3rd person pov.
Nathan sarah and erza returned to the garden. The once only place of peace in this world was now a warzone…
"nathan…let's get sarah to the refugee camp then head out into battle." erza said.
"Sounds like a plan. Come on sarah." nathan said offering his hand. Sarah nodded and took it. They were about to begin there long trek only for a military jeep to drive in front of them. And the man stepping out was isaac's twin brother kenny.
"Found her…you just focus on recovering isaac." kenny said over a radio. "You kids need a lift?" he asked. Erza took shotgun while nathan and sarah sat in the back. As kenny made his way to the refugee camp.
Meanwhile with isaac and the queen of hatred.
"There on their way to the refugee camp…you should go out there and let them know we're both okay." isaac said as he was lying in the infirmary bed. Jon healed him enough to stop him from dying. But he needed time to recover.
"Okay…if you get out of this bed i'll kill you myself." the queen of hatred said as she kissed her husband's cheek before leaving the infirmary to see her daughter's arrival.
Meanwhile…somewhere else
A group of rabbits was gunning down everything and everyone they saw as per usual. L corp still had R corp under their contacts. And they'll be damned if they lose such a massive client. However, a rabbit was about to open fire on a scared woman and her child. His throat was sliced open by something moving incredibly fast it stopped moving in front of myo. She gritted her teeth at seeing the blue eyed myo who escaped R corp and went straight into the arms of the white messiah. She tried to open fire only to notice her clip was gone. It was in the blue eyed myo's hand that spun it tauntingly.
"Tell me sister…how does it feel to betray the corp who created you?" myo asked.
"To be free? To be around people who actually care about me? To have such a nice home? To not be a disposable easily replaceable gun arm? Feels great!" miki yelled. myo threw her rifle to the ground and charged with her knife only. Miki broke her arm holding the knife and inserted the knife right under her chin and right into the brain. Myo falls to the ground dead. Miki sighs looking down at her "sister." every time she kills another myo. She thinks back to the days at R corp…the testing…the battle royales of her and other myos…and she can't help but wonder … .is the anger that every myo shows her. Is it truly betrayal that they feel? Or is it envy? To be free from R corp and live instead of being a disposable soldier that the corps hire when they don't want to put their own people on their line. To be a product? These are the thoughts that coursed through miki's mind…but she didn't have time to dwell on it. There was still a war going on…and she needed…no. Wanted to fight this battle and protect her home.
Meanwhile with catt…
"You've gotten even stronger since working under me…and you believed emotions made you weaker." shasha. The head of the disciplinary team of O-5681. Said as she was knocked back by catt's attack.
"A lie I told myself constantly in order to survive in the mad wonderland that was our L corp facility. My strength with handling abnos doesn't change that your captain was a girl scared to die…" catt said as the two clashed their weapons. Sparks flied.
"So tell me catt…what changed? Are you no longer afraid to die?" shasha said. Catt pushed her back.
"No…i'm still scared of dying…even more so now that my life has become so bright. But i'm confident that whatever comes my way…I can handle it. Even you boss." catt said with a grin.
"You can handle me…but what about three of your former bosses catt?" shasha asked. Catt quickly turned around to block the EGO blade wielded by joe…she pushed him back. Only to get blasted by the fungal wand extraction from an aberration of the little prince. Knocking her down.
"Dammit!" catt yelled as she tried to stand up only to have the big knife EGO of shashas at her throat.
"Dogs who disobey their master needs to be put down." shasha said.
"You can't be serious, shasha! She's one of our best. Have you forgotten all the times she's held her ground? How many of our agents would have died if not for her! We can't just." joe argued.
