Two days later, Mato was awake and staring at the wasteland ahead of them.
"You may want to get ready." Mato said to Yuu. "You maybe almost as strong as Strength but you are not as resistant."
"Right, this frail human body." Yuu groaned switching with Strength.
"Maybe next time." Mato said.
"Did we even come up with a plan?" Strength asked.
"Murder everything that is not human?" Mato suggested.
"Ah, the old classic." Strength grinned, unfurling her Ogre Arms and unpacking them into her jet. "Is your sword working?" Mato nodded, unclipping the hilt from the rear of her belt and activating the energy blade with a flick of her wrist.
"Cool." Strength smiled. "Climb on and lets get this shit started."
In seconds the pair had lifted off and were flying over the wasteland rocketing towards the orbital elevator.
"Mato!" Strength screamed over the howling wind. "If I get us close enough, can you climb on the wing and cut into the tower!?"
"My sword will not be enough to bring it down." Mato replied.
"No." Strength yelled. "But if we cause enough damage then we can get Lunatic to draw her armies here! Maybe even get her skanky ass to show!"
"Alright." Mato agreed, climbing out onto the large, black metal wing and thrusting the blade into the tower.
"Slow down a little, this is made from reinforced concrete and steel." She said.
Strength slowed down as requested, just enough to stay airborne. They had completed four complete circumnavigations of the tower when the first shots came at them from below.
"Go deal with them." Mato said calmly. "I will deal with the elevator." She leapt off from the wing and dug her knee spikes and claws into the side of the vast cylinder, she watched as Strength flew off, slamming herself into the ground where a platoon of robots were firing at her. Releasing one hand from the concrete, she ignited her sword again and used its heat to slowly melt through the outer layers.
Down on the ground, Strength was tearing up the humanoid robots and walking tanks, she could feel the excitement and bloodlust from Yuu as memories of their flawed rescue on the train entered their minds.
Almost half an hour later, Mato had almost cut her way into the innards of the space elevator. Summoning the Cannon Lance, she rammed the deadly blade into the hole and was about to fire when she heard a cheerful voice behind her.
"Oh, hi hi!" It said.
Mato snapped her head and body around, one hand firmly on the cannon trigger and the others' claws gripping onto the rough surface, her back flat against it.
"Now, why are you damaging my property?" Lunatic asked, hovering a few meters away, the white metal scorpion tail looming behind her.
"I thought it was obvious." Mato said with her voice.
"Well clearly you want to destroy it, or try at least. But why destroy it?" Lunatic clarified.
"You are an A.I. who is attempting to kill all the humans." Mato stated. "This is something to help with that."
"Huh, you say humans like you're not one of them." Lunatic noted.
"My blood is blue." Mato replied.
"That's not really an answer, y'no? It's a shame." Lunatic sighed, pointing her hand in Mato's direction as a white claw materialised out of the air. "I really enjoyed playing with you last time, but this is where you die."
Mato tilted her head in confusion.
"Well, you either fire your gun and jump clear, then you'll fall into the Iron Ocean." Lunatic said looking down.
Mato also looked down and saw pure silver shimmering and flowing far beneath her, the ocean level rising rapidly.
"Or you stay where you are, I shoot you, then you fall in the Iron Ocean anyway." Lunatic said. "Hemiteos Unit Strength is not around to save you anymore." Mato grinned and fired the Cannon Lance, the force throwing her off the face of the tower. Quickly swinging her weapon below her, she stood on it and used the force of the main cannon to push her over the Iron Ocean as she rode it like a surfboard. Landing just a few metres away from Strength.
"How'd it go?" Strength asked as she battered a robot with a torn off tank barrel.
"I think I may have damaged the elevator." Mato replied, firing her cannon into the surrounding soldiers as she activated her sword. "Lunatic is here also."
"Already?" Strength said. "Aww, fuck I was hoping we'd dispose of most of her army before she got here." She paused as the pair jumped out the way of a tank firing at them. "Alright, we tag-team her. One takes the robots, one takes her."
