Cold rain dispersed from the grey clouds above, cleansing the crumbling buildings, displaced highways, and uprooted soil. In a previously overcrowded island city, everything was abandoned. The sound of rain beating against the staggered concrete now stood in the place of car horns. Faint hints of red were washed away as the hollow atmosphere fogged the area.
A Division-A flag, torn, flew with the breeze. The silver pole wobbled and swayed back and forth. The Grand Hall's roof of which the flag pole was erected upon was reduced to shambles, nothing but a shell of its former self. The collapsed dome exposed the mess of the inside; tables were flipped over, papers were scattered, and bodies graced the decaying floors here and there. Paintings were ripped from the walls, lights were broken, walls had collapsed.
Traveling down an expansive stairwell was the damaged remains of a sprawling corridor, the doors of each room bent out of shape and ripped off the hinges. Following through a door on the far left was a long rope, knotted every few feet, that dangled beside a broken steel staircase. A bright rectangular light reflected on the damp concrete floor, leading the eye to the cracked open door of a utility closet.
Makina stared at her reflection in the cracked mirror leaning against the wall. Her eyes glowed back at her. She broke eye contact with herself and brought her attention to the Omega uniform folded over her crossed arms, noticing the blood stains and tears in its fabric. The very thought of the uniform appalled her, and she threw it to the side. Her body twisted around and Makina slid down the side of the mirror, hiding her anguished face from the world as she whimpered.
She looked down, staring at her cold, fake body. Her feet, her thighs, her stomach, breasts, neck, and heart were all artificial… everything was fake but what had just happened a few weeks before. Her very being was carefully constructed by her superiors to enhance the ordinary aspects of her human self, the human self that has been long gone. Even in this superhuman state, she still failed. She failed to keep the city safe, failed to keep their leader safe, failed to keep Akino safe, and failed her promise to her late captain. She let her guard down, she got comfortable, she trusted- and that's what led to this predicament.
Hideyo sat in the other room, her body pushed up against the cold concrete walls. Her toes curled around the tapestry spread over the table she sat on. She sighed, grabbing the pillow to her right and holding it to her chest. Hideyo's eyes slowly trailed off, observing the rest of the empty closet transformed into a group bedroom. The area was bleak, a single light bulb swaying back and forth from the center of the ceiling.
Hideyo lifted her foot up, noticing the floor's grime got to her foot and now stained the tapestry. Touching the arch of her foot, Hideyo winced, her soles still sore from the weeks before. The table creaked as she adjusted her posture, positioning the pillow against the wall and laying her head on it. "I'm pathetic…"
The sound of her flip-flops squeaked as Yukino walked down the Grand Hall corridor. The wooden beams that used to support the archway had nothing to support, now allowing the rain to fall through and color the red carpet a darker shade of itself. Yukino's hair was flattened by the rain, but she kept her normal pace, thinking of it as a free shower. She smiled to herself, reminded of the time Akino forgot his umbrella after school. He'd always forget his umbrella, and it was always Yukino's job to prepare for that.
She carried a crate of waters from the supermarket a few blocks away, planning to bring it downstairs for the group. Climbing up a pile of debris that stood in her way, she noticed Miki on the other side. He climbed up, meeting her at the top and taking the crate from her.
"Was this all there was?" He asked, noticing the light weight of the wooden box.
She nodded, taking his hand as he helped her down. "There was none at the gas station nearby, so I had to walk to the supermarket by the park."
"What?!" Miki's mouth dropped. "Yukino, don't do that! If you're going to go that far, make sure you bring me or Asuka with you!"
The couple turned the hallway, walking down the dismantled stairwell down to the next corridor. "I know," she said, "but… I still didn't see any of them."
"People or…?"
"Neither, there's nobody around. Hideyo was right, the Capitol has been deserted," Yukino pointed out, her voice low and drained of emotion. "But its evident that people are still alive out there somewhere, because they're taking all of our supplies. They're just hiding from us."
"I can't put it past them…," Miki admitted, his voice trailing off.
They approached the basement of the Grand Hall. As Yukino and Miki were scooting alongside the wall towards the rope, Miki saw Asuka and Kiku waiting at the bottom for them. Kiku had her arms outstretched, prompting Miki to drop the crate into her arms. Yukino became climbing down with her boyfriend following after.
