Ai outmatches her in every way.
During the 1 minute battle, Ai has has slowly chipped Czarina to death
"Damn it! Eat this!"
Czarina wildly throws swing after swing in desperate attempts to keep Ai back, but the black Yamato Nadeshiko gracefully dodges, parries and blocks any thing Czarina throws at her. For each swing that fails to connect, Ai inches closer to her, effectively negating her range advantage.
The second Czarina enters dagger range, she executes the FLEETING SLASH sword skill. Her nodachi sweeps the area infront of her while she jumps back to create distance. As she expected, Ai simply jumps back to avoid sweep.
But she quickly understood her mistake. Ai didn't jump back to retreat, but to prepare for her next move.
"Oh cra-"
Before Czarina could even complete her thought, Ai closes the distance with the swordskill STINGER.
Damage: 15%
Czarina's HP: 32% (Critical Hit to the face)
Without missing a beat, Ai turns Czarina into confetti.
Ai executes 4 hit DOUBLE X
Damage: 2% - 4%- 3%- 2%
Czarina's HP: 21%
Ai executes 1 hit unarmed skill, PHOENIX PUNCH. Czarina is blown back 5 feet and falls to the ground
Damage: 5%
Czarina's HP: 16%
Ai jumps and executes AIR ASSASSINATE
Damage:15%
Czarina's HP: 1%
Ai executes PENTASTAB
Damage- 1%-1%-3%- 2%- 4%
Czarina's HP: 0% OVERKILL.
"…"
In the cold embrace of death, Czarina stared blankly at the emotionless doll.
Czarina was so shocked that she could even find it in her to get angry. That entire string of attacks happened in less 10 seconds!
"47% of life 10 FREAKING SECONDS!? Who is this monster?! Not even Ani-sama can-…"
Now that she thinks about it, she has only witnessed her brother fight, but never was she in the receiving end of it.
Suddenly, she feels warmth spreading through her veins, and a second later, she returns to the land of the living.
"Resurrection complete."Asuna pats Czarina in the back. "I did warn you. Ai isn't your run of the mill player"
"I know… but seriously, that there's no way someone in ALO can be that good!" Czarina replies as she replays the battle in her mind. "Its like I was fighting a SAO survivor or something."
Kirito suddenly steps forward. "…. You did…."
The two girls look at Kirito in shock.
""Eh?""
-:-
"God the father in heaven….. WTF have I done to deserve this torture?!" Roared the adolescent young man hiding behind the emotionless cait sith.
After Ai's battle with Czarina, Sakuya forced her to sit on her lap….. and this was torture to the young man.
"Ai, you have a bad habit of drawing large crowds when you fight." Said Sakuya as she pats the little kimono girl sitting on her lap. "I know its one of your charms, but I do wish you'd tone it down a bit"
"Yes" replied Ai in her monotone voice.
Like a little girl with a cute stuff toy, Sakuya violently sinks Ai into her voluptuous mountain range.
"Fufufufu. Your so adorable when you do that!"
"Yes" Ai replied with all the calm in the world.
However, her mind resembles nothing like her calm exterior.
"Boobs! Massive, Killer Boobs! I want to bite them….. I want to bite them SO BAD! Im sure Sakuya wont mind if I take a little nibbl-….. STOP! In the name of the all mighty god in heaven, STOP! Sakuya is my benefactor, I must treat her with respect! I must go to my happy place and banish the evil thoughts from my mind! Wusssshhhhaaaaaaaaaa…. Wussssshhhhaaaa…"
For now she focuses her thoughts and her sight on the only person who could possibly defeat her.
Kirito
And as she expected, Kirito was staring back at her. In his eyes, she could see that he has already figured out her true identity. It wasn't really much of a surprise, seeing how Kirito is a Gary Stu.
Without a word, Kirito steps up to the plate and awaits Ai.
"I guess he's a fitting opponent for my final battle. Nothing like an undefeatable opponent to end things with a bang."
Ai gently escapes Sakuya's grasp and walks up to Kirito.
"A word of advise, Ai." Sakuya says with an excited expression. "Kirito is no pushover"
Without looking back, Ai replies. "He is not…..a pushover... he is…. unbeatable"
-:-
At center stage, the two black clad warriors silently face off. Kirito breaks the silence by speaking first.
