Kokoro

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"I'm so tired of being hurt... would it all go away if I just died...?"

 

...

 

Chang-Mi lay on the ground as she felt the right side of her body turn numb with coldness, rivulets of blood dripping forth from her open wound in the place where the one she had cared for had sliced her through. She had left herself open because she trusted him, believed that he was going to take her with him to a place where hate could not touch them. She had openly defied the Kuruda, making a choice that she knew was dangerous but that she wanted nonetheless. She had done it so they could finally be together, running away from this burden on their lives. In the end, he chose to destroy the arm she reached out to him with and left her on the soiled ground to die, left to pick up the broken shards of her life as every sacrifice she had made slowly crept up upon her to collect their debts. As she lay there with empty tears streaming down her dirty cheek, she began to wonder why he had turned his back at the last minute, what could have been more important than that time they spent together. It didn't matter anymore though. It didn't matter how badly she was injured, how deeply into the abyss of doom she dared tip her head. It simply did not matter. Not this time.

"Ii kimochi da yo," ("What a good feeling,") she whispered, the tips of her mouth bending up in a sad smile as her body curled in upon itself for warmth. That day, she had prepared to leave everything behind, cutting herself loose from all her burdens in order to finally set herself free. She had severed everything she had ever known with the hopes of flying off to something better, something promised to her by the one who she loved. Yet, in the end, he only trampled her cherished dream beneath the soil of his boot. And she was left alone.

Now, what could she do? She had nothing left to hold, nothing left to protect her from her vicious past. Nothing left to care for, nobody left to be there for her. Once again, she had been abandoned to the fury of the storm. And having been deprived of everything that had ever held meaning to her, she quietly waited in the rain--- crouched and defeated--- for the reaper to come and end her misery.

 

"Kore ga...ii kimochi... ne?"

 

The low rumble of motorcycle engines slowly loomed over the horizon as bright lights flared their angry beams into Chang-Mi's eyes. The noise grew and climaxed as she saw the shadows of killers walk towards her through her blurry vision, their weapons drawn for the sole purpose of ending her existence. She only crouched in further upon herself, for she could not face them. They were the ones who had tied her down with their war, the ones whom she had tried so dutifully to leave.  But in the end, she could not escape their cries, for now they came to claim the payment of her betrayal in blood.

 

"For a Juliannes," said a woman's voice bitterly, her deep tone carrying both strength and bold command. "You turned your back on us for one of them, for a simple man."

 

No one else spoke but that single voice, but it was more than enough to cut through to Chang-Mi's broken heart. She knew that one person too well, the one who had raised her on every principle and ideal she had learned to accept within the Kuruda ranks. She was the one who had given her purpose for so many years, who had always been there to save her from the danger she faced. Even now when she knew she could never go back to that old life, she still felt too ashamed to meet that stern face of disappointment, of loss, of failure.

 

"She doesn't deserve your mercy, Klessu," snickered another. "She killed three of our own. That's more than enough reason to warrant her death."

 

The low rumble grew louder as they closed in around her with their eager blades and bloodthirsty stares. Between their amassed numbers few words were spoken, but the monotonous drone of the machines was far more disconcerting than the words of her former allies. With the latter, at least, there was the chance for debate, that while she had indeed committed a wrong against their beings, perhaps a few within their ranks were not plotting her punishment but rather conferring whether or not her act had been as severe as first perceived. But now nobody said a word. Nobody dared raised their voice against the decision that they had unanimously agreed upon. There was no question of what they thought needed to be done for they all saw the same crime in the bloodied picture. And Chang-Mi simply awaited her inevitable fate because she knew that that was the only thing she had left.

 

"We trusted you," said Klessu Glorii coldly, the leader of the Kuruda gang icily putting forth the words from her mouth as a sharp hiss of metal carried itself through the air, and the fallen angel knew that she had drawn her sword to administer the final judgment. "We took you in, protected you, taught you how to fight, gave you everything you could have ever asked for. Yet, in the end, it was not enough to ask for something as simple as your loyalty, was it? In the end, you still had something more important than even us, who chose to take care of you when nobody else would." Chang-Mi felt a soft rush of air as Klessu raised her blade above her head for the final blow, and she quietly waited for her life to end its course. There was nothing left for her in this world. She had lost everything.

 

"I only hope that whatever it was you risked so much for was worth your death."

 

"..."

 

The gunshot broke the morbid silence with the cracking sound of metal, and suddenly the weeping killer sensed that the Kuruda were no longer interested in herself, but rather a new, approaching force. Slowly, she forced herself to open her eyes and face her judicators for the first time, only to find her former captain of arms defenseless, her thin sword knocked clean from her hand by the carefully articulated bullet. Klessu was angrily staring out at the shadow in the rain that lowered his arm slowly from the shot that reverberated around the world, a mysterious figure whose jacket whipped like a cape in the wind as the hard clicks of his boots rhythmically dictated his approach.

 

"Dare da, teme?!" demanded the gang leader, her hand already reaching back to the other blade safely secured at her back. "You've made a mistake if you think---"

 

"I came for her," said the man boldly, referring to the defenseless traitor before them. His strong voice surprised Chang-Mi not only with its power, but also with its youth. But despite the unexpected extension on her life, she could not imagine who would come to her side at such a time, let alone recognize the voice that had mysteriously come to her aid.

 

"You got nerve, kid!" growled someone behind her, and Chang-Mi moved her tired gaze just enough to see one of the women from the Kuruda ranks draw her knives and dash up to meet the intruder. "You didn't actually think---"

 

The second shot was just as sudden, the man's arm cleaving upwards with uncanny speed as he brought his gun to his attacker's head and blew it off without a second thought. His feet never broke their cool, confident strides as he walked towards the fallen girl, not even lending the corpse of his deceased assailant a second glance as it limply fell to the ground.

 

"I came for Chang-Mi Baek," said the man coolly, the sound of steps echoing throughout the streets. As the distance in the rain slowly melted away, his well-chiseled features began to make themselves clear to their eyes. His schoolboy's uniform, the fluttering jacket about his shoulders, the dark eyes and the soaked length of crimson hair that always seemed to obscure them, the mysterious smile that played across his face, and his weapon of choice loosely waiting in his relaxed hand. He couldn't have been much older than a teenager, but the dangerous sparkle in his eyes and the conviction in his stride spoke something much different, of a man who had witnessed and lived through more horrors and fascinations than any of them ever would.

 

For some reason, even though he seemed to perfectly understand the situation he had just gotten himself into, he never faltered even once. All fear was purged from his body, in his step, his stance, and his invincible stare. It was as if he freely chose to walk beside the devil, caring not the risk of his actions because he refused to crumble beneath the weight of his own decisions. He seemed as though he were something more than human, a ghost who simply could not die.

