In the frenzy of her Berserk Mode, the pain took a while to register through her circuits. A2 didn't notice the small blade lodged in her side as she moved to strike down the black haired opponent once and for all.
But when the rush disappeared, she screamed as she fell forward into the other android.
She shook and trembled, her entire body overheating for the pressure she imposed on it, she wailed and heaved in agony, barely registering that the other woman was actually supporting her with an arm around her waist instead of throwing her off.
A2 would have raised her hands to strangle her for displaying such an act of compassion towards her, if only any part of her body would move at all…
It hurt, everything hurt so much, every single fiber of her synthetic being. She must have looked so pathetic...
She ignored the fact that her opponent was not doing too much better herself. Robin had managed to land the hit in the end, but it did not come with a small price to pay, as her left arm lay by her on the ground, and the stump sizzled with electricity.
Her other one was actually currently occupied in holding A2 when she fell forward on her, falling victim of her own recklessness and confidence.
But the way she screamed when she hit her was sure to torment her for however long she would live. It had been so painful, agonizing…
Such was the life of a Type E, tormented from those sounds caused by their own selves.
Gently Robin laid A2 on the ground beside her, grimacing at the weak grunts she made as she did so, listening to her labored breath as she attempted in vain to hold herself together.
A2 couldn't help but stare at her enemy in the eye from behind the long curtain of hair she had, one of the unnamed Executioner's eye was visible as her visor got crooked in the fight. It was blue like hers, and why was there so much compassion in it towards her?
Regardless A2 tried her best to move her useless and tired body, managing to turn her head and move her arms to cover the wound on her side at best, her legs still remained unmoving and stiff.
She could not let everything end this way damn it! Everything she fought for, struggling to survive in this world where everything wanted her dead, she had sworn that she'd keep living for her friend's sake, to not let their sacrifices be in vain.
She fought against machines and androids alive, she fought for so long it no longer had a meaning to her beyond keeping an empty promise.
She was beyond tired of surviving for nothing, but like hell if she let White prove that she was just an obsolete and weak prototype, a mean to an end, a mere weapon, a toy she used until she was no longer entertained.
She craved death, because it meant she'd get to be with her friends again, with Number 21, Number 16 and… Number 4.
But she did not want it to end this way, killed by a mere assassin under the orders of the very same woman that created and sacrificed them for her own gain, like mere items that no longer served their purpose.
Her body shook, but not because of the pain, she shook in rage at her own incompetence. She's always been stupid after all…
Why… why did it have to end like this?
A2 didn't notice the other woman was still observing her with those sickening compassionate eyes of hers, nor that tears had begun to fall from her own eyes, until a gentle hand covered in a bloodstained white glove reached out to caress her cheek.
"You… you're crying…"
The woman sounded incredulous, and to be honest, A2 was too, at her own ability to still be able to do something as shed tears. She'd cried in the past, she'd cried so much and for so long that her voice had gone hoarse and her voice box got damaged from it. She cried for all the lives she lost, the only people that had ever cared for her in this cursed life.
She promised them she would avenge their deaths, but now everything just sounded like words thrown to the wind.
And why the hell was this woman so curious about it? She was an Executioner, those like her did not hold feelings when it came to killing others.
But A2 has to admit… her touch had been the most gentle thing she ever felt in years, she missed friendly contact so much…
If only it wasn't coming from a damn enemy!
"Are you not going to finish your job?" she snarled, just hurry up with it she wanted to say, if she was here to kill her then why stall?
Why delay the inevitable?
But Robin did not catch the hint of it, still occupied in watching A2's reactions, from her tired eyes shining with tears to her gritted teeth and sad expression.
Robin had killed many androids during these past years, but never she had seen such a reaction. There had been anger towards her, scorn, fear, terror, but never she had ever see anyone cry with so much sadness.
Those eyes spoke of someone that did not want to die, while everyone else in their own way had shown acceptance towards it.
That A2 still had something she wanted to prove to the world before she went, despite how hard surviving was in a world that didn't want you. Robin could swear she could feel something tugging at her chest at the realization.
She swore she knew that look in someone's eyes, and it was not because of the similarities she shared with 2B.
Her mind flashed the image of a young child, a child whose dreams had been shattered, a child that much like A2 everyone wanted gone. That child was her… that was the look her own eyes had carried for so long…
How could you forget about me?
