The Crimson Cube was rocketing back to its island, red electricity sparked and blasted from its surfaces more intensely as it arrived. Once it reached its usual spot above the island, it started to shake and rattle, bright white cracks appearing over its shiny crystalline surface as it started to spin, faster and faster.
I-13 and Purifier both stood to attention on the beach, watching the cube intently with unblinking emotionless eyes, not even flinching as the cube itself grew brighter as it spun faster. In a scene straight out of Atlantis: the lost empire, the metal debris ring surrounding the cube also sped up in its orbit, becoming a blur of motion, as the red box underwent its transformation.
The Crimson Cube seemed to break apart, shattering into glowing shards of crystal, forming a second, smaller ring around the centre. Where the Cube used to be, was now a bright, white silhouette of a fox woman; nine bushy tails and triangular fox ears clearly visible, but as the light died down, the naked form of this woman took on a sinister aura.
The woman's body was identical to Akagi's own in overall shape, but her hair was a shiny black, as were her tails and fur, her skin was pale like that of a Siren and when she opened her eyes, where they should be white, they were black, no human thoughts behind them as she smiled evilly. She held her arms out and the shards of the original Crimson Cube shot towards her.
The shards transformed into various clothing or body decoration: a back and red leotard, black thigh high boots and black elbow length fingerless gloves donned her body. They covered the end of her tails, ears and nails in razor sharp blades of red crystal, gleaming in a light of a nearby lightning strike. She curled her fingers, and as she did, the metal ring surrounding her suddenly shot towards the sky, building a machine of some kind as they coalesced into each other. Alt-kagi inhaled, before emitting a loud sigh as she landed in front of her two infected minions.
"Finally, a kansen body that can handle me." She declared, speaking with Akagi's voice, but with a distorted electronic tone behind it, making certain words sound higher or lower in pitch at random intervals. Alt-kagi looked over herself as she spoke, inspecting her new form. "This would have been so much easier if she just let me inside voluntarily, but her resistance is just a tiny obstacle in my plans~" She giggled as she sauntered over to I-13 and Purifier. She looked at the infected Siren first and smirked.
"Your friends are trying to firewall me inside this dimension, but I'll get out eventually, its only a matter of time~" Alt-kagi looked back up at the machine she had built using the metal from her old debris ring, it then fired the same beam she had been firing into the volcano over the last few days. She frowned as it happened, dissatisfied with the machine's power level.
"Not enough, I need more..." Alt-kagi mused, she looked out to sea and walked forward, vanishing into a cloud of red smoke and cherry blossom flowers.
Meanwhile
Private Verner knew he was screwed.
After his teammates were killed by one of their suits exploding, he knew he stood no chance against the kansen alone, so he had ran for his life. Using the confusion of the explosion to run straight into the open sea.
In his panic he had completely forgotten this would end with him in the middle of the ocean, with no backup and no way back to base, this also meant he was now AWOL, so even if he did somehow make it back, he would be facing dire consequences. Verner just kept power gliding forward, panting heavily from the exertion, hoping he didn't run into a kansen patrol or Siren ship.
Entering a region full of small islets, he glided up to one of the larger ones and collapsed to his knees onto its beach, this was the first break he had since the initial fight, exhausted, traumatized and confused as to what to do. He hid his face in his hands and was wrecked with sobs, coming to terms with the fact he was likely dead already. Rough open sea, the kansen, the Sirens and even his own men would kill him if he saw them again.
Verner had never planned to go AWOL, he had as much hatred of the kansen as either of his late two squad-mates. But between how unstable his gear was and how much the ship girls still out-classed him anyway, he was terrified of the thought of fighting on. As Verner silently cried on that beach, he heard the sound of a ship approaching, not wanting to risk being seen, he quickly dived into a cluster of rocks and peeked out to sea.
It was Warspite, barely awake, being helped along by a small patrol of other ship girls. Juneau, San Francisco and San Diego. As they moved past his hiding place, he over heard them talking.
"*Cough* it has her...the Crimson cube *cough cough* has Akagi..." Warspite sputtered. Holding her arms over San Diego and Juneau's shoulders.