"I have already fought her so I believe it is your turn then." Mato replied.
"Good." Strength growled, swinging an arm over to the orbital elevator and firing at the small, pink-haired avatar slowly floating towards them. Lunatic seemingly teleported to Strength and paused in confusion.
"You're not a Hemiteos Unit, you're not my Strength." The A.I. said.
"No shit." The tanned Otherself muttered, throwing herself at Lunatic and hammering her hands against the energy shield. Once she had found a fairly stable grip, she opened her extra arms and opened fire with her fingertip machine guns at point blank range.
"The fuck is this thing powered by?" Strength wondered aloud.
"A fission generator." Lunatic giggled." Just up there, on the moon." She raised an arm a pointed into the sky, then lowered it as a white claw appeared around her hand. Having been forewarned by Mato, Strength quickly pushed herself away as a pure white beam of energy passed over her. She landed heavily on a tank, ripping off the barrel and throwing it at the girl floating above her. She bounced away as another beam impacted where she had been sat moments before.
"Strength." Mato said calmly as she ran towards her. "Throw." In one swift movement, Strength turned to look at Mato, grabbing the skinny teen as she neared and pivoting around before launching the fiery girl at the A.I. Mato thrust her sword out in front of her as she left Strength's giant metal hand, impacting the shield at nearly one hundred kilometres an hour. The tiniest fragment penetrated the shield, just enough to stop her from bouncing off and allowing her to climb up on top of the bubble.
"Very fancy!" Lunatic smiled gleefully. "I'm glad I kept you alive, you're fascinating." With a snarl, Mato jammed the tip of her blade against the shield below and summoned the Cannon Lance, forcing both weapons towards Lunatic, she channelled as much of her life as she could into overpowering the protective sphere.
"Wow!" Lunatic exclaimed. "I'm getting immense readings from you, maybe I should just take you and plug you into my power grid instead!"
Slowly, shield gave way, centimetre by centimetre.
"This isn't possible! There's no way you should be able to generate that much power!" Lunatic gasped with excitement. As she raised her hand towards Mato, a heavy bombardment of large calibre bullets raged against the shield, distracting the pink-haired girl. Both her and Mato looked up, seeing Strength with all four hands as Vulcan cannons lacing them with gunfire. Mato gave a tiny nod to the Otherself as the girl on the ground weathered heavy attacks on her body and pushed her life and willpower even further, ignoring the stray bullets that hit her.
"Such a bizarre attempt." Lunatic giggled looking down at Strength. "What's the point? You al…" She was interrupted by Mato's sword cleaving her body in two, from head to groin. Mato plummeted to the ground, landing neatly atop a broken robot body. Strength hurried over to her.
"Think it worked?" The tanned teen asked.
"Maybe, it has brought us a few seconds anyway. Let us make the most of it." Mato replied. As one, the pair sped into action, carving their way through the ever increasing numbers of the unmanned troops. Predicting each others motions and weaving around each other in a ballet only they knew.
"Just. Like. Old. Times." Mato said coldly.
"We've never been this in tune with each other." Strength replied, grabbing Mato's leg as she jumped past, swinging her around as the pale teen held her sword outstretched, then throwing her into a tank. Mato span herself to the side as she used the plasma sword to carve a deep gash in the tank while she flew past. Strength scuttled towards her at high speed on all four hands, leaping into the air and slamming herself down onto a group of robots just in front of Mato.
"It's like sharing our energy joined us somehow, like a deeper connection." Strength said, allowing Mato to springboard off her hand.
"Are. You. Confessing?" Mato asked, over the roar of her pistol.
"Fuck you." Strength grinned. "If I had to go with a woman, I'd choose one who wasn't like a wall."
"Ow" The Otherself hissed as a heavy metal slug hit her in the hip.
"I. Slipped." Mato stated, swiftly gliding away on the buzz-saws at her feet.
"Fucking bitch." Strength laughed.
"You've failed." Lunatic said suddenly from above them.
"So you haven't run off scared." Strength said, throwing a robot at her. "Wondered where you've been for the past week, we've been getting bored."