"Her loyalty has shifted to jon…you heard her…such loyalty. She'd rather die than ever work for l corp again…she's now a dog of jon…a dog that can't be tamed by us…a dog that needs to be put down." shasha said. As her and joe argue over this. Suho the head of the information team noticed something in the sky. And it was coming towards them…
"I hate to interrupt your lovers quarrel….but there's an angelic…robot coming towards us." suho said. The two looked up and saw that jon's gift head towards…catt. Who stood up and grinned. As the robot wraps it's arms around her. She looks at the heads of O-5681 with a grin as her eyes start to glow blue…
"Now the real fun starts…" catt said as a bright light surrounds her. And when it fades…there she stands in her "distortion hunter" form.
"Tch…" shasha said as she charged with her ego at the ready…however catt caught the big knife with her hand and crushed it. "What!?" shasha yells staring at her broken EGO only to have her lights knocked out with one punch to the face. Suho readied her EGO only for catt to appear behind her and karate chop her neck knocking her out too. Catt just raised an eyebrow at joe.
"Is lobotomy corp really worth this joe? I know it's hard to let go after all the deaths of those under your watch…but you gotta understand, it's a sinking ship. I know this. The other captains know this! Hell beebi and daisy understand this! It's why all of them including a ton of the agents all couldn't sign fast enough when they got the invitations! You deserve better…so please. Lend the garden your strength..if not for yourself. Then do it for those of us who looked up to you and still believe in you." catt said. Joe looked at his EGO then to catt…before finally sighing and laughing.
"It really is hard to believe…that the girl who once cut off her emotions to survive in our facility is now someone who can give such a heartfelt convincing speech." joe said.
"That would be my husband's influence…" catt said. Joe went wide eyed.
"You're married now!?" joe asked feeling like everything he thought he knew shattering.
"I'll tell you later. trust me. It's a LOOOOONG story! But i'll say this…is it wrong to fall in love with the man who answered my long unanswered prayers? But for right now…we should take these two to the dungeon…better that than leaving them here. Where they'll get ripped to pieces by abnos. Outskirt beasts or zombies." catt said as she picked up shasha while joe picked up suho.
Meanwhile with rob taii and rose.
"When this is over…you think we can convince Jon to let us go on a vacation?" rob askes as he cut down another zombie.
"I'm sure that'll be pretty easy…after all i'm sure that he'll be doing the same once this is over and everything is back to normal." taii said as she also sliced down another zombie. Another zombie bursted from the ground. One that brought back memories for taii and rose…it was beozzi. The former captain of the safety team who's clinginess to the servant of wrath led to their death being transformed into the hermit that betrayed the servant. Her horrible idea of what friendship was a mutual exploitation of each other. Her refusal to hand over the EGO gift of the servant is what lead to her and the servants breakdown. Even as a zombie. She still can't let the friendship that cost her life go as she's still wearing the ego suit and gift. Even wielding a large green hammer like the servant of wrath's and even wearing a blindfold like the servant of wrath.
As the zombie beozzi was about to charge. Something appeared in front of them…it was the servant of wrath. She ripped off her blind fold. Looking at taii rose and rob…but her eyes went filled with wrath rather…they were bright as if filled with determination and….courage.
"Go on ahead…i'll handle this." the servant of wrath said.
"Are you sure? That's one tough looking zombie." rob asked.
"I'm sure…this is something i must face alone…now GO!" the servant of wrath yelled. The three ran ahead. Though rose looked back with concern…but ran on ahead. The servant of wrath then turned her attention to her old zombified friend. "I'm not even sure if a part of you is in there beozzi…i have so much i want to tell you..how i reunited with my sisters…and how i'm now an aunt thanks to the queen of hatred." servant of wrath said with a smile before her expression turning somber. "And how sorry i am for what happened…how my gift to you made you the hermit I despised so much…i wish i could go back and make you give them my gift…you would have probably seen it as a betrayal. But I would have done it to protect you…but I can't turn back time…all I can do now is grant you peace…goodbye my friend." the servant of wrath said with a tear in her eye as she charged at the zombie beozzi.
Meanwhile on the streets of greenwood.
der freischutz blasted another blue laser at red riding hooded mercenary who deflected his shot with her sickle and pressed her gun against his head. Only for him to dock and roundhouse kick her in the face.
