"My name is Alex Mercer. I'm the reason for all of this."
"My name is Kazuya Aoi. My situation is unprecedented"
"They call me a killer, a monster, a terrorist. I'm all of these things."
"They call me a savior, a prodigy, a defender. I'm none of these things."
"Three weeks ago someone released a virus in Penn Station. I woke up in a morgue."
"Three weeks ago someone tried to kill me in Shin-Osaka Station. I woke up on an operating table screaming in pain."
"Now I hunt. I kill. I consume. I become."
"Now I can do many things I never expected to do. He saved my life back there. But then again he's saved me many times. But for some reason he gave me these powers. I owe him for that and all this. But first …"
"I'm going to find who did this to me. And I'm gonna make them pay."
Chapter Quote"But although the cliche says that power always corrupts, what is seldom said ... is that power always reveals. When a man is climbing, trying to persuade others to give him power, concealment is necessary. ... But as a man obtains more power, camouflage becomes less necessary."
-Robert A. Caro
The birds chirped in the air, the cool breeze washed against my face and I hated the site of the building in front of me. This was where my sister came to study, find her limiter and where they taught her to die.
I never really had a sense of self-sacrifice. Perhaps it was the human aspect of my personality. Or maybe it was twisted out of me when my birth mother tried to smoother me to death in my crib. Or maybe I had been deluding myself with the idea of nobility and the virus and brought out the truth. Or perhaps the virus that is Kazuya Aoi is thinking this way, washing away unwanted memories and locking up anything that wouldn't fit its worldview.
Any or all options may have been correct.
"Welcome to West Genetics," greeted Sister Margaret, "I hope you find your stay at this academy to be both beneficial to yourself and mankind."
Kazuya narrowed his eyes, "Yes I hope they do. I didn't plan on coming here but I don't want to outright defy orders."
Sister Margaret sighed fingers tapping on the desk, "I understand your unique circumstances Kazuya and why you may not wish to spend any more time than necessary at West Genetics but do keep in mind that every staff member here is a soldier, and the students are being trained as such. You won't find a better and safer place to practice and grow.
"I do hope so Sister Margaret," nodded Kazuya, "The girls are merely Pandora who learn to use their volt weapons to fight off Nova while the boys are trained to support and work in conjuction with their Pandoras. We both know that."
"However …" continued Kazuya.
Margaret frowned knowing what Kazuya was about to say, "With your recent biological changes as a result of that accident."
"I prefer assassination attempt," interrupted Kazuya.
"That incident," continued Margaret, "It would not be wise for you to work or trade stigma with any Pandora in this facility. At least without various testings and carefully placed protocols."
"It's too be expected. I should have not considered otherwise," acknowledged Kazuya.
"I'm interested in knowing how you feel about this," confessed Margaret, "Or how you actually have felt since the incident. My duties, not withstanding, I try to help all my student wherever possible."
"The attempt on my life left me scarred and deformed. I was merely a body held together by blood, bone and whatever was left of my brain. I shouldn't have survived," rationally stated Kazuya as if going over a script.
Then Kazuya stared at Margaret, "I did die."
"Be that as it may I am merely going to introduce you to one of our Pandora if you don't mind," Margaret explained.
"One of your sacrificial lambs then?" Kazuya muttered derisively.
"Everyone here is expendable," bowed Lindman, "Even I am. I was hoping that if nothing else your experience here would be a happy one."
Well at least this wasn't Blackwatch. Although with the recent slaughterhouse that would become this academy perhaps Kazuya was incorrect. He had been sent here for a reason.
Clicking an intercom Margaret spoke up, "Miss Fairchild, please come in."
*Keeping Margaret in his line of sight, Kazuya turned to stare at what would be the girs who were entering the room. She was a smiling girl whose eyes were slitted towards Kazuya. Her blonde hair reached down towards her shoulder, with two bangs covering her cheeks. For some reason her scent was very familiar.
"I like to thank you for coming today Chiffon. I know you have a busy schedule but I dearly hoped you were open to a tour for this young man here," thanked Margaret.
"Don't worry," smiled Chiffon, "It'll be my pleasure."
"I'd like to introduce you to Kazuya," informed Margaret, "He's a late submission to the enrolment of our academy and I was hoping you two would show him around. Kazuya I would like to meet the Student Council President Chiffon Fairchild"
"Hello," greeted Chiffon waving at Kazuya.
"Hello there," returned Kazuya.
"Please show him around," reminded Margaret.
XXX
"So what was that all about?" questioned Chiffon, "First we get a late admission, which is rare enough. Then we find out that you're the brother of Kazuha Aoi. Any Pandora worth their salt knows that name. Finally the principal went out of the way to introduce the two of us to you. Who are you?"