She heard a voice, her own voice of her younger self, chastising, scolding, berating, judging her.
Shaking her head, she summoned Scarlet Despair, it didn't matter in the end, a duty was duty, and she had to carry on with it like she always did.
And yet… her hand shook…
How could you become so cruel?
Her own child self chimed in again, Robin closed her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat. She's always been cruel…
But why wasn't she able to just impale this woman like she's done to many other YoRHas? She was even more of a stranger than the others.
She's just like us! Have you forgotten all we went through?
She hadn't, she swore she hadn't. As an android she could not even forget even if she wanted, no matter how hard she tried.
That was why she couldn't, she couldn't finish off this helpless android that much like her had fought so hard to keep living against everything.
She knew that killing her would kill herself and everything her human self ever believed in…
It would mean to get rid of her very last shred of humanity left in her.
With a frustrated growl she threw Scarlet Despair away, the sword impaling itself in the tree she left a hole into just moments ago.
Robin punched the ground between her and A2 under her watchful gaze, burying her fingers in the dirt. She couldn't do this… not her…
But if she didn't carry out with her duty she'd be nominated as a deserter herself, or even reset, and this would have been for nothing, she'd lose her own self, becoming something else, an empty shell, if the Commander so desired.
There had to be a way out of this…
There wouldn't be until one of them perished. Placing a hand on her black box, feeling it hum in her chest, Robin made her decision.
"A2, I want you to listen to me." she said.
A2 frowned at her, this woman had been clearly hesitating because of some reason she didn't know, but she didn't dare to ask anything. She hummed, signaling that she was interested in what she had to say, not like she could do anything else.
Maybe if she waited it out her body would recover enough to move again, and be able to get rid of this woman.
"I can't bring myself to kill you." and that had been clear, otherwise A2 would have been long gone by now. But why?
Why was an android built to terminate others not willing to do so? Had she been new to this? Or perhaps she was not at all, and it had become unbearable to handle.
A2 didn't even know the woman's name, but it was evident she was having doubts, and no other Executioner she'd seen ever did. Not with her at least.
Other Executioners would make fun of her, scorn and laugh at her attempts to keep herself alive, they'd make fun of her whenever they managed to land a hit, however, none of them had ever survived B Mode. Until now…
Nor they had shown respect and fairness in fights like this one did. She was special, in her own way, unique even. It must have been why A2 could not bring herself to deny this woman her wishes.
"This won't be over until one of us dies, so I need you to kill me."
How? Since she couldn't move. But it seemed that the black haired android already had a plan, as she asked her Pod if they had any healing supplies. A2 hadn't even noticed its presence before.
The Pod chimed in trying to dissuade its owner in following this course of actions, but a stern reminder from the woman made it go silent, as it gave her the supplies she asked for, Some stanching gel and a recovery item full of nanobots.
"It's not much, but hopefully it'll be enough." the woman sighed in disappointment. "Please don't move." she asked of her, and who could anyways?
A2 felt the other android push her a little so she'd lay on her back, and could access the wound she made more easily, though out of instinct A2 covered it with her hands. Part of her still did not trust this woman.
Robin laid the only hand she had left on A2's ones, fully understanding her fear, knowing full well how many people assaulted her while she was hurt just to make her suffer even more, taking pleasure in it.
"I am not going to hurt you, I promise." it was all she could say, despite how useless that promise sounded it was the truth.
Robin patiently waited as A2 finally convinced herself to remove her hands away from her side, and as soon as she did with Pod's help she poured a generous amount of gel onto the wound. It wouldn't be enough to heal her, but it'd be helpful in closing the hole she made.
A2 didn't even wince at the touch, but she could feel her tense up, her blue eyes following every single movement of her hand, but she didn't make a move to swat it away.
Robin then took the recovering item, she had asked for the best one she had in her inventory, and injected the healing nanomachines into A2's body, her own repairing system would do the rest.
It had an immediate effect, as A2 sat up and just stared at her with a glaring questioning look.
"I don't understand you." taking the other woman by the scruff of her neck she forced her to meet her eyes. "Why are you doing this?"
"I don't quite know myself…" a half lie, she knew exactly why, but she was not going to tell A2 her life story, not that she'd believe it.
"I want to meet you again, and maybe by then I will have an answer." Robin replied, and she did mean to meet A2 again, just not in these circumstances.
