"Open, An Attack"

------------------------------

"Estuans interius ('Burning inside')

Ira vehementi ('with violent anger')

Estuans interius

Ira vehementi

Sephiroth!

Estuans interius

Ira vehementi

Estuans interius

Ira vehementi

Sephiroth!

Sors immanis ('Fate---Monstrous')

Et inanis ('and empty')

Sors immanis

Et inanis

Estuans interius ('Burning inside')

Ira vehementi ('with violent anger')

Estuans interius

Ira vehementi

Sephiroth!

Veni veni venias ('Come, come, o come')

Ne me mori facias ('Do not let me die')

Veni veni venias

Ne me mori facias

Veni veni venias

Ne me mori facias

Veni veni venias

Ne me mori facias

Veni veni venias [Haryuu no...] ('The wing-ed one...')

Ne me mori facias [...hanekata] ('...of the lower reaches')

Veni veni venias [Haryuu no...]

Ne me mori facias [...hanekata]

Veni veni venias [Haryuu no...]

Ne me mori facias [...hanekata]

Veni veni venias [Haryuu no...]

Ne me mori facias [...hanekata]

Sephiroth!

Sephiroth!"

---Nobuo Uematsu: "Katayoku no Tenshi"

...

Steam hissed out of the sides of the metal chamber, spreading out over the floor and then rising to the ceiling. Yuusuke kept watch of Valkair's Orb to the side, which had been placed in a separate container to syphon off its demon energies. A mass of wires was connected to the pulsating sphere, and each one glowed in synch with the Orb's soft, pulsating light. Yuusuke only kept his eyes glued on the small console in front of him.

"Almost done," he said as the glow of the Orb suddenly began to fade away. A quick glance at the computer showed that the syphoning stage had just reached completion. The drone was ready.

Yuusuke unhitched the metal clamps from the metal chamber with a quick press of the correct buttons. Steam sprayed out as the door slowly folded down to the ground, and a dark figure began to step out of the white clouds. Yuusuke watched as a humanoid figure, about as tall as he was, step into the light. This was to be Toy's new minion, or so the rumors went.

The creature had no irises and stark white hair, a fierce contrast to the dark jacket and pants it wore. Though it looked almost completely human, a clean shaven young man, the two huge angel wings that sprouted from its back belayed any first thoughts that a person might have had about the mechanism.

"The power of Valkair's Orb," echoed Toy's voice as he stepped into the room. Yuusuke whirled about in surprise. He hadn't even heard his master's approach. "That is the power that this new cyborg shall use to crush Edge. Is the process complete, Yuusuke?"

"Yes, Toy-sama," said the warrior. "The drone has syphoned off its full capacity of energy."

"Good," said Toy, staring at the freshly-made cyborg. A perfect soldier, programmed to be totally loyal to its owner with enough failsafe programs to ensure that its allegiance never wavered. Power beyond that of any mecha class to date, power made possible by that of the Demon God's Orb. However, the only thing Toy didn't anticipate was the manifestation of the huge, white wings upon his creation's back.

'No matter,' thought Toy. Demon energy worked in strange ways. As long as he had his soldier, everything would work out fine.

"Yuusuke," said Toy, handing a small disk to his lackey. "Install this program in the cyborg and let it run. No need to accompany it, it should be more than capable of finishing the assigned mission itself."

"Hai, Toy-sama," said Yuusuke, and took the disk over to the waiting mech. Toy allowed himself a small grin.

"Fuu...," he hummed quietly. "We'll see how good Edge can do against a class 'Shi no Tenshi' mech."

...

"Stupid piece of rebel crap! You'd think that they could make a good plasma conductor once in a while..."

"Shut up, Double," said Kouryuu, annoyance tinged in her voice. She covered her face with the palm of her hand as the assassin kept his head hidden beneath the engine cover of the hovercraft. They had been waiting for over an hour as he tried to attend to the overheated plasma drive, though it appeared that he knew as much about engines as Kouryuu did about driving.

"Um," said Edge, inching closer to the hovercraft. "Maybe I should try to help…"

"NO! NO!" said Double. "Everything's all right! I've got everything under control!"

"The hell you do…" muttered Yoshime, pushing Double out of the way.