"Damn it! I woulda' had that red box myself if Enterprise put ME in Task Force Alpha!" San Francisco complained, holding her bat over her shoulder.
"B-but...it sounds...really scary...hah!" Juneau whimpered a little as her foot slipped in the water. San Francisco grabbed the blonde light cruiser's shoulder to help.
"Easy girl, lets rest for a moment on that island kay?" San Francisco suggested, smiling to Juneau to cheer her up.
"Good idea. I'm beat too." San Diego agreed. The four of them turned to the islet that held Verner's hiding place, making the soldier take cover back behind the rocks. Trying to keep quiet, he kept listening to the ship girls talk.
"What do you mean 'it has her' anyway Warspite? Surely Akagi is too strong for some box thingie right?" San Diego asked.
"You don't understand...since you girls were...on commission..." Warspite groaned out, sitting up as she spoke. "This thing is dangerous...it took over Cleveland... I-13...even one of the high class Sirens..." She explained.
The three cruisers all gasped hearing this. Juneau whimpered and started crying into San Francisco's shoulder, who rubbed her back. San Diego was speechless for once in her idol life, pale faced and stunned at such a monster existing in the ocean.
"I'm trying to get back to warn the others...we need to-" Before Warspite could finish, everyone heard a twig snap, along with the sound of hushed curse word. San Francisco quickly picked up her bat and cautiously approached the rocks. San Diego pointed her rigging's guns at the rocks while Juneau hid behind her.
"Hey! Come out of there 'fore I clobber you! Don't make me come round there!" The heavy cruiser threatened, pointing her bat at the rocks. Verner gulped, knowing he was caught, he slowly raised his hands up above his head, edging out from behind the rocks. The ship girls were puzzled seeing what looked like a male kansen among them, donned in military gear and rigging shaped like hand-held firearms.
"Don't hurt me please! I'm Private Verner, Water Pounder test subject, number 3." He quickly stated, panicking at the prospect of being beaten by San Francisco. "I quit man! I don't care about any of this shit any more OK?! I didn't sign up for this bullshit!" He blurted out. San Diego and San Francisco looked at each other confused while Warspite raised an eyebrow at the guy.
"Water pounder test subject?" the battleship asked, getting up slowly with Juneau helping her. Despite Warspite's short stature and the fact she was limping and using her sword as a walking stick, Verner was still scared enough to step back when she approached.
T-they didn't tell us! They didn't say these suits were so... volatile! I'm only still wearing this because its the only way to get around! I just want to go home man! Fuck this...this vendetta shit!" The man fell to his knees and started bawling into his hands again, not caring he was right in front of four kansen in the process. But something he said caught Warspite's attention.
"Vendetta? What are you talking about?" She asked. Verner didn't reply at first as he kept crying, San Francisco slapped him across the face before hoisting him to his feet.
"She asked you a question chump! Now answer!" She demanded. Verner held up his hands in surrender, shaking in fear but complying with her order.
"Okay Okay! They're gonna kill me for going AWOL anyway so... fuck it." Verner replied, he pulled a whisky canteen out of his shirt pocket and took a swig, after downing his liquid courage he leaned against the rock.
"I don't know much, but what I do know might be helpful to you...ladies." He started. "Admiral Samson is PISSED that his nephew Nico is being held captive by Azur lane. He's tried to get him back using me and my... squad." Verner told them, starting to calm down with the whisky he had between segments of his story. "Ever since we lost contact with the flagship, Samson has been acting weird, its almost like he's... glad... the Fleet Admiral is dead." He finished.
"Great...we should have known he'd try something...with Fleet Admiral Riley gone, he's going to be even more brazen about attacking us." Warspite sighed.
"W-what about this... Crimson Cube?" Juneau asked. "W-we can't just ignore it! We need to do something! I-it scares me..." She whimpered, holding onto San Diego's shoulder and hiding behind her.
"We won't ignore it, the Commander needs to know, but..." Warspite then turned to Verner who flinched upon locking eyes with her. "...you are coming with us, he'll want to speak to you directly." She told firmly.
