Apotheosis:

A New Story Of

Bubblegum Crisis

Part Four

The term `Hellgate', which Aethan had used to describe the pillar of flames that lay some distance to the north of the astral space that was analogous to Nene's apartment complex, seemed rather appropriate. Does that really lead to hell? she asked him.

That depends on one's definitions of hell, Nene, he murmured. The red orbs that were his eyes in the astral plane didn't move from the image. It is not so much a physical passage as it is a potential one. It is a place where so much anguish and suffering is occuring or has occured, that it is quite likely that space will fold in on itself in that location, allowing beings from other realities to enter our own.

He stood there, staring at the pillar of flame for a long moment, then shook his head. I have to investigate this. Stay here.

His body rose up into the air, and he began to fly towards the flame. Nene watched him go, rather frightened by all of this.

"You should be."

Nene whirled around to see a woman standing on the edge of the building. She had very dark hair, mildly pale skin, and was wearing a white toga.

Who ... who are you?

"A more interesting question than you know. Suffice to say, as Aethan DeGales to you, so I to him. At one point."

Have you come to help him train me?

"No. I have come to try and save his soul."

Huh?

"That Hellgate, there. It causes you fear?"

Yeah ...

"It frightens him even more, and he does not know why. But I know. It frightens him because he brought it into being."

WHAT?!

"Nearly forty years ago, Aethan DeGales made a grievous mistake which he has spent all that time trying to atone for, unknowingly ... because he does not know what he has done. That gate to the netherworlds is one of the consequences of his mistake, and he already senses this, instinctively. And his first reflex is to flee. That he has not already done so is a tribute to his spirit."

The woman walked over to Nene, until she was standing within arm's reach. "You must not let him flee, Nene Romanova. He must correct this anomaly, or the other great consequence of his mistake -- the warping of his soul, such that his astral body possesses the appearance of a monster -- will consume him, utterly."

She turned away, and began to float off.

Wait! Are you one of the Crystal Tokyo Society members?

"No. But they and I have a number of common interests." She paused, and turned back to look at Nene. "One of which is the protection of those we love. Beware."

Beware of what?

Who are you talking to?

Nene whirled around again, to look up at an obviously female boomer with fully articulated mechanical wings jutting out of its -- or maybe her -- back.

"Beware of them. They are incapable of perceiving me in any way, but you have no such protection."

Who and what are you? the Boomer figure demanded.

I might ask the same of you, Nene replied. Aethan had mentioned Genom having "adepts" in its arsenal ... this was obviously one of them.

You might, but I'm under no compulsion to answer! Now tell me who you are, and what you are doing in astral space!

So you don't have to answer me, but I'm supposed to answer you? Forget it! Nene replied scornfully.

But you see, little girl, you ARE under a compulsion to answer me ... the Boomer-adept hissed.

All around Nene, the materials of the rooftop began to twist and form into semi-humanoid shapes. Shapes that glowed with red eyes.

Now, if you do not answer me, I shall set these spirits loose upon you, to tear out your essence bit by bit. Tell me who you are, child, for this is Genom's domain, and all who dwell here must answer to its laws.

Doubtless the spirits in yon Hellgate would be much amused to learn that, Aethan commented from where he was standing on the edge of the building.

From the startled gasp that came from the Boomer-adept, Nene could tell that the woman also saw Aethan as a dark, foreboding figure. But she soon rallied her courage. You do not belong here, Aethan DeGales, known among the councils of the wise as the Gray --

Do not call me that.

Leave at once! Several of the same sort of beings that surrounded Nene rose up around him. Or face the consequences.

Aethan seemed to be examining the "spirits" carefully. Tell me, bondswoman, does the Tower truly have so many adepts that it can afford to have one terrify novices, while that is still a-burning? He punctuated his query with a head jerk in the direction of the pillar of flame.

We have that situation under control, the Boomer-adept replied, in such a way as to suggest that it was an automatic, rehearsed response. Then she shook her head violently. Who are you calling a bondswoman?!

Would you prefer wageslave?

The Boomer-adept shrieked, and gestured violently. The spirits, even the ones encircling Nene, converged rapidly around Aethan, surging towards him like the waves of the ocean ...

