Darkness It was dark again by the time Rin, Aura, Kailin, Angel and the others arrived. Dr. Kamaguchi looked delighted to see the additions, and filled out nearly every room, placing Ferret with the Ronin (as they requested) and Snowblood in Lyn's room. Lyn actually took a liking to Snowblood, perhaps because they were both a little antisocial and independent, so it wasn't as if the arrangement was bad. Ferret herself loved the living arrangement and set about acquainting herself with her friends, both of which were very much alive. She began exercising odd traits once settled in, though, such as dressing and undressing in confined spaces and refusing to swim or bathe with anyone else, but otherwise her cheerful demeanor and friendliness was welcome. She even managed to get through to Joyce and Sarah, although those two spent most of their time with each other. Since they roomed together, along with Alisti and Skye, it made sense that they would grow close. They were almost the same age, just a few months apart, and could relate to each other in terms of their painful experience. Joyce soon opened up to her new friend, as she had opened up to Aura, but also told her secrets that nobody else knew. She did not reveal anything about her power, not until witnessing Sarah's first. She noticed a gorgeous butterfly perched on the young lady's head, giving her an otherworldly look, and gasped in awe. "Her name is Kari," Sarah explained. "Except for my brother, she was my only friend growing up. When we were born, my brother and I fell under the power of the kikai, the destructive bugs. They are tools that require our bodily energy to operate; in turn, we were blessed with their aide. I was given mastery over insects; my brother's power was weaker, but broader in aspect. He could control animals as well." "So that was him," murmured Joyce sadly. Sarah nodded. "I'm really sorry, Sarah. If I had known..." "There was no way you could have," she assured her. "And...even though I still hate that woman for what she did, I suppose I should be glad that Akio never killed anybody. Hey, guess what! I'm going to make her my servant! She's going to take care of me for as long as I want!" She and Joyce giggled—Jameson wasn't that fond of G-Force either, despite the older woman's efforts at friendship. They scooted closer to each other and smiled, two girls with dreadful powers coming to terms with each other. "So what about you?" whispered Sarah, slipping her hand inside Joyce's. "I heard you were partially responsible for stopping that guy, Suo or whatever he was called." "...Yeah," she croaked, lowering her face. "I used my power. I didn't want him to kill Rin, but I didn't want to destroy him either. I don't know why I even have this stupid power! Was it because mom and dad died before I was even born? Is it because God hates me? Am I a devil, or am I possessed? I don't know!" "What is it exactly?" said Sarah, "If you don't mind my asking." Joyce whimpered and looked away, too frightened of herself and her abilities to say. But she liked Sarah, she trusted her, so maybe... "If I tell you, you'll just be afraid." "You're not afraid of my power, why should I be afraid of yours?" Jameson smiled weakly. "Cuz' it's scarier." Sarah giggled softly, squeezed Joyce's hand, and leaned in to show her support. Jameson finally sighed and gave in, "But you have to promise not to tell anyone, okay?" "All right. I won't." Sigh. Joyce stared directly into the Butterfly's silvery eyes. "If I concentrate hard enough...I can make people afraid. My power shows them their absolute worst fear, and makes it as if it's real. It then magnifies it to an unbearable degree, until their mind is destroyed from the load. Nobody can handle that much terror for long, not even scary people. And everybody has something they're mortally afraid of." "...That's it?" whispered Sarah, who had to admit that it was a scary power. Joyce nodded. "Yeah, that's it. It works on everybody too—a psychological attack that has no defense, and I can do it on whoever I choose. I think Dr. Kamaguchi calls it a...telekinetic ability, or more like a phobia-kinetic ability. She said that she could help me treat it, but I don't like her." Sarah was still in shock from hearing about the dreadful skill, but she managed to smile and keep her grip on Joyce's cold hand. "Yeah, me neither." The two girls giggled—then, as if it were nothing at all, Sarah changed the subject and asked Joyce what her favorite things in the world were. Seeing that her new friend really did accept her for what she was, not calling her a monster or a freak of genetic mutation (she had overheard Yohko herself saying that), Joyce opened herself up even more and talked up a storm. ......... Sometime later that day, close to the evening, a strange visitor came to the gates of the building, claiming to be a refugee from one of the places that had been hit by the Dead Zodiac. He stumbled through the door and was quickly aided by the receptionist, while Sally rushed ahead and prepared a place in the clinic. The man, who gave his name as Darred, had been attacked while he left his town, and attacked again while at sea. Most of his fellow refugees had been killed or imprisoned, leaving him fortunate enough to escape. He only stayed in the clinic long enough to regain his senses, and asked to be sent to the leader's quarters. Dr. Kamaguchi was off on a business call, and all the high-level associates were also away, but Aura was more