"Did you find anything, Yukino?" Asuka asked, eagerly awaiting an answer.
"Yeah," she stated. Yukino pulled the clip out of her ponytail, letting her white and pink hair fall to her shoulders before she twisted it, wringing it out. "I found those waters, that's it. There was some food left over at the supermarket but it wasn't any good."
"D-do you think they have any food in the other districts?" Kiku asked, optimistic but doubtful.
Asuka lowered her head, her red locks draping over her depressed face. "They're probably all the same. The Compactors must have killed everyone they could find here, so they're moving onto the next districts."
"Well, in that case, the other Omegas should have killed them by now, right?" Miki asked, a sense of hope lingering in his stomach.
"I'm afraid not," Asuka said. "If that was the case, people would've been rushing into the Capitol to save us by now. It's been three weeks and nobody has came… the only Omegas I've seen around here were dead."
The four started walking towards the utility closet, continuing their conversation as they met up with the others.
"You know, I had hope at first," Yukino began. "I thought you guys were immortal and that this was all going to just… fix itself. That's far from the truth, I guess." She opened her hand, looking at her hair clip. "My little sister got me this. Well, she stole it, actually… from a classmate of hers. After the adrenaline wore off and she didn't want it anymore, she was too afraid to be caught with it and get in trouble… so she lied and said she got it for me from some silly gift shop on our way from school. When mom found out, she was furious." She stopped, looking up with wide eyes then shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm rambling like this."
Miki stared at her, sorrow pulling heavy at his heart with the knowledge that she still hadn't moved on. One event after another, piling up on top of them, suffocating them. Yukino's eyes were dull, drained of color and life. It wasn't the first time that had happened. Miki turned his head in an attempt to distract himself and opened the doors for the girls to walk in. Yukino smiled at Hideyo as she walked in, noticing her less than happy face.
"Where did Sakagami and Makina go?" Asuka asked, looking around.
"Sakagami went to check out the generator," Hideyo answered, flipping over on her side. "I don't know where Makina went…"
Kiku pulled the strings on her hoodie, tightening the hood around her face. She puffed her cheeks, her eyes locked on the floor. Her cheeks got red, hesitant to bring up the conversation. "H-Have we made a plan yet?"
Hideyo squinted her eyes, rubbing her forehead. "No… we haven't. Makina doesn't want to."
"What? What do you mean she doesn't want to?" Miki said, his voice raised. "Doesn't she want to save him? It's already been like a month!"
The humming of the room stopped and the lights flickered on and off, making it evident that Sakagami had rebooted the generator. The building started ringing and the single PC in the corner of the room powered back on.
"Why are we waiting for her?" Miki continued. "We don't need Makina to go out there and find him! We have you, Hideyo, and Asuka and Kiku…"
Hideyo pushed herself off the bed and sat upright. "If we go to rescue Akino, if he's even alive, then Matoi will probably be there with him. None of us can go against her, not me, not even other Omegas. The only one on Matoi's level is Makina."
"You guys trained with her," Miki pointed out. "Are you saying you aren't trained the same?!"
"We are," Asuka said, "but… not only are they competing for the top rank… but they both activated their second stages."
"Then if that's true, Matoi can die and we can get Akino back no problem," he responded.
"It isn't that simple." Hideyo jumped down from the table and grabbed a coat hanging from the door. "She's too powerful for us to go against her now. It'd take an entire squad to even stand a chance against Matoi at her current state. The only one who's strong enough to kill Matoi is Makina."
A whimper escaped Yukino's lips. The group turned to her, noticing the teenager wiping the tears off her cheeks. She bit her lip, muffling her crying as she hid her face in Miki's chest. He wrapped his arms around her and patted her head as she held him. She wiped her face on his shirt and stepped back, catching her breath.
"She promised…," Yukino started, "…she promised that there would be no secrets… no lies." She wiped another tear away. "I just can't understand why she'd… why she did this. I've known Matoi for five years and it seems like she's done nothing but lie and keep things between us. B-but I never thought… I never thought she'd do this. Now the Royal Ambassador is dead and…"
Hideyo flinched, reminded of the haunting memory.
