Author's Notes: My first attempt at writing a 999 fic! Let me know if I made any mistakes or I should improve in any areas. I appreciate any constructive criticism I can get on this.

The reason why I wrote this was because I had just finished playing the 6th (or the submarine) ending before heading to bed. I confirmed who was the culprit behind what happened to Seven and Lotus... and so as I went to sleep, the possibility of just writing out this scene caught hold of me. And as I sat down to work the next day, I couldn't get myself to type out my reports first... I had to type this.

This is set just as Junpei finds June at the cargo area. It went through a couple of edits. I'm not sure if they're good in any way. As for whether I'm a Seven/Lotus shipper... maybe. XD I liked their antics, and they fascinated me. Which is probably what prompted me with this fic anyways. I hope you like it. If I get anything... ANYTHING wrong, please let me know. I'll do my best to fix it, or take note of it... IF... I write another fic. Really not sure if I will.

Thanks and I hope you like it!

Seven and Lotus could only watch as Junpei cried mournfully over June's now dead body. Reality was becoming too cruel, too harsh to face at this point. Lotus trembled as she took a few steps away from the stone doors, her breathing harsh. "Everyone is dead…" she murmured to herself. "Everyone is dead…"

Seven turned towards her. He shared the same fear with Lotus, the same dread… but having faced all sorts of danger before this as a cop, he easily swallowed it down and turned towards Lotus. "Get a grip of yourself, Lotus!" he called out harshly.

"Don't you get it? We're next!" she almost screamed, her voice trembling in each word. She took a few more steps back. "The killer might be in there… he must have chased June all the way in there and killed her… he may still be inside…!"

Seven rushed towards her and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her as gently as he could. But his strength was beyond his control at this point and he shook her as if she was a mere piece of paper. "Stop that!" he shouted. "Getting yourself worked up over this shit will get you nowhere! Now get a hold of yourself and we'll figure something out!"

"What's there to figure out?" cried Lotus as she pushed Seven's hands off her shoulders. Her eyes were wide and filled with tears. "This is it! Game over! Even with me, you and Junpei, we'll never escape this ship!"

Seven took a moment to consider this. She was right… 7 + 8 + 5 = 20… 2 + 0 = 2…

"We're stuck here… with a killer…" Lotus rubbed her bare arms, goosebumps becoming even more visible. She was trying hard not to cry, not to let the current situation get to her, but it was all too much to bear and Seven knew it.

He sighed. He wasn't sure how he was able to keep himself together in this situation. Almost everyone is dead, Junpei would be utterly broken with June's death and now Lotus is close to being hysterical. There was no way he could reach Junpei in this situation, so his last hope of aide would have to be Lotus. He just had to figure out a way to calm her down…

"Look," he then said aloud, looking away from her and towards the stone doors which have now closed. "You saw it didn't you? As we stepped in?"

"Saw what?" said Lotus, eyeing him suspiciously as she continued to rub her arms.

"The submarine, not far from where June's body was…" Seven crossed his arms as Lotus nodded. "That may be a way out for us here. If we can go back in and search the place, we might—"

"No!" Lotus cried out. "The killer might be in the submarine! That may be how he killed June! She was trying to get to the submarine, trying to escape! He's probably in there right now, just waiting for us to fall into his trap!"

Seven sighed exasperatedly. "This is getting us nowhere and you know it. We can't just hide and wait for things to blow over… we've got to act. Now."

Lotus looked down, her legs still trembling. "W-what about Junpei?"

"Kid's probably too broken to do anything at this point," Seven explained. "Let's just get back to the main stairs and see if we can find some clues."

"I'm not going back there!" shouted Lotus.

"You just said the killer might be in the submarine! So what's there to fear by going back? Come on!" Seven reached out and grabbed Lotus' right wrist and was pretty much dragging her. "I'm not leaving you behind here, you're better off with me!"

He could tell that Lotus was close to protesting, but she seemed to have changed her mind as she kept silent and began to walk in his pace. Her wrist felt small and fragile in Seven's hand. She looked completely different from the woman he knew just hours before, and it was something Seven didn't expect to miss.

They barely reached the corner of the walkway when they heard the sound of footsteps. Both Seven and Lotus stopped in their tracks, barely breathing.

The moment the other person noticed Seven and Lotus went silent, his heavy footsteps quickened and he was about to reach them. Without thinking, Seven turned towards Lotus and pushed her back. "Run!" he shouted.

It barely took a second for Seven to realize that something sharp and metal had pierced through his lower back. He gasped at the sensation of a piercing blade ripping through his muscles. Before the pain could set in, someone grabbed his left arm and pulled it behind his back, making sure that despite his injury, Seven was immobile.

Lotus' mouth was open, as though she was about to scream. But whoever it was behind Seven seemed to captivate her. Struggling to breathe, Lotus said in a shaky voice… "Ace…?"

