Chapter Six

Once-ler races through the red-bathed white halls of the Operator HQ. He's stopped by the same Natural Operator that gave Sylvester his warhammer. He's holding a long, metal case.

"Stop for a second, E-6. You need a new axe, and the Master had me whip this up for you really quick." He drops the box and it springs open. Inside is a double-headed silver axe with an angel wing motif. "That's not all." He picks it up, twists the handle, and removes two kama from the counterbalance of the haft. "Master said you're fast, so I figure throwing in kama would help. Sorry it's so crude-I didn't have much time." He says, putting the kama back in the axe handle and handing the large, elegant weapon to Once-ler. He looks at it in awe.

"Nah, this is great. Thanks...?"

"Number 52. Nevermind that, now, though. Go!" Once-ler nods and takes off running down the hall. As he runs, a pair of tessen swipe in front of him. He dodges backwards and pulls his new axe, ready to fight. Just as he suspected it was, it's Tsukiko Matsumoto.

"Hey, pretty." She says. "Wanna dance?" She swings a tessen at him and slices into his right arm. Blood rolls down, staining his long, green gloves. He brings the axe down on her right arm, taking it off at the elbow. Her right tessen clangs to the floor, and her arm regenerates bare. "Well, seems someone's more than just a pretty face. I'll have to get serious." She kicks her tessen back into her newly regrown hand and swipes at Once-ler, cutting his face. He bleeds, but regenerates just as fast. "You know the best part about this, iroppoi? While you're dicking around with me, Big Red's being beat into a bloody carpet stain by my Progentior and there ain't shit you can do about it!" She laughs. Rage boils in The Once-ler and he takes out his kama, throwing the axe to the ground. He swipes at her, and she merely dodges each swipe, laughing at him as he attacks her with every ounce of fury in him. He takes half her face off. Smiling at him with her left eye, she says: "Ouchie, now that really hurt. You bad boy, I think I need to punish you." Her face regenerates as she begins slicing at him with her tessen. She takes off his left arm, but he keeps swinging, slicing the back of her hand open. She doesn't drop the war-fan, though, and comes at him hard, slicing off his remaining arm and taking his legs in one swipe.

Once-ler falls to his back, hard and she gets on top of him. He squirms. "Get off me!" he shouts, but she won't. She sneers at him.

"Big Red can't help you, now." She rips his tuxedo jacket and shirt open, exposing his chest. Tears well up in his eyes. "Oh, keep crying. You're only making this better for me." She undoes his pants and pulls them and his green and black underwear down to his knees. He starts crying as she rubs his penis. Fighting himself, he can feel himself getting hard. Suddenly, there is a voice.

"Big Red can't help him, you pervert, but I can." Sylvester says, as he knocks Tsukiko off of Once-ler with his hammer, striking her in the head. She is dizzy, but manages to spit:

"Oh, do we have a little boyfriend? Is that why we rejected my advances?"

"No, I just don't like perverts raping people, that's all." Sylvester says, his voice flat. She stands back up and grabs her tessen. Once-ler, quickly, gets up, zips and buttons up his pants, and grabs his kama. He and Sylvester take turns slashing and smashing at her until Sylvester gets in a lucky swing and takes off the top of her head. She still thrashes with her tessen, aimlessly and headlessly. Once-ler closes in and rips her heart from her chest. Just as he had seen 38 do with 12, he crushes her heart, and Tsukiko Matsumoto is no more. The two men look at one another, a mutual understanding between them.

"You won't say anything about this, will you, McBean?" Sylvester shakes his head.

"Secret's safe with me." The two of them head down the hall, drawing ever closer to the central spire where they knew 24 was waiting.

38 and 24 stand, face to face, their guns to each other's heads. They aren't budging. 24 feels a chill run through him: Tsukiko was dead and he knew it. He sighs and looks into 38's eyes.

"You want to put your gun away? We've been standing like this for 15 minutes."

"Moron, do you think I'm stupid? The second I put Debbie down, you'll shoot me."

"We'll both put away our weaponry on the count of three, okay? One. Two." The two of them start to lower their weapons. "Three." The guns are completely put down. "See? Isn't that more civil? Now, we can talk like grown ups." he says, sneering.

"Why are you doing this? The Master created you, gifted you perfect immortality and power mortals can't imagine. Yet, you betray him."

"Perfect coming from his favorite attack dog. Have you ever wondered why he always gives you and Once-ler preferencial treatment? You're his go-to guys. Your loyalty has blinded you to the fact that The Master is a mad despot who needs to be deposed."

"You've killed for him for years, and you just now have a problem with him? What took you so long? Yes, we kill for him, but mortals are flawed, weak beings that can't even take justice into their own hands. That's what we're for. Surely you know that."

"Why don't you join me, 38? You know we're practically the same person. We're not even opposite sides of the same coin-we're the same damn side of the samn damn coin."

"I'd sooner die than join a traitor like you. My allegiance always lies with The Master."

"And your little pet. Does he even remember Master sending you to watch over him as a boy? Does he remember how much it hurt you to leave him? Hmm? I still don't know why the Master sent someone like you to watch over a little abused boy." He laughs, "86, I can see. She's kind, at least, and was sent to watch over her Bairn as an orphan boy. But you, you're an asshole and you know it."

"At least I'm not a traitor." She says, bemused. "And you're an asshole, too. Your Bairn is a monster-that's why Master didn't send you to watch her when she was a girl in Japan. She doesn't deserve to be an Operator." Anger boils in him. She doesn't know Tsukiko's fate.

"And your's does? Waah, my mommy beat me so I'm going to cut down all these trees in this forest to try to win her love. Pathetic."

"He repented on what he had done. Tsukiko doesn't feel an ounce of empathy for those she murdered."

"You don't know what she feels!" 24 draws his gun and fires at 38, taking off her lower jaw. She draws "Debbie" and fires at him, blowing off his left arm.

"Did I strike a nerve?" She says as her jaw grows back. The two of them fire at one another, blowing off parts that regenerate just as quickly. Finally, 38 manages to blow a hole in 24's chest. Without hesitation, she reaches into the hole, withdraws his heart, and stomps it into the black and white marble floor. She hears applauding from behind her and turns. Immediatley, she drops to one knee and holds her head low. "Master!"

He resembled an older mortal man with a black and white bow-tie, grey jacket, and white button-down. Behind aviator glasses, his eyes were pure gold with black vertical-slit pupils.

"Stand, Thirty-eight. You did good work. I could've stopped him at any time, but I needed to find out who was loyal-who I could trust. Don't want another instance of 13 and 58." She nods. "Go to your Bairn. He needs you, now."

"What about E-5?"

"E-6 and E-7 took care of her-don't worry about it. Take a vacation, the two of you. I won't ask anything of you for a while. You or 86 and E-7."