"Naze... watashi no namae wo shiteru?" ("Why... why does he know my name?") she whispered to herself as she watched him advance, the haze of noise filling her ears until she could no longer tell if what she saw was dream or reality.

 

"He has a gun," said somebody in back quietly, half in disbelief and half in alarm. "Nobody here uses guns anymore..."

 

"If you're Chang-Mi's friend come to save her, you've made a grave error," said Klessu, her thin blade whipping forth into her open hand. "She chose to separate from us the hard way. Your intervention will mean little in our decision to correct what she has done."

 

"I never asked for my intervention to mean anything in regards to your decisions," said the man, stopping besides the fallen killer and twirling his firearm about his wrist playfully. "What you do with your lives is not my problem, but understand this---"

The ground suddenly churned up a cloud of dirt and mud as the man abruptly disappeared from sight, a blur of color flying forward and collaring Klessu by the neck of her jacket before anybody could so much as blink. Even the gang leader said nothing as she felt the cold metal of the stranger's gun against her forehead, his relaxed, subtle grin teasing his victim above her piercing stare. "The consequences of your actions are your own fault, not mine," he continued. "I've made it clear what I want. The effect my next actions will have on your group is dependent on what you plan to do about it."

 

"Klessu!!!" shouted a woman from the Kuruda, her blade already bared with several of her teammates in tow. But Klessu Glorii simply held up her open hand in their direction to keep them at bay, her eyes never flinching from the man's cold stare.

 

"What is your name?" asked the gang leader softly.

 

"Joon," replied the man. "Joon Huh."

 

And Klessu simply grinned, the killer instinct in her glare flaring with power.

"Take her then, Joon," she said. "But know what you've done when you leave this place. Know what it will mean for your future."

 

"Of course," smiled Joon, and his wrist suddenly retracted his weapon, sliding its sleek metal shine back into the holster at his side. "Besides, I cannot fight everybody's battles for them..."

 

Chang-Mi watched in wonder as Klessu let him go, the woman watching him hungrily as he turned heel and began to walk back in the direction he came. A few of her followers inched forward with their weapons half-freed from their scabbards, eager to extract revenge for the previously inflicted injustice. However, their leader would not let them, her hand silently rising in an open palm to keep them at bay as she continued her acute observation of her prey. She knew that she would not extract a victory today, but there would always be tomorrow to try again.

 

"Saa," said Joon, and Chang-Mi was startled to find him already standing over her, bent down on one knee and holding out an open hand for her to take. "Ikouka?" ("Shall we go?")


Her first reaction was to take hold of his offer with thanks, knowing that he had done something wonderful that day to save her life. But then she retracted her wary fingers back timidly, unsure of what to do. Was this really the escape she was looking for? Or maybe a quick death at the Kuruda hands was a better destiny.

"I... have nothing left to live for," she said weakly, feeling a warm trail of blood trickle from the ends of her lips. "You did a good thing today. A good thing, but maybe it wasn't the right thing."

 

"To she who feels despair in her darkest hour, sing an old song," replied the boy with a smile, never even noticing her feeling of impending doom. "Nobody said it was going to be easy, but if you give up, you'll never know just how far you can fly."

 

Just how far you can fly...

 

She looked at him with hopelessness in her heart, but he wouldn't return that feeling. He simply stood there, the lone gunman, with a pistol at his hip and a cape catching the wind in majestic flight. He had just risked his life against the devil, but acted like he didn't even care in the end. Never in her life had she met such a person, who did what he wanted without motivation or explanation simply because that was the type of person he was. No matter what she did, he still remained there with his outstretched arm, waiting to pull her back up from the abyss, waiting to take her away from these people and this life. He couldn't have possibly been real, could he? Maybe he was just part of her dream and this was the end of her small existence, the angel of death having come to guide her into the next world...

 

And so Chang-Mi reached out and wrapped her fingers around his, feeling the strong grip lift her up from the mud-stained ground and into the future.

"I don't even know who you are," she said.

 

"That's all right," he replied. "You don't need to."

 

...

 

Life is about adversity. Without such a thing, we would have no reason to live.

 

...

 

"5 years ago... I felt defeat...

5 years ago... I felt shame...

5 years ago... I knew and realized that I wasn't invincible..."

                                                --- Shinji Murasaki, Susan Ching's Point Blank Assassin

 

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"I can't believe it. I'm going to die here rotting in this damn prison like some sort of deranged pet..."

 

"Knock it off, Double," muttered Kouryuu though her comm-link as the tips of her fingers scoured the black innards of the tight, steel box she had been locked in. "For someone who's as old as you are, you still manage to whine like a six year old."

 

It had been almost five hours since Yoshiki's drones had roughly dragged them away from the scene of their battle and thrown them into individual prison cells to stagnate until further notice. Deprived of weapons and allies, the rebel had been left to ponder an impossible escape as she studied every inch of her impenetrable chamber, only to hopelessly discover that this was the type of prison made to endure a soldier of her caliber. She could only guess that the others had met a similar fate. The gang lord was completely prepared for their arrival, right down to storage facilities. But what were his goals? Surely, if they had been wanted dead, then time and resources would not have been wasted to prepare these holding pins. There must have been an alternative motive of some sort, though she couldn't figure out what.

 

"This could be a lot worse than it looks, so keep your comments to yourself."

 

"A lot worse?!" exclaimed the assassin. "They've divided us up like cattle and locked us in cages that even I can't cut through, and you're saying it could be worse?"

 

"Hey, at least they didn't pick up this frequency," said Kouryuu. "I'd rather have this than be in the dark, even if it is you I have to be talking to. Now quit complaining and start thinking. There must be a way to get out of here."

 

"It's tougher than you think it is," said Double grudgingly. "I don't know where Yoshiki got this alloy, but I can't even scratch the damn stuff. I can't see where you're at, but I have more than enough room in here to wind up a swing that would normally be able to cleave a tank in half. Believe me when I say I've tried my damnedest to break these walls and nothing's coming out of it. Besides, they drained our batteries so low that I can't make much effort to break out anyway unless I want to fall over from the drain. Not even a light source for us to siphon power from. They knew exactly what our specs were."

 

"Hmm," muttered the rebel to herself. "Anything aside from the use of brute force? I know that's your favorite, but play with the more cunning side of yourself for once."