Ace? Seven tried to look behind, but the pain in his back made it impossible to move. And the more he struggled, the deeper the knife pierced through him. "I wouldn't struggle if I were you…" the familiar, deep voice spoke behind him.

"Ace!" Seven growled, willing himself to speak despite being in so much pain. "I thought you were dead with Clover and Santa!"

"Ah… that's where you made a big mistake…" Ace sneered as he gripped on to Seven's arm tightly. "You only checked on Clover and didn't bother to check if I was dead as well. If you've forgotten, I have a little drug with me that make it seem as though I'm dead… when really I'm just sleeping deeply."

"You… killed them?" Lotus spoke up, her face getting even paler. "You killed Clover and Santa?"

Ace gave a light shrug. "You could add Snake and the 9th man in the list if you want."

Lotus let out a sound as though she was choking. Ace… had killed almost everyone.

Seven continued to struggle, trying to reach behind him, to grab Ace and strangle him in his huge hands. But the more he moved, the more the pain ate through his body. "Why?" he growled, tasting blood in his mouth.

"Why?" Ace laughed softly, though the sound echoed through the hallway causing Lotus to shiver. "Because they were in the way, they knew too much… I had to make sure I stop them."

"But by killing them, you'll never be able to leave the ship!" cried Lotus.

Ace grinned at Lotus. "I'm surprised you haven't figured this out yet… but you don't need to have a person with a numbered bracelet to be physically there to key in the RED."

"What…?" Lotus' voice was barely audible.

"That's right… all you need is the bracelet. Just the numbered bracelet and you're set." Ace's grin began to resemble those of a maniac. "And what better way to own these bracelets than by killing off the owner? It's a win-win situation for me. I get rid of the people in my way AND gain my escape."

Lotus looked as though she would crumple to the floor at any moment. Seven was losing all strength by now… his heart was beating slower and his consciousness was fading. Trying her best to keep her voice from faltering, Lotus asked slowly, "Then why are you after us? Why did you stab Seven?"

"I can't have you both returning to the scene and figuring out it was me all along… rather than have any witnesses, I might as well 'clean up' this place and get all the bracelets that may be necessary for me. For instance…" Ace's gaze on Lotus grew sharp. But it wasn't at her that he was gazing at…

No… it was her bracelet.

"NO!" Lotus screamed, taking a step back. "You don't need mine! You have Clover's and Santa's! Together with your number, they'd sum up to 8!"

Ace's face was getting even more distorted now, his eyes were wide and terrifying to Lotus. "Yes, but think about it. I have the 9th man's bracelet, and then there's mine… now what else do I need for the number to be a digital root of 9?"

9 + 1 + … 8 = 18… 1 + 8 = …

9

Lotus gasped as Ace pushed the knife in deeper into Seven's back, causing him to groan before pulling the sharp knife out. Blood splattered onto the floor as Ace pushed Seven behind him. Seven leaned sideways against the wall and slid down, painting the wall with his own blood.

"SEVEN!" Lotus made a move towards him.

"DAMN IT, LOTUS! RUN!" Seven screamed with all his might.

But it was too late. As Lotus rushed towards him, Ace moved forward and stabbed Lotus right into her stomach. Lotus' eyes were wide as she caught her breath. She grabbed on to Ace's shoulders, her fingernails digging deep into his coat. Ace smiled at her for a moment, before throwing her body close to Seven's.

"Now to wait for the both of you to die…" said Ace, his voice cold and metallic. "In the meantime, I need to find one last person to handle…"

His footsteps trailed off as they heard the stone doors open. Junpei was in trouble, and there was nothing Seven or Lotus could do about it.

Seven was weak and in so much pain. A form of darkness in the back of his mind was slowly consuming him as he felt himself slipping away. He knew there wasn't much time left. He could hear Lotus' haggard breathing as she mumbled to herself. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

"Damn it, Lotus…" Seven whispered, his eyes closing. "I told you to run, didn't I?"

"Couldn't…" she murmured, her breath spastic. "Couldn't leave you… scared… I'm sorry…"

Despite their situation and the pain he was in, Seven couldn't help but laugh a little. "And here I was thinking you were a strong and selfish woman… I may have misjudged you…"

There was a stillness which was often punctuated with Lotus' desperate attempts to breathe. "I'm sorry…"

Seven took his last amount of strength to look at Lotus. She looked as though she was floating in a sea of blood. Tears rolled down to the side of her face where she lay, her eyes closed. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry Nona… I'm sorry Ennea… I'm so sorry…"

Not long after uttering those words did Seven hear her take one long breath… and silence completely claimed Lotus. There was a click and Lotus' bracelet fell off easily.

Seven felt his heart beat become still at this point. As he closed his eyes for the last time, the last sound he heard was the sound of Ace's slowly echoing footsteps down the hallway.