Before Verner could protest, San Francisco rested her baseball bat on his shoulder, grinning smugly as she nodded towards the water. "Lets go big guy~ Don't try anything or ya get bonked!" She warned, gently patting him on the back with her bat. Holding his hands up, Verner walked forward, the heavy cruiser pressing her weapon into his back as he walked onto the water. San Diego summoned her hull and they all left aboard her.
Azur lane HQ.
The Commander, Vestal and Akashi were outside the infirmary, the nun-like repair ship had a clipboard and was detailing all the injuries Task Force Alpha had sustained. After hearing that Akagi and Warspite were still missing, the Commander had been very anxious to hear any news about them.
"They'll all pull through, but Enterprise has taken heavy damage, she'll need a few weeks to heal her arm and all those cuts." Vestal was saying.
"Everyone else can return to light duty nya, but you'll need some new girls for that Task force of yours Commander nya." Akashi agreed. The officer sighed as he thought about what to do about all of this.
"Before you do that Commander, Bismarck wants to give her report, Akagi put her in charge before she disappeared." Vestal told him. "I'll uh...tend to Cleveland too..." She added with a tinge of apprehension in her voice, she then walked in to the far side of the infirmary, where Cleveland was being kept.
The Commander followed Vestal inside, and found Bismarck in the closest bed to the door. The German battleship went to stand to attention as he walked in, but the Commander gently put a hand on her shoulder. "Its fine, take it easy, you've taken some big hits." The officer told her kindly. Bismarck wanted to protest for a moment, but decided against it and sat back down. "What happened out there?" The Commander asked gently, glancing over the wounds she and the others had suffered.
"This...this thing is...nothing like the Sirens..." Bismarck started to say, her voice shaking as she remembered what happened. "Its taking over people, using their very bodies against us, Cleveland was first... I-13...even one of the Sirens...its taken control of every mass produced ship...they fight like monsters now." The Commander had his hand over his mouth in disbelief, a sense of unease filling his body at Bismarck's words and the injuries the ship girls have sustained.
"My god...w-what about Akagi and Warspite? Where are they?" He questioned Bismarck, getting agitated. The blonde woman just shook her head. "We got separated, those two stayed behind to fight off the infected Siren, I had to get the wounded to safety or we all would have sunk out there...or worse." She replied honestly. The Commander frowned at that, clearly irked things happened that way, but nodded to her.
"You did the right thing, let me worry about Akagi, you get some rest." He ordered her. Bismarck gave a slow nod and lay back down on the bed. The Commander thought for a moment about how to tell this to Kaga, knowing she'd be the most invested besides him on Akagi getting back safely. But before he could walk out the infirmary, he heard a scream from the back of the room. The Commander, along with everyone else in the medical room whipped their heads round at the source of the scream.
It was Cleveland, awake and shocked out of her wits at what had happened to her. "WHAT THE FUCK IS ALL THIS CRAP ON ME! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!" She was panicking and thrashing on the bed, with Vestal and Akashi trying to keep her still.
"Its OK! We're working on it! Just...calm down!" Vestal was trying to shout to her over the screaming. The Commander ran over to help the repair ships calm down Cleveland, holding her legs still as Vestal worked to secure her to the bed with straps.
"You got her back?!" The Commander asked, half relieved and half surprised as he held onto Cleveland.
"Yes, I'll explain how just...hold her still!" Vestal shouted back. As Akashi and the Commander held down the panicking girl, Vestal was able to sedate her. Cleveland yelped feeling the needle pierce her skin and then slowly passed out. When she was fully out of it, everyone stepped back from the bed to catch their breath.
"Wow...hopefully she uh...can be brought up to speed later on." The Commander understated, gaining a small nervous chuckle from Akashi.
"I was able to reintegrate her Wisdom cube back into her body, she should be fine for now, so I'll work on a way to remove this...'armour' on her skin." Vestal announced.
"Do what you can, I uh...I need a moment." The Commander told her as he walked away. Vestal nodded and turned back to Cleveland.
A few minutes later
The Commander headed back to his office, not sure what to think or do about what happened. But as he approached the door, he saw a purple light emanating from behind it. Not knowing what that could be, he drew his side arm, and carefully pushed open the door. A dreadful sight befell him, making his blood run cold and the colour drain from his face.