than happy to accompany Darred. She brought him into the kitchen and gave him some soup, then sat back and listened as he revealed some very valuable information concerning their enemies. The remaining members of the Dead Zodiac had built a secret warehouse somewhere in the country, and it had been stocked full of modern weapons, including very powerful and volatile explosives. Darred and his crew had stumbled across it, and paid for it with their lives. "If your friends can capture or destroy this warehouse, they'll have an advantage for when the enemy mounts their next attack, they will," he said. "The Dead Zodiac will be crippled and you will have secured yourselves a strong foothold. Miss Valeria, I wanna repay you and your friends for taking me in like this. Let me guide you to this warehouse, and see to it that its contents are ransacked and its walls burned to the ground." "I will consider what you have said," she replied thoughtfully. "Stealing the enemy's weapons is a dangerous thing to do, and we have very few people here who could operate such things. I would rather destroy the weapons and the warehouse at the same time, so as to not allow anything to slip into the enemy's hands. Would you not think so?" "If it's your decision," he shrugged. She nodded her head. "We're grateful to you for this piece of information. We should probably set out there today. I will take some people along with me to oversee this. Be prepared in one hour." "Um, ducky, how do you expect to slip into the country so quickly? It's quite a distance, it is, very far away. Unless you got some teleporters or somethin', you're in for quite a stroll." She gave him a confident smile, and led him outside into the main hallway, down the stairs and into the commissary. "Don't worry about that. We have ways of getting around. All you need to do is prepare and make sure we get there. I will take any opportunity to set the enemy back, if I can." "Very well. Good day." Darred smiled and watched as Aura jogged ahead of him, apparently already knowing who to take with her. He bit his lip and hoped that the plan would work; his enemies needed to pay for what they did. ...... Marissa Wainright took a breather midway up the trail, her knapsack weighing her down and her small team of travelers somewhat weary from the climb. It had been her idea to take them all exercising, hoping to get a few hours' worth of muscle and stamina into their bodies before things started to heat up. It was a welcome change working with Alisti, Merry, Julie, and Amielle again, even though most of them were out of shape. "What a view!" exclaimed Merry happily as she stood proud and tall on a cliff the trail led into. The pink-haired woman wasn't fond of heights, but even she knew she was safe on that dusty path. She stood a healthy distance away from the edge and smiled broadly as she viewed the entire surrounding land and parts of the city. The MERCS headquarters was like the connection point between civilization and the wild, standing out as a glint of pale gray and blue against the green and brown of the land. The hubbub of the city, far off in the distance, added a musical echo to the scene. Alisti smiled and wheeled next to her. PRETTY. ALSO...TEMPORARY. LEAVING...SOON. "Not that soon," argued Amielle, crossing her arms to join them. "We've got lots of work to do before we can put our backs to this place." "You're using an awful lot of plural words," remarked Marissa wittily. Amielle returned her smirk. "Well, I changed when I was away from you all. I think it was because I wasn't anywhere near you stinking girls." Merry bellowed and grabbed the younger girl in a headlock before she could fight back. "Aw, c'mon, you like us!!" "L...let go, you big oaf!" She wrestled free and stumbled to the side, preferring the company of loneliness. Merry just chuckled, content to look at the landscape before them. Julie, looking bored, yawned. "We moving on or we stopping forever?" "Hold your horses, kid," grunted Merry; "let's see if we can't have a light snack first." She and the others set down their packs and dug into them, searching for their canteens. They each popped one out and swished their mouths with the water, then split their lunches, Marissa having to feed Alisti. Celestino loosened her limbs and secretly wondered how many years more they would serve her. Despite being a child of shadows and darkness, she knew she wouldn't last forever. She just couldn't. It wasn't right. "I guess we can rest for a few seconds, then," she stated flatly as she ate. The group would refresh themselves and have a brief snack, and then— Suddenly, Marissa shrieked as a fiery pain blasted her. The psychic powers she had been cursed with at birth were acting up violently. "AAH!!!" She clutched her head and plummeted to the floor, overwhelmed by the sudden surge that had snapped at her. The others crowded around her instantly, wondering if she was okay or not. Marissa took in a deep, slow, hissing breath, grimacing from the sudden pain. What was that? "Hey, Wainright! Are you okay?" "I dunno, Amielle," she cringed. "It feels like my head is on fire! I wonder if something's wrong with—" And then it hit her. Aura! Something bad was going to happen! "Oh my god! I've got to go! Everyone, run down the path as fast as you can and get to the base! We have to stop Aura from leaving!" "But what—" "Just do it!!" She couldn't help snarling at his crew; Marissa was frightened and desperate. She quickly sprinted