"Disorientation?"
"None" Ai emotionlessly replied
"How did you-"
"Enuma Elish" Ai says in a hushed voice, allowing only Kirito to hear it.
That word allows Kirito to finally piece the puzzle together.
"Hahahaha! I see. Then your emotions are-"
"Same as my avatar"
"pfftt…. HAHAHAHAHA! I see! Then there's only one ultimate way"Kirito draws his sword
In Ai's displeasure, she silently stares at Kirito.
"Err….. Arent we going to fight?" Kirito asks in confusion
Ai draws the White Hilt Carnwennan
"If you want to fight…." In Ai's left hand, she draws a long sword with the thickness of a two hand sword."Then fight me seriously."
The crowd murmurs in excitement. Mind you, the longsword is not a rare weapon, but people who dual wields are very much so.
Kirito cant help but smile at her challenge.
"Hahahaha! I see. If that's how you want to play it….." Kirito draws the sword that made the crowd gasp in shock. "Then I guess I have to answer in kind!"
In his left hand was the strongest weapon in ALO, the Holy Sword Excaliber.
The crowd goes nuts at the sight of not only 2 rare dual wielders, but also 2 of the most legendary weapons in one spot.
Kirito sends Ai the duel invitation and the count down starts.
Tense silence grips the audience as the dancers takes center stage.
The countdown ends
The curtains raised
ALO's most ferocious fairy dance begins
-:-
"Today is a day to remember!" Ai thought in glee.
She has achieved a tasked of monumental proportions. Today, for the first time since…. well…. ever, Ai has successfully forced Kirito to go into the defensive.
Ai's dagger hand launches an endless barrage of strikes, forcing Kirito to focus on blocking. The second Kirito tries to create some distance, Ai hammers him with a powerful downward swing from her heavy long sword, planting him back into the floor.
As she expected, Kirito quickly turns the tide by launching a savage series of slashes to force Ai to back off.
"Well… that was short lived…."
But she expected that much. Kirito wouldn't be a Gary Stu if that was all it took to bring him down.
Kirito goes into the offensive and hammers Ai with an endless string of sword slashes.
"Big mistake Kirito!"
Unlike the berserker fighting style of Kirito, Ai specializes on aggressive defense. Ai's dagger parries a sword swing, then quickly lashes at Kirito's neck, forcing him to block his other sword. Without missing a beat, Ai sweeps Kirito's leg with her long sword, which unfortunately misses thanks to Kirito's timely back flip.
Ai gives chase while letting lose the dance-like fighting style she has developed to specifically fight Kirito. Her dagger hand moves non stop to not only hack Kirito with every chance it gets, but also to force a crack in his defenses. The moment a crack reveals itself, the long sword smashes into it with pure brute force.
Despite nearly losing her balance every time the long sword is used, Ai gracefully leads once strike into another without giving the enemy any room to breath. The dagger persistently strikes the enemy before, during and after the long sword is swung, thus making it hard for a normal person to mount any form of counter measure.
… but Kirito is not normal at all.
Despite the near unpredictability of her fighting style, only a handful of her strikes got through Kirito's defense. To make matters worse, Kirito offense is exceeding Ai's ability to block them.
If you put it in numbers, Ai can block 80% of Kirito's attacks, while Kirito can block 95% of Ai's.
In short, Ai is losing… not like that was unexpected.
"Damn….. using THAT is becoming a good option."
Suddenly, Ai receives a PM.
"Damn it! Of all times!"
Ai throws a powerful swing, blasting Kirito 10 meters back. And as expected, the bastard blocks the damage perfectly. She then makes as much distance between them as possible. Once she was certain that it was safe, Ai opens up the PM.
-:-
This is Ayala.
Dicey Café
20 minutes
-:-
"Well… that's bad…." Ai thought.
The Dicey Café (owned by Agil) was about 25 minutes walk from where she is right now (The Little Kremlin). If she leaves right now and run a bit, she just might make it.
"Oy! Werent you the one who told me to fight seriously?!" Kirito roars in annoyance. "Stop reading PMs and fight!"
"*sigh*….. I would have preferred to duke it out some more….. but the situation has changed. I guess I'll be using THAT after all."