"Why are you aiding the white messiah when he had us locked away?" der freischutz asked.
"Simple…he gave me the means to kill the wolf permanently. Feels weird you know? Not thinking about killing the wolf for five minutes. Not to mention…what he turned this dead part of the outskirts into…it's worth protecting. Not like got any other plans…the wolf is dead…and so i have no purpose. So what the hell? Might as well be a guardian to this place. It's nice enough." red hooded mercenary said. der freischutz lined up a shot only to get slashed behind by a young man with the whole red riding hooded mercenary set. Weapon suit and gift. The extraction gave red the chance to strike putting her gun to his head. And pulling the trigger. Returning der freischutz to his core. She patted the young man's head.
"Nice work vinnie as for you der freischutz…don't talk to me or my son ever again." red riding hooded mercenary said as she rolled the core of der freischutz into an a nearby facility containing an abnormality destroying device. Getting rid of der freischutz once and for all.
As for vinnie. The knights do a pretty good at protecting the garden and it's people. But sometimes…civilian casualties happen during an attack. Vinnie's parents were such victims. He was found crying by the red mercenary. His parents were killed by the big and soon be bad wolf…losing family to that damn thing was something little red was familiar with. So she adopted him. It felt weird being loved by someone and being seen as a mother. Especially when he even saw her real form. He wasn't afraid…it was weird for someone whose only known battle and bloodshed. But it was a nice change for the little red riding hooded mercenary. Who found a new purpose for this young man.
Meanwhile all over the garden.
The sephirah and everyone else who could released there EGOs and quickly turned the tides in the garden's favor tearing through the monsters of the outskirts the abnormalities and the zombies. With a deadly storm of blades dragon fire and burning hot magma. Now the only thing that remained was some straggler abnos and…neil.
Meanwhile with erza nathan sarah and kenny.
The ride was going smoothly minus the dead bloodied bumps in the road….that was until the car was rammed by schadenfreude. Knocking the car over…nathan remained conscious and so did sarah…not erza and kenny though. Sarah tried to run for it only to get surrounded by schadenfreude. The scarecrow searching for wisdom. The warm hearted woodsman. And the snow queen's apple. Nathan had no weapon. No justitia no S.A.C but if he did nothing sarah would die…so he did the only thing he could think to do…hug her and shield her with his body.
"Nathan. What are you!?" sarah asked as all the abnos lunged for the kill.
"Death is not your destiny today young man." a voice in nathan's head said. Soon a light shined brightly around nathan and sarah and when it cleared. Sarah opened her eyes to see her boyfriend change. His eyes glowed yellow, his hair was now a shining white. He was now wearing a suit similar to jon's ego form. But glowing purple instead of blue and came with a mask as well. And instead of laser swords from his hand. It was instead laser scythes. Which he used to slash the abnormalities to pieces with lightning fast speed. Sarah couldn't even see nathan move at how fast he was moving. Erza and kenny regained consciousness to see nathan with his new EGO form flipping the car back up. It was still drivable.
"Nathan?" erza asked.
"Yeah…come on. We need to get to safety." nathan said as he hopped into the car as sarah soon followed. Erza couldn't help but grin….
"You just continue to impress nathan…making you a knight was a really good choice." erza said before stepping into the car. And so they finally arrived at the camp. Where the queen of hatred ran and hugged her daughter.
"I was so worried…are you okay sweetie." the queen of hatred asked.
"I'm fine…is dad okay?" sarah asked. Queen of hatred looked to the side.
"He'll…recover sweetie." queen of hatred said.
"Mr richardson. Good to see your still alive…and you manifested your E.G.O as well…* angela said examine nathan closer. "Intresting…most interesting. It seems to be cut from the same cloth as jon's." angela said.
"Where is he?" nathan asked.
"Out fighting the one who broke the barrier…that rat neil maxwell. He's giving jon trouble though…and that's not a good sign." angela said. Nathan looked at his arm…and made a decision.
