A/N: Here you go! Day 3 is here at last! I'm gonna try to get this done with quick, but it'll still be a long haul! Hope you enjoy, and reviews are appreciated!


It's dark. I can't see anything at all. "Hello?" I called out, but only my echo acknowledged my presence. Where am I? What happened to me? I took a few steps

forward, my footsteps echoing all around me, before I was blinded by a sudden flash of light. I yelped in surprise, raising my arms in an attempt to shield my eyes

from the rays, but as soon as I opened them again, I was suddenly standing in the middle of the stage of the Central Park Amphitheater. "What the…?" I muttered to

myself, before another flash of light erupted from nowhere, blinding me again. But as soon as the light vanished, I came to realize that I was surrounded by a group

of people. I stared at them all with my mouth agape, but no one said or did anything. Actually, they almost seemed like they were in a trance. Fear started to rise up

in my chest, but I swallowed it down and took a step forward, but the moment I did, everyone started to scream out all around me, the pitch of their screams almost

deafening. "IT HURTS! IT HURTS! SAVE ME! WHY WON'T YOU SAVE ME?" they all started to yell. I just stood there, completely dumbstruck by this. What's going on?

Then, at that moment of confusion and desperation, the people all around me caught fire! One by one, flames erupted from all of them until it look like I was standing

in hell. Their screams became louder and shriller, the very sound of it sending chills down my spine. And as if that weren't enough, they also started to melt before my

eyes! Crying and screaming filled my ears as the people around me called to me for help, but I couldn't move. It felt like I was frozen in place, despite the scorching

flames all around me, my body shivering uncontrollably, sweat dotting my face, my heart beating at a furious pace. What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? Again

and again, this question filled my mind, but no answer came.

The people, still screaming and crying in torment, then started toward me, their arms raised up toward me, as if to grab me. "No… No!" I screamed out, my body

shaking more and more, the sounds of their anguish, the look in their white eyes, the desperation radiating off of them, all of it filled me, and it terrified me. Closer

and closer the people approached, the heat of their flames rising every second. My legs soon gave out from under me, and I fell on my bottom, the fear grabbing hold

of me, holding me in place. I could do nothing as my tear streaked eyes looked up at the flaming victims above me as they started to bend down toward me, their

flaming, bony hands reaching outward for my touch…

I screamed out to myself, sweat dotting my face, my heart beating furiously in my throat, my eyes focused on a mossy, dirty, wooden ceiling above me. I felt

something plush supporting me from below, and it was slightly dark around me again; a room? I tilted my head toward my right to see a sideways view of a small,

beat up, very dirty room. The floor was covered in dirt, grime, and glass bottles with its contents spilled all over, and there was nothing here save for the bed I lay on,

a metal barrel in the center of the room which was holding a steady fire, providing this room's only source of light, an old TV propped next to a wall which showed

static, a musty, old couch opposite the TV, and a man sitting on the couch. My heart rate slowing back down, I slowly sat up on the bed, my eyes focused on the man,

whom noticed my awakening and looked toward me as well.

"Oh…! You're finally awake!" the man said in an exasperated tone. The man is of Asian descent with short, black, messy hair, with glasses, wearing a wrinkled, blue

jacket, a white shirt underneath with a matching blue tie hanging loosely around his neck, brown khaki pants, and dirty, white sneakers. He seemed very skinny, and

his clothes seemed like hand-me-down clothes, so he seemed very weird, but I wasn't getting any really bad vibes from him… "Who are you?" I asked, him, swinging

my legs off the bed and to the floor. The man rubbed the back of his head with his hand when I asked him, his gaze focused on the floor. "I'm… Kunihiko Maeda. I'm a

scientist from Japan." he answered rather timidly, before looking up at me again. "I found you on the street a few hours ago; you seemed in really bad shape." he

added. I gasped when he told me this. That's right! I was fighting Eve when… I quickly looked down at my body, my torn shirt exposing part of my chest and

abdomen. They were coated with shades of dried blood, but there was no wound. I slowly ran my fingertips across my abdomen, unable to believe it. Eve's tail pierced

everything… my stomach, my intestines, even my spine… I should be dead… Is this the power of my mitochondria? Incredible… "There was a dead horse next to you.