"That depends on what you want to know," cryptically replied Kazuya, "At the present I don't plan on sharing the answer with just anyone. Although I will tell you why I am a late submission."
"And that is?" queried Chiffon.
"I spent the last two and a half weeks in a cell," explained Kazuya. There was no reason to hide that fact especially because it would be bound to come out eventually
A window shattered in front of the three students before Chiffon could ask Kazuya any further questions.
"I've finally found you! Untouchable Queen! Today your place will be mine" The pink hair girl shouted, "Today I'll defeat you, then I'll be Rank One!
"Do you really believe the words coming out of your mouth? I will not lose to you.," The blonde said, scowling and raising her weapon.
The pink haired girl was slightly shorter than her opponent, wore a skirt that Kazuya thought to be dangerously short and carried herself with an arrogant swagger. Despite her outward certainty Kazuya knew from her heavy breathing and posture that she was in much worse shape than her opponent was.
The other however couldn't be more different and if Kazuya didn't know better he would have believed that this person was Chiffon. The buxom women's long blonde hair trailed down to her waist. Her red dress contrasted greatly with her piercing blue eyes, stiffing Kazuya momentarily.
"Who are they?" questioned Kazuya as he turned to Chiffon.
"They are the two highest ranked second year Pandora of West Genetics," Chiffon explained, pointing to them in turn. "She is Ganessa Roland, rank two, and she is Satellizer L. Bridgette rank one. It appears Ganessa intends to use this Carnival to take Satellizer's place in the rankings. Again and with predictable results mind you."
"I take it that this usually happens around the campus?" drily noted Kazuya, suspecting the answer.
"Yep," smiled Chiffon as she continued to watch the two girls fight it out.
However it seemed that Ganessa had grown tired of the match.
"Damn it!" Ganessa shouted, rolling to her feet after barely blocking an attack from her opponent. "That's it! I've had it with being number two! Feel honored, Satellizer! I'm not holding back anymore!"
Black armor crystallized over Ganessa's body replacing what was once her school uniform. Her face was now covered in a black mask, with only the red eye slits being the sole splash of color.
"Chiffon don't you think this is getting out of hand?" asked Kazuya in shock.
"I suppose you're right," conceded Chiffon.
They both knew that using Pandora mode in Carnivals was against the rules primarily because of how easy it was to cause fatalities when facing off against an opponent. Carnivals were meant to help new Pandoras gain a taste of combat and help them prepare for their roles and combat units, not be total bloodbaths.
For a moment Kazuya was relieved that someone was about to stop this whole thing. Then what Chiffon surprised him.
Hiding behind the windowsill she protested meekly, "Stop it Ganessa. You know it's against the rules to use your Pandora mode."
"Aren't you going down there?" hissed Kazuya as he watched Ganessa chain Satellizer up, and slam her like a rag doll, "Isn't it your responsibility to step in in a situation like this?"
"But I'm too scared to go down there and get between those two," murmured Chiffon.
That was a lie and they both knew it. Chiffon couldn't be ranked as the top third year Pandora for no reason. It would be easy to top this whole charade and restrain Ganessa until the faculty could arrive.
Down below Ganessa continued brutalizing her opponent by slamming her fist into Satellizer's stomach.
"Not so tough now untouchable queen," in what Kazuya could have sworn was a sneer, "Now do you see the difference between our strength? I'm the true rank one!"
Every word she spoke continued with greater maniac fervour.
Blood spurted from Satellizer's mouth as she hissed at her opponent. Kazuya could easily tell how furious she was with the situation, or maybe he was angry at herself for being found in such a position. Whatever Satellizer was feeling was of little concern to her opponent as Ganessa launched what could have been a fatal blow.
Or could have been, had Kazuya not appeared between the two, blocking her strike with a shield, her four blades deflecting off its curved surface harmlessly.
XXX
"Was that Accel?" Trish asked in disbelief. Even as the fifth highest ranked second year she couldn't utilize High End Skills. "I thought Limiters can't use High End Skills!"
"Forget that," Hiromi said, equally stunned by what she'd seen. "Since when do Limiters have Volt Weapons? And a shield at that!"
XXX
Chiffon frowned at the spectacle in front of her. Kazuya had moved quite quickly to prevent Ganessa from finishing off Satellizer. Certainly not at Accel speed levels, far from it. If she were to guess it had been at 50 meter per second, not even a third of what a normal excel could do.
Still quite impressive though for someone who shouldn't have any such superhuman abilities.
XXX
"Enough!" Kazuya shouted, correcting his stance reflexively, imagining what his "father" would say if he saw how sloppy he'd been. "You've won, there's no need to continue."