"HEY!!! I wasn't done with---"

"And you wouldn't have been for another 10 cycles!" shouted Yoshime, shaking a pointed finger in his direction. "Now get your mechanically un-inclined butt out of the way so I can work!!!"

Double meekly, but angrily, moved off to the side, his armor bristling with blades from time to time as he vented his emotions silently. Zero sat by quietly, watching the entire scene with a wide grin on her face. Kouryuu only sighed. Stuck in the middle of the desert, and for what purpose? They were chasing down a legendary relic that was stolen by the unseen enemy that had plagued the rebels for years. It all seemed so much like a fairytale, something so incredibly ostentatious, that it was inconceivable that beings such as themselves should be put to the job. And where exactly did she fit in to this great scheme? Kouryuu, a mech in the service of the rebels for fifteen years, a possessor of the corazon chip. How did she ever get that damned chip anyways? Rebels didn't exactly have ready access to those kinds of things. Perhaps it was stolen. Still, why didn't they put the chip in a more powerful unit? It would have been more to their advantage to have that kind of power be able to react to situations with human logic and thought, or maybe they planned to do that eventually anyways. After all, she was but one mech. In the list of illegal activities, some of the crime bosses let a chip develop a mech's computer to its highest point, and then remove the chip so they can develop another mech. And by doing this, they create a perfect soldier, one that does not question its master's or its own motives. It possesses all the strengths of the human mind, all the strengths of the robotic body and memory, and none of the weaknesses that come with the possession of a conscience.

She often let her mind wander like that, didn't she? Then again, her mind wasn't exactly like everybody else's, now was it?'

Kouryuu looked up from her musing to see that Yoshime was busy arguing with Double at the engine. Edge had given up trying to break up the two and was trying to begin a training session with Zero. However, Iesu was still caught in the middle of the squabble, unable to decide how to get out of it. Kouryuu smiled, despite herself. For now, this was all the life she needed to worry about.

…

Edge's gaze shifted from Yoshime snoring in the backseat of the hovercraft to the stars high above. He sat in the front seat, keeping his energy levels at their lowest point to conserve while he rested. Iesu, having insisted that Yoshime have the luxury of a cushion, had settled himself on the ground, using his own travel pack for a pillow. The others were on stand-by energy levels, 'sleeping' as Edge kept watch.

'At least the engine is fixed for tomorrow…' thought Edge as he looked at the open sky. 'I hope Yoshime gets a good night's rest, she worked hard today. Well…even if I'm the one who has to stay up, the stars will keep me company, even if what I'm looking at is really just the deaths of stars...

... what am I doing out here anyways? I'm following the trail of a legend that I found in a book and a tip from a fifty foot tall monster. Is this what I really want? Maybe I shouldn't have said anything that first day I met Yoshime. I've just dragged her into more and more trouble ever since we started out on this journey. And now, both of us are stuck in the middle of the desert with a government runaway, a rebel mech, a relic from the nuclear age, and a kid who somehow managed to outrun three of this Toy's troops. I wonder how he did that anyways…?'

"Hrm?" mumbled Edge aloud as a sudden blip on his radar interrupted his thoughts. Something was approaching them, airborne, at least 17,000 meters in the air with no identifying signal whatsoever. Edge hopped out of the hovercraft, using his gravity to cushion himself as he landed so the others wouldn't awake. Now if only he could---

"What's the situation, Edge?"

Edge started in surprise as he whirled about. Kouryuu gave him skeptical look as she deftly pushed his raised and glowing hand out of her face.

"Don't be an idiot, Edge," she said. "Do you think the rest of us wouldn't notice something like that on our radars?" He had forgotten about Kouryuu's radar sensitivity. Looking around, he saw that Double and Zero were also up. Iesu was looking up from his sleep drowsily.

"Single target," said Edge. "Approaching quickly, but I can't tell exactly what it is."

"It's small," said Kouryuu. "At least, for a flying target, and something that's moving that fast. I'd have expected a government fighter vessel with that kind of velocity." In the distance, the target suddenly became visible, a small pinpoint of light in the darkness, slowly growing larger as it approached.

" It isn't Yujin or one of his lackies,” said Double. "Their energy signature doesn't match... but this one seems somewhat familia---"

The light suddenly careened towards the group, crashing into the ground thirty meters away. Debris flew up in a hail of rock, and Edge pulled it to the ground to keep it safely out of their faces.