"I'll go help him…watch out for sarah for me please?" nathan asked. Angela smiled.
"Of course…protecting the refugees is my responsibility. Go forth…once this is over there's a big fat promotion with your name on it kid." angela said. Before nathan could go. His arm was grabbed by a worried sarah. His response was to lower his mask and kiss her on the lips..
"I'll come back alive…i promise." nathan said.
"You better…" sarah said before hugging him. He then left. Angela on the other hand sat down and put her hand on her head as if trying to soothe a headache. "Something wrong mrs angela?" sarah asked.
"It's funny…back in our l corp days things going to hell like this was expected…i didn't feel this drained then…so why am i feeling like this now?" angela asked.
"Two reasons…one, your no longer an AI. your human and that comes with the setbacks your old body didn't and two, it's been about…what? 18 years since you worked for lobotomy corp. That's a long time plus with how smoothly things for the garden has been going. You completely forgot of when things go to hell." the queen of hatred said. Angela laughed.
"18 years for something to go horribly wrong…guess we did pretty alright minus lobotomy corp and my library." angela said with a laugh…the calming silence was soon interrupted by lob corp agents asking if anyone has seen a girl with blonde hair and green eyes. The queen of hatred readied her wand. Only for angela to stop her. "Let me handle this." angela said before going over to the lob corp agents. "I thought me and jon made it crystal clear that L corp or any corp has no power here…these people have been through enough for one day…leave…now!" angela demanded. An agent with el capo walked up to her.
"Well well well. If it isn't the ai of x-394. Still believing your human because jon gave you some light?" the agent asked.
"It's more believable than you believing that anyone actually likes and isn't hoping that you get torn to shreds by an abnormality. That's the thing roger. Everyone who you ever worked with thought you were an asshole and had their fingers crossed that you would one day die on the job. But alas your survival was most likely another of the city's cruel jokes. That's the only reason I can understand why you're still alive when no one likes you." angela said. Roger swung his scythe at angela only for his swing to be stopped by her arm which was now utterly red like it was covered in blood. She stabbed through his chest with his other arm. Which turned into a red branch. One of hers arms turned into a teddy bear arm with sharp claws while the other she put into a finger gun motion. Black and white energy coursing through her arm. She slashed and blast through all of the agents where the only one still standing was palmer grayson. One of the executives of lobotomy corp.
"You ungrateful bitch scrap! If not for us ayin wouldn't have had his funding and his way to create you. You owe us your exist-" he yelled only for angela to grab him by the head and crush it like a grape.
"Go fuck yourself…" she said as she wiped the blood off her hands. Sarah hid behind her mother after witnessing the slaughter.
"Is all three of jon's wives incredibly scary in battle?" sarah asked.
"Yes…though me and catt are nowhere near as terrifying as gebura…and please don't ask about the time she was pregnant with erza…i still have nightmares about those six months…" angela said shuttering.
"And considering whenever i ask they lock up like there experiencing war flash backs…yeah safe to say mom was was an absolute terror when i was in her stomach." erza said.
As they were talking about her. Gebura sneezed.
"Someone's talking about me again…" gebura said as she snapped the neck of another myo.
"Probably about the horrible time we all had when you were pregnant with erza." lisa said with a shiver. Before slashing a fixer in half.
"None of your are ever going to get over that are you?" she asked as she ran mimicry through the head of nosferatu.
"Nope!" chesed yelled as he took a sip of coffee and kicked road home into space. Taii rose and catt all holding up 10 signs at the kick. "Thank you." chesed said as he bowed.
"Hey you three. Guess it's clear on your end?" gebura asked. Before noticing joe.
"He changed sides. Don't worry." catt said with a smile.
"If you say so…" gebura said before feeling a wave of power…both light and dark…"come on dork…you didn't survive this long…build all this just to die now." gebura said…she tried to hide it…but she can't deny she was worried as the confrontation with this threat to the garden was about to begin…