"The damage you caused this body was minor at best, but I've had more important things to do." Lunatic said coldly.
"Uh-huh." Strength said, only half listening. "Like what?"
"Like finishing the orbital elevator. It's now complete!" The avatar declared proudly.
"Meh." Strength shrugged, laying into another robot as Mato danced around her like an ice-skater.
"You've failed, don't you care?" Lunatic asked, confused.
"Not. Really." Mato said, forgetting the avatar couldn't hear her.
"We knew there was a high chance we couldn't destroy it ourselves, not while being under attack." Strength said.
"Why have you been fighting here for eight days then?" Lunatic questioned.
"Boredom, this has been the most entertaining thing that has happened since we arrived in this universe." Strength replied.
Lunatic looked around at the vast destruction the pair had wrought.
"You did this out of boredom?" She asked in amazement.
"Well, yeah." Strength said, as if it should be obvious to anyone. "It's kinda what we do."
"Do. You. Have. More?" Mato asked, remembering to use her voice. "We. Are. Running. Out."
"This was the bulk of it." Lunatic said in disbelief.
"Oh, well guess it's time to move on." Strength said, disappointedly. She rapidly changed her extra arms into jet engines and large wings, Mato raced over to her a leapt into her arms. The avatar watched in confusion as the pair rocketed up into the sky.
"Well that should make her think." Strength laughed.
"Why did we decide to feign disinterest?" Mato asked.
"To throw her off. She's an A.I., logic is a fundamental part of who she is. You remember how much trouble Cortana had accepting the fact you have blue blood?" Strength replied.
"How does it help us though?" Mato asked.
"It probably doesn't, but it was fun to screw her mind a little." Strength grinned.
They landed a few kilometres away on the edge of the dense forest they waited in previously, and walked into the undergrowth.
"Colonel? Empress?" Mato asked the gloomy air. A faint rustling caught their attention as the Colonel stepped out of a large bush.
"So what's the situation?" The older man asked.
"Well, the elevator has been completed." Strength replied. "Good job we kept these radio earpieces so you could contact us."
"We have managed to destroy most of the army defending it." Mato added. "I have also come up with an idea that would take advantage of the tower."
"Genius really, if we can pull it off." Strength stated, shortly before swapping with Yuu.
"Well, what is it?" The Colonel demanded impatiently.
"Look, we've been out there fighting for over a week, waiting for you lot. That's a week inside my Otherself, feeling every gunshot, broken bone and burn she's been dealt, couple that with no physical sleep and I'm about ready to let Lunatic win just to get some quiet to get the ringing out of my ears." Yuu said stretching, Strength's mechanical tail flicking from side to side in annoyance.
"Go get some rest." The Colonel said finally. "Empress, show her to your tent?" He added, looking at the Hemiteos Unit.
Mato stared at Yuu's new tail as her and Empress walked away to the Peacekeeping forces encampment.
"She didn't have that tail when I last saw her, did she?" The Colonel asked.
Mato shook her head.
"The merge between Strength and Yuu is accelerating, just like it did with me. It will not be long for her. She is already far stronger than any human can possibly be." The teen stated.
"So what's this plan you thought of." The tall man asked.
"It is simple, I discovered the orbital elevator is merely an enlarged linear induction motor, I suspect the purpose is to pump the Iron Ocean up to the moon for some reason." Mato explained.
"And how did you find this out?" The Colonel asked suspiciously.
"During my attempt to stop the elevator, I allowed some of my energy to flow through it, I recognised the basic layout." Mato told him.
"So how does that help us?" The older man asked.
"If we can overcharge the tower, we can essentially turn it into a giant cannon pointed at the moon." Mato said.
"Why the moon?" The Colonel wondered.
"Lunatic stated that she receives power from a fission generator on the moon, in addition, the orbital elevator was constructed to connect to the moon. Whatever is up there is of importance to Lunatic." Mato explained.
"And how would we do that?" The man asked, running his hand through his grey hair.