... and were broken on the rock of obsidian darkness brought into being by a single, harsh sounding word from Aethan's mouth. As each of them disintegrated into a fine mist, the Boomer-adept shrieked in agony.

That's the disadvantage of using a spirit to do one's works, and taking over their wills entirely -- one accepts the burden of their deaths. Those who cannot endure such should not call things up, CHILD.

Y-you will PAY for this! the adept shrieked, her form seeming to bleed electricity.

Doubtless. But I shall not be brought to accounts by you or by any servant of Genom. For there is a secret that I know.

It concerns Chairman Quincy.

If I am slain by a servant, knowing or unknowing, of Genom, with my last breath I shall scream the secret onto the astral, where it shall weave itself into the minds of all in MegaTokyo. They shall not know how they know it, but they shall know. The secret will be out. This be my curse on the house of Genom.

The adept was silent for a long time. You .. you are bluffing.

Aethan's eyes flashed. I. NEVER. BLUFF.

Slowly, the adept turned, and began to flap her wings, taking her away from the building, towards the Tower.

Yet another learns that it is wise not to trifle with the Retribution of Aethan DeGales ... he murmured, turning to Nene. We must return to the physical, immediately.

W-why? I mean, did you find out what you needed to about the Hellgate?

No. I was unable to approach it, and I sensed that you were in danger, so I returned at once.

The strangest thing was, it seemed perfectly reasonable as an explanation. Why, then, did he avoid looking at her when he gave it?

They sank through the building until they reached Nene's apartment, Aethan holding her hand (so cold! so cold!) to prevent her from shooting down into the bedrock.

Where's my body? she asked, not seeing it.

You can never see your physical body when you are astrally projected, Nene. The reasons should be obvious.

Well they aren't!

Because the essence of your being is no longer inhabiting your husk, and it is therefore so much vegetative matter! Satisfied?

Nene recoiled from his sudden anger. Uh ... okay. How do I get back into --

JUST THINK YOURSELF INSIDE! THAT'S ALL! OTHINN UND DONAR, GIRL, HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING FROM THIS LESSON?

STOP YELLING AT ME! Nene exploded, and her vision went black.

She was back in her body. She was lying on her side, and she could feel a small trail of drool dangling from her mouth. Nene rolled up into a seated position.

Aethan was in a crouch, his hands steepled in front of his face. Somehow, he seemed even paler than he had when he had begun ... or maybe that was just Nene's mind, reflecting the unearthly pallor of his astral self.

"Pack your bags. I want to be out of here by sundown," he said abruptly.

"What?"

"Nene, there is a Hellgate about to open some miles north of here in a few days. Before then, I want, to use a certain phrase for which I have a great deal of affection, to get the hell out of Dodge. I presume you'll come with me."

"You're just going to run?" Nene gasped. She was just a little surprised that the woman in white had been so correct in guessing his reactions.

"Of course. When that thing blows, monsters that make Dante's Inferno look like a pleasant roll in the grass will be swarming through this city. I want to be far, far away when it happens."

"And screw the rest of us?" Nene bit out, angrily.

"I've said you can come with ..."

"Fuck that!" Nene shouted. "You plan on throwing in the towel, without even trying to prevent that horror from happening! Where I come from, there's a word for that: cowardice!"

"Nene ..." Aethan began, warningly.

"So I can come with you? Big deal! What about the other 200 million people in MegaTokyo? What about my friends? I think they're worth fighting for! I ..." Her voice dropped to an angry whisper. "I think they're worth dying for."

He stared at her, stunned, unblinking, for nearly a minute. "You mean it ..." he murmured. "You would willingly lay down your life, simply so that millions of people who will never know about your sacrifice, and who wouldn't care if they did know, will go on living."

"I would know," Nene answered defiantly.

He bent his head for a moment. Then he lifted it up, and looked at her with new expression on his face. Somewhere between respect, and shame, and ... envy. "It will not be easy," he said quietly.

"Nothing worth doing ever is."

"We will do a physical reconnaissance this evening. There are certain things we will need ... I will provide you with a list, and places that I suspect you can find them."

"Wait a minute. I'm doing the shopping? What will you be doing while I'm scurrying around MegaTokyo?"

