Three Day Storm
#8: The Failed Experiment
X X X
"How much further is it?" Ban grunted out between gasps of breath. He and his three companions had been running for nearly twenty minutes now, along dry walkways and through semi-flooded stairwells, grateful for the temporary break that the weather had granted them.
"We're not far now," Shido answered, his words lacking their usual hint of contempt for the thief, "The Southern entrance is different from others."
"It looks like a Baker's," Juubei said from behind. "It was disguised so that most of Lower Town never knew where their enemy came from."
"It better be where it's supposed to be," Ban muttered, but left it at that. They had already used up more breath than what could be afforded if they wanted to keep on at this rate. Everyone was painfully aware of the stakes: if they could not get to the Beltline in time... they wouldn't get back anything.
X X X
Slowly, his eyes were adjusting to the darkened environment that he stood in. The smell of subterranean plants came from all directions and when he could finally pick out the details of the room, the Lightning Emperor realised where it came from. The walls were lined with wall fountains and plants that grew so wild that they covered more than half of the floor, leaving only an arena of bare stone in the middle of the room,. At the far end of the room there was a dais - and here was where the Emperor sighted his opposition.
He was short, but well dressed. His salt-and-pepper hair was combed to one side, and his tassel of a beard was neatly trimmed.
The Emperor decided in a heartbeat that he did not like this man.
Stepping forward, electricity crackled across his body in sharp and frequent spurts. It made his skin glow, throwing an extra dimension of light into the dim room. "Who are you?" he demanded, every inch the proud sovereign he had always been at heart.
His voice echoed weirdly in the room, but the man's expression did not change. He stayed in the centre of that dais, hands loose in his pockets and holding an arrogant posture. It reminded him of the thief that Ginji liked. Although Ren was the taller of the two, in standing next to him she looked all the more like his pawn.
The Emperor kept one eye on his only means of exit, and waited. He was not ordinarily a patient person, but he wanted the answer more than he wanted to escape.
"What I am is more important than who I am," the man told him at last, "But what is even more important is why you are here."
The Emperor snorted lightly, unimpressed by the vague answer. Still, he chose to humour the man. "Will you tell me, old man?"
The answer was coupled with a poisonous smile. "You are here because the Brain Trust wants you to be here. Do you realise where we are?"
"Babylon City."
"Do you realise that you've been here before?"
The Emperor was silent. Those words - that question - had struck a chord in him that he hadn't had touched before. Uneasily, he glanced about the room, but it offered no answers.
The man was grinning eerily, like a hunter closing in on its prey. "That's right. You are a product of Babylon City, Emperor.
"You are here so we can bring you home."
X X X
"There!"
Ban couldn't remember the last time he had been so pleased to hear the Beastmaster speak. The dilapidated Bakery came into view a few seconds later, and the group collectively slowed.
Shido tried the handle and cursed. "It's locked," he told them flatly.
"We don't have time for that." Pushing past the man, Ban gripped the doorhandle and wrenched it open, forcing the lock to break in the process. He yanked it open with one hand, gesturing to the others.
Shido darted through first, followed by Kazuki with Juubei a half-step behind him. When it came to Ban's turn, he glanced up to the nearest surveillance camera, silently thanked Makubex, then stepped in and shut the door behind him.
One by one, they had vanished completely from sight.
X X X
Bring them 'home'? "Ginji and I did not come from this place," the Emperor told him flatly.
"Not Ginji, no," the man agreed, "He, like his friends, was convenient when we needed a subject to experiment on. He wanted to change the world, we allowed it to happen. It was us who pushed him to the edge, to a position that would make him willing to accept a power like yourself. The Advent of the Lightning Emperor, we call it."
The Emperor's lip curled. He had not liked this man to begin with, and this talk of his other half being a subject, an experiment… it was not a topic he was enjoying the details of. "Make your point," he said coldly.