"Zero!" shouted out Kouryuu. "Get to Yoshime and Iesu! Make sure they're okay!"

"Okay!!!" shouted Zero, and was suddenly off scooping the half-awake Iesu into the hovercraft with Yoshime. Edge turned his attention back towards the newly arrived disturbance. From the crater where the thing had crashed a humanoid figure rose, darkened by the night sky. Edge's night enhancement sights allowed him to pick out the huge pair of angelic wings that sprung up from the thing's back. To his side, Kouryuu was already unsheathing her swords, her hands beginning to shake as she stared at their enemy.

"It's not possible…" she said. "This thing reeks of the power of Valkair's Orb. I can sense its taint."

"It must be Toy's doing," said Double. "That's why part of the energy signature seemed familiar to me. It’s similar to Toy's programming, and that's why Yujin wanted the damn Orb. So this was all for a new type of cyborg?" The foreign creature swayed uneasily on the ground as its iris-less eyes looked up to stare directly at Edge.

"I am the angel." said the cyborg. Its voice sounded like metal upon metal, a heavily distorted monotone that flowed in even syllables from its mouth. "You are the Devil." The cyborg suddenly flowed forward and clutched Edge's throat, lifting him into the air.

“Damn!" coughed out Edge, his voice circuits straining. He desperately threw an open palm in the cyborg's face, creating a vacuum of air behind it so as to push it away. The air swirled about the two from the resulting force, churning up the earth beneath them. The cyborg didn't budge.

"Edge!!!" shouted out Kouryuu, blue-glowing blades swirling about her to strike. The cyborg's wings suddenly whirled about in a white blur, the feathered frames catching its attacker in the gut. They were as hard as steel despite their fragile appearance, and Kouryuu stumbled back blindly, balancing her weight so she didn’t fly as Double moved forward in a flowing motion to take up the attack.

"Come on!" roared Double, blades erupting from his left arm, already cocked back to strike. Again the deadly wings swung about to clothesline the cyborg's opponent, but the assassin's metallic form easily weaved itself through the flowing barriers. A huge six-foot broadsword blade fell from Double's arm to cleave open the cyborg's head, but the robot's free arm was suddenly grasping the sharp object as if it were nothing more than a piece of wood.

“What?!" said Double, then grimaced as he pushed down hard with his blade. "Let's see how you like a less stable form of my body's compound!" Edge could smell the burning of metal on metal as Double's mercury form began radiating an isotope that took on a more natural characteristic of mercury when exposed at room temperature: corrosion. The cyborg never budged.

"Worthless,” it hummed. "Edge is the only one I seek tonight." Double watched with horror as his body began to freeze like ice, starting from where his arm touched the robot. He jerked away violently, only to be caught in the side of the head with a huge feathered wing. Holding his stiffening arm, Double flipped about to land on his feet near a recovering Kouryuu. The cyborg never let its vision waver from Edge's struggling form, held nearly three feet off the ground. The young boy flailed about wildly, even lashing out with every ounce of power he could summon with no regard as to what damage he might cause. The wastelands tore apart beneath the deadly power, stone and clay exploding up into the air as they were ripped from their resting place by gravitational energies. The cyborg never wavered.

"Toy-sama," started the cyborg. "--- bids you to die."

The pressure around Edge's throat suddenly increased without warning. It didn't hurt, but the consequences would be severe if his head was separated from his torso. His body held his power source, his head held his main computer, and thus a separation would surely mean his own untimely demise. Struggling to free himself, Edge barely even noticed the plasma-based shield that the cyborg had erected around them, with Double and Kouryuu frantically pounding on the outside. And suddenly, the waves of pain crashed into his head like a tornado, his mind losing touch with the world around him...

…

...

My body isn't hurting, but what is this cyborg doing to my mind---!

…

Edge felt the layers of consciousness begin to peel back under the cyborg's psychic command.

…

What is this power?! What are you doing to me?!

…

Double watched as Edge's body began to convulse violently, limbs flailing in every direction and bolts of energy streaking from his hand.

"My god," he whispered. "What the hell is that monster doing to Edge?"

…

No…

No.

NO!

I don't want to see this!!! Don't make me look at this! It’s--- it’s---!!!