"It would probably take the combined energy of all of us, the Otherselves and Hemiteos Units. We will need your forces to defend us." Mato said. "Afterwards, the elevator could be destroyed."
"That's a tall order." The Colonel said uneasily.
"Why? Strength and I have already destroyed most of it, only a few thousand remain." Mato said.
"How many were there?" The commander of the Peacekeeping forces asked.
"I do not know." Mato said shaking her head. "But I destroyed ninety four thousand six hundred and eighty."
She took a step closer to him.
"Colonel, you have been saying that the moon A.I. needs to be defeated, for all of humanity. This is our best chance at destroying that tower and dealing a deadly wound."
"My men and I will do our duty, if that's what you're asking." The Colonel snarled. "We know what's at stake, I should ask you the same. You've not cared about us or our plight since we encountered you, so why should I trust you with our fate?"
"You speak of our irreverent attitude to this world?" Mato asked.
The Colonel nodded with a frown.
"Very well, my home reality was separated into two, the human realm and the Otherworld, where the Otherselves dwelt. That world is gone, the two worlds collided and shattered. My human side, alongside my Otherself and also Strength and Yuu, fell through the cracks of reality into what we call the Void. The space between dimensions, a place where every known law of space and time do not exist. We fell for eternities, I witnessed things no creature should." Mato said, blue tears started to run down her face as the memories pushed their way to the front of her mind. "We fell into another reality, another world, a place filled with superhumans and aliens. Almost like a comic book, soon enough we fell again, and again, and again. Sometimes we are sane, we try to make a home in the new world. I was quite fond of two of them, I would happily live in either one. But most of the time we enter a new reality, we have been driven insane by the Void. With our abilities, you can guess what happens."
"Slaughter." The Colonel said. "But what does that have to do with us?"
"I am getting to that." Mato said quietly. "I need to speak this out loud, consider it my confession." She whispered, most of her face covered in blue.
"We have travelled so far and so long Colonel, if you just count the times we were sane, it has been nearly ten years, if you count the times we were in a reality, sane or not, it has been millennia. If you count the time in the Void, then multiple universes would have died of heat death. We are old and tired, we come to a world and it is in danger, we end up being involved like some cosmic joke. All we really want is to know what has happened to our friends, did some of them all through cracks like we did or did they die like the rest of that reality.
"We want to help. We really do, but I think we have come to a point where we can see how things will turn out from experience." Mato finished.
"You expect me to believe all that?" The Colonel said.
"Whether you believe it or not is of no concern of ours, we will help regardless, you can choose to follow our plan or not." Mato shrugged. "Relay the plan to the others, see what they decide, make sure they know there is only a possibility of success. I need to find Yuu." She finished, walking off to the encampment.
"You've decided to leave?" Yuu asked Monica.
"Yeah, well it's going to be a war tomorrow and a war ain't no place for a civilian. I'm surprised you care." Monica said.
"Yeah, I guess we've been kinda rude this entire time, I'm sorry." Yuu apologised with a bow.
"It's been a stressful time for everyone, I only signed up because I smelt the chance for money." Monica admitted. "And Empress is cute."
"Didn't need to know that." Yuu laughed, taking the bottle of whisky from Monica's hand. "Next you'll be tellin' me you've got the hots for Mato!"
"Who has the hots for me?" Mato said, striding into the large tent. Yuu choked and coughed as she passed the bottle back to a wary looking Monica.
"I feel like I have ruined something." Mato apologised.
"I-it's nothing." Monica stammered in fear.
Mato tilted her head.
"She might be an unstoppable killing machine bringing death and destruction everywhere she walks." Yuu hiccupped. "But she's also my oldest and closest friend, as long as you don't challenge her to a game of basketball you're safe."
"You are drunk." Mato stated, sitting down next to her friend.
"And you're pretty, when we gonna fuck again?" Yuu slurred.
Monica snorted and quickly covered her face. "So you two where close?" She asked.
To Monica's disappointment Mato shook her head.
"There was some, experimentation, at university, many years ago, but that is it." Mato stated.