"My point is that you were an element we added to the Archive. You are our creation - a patch to fix the bug that was - and is - Ginji Amano. When Takeru Teshimine left the Fortress, and Kurusu Masaki failed in his duties, the Brain Trust decided it could no longer rely on others to keep you in Lower Town so we could end the experiment."
"You're a little late," the Emperor said sardonically.
"Or perhaps we are right on time," the man replied cryptically. "Will you co-operate with us?"
"Co-operate? You have not told me what you intend to do."
"We intend to present you with a deal, Emperor. Come back to us and we will give you a freedom you could never have otherwise."
The realisation of what the Brain Trust wanted hit him like a slap in the face. The Emperor narrowed his eyes, electricity reaching a new pitch as it zapped back and forth across him. "You want me to leave Ginji."
"Ah," the man sighed, "I see you are not going to go along with this nicely. So I will give you a choice. Either you will oblige the Gods, or you will be forced out of that body and the trauma will kill your host. Do it our way and Ginji will be taken to my good friend, and healed. It is your decision to make, but we will have you. Choose, Emperor."
X X X
Ban hadn't been sure what to expect when he came stumbling through the VR into the territory marked as the Beltline. Whatever he had imagined to find, though, he was grateful that there were no flowery hills or the chirp of birds that didn't exist.
The other three had already stopped to rest, which the thief took as his biggest clue that there was no danger. Juubei had one hand braced against the wall as he recovered his breath; Shido was hunched over slightly to lean on his knees. Kazuki was the only one standing straight, but even he was breathing hard.
Relief crashed onto him in a roaring wave and Ban chose the nearest piece of wall to lean against, tipping his head back for support. "We made it," he breathed out quietly.
After that, nobody spoke for several minutes.
X X X
The Emperor hadn't liked this man when he first saw him.
Now, he had a reason to hate him.
"I will not help you," he said flatly, amongst the crackling noise generated by the voltage he was gathering. Especially after the threat, he didn't need to think about his answer at all.
To leave Ginji was something the Emperor had never considered - not just because it was utterly impossible, but because he had no reason to. It was a good lifestyle that they had, where the danger could be overwhelming but never as bad as the Fortress. Ginji had control most of the time, which was not all that bad - and he figured he owed the youth, anyway.
"I do not think that is the right answer, Emperor," the man replied patronisingly. "If you do not do this willingly, Ginji is certain to be harmed."
"You will not harm him," the Emperor said, "Because you will not harm us."
"We will see about that. Ren," the man turned his attention to the woman beside him. At his command the woman responded slowly, looking to him with the same, unchanging blank-eyed expression.
By the light of his own skin, the Emperor saw something that he had not seen before - a faint gleam over Ren's head.
He knew what it was immediately - the Wire Doll System. Makubex had retired the use of it in Lower Town two years previous, which meant that the Brain Trust had hijacked it from him, or perhaps created their own. Now that he knew why Ren was behaving this way, it explained a great deal. He could also anticipate the man's command.
"Get me the Emperor, Ren."
Wordlessly the woman turned towards him, her shoes clicking as she stepped off of the dais and onto the stone floor.
The Emperor slid into a defensive stance, gritting his teeth. His blood hummed in anticipation of a fight, but his heart was not in it. This woman was a friend of Ginji's, someone he would never rightfully lift a finger against. She did not truly want to hurt him.
Ren leapt to attack and he lashed out instinctively with a violent jolt of electricity. She dodged before it could strike her, showing the uncanny speed and agility that a Wire Doll was granted with. When she reappeared much closer, the Emperor struck again.
He never heard a feminine scream that was his target being hit, nor saw Ren collapse against the floor. A crippling pain had exploded in him, starting in one hand and racing up his arm. From there spread into his body like fire, turning his world an uncanny shade of green then blue then white. He dropped to his hands and knees, gritting his teeth to keep from screaming.
The toes of a pair of shoes entered his field of vision; he tried to look up. A cool hand pressed to his forehead and he caught a glimpse of blank turquoise eyes.
In that moment, the Lightning Emperor lost himself.
X X X
To be continued.