(DeV co. Tower - Cell City)
(Room 234 - Lykana's POV)-------------
"Expect to hear me smashing through star fleets just to meet you again"
Sek's words continued to ring in my head and it disgusted me to the very core.
"What a complete fool!!", engulfed in rage, I threw my bed into a disorganised state.
Memories of us as children flashed across my mind. Useless, sick, pitiful, I hated him and I did so with all my heart.
"You fool!! Why!? Why do you always appear just to make me suffer!?!?", my fists began to bleed as I endlessly struck the wall.
He had taken everything away from me, ever since we rescued him from the Zephain plantation years ago.
"I'm such an idiot", I finally managed to tame the flames, drenching my bed in a dark red colour. "I should've killed him when I had the chance, I'm not the kind that's patient, I'm not the kind that gets held back by emotions."
A final shard from my past stabbed my mind. Taki-Sensei's face, full of happiness and joy whenever he set eyes on that bastard Sek.
"AAHH!! FUCK THIS!!!", with the final extent of my might, I slammed my head against the wall.
All those memories had to die, all those fake smiles, fake waves of laughter... I despised them. I just couldn't take it!
And no matter what I did, no matter how many times I tried .. I'd pull back from hurting him.
Blood oozed from my forehead. This time, the anger had completely died down.
*Ping*
A holographic window opened up before me, displaying a chat interface that was accessible to only important members in the organization.
[Dela: Lykana, are you there?]
I glanced at the name of the sender, then at the message.
"What does she want?", I muttered to myself, staring for what seemed to be minutes before I replied.
[Lykana: Yes, what is it?]
[Dela: Meet me at the Mech section's testing area]
[Dela: There's something I have to tell you]
There was a slight pause as I tried to figure out what she wanted to say. Maybe, she wanted to talk about Nyuitor?
No, she didn't care about him.
[Lykana: Okay, I'll be right there]
[Dela: Perfect]
[Chat closed]
The window disappeared just as it had appeared, leaving me alone once again. In a messed up room, on a blood-red bed and facing a dented wall.
"Shit's getting to me too much", I sighed. "I'll have to make a decision soon."
(Mech Section -Test Zone)
The elevator doors finally opened with a ding sound, revealing the long hallway that stretched far as lights from the holo room reflected through the glass wall on my right, also travelling along with the hallway.
"Hm, they might not be happy to see me here", I thought to myself as I remembered the damaged Unit I had left them since the fight with Unit Xera. "Pfft, I don't give a damn."
I proceeded to walk towards the end of the hallway when suddenly, a mechanical voice resounded and stopped me in my tracks.
"-Holo Test 12 in position-"
"-Activating terrain-"
"-Pilot synchronization complete-"
As I turned to the glass window, a tall mech elevated from the underground hatch.
"Unit Aeros", I muttered as the mech's lights flashed to life and its cable hairs began to snake around. "Dela."
"-Terrain selected-"
The holographic terrain was visible to anyone regardless of whether they're in the room or not. As long as you stood behind the glass barrier that separated the room from the hallway leading to the control room, you could see it. Thus, it was called the observation hallway.
Space began to shift and distort as the energy from the Neo shard reactors charged the holographic room. The shift formed a desolate desert with no signs of life and the scorching sun brightly lit up the entire hallway.
"Heh, she's already taking these experiments", I smirked. "She's not completely healed."
"-Materializing Super S class aliens-"
"-Half colossal grade-"
"What?", my eyebrows casually lifted in surprise. "I've never heard of something like that."
Just then, three flying aliens appeared around Unit Aeros. They were creatures I had never set eyes on, bringing me to the conclusion that they may have been from one of the other three galaxies. I wasn't sure since I had never left the Central galaxy.
During the Human/Celestial migration, all the ships chose to split up. After years of finally setting up, different signals began to connect. Those signals were traced and it was observed that the others had found and colonized their galaxies, already settled.
*BOOM!*
My attention was immediately stolen by the explosion. Sand shot up into the air after the three beetle-like aliens fired an unknown energy sphere at the Unit simultaneously.
The wave from that attack was enough to whip up a mini sandstorm.
