Chapter 114 - Family
[South Brother Island - New York City]
(One last big push from Milley and the baby was safely born into Maho's arms. The baby had a loud and strong cry. They severed the umbilical cord and cleaned the baby before wrapping it up with warm towels.)
"Milley can you hear that? That's your baby!" Charlotte smiled
"It's a girl, Milley-san!" Maho smiled
"She's so cute!" Mika smiled
(Delivering and seeing a newborn baby for the first time brought tears to their eyes. It brought them so much joy seeing that small bundle of life in their arms. They carefully gave the baby girl to Milley's arms. She cradled the baby gently with a smile on her face.)
"I..want..you..to name..her.."
"Sachi!"
"Sachi..?" Milley asked
"Yes..it means both Miracle and Happiness in our language..what do you think?"
"Sachi..such..a..beautiful..name.."
"A beautiful name for a beautiful girl!" Maho smiled
"I k-know..that..I don't..have..much time..left..so..will you..be..her mother..?"
(Maho was surprised by this request from Milley but for some reason she didn't have any doubts in her mind like she already made a decision before she was asked that question.)
"I will.."
"T-Thank you..all..of you.."
(Milley let out her last breath and died on the bed with a smile while hugging her baby. The three girls cried out in pain as they watched probably the bravest mother they have ever met. Maho carried the crying baby and cradled it on her arms trying to comfort it)
"It's going to be alright Sachi..you're going to survive and be an amazing person just like your mother." Maho whispered
"Even more amazing!" Charlotte smiled
"Yes, from now on she'll be a part of our family, and she will now be known as Nishizumi Sachi." Maho smiled
(In the middle of all that death a tiny life was born. Among the hundreds if not thousands of lives lost inside that room, only one survived. It was truly a miracle among miracles that will forever be remembered by them)
"Looks like Gero just became an uncle!" Charlotte smiled
"A dad.." Maho said
"Come again..?"
(Before MIka and Charlotte could react to what Maho just said they suddenly heard two of the doors activate. This meant that somebody was about to enter the rooms so they quickly hid in one of the rooms because they knew that it could be Pandora on the other side of the doors.)
"Is it Pandora?"
"Considering this is one of their facilities then yes it might be Pandora." Mika said
"What do we do?" Maho asked
"Pray that it isn't Pandora. If it is, then we hide and pray even harder that they don't find us."
(The doors opened and multiple individuals entered the room. Mika and the rest were hiding and keeping quiet until the baby started to cry loud. The people that entered then were alerted of their presence and headed towards the room they were hiding in. Mika then aimed her weapon at the door and was planning on making a distraction to let the princess and Maho escape but before she could move they heard a familiar voice from the other side of the door)
"Whoever is in there, we're not going to hurt you, we're not from Pandora." the voice said
"That voice, Master Chief West? Is that you?" Mika asked
"Wait, what? Lady Mika?!"
(A sigh of relief was let out by everyone in the room after confirming that they were all friends. Mika then opened the door and saw West along with the rest of the Seals and RYOBU)
"Mika-san?! What are you doing here?!" Naomi asked
"Long story.."
(Maho and the princess then went out of the room as well and surprised them)
"Even Maho-san and the princess are here! What the hell is going on?!" Ono reacted
"It's my fault, I was so worried about all of you when the communications were cut. We discovered a different entrance on this island but we couldn't notify you. So we all decided to head here to help and ended up inside." Maho explained
"Did Commander Bryson allow you to come here?" West asked
"We left in secret so no.."
"Of course not.."
"Wait..where's onii-sama and Erika?" Maho asked
"We got separated from them when we sprung a trap laid by the Augs. They'll be fine so don't worry." Alisa said
"How can I not worry! They're trapped with those super soldiers or whatever they are!"
"You got something wrong Maho-sama. They're not trapped in there with the Augs. The Augs are trapped in there with them." Sanada said
"Sanada-san is right! They'll catch up to us in no time!" Sakurai smiled
(The baby that Maho was carrying started crying again and everyone was wondering where that baby came from and what kind of room they were in.)
"Maho-sama, do you mind if I take a look at the baby? I just want to make sure she's healthy and uninjured!" Nana smiled
"Yes please Nana, thank you so much. Her name is Sachi by the way."