down the trail with everything she had in her, gaining breakneck momentum the closer she came to the beginning. The girl nearly slipped and tumbled several times, and in fact did crash once as her speed was too great to contain. Dust and pebbles spewed down after her, pelting her as she rolled down the mountain like an unstoppable human snowball. Wainright scraped her hands and knees as she desperately tried to stop, and jogged down the rest of the mountain at a slower pace. The others were far behind. Even with her increased speed to aid her, Marissa nearly burst her lungs and heart from so much intense activity, not to mention the minor damage she was putting on her new body. The feeling she had gotten was more intense than any pain she had felt, though—she knew her friend would be in danger. Her psychic powers, damned though they were, never lied: it smelled deception and great peril. She gritted her teeth as hard as she could and broke out into a ferocious sprint once she was on level ground, covering a great distance but still not arriving at the base. She finally collapsed far on the outskirts of the territory, too exhausted to even crawl. Her harsh, struggling breath caught the attention of Mora, who was busy with her exercises. "By the spirits!" she gasped, seeing Marissa sprawled on the floor. "What happened?!" The younger girl used up the last bit of strength she had to shout at her. "GET ME TO A TRANSPORT, NOW!!" Cobra didn't ask questions as she saw the intensity of Wainright's eyes, and picked her up in her arms. She stirred herself to a speed she had never known before, racing faster than the wind as she carried her laboring ally towards the base, and nearly broke through the front doors. Marissa recovered somewhat during the journey, and tumbled inside just to see Yohko close the garage door, something she always did after somebody borrowed one of her transports. She was too late. "Doc! Where did Aura go?!" "Oh, uh, hi Riss! What are you—" "I don't have time for this, Doc!" she blurted angrily. "Where did you send my friend?!" "Oh, goodness! Um, um, um, um..." The poor woman stuttered for a second as all thought left her, and just before Marissa grabbed her in anger, she remembered. "Oh yes! She said something about wanting to go to the other side of the city to destroy this warehouse! She took Miss Kailin and Miss Shou with her. Did you want to go with her?" "More than anything, Doc. Hurry, she's in grave danger!" "Oh, goodness! Well, I don't know if I have any reliable transports left..." "Yohko, please!!" she screamed, her wild violet eyes begging furiously. The poor woman jumped, and without a word, she quickly yanked open the garage door and rushed to the nearest transport, a beaten-up van. Sanaa, who had strolled by the area and stopped to see what the commotion was, approached her love. "Hey, Wainright, you look terrible." "Aura's in serious danger!" she spat, still trying to catch her breath. Sanaa recoiled as she saw the intensity in her lover's eyes and voice, and understood immediately. "Then I'm coming along, wherever you're going." "Whatever you want." Sanaa found herself becoming hollow as Marissa leaned on his knees, impatiently waiting for Yohko to start the car. She knew that Marissa had few friends, but she valued every single one with a priceless love, so she could understand why her lover was so upset. She placed her hand on Marissa's shoulder and attempted to smile. "No matter what happens there, Marissa, I'm with you all the way." She smiled, and stood up to her full height just as the van roared to life at last. Yohko declined to come, saying she would just get in the way, but wished them luck. Both women gave her a haunting stare—a grim choice of words, it was—but got in and drove away as fast as the vehicle could go. An hour later, the foursome Marissa left behind at the trail came in, breathing hard and asking questions. Instead of being overwhelmed by all their voices yammering at once, Yohko sent them away and shut herself up in her room, plopping down on the floor to recover herself. What a day! ......... Aura, Xianq, Kailin, and Darred arrived at the outskirts of the city, near the aforementioned warehouse. While Aura had her Vespa, she wanted to take a larger vehicle, and since she had asked Dr. Kamaguchi first, Yohko (or rather, Xianq) had loaned her the Diva's special jet-car, the one they had custom-made to help them go places quickly. Darred seemed amazed that such speed could be achieved, and was stone still for a second as he absorbed it all. Meanwhile, Xianq and Kailin looked around to see if they could find the secret weapons warehouse. "Obviously, it wouldn't be out in the open," surmised Bubblegum Black. "Sir, you said you came across it. Where is it?" "I stumbled across it somewhere over here, near this blasted area. Bit of a war went on; that's why me chums and I had to leave. Mind the mess." Darred led the trio into the ruins, across fields of ash and rock where smoke had long ago ceased to rise. Bodies had been buried, and even a few memorials had been erected for those lost in the blaze. Hidden behind the waste, easily camouflaged by foliage and the rocky surroundings, was a large warehouse that never would've been noticed unless somebody knew where it was. Aura, Kailin, and even Xianq looked on in amazement. "After we was attacked, me crew thought that this would be the last place anybody would look for us," explained Darred. "We came here in hopes of evading