"I don't think that any of us could have expected this from her," Sakagami said as she walked into the closet. "I trusted that girl with my son. I'll never forgive her. Frankly… I can't even wrap my head around this; it's all like a nightmare right now. Not once did I imagine myself having to scour for resources through the remains of my hometown, and without my son, nonetheless."
"It came out of nowhere," Yukino mumbled through her sniffles. "Why would she…?"
Hideyo focused her gaze to her feet, burdened by the knowledge she's kept from the others. Her breathing pattern sped, knowing well that her temptation to spill the secrets of this city were growing stronger, and Hetsu wasn't there to stop her. "Matoi… must've figured it out..."
Kiku lifted her head, looking up at Hideyo. "Figured what out?"
Hideyo looked back at her, her face full of regret and worry. Before she could speak however, Makina walked into the room. Her face was bruised and her long purple hair was disheveled. Her tank top was dirty and her jacket had been torn. She walked through the group of people at the doorway and to the other side of the wall, taking her jacket and shirt off.
"Makina, you look awful."
"What are you doing, where have you been?"
Makina bent over and picked up a clean button-up shirt. "I've been outside, walking around," she explained as she slid her arms through the sleeves. "I saw a Compactor a few miles from here, so I'm going back out." She paused, buttoning up her shirt. "Where's Kaminari?"
"Wait, you saw one?" Kiku asked, eyes wide in disbelief.
Makina started looking around the room, moving chairs and peaking under tables for her weapon. "Yeah, I did. I'm killing it before it finds us."
"You don't plan on killing it in that outfit, do you, Captain?" Asuka stepped forward, concerned.
"I'm not putting that damn uniform back on." Makina declared in a lifeless tone as headed towards the door.
Miki grabbed Makina's arm and clenched his fist around it, putting all his force into his hold. Makina glanced over her shoulder, her eyes just as lifeless as her speech. Miki stared back at her, his face anguished and eager for her to stay. Despite his attempts, Makina yanked her arm away and continued out the door.
Makina walked across the street, paying to attention to the destruction around her. Rain trickled down her dead face as she stared into oblivion. The rumbling of a nearby Compactor rattled in the distance, clueing Makina in as to where it was heading. Standing before her was the remnants of a tall office building, its entire right side torn from its left and piled beside it.
'This entire time, I thought I was fighting the right devil,' Makina told herself as she climbed up the building's stairs. 'The devils that killed my family, my town… the devils that forced me into a life a war… served as nothing but a distraction to me. He always obsessed about his night terrors, even going so far as to make a fucking diary out of them… I read it, why didn't I listen? I was so afraid of change, so quick to fix this world, that I neglected what dangers were right in front of me. He wrote about a betrayal… but… Matoi? After all this time, I thought she finally had her heart set on something. Turns out, you were just as indecisive as always, Matoi.'
Makina reached the roof of the office building and walked up to the edge of the crumbling concrete, looking out at the decimated city-scape. Smog drifted along the streets, buildings were caved in with a Compactor's footprint, half-decayed bodies were left laying around, rodents ripping them apart. In the distance was a single Compactor walking aimlessly out of a long cloud of smog.
"Stupid beast… there's no people out here… your friend killed them already. The only humans left… are underground." She stared at it longer, her thoughts getting away from her. "Let me guess, you ate everyone in the other districts, didn't you? …Can you tell me something…? Did my comrades at least fight back? Were they able to kill… just a few of you?"
The Compactor continued stomping through the Capitol, providing no ease to Makina's gruesome speculations. Makina's body began to shake. Her legs collapsed beneath her and she fell to her knees, kneeling over herself and holding her tight chest. A tear rolled down her face and landed on the cold concrete beside the rain, dying it a darker shade of gray.
"D-did you see Akino out there? Was there anybody… out there?" She said through her tears. Makina lifted her head and extended her neck, screaming out into the monochrome sky. Her voice cracked with her gasps of air. Her throat became dry and scratched as she continued to yell her frustrations. Her screams were reduced to whimpers as she pushed her forehead against the floor. "That bitch… why?! Were you who we saw in the North Districts… you never had family… you always tried to pin your shit on me… that writing in his diary, on his house… you never killed that many Compactors… is that why you switched bodies so damn often… you were planning on betraying us… were you always a traitor?"