"Bullshit, it weren't an esperiment, we never wrote anythin' down!" Yuu proclaimed.
Monica looked at Mato for an explanation.
"Back in our world…" Mato started to say.
"Back in our world, there was a sayin' 'It ain't dickin' around if you're takin' notes'." Yuu interrupted.
"Yeah, that." Mato said.
"So you're not…" Monica asked, letting her question trail away.
Mato gestured to the half full whisky bottle in Monica's hand, taking a long chug of it once receiving it.
"Only when drunk." Yuu replied.
"Just how old are you two?" Monica asked, taking a small swig after Mato had handed the bottle back.
"We were thirty five before our human bodies reverted into these forms, which would make us forty three or forty four now. We have jumped realities so much it it hard to keep track anymore." Mato answered.
"She wants to make sure you're not jailbait." Yuu giggled.
Monica blushed. Mato took another long draw from the whisky bottle when it was handed back to her.
"There is something I want to try, I am curious whether this is something only Otherselves can do or if it can be shared by humans." She said.
"Oh my god yes!" Yuu squealed.
"What is it?" Monica asked, intrigued by Yuu's response.
"She wants to have sex with you!" Yuu blurted out, rather loudly.
"Not quite." Mato said. "When did you turn into a lightweight?" She asked Yuu.
"Since nowhere will legally sell to us!" Yuu laughed. "Do it." She said seriously to Monica. "If it works, it'll be the most amazing thing you've ever felt!"
"Shut up." Mato said, slapping her friend very gently around the back of her head.
"Oww, watch the claws, bitch." Yuu said, rubbing her head while grinning.
Mato tickled Yuu's back with her claws, gently running them over the thick fabric of her dress, applying just enough pressure to make Yuu feel the sharpness.
"Fuck you." Yuu moaned, closing her eyes.
"I feel like I should be somewhere else." Monica said, wobbly standing up.
Mato grabbed her wrist and stared intently into her eyes.
"Wow." Monica muttered, gazing into the white ringed irises. "She wasn't joking was she?"
Mato shook her head.
"If this fails, nothing will happen." Mato said. "You have nothing to lose."
"What do I have to do?" Monica asked.
"Just open yourself to me." Mato said softly, placing a hand behind Monica's head. "Close your eyes."
Gently, Mato pushed a small portion of her life energy into the long haired woman, feeling it course through the young adult's body.
"Guhh." Monica groaned.
"Relax." Mato said quietly.
"Ohhh, mmmnn." Monica moaned in a mixture of pain and pleasure as Mato's life rushed through her, filling her, stimulating every nerve ending as the energy raced to flood the new vessel. Mato's eyes snapped open as she quickly withdrew her energy.
"No, no no no, more." Monica pleaded. "Please more, don't stop."
"I have to." Mato said, pulling away. She reached down and gently held Monica's hand, she lifted the hand into view and drew Monica's attention to it.
"What did you do?" The woman gasped as she looked upon the charred and flaky skin of her own hand.
"Your body was burning, I am sorry, I should have remembered." Mato said.
"Remembered what?" Monica asked desperately.
"Harry Potter." Yuu realised.
Mato nodded.
"What's that?" Monica asked.
"Harry Potter was a human in our home reality, we shared our life with him and it consumed him from within. I thought a small amount of my life might have been different but I was mistaken." Mato apologised. "Your hand will heal in time, do not worry, it is only superficial."
"Aww." Yuu complained. "I was hoping for some girl on girl action."
"Yuu, you are drunk. Shut up." Mato snapped before turning back to Monica. "I want to thank you before you leave, without your help we might never have rescued those girls from the Education Institution. And again I am sorry about your hand."
Monica stared at her for a long moment before answering. "It's okay, oddly enough it's not the worst sexual encounter I've ever had." She laughed. "But thank you, I should be going soon anyway. The attack will start soon I reckon and I need to be far away by the time that happens."
Mato nodded her understanding and smiled, watching the long-haired woman heft a bag over her shoulder and leave the tent.