Once again, Ai faces Kirito with all seriousness, causing the black swordsman to ready his stance.
After a few tense seconds in silence, Ai speaks in her soft monotone voice.
" Faf Mea Guwo Mea…."
Kirito charges the instant he realizes that Ai was casting a spell. Ai meets Kirito's charge with a charge of her own, causing the two to collide with a loud bang.
"Ha! Is that the best you can do Faux?" Kirito whispers to Ai with voice of disappointment and annoyance.
Ai can understand his disposition, seeing how he believes that she has made an elementary mistake. In ALO, the spell casting relies heavily on proper pronunciation of the words in order to activate the spell. A slight grunt or a sudden change in pitch will cause the spell to fail. This is why mages must always have others to protect them, else they would constantly be interrupted by their enemies.
Unfortunately for Kirito, Ai does not have the time to play fair.
"Zadius En Guatrz Omnis Mea….."
"What the?!" Kirito exclaimed.
Not only him, but everyone in the large crowd was shocked. Ai is performing a feat never before seen in ALO history. She is casting while trading high speed blows with Kirito.
Capitilizing on Kirito's confusion, Ai presses the attack and hurls blow after blow.
" Sonwe Hunne Yor…."
"Damn it!" Kirito roars as he abandons defense and goes all out.
And he has a good reason to do so.
Ai was chanting the strongest spell in her arsenal, which in turn, is a high ranking water spell
"Cest Yor Vianchiel Wen Ganna Shell…."
Both of them cuts all restraints and brutally pounds each other into a bloody pulp. Ai could see the frustration in Kirito's eyes as he desperately tries to stop the casting. It was futile though, seeing how Ai is making full use of the bug in her character.
As the spell casting in ALO is interrupted by even the smallest change in pitch, Ai's hacked emotional display gave her immunity such things. The only way to stop her is to kill her.
Unfortunately for her, Kirito is just too good. Her life has just entered the red line while Kirito was just about to hit the half mark.
"Den Hartes Ciel Yor Presia Aulla Yor Tes Mea!"
Fortunately for her, Kirito wasn't able to kill her before she could complete the spell.
She rushes to Kirito and lock blades with him. A second later, the BLOODY ROSE spell activates causing Ai explode like a bloody bomb, killing Kirito in the process.
Similar to the darkness spell SACRIFICE, the BLOODY ROSE is a suicide spell which ensures the elimination of the target at the price of the caster's own life. While the damage it does is equal to the SACRIFICE spell, its explosion range is a pitiful 5 meter radius, thus forcing the caster to go up and personal with his/her target.
"Well…. I did want to end my wining streak with a bang!"
The audience was silent from what just happened. A second later the crowd goes wild.
"Awesome!"
"She almost took the Absolute Sword Title!"
"Man… 64 consecutive wins. She's just 1 win short of tying the record."
"She was just unlucky meeting the Excaliber here. She could have won"
These among many others were the comments that were thrown around, giving Ai a big sense of accomplishment.
Mind you, she had absolutely no intention of winning the Absolute Sword Challenge. What she did was to honor the memory of a young girl that deserved to live.
"This is enough for now. I'll challenge you again someday Yuuki."
-:-
Iwo Jima Comminication Site. Ogasawara, Tokyo
"I feel like Bond… James Bond." Raph though as he watched the scenery goes by.
At the moment, Raph is on a Black Hawk heading for the USA naval base at Iwo Jima.
'How did he end up there?' you ask?
There is a short story behind it. To make a short story even shorter, Raph will explain it in bullet form.
1st. Raph arrives outside Dicey Café with 21 seconds to spare
2nd. Several black SUVs suddenly arrives. Several large men abducts Raph.
3rd. Raph was blind folded and transported to an unknown location.
4th. From said unknown location, Raph was brought to his current location.
And the rest is history.
….. okay, maybe Raph put in a little bit of exaggeration there, but that's more or less what happened.
After a few minutes of flying, the chopper touches down in the US base. Raph quickly notices that something was out of place.
For one, aside from a couple of sentries, he can barely see anyone within the base's perimeter. To make this more confusing, there are only 2 ships in the docking area. One of them was an Air Craft Carrier (and it looks awesome by the way)…. but the other one was something else appearance, its black pyramid design looks like the stealth ship IX-529 Sea Shadow. In size however, the boat was as large as a super tanker (which makes it 200% more awesome!)