Its body was completely charred. And… and there was a carriage too… but it was destroyed… I… I couldn't believe my eyes… I thought you were dead… but you

seemed fine…" Maeda spoke out, breaking me from my trance. I quickly looked up at him, before giving him a smile. "Thank you, Maeda." I thanked, but he started to

get fidgety, as if he were embarrassed.

"You sure gave us a scare, let me tell you." a muffled voice spoke out. The door then opened and my eyes came upon Daniel entering the room. "Daniel!" I screeched

excitedly, jumping up on my feet from the bed. I was about to rush to him and embrace him, but I quickly stopped myself, my smile fading instantly, my eyes looking

down toward the floor. "Aya? What's wrong?" he asked me worriedly. The sound of worry in his voice made my tears rush down with great haste, my shoulders

shuddering. I then explained to him what happened. I told him about my confrontation with Eve in the amphitheater. How the audience melted into a giant blob. How I

couldn't keep my promise. I couldn't help myself. I started to cry silently into the palms of my hand after I told him. Surely he'll hate me now… I was expecting for

him to yell at me, but he remained silent. I didn't know what he was doing, I didn't dare to look, but I felt a hand land gently on my shoulder. "Aya, I don't blame you.

I'm sure you did what you could." he comforted, his voice soothing, but it just made me feel worse. "Ben is okay, Aya. He's alive. He wasn't with the audience." he

then told me, and I quickly looked up at him. When our eyes met, he simply nodded at me. "My boy is alive. Lorraine may be gone… but my boy is still alive. For that,

I'm grateful." he told me. My heart ached when he told me this. So, at least Ben is okay. But that still doesn't make things okay. Daniel still lost someone close to him,

and it was my fault. I didn't know what to say at this point, and I know that Daniel truly isn't blaming me, but I still feel guilty, so I was grateful to Maeda for breaking

the silence. "They melted? You mean they weren't ignited?" he asked me. Drying my eyes, I turned toward him, nodding my head. "That's right." I replied.

Maeda seemed to be thinking on the story I just told him, his attention focused on the flames in the barrel. "That's something new… Nothing like that happened in

Japan." he muttered loud enough for us to hear. I blinked my eyes when he said this, confusion filling my head. "Japan?" I asked aloud, to which he looked up at me

and nodded. "A similar incident occurred several years ago in Japan, although it wasn't as grandiose in scale as this one." he replied. This new information caused my

jaw to drop, and I instantly knew I was in for an interesting story. "Hey! What happened? Give us the details!" Daniel asked hurriedly. Maeda nodded his head and

stood up from the couch, pushing his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose. "It all started when a scientist's wife was killed in a car accident. The scientist tried to

culture her liver cells in order to keep her alive, and he named those cells… 'Eve'…" he started, my eyes opening wide at the name. "EVE?" I breathed out in disbelief,

to which he nodded again. "The liver cells multiplied and her mitochondria eventually took over her physical body. After acquiring the scientist's sperm, Eve tried to

give birth to an 'ultimate being'." he continued. My brow furrowed slightly at this. Ultimate Being? What is that? "'She', the being who mutated from the liver cells,

couldn't maintain her body for long." Maeda continued, turning toward the steady flame in the barrel. "Before the car accident, the wife had registered to have her

organs donated, so after the accident, her kidneys were transplanted into a young girl. Since the girl now shared the same mitochondria as the wife, she was a perfect

vessel. Eve implanted a fertilized egg into the young girl who then gave birth to… an 'Ultimate Being'." he finished, his hands inside his pockets. My eyes have shifted

to the floor, my mind feeling numb with this information. What does this mean…? "I was extremely interested in this and went to his lab so that I could continue

research, and after hearing about this incident, I just had to fly over here." Maeda spoke again, facing Daniel and me. Daniel growled angrily next to me, shouting

over at Maeda. "Just what the hell is going on here?" Maeda simply shook his head, his hand rubbing the back of his head again. "I wish I could explain more. I'm

sorry." he replied, sighing out.