 

"Har, har," said Double sarcastically. "But unfortunately, no, nothing of that sort either. I spared a bit of my energy for infrared since regular vision can't pick up a damn thing in here, but I'm still getting cold readings across the board. I'm sure that there has to be some sort of special mechanism locking us in here. Yoshiki's too clever to use only mechanical locks. These must be pretty thick walls though, because I can't get any fix on where the circuitry could be. Even worse, I've combed as much of the wall and floor surface that I can, but there's no trace of paneling whatsoever. It's as if we've been sealed in a solid metal cube. There's no way in hell that I could even find a fissure crack to seep out of in these things."

 

"He must have planned for this all along," said Kouryuu to herself as her digits continued to edge along the metal surface, searching for any sort of break. Yet, true to her companion's words, her fingertips only met the smooth surface of polished steel, her hopes sinking faster than a lead weight in water. "Can we at least get a hold of the others?"

 

"Looks like they were bright enough to dampen out most of the conventional communication channels too, even some that I've seen private assassins use. Other than our private link, I don't see much else that's working. If the others try something more low-tech, maybe they'll catch on, but otherwise we're alone in the dark."

 

"Damnit!" cursed the rebel. They had been shut in a prison that they couldn't get out of with nothing to do but prolong what must be an inevitable execution. She was driving herself crazy trying to figure out a scheme to escape, but every possibility that popped to mind was immediately squashed by the surrounding conditions. It frustrated her to be helpless and more so to not be able to do anything about it but wait for an outcome. Somewhere in the back of her head she was almost beginning to regret their surrender. Almost.

"There has to be some sort of way out of here," she muttered. "Nobody's ever made an impenetrable dungeon before."

 

"This is pretty damn close though," replied Double. "As far as I can tell, our gracious host made these with us in mind. Check it out for yourself, no air ducts. He knew we didn't need such things to sustain ourselves and thus cut out that possible escape route from our chambers. That bastard knew we were coming all along and set us up like fools."

 

"But how did he know?" said Kouryuu, finally giving up and resting against the cool metal wall as she sat on the floor. "I'd like to think we did a decent enough job of staying out of the public eye to give us cover from most onlookers.  Even then, who knew we were coming in this direction? That was a decision made so recently that the only ones I could possibly think of as potential spies would be Fumiya's goons, and none of those guys seemed to be quite this ambitious."

 

"You'd be surprised how well professionals can hide themselves," said the assassin. "I've met guys who could break the lie detector tests without breaking a sweat. If you truly believe what you say, even if it is a lie, it's not that big of a problem to keep a good cover." 

 

"Okay, then who do you think it is?"

 

Kouryuu waited as the line went silent for a second, and she could mentally picture her companion lowering his head in thought as he juggled the options. She almost smirked at his predictability.

 

"I don't know," answered Double finally. "I never knew any of Fumiya's lackeys well enough to be able to tell them apart, let alone know who they were. But I don't think it could be Fumiya himself. That doesn't make sense."

 

"Hmm," hummed the rebel. "I know I was playing the other side of the fence before, but why the sudden change of heart for that guy? The more I think about it, the more he seems to be the most likely candidate. We know nearly nothing about him, he's spoon-fed us a story that none of us can confirm, he knew EXACTLY how to get in here, and he is none other than Yoshiki's own blood. Don't tell me that's all coincidence."

 

"No, it's not that," said the assassin. "I know he's guilty of every single one of those accusations. That's something I can't deny. But the big question is what could he possibly have to gain from this? Presume that he might indeed have betrayed us like you said, but there's no doubt in my mind that his hate for Yoshiki is real. Heck, he released a monster that probably could've destroyed us all just so that he could have a shot at him, and he couldn't have possibly predicted the experiment going as wrong as it did or Edge pulling off a miracle to put it down. His intentions to hurt his father were real then and there's no reason at all why they would change now, so what would turning us in at this point do? It doesn't make any sense."

 

"But who else could have done it?" muttered Kouryuu with a sigh. Her failure to come up with an answer was quickly eating away at her patience, but gradually she forced herself to push it away and calm down in the end. There was no point in frustrating herself if she could avoid it, and she certainly didn't have the energy to spare in her current situation. In the predicament she was in, solving the puzzle when she couldn't do anything about it would not help much anyways. Best to just calm down and try to take things one step at a time. Yet, it annoyed her to think that they had missed something this major down the line, and even more so that they still couldn't figure out the mystery when they retraced their steps. Even if they could make it out of their prison alive, that parasite could still be there, watching their every move until the next opportunity arose to ensnare them in its trap. Such things always returned to haunt them in the end. They would have to destroy it themselves if they wanted any chance of continuing their journey at all.

 

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"Edge... wake up, Edge..."

 

The green haired android's conscious fluttered to life desperately, clinging with all of its strength to the single voice that called him back into the world of the living. He felt as though he were floating in a sea of thick jelly, helpless in movement, limited to the observation of his senses alone. However, he struggled to break free from the mold as something in the back of his head urged him on. He had forgotten something. There still remained a task incomplete that was meant to be finished by his hands. He forced himself to move even though his body cried out in protest as he did. Yet, he knew that the matter at hand was far more pressing that his own desires, and he continued to force energy through his aching nerves as he began to regain his senses. Slowly, his vision began to focus once again, and slowly he found himself staring up into Yoshime's eyes once more.

"Yoshime..." he whispered softly. He tried to reach up to touch her face, but his body was too weak and he could barely lift his fingers off the ground as his head lie still in the young girl's lap. But she actually seemed to be more concerned about him moving at all rather than if he had ever completed his original intended motion.

 

"Edge!" she said, surprised to see that he had responded. Her eyes seemed red with soreness and the stains of tears marked her cheeks even though she choked through a smile. "I was so worried about you! Are you all right?"

 

Edge smiled weakly and tried to speak, but faltered when he suddenly realized that he was only moving his lips without actually making the sound that he so desired. The more he tried to talk, the more tired he felt, and he quickly began to realize just how perilous of a condition he was really in. His energy levels were dangerously low, almost to the point where his systems would fail completely. He and Yoshime were the only two in the dark room that engulfed them in its shadowy folds, leaving him to wonder how he had gotten to such a chamber in the first place. He vaguely remembered breaking into Yoshiki's mansion and walking straight into a trap with his other companions, but what had become of them? What had happened while he had been out? Why was he here now? There were too many questions he had with too little time and too little energy. For some reason, he found that he could not deal with it all with as much ease as he did in the past. Something was holding him back, keeping him from reaching out to that untapped energy that had always aided him in his darkest hour before. However, it did not bother him so much today that he could not do such a thing. It simply did not bother him...

 

Slowly, he began to helplessly fall back into the ocean of darkness once again, his body becoming numb as he let himself be swept away, lest his entire computer crash in upon itself. In the distance, Yoshime's rising voice began to blur out softly into a distant hum of peace. Memories finally began to flood back into his mind, but not of her. Not of Kouryuu and Double, not of Asimov and Zero. Not of the world of chaos and cataclysmic death that he had once thought was real, but something different. Something... that still managed to be the same.