"I will be taking a nap. Because I am exhausted." He rose up, and producing a pen and a pad of paper, began to scribble the "shopping list". Wordlessly, he handed it to her. "Would you mind if I crashed in your room?" Aethan asked as she scanned it.

"Uh ... go ahead." She turned to go.

"Nene-san."

She turned back, a little startled at the renewed honorific.

He was looking at her sorrowfully. "I was wrong to yell at you. I apologize." And he bowed, deeply.

* * *

As Nene rode the elevator back up to her apartment, she wondered why exactly Aethan was going to need "two iron rods, 1 inch diameter, 2 and one half feet long". They were HEAVY, and it had taken most of the afternoon to find them.

She stepped out of the elevator and turned towards her apartment.

"Hey," said Linna Yamazaki, "been getting groceries, Nene?"

Linna was leaning against the wall beside Nene's apartment, impatiently tapping a laser disc case against her hip.

"Uh ... yeah! Groceries!" Nene replied, hoping like heck that the rods wouldn't clang against each other in the bag. "What can I do for you, Linna?"

"Well, about a week ago you made some noise about being on a diet, and I said something about supplementing it with an exercise program, remember?" Linna held up the disk. "Sixteen Steps to Slimmer You. Hottest aerobic workout vid out there. I was starting to think you must've gone off for the weekend without telling anybody ..."

"Gee! Thanks, Linna!" Nene replied, awkwardly grabbing the disk. "Well, I'll let you know if it works out!" She started to open the door.

"What, aren't you gonna invite me in for coffee?"

"Uh ... I'm all out! Really sorry!"

"You? Out of coffee? You just bought groceries. Nene, is something wrong?"

"No," Nene lied. "Nothing is wrong. But ... I just don't wanna violate Rule Nine any more than we already have."

Linna blinked. "Rule Nine?! `We don't know each other when we're not on a job?' Get serious! Something is wrong, isn't it?" she said in an accusatory tone.

"No! I just told you that ..."

Suddenly, a rather wicked grin blossomed on Linna's face. "Why, Nene ... you little devil. You've got a man in your apartment, don't you?!"

"NO!!!" Nene protested. I'm relatively certain he's an inhuman monster, not a man, she told her conscience, so I'm not lying.

"Come off it, Nene, you don't think I'm gonna rat you out to Sylia for violating Rule Ten, do you? Wait a minute ... it IS a man, right? No ... the idea of you and another woman ... way too surreal ..." Linna shook her head violently for a moment while Nene turned beet red.

"Okay, Nene, open the door. If it's not a man, you've got no reason to hide anything from me, right?"

"But ..."

"I'm not going anywhere until we get this settled."

With a hopeless, mortified expression, Nene turned to unlock her door. She didn't even bother trying to slip in and slam the door shut before Linna could enter ... the older woman was so much faster that it would have been a pointless exercise.

Nene set the "groceries" on the counter by the sink, marched to her bedroom door, and threw it open, wordlessly gesturing for Linna to take a look.

Linna looked in silence. Finally, she turned to Nene. "Your room's an AWFUL mess ..." she drawled.

Nene turned to look herself, blinking. There was nobody in her bed. The covers were exactly as she'd left them. In short, no evidence existed that anyone had ever slept there within the last little while.

I don't believe it, Nene thought, stunned. He sent me off on a fool's errand while he slipped out! Coward!

At that moment, Aethan stepped out of the bathroom, dripping wet, naked except for a small towel tied loosely around his waist.

Aethan stared at Linna. Linna stared at Aethan. Nene stared at Aethan. Aethan slowly changed his focus to stare at Nene. Linna slowly turned to stare at Nene, as well.

And smiled wickedly. "Niiiiiiiiice ..." she murmured.

"Ano ..." Aethan said in a much more clumsy Japanese accent than was his norm. "I am ... very, very sorry ..."

"Don't be! I was just worried that Nene-chan here was getting involved with the wrong sort of man," Linna said. She looked him up and down. "Not too handsome, fortunately," she murmured.

"Well ... well, Linna, now that you've embarrassed both me and Mister ... uh ..." Nene wracked her brain to remember his last name, fully realizing as she did how Linna would take this.