"Raphael Norton, good of you to join us." Said Eduardo Ayala as he approaches the helipad. "Im sure you have a tons of questions, and you'll get the answers once we go aboard"
"W-wait… hold on. Are we going board THAT?" Raph asks while pointing at the gigantic stealth ship
"Naturally. We invited you here specifically to show you what's inside the." Ayala calmly replied.
"And you're alright with that? Isnt this some top secret boat or something? Are you sure you want a civilian on board?"
"Ofcourse I do. We plan on employing your services in the future. Consider this as an initiation of sorts" Eduardo replies, causing Raph to slightly dread of the things to come. "Besides, I'm sure you're curious about the source of all of this fiasco. If you step this way, I will fill you in on all the details you desire."
"Hmm….. I cant say no to that, now can I."
With about 5 armed soldiers flanking him, Raph follows Eduardo into the gigantic sea voyager.
Upon entering the hull of the ship, Raph instantly understands why someone would bother spending so much money on making one ship invisible.
"Holy mother of God!" Raph exclaimed at what he saw.
"Ho… That got your attention I see" Eduardo says in entertainment.
"No shit Sherlock! No way in freaking hell I wouldn't be shocked on seeing THAT!" Raph roared as he points to a large cylindrical tube.
Floating inside the tube was a male, about 7-10 years old, with a NerveGear looking contraption on its head. To make things a bit more interesting, Raph can see about 100 of them lined up on the deck.
"Just so you know, each level of the tanker is divided into 4 sections containing 100 of these each. " Eduardo calmly taps one of the tanks. "The ship is about 3 levels deep. Do the math."
1200 human test subjects was the very first thought that entered Raph's mind. And ofcourse, he is not pleased at all.
"Oi… Eduardo Ayala, kidnaping innocent children for you experements? You have one sickening hobby there my friend." Though Raph said it in a joking manner, the killing intent was intense.
So intense in fact, that the guards drew their guns with every intention of using it. Even Eduardo instinctively steps back out of primal fear, but as expected of a CIA agent, Eduardo quickly regains his cool.
"Just to be clear, the ones in the tubes are clones, not actual human beings."
Raph stares silently for a second.
"Oh….. I see. Then there's no problem. Carry on" Raphael replied with the lack of any killing intent, much to Eduardo's confusion.
"Wait, hold on. You have a problem with kidnapping and human experimentation yet human cloning is fine with you?" Eduardo asks. "Isnt that weird? Cloning is worse in the moral scale than torture."
"What can I say? When you kill 61 people, your perspective on things is changed forever." Raph replies nonchalantly."In my opinion, the EGO is the one that dictates if a clone is a human or a sack of meat."
"Then you're a pro-abortion?"
"Like hell I am!"
"But doesn't that defeat your earlier reasoning? A unborn baby has no EGO, thus something that you don't consider human"
"Bingo. But I'm anti abortion not because I care about the baby, but because I curse the retarded parents." Raph relies with a fair bit of anger in his voice. "If they aren't ready to have a baby, then they should have used contraception or something! Butchering an unborn is as senseless as throwing away your food just because you don't like it. Worthless waste of potential"
"I see…. That's good to hear, but lets get back to topic shall we?"
"You're the one who derailed the damn conversation in the first place!" Raph thought but decided to keep it to himself. Being pointed by a bunch of M9 Barretas is enough to make even him docile.
"Anyways, there's something I want to show you. I'll fill you in on the way" Eduardo walks on with Raph behind him, and a few armed men close behind.
"Great hospitality. Atleast these guys knows how to make a guest feel right at home….."
As they walk on, Eduardo begins to fill Raph in.
"I guess you pretty much figured out why this multi billion mega stealth ship was created right?"
"Pretty much. I doubt there's any 1st world country that would dare create a land based facility like this and expect to surive the public and government backlash"
Eduardo chuckles heartly at his answer. "Correct. Nearly every damn legistration in the world forbids these kinds of ventures. It's ethically wrong they say. Thanks to Article 11 of UNESCO's Universal Declaration on Human Genome and Human Rights, no government would publicly support the cloning business."