 

Had he just fallen asleep in the real world?

Or had he merely woken up from a nightmare that threatened to tear him apart?

 

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A piano slowly began to build the main theme from the remnants of the furious wrath, though peacefully in contrast to the previous cacophony of noise. There was solace there, but only after the storm has already come to pass. The scales played up and down the instrument, a tale of the tension that continued to lie in the air even after the explosion of anger. Though only a single one played now, the style and flavor that it lent spoke not of a continuing calm, but only of a break in the rage before the typhoon would strike once again. An anxiety unexplored continued to dwell deep beneath the clouds, and time was the only thing standing in its way before the mighty tempest would come to pass again.

 

In the background, the violins finally began to play as well, a foreboding telling of the tragic story to come...

 

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Blood trailed down Edge's lip as he gripped his side in pain and limped through the dusty plains, following the well-tread footprints of the armor-clad soldiers who had ravaged his home only a day before. Several of his ribs had been broken by the brutal assault at the hands of their officer, but he forced himself to ignore the pain as he continued to forge his way forward through the seemingly endless desert. Daylight had brought no comfort to him when he realized that all of the horrors that he had seen the night before were true. He had been too weak to help his wife and child, and paid the price for it in his own blood and anguish. But he would be damned if there was anything that would stand in his way of getting them back. Even though their time together had been short, he had felt such inexplicable bliss in their presence that he would do anything to get it back. He had fought too long and too hard to reach something so beautiful and loose it so quickly. He had thought that perhaps he had finally reached an end to his long journey, to the pain and madness of human hurt and cruelty that he had witnessed. Yet, there had still been someone who took away his simple happiness in the end, as if it should have been nothing more to him than discarded rubbish.

But he would not back down until he reclaimed what was rightfully his. He could not go on in life without fighting for what he wanted, for what he sought in order to satisfy his needs. Whether this strange world that he was in was an illusion or reality, it still possessed something precious to him. And he was willing to fight to protect that thing until his dying breath, even if it meant his demise.

 

Pain raced through his left thigh as he lost his footing on a rock jutting up from the sand, and Edge was forced to juggle his own weight as he sought to regain his balance. It wasn't made any easier by the tattered cloak that he had recovered for his travels, a heavy piece of material that whipped wildly about his head and shoulders as clouds of dust blew up into his face. The general and his men had already been hours ahead of him by the time he had regained consciousness, finding his house and belongings in ashes along with the rest of the town. He was amazed that he had still been alive, considering the final blow that Shinnuki had dealt him before he blacked out. His entire body had been bruised by the blows he had received, and upon waking he had retched blood for several minutes as his body tried to purge itself. There was no doubt that he was hurt badly from the assault, but he didn't have time to waste resting. Every second that he spent nursing his wounds was a second in which his enemy could march a step farther away from his grasp. Yu-Lan and Sanjurroh may be alive for now, but that fact didn't mean quite so much when he recalled how heartlessly his foe had laid waste to an entire town of innocents. Even if their kidnapping had been more of a mocking gesture of his own helplessness than an act that actually performed some sort of tactical strategy, it gave him hope that he could still reclaim everything he had lost. As long as that hope remained, he had every reason to push forward and believe that what he did could change the future.

 

His tired eyes stared out into the distance through the dusty air, vainly searching for anything to raise his spirits. Already, he could feel his body giving out. He had forgotten how complex human pain and fatigue could be in regards to one's optimal performance. At this rate, he would probably end up dead unless he stopped for rest, and he wouldn't be able to do much for his family if he unexpectedly passed away.

His gaze finally fell upon the dark shape of a building ahead of him. Was there a town this far out in the middle of nowhere? He sincerely hoped his eyes were not deceiving him with a mirage, but he had little choice but to follow his vision. The strong winds were making travel all but impossible, and coupled with his injuries he would probably not last another hour if he stayed outside. Perhaps he was short on time, but he could not afford to kill himself before he extracted his vengeance.

 

And so Edge sighed heavily as he began to trudge in the direction of the small village in the eye of the storm, forcing himself to hold his head high with faith even though despair kept his heart trapped in the valley of death.

 

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The inn he stepped into was utter filth, but it also appeared to be the only establishment in town where he could actually settle down for a moment to catch his breath. The building actually served two purposes, with the rooming settled upstairs and the ground floor serving as a combination restaurant and pub. Edge nominated the lower half for his initial resting spot for its close proximity, and wearily pushed his way through the door and dropped himself in the nearest available seat next to the bar. A rotten smell hit his nose soon after he entered the establishment and the grime covering the old furniture and floor would have repulsed him in any other situation, but he was too busy nursing his aching side to care much about the interior. The room was not particularly crowded either, but there were enough people present who turned a wary eye in his direction to make him uncomfortable. He wasn't quite sure what made them so observant of his figure, but it was enough to make him realize that perhaps he was not the most welcome person in the establishments. Not that it mattered a whole lot. After he caught his breath and got himself a room, he would be out of their way and out of their business.

 

"Barkeep," he said to the middle-aged man behind the counter who turned quickly and nervously towards him upon hearing his beckon. "Can I... have some water?" He faltered at first, not quite sure what to ask for to ail his wounds. But Yoshime had always seemed to take in the clear substance with a feeling of refreshment when consumed, so maybe it could do the same for his tired body.

 

However, the bartender only inched a bit closer to the door behind him, his eyes trying to stay calm as he faced the traveler before him.

"I'm... I'm sorry sir," he stuttered, taking a step back. "The bar's closed for now and I'm off duty. I'll be retiring to my quarters until later. Sorry for the trouble." Without another word, he turned around and quickly exited into the backroom, an audible click signaling that he had locked the door behind him. Edge’s brow wrinkled in confusion as he continued to stare at the door through which the man had departed. Why had he looked so scared to see him? He had not looked quite so distressed when he himself had first entered the building. Was there something awful about this guise of Shizuru that he took on a quality he didn't know about? No, that couldn't have been it. He had a wife and child in a small country home in a village where everybody knew his name. If he was supposed to be some sort of criminal or killer, it didn't make much sense for him to live in such an environment. There must have been something else that frightened him off, but what?

 

A heavy hand suddenly grabbed shoulder, and Edge felt himself freeze up as a sharp metal object pressed lightly into his lower back.

"Don't make any sudden movements or I'll gut you like a fish," came a low, gruff voice from behind him. "Just raise your arms up, nice and slow."