"I guess I'll be going. My work here is done!" Linna ambled over to the door leading to the hallway. She turned back to look at them. "Mr. Goodbar, enjoy ... your visit to Japan," she said, pausing just long enough to suggest that there was something else she might have said.

Then she was gone. They heard a few hysterical laughs from the hallway. Nene, who was once more beet red, turned to look at Aethan. "Decided to take a shower, huh?" she asked, very quietly.

"I ... felt the need for cleansing," Aethan replied. "Close exposure to darkest evil, and all that."

"I see."

"And I didn't hear you come in, so ..."

"Right. You're ruining my reputation, I hope you realize that."

He smiled nervously. "There are worse things, you know ..."

"Get dressed."

* * *

They walked northward in silence, for a good fifteen minutes, before Nene decided to start asking questions again.

"You called that woman an adept. What exactly does that mean?"

"An adept is one who does not possess all the abilities of the true magician, like you or I. That one has the astral abilities, as well as conjuration -- the ability to command spirits. That's rare. You would do well to beware of her."

"Believe me, I will."

"You will have to deal with many such as her -- adepts who are jealous of the power of a true will-worker. They may possess wisdom and knowledge which you do not, however, and you may be able to learn from them ... from time to time."

"What about the other magicians in the world? Can you give me any introductions?"

He was silent for a long moment. "According to a reasonably reliable source, there are no more. You and I are the last."

"Say WHAT?"

"I said, you and I are the only true magicians in the world. There are a plethora of adepts, and others ..."

"What `others'? And where are you getting this from?"

"From those who assigned me to deal with you, Nene. And as for the others ..." He trailed off, then shook his head. "Perhaps the simplest way to discuss them is to call them by a name I first encountered fifty years ago -- Shinma. Creatures that are at once both god and demon."

"Like ... vampires?"

He paused momentarily. "Indeed. Very like vampyres. But the term can also apply to creatures which are akin to the fairies of Celtic and German Europe -- and to others. To be shinma is, in many ways, the antithesis of the path of the magician. These creatures are magic, while we use magic. To them, to do miraculous or horrible things is the same as breathing. To us, it is a struggle." Aethan paused again. "It is said that most of the truly powerful shinma are sealed away in an eternal sleep, awaiting a day when they will be freed by some apocalyptic tragedy, to rule the world, no doubt."

"And do you believe this?"

"No. I think many of the most powerful of these beings are out, living peaceful lives in the best way they know how." He smiled sadly. "Or trying, at any rate."

With his next step, Aethan doubled over in agony, and let out a hollow scream.

"What's wrong?!" Nene cried ... and then she realized exactly what was wrong. The air itself seemed to be alive with a dark power. It burnt with foul energies that stank of pure evil.

"Where ... are ... we?" Aethan gasped.

Nene pulled out the street map, and checked her surroundings. "According to this, we've just come into a district of old Tokyo called ... Nerima."

* * *

Nerima.

The name meant nothing to him, and yet it was still somewhat naggingly familiar. As though he'd heard something about it once, something about ... he couldn't remember.

"I have to go on alone," he murmured. "From here on in, it will be too dangerous for you!"

"But ..."

"I am fine," he lied, pulling himself to stand up. "And consider, Nene: if I was that afflicted by coming into the area of the physical world that corresponds to the Hellgate, consider how you would be affected by it."

"But!"

"But naught! Stay here! Do NOT follow me!"

Aethan walked into the district, and every step was torture. All his instincts screamed for him to flee this place, with or without Nene, and never return.

But one of the elements that separated humanity from the other members of the animal kingdom was the ability to ignore one's instinct for self preservation in pursuit of a goal. If Aethan allowed himself to flee, he knew that the creatures of the Abyss would burst upon this unprepared city, and then the world ... and there would be no hiding place.

So he continued, walking against the wind.

It was unsurprising that the district was deserted. All the buildings seemed to have been condemned some time ago, but Genom's usually prompt team of demolition men had not yet gotten to it.

Aethan pulled the shaft of iron from the bag, and held it aloft.

The iron bent, as though twisted by some vast press, to point at an abandoned restaurant. The Cat Cafe, or something like that.