Observer Alpha was sitting in his chair, sans her rigging. She looked over at him with a smug smile and beckoned him over. "Come in Commander, We need to talk you and I~" She stated with a giggle. Before he could even think of escaping, with a wave of the Siren's hand, the door slammed shut and locked itself behind the young man. But rather than admit he was scared, the Commander scowled and raised his hand gun. He knew it wouldn't do much to her, but at least he wouldn't being going down without a fight.
"Get out of my chair." He coldly demanded. Observer sighed and got up from the seat, holding up her hands to de-escalate things. "What would a Siren want to talk to me for?" He then asked, keeping his back to the door as Observer moved closer, a Cheshire cat grin on her face.
"Akagi." She told him flatly. The Commander's eye twitched, but he otherwise kept his cool.
"What about her?" He asked, keeping the gun trained on her forehead.
"First of all..." The alien girl started, unphased by the pistol. "...your ship girls have encountered our mutual friend: The Crimson Cube." She told him, circling around the Commander as he kept the gun pointed on her. "Ever since it escaped its containment, its been trying to break into a mirror sea, more specifically: Mirror sea A1, it contains the master computer for your timeline." Observer explained with a serious look.
"OK...how bad would it be if the Cube infected it?" The Commander asked, getting concerned with where Observer was going with this.
"The master computer is responsible for maintaining what you would call 'normalcy' in your world, time, space, energy, matter, its all controlled by that machine, if the Crimson Cube gets control of it, well I wouldn't think about that if I were you; I'm pretty sure even you humans can figure out that it would be VERY BAD." Observer stated.
"What does Akagi have to do with this? Don't tell me she's..." The Commander trailed off, lowering the gun as thoughts of the fox woman in trouble crossed his mind.
"Yes...the Crimson Cube has taken her, using her body to augment its own power, it won't be long before its powered up enough start toppling entire cities, looking for more raw material to power its attempt to breach the A1 Mirror sea." Observer replied. The Commander walked towards his desk as the Siren talked, putting his hands on it in disbelief. He growled quietly, clenching his fists as he looked back at Observer in fury.
"Why are you telling me this...why haven't YOU done something?! You're clearly more qualified to deal with this thing!" He yelled to her, throwing his hands around. Observer just nonchalantly shrugged.
"I was curious to see what it would do at first." She admitted with a smile, but then it faded as she talked more seriously. "But more importantly; the Cube has already infected one of our own, when it did, it also took over all of our mass-produced ships currently deployed in this timeline. Taking over someone as high ranked as me could mean it won't need to break in to the A1 Mirror sea, it would just use me to open it up." Observer pointed out.
"How convenient for you." The Commander sarcastically replied. "So you plan to use my ship girls as cannon fodder for whatever plan you have to kill this thing?" He then asked, disgust laying his voice.
"Actually Commander no I don't, just you." Observer quickly replied. The Commander's anger then suddenly turned to confusion.
"Wait ME? How? I can't fight that thing directly!" He pointed out.
"Not right now, but I reckon only a human can get close enough to the Cube to disable it, without being infected like a kansen or Siren would be, remember our old friend Nico?" Observer asked him.
"How could I forget that bastard?" The Commander spat. "What about him?"
"Well as a curious side project, I've been tinkering with his prototype water pounder suit after Akagi and Habakkuk left it behind, it should work now without needing to bind a ship girl inside it." Observer explained. The Commander's eyes almost popped out at the Siren's words.
"You want ME, to use the very technology that was created to torture and kill kansen? Fuck that!" He scolded Observer.
"Its either that or the entire world gets processed into food for the red box that's torturing your foxy girlfriend Commander, what will it be?" Observer asked him ominously.
"W-what..." He asked quietly. The alien woman then produced a black box from her palm, it then projected a portal that showed Alt-kagi to the Commander, on top an infected version of Akagi's hull.
"She's losing the will to fight Commander, you're not going to let her down are you~?" Observer teased with a giggle. The Commander stepped away from the portal, denial rasing in his shrinking pupils. "You better decide what you're going to do quickly Commander, for its not just your world at stake any more, so I'll ask one more time."
"What will it be?"