"Yet here we are…." Raph replies sarcastically
"Ho ho ho ho ho. I did say PUBLICLY." Eduardo replies with equal sarcasm. "In truth, this project has more than just the US government as backers. Rock stars, athletes, business tycoons, warlords, tyrants, arms dealers. Anyone and everyone with money and authority from all over the world wanted to have a shot at immortality."
"I see….. that explains the high tech super tanker. I doubt good old Uncle Sam's wallet can shell out enough cash to pay for this one."
"Right you are. Anyways, we're getting off topic" Eduardo says as he leads Raph along the confusing hallways. "Now, I cant really tell you much since the project is almost completely classified information….. and even if I did tell you, you wouldn't understand a thing. I'll just give you an easy to understand, idiot proof summary."
"Oi…. For some reason, that pisses me off."
"The cloning experiment has been active for about 10 years and it has made significant and annoying discoveries about the subject matter." Eduardo explains. " For one, accelerated aging is possible, but only to a specific age."
"Hold on…. You guys can accelerate the aging process? How in gods name do you do that?"
"Classified Information" Eduardo replies in a Mikuru Asahina manner.
"…."
"…."
"That's disgusting you know." Raph says in a monotone voice
"Yes….. I regret it deeply. Lets pretend it never happened… for our sanity's sake." Eduardo answers in kind.
"Agreed." Raph sighs in relief. "Anyways, what do you mean by specific age?"
"We can safetly accelerate a clone's age to 5 years, 3 months, 1 week, 4 days, 21 hours, 58 minutes and 2 seconds. The margin for error is about 2.41 seconds. A millisecond more or less than that results-"
Suddenly, a loud beeping noise comes from one of the nearby tanks. Numerous scientists suddenly rushes to it and begins tampering with the interface.
"Come on Shina! Don't die on me now!" a scientist said
"Her heart rate is falling! Adrenaline NOW!"
"Its not working! Damn it!"
A few chaotic seconds later, the electrocardiogram flat lines which indicates the patient has died.
The scientists were silent until the one that called the clone Shina throws his clipboard on the ground.
"GOD DAMN IT!" he roared as he storms away.
"…. Wow… these guys are pretty into it" said Raph
"Ofcourse they are. Most of the people working here have lost someone important to them." Eduardo replies. "Cloning presents to them an opportunity to meet that important person again. Ofcourse, they know it wont be the same person as before, but they rather have a fragment than have nothing at all."
Eduardo ushers them to move on.
"Anyways, being to early or too late to stop the accelerated aging would result to that." Eduardo says in a sympathetic voice. "The brain suddenly goes awol, the heart rate becomes erratic and eventually death."
"And this happens every day?"
"No. That was one of the unfortunate events where the scientists foolishly pushes the limit of the clone. Ever since our successful experiment 8 years ago, clone death rate has reduced 98.21%, and its all thanks to someone you know very well."
"Eh? Really? Who?"
"Your aunt. Catherine Yvoska."
Raph blankly stares at Eduardo, expecting the fat CIA agent to call it off as a joke…. He did not.
"LE WHAT?! Are you freaking serious?!" Raph roars in disbelief. "How could my trigger happy aunt have anything to do with this?!"
Raph doesn't mean to insult her, but Catherine Yvoska is….. academically challenged. Thanks to her life in the Russian Mafia, she never made it past her highschool days. Sure, she has street smarts of unrealistic proportions, but cloning is purely academic in nature. No way in hell could she have contributed something.
"HAHAHAHA! If your Aunt hears that, you'll have another hole to breath in" Eduardo laughs heartily.
"Oh…. Crap. Keep it a secret will you? Im still to young to die"
"No worries. I had the same reaction when I first heard of it. Anyways, prior to her suggestion, we attempted cloning from a single DNA donor." Eduardo pauses for a bit. "It failed miserably. For some reason, the DNA strands were unstable to the point that they would unravel after only 3 minutes in the tube. It was a frustrating 2 years."
"Then my aunt came in and saved the day? Unlikely"
"Nope. Your aunt came to us, not to get a clone of herself, but to create a child for her."