Aethan walked towards the restaurant, and his own occult senses confirmed what the iron had indicated: that the malign force increased as one approached it. This, then, was the center, the nexus of the Hellgate.

He walked across a strange depression in the road -- something vastly heavy had once rested there -- and arrived in front of the door. He reached for the handle.

It twisted into a mouth, and tried to bite his hand. With an iron grip, he seized the mouth, holding it shut, and forced the door open.

Aethan stepped into the restaurant. There was a strange, greenish glow coming from the kitchen.

He took a step towards it ... and found that he could not move. "I can't ..." he whispered, agonize. "I'm sorry! It is too much to ask!"

"You have to," his own voice answered.

Aethan twisted to look towards a table to his left.

He was sitting there, dressed in white robes.

And Aethan knew.

"It was me, wasn't it?" he whispered. "I did this, somehow."

"You did," his mirror image replied, nodding. "Well, you are not completely to blame. You did not bring the vimogorge to this plane. This," he gestured around him, "was the result of your efforts to seal it away."

"Why?" Aethan demanded. "How could I make such a mistake, and why don't I remember it?!"

"Grief, Aethan. When the time came to cast the spell, the circle of magicians that you led didn't have enough power to complete it. But you, in your grief and anger over what the vimogorge had done, were so determined to finish it, that you sliced away a part of your soul to keep the spell functioning, forever. That's me, Aethan. The part of your soul which held your grief ... and so much of your humanity, as well. Do you not remember?"

Aethan shook his head. "But what about the vimogorge? The binding should have kept it sealed away for all time!"

"Nothing lasts forever, Aethan. The creature is starved to the point of death, but it cannot die while the binding persists, and so the Hellgate that will open when it dies remains closed ... and it rages, producing the horrible psychic pollution that has made this ward a wasteland."

Aethan bent his head. "If I take you back into myself, the binding will be weakened, won't it?"

"Yes. It will burst within a few days if you do that."

"But I can improve on the binding to prevent that, and seal away the thing's emanations, as well!" Aethan thought aloud.

"How can you do that if you can't even bear to come into its presence?"

Aethan turned to look at his twin. "It's the darkness in me, isn't it?" he asked, rhetorically. "It keeps me from getting too close. I need the light. I need to bring you back into me."

The double nodded.

"But if I do that ... whatever happened all those years ago ... I will remember it as though it had just occurred."

"Yes."

They were both silent for a long moment.

"It won't be easy," Aethan sighed.

"When is anything that's worth doing?" the other Aethan asked.

Aethan extended his hand. "Come to me, myself."

The other Aethan rose up, and walked to where Aethan stood. He reached out his hand.

For a fraction of a second, they touched.

And then the other Aethan was gone, and Aethan remembered.

Madeline.

The blade.

The struggle with the vimogorge.

Kasumi.

Michael.

All the glory and all the pain of those handful of days in 1996 roared through his memory in a single moment.

When he regained his senses, he was kneeling on the floor. Slowly, he came to his feet.

His trenchcoat had turned gray.

The agony of walking through the Hellgate's physical analogue was gone. It was painful, but not beyond his ability to endure.

For a moment, he considered walking into the Nekohanten's kitchen, to take a look at the binding ... but he'd been there when it was made, and Aethan felt no urge to visit it before it was necessary.

He walked out of the restaurant, heading directly for a spot along the street that led past it. There was nothing to suggest that there was anything unusual about this spot from a physical perspective. But Aethan, his memories restored, would have been able to pick it out of a thousand like it in the city.

He knelt, and touched it.

Involuntarily, the words came.

	
		"Through these fields of destruction,
		Baptisms of fire,
		I've witnessed your suffering,
		As the battle raged higher.
		And though they did hurt me so bad
		In the fear and alarm
		You did not desert me, my brother in arms ..."

The song that he'd sung once before, in this place, as he cradled the shattered, dying body of Michael Gideon.

His brother in arms.

Whom he had forgotten for nearly forty years.

Aethan began to cry.

* * *

He'd come out of the restaurant, walked over to a certain place in the street, knelt down, whispered some words that she hadn't been able to make out, and now ...

Now he was quietly sobbing.