 

Edge tried to force himself to relax as he nervously brought his hands above his head, but felt his limbs shake despite his efforts. He was far too weak right now to be able to make any kind of stand, and a surprise assault didn't help his condition any. If his opponent knew how injured he really was, they probably wouldn't have even thought the use of arms necessarily in his abduction.

As he proceeded to do as his assailant instructed, he managed to crane his neck back just enough to peer over his shoulder at the man who was so intent on poking him from behind with a knife. He looked like a typical, unshaven thug, his breath smelling lightly of beer, aheavy scarf wound about his shoulders darkened with the dust of many soils. However, it was more that nearly every single person in the room had now risen and pulled weapons with scrupulous intent than this man who threatened him directly that really made him start to panic.

 

"What do you want?" he said slowly. "I don't have much money. Only a couple coins---"

 

"Shut up," said the man, only pressing the blade harder into his back and drawing blood. "Don't screw around with me, kid. I know how to handle your kind. Now then, you're just going to slowly back away from the bar as I instruct you to. Then you're going to put out your wrists in front of you and let my companions here tie you up. Understand?"

 

Edge grimaced as he tried to assess the situation. He still had no idea what these people wanted, but they were certainly not mere thieves or bandits. Such people would have rather robbed him blind than talk to him in person, but these actually seemed interested in his identity for some reason. There must be something about Shizuru that he didn't know. A bad reputation? Did something occur outside of town that had tainted him with some kind of offensive notoriety? Whatever it was, maybe it would help to try and prove that he wasn't quite who they thought he was, even if they didn't seem like the type who would listen to such a story.

 

"Goddamnit, Kuun! Just kill him and get it over with!" shouted one of the others before Edge could get anything out of his mouth. "Every second that he's alive is just another second that puts our asses in danger. Finish up so we can get out of here!"

 

"Just calm down, Fei," said Kuun sternly without ever taking his eyes away from the prey before him. "There's no need to rush this kind of thing. He's worth a lot more money to us alive than he is dead."

 

"Yeah, if Shin doesn't find us first," retorted Fei in the back, the sound of metal tearing through wood echoing through the tavern as the man took out his frustration on a chair. "That man is branded, damnit, BRANDED!!! I don't want to take that kind of chance if it means that we could all be killed. I'm telling you, all it takes is one wrong move for him to escape and we might have just signed our own death warrant. I'd rather take our chances ringing in the body of a corpse than risk my life for a few more pounds of gold."

 

Branded? What were these men talking about? Whatever it was, it seemed to be taking their attention off of him well enough for the time being. Whether or not they decided to kill him, it didn't seem as though any sort of future would exist if he continued to stay where he was now. He was going to have to risk a plan of escape if he wanted to make it out of here alive.

Abruptly spinning to his left to avoid the man's blade, Edge braced his hands on the counter as he twisted his body up and kicked out to either side, catching his assailant in the head while knocking away one of the other men who had been all too ready to attack. He felt a sharp pain in his side from his old injuries as his feet came down on the floor again, but forced himself to ignore it. Stopping to rest now was only going to get him killed. His suffering would have to wait for later if he wanted to live to even take care of his wounds.

 

He flipped over the bar just as the thug's sword crashed into the counter and proceeded to expertly catch the man in the face with a bottle of liquor that he pulled from the racks behind him. Even as the glass split into a thousand shards that began their descent towards the ground like flying raindrops, Edge kicked the man in the face with a roundhouse over the tabletop and smoothly grabbed a nearby broom as he came out of his spin. Already, Kuun seemed to have recovered from the sudden attack. From the look of the way he pulled the huge double-headed battle axe out from his belt, Edge doubted that he was thinking of trying to take him in alive any longer. 

The charge was aggressive and sudden, but it all seemed to happen slow enough for Edge to easily move out of the way just before the weapon smashed through the counter and ripped it in half. Stepping up and over the obstacle and into the midst of his foes, he brought the bristly bottom of the broom up and expertly kicked the end off into the face of one of his adversaries, leaving only a four-foot staff in his hands. Holding it at the base like a sword, he brandished the weapon out before him and brought the tip down on the head of one of the men, bringing it back again and stabbing him in the throat before he even had time to react. Another man rapidly approached him from the left, but he swung out to the side and landed the thin cudgel on his neck, causing him to gasp in pain before another hard blow to the stomach sent him sprawling on the ground. However, before his eyes could seek out his next target, a flash of metal spun past his eyes in an overhead swing that was far too close for comfort, and the sudden loss of weight in his hands told him that they had been smart enough to try to disarm him before coming any nearer.

 

"People are branded for a reason, kid," said Kuun as he held his axe before him in a threatening manner. "Don't take this too personally, okay?"

 

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about," said the young boy, but it was hopeless. There was no way these guys were going to let him go, he was sure enough of that. But if he could buy himself a little time to think, there might still be a way he could come out of this with his life. However, things only looked more and more grim as his side suddenly flared up once again, his injuries fiercely reminding him of his battle handicap. His eyes darted back and forth as he watched his assailants begin to close in. With about nine men between him and the exit, things were not looking in his favor. "I just stepped in here for a breather. That's it. If you let me go, I promise I won't cause you any trouble."

 

"Sorry, but that's not the way we work," sneered Fei as he stepped up from the rear of the small crowd, flipping a curved knife in his hands. "If you'll hold still, we'll make this as easy as possible. Like my associate said, don't take this too personally. We're only doing the business that's put on the table in front of us."

 

 

"I suggest you gentlemen step away from him if you'd like to keep your lives."

 

 

The mob stopped and warily turned in the direction of the feminine yet resolute voice that came from across the room. In the corner sat a single figure covered in a thick cloak and hood, the shadows and dark color of the clothing almost making the person seem to blend in with the walls. His own position made it difficult for Edge to make out any details of the woman, but that seemed to be a more minor detail as half of the men turned their attention towards the new aggressor.

 

"Seeing as how there's a lot of us and only one of you, I don't quite understand how you plan to come through on your claim," said Fei coolly as he approached the woman, leering forward into her cowl. "We're only trying to make sure that we stay alive. I think that's reasonable enough, isn't it? Just let us do our jobs, and I’ll pretend there was no one here. We don't want to end up like all the other towns who made mistakes before us."

 

"I'll only say it once more," said the woman, suddenly rising to her full height, part of her hood flowing back just enough for Edge to catch a glimpse of a sparkling blue eye and a lock of emerald hair. "Step away from that man if you want to live."

 

A soft breeze suddenly flowed up under her cloak and Edge could now see the woman's green and yellow traveling robes beneath her billowing cape. The colors seemed dulled by much use, but the bright hues stood out nonetheless. Once his adversaries caught sight of the shades, they suddenly took a step back in fear, reconsidering their actions.