"I see..that's a beautiful name!"
"Lady Maho, can you tell us more about this lab and about the baby?" West asked
(Maho then explained to them about the experiments done by Pandora and about Milley the mother of the child. They found out that the baby was the sole survivor of the experiment and everyone was so angry at Pandora again)
"Those fucking bastards! How can they do this!?" Kaito shouted
"And here I was thinking that their experiments couldn't get any worse." Klara said
"All the data we could get we stored in this flash drive. The rest of the files were either corrupted or erased." Charlotte said
"Thank you, your highness. I still don't understand why the doctors and patients were killed before you guys arrived."
"We came across a lone Aug after we entered the base. After I killed it we arrived at this lab with two doctors dead at the entrance. My guess is that Aug was the one responsible for killing everyone here so that there would be no witnesses." Mika said
"I see..and now our only witness is a newborn baby."
"You killed an Aug on your own? I knew you were strong but damn!" Sakurai smiled
"I need to be strong to stand beside Ro-chan."
(As they were discussing they heard a loud explosion from deep inside the base)
"What was that?!" Maho asked
"That would be a claymore trap we planted as we were running. Looks like an Aug triggered it. We have to move before they catch up to us." West said
"But what about my brother and Erika?"
"They would've heard that explosion too so they'll be making their way towards this location soon but we have to get topside first and bring that baby to a proper hospital."
"Okay. Then the only remaining route we can take is to the east."
"What about the entrance you three entered from?"
"A large burning tree is magnificently blocking it." Charlotte said
"How did that happen?" Sanada asked
"Lightning struck and it fell down on top of the entrance. We almost got crushed by it if it weren't for the princess." Mika said
"Then east we go, check your weapons and gear! We don't have a lot of ammo left so make your shots count!"
"Roger!"
"Here Maho-sama, she's all healthy and fine!" Nana smiled
"Thank you very much, Nana!"
"You did an amazing job in assisting her birth, Shiho-sama would be very proud of you!"
"I couldn't have done it without help from Mika and the princess. Thank you as well, both of you!"
"You're welcome!" Charlotte smiled
"Let's get Sachi-chan to a hospital now shall we?" Mika smiled
(They headed east and came across stairs leading to the top. As they got closer to the surface the communications returned)
"Commander Bryson, we're headed topside, do you copy?" West radioed
"..."
"Bryson went dark, something must've happened. Stay alert."
(The group continued up the stairs and eventually came across an exit. They went out of the doors and observed their surroundings only to discover that they had ended up elsewhere.)
"Where are we?! We're no longer on the island!" Nana reacted
(All of a sudden two bright spotlights blinded them where they stood and they realized that multiple guns were pointed at them by soldiers. The soldiers had black uniforms and had skull masks covering their faces.)
"Drop your weapons!" shouted one of the soldiers
"Who are you?!"
"That is none of your concern! Drop your weapons now!"
"Who the fuck are these guys?" Sanada asked
"Only one unit comes to mind that would wear those masks. They're from the Private Military Company called Graves." Assam said
"Why are they here and who sent them?" Takashi asked
"Let's worry about that later since we won't have the luxury of worrying about anything if we die here." Naomi said
(They looked around and saw they were completely surrounded and they were in some kind of big courtyard. The courtyard was surrounded by high walls and barbed wire with two towers on the left and right with spotlights and snipers.)
"My name is Master Chief Westley and we are here on a mission! I order you all to stand down!"
"Master Chief Westley! I'm afraid we can't do that!" someone suddenly talked from behind the Graves soldiers
"Who are you?" Westley asked
"My name is Rick and I'm the head of this facility. The reason you are being treated this way is because you're currently trespassing."
"Trespassing? What the hell is even this place?"
"Don't you recognize it? This is Rikers Island!"
"What?! How the fuck did we end up here?!"
(Rikers Island is an island in the East River that contains New York City's largest jail.)
"Looks like the brother islands and this island are interconnected via the underwater facilities. The question is why?" Mika said
"Trespassing in this facility is punished by death. No hard feelings!"
"Wait! I'm the princess of Britain! If you continue this act of hostility then you could start a war between our countries!" Charlotte shouted
"All we have to do is to make sure nobody discovers your dead body then." Rick smiled evilly
"Damn you!"