In Kazuya's eyes the carnival had ceased being legitimate the moment Ganessa entered Pandora Mode. Going any further would clearly be nothing more than torture and possibly execution.
"Who are you?" Ganessa snarled, pulling back her chains and readying them to strike again. "And how dare you interrupt my fight?"
"It doesn't matter who I am," Kazuya answered, glaring back. "This ends now!"
"That's exactly what I'm going to do!" Ganessa declared, voice tinged with frenzy. She lurched forward, chains spearing ahead of her.
Kazuya met her charge, flickering past her chains in a burst of speed and slamming his fist into her helmeted face. Red and black tendrils rippled as Kazuya wiggled his fingers. This was his first time using his powers in combat and he had trouble restraining himself. Those three weeks in a padded glass cell didn't count for him.
If there was one thing Kazuya knew about Pandora it was that they were tough, so he fully expected Ganessa to be right back after them in no time. Even though he'd tried to hold back his attack had nonetheless launched the crazed young woman at least twenty meters by his estimate, which gave him little time to attend to his main priority.
"Let me see," Kazuya said, kneeling beside Satellizer. She was covered in minor wounds but he was more concerned by the deeper cuts Ganessa had scored on her torso, "Does it hurt the most here?"
Satellizer scowled in response, curling in on herself. Even when she was coughing up bile and blood. Once Kazuya might have seen hostility, but now he recognized a fear response when he saw it.
"I can help if you let me," Kazuya said in the calmest voice he could manage before he started to beg "Please. Just trust me."
"What do you plan to do?" she asked, glaring at him distrustfully. "I don't want anyone touching me."
She doesn't like being touched, fear response, Kazuya thought, stringing together what little he knew. A phobia, but I don't know what it's called...That's not important right now! He reprimanded himself for letting his mind wander. "I can heal you, I think, but I'll need skin contact, if that's okay."
"Are you sure?" she hesitantly queried. Her eyes widened and Kazuya reacted just in time to deflect one of Ganessa's chains, then another and another after that.
"Yes!" Kazuya almost growled at the stubborn girl behind him deflecting another chain.
"Fine, do it!" Satellizer snapped, forcing herself to her feet and stepping up beside Kazuya, deflecting two of Ganessa's chains as the other Pandora stalked towards them.
Placing his hands on Satellizer's stomach, much to the girl's discomfort Kazuya activated his webbing. Kazuya kept his eyes on Ganessa for any change in attack pattern and lightly pressed his right hand against the torn, bloody flesh of Satellizer's stomach, exposed through her torn dress. With a thought his Volt Texture, virus or some combination of the two began mapping Satellizer's injuries, branching like a spider's web to stitch the damaged tissues back together.
Kazuya knew that what he was doing was far simpler and more crude than what Alex had done to save him. If nothing else it was the first ability he had learnt from the cell. For one thing his haphazard webbing would be quite delicate and would not fully bond with Satellizer's flesh to patch the damage until she could naturally regenerate. Second, it would do nothing to truly accelerate her healing process. Lastly, he could feel it analysing her biology as if she were a foreign substance to be rejected and destroyed, if he didn't hold it back it would become less a bandage than a parasite, eating her from the inside. He definitely did not want that to happen the first time he tried to help someone.
Placing his own biomass was like pushing out his own hands and making it form a shape that he desired Shaping the biomass was like molding clay but with his mind instead of his hands, willing it into the form he desired. Turning his hands into claws or a shield was instinctive because he had been forced to practice it constantly out of necessity. This required a willing patient.
"The pain's faded," Satellizer said, almost disbelievingly as she glanced down at the black bandage hugging her body, red tendrils patterns flickering over it.
"Well don't get too distracted or disillusioned by the biomass. It's only temporary," Kazuya explained to her, reforming his shield and deflecting another of Ganessa's attacks. "But it should hold long enough for you to regenerate on your own."
"Quit stalling! I want to put the two of you down permanently," screamed Ganessa as she charged forward, no longer content to attack from a distance.
Kazuya felt a surge of energy, near identical to what he'd felt when Ganessa had activated Pandora Mode. "Satellizer, no!" He snapped, stepping fully between the two Pandora and blocking a punch from Ganessa, forcing her back with less effort than he'd expected to need. "If you use Pandora Mode you'll get in trouble to, she already broke the rules so this fight's invalid, right?"
"She's gotten back up," noted Satellizer as she clashed her sword against Ganessa's chains barely deflecting another attack, "I can't beat her like this!"
"Not alone, but I can help. Although I was hoping she would take the hint and just stay down," Kazuya pointed out, deflecting another chain that had almost made it under Satellizer's guard. "And unless I miscounted she's only got about a minute left of Pandora Mode. If we can't beat her we just have to hold her off that long."