"A windrider?!" said Kuun, his head twisting towards the girl as he held Edge at bay. It was all the distraction the young boy needed to make his move.

 

Using his right hand to thrust the splintered stump of the broom handle into Kuun's face, he reached out with his left and plucked forth the man's weapon from his fingers as the thug cried out in pain from the wood embedded in his skull. A second blow to the back of the head with the handle was it took to lay him out cold. Surprised that none of the others seemed to be attacking, Edge looked up to find that the newcomer seemed to be handling her own just fine. The rest of his thugs were already quite occupied with fending off a series of smashing blows that seemed unnaturally strong for the size of the woman they fought. However, despite the fact that she held them off fairly well by herself, the numbers could quickly become a fatal problem if she made even one mistake. A little assistance would probably not be taken to offense.

Running forward and landing a solid aerial kick to the back of one of the thug's heads, Edge quickly cut a wide arc in the air using his stolen axe and forced the rest of the men backwards, putting himself squarely between them and his benefactor. Grabbing the woman's hand, he planted his foot in the face of the man nearest to the exit and rebounded towards the door. She seemed to read his movements well enough to realize what he was trying to do, and quickly followed him towards the way out.

 

"Damnit, get him or we'll all be dead!" shouted Fei furiously, and the men quickly leapt to their feet and charged their prey with madness in their eyes.

 

"Come on! We have to get out of here!" said Edge as he tugged on the woman's arm urgently, but she suddenly stopped in the doorway and turned to face their pursuers with dangerous eyes.

 

"Just a minute," she said. "Better to get them off our tail now than have to deal with them later."

The eyes of the charging crowd almost seemed to widen in confusion as she brought her right arm to her side, the ends of her fingertips began to split the seams of the atmosphere before her. The strike was sudden and without any sort of fancy buildup, but effective nonetheless. Striking her open palm into one of the main door posts, the building gave a mighty shudder as her limb tore through the atmosphere at incredible speeds and cleanly cracked the wooden beam in two with an powerful impact that managed to shatter every glass object in the room. As Edge blankly watched the structure creak on its foundation, the woman simply shoved him outside and pushed him in the direction of a horse that was patiently waiting near the entrance with its long face dipped in a water trough.

"Geez, hurry up!" she said as she leapt up on the back of the animal in a single bound, reaching out her hand in beckoning for Edge to do the same. "That is, unless you want to be around once that building collapses and Shin's soldiers move in to investigate."

 

That was all it took to convince him to leap up and ride off into the dying sun as the front half of the broken inn caved in upon itself in a cloud of splinters and brick dust. He had no idea who this person was nor the reason why she had chosen to help him, but he had already chosen a path by accepting her offer of assistance. The only choice left was to see where it led him.

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

Kuun coughed violently as he picked his way out of the rubble, wincing in pain as he nursed his right ankle. He had fallen victim to a piece of falling mortar in the demolition that the witch had caused, but there wasn't a whole lot he could complain about seeing as how he had been one of the few who had actually made it out of the disaster alive. Maybe Fei had been right about the whole thing. He had let himself get carried away with delusions of fortune and big money. Branded were far too dangerous to toy with the way he had. The fact that those criminals often had nothing to lose by trying their hand at escape only meant that there was an even greater chance of the empire's forces finding out about the innocent if a plan of capture was substituted for one of execution. He had screwed up badly this time, and he knew it.

 

"Fei, c'mon, we have to get out of---" Kuun stopped in mid-sentence as he turned his head back to find his companion's arm- mangled in directions it wasn't meant to bend- poking out from beneath the rubble, the flesh on his crooked fingers already turning blue and cold with death. His friend was dead, along with most of his party. The only other person who seemed to have survived the catastrophe was the bartender who had done the smart thing and fled at first sight of the Branded, now hovering timidly over the ruins of the bar and wondering how to compensate for the day's loss. Perhaps if he and his comrades had done the same, they would have still had their lives.

 

 

"Looks like something unpleasant happened here. Care to tell me about it, stranger?"

 

 

Kuun froze as he watched several long shadows creep up behind him on the ground before his eyes, and slowly he turned his head to face the dark soldiers of Shin as they patiently waited behind him with swords already in hand. However, one of the figures stood out in stark contrast to the others, both in appearance and attitude. His intricate armor bore an unnatural crimson color that came not from its original pigment, but rather from the blood of thousands of victims slayed by his hand. His fiery hair bore a similar color that matched the wild look in a face that might have been considered handsome if not for the many scars that graced his fair appearance. Yet, it was the glint in his eyes that scared the mercenary the most, the small, bloodshot irises that seemed to lust for death with every waking moment. He had heard stories of that stare, some claiming that it came from a nerveless soul that had been summoned back from hell and placed in the body of a human being by Shin's sorcery for the purpose of reigning in its hapless desires upon the world of the living. Whether or not that story was true, he feared the man regardless. To do otherwise would only be to warrant an early death.

 

"Lord Kannuki..." he said in low tones, making sure to crouch down on the ground even though a sharp discomfort shot up his leg the second his foot bent on the earth beneath him. "It seems as though the architect of this building was not sound enough to make sure it could support itself on its foundation correctly." He lied as discreetly as he could. What other choice did he have? "I assure you, it was nothing more than an accident."

 

However, the imposing officer merely snickered bitterly as he stomped into the rubble, his eyes darting back and forth like a hungry animal as he searched through the pile of trash. Finally discovering his object of desire, he reached down and grasped the remains of the doorway that the windrider had struck earlier, easily hefting the splintered beam above his head with a single clawed gauntlet.

"Then it's interesting to find something like this if what you saw is true," he said coolly, despite the sadistic grin on his face. "Note the fractures in this wood. Rather unnatural, don't you think? Almost as if it had been struck with enough force to break a concrete wall." He spat to the side as he discarded the massive piece of debris like a piece of paper tossed over his shoulder and stepped forward to loom over the mercenary in full height, the rejected piece of garbage falling back to earth with a heavy crash behind him as he grinned with glee. "And I can still smell the taint of the Branded. You're lying to me, stranger."

 

Kuun's blood ran cold as his body instinctively began to crawl backwards as fast as it could.

"Lord... I... I didn't mean it---!" he said desperately. He was beginning to panic, his brow now covered in a thick sweat that dripped into his eyes. He knew all too well that it had been foolish to try to trick such a demon. But what choice did he have? He was going to die either way.