…

"We have to do something!!!" shouted Kouryuu above the roar of the destruction inside the domed shield. Double simply shook his head and Kouryuu's despair deepened.

"One of the first lessons they taught me as an assassin," said Double. "— is to know when it is too late to rescue somebody who got left behind." Kouryuu's glance shot through the dome to Edge's body caught in seizures. Indeed, what could they do when they did not even know what the cyborg was doing?

…

My mind…what are you doing to my mind?! Kouryuu said…she talked about the power of Valkair's Orb in you…is that it? Is that what is showing me these horrible images?! They're lies! All of them! I did none of this, and you can't prove anything!

[THIS IS YOUR PAST]

None of this is my past! You lie!

[YOUR CONSCIENCE SHALL BE YOUR OWN JUDGE]

This many people… dead… it can't be true…

[YOUR SOUL SHALL BE YOUR EXECUTIONER AND THUS YOU SHALL DIE BY TOYS WILL]

No…NO!!!

[YOU ARE WEAK YOU CANNOT EVEN FACE YOUR OWN PAST YOUR OWN DOINGS YOU HAVE NOBODY TO BLAME BUT YOURSELF]

That's not true! This isn't true… this isn't real! You're still choking me, aren't you? And Double and Kouryuu are trying to save me, right? This is just all an illusion!

[YOU ARE BUT A ONE-WINGED ANGEL YOU DENY YOUR TRUE SOUL AND IMPOSE A FALSE FRONT OVERHEAD TO HIDE BEHIND YOU TRY TO HIDE THE DARK SIDE THAT YOU HOLD]

No… I… I…

[AND WHY IS IT YOU HIDE]

I won't let you win! I have to go back. I have to protect Yoshime!!!

[YOU ARE AFRAID]

I'll make sure you don't hurt her!!!

[YOU ARE AFRAID THAT WHAT YOU DID TO ALL THOSE OTHER INNOCENT PEOPLE YOU SHALL DO TO YOSHIME]

…that’s a lie.

[YOU ARE AFRAID]

no…

[YOU]

…that can't be true…

[ARE]

I won't let you…!!

[AFRAID]

GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!

"…"

…

Eyes flaring white with hot, glowing anger, Edge's struggling suddenly stopped. The cyborg's shield dropped as the plasma became counter-acted by waves of sparkling energy emitting from the young boy’s being. Double and Kouryuu could only stare, captivated by the two small stars of illumination that radiated from Edge's face, a face suddenly devoid of emotion and feeling.

His palm abruptly shot up, sucking the cyborg's face into it. Toy's drone lost its grasp on Edge's neck, and soon its limbs were trying frantically to free itself from its own prison, grasping at the young boy's wrist in mock pain. Despite being the shorter of the two, Edge hoisted the cyborg up by the face with ease. Near the hovercraft, Iesu and Zero watched in silence.

A bestial roar accompanied Edge as he propelled himself high into the air and violently threw his opponent into the earth below. Hand curved into a claw, his arm pierced the cyborg's midsection upon landing from his decent, the earth rumbling from the powerful force of the blow. The air shimmered around the two as gravitational energy gathered and began to set itself in place. Blue-glowing power formed about the boy in an exoskeleton like a huge pair of claws, his shimmering form suddenly appearing far larger and far more menacing than he had ever been meant to be. The cyborg still twitched with the last of its life draining from its shell as Edge raised his right hand high into the air, the claw with it, preparing to strike down without mercy.

“Incredible…" trailed off Kouryuu. "He must be holding at least a dozen different energy weaves to create that… that…" She trailed off once again. Double did not turn to acknowledge her, he was too transfixed by the scene in front of him. "How can he be capable of acting like this? He's never been this violent…"

"Remember," said Double. "Neither of us know exactly where he came from. There could be a whole different side of Edge that we don't know about…"

Edge's gravity claw suddenly fell, tearing the body of the cyborg to shreds. The second one crashed down next, then the first again, then the second, all accompanied by the eerie voice of Edge's howling.

The landscape did not go silent for a full half hour.

…

"***Memory break remedied, current status: stable, low energy. Recommend a rest period for recharge."