"That's some hella power", I whistled.
Carefully, the aliens moved around the spot in specific patterns as they tried to confirm the death of their target, but within the blink of an eye, all three of them were neatly slashed in two by a blurry figure.
"Fast!", sweat ran down the side of my face. "E-Even faster than Unit Yana."
The storm gradually settled, revealing Dela's Unit drenched in green blood as its sharp arm blades shone brightly in the sun.
"-Materializing-"
Another alien was summoned...
"Where's the alien?", there was a brief silence as I quietly observed.
Tension began to build as the silence got deeper and more menacing.
*BOOM!!*
Then all of a sudden, a white fleshy alien blasted upwards from beneath the sand and constricted the mech, rendering it motionless as the creature had a very firm grip on it.
*Screeeeaa*
An ear-blowing shriek reverberated throughout the area as the large sandworm revealed its head, only composing of a huge mouth and sharp teeth that travelled further into its mouth. It loomed above the mech, ready to devour it.
"-Materializing remaining aliens-"
"More!?", I thought to myself. That alien had Dela in its grasp, there was no way she could pull her mech out before she was completely wiped out.
More beetle aliens appeared around Unit Aeros, they were fifteen this time and did not hesitate to begin an energy charge.
"It's over", I grinned sarcastically until...
The scene I was looking at, it reminded me of something... an event that occurred years ago.
"Fuck", I muttered quietly with a frown as I was reminded of my childhood, again.
Unit Aeros was tied, the sandworm wriggled its teeth and the beetles completed their energy spheres.
With perfect accuracy, the aliens attacked at the same time. Thus, throwing an enormous mountain of sand into the air due to the incredible force.
The sand blocked the light of the sun, creating temporary darkness in the hallway where I stood.
I wasn't paying any attention to the battle at that time...
"I fucking hate this", a weak grin formed on my face. "I might as well change the way I'm thinking. What I want is what I'm going to focus on."
Light returned after the sand fell.
I cocked an eyebrow as my eyes were deadlocked with that of a reptile's. Its red eyes frantically moved in all directions until it stopped dead at me.
My eyes darkened with a glare, "What's that?"
The air that existed between the large eye and me came to a stand-still as it never blinked with its gaze.
Both my proton and electron daggers ejected their hilts as I prepared for any kind of attack. Something was off, it seemed to release a feeling of both danger and safety at the same time.
Just then, I blinked only to notice something far from an alien reptile's eye. It was the tip of one of Unit Aeros' hair cables. Blue and green blood coloured its surface, allowing one to understand the current situation.
My daggers retracted, "She killed them all"
The entire area had bodies of aliens mercilessly mutilated and Dela's Unit stood upright with a clear sense of victory.
"-Testing complete-"
*ZZZT!!*
Out of nowhere, Unit Aeros began to shake violently and its body twitched dangerously.
"-Alert! Alert! Alert!-"
"-Reverse mental charge detected-"
"-Auto emergency action initiated-"
Cables then shot out from within the walls and connected themselves into certain ports on the mech.
"-Force shut down-"
Humming noises began to reduce as the huge humanoid robot completely turned off and fell to its knees.
"-Docking-"
The underground hatch opened, taking the mech down into the docking area.
"Tch, it always ends the same way for her", I bit my lips, turning and moving towards the doors at the end of the hallway.
I was just inches away from getting my palm scanned when it opened on its own.
"Dela!?", my eyes widened in shock.
How did she get out so fast?
"Lykana", she smiled. "Don't worry, the reverse charge didn't harm me."
"Oh really?", I pointed to my lips, signalling her to pay attention to hers.
She checked her lips and noticed the stream of blood flowing out of her mouth, immediately wiping it off.
"Thank you", she laughed. "Sometimes these experiments put a huge toll on the body."
At that moment, I felt like giving her a piece of my mind. There was no need for her to go through all that even if she was paying for something she claimed she had done, but I would be doing that in vain since she'd still do it anyway.
"What did you want to talk about?", I looked away.
"Let's talk somewhere else", she still kept a smile on her face, hiding her pain.
"Somewhere else?"
"Yes, it's been long since we visited a nice café in the city"
I blinked while thinking, "The city huh?"