Makina busted through the doors, Compactor blood covering her body. The group all paused their discussion and turned to her, shocked. She leaned against the doorframe, panting with a determined look on her face. Her knuckles were bruised, still trying to heal.
"Did you…," Yukino mumbled, "…fight that Compactor with your bare hands?"
Sakagami immediately jumped up from the desk and reached for the bandages on the shelf next to her. She rushed over to Makina and grabbed her hand, wrapping the fabric around it. "Are you insane?! You have to be careful now, Makina! Don't be so reckless."
"Matoi was a traitor from the start," Makina stated blatantly. "She always planned on betraying Division-A."
"That's not true," Yukino denied, clenching her heart. "Matoi was our friend! Something happened that made her do this!"
Asuka crossed her arms. "What happened to her failed promise to you? Sudden change of heart?" She sighed, realizing she was coming on too strong. "I know she was a friend to you, but… a decision like this wouldn't be made on a whim. Go on, Makina."
"When Matoi and I first met as Omegas, she was reserved. She detached herself from the system completely and a few weeks later got the reversal surgery. She never liked Omegas or what we stood for, especially me in particular. And yet, she decided to become one again anyway. My theory is that Matoi tried to gain some kind of information on us by infiltrating the Grand Hall as an Omega, but dropped out when that wasn't going the way she wanted it to. Then, that led her to Akino, who at this point already had connections with us."
"That doesn't make any sense, Matoi was always friends with Akino and us, ever since she moved here." Miki leaned forward, pointing out a potential flaw in Makina's hypothesis.
"Where exactly did she come from? She clearly stated she didn't have a family to go back to at the festival," Makina answered. "Once Akino became useful to her, to us, she took advantage of that. My guess is that Akino either knows something he isn't aware of, or that he's some piece of some larger puzzle and Matoi knows exactly where to put him." She straightened her back and walked closer to them, getting more persistent. "The writings in Akino's journal that he swore weren't his, the graffiti on his house that wrote 'remember,' that very well could've been Matoi!"
Kiku looked at her older sister, who stood stiff against a wall with her arms crossed. Her face looked pained, her lips bit in an effort to restrain herself. Kiku grabbed Asuka's hand and asked, "what's the matter?"
Asuka closed her eyes, not willing to accept the realization she just came to. "On one of our missions, my squad came across one of our busses full of dead Omegas. Beside the bodies was… a Compactor flag."
Yukino's stomach sank and she scooted back, inching closer to Miki. "No way, do you think…?"
"It's true," Hideyo confessed. "There's evidence of people working in alliance with Compactors. Judging by the timing of the Compactor attack at the conference, I'd think Matoi would be one of those people. …That person you kept seeing in your hometown, do you think that could be her also?"
"It's possible," Makina speculated, "but I'm not sure."
"Who's to say that Matoi is the only one out there who is secretly conspiring against us? If there's one, there has to be another," Kiku elaborated, making Hideyo notably anxious.
"Either way, our goal still stays the same," Makina continued. "Akino is definitely alive out there, and if we don't take him back, then he very well could be Matoi's advantage against this city."
"There's just one problem," Kiku added on, gesturing towards Yukino, Miki, and Sakagami, "they don't stand a chance out there. If we spend our effort trying to protect them, it could have bad effects on our mission, right?"
"I refuse to sit idly by and let my son be used to lead his friends to their death," Sakagami stated. "I don't care what lengths I have to go through, I will get Akino back; I'll learn to fight for myself. If anyone knows where Akino would be, it would be his mother." The blonde directed her sights towards Yukino and Miki. "I hope you two feel the same way."
Miki looked back at her, his gold brown eyes burning with passion. "I wasn't able to save my mom, I'll make sure I'll save Akino."
"I'm going, too." Yukino said, tightening the clip in her ponytail. "My family will have to wait, I'm not going to meet them just yet… especially not if I have anything to say about it."
Hideyo noticed Makina's eyes, their color slowly returning. Her pupils started to dilate, the colors of the scleras slowly getting inverted as per Stage Two protocol. Hideyo shot her a glare and asked, "when the time comes… are you ready to kill Matoi?"
Makina continued staring into the wall, which had an 'A' engraved on it. Her pupils were now white, her scleras red. With a pissed, determined face and raspy voice, she said, "I am."