"Aww, you scared her away." Yuu sulked. "Why did you want to do that with her anyway?"
"Curiosity, I wanted to know if my energy had changed since awakening." Mato shrugged. "But it seems it is just as dangerous to humans as ever."
"And the fact it would've lead to an amazing time?" Yuu grinned lopsidedly.
"Is just you being a lesbian when drunk. Do you even know what sexuality you are?" Mato teased.
"I don't really care to be honest." Yuu said, taking another drink. "We're about to go into battle again tomorrow y'no?" She suddenly added out of nowhere.
"Where did that come from?" Mato asked, accepting the offered bottle with a curt nod.
"I was just thinkin', wouldn't be best for you to be as in sync with Strength as possible? You'd both be more effective that way." Yuu grinned.
"I hate you sometimes." Mato moaned.
"Why?" Yuu asked with a hurt look.
"Because of the scientist in you, you are aroused and Strength and I did perform a lot better once we shared our energy. You are using that to your advantage to get what you want." Mato explained.
"So you hate me because I'm being logical?" Yuu smiled confidently.
"Yes." Mato replied simply.
"Are you going to share your life with me anyway?" Yuu smirked. "I'm a hybrid so I should be able to take it."
"Of all the things that could have happened once I awakened, I just had to discover how to have sex." Mato complained as she pulled Yuu on to her lap, the tanned teen wrapping her legs around the Otherself's thin waist.
"You started it by scratching my back." Yuu pointed out, her face close enough to her oldest friend's to feel her slight breath. "Or did you forget?"
"I was teasing you." Mato replied, placing her deadly, razor sharp claws at the base of Yuu's head and interlocking her other hand with the other girl's. Yuu closed her eyes and reached out with her and Strength's energy, meeting Mato's and intertwining, wrapping around each other as it filled both teenagers. The human girl furrowed her brow as she felt her skin start to heat up, just stopping before causing physical damage. Every nerve ending in their bodies cried out, an intense sensation of hunger and unity wracked their slim forms. Pleasure wound around bone and flesh as the pair started breathing in unison, becoming deeper and deeper until fullness and ecstasy brought the two over the edge.
Red-faced, Yuu's eyes fluttered open.
"Wow." She breathed softly. "That was incredible!"
Mato nodded shakily as she felt Yuu's life energy leave her.
"That's so much better than sex!" Yuu sighed happily. "Why does it feel like that?"
"I do not know, perhaps it is because I have awakened." Mato suggested, letting the other girl remain on her lap.
"How would that change anything?" The tanned girl asked.
"Because of the love we shared between each other, it might have transferred into my life energy." Mato said.
"Makes sense I suppose." Yuu hiccupped. "Wow, room's all mushy and won't stay still."
"Told you, you are drunk." Mato told her, moving the bottle away.
"Prob'ly." Yuu grinned. "Should get some sleep, right?"
"Right." Mato nodded, leaving as Yuu curled up on a sleeping bag. She looked up at the dark cloudy sky and sighed, noticing a small fire out of the corner of her eye.
She was about to walk towards it, guessing that the Hemiteos Units were gathered around it but quickly dismissed the idea of joining them. As she started walking in the opposite direction the slim, pale form of Empress emerged from a nearby tent.
"Empress, looking for your friends?" Mato asked.
"No, I know where they are." Empress said, pointing behind the Otherself. "Are you nervous about tomorrow?"
Mato shook her head.
"It will good to finally end this, this world is grating on me, I think it is the lack of stars in the sky."
"You look at the stars a lot?" Empress asked, walking towards the fire.
Mato walked with her.
"Whenever I can, it reminds me of the Otherworld." She stated, before adding. "I suppose I am a little homesick in this reality."
"I never really had a home." Empress said. "I got raised in an orphanage and they turned us into Hemiteos Units."
"Did you get a choice in this?" Mato asked.
"I don't remember." Empress admitted.
"They are probably dead now anyway." Mato spat, stopping.
"Huh?" Empress said, turning to look at her. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I will find you before we start tomorrow." Mato told her, walking off into the dense forest.