 

"Of course you didn't," sneered Kannuki, his sharp canines clearly visible now in the insane smile that peeled back from his lips. "You just wanted to save your own measly life, just like every other living creature on this pitiful planet." Kuun couldn't even scream as the general's enormous hand shot out and lifted him off the ground by his face, rivulets of blood falling to the ground from the places where the fingertips of his glove buried deep into his skull. "But we have rules, and if those rules aren't followed..." The hand violently smashed shut, and a sickening pop echoed out as bits of the mercenary's brain flew all over the place, the half-empty cavity of his head falling back to the ground along with the rest of his motionless body.

 

"... well, bad things happen."

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

Edge nervously fidgeted on the back of the horse as the woman held the animal at a brisk but even pace. She had kicked the thing into full gallop as soon as he had accepted her offer of escape, but had long since brought it to a more relaxing gait once they had cleared the town border. He still had little idea of what exactly had just transpired, let alone who his mysterious benefactor was. Now he was safe, but there were still plenty of questions he needed to be answered if he was going to ever find out why he had just been so viciously attacked. He wasn't going to get anywhere either if he merely resided himself to the back of the beast, so he finally decided to try to take action to find out what was going on.

 

"Thanks for helping me out," he said, trying to have confidence in his voice. He felt incredibly awkward talking to this person who seemed to take him along so easily without even knowing who he was. "Might I ask who you are? I don't believe we've ever met before."

 

"Hmph," said the woman in a somewhat satisfied huff. "I was wondering when you were going to speak up. You seemed pretty content just riding back there without saying anything." She turned her head over her shoulder and finally pulled back her cowl so that he could see her face. Her features had been mysteriously beautiful when he had gotten a glimpse of her before in the shadows, but now she radiated with a brightness that he hadn't previously noticed as he stared into her blue eyes. Despite the way that she had so violently dealt with the mercenaries in the town, she easily wore a cheery smile now that took him quite off guard. The only strange thing he discerned were the strange rectangular marks that were tattooed beneath her eyes, markings almost seemed to give her appearance more power in its ambiguity.

"My name is Mikaeru," she said with a grin. "You must not be from around here, are you?"

 

"Huh," said Edge somewhat beneath his breath. "How could you tell?"

 

"Well, you obviously didn't know how to avoid the local rabble," she said. "And you didn't quite seem to know why they had even bothered to trouble you in the first place."

 

The young boy’s face wrinkled up as he thought about what she had just said. He really had absolutely no idea why they had chosen to assault him in the first place. At first, he had merely presumed that they were common highway robbers or thieves, but the argument he had heard between their members made him think otherwise. There seemed to be an urgent need to make attempts on his life, not on his wallet. But what were the reasons? He certainly had never met those men before, and none of them seemed to know him personally. There must have been some reason for the violent way they had reacted to his presence, but what was it?

"Well... no, I really didn't know what they were after," he admitted to his companion sheepishly. "So why did they attack me in the first place?"

 

"Have you ever heard of the term 'Branded' before?" she asked, and Edge just shook his head in ignorance. "Hmm... you really aren't familiar with things these days," she mused, and Edge felt himself grow a little hot from embarrassment. "It's a term coined for traitors against the empire who somehow managed to escape their execution ceremonies," she explained.  "The empire has combated these escapees with a system that more or less forces everybody else to comply in assisting to re-capture these criminals or face death. The way it works is that if the empire manages to find a Branded before they are detained and reported in to them by the locals, they slaughter every single person in the village that they found the criminal in as a punishment for disobedience."

 

"... isn't that a little... extreme?" questioned Edge in disdain, blinking at what he had just heard. "I don't see a whole lot of people cooperating with that if the government resorts to such violent tactics. And what does this have to do with me anyways? I've never had to escape from anything as far as I can remember, so why would I be one of these Branded?"

 

"Unfortunately, the empire offers an incentive that works because of how they take advantage of the peasants," said Mikaeru. "An award is offered for those who bring in Branded, and there is a difference depending on if they're alive or dead. That's why those two got into that argument over if they should have killed you or not. And whether or not you happen to remember what it was you did that ticked the empire off so badly, you somehow managed to get what some would call the mark of the damned, which is why you were the hot topic just a while ago." She added a quick tap on his forehead with her index finger with the last of her words.

 

Edge just looked up towards the spot in vain, confused as to what she meant.

"Mark of the damned?" he repeated cautiously. "What are you talking about?"

 

"You didn't know about it?" said Mikaeru somewhat surprised. She dug into a leather pack strapped to the horse's side and fished out a small, silver mirror, placing it in Edge's hands. "Most people are forced to experience the branding process awake, and they never forget the experience itself no matter how much they may want to. You're probably the first person I've ever met who wasn’t conscious during the spellbinding, or at least doesn’t remember. You should probably be thankful for it."

 

As Edge held up the reflective surface, his eyes widened and he nearly gawked at the sharp lines of the triangular mark above his eyebrows. It was an ugly brand, looking almost as if it had been burned into his head with a piece of metal.  However, as tender and raw as the emblem looked, it didn't hurt at all when he touched it with his fingertips, as if it had been a birthmark that he was born with.

"But... when...?" he stuttered as he forced his mind to rewind through all of the recent events that he had experienced. He abruptly stopped when he remembered what had happened back in his village. He had been beaten badly by Shinnuki and his soldiers, but perhaps the general's intentions were never to kill him in the first place. He had been surprised that he had managed to survive the man's final assault before he had blacked out for several hours. Maybe that attack had not been quite what he had thought it was. What if that bright flash of light had been a spell that had created the symbol he now saw on his forehead? What if the man had only been playing with him from the start?

 

"What's your name anyways?" said Mikaeru suddenly. "I don't believe you ever told me."

 

"It's... you can call me Shizuru," said Edge hesitantly, catching himself just in time before he blurted out his other identity. He was still trying to figure out what to do next. This new revelation would be a serious problem in his plans to seek out the one called Shin and take back his wife and child. How far would he get if he couldn't even walk into town without everybody trying to kill him? He was going to have to find a way around that, but how? He would need to stop and rest eventually, and where else could he purchase supplies but in a local village? Maybe Shinnuki was trying to grant him a slow death, toying with him until the very end. He didn't dare give up though. As long as he was still alive, he would try to regain that solace that had been graced upon him by his family. There had to be some way around the problem. He just hadn't thought of it yet.

"Why did you help me?" he asked suddenly. "I mean, if you knew that they wanted to kill me as well as the consequences of leaving me alive, then why did you want to risk saving my life?"

 

Mikaeru slowed the horse down, not bothering to turn her head back as she answered.

"Because I'm just like you," she said coolly, and glanced back with a sad grin. Pulling up the sleeve of her robe, she revealed a similar looking mark on her forearm, only this one seemed to have turned dark from age. "And I've seen many others like you. I only wanted to do what I might want for myself in the same situation."