(All of a sudden Sachi started crying again and caught everyone's attention)
"Shh..it's going to be alright Sachi.." Maho whispered to the baby
"Hold your fire! Where did that baby come from?" Rick asked suddenly
"Why are you suddenly interested in the baby?!" Charlotte shouted
"Answer the question!"
"From a laboratory down below." Maho answered
"Is that so? Hand over the baby to me now." Rick demanded
"What?! Why should I?"
"It's the only way she'll survive this situation now that her mother is probably dead."
(Everyone then noticed what Rick mentioned)
"How the fuck did you know that her mother was dead?" Westley asked
"You fuckers, you're part of Pandora!" Sakurai shouted
"Looks like the cat's out of the bag. That's right, this jail is just a front and is actually a facility for Pandora. I'm the head of this jail and the facilities below the other islands!"
"You bastards!"
"We knew that you would try to attack this base so we laid the perfect bait to lure you all the way here. Now that all of you are tired and injured from all the fights it'll be easier to dispose of you all now." Rick said
"You..you're responsible for all that happened inside those labs? All those women and children?" Maho asked
"That's right, now give me the baby! I won't ask again!" Rick shouted
(At this moment there was one person that was way angrier than the others. It was none other than Maho who was now the parent of Sachi. Now that she is looking at the person responsible for the death of Sachi's mother and all of those deaths they witnessed, she could feel the blood in her veins boil. Her breathing started getting heavier and her body started shivering)
"Nana, please hold on to Sachi." Maho said as she gave the baby to her
"Maho-sama?"
(Maho then took knives from Nana and Sakurai and started walking towards the Grave soldiers. She stopped in front of the Seals and Ryobu and made a fighting stance that was very familiar to them. It was Gero's fighting stance when dual wielding knives and they could feel Maho's aura increasing)
"This girl is now now a precious part of our Family. Her name is Nishizumi Sachi and she is my daughter! If you wanna take her, then YOU BETTER BE READY TO DIE TRYING!" Maho shouted
(Maho's eyes glowed golden yellow and her Sacred Possession finally awakened. Her aura was increasing so much to the point that it would match up to Gero's normal aura. The whole Rikers island was enveloped with Maho's bloodlust and Rick together with the Graves soldiers were unable to move because of her killing intent. Because of Maho's amazing control over her skill she was able to control it to the point that the Seals and Ryobu were not affected. Rick fell on his ass as he saw the terrifying sight in front of him. A terrifying aura that he felt that could devour everything in its path.)
"W-What the hell am I seeing?! I'm about to die! I'm going to die!" Rick reacted
"So this is Sacred Possession..I've finally caught up to you, onii-sama.." Maho smiled
"You damn monster! Kill her! Kill them all!" Rick ordered
(Just as the Graves were about to shoot their weapons a rocket suddenly flew past over their heads and blew up one of the towers. They all looked at the source of the rocket and there they saw Gero and Erika standing in front of the exit. Gero was holding his katana while Erika was holding another RPG launcher and her own sword)
"Nice shot!"
"Told ya these would come in handy if we brought them!" Erika smiled
"One more tower to go!"
(Erika aimed her last rocket launcher at the second tower and blew it up as well. The bright spotlights that were blinding them were now gone and it was now equal ground. Gero and Erika then threw four 9-Banger Flashbang Grenades towards the Graves.)
"Everyone close your eyes and cover your ears!"
(The flashbangs exploded all around the graves which blinded and disoriented them. This gave them an opening to counter-attack which Gero didn't hesitate to take advantage of)
"West! Sanada! Except for that guy named Rick, kill them all!"
"Roger!"
(The fire fight then started between the Graves and the Seals and Ryobu but since Gero and Erika gave them an opening they were able to win their gun fights. Erika then rushed in the middle of the enemy soldiers and cut them down one by one.)
"Onii-sama!" Maho called out
"Maho! What are you doing here?!"
"Long story..I'm sorry.."
"Your eyes.."
"Yes..I've awakened Sacred Possession.."
(Gero had a very worried expression on his face after knowing that his sister would then experience what Miho experienced before. But he then felt Maho's hand on his face and he saw that she had a warm smile on her face)
"It's alright onii-sama, I'm going to be okay. I'll only use this power to protect the ones I love, to protect you, onii-sama!"