the Zodiac and police, and noticed the storage center. We looked inside out of curiosity, and found...rows and rows of guns, explosives, weapons, you name it. It was terrible, it was, all traumatizin' and what. We left it and vowed to tell someone of this place, but many from me group was caught or killed. I was the only one to escape. Terrible experience, guv!" "Goodness, that's quite a story!" exclaimed Kailin. "So this place wasn't guarded, right?" "Aye. The recent turmoil in the city has caused all but a skeleton crew to withdraw. Now would be the perfect time to plunder its riches and destroy this place." "We should concentrate on destroying it, rather," countered Aura. "Suppose these weapons fell into the hands of our enemy after we confiscated them. That would be disastrous. I'd rather have them destroyed and out of our minds." "I understand, luv. Let me show you inside." Darred quietly led Aura, Xianq, and Kailin towards the warehouse, apparently not worried that he would be spotted. In the very back of their minds, something bothered them about the man's story and how coincidental everything seemed at the time. It was a strange feeling they couldn't quite place, and even when they tried, they just ended up countering it all with reason. Their suspicion was baseless. Darred showed the trio to the very front door, and since Aura had opted to blow the entire place sky-high, he pulled out several sticks of powerful dynamite, "Of which I had stolen from the bloody creeps," he explained, and boasted of their explosive capabilities. He gave a handful to Aura and some to Xianq, and kept the rest for himself. Naturally, Kailin wasn't even allowed to touch one. "Very good," he said once they were dispersed. "All things seem proper! Now, Miss Shou, I want you to set those explosives all around the buildin'. Use'm all up. That's good." Xianq blinked her cloudy eyes in confusion, but did as she was asked. Darred continued, "Now—I'm gonna open this door. Miss Valeria and I do not require your help, so please step back. Go on, go on. Now, once we're both inside, you, miss Kailin—set a fire to these explosives, the ones I got and the ones around, then close this door and go back to your home." Kailin rubbed her eyes, trying to clear her thoughts, but there didn't seem to be anything worth clearing. She slowly lurched away from the door, Xianq at her side. Darred grinned eagerly. Several things happened all at once just then. First, Kailin shot a tiny fireball to the explosives, just barely touching the fuse with her flame. Second, Marissa Wainright and Sanaa came rumbling out of the distance and flew from their vehicle, not even bothering to stop it. They landed right in between Kailin and Xianq, noticing Darred carrying an entire sack of explosives, and Aura standing next to him in a daze. Marissa's head burned considerably, but her pain was cleansing and pure, as the Truth of the situation finally came to her mind. Marissa Wainright, unaffected by lies and deceit, saw through the treachery of Darred the Numb-Mind, one of the Dead Zodiac, and it was too late. Darred grinned cruelly, his ordinary appearance betraying the sinister powers locked inside of him, and thrust himself and Aura inside the warehouse, just as the fire closed in on the dynamite. Marissa screamed for her friend, willing her mind to spread its powers over the entire area. Xianq, Sanaa, and Kailin were instantly cleansed of confusion and saw Darred's scheme for what it was; Aura saw too, but was too petrified to do anything. As Marissa sprinted after the duo, they sunk deeper into the warehouse, Darred laughing and Aura screaming for her friend. The door shut—boom—and the fires sunk into the deadly sticks of trinitrotoluene. Not even the psychic Marissa had time to react as the entire building burned up in a massive conflagration. Her reflexes enabled him to use a mental shield to protect her body as she ducked down and dodged the brunt of the blast, but the sheer power of the great explosion sent her flying backwards. Wainright rolled and tumbled in the dirt, her whole body black with soot and part of it red from burns. She kept rolling despite the small injuries, and kept her shield around her, hoping its thick design would protect her from the holocaust. She stumbled past Xianq, Sanaa, and Kailin, who caught her as she came by. An immense fireball shot out into the sky, turning the air dark and the world into orange heat. The warehouse, and anything inside of it, was gone. Marissa Wainright, badly burnt and bruised, sat there in a numb stupor as she watched the remains of the warehouse burn up. The only thing she could do was scream. "NO!!!!! AAAAAAAAAUUUUURRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAUUUUUURRRRRRRRRAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOO!!!!!!" As falling chunks of debris and flame fell down from the sky, Marissa crumbled into a defeated ball, every bit of strength and will in her body sapped utterly. She screamed and wailed as a piece of her own self, her own soul, was ripped apart from her and sent into the very fires of Hell. Xianq and Kailin stood gawking at what they had seen; beneath them, Marissa covered her head with her arms and fell to the floor, where Sanaa came to her and held her as tenderly as she could, her own body shaken. The fires continued to burn and the smoke rose higher up into the air, until it clouded the area in dreadful darkness.
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