 

Edge simply nodded. There was a lot more to this world than he had thought he knew. This empire, Shin's empire, seemed to be no different from the governments of Akuji, exploiting the common people for their own personal enjoyment. And he and his family were no different from the many others who had felt his wrath. Here, in this place, he faced an enemy much bigger than himself without the raw power that he had taken for granted before. In this place, he was just another victim, another number to be added to the pile of the fallen. How could he complete his journey when he had been reduced to a simple human? Did power play that strong of a role in human lives? Was he really nothing without the gravity that he had wielded as an android?

 

"Where are you going anyways?" asked Mikaeru. "You didn't seem like you were from around this area when I saw you walk into that bar."

 

"I'm trying to find the one called Shin," he said. "He took my wife and child. I just want to get them back."

 

Mikaeru suddenly stopped the horse and looked back at him with a shocked face.

"Do you know what you're saying?" she said. "Do you even know how dangerous that man is? Most people are afraid enough to say his name in public. You can't just walk into his castle by yourself and expect to get what you want."

 

Edge only swallowed resolutely. He had seen firsthand that even he could have a wonderful future. He saw that there was something in this mysterious alternate universe where he could experience a life without the hate and violence that he had seen in the other. That alone was enough to drive him on.

"He has my family," he said resolutely. "I won't stop until I get them back."

 

She stared at him intently for a minute, studying his stolid face as he stared her back. Their eyes locked for long seconds, and he began to wonder what exactly that she hoped to find in his gaze. Finally, satisfied with what she had seen, she slowly began to turn back forward and urged the horse on once again to the journey they had set out on.

"You really are serious, aren't you?" she said quietly as they rode. "You must have a wonderful family for you to want to fight for them that much."

 

"They're... everything to me," said the young boy hesitantly.

 

"Heh," chuckled Mikaeru. "Then you're a lucky one, because most people in the world today don't even have family to love anymore. I envy you for that much. You're surely one of the most fortunate people I've ever met."

 

Edge only watched her in silence. Maybe their worlds were not so different after all. Maybe what he thought was a world of escape was only a mirror image. Or a universality. Was the plague of mankind's worst sins to be seen no matter where he went? Was life really so hopeless so that hate was a thing that permeated every aspect of existence?

No.

There was more to it.

There had to be.

Yu-Lan and Sanjurroh were waiting for him, waiting for him to come rescue them. They had shown him a different life, a human life, one in which even he could finally rest in peace. There was still something there for him. He had only to fight to get it back.

 

"If that really is your goal, then I know people who can help you," said Mikaeru calmly. "But they're almost as dangerous as the empire itself. You can follow me if you'd like. I will be going to meet some of them myself. But I won't make the choice for you, and I don't want to be responsible for your life."

 

Even though there was nothing stopping Edge from dismounting the horse right then and there, there wasn't much of a choice in the first place. Either he chose to go with this mysterious woman or he tried his best to survive in a world that he knew nothing about. If going with her meant that he had a better chance of keeping his own hide safe until he got the chance to go after Shin once and for all, then he was willing to take any risk. Anything was worth getting back the life he wanted. Anything.

"I'll go with you," he said. "I owe you for helping me out back there anyways."

 

Mikaeru simply nodded.

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll get plenty of chances to redeem yourself in the near future. The life of a Branded is always filled those kinds of things."

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

A sharp creaking noise in the walls woke Double from his stasis and he quickly moved to comb the side of the chamber that the sound came from. He had finally decided that the best thing to do was rest once he was sure that there was no way he was going to be able to break out of his prison with the power he currently had. But as soon as he sensed movement churning in the gears around him, he jerked up and put himself on full alert once again. He had expected for a while that somebody might try to visit at least one of them before their execution occurred. It seemed like something that someone as cocky as Yoshiki might do. He decided that that would be the right time to strike. He only had to wait until the enemy made their move.

As he expertly ran his fingers over the smooth surface, he was surprised to find a vertical crack in the structure that appeared to be slowly opening up to the outside halls of his jail cell. He was suspicious at first, but when he spared a bit of his power to slide his morphed hand out through the gears and into the corridor, he discovered that there wasn't so much as a guard keeping watch over this mysterious occasion.

"Kouryuu! Are you there?" he said urgently over his comm-link. "It looks like something's happening on my side. The walls appear to be letting me out!"

 

"Yeah, it's the same over here too," came Kouryuu's reply. She seemed to be just as surprised, if not just as suspicious. "I didn't touch a thing though, so I don't know how the heck this came around. Do you think it's a trap? Yoshiki might just be toying with us again for all we know."

 

"I'm not quite sure," said Double. Focusing his sensors on the part of his liquid body that he had exposed outside, he reaffirmed his suspicions about the lack of waiting personnel. It was more than a little suspicious. Why would the doors open without guards? It just didn't make any sense. "I don't know what the hell is going on here just yet, but I think we should stay put until we can confirm that this isn’t just a fluke. I doubt Yoshiki would let us out of our cages quite so easily without a game in mind. Let's just see what he's up to before we do anything rash."

 

 

"Actually, I was the one who opened the doors. It took a little longer than I had first presumed, but the system was fairly simple in the end."

 

 

The wave that the new transmission came in on was unfamiliar, but the assassin found it easy enough to recognize the cold, emotionless voice of their savior.

"Nice to see you make yourself useful, Clef," said the assassin with a grin. He had forgotten all about the kid with the supercomputer for a brain. Maybe the child wasn't the most charismatic of people and maybe he personally didn't like him very much, but at least he knew how to work his way out of a tight situation. "So all the cell doors are opened now?"

 

"To the best of my knowledge, yes," said Clef. "Yoshiki's computers were kind enough to keep track which cells each of you were held in, so I just relayed a program to open them up after I cracked the security code. However, it appears that Fumiya was not held in the prison area. Perhaps his father had some personal business to deal with."

 

"So what now?" came Kouryuu's voice over the line. "Edge is still down and Fumiya's gone. We’re short two people and we don't have a whole lot of energy reserves to go on. I don't even have my swords anymore. They seem to have taken those too, or at least stored them in a different location. What do you suggest we do?"

 

"Isn't it obvious?" smirked the assassin, cracking his knuckles. "Us breaking out is something they probably didn't expect, so Yoshiki's going to have his guard down once we go out there. Refueling our energy won't be much of a problem once we get out of this area, and finding our old equipment will most likely be something easy enough for Clef to track down." There was one thing he hated more than losing, and that was humiliation. And there was nothing more humiliating than being kept in a prison cell like a dog left to die.

"We're going to finish what we came to do in the first place, and I have every intention of making sure Yoshiki remembers who we are by the time we leave."

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

End "Kokoro"