I sighed out as well, sitting back on the bed, my mind bursting with questions after Maeda's story. So this isn't the first time Eve's done this? What is this Ultimate

Being? Is that what Eve's trying to do here now? Not to mention… "Hey, Aya. You ok?" Daniel asked me suddenly, breaking me out of my trance. "Huh? Oh… I… It's

just… every time I get close to Eve… I feel…" I started, my words a little shaky and disorganized. "You felt you were about to be ignited, correct?" Maeda asked me,

turning toward me, but Daniel turned to him now, shaking his head. "No, she's… Well, she's the only one that isn't affected." he told him, to which Maeda gasped in

surprise. "What? You don't get ignited when you're around her…?" he asked. I remained silent, merely nodding my head, and he crossed his arms, his face calculating.

"I… I don't understand…" he stammered, but I think I know. I grabbed hold of the bed sheets with my hands as if to brace myself for some pain when I spoke next.

"I… I think I may be a monster… Like HER!" I heard Daniel gasp as he turned toward me, his voice raised. "What? What are you saying, Aya?" Biting my lower lip, I

hugged myself to keep myself from shaking when I confessed this fear I had for the last two days. "I'm the only one who doesn't burn around her… I have these

strange powers like she does, and when I'm fighting, I have this urge to kill. And Eve keeps telling me that I'm like her; about how we're similar and how how I should

be siding with her! I'm afraid… What if… what if I really am like her? What if I start to think differently? What if my mitochondria takes over my body, and I end up

killing you?" I shouted, tears running down my cheeks again. My body began to shake from this confession, but Daniel merely scoffed the idea away. "Come on, Aya!

There's no way that'll happen!" he exclaimed, but this just made me more irritable. "How do you know? How can you be so sure I won't end up turning on you?" I

shouted, standing up again to face him.

Daniel said nothing, his eyes boring into mine, remaining silent for a moment before speaking. "Because you're my partner, and I believe in you." he told me at last.

My face dropped slightly from this, and I took a step back from him, yielding to his certainty. Biting my lip, I turned away from both men, facing the bed. "Please go

away. Stay away from me!" I shouted out, my grip on my body tighter. "I… could never forgive myself if I hurt you, Daniel! Please…" I added, my shoulders

shuddering.

After a few moments, I heard the two men walk out of the room without saying a word, closing the door behind them. My heart felt heavy with guilt, and I fought

desperately to keep the tears back. Slowly, I lay back down on the bed in a fetal position, my body still shaking as Eve's words echoed in my mind:

Even if you don't understand, don't worry. Your mitochondria will... they've always known...

I'm going to give you some time... some time to think and some time to evolve... And the day will arrive when you will finally... AWAKEN...

Why don't you understand? Why are you not siding with me?

It seems you still don't know who I am. Well, even if you don't know, your mitochondria will.

The more you use that power, the more you will become… like me…

Yes, that's correct! And you let me kill them! You sat there, watching them die, and you didn't do anything to stop it! You're just as guilty as I am!I know you're

capable of so much more than what you're showing me! If you really wanted to, Aya, you could've stopped me. But you didn't. Why do you suppose that is? It's

because you wanted to watch them die. You're just like me, after all. You're far more superior to those disgusting humans. You did nothing because you chose not to.

Oh, I'm afraid you'll come to understand that we are more similar than you think. As you continue to evolve, you'll come to understand yourself more and more. You'll

come to crave the destruction that you can cause, and you'll be drunk on your own power. You'll come to understand your place in this world, and when you do, you'll

find just how worthless the humans' lives really are.

I can't have you dying until you've come to understand everything. I need you to keep evolving and learning, and once you've remembered everything, I'll have you

answer me for real.

I curled my body more as Eve's words echoing in my head, a cold wind piercing my very soul. Eve always said those things, as if trying to convince me that it's all

true, that I'm really like her, and I'm fighting for the wrong team. But even those things didn't really scare me. No… what scares me the most… what causes my body

to shake and my heart to falter is…

...I think I'm starting to believe her…