"We won't have any more time soon. Come, let's hurry", she held my hand and pulled me towards the elevator and away from the Mech section.
(Happy dreams Café - Cell City)
Dela led me to a café built on the first floor of a skyscraper called The Eagle's Head. It was one of the top-class buildings that were often visited by the richer people and its luxurious interior proved it. Walls shone with a glamorous glow as they were made from rare minerals and chandeliers radiated a calm light in the area.
We picked a table that was next to the window that faced the western part of the city.
Clouds began to thicken, bringing down gentle rainwater with each droplet reflecting the City lights.
... These things made me uncomfortable.
"D-Dela, isn't this a bit too luxurious?", I couldn't keep my eyes off every single person in the café. My eyes were wide open to anything.
"I probably didn't tell you this but, I belong to an extremely rich family", she smiled nervously. "Also, doesn't it feel better wearing casual clothes instead of the mecha suits all day?"
I wore a black long sleeve crop top, black short jeans and sneakers. To be honest, it might've been quite a while since I last set eyes on the clothes I wore. The skull chain I had around my neck gleamed as it reflected the light.
"Hmm?", I stared at Dela. "I should be the one asking you such a question."
Dela had a red One-shoulder choker sleeve and long blue jeans, she radiated a different aura this time. She didn't bring out killer vibes like she always did.
"Haha, I finally feel free"
Right after, a waitress joyfully walked over to our table with holographic windows surrounding her. The mark on her neck instantly exposed the fact that she was an NTAI, anyone could've gotten confused were it not for that mark.
"Hello and good evening", she spoke in a little voice. "May I please have your TG info?"
TG was the shortened form for Tech gear. Giving one's tech gear info to the NTAI allowed payments to be made quickly and easily while linking it temporarily to the Café's server for automatic serving.
Dela and I gave our tech gear's info to the bot.
"Thank you!", she said cheerfully. "Do enjoy your stay." and then left.
"Now, what did you want to talk about?", I asked the moment she left. That fancy place wasn't making me comfortable since I never was a rich kid anyway.
"Nothing", she calmly replied.
There was a brief silence as the rain sounds kept me from snapping.
"What?"
"There's nothing to talk about", she tapped a few commands on a panel. "I just thought we'd give ourselves a break. Maybe this place is a bit too fancy, the thought just struck me... haha."
"No-No", I rested my cheek on my palm, gazing at the view through the window. "Seems dull without that asshole huh?"
"Are you talking about Nyuitor?", Dela asked as a glass of Xercanade elevated from a slot on the table. "Mm, he shouldn't have ingested the Crimson sword."
Xercanade is a hybrid fruit produced by merging the Xerc and lemon fruits. It gave some kind of sour-sweet tinge and a little tingle that massaged the throat as it travelled down. It's rainbow colours could easily attract anyone... The thing was, it was extremely expensive and could cost about 100,000 Neurus.
I kept silent before finally asking, "Hey Dela, how did you gain such perfect control of the sword?"
Dela hesitated, taking a sip of her Xercanade, "That's classified."
"I thought so", I shrugged.
"You seem different today", she fixed a serious gaze at me. "Are you being bothered by something?"
My eyes turned away from the view and into her sharp eyes, "Is it obvious?"
"I've known you for five years, pretty easy", she closed her eyes.
"Well...", a smirk appeared on my face. "That's classified."
Dela immediately opened her eyes with a decent chuckle, "I see."
"But", I tapped on the panel lying on the table. "Whatever happens from now on, will receive a response that will only serve as a benefit to me."
She responded with silence and simply looked at the city view with admiration.
A simple glass of orange juice zipped up after my order. There was still a longing silence.
"Lykana"
"Yeah?"
"With that kind of resolve, I urge you to know who stands against you and who doesn't"
I raised an eyebrow, "Huh?"
"I'm just hoping that you don't forget humanity", she smiled.
"Hmph", I placed my head on the window and thought, "You aren't one to tell me that."
The rain got harder, locking me in its realm and forcing my eyes to shut tight as my ears listened to its graceful shouts and whispers.
Until... I drifted off.