"Look at you being all confident, I'm the older brother so I'll be the one doing the protecting!"
"I won't hold you back!"
"Alright then, let's get this over with and go back home! You'll set and I'll spike!"
"Yes!"
(Maho and Gero then fought together against the Graves. They were able to overpower the special forces one by one with their combinations. Maho used the knives to stab and cut the arms and legs of the Graves then Gero will deal the finishing blow for the kill. Meanwhile, Charlotte was in awe while watching Maho and Gero fight together)
"A-Amazing..so that's what he's like when he gets serious.."
"Look out!" Mika shouted
(Behind Charlotte was one of the Graves and attempted to shoot her but Mika was able to rush in and kick his weapon away from his hands. Mika then did a very fast maneuver and managed to get behind the soldier then immediately slit his throat.)
"T-Thank you.." Charlotte said
"Stop daydreaming during a fight. It'll cost you your life." Mika said
(Another Graves soldier approached them and started firing his weapon. The two of them were able to dodge and rush the soldier together. Mika then threw her knife and hit the hand of the soldier then Charlotte took the opportunity to lunge her sword and stabbed the soldier through his chest and killed him. As she pulled out her sword from the dead body of the soldier she felt her hands shake uncontrollably. This was indeed her first time killing somebody)
"I..I'm sorry.."
"Hey, look at me. You don't need to apologize to scum like them." Mika said
"I..killed him.."
"If you didn't then he would've killed you and me. Forget about that for now. It's not over yet so focus up and help me protect the baby and the others. You with me?"
"I am.."
"Good, stay close."
(The shaking in Charlotte's hands stopped and she regained her composure then proceeded to fight alongside brutal fighting ended quickly with Gero's side as the winners. All of the Graves were killed and the only person remaining alive was Rick)
"All clear!" West shouted
"Casualties?" Erika asked
"None!" Nana answered
"What are we going to do with this bastard?" Ono asked
"Onii-sama, I really want to kill him." Maho said
"I do too but he might have some useful information for us."
"Ha! You think I'll talk?! Might as well just shoot me on the head right now!" Rick shouted
"Okay then." Erika said
(Erika aimed her pistol at Rick's head but before she was able to pull the trigger they suddenly received a transmission from Bryson)
"Sir Gero! Can you hear me?!" Bryson radioed
"Hey Bryson! Are you alright? What happened?"
"We were held hostage by some soldiers but were saved by scary guys wearing fox masks."
"That would be ANBU, can you pass the radio to the woman with a red mask on?"
"Yes sir."
"Is that you captain?"
"Yes Gero-sama." the ANBU captain replied
"Did Chiyo-sama send you here?"
"Yes, she informed us about the mission and ordered us to provide you with additional support. Looks like we arrived just in time."
"Your timing couldn't have been better! Thanks for saving the commander, what's the situation there?"
"All Navy Seals are safe and all enemy combatants are neutralized, waiting for your orders."
"We have a bad guy here that says he won't talk no matter what. I think the Shimada Family's interrogation skills are being challenged, what do you think?"
"If that's the case then we'd love to have that bad guy have a full course experience on interrogation." the ANBU captain smiled
"Excellent! Come pick up the package here at Rikers Island and bring some supplies as well."
"Roger that."
"Well you heard that Rick, you'll be heading to a place nobody in this world would want to go to. Knock him out and tie him up."
"Yes sir!" Kaito answered
(Rick was hit on the back of his head and was knocked out then tied up as ordered. As everyone was resting Sachi started crying again and caught the attention of Gero and Erika)
"That baby.."
"Onii-sama! Come and meet Sachi!" Maho smiled
"Sachi..what a pretty name!" Erika smiled
"Was this baby.."
"She was born in the lab down there. Me, Mika-san and the princess worked together to help her mother give birth to her."
"I see..I thought for sure nobody survived down there. Thank goodness this little one persevered!"
"By the way, Westley-san said that you guys got separated from the others down there. What happened?" Mika asked
"When we were clearing the rooms a big part of the structure collapsed because of an explosion. Somehow we ended up on the other side where West and the Seals were. The brother islands must've been connected in that part." Erika explained
"That reminds me, which one of you planted a claymore?!"