…

He was a robot, a being made of metal plating and wire, but Edge still felt himself shivering. There was nothing left of the enemy cyborg but tiny metal shards, once a whole being , torn apart by his own hands. Kouryuu was hesitant in approaching him, and he could not blame her. They had seen it all…

"…are you all right?" asked Kouryuu. Edge nodded absently. Even Double was looking at him strangely... Double, somebody used to that kind of extreme violence.

"Is Yoshime okay?" asked Edge in a quivering voice. Iesu, sitting beside her in the hovercraft, spoke up reluctantly.

"Well," said Iesu. "I don't believe it, but she actually slept through the whole thing. She's perfectly fine though." Edge didn't hear the rest of what he was saying.

"She…" started Edge, suddenly feeling queasy. "She doesn't need to know about this, alright?" Iesu nodded in a trance, but Edge knew that he wouldn't dare tell Yoshime of the horror that had happened this night anyways. He suddenly felt cold, even though he knew that shouldn't be possible, with him being robot and all. He felt sick too, something else he shouldn't have been able to note. He knew something had happened, something important. He remembered a voice talking to him, anger, violence, images, but he couldn't bring back any one of them. Maybe it was his energy levels, they were incredibly low.

"I…" started Edge. "I… need a recharge. Could one of you guys take over watch for me?" Kouryuu nodded and moved forward cautiously.

"I'll take your watch," she said. "You go rest." Edge didn't remember thanking her, but she didn't seem to care. Double seemed to steer clear of him as he made his way to the side of the hovercraft. He was too tired, too little energy to give a damn about anything. The last thing he remembered was sitting down beside their vehicle to rest, and then his systems hit stand-by levels.

...

Kouryuu stared up at the stars with Double by her side. He had insisted that he stay up too. What was that that they had just witnessed? Was Double really right, did Edge have some primal side that he wasn't showing to any of them? Too many things to worry about, have to take them one at a time. But what if Edge has a hidden agenda? What if he just wants the Orb to create something like… like that creature that Toy sent after us? What if---

"I know you're worrying your head off about Edge," said Double, interrupting her train of thought. Had she had the capacity, she would have blushed in embarrassment.

"Don't bother," continued the killer. "He'll be fine, I'm sure of it." Kouryuu gave him a skeptical look.

"And how do you know?" she questioned. "Is this something else they taught you about being an assassin?" Usually her sarcasm should have provoked Double well enough, but tonight he only smiled.

"No," he replied. "We're not human, but because of the corazon chip we all have, we think like one. No single chip is alike and we are all individuals. As individuals, we each have inner demons we must conquer by ourselves. Did you see Edge's face after that fight? He was thinking of something, and it was something he wasn't quite ready to tell us yet. Otherwise, we'd know right now. Edge was battling his inner demon, and he won a single fight. From the look of it, he didn't win the war yet, but we can't help him with this battle." Double turned to face Kouryuu. "He helped me conquer my inner demons, my lust for the perfect opponent. Before then, I didn't even know that problem existed, maybe because I never bothered to ask my own soul. I was still a mere drone then. But now, look where I am! Following a fairy tale that some old hag probably concocted to 'moralize' her children."

Despite herself, Kouryuu found herself smiling, then laughing. She didn't know why, but it felt good.

"Sometimes you manage to make yourself sound civilized," said Kouryuu. Double grinned sheepishly and ran a hand through his thick hair.

"Hey," he said. "I'm not a total idiot!"

"Your sob story was touching, really! *Sniff* I think I'm gonna need a tissue!"

"Damnit, Kou! You can never take me seriously, can you?"

"Double, look at yourself. I don't think anybody could take you seriously."

...

'HE is coming,' thought Toy. An interesting predicament, he never expected Edge to defeat his tenshi-class robot. However, this did make things more difficult. He didn't know enough about the demon energies of Valkair's Orb to make a more powerful specimen. Only the Demon God himself had that knowledge. And now he knew that Edge was fully capable of defeating such a creature. Toy had lost his moment of breathing space. HE was already closing in.

The Orb was now worthless to him. Wasn't it?

"A trap might work," thought Toy aloud. Yes, Edge was still searching for his beloved Orb, wasn't he? He needed it for his future plans. An easy snare to set for the unwitting game, Edge and his party could be disposed of in one fell swoop. Now, if only HE hadn't regained full control yet. If only Toy had a bit more time to work with...

...

End "Open, An Attack"