Ryuma, covered in a worn-out brown cloak that danced according to the rhythm of the warm summer breeze, stood in front of the towering gates of Shibuya base. His expression was cold, his eyes sharp and glued to the Rangers stationed at the gate.
They stood speechless with their mouths wide open in surprise, terror screaming out of them as they took note of the two beings standing behind Ryuma: Nera and Anix.
The emergency alarm echoed loudly throughout the base, loud enough for Ryuma and the rest who were on the other side of the base to hear. Now it was clear that at any moment, Rangers would be trooping out of the gate for their lives.
Ryuma raised his hand slowly towards the gate in front of him. His cloak danced roughly as the dry breeze intensified.
"Remember the plan?" Ryuma asked, his voice cold.
"Yes, Master!" Anix and Nera replied together, taking a fighting stance.
"Don't fail me."
Ryuma exhaled softly, and suddenly, a line appeared on the gate. With a loud boom, the mighty Shibuya gate, which had stood for four years now, shattered into pieces.
***
Twenty-four hours earlier
"What the hell did you do to me, Nera? Where did you take me? That's right, the Supreme Commander—where is he? I have to save him, I have to—"
"Stay calm, Hybrid!"
Nera's voice thundered for the first time. Ryuma was covered in sweat, his eyes red, his limbs shaking violently, and his breath ragged.
"Stay calm, Ryuma," Nera repeated, drawing closer to Ryuma. She bent down on her knees but was still greater in height, given her gigantic look.
Ryuma raised his head, looking at Nera's face. Tears clogged beneath his red eyes, his brows squeezed together, and his mouth folded.
"Why?"
That was the only word he could muster from his dried-up throat.
"I did what I had to do. I was afraid you wouldn't believe me even if I told you, so I had to show you. Thankfully, you believed me."
"You haven't answered my damn question, Nera! Why? Why Earth?!" Ryuma asked, this time his tone stable.
"That, I have no correct answer to. But if I may suggest one, I think it's because it was the closest planet with life. Ryuma, now you've seen it all, you know I'm not the enemy. We have one collective enemy. We should join hands together and take it down before it achieves its goal—"
"You'll save Saiya. Can you save her?" Ryuma asked.
Nera stood up on her feet, turned, and nodded at Nero, who had been in the shadows all this time. He walked up to Ryuma and placed his hand on the cuff. It clicked and opened, releasing Ryuma from its grasp.
"Our technology is far more advanced. We can cure her. But I want you to give me your word. Will you join hands to stop this coming terror?"
The cuff dropped to the ground as Ryuma stood up slowly. He turned his head slightly, looking at Nero. Two tentacles that formed thin threads shot out from his back and decapitated Nero in an instant, his head falling into Ryuma's hand.
"I wish I could kill you, but I know who you are and your role, so your death will be prolonged."
"He is important, and I wouldn't want you to kill him either."
"I don't take orders from you."
"I wasn't expecting you to. Please, let's focus on the mission ahead of us."
Nera walked toward the dead computer and pressed a button, prompting it to turn on, its bright blue light illuminating the environment and making visible the dead bodies of both humans and some unrecognizable species at the edge of the ship walls.
Ryuma didn't show any glimpse of disgust but shrugged it off and followed Nera. Trailing behind him was Xeno.
A holographic display popped up, its language foreign—that of the Xcri. It displayed data of recent experiments and their outcomes. Most of them were failures.
"We came to Earth with one mission in mind: survive. After two years of looking for means to survive, we came to realize that Earth wasn't habitable for us, at the cost of fifty soldiers—half of our troops. We thought of leaving Earth, but that would be risky, given that the great threat was definitely on our tracks. We then decided to stay and search harder. We began mixing the cells of Earth's habitat with ours…"
A picture of birds and other animals popped up.
"It wasn't successful. Some of us died in the process. Then we did it the other way around, thus creating those beasts that run the face of the Earth currently. At first, it wasn't our intention to harm your kind, but after everyone died and my brother too…" she looked at Nero. "…I fell into despair and released them into the world. I was driven by unnecessary emotions and almost made your kind extinct."
Nera wiped the tear from her eyes and pressed some buttons, and a few images came up. A chip, three slime-looking organisms, and…
"Alone, I created them—the four Xcri models. But they were incomplete. They didn't have a heart; they didn't have a will. When I got the news of a human who could harness my kind's power, that was when it came to me how about making an offspring of a human and an Xcri—"
"That's crazy," Ryuma interrupted.
"Yes, it is. And it didn't work out either. There was no male Xcri currently alive, and being the last daughter, I was meant to be the spiritual maiden. Therefore, I possess no sexual organs. But thankfully, I was able to retrieve one and transplant it into Anix,"
Nera pointed at Anix, who was at the back.
"Wait a minute…" Ryuma said. "So you are saying you transplanted a…into her? And what do you want to achieve by that?"
"Ryuma, you are a hybrid through experimentation—one that was impossible to achieve. Your cells are perfectly synchronized with ours. If you can make a child with Anix, then that child may be a success. Not only will it have a heart and a will, but it will also be strong enough to defeat the coming threat—"
"Shut up!" Ryuma barked. "You want me to have a child with an alien? Are you—"
"That's the only way. Your time is close to elapsing, same as ours. And believe me, you aren't strong enough to fight this being."
"And what makes you think this child will be strong enough?"
"Because…because it will have a heart."
Nera's answer made Ryuma burst into a mocking laugh.
"You're kidding me, right?"
"I see no reason to joke about our future. Ryuma, the future of two races lies in the choice you make now. You saw it, right? How my planet was destroyed…what makes you think yours won't suffer the same fate? Don't be selfish. Think about your future. Think about Saiya's future."
The smug look on Ryuma's face gradually faded away, turning into a grim frown as he remembered something very unpleasant in Nera's story.
"You weren't selfless when you sent those lab rats at us. Hope you know that?"
"I am well aware, and I want to make things right. Once Saiya is retrieved, I'll commence treatment, and you'll fulfill your part of the deal. The future of our race depends on this."
Ryuma kept quiet, his hair covered his face as he turned.
"I'll think about it." He said and disappeared into the darkness.
"Anix and Nero, you two will answer to Ryuma from now on. On no account should you go against him, as that will mean going against me. Do I make myself clear?"
"Understood, Master."