She came up behind him, slowly. "Aethan?" she asked.

He said nothing for a moment. "Didn't I tell you not to follow me?" he asked suddenly, not looking at her.

"Yes ... but I've never been really good at following orders," Nene admitted.

He nodded, and turned to her. His cheeks were wet with tears. But he smiled through them. And it was a gentle smile, totally unlike the sardonic, cynical grins he had favored her with before.

"You questioned my orders. Good. That's the beginning of wisdom. ONLY the beginning, though. Come. Let's leave this place."

They continued north. "Do you ... know what to do, now?" Nene asked.

"I have an idea. I know how the hellgate came to be, now."

"I'd like to know ..."

Aethan was silent for a few moments, seeming to gather his thoughts. "Nearly forty years ago, a madman tore open the boundaries between this reality and another, allowing three creatures called vimogorges entrance onto this plane. They are called that, vimogorge, because they consume power -- `vim' in Latin. Another name could be `soul eater'. They consume the vital energies of living beings, and have a preference for the souls of those who possess or are possessed by unusual powers."

"Like magic," Nene guessed.

"Exactly like magic. Through a series of coincidences, I and ... several of my associates were thrown into an alliance with a number of local heroes and magic-workers. We were able to imprison one of the creatures in a binding spell, here ... which spell has begun to disintegrate, with the results that you can see and feel all around you."

Nene looked around, and shuddered. She was walking across a battlefield, then. "Why didn't you just destroy them, if they were so dangerous?"

Aethan shook his head. "A harder thing than you know, Nene. The things must be killed on both the astral plane and the physical, and unless it is done correctly, there is a good chance that the killing will have dire results." Aethan paused again, gazing at the ruined structure of a dojo that they were passing. He sighed, and resumed. "If the creature dies on the physical, it will die -- but unless the astral body of the thing is swiftly destroyed, too, its death spasms will tear open a gate to hells that are better left undescribed. And it is very hard to kill the astral body of such a creature ..."

Nene blinked. "Wait a minute ... you said that there were three of these things. What happened to the other two?"

Aethan paused, and frowned. "I ... I am not entirely sure. My memories ... one of them was slain, this much I know, by a young warrior who lived in this neighborhood, and an enchantress ... but he died in the doing. And I haven't the faintest idea what happened to the other one." His mouth quirked. "I suspect that my part in the battle ended before it was settled."

As they stepped out of the region that was affected by the Hellgate (she could tell because she could suddenly breathe a little easier again), they both noticed the large sign that said "Future Site of Genom Research Facility #55862".

Aethan walked up to the sign, and examined the picture of the facility. "Interesting," he said mildly. "When this thing is built, it will cover that entire district."

And then his eyes went wide. "Oh, NO," he whispered.

"What?" Nene asked. "What's wrong?"

"Even if I can seal the thing away," Aethan said, as though he were thinking aloud rather than replying to Nene, "when they demolish the building to make way for that monstrosity, they'll disturb the wards, and there'll be nothing left to stop it."

"What?! What do you mean?"

He turned to Nene with a hopeless expression on his face. "I mean that there's nothing I can do, Nene. If I fix the problem with the Hellgate, in a few weeks it'll blow open regardless because Genom will disturb it. But if I leave it alone, it will blow open in a few days! It's a no-win situation!"

"Then what are we going to do?!"

He looked down at the ground. "There's only one thing to do. Somehow, I have to kill the thing behind the Hellgate." He lifted his eyes once more. "And I can't do it alone."

"Just tell me what I can do to help," Nene said enthusiastically.

He walked over to her, and lay his hands on her shoulders. "Nene, there is one specific thing which you can do to help me, right now."

"What?"

"You can help me get in touch with Ms. Stingray. I need to hire the Knight Sabres."

To Be Continued.

The characters and world of Bubblegum Crisis were created by Kenichi Sonoda, Toshimichi Suzuki, and others, and brought to North America by AnimEigo. The woman on the bus was created by Naoko Takeuchi and brought to North America by DIC. Aethan DeGales was created by Chris Davies. The preceding story, while incorporating aspects of motion pictures held under copyright by others, is copyright 1996 by Chris Davies.

Nobody Sue Me Okay?

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