Once again, Raph was shocked. "Eh? What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said. Ms. Yvoska paid us to create a child using our cloning technology. She provided 2 sets of DNAs and an unrealistic 1 year deadline. If we didn't make something happen, our families would disappear from the face of the earth…. Those were trying times indeed."
"….. er….. sorry about that." Raph bows his head in shame
"HAHAHA no need to be sorry my friend! Thanks to that incident, we discovered that creating a clone using 2 DNA samples was the way to go." Eduardo says with pride. "It took us 8 months and 21 failed attempts to create a living, breathing 5 year old girl. It was thanks to that girl that we have understood the limits of the age acceleration amongst many other things."
"…. And the fact that your families are still alive"
"HAHAHA! That too. Those were really trying times" Eduardo stares at the distance, as if reminiscing his small brush with death. "Anyways, the little girl was named KARALYEVA YVOSKA, and the only daughter of Catherine Yvoska"
" For real? She actually has a daughter? She could have told us you know?" Raph replies.
Much to his surprise, Eduardo laughs hard.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ofcourse she wont tell you guys about Karalyeva! Especially Thomas Norton"
It didn't even take Raph 5 seconds to piece together the puzzle.
"Hold on….. don't tell me….. the 2 DNA samples she provided was-"
"Her own and Thomas Norton's. Why do you think she goes back to Moscow every 1st week of the month?"
It suddenly makes sense. Raph has always wondered why his Aunt no longer persued his father as intensely as before.
"I have a half sister somewhere out there… this is surreal….." Raph cant help but be happy. "Anyways, how is she? Is she doing fine? Any complications?"
"Ho…. Brotherly concern?"
"You could say that."
Eduardo slaps him in the back a couple of times. "Good to know you're not the one to discriminate on birth alone. Anyways, Karalyeva Yvoska has grown to a beautiful, yet completely normal 13 year old girl with absolutely no medical complication what so ever."
"Phew…. Good. Very good" Raph sighs in relief.
"Well….. she does have a bit of a personality problem…."
"What do you mean?"
"I guess in otaku terms, she's a Kuudere. She's ice cold to most people and only seems to open up to her mother."
"Hm…. She sounds like a handful."
"Well yeah. Better be prepared though, you'll meet her soon enough."
"Eh? What do you mean by that?"
"Classified information" Eduardo replies, this time avoiding the Mikuru Asahina impersonation. "Anyways, thanks to your Aunt, we now require 2 DNA samples from our clients, most preferably their parents, in order to make the clone as close to them as possible."
"Wow…. You guys are making good progess then."
Eduardo pauses for a bit then sighs. "Yes and no. The physiological traits are about 80-85% that of the original, but we still have no idea how to transfer the soul of the original to the clone."
"So…. The experiment is almost done?"
"Once again, yes and no." Eduardo replies. "We only have one problem left, but that may take decades of research and experimentation before any answer can be found. I doubt neither of us are still be alive when a break through does happen."
"I see…. Sounds tough." Raph replies nonchalantly. "I guess that data from Maneki Neko is really worth all the cloack and dagger stuff."
"Correct. If we have that, we'll save about 50 years of reaserch and development." Eduardo says in a slightly depressed manner. "But I really would like to see a perfect clone during my lifetime….."
Raph pats him on the shoulders. "You never know man. Reality is once unpredictable bitch."
"True. I guess I'll stay positive for now." Eduardo says as he leads the Raph to the very back and the very bottom of the ship.
After going past some unervingly tight security, 2 very thick bulk head doors and a fair bit of armed individuals, Eduardo stops in front of 3 large cloning tubes. Within each tube lies an increadibly small circular substance. If Raph didn't concentrate hard enough, he would have never spoted them.
"This is what I wanted to show you Raph" Eduardo points at the tubes
"What about it?" Raph asks in confusion. "Does it have anything to do with me?"
"Ho ho ho ho. Ofcourse it does. Look at the lables on the bottom of the tank."
As instructed, Raph stares at the small plate… and spots something that he didn't expect at all
RAPHAEL ARISATO NORTON + ANGELICA SHIRO NORTON
RAPHAEL ARISATO NORTON + REMIRURA HIIRO
RAPHAEL ARISATO NORTON + KAORI KURASHIMA
.
.
.
.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"
-:-