"West did." one of the Seals said
"Wait, don't tell me.." West reacted
"You almost killed me with that you bastard!"
"So you mean the explosion we heard before we went up was you?!" Takashi reacted
"Yeah, if Erika didn't move fast enough I would've lost both my legs!"
"Well that wasn't meant for you, that was for the Augs!" West said
"It's not like you to be caught off guard by a simple trap like that though, onii-sama." Maho said
"That's because Augs do not plant traps. All they know is how to kill. Which is why the thought of a trap in such a place never occurred to me."
"Here we thought Pandora was the biggest threat to Gero-sama. It was Commander Westley all along!" Sanada jokes
(The Seals and RYOBU were laughing together as they joked around. Erika then noticed that Charlotte was just sitting alone on the other side.)
"What happened to her?" Erika asked
"It was her first time killing." Mika said
"How many?"
"Three while protecting Nana-san and the baby. Maybe you should go and talk to her."
"Yeah. It was your first time killing as well right?"
"It is." Mika answered
"You okay?"
"I'm fine. This is what it means to be an assassin of the Shimada Family. I didn't consider those that I killed as humans anyways so it doesn't matter."
"You're right about that."
(Erika then walked over to Charlotte who was just staring at her sabre covered in blood)
"Hey.."
"Erika-sama.."
"I won't say that what you did was right or wrong. Everybody has their own way of interpreting what it means to take a life. But I'll say this, thank you for fighting alongside us and for protecting Nana and Sachi. I'll never forget that."
"How's Sachi?"
"She'll be fine once we get her to the hospital and after we give her some milk. She's probably hungry, not being able to eat after she was born."
"Yeah."
(Erika then tossed a protein bar to Charlotte)
"Eat and rest up. We'll be going back to the ship when the chopper gets here."
"Thank you."
(As Erika left Charlotte alone, she opened the protein bar and took a big bite out of it. Soon the tears fell down her cheeks and she started to cry while eating. The princess didn't expect ever in her life that she could kill not one but three people. But whenever she thinks of the friends and comrades that she saved in the process, the pain fades away bit by bit. Their reinforcements arrived and took over the Rikers Jail swiftly. They soon discovered that the jail was already taken by Pandora years ago and was used as a holding facility for their kidnapped victims. They freed thousands of captives that came from different countries all over the world)
"So they transferred all kidnapped victims here as prisoners. Then when the time comes they take the women and men to the breeding facility below the islands."
"No wonder they were able to hide all those people. Nobody would doubt an island full of prisoners." Erika said
"I hope that with this, America is now truly rid of Pandora." Bryson said
"Not yet commander, we have one last mission to do before that happens."
"Gero, regarding that mission, will you allow me to do it?" Erika asked
"You sure?"
"Yes."
"Alright then, pick your team."
"Thank you my love!"
(Three V-22 Osprey VTOLs with Japan's flag flew over and landed inside the island. Tsuneo then got off one of the ospreys to greet Gero and his team.)
"Good job all of you! How about we head home?" Tsuneo smiled
"Sounds good to us!"
"Master Chief Westley! Long time no see!"
"Major T! Too bad you missed all the fun!" West said
"There's still plenty of fun left so no worries! Join us back at our carrier! We have to quarantine your team along with ours just in case you guys caught any deadly virus down there!"
"Roger that!"
(ANBU was boarding the third osprey together with their prisoner but Gero wanted to speak with the captain before they left)
"Captain.."
"Yes Gero-sama?"
"That bastard over there has done inhumane and unspeakable things. Even if he begs for death, do not give him the satisfaction. Keep him alive as long as possible as you give him a slow and painful death."
"Understood."
(RYOBU and the others were boarding one of the ospreys when Tsuneo noticed Maho carrying a baby in her hands)
"What's with the baby?" he asked
"She's a survivor and your granddaughter!" Maho smiled
"My grand what now?"
"Congratulations oto-sama! You're now officially a grandfather!"
"HAAAAA?!" Tsuneo reacted
(The Ospreys now flew back to the JNST Carrier and landed the Seals and RYOBU at the hospital. News of their arrival reached the team and they were visited by their friends. Everyone was most excited about Maho and the baby they were all fawning over them)
"She's so cute! I can't believe that you're a mom now onee-chan!" Miho said
"I can't believe it either. Her name is Sachi!"