She could feel the hold on her neck tightening. "Is this some kind of trick?"
"You just have to trust my words. Now, please do as I asked."
Right, she asked her to kill her. Letting the black haired woman go she went to retrieve her Type 40 Sword, though that black and red blade was rather interesting she'd been tempted to use that one instead.
"I will show up here again in a few days, praying that I won't get reset." Robin told her, this was a place they both knew, it'd make things easy.
A2 silently walked towards her kneeling form, her expression unreadable, she did not appear convinced, so Robin only had to hope to still be herself when she'd get repaired, and that A2 believed in her words enough to wait for her to return.
It was the only way, the only thing left was just a flicker of hope.
Looking back at A2 she gave her a nod. "Do what you must."
A2 took a moment to activate the core of her sword as she pondered, the woman had been telling the truth, she did want to be killed, when moments ago she'd been just a step away from finishing her off.
What kind of mysteries were lying in that head of hers?
A2 had never been curious, but this person sparked her interest in ways no one ever did. The closest one had been her newed model, the 2E, but just out of anger for what had been done with her data.
This unnamed woman was just… cryptic, in ways A2 had never seen before. She was almost compelled by her…
Regardless, this whole thing had to end in one way or the other, and better her opponent than her. If that person wanted to be killed, then she would.
And so, raising her sword she impaled it straight into the mysterious woman's black box. Marveling at how she barely made a strangled noise and nothing else, not a scream or anything else as she fell lifeless on the grass, her blood painting the ground red.
A2 lingered a moment longer, staring at her sword now coated red from the other android's blood. She'd survived yet again, but not because of her will, but for this person's compassionate heart.
She couldn't help but ask herself why did this woman let her live? Why her?
She knew that she was the most wanted prize of all YoRHa, other Executioners had been way too happy at the prospect of being praised for doing something no one ever managed to do before, too bad none of them have ever been good enough to take her head.
This one had come too close to do so instead, and she chose not to finish what she started.
She chose to sacrifice her own self for her, and A2 would never admit that she felt guilty for it. Other people always died because of her and she'd keep living, alone and lonely.
But why would this person do such a thing for this wretched stranger android?
Suddenly A2's attention was taken from that very same android once more, she could see straining to lift her head to look at her. Had she been too hesitant and missed her mark to give her a swift death like she deserved?
As much as A2 disliked YoRHa she'd never been cruel enough to let those sent after her suffer, they'd been soldiers foolishly following orders, the one truly to blame was the Commander.
And perhaps if things would have gone differently they could have even been comrades…
Robin lifted her head with much fatigue, she could see A2 still lingering close by through her blurry eyesight. Her everything hurt, she'd stabbed her straight through her black box, and she knew she didn't have much more time.
A2 should have left her be as soon as her sword impaled her and fled, yet she was still here. If she stayed any longer someone else would find her.
"Run…" she whispered, with the last of her strength she watched as A2 finally turned her back on her and ran away in the opposite direction.
Her head fell back onto the ground with a thud, no longer able to support itself, no longer able to move anything, not even a single finger. She could feel her consciousness fading to black as static filled her eyes and ears.
Was this how death felt for an android?
Has this been the right decision? Would she still be herself after this?
Would A2 trust her enough to wait and come back here?
She had faith in the woman, in the end, one a human, and the other an android, but she could tell they had similar experiences, that A2 could understand her reasons, even if she had yet to tell them to her. And if they were to meet again she would.
They were one and the same after all. Hunted down, shunned away in a world they've been one born, the other created, that did not want them, rejected and hurt for the simple reason of existing.
During those years she'd been human, Robin had done many deplorable things for the sake of survival, she'd become a woman with a cold heart that cared for no one but her own self, because she had no one else that ever extended a friendly hand towards her.
No one else but her knew how much she longed to have someone, anyone, she could count on, a friendly shoulder to cry on, someone she could confide her hardships to, that could help her lift that heavy burden of carrying the memories of her island and its people on her shoulders.
She would not let A2 become like her if she could help it, that was not a way to live.
That had been the last coherent thought she had, before her body stopped working and her consciousness faded away into the abyss. As that happened she swore she saw her child self smiling down at her…
Pod 007 hovered closer to its owner, for the first time saying something it never did before.
"Unit 26E black box signal offline. Death confirmed."