"Sachi-chan! So cute!" Saori said
(In the other room Gero was with his fiancés who were happy that he had returned safely. They asked him about the mission and he told them about the things they did and the things they saw. He told them about Sachi the baby and how she was born.)
"That's so horrible..her mom..those people.." Kay cried softly
"If it wasn't for Maho and the others, Sachi wouldn't be with us right now."
"I too want a baby as cute as that.." Darjeeling said shyly
"Look at you saying something like that!" Erika teased
"I also want to have kids someday, with you all, but.."
"But..?" Mika asked
"After seeing the things tonight..my fears might've come true..I'm so scared thinking about losing you all if you bear my child. It scares me so much that it keeps me up at night."
"Eiji-kun.." Kaede placed her hand on his face
"I want to have a son and a daughter. But I don't even know anymore if I even deserve to be called a father."
"Hey shh..don't say things like that. If anyone in this world deserves to be a father then that would be you, my love." Erika said
"Eri-chan is right, you're the only person that I want my child to be their father, only you Ro-chan." Mika smiled
"Don't underestimate us! We're the wives of the great White Tiger! Only we will be able to handle your children!" Kay said
"We'll make all your fears disappear, Gero-kun, please trust us." Darjeeling said
"I would love nothing more than to bear your child, Eiji-kun." Kaede said
"Thank you, thank you so much, all of you."
(As Gero and the girls reaffirm their resolve with each other they decided to visit Maho and Sachi. The whole Nishizumi family was there as well including Kin)
"Looks like you're not the youngest anymore, little brother!"
"I'm very happy that I have become an uncle!" Kin smiled
"I never thought that I'd have a grandchild this early!" Shiho smiled
"Looks like your sister beat you this time, my son!" Tsuneo teased
"Don't worry since our family is going to be a lot bigger soon!"
"Do you plan on making a whole baseball team, onii-chan?" Miho teased
"Oh I was thinking at the level of a whole Senshado Team!"
"Wow! So many!"
(As they were joking around with each other Erika noticed some papers that were on a table. It was the birth certificate of Sachi provided by the hospital. After reading through the certificate she then noticed a small detail that irritated her)
"Hey, Bakatora.." Erika angrily said
"W-What's wrong?"
"This is what's wrong."
(Erika then showed Gero the birth certificate and read it. Soon he also realized what Erika was referring to)
Name : Nishizumi, Sachi
Biological Mother : Nishizumi, Maho
Biological Father : Nishizumi, Gero
"WHY THE HELL AM I WRITTEN AS THE BIOLOGICAL FATHER?!"
"HA?!" his fiancés reacted
"Oh that? The doctors asked who the father was so I just gave them the first name that popped into my mind, yours." Maho smiled
"Onee-chan.." Miho facepalmed
"Darling..?"
(Gero then looked behind him and saw that his fiancés were in a really bad mood)
"Girls, let's all calm down. That's just data written by the hospital. You know that Sachi isn't my biological daughter."
"Well, technically your blood is running through her veins so.." Maho said
"Maho please, don't say another word.."
"Okay okay, but can I just say one last thing?"
"What?"
"Even though the five of you got engaged to onii-sama first, it looks like I was the first to have a child with him." Maho said with a smug smile
"Maho!"
(That was the last straw for Gero's fiancés and they couldn't contain their temper any longer. They grabbed Gero by his legs and started dragging him on the floor out of the room)
"H-Hey! W-Where are you taking me?!"
"To our home." Darjeeling said
"W-Why?"
"To have an early honeymoon." Mika said
"What?! Wait! We should plan our honeymoon properly! Not like this!"
"Shut up Bakatora!"
(Gero and his fiancés then went on a week long early honeymoon traveling around America)
Coming Up Next : Chapter 115 - One Down
Authors Note :
Hi everyone! Here's the chapter! Maho was finally able to awaken Sacred Possession and fight alongside Gero! The missing people were found and saved but Gero said it is not over yet! Maho just became more fearless by making Gero the biological father of Sachi via the hospital records just to brag to the fiancés which lit up their competitiveness! More things will happen in the next chapters so stay tuned! See you all again next time!