While he knew that, his healing factor could be incredible Kazuya also knew that he would have to live to see it one day and not get killed before he progressed to that stage.
Ganessa was still in Pandora mode. From what Kazuya had seen however, her attacks were far more sluggish than they were before. Pandora mode was both a draining and time limited ability from what Kazuya had read. Also compounding the fact was the blow Kazuya had landed on her.
It was thus easy to see why he and Satellizer were keeping up with her for now, if barely. All they would have to do was make sure to outlast the time limit and they would be home free.
"That was if someone doesn't stop this charade," Cynically thought Kazuya. resisting the urge to throw a glare at Chiffon, "Of course we wouldn't have to if someone would do their job"
At any other time, Kazuya would have been happy to do let the time run out but Satellizer was probably still injured from the match between Ganessa and herself. The webbing would only do so much. He knew she probably wasn't a delicate flower but that didn't mean he wanted to have his biomass lying around the place. He had seen some of the videos of the outbreak in Manhattan and did not want the people at West Genetics to suffer the same fate, even if they were a bit callous. Uncontrolled biomass was a virus infestation that would only spread with time.
Ganessa continued her frenzied attack, Kazuya and Satellizer narrowly avoiding or blocking her chains, twisting and dodging to avoid being impaled. In a sudden burst of speed Satellizer closed the distance and slashed Ganessa diagonally from shoulder to waist.
While the attack didn't seem to do much real harm it still distracted Ganessa and Kazuya took advantage of that, grabbing one of her chains that had faltered and pulling as hard as he could. He knew Pandora were much stronger than normal humans but it didn't matter when they were too stunned to use that strength and had little or no leverage. But even that didn't compare to Kazuya's monstrous strength. He had started out lifting cars with his bare hands. A tug of war with a Pandora was like fighting a child. Ganessa was hauled off her feet into the air before Kazuya jerked the chain back down, slamming her to the ground with what would normally be bone-shattering force.
The girl bounced several times across the ground causing cracks to appear on the cement and dirt to fly off the grass. After a few skips she stopped, her body laid prone on the floor. Ganessa didn't stay down but the moment she was on her feet again Satellizer was there, kicking her in the chest and knocking her down again. Ganessa landed just as Pandora Mode timed out, armor dissolving and leaving her lying on cracked ground in her tattered uniform. Again she didn't lie still though, she was visibly struggling to rise.
"She's not giving up is she?" Kazuya asked, unsure if he was feeling mild admiration or annoyance.
Satellizer didn't answer, walking forward and raising her blade.
"Wait! What are you doing?" Kazuya asked, almost panicking. He knew exactly what she was doing.
In actual combat you kill your enemies, Kazuya knew that and had intellectually accepted it years ago. That's just how life is, sometimes you have to kill to survive. You kill for those you care about. But in a fight like this, even if the opponent went so far and it might seem foolish to let them live there was no justification for killing them and it could only lead to unnecessary complications. Plus, Kazuya didn't want to cause any problems with Chevalier if it could be helped.
Now if Ganessa came at him like this again that would be an entirely different matter.
"I don't think that's a good idea," commented Kazuya, "We both might get into major trouble for this. You for killing her and me for letting you do it."
Satellizer didn't seem to hear Kazuya words causing the virus to panic.
"Wait!" Kazuya shouted, dashing forward and arriving just in time to intercept Satellizer's strike. He gritted his teeth as the blade pierced partly through his only partially reformed shield. Looking at the blonde's face Kazuya saw the same frenzied expression Ganessa's voice had implied before.
Satellizer hesitated, her eyes widening in surprise as the battle crazed look left her face.
"Thank you," Kazuya sighed in relief but before he could say anything else two older women were flanking Satellizer, blades held at her throat.
"That's as far as this goes, Bridget L. Satellizer," The woman with short, dark hair declared. "We can't sit back and watch you hurt your fellow students any longer."
"Release your Volt Weapon, right now." Ordered the other.
Satellizer scowled but her Volt Weapon dissolved, the hole in Kazuya's forearm sealed immediately and was fully healed when he morphed his shield away.
"What do you mean?" Kazuya demanded, rising from his crouched position. Both women looked at him in surprise. "You were watching the whole time?"
"Half the facility was," Yumi Kim answered, only slightly lowering her weapon. "Satellizer did unacceptable damage to one of our few available Pandora Mode suits and nearly killed Ganessa Roland, she-"
"She didn't kill her though, and I did at least half of that damage!" Kazuya interrupted, scowling even harder than Satellizer was. "And if you were watching the whole time why didn't you stop it after Ganessa used Pandora mode?"
'What the hell's wrong with these people'.
"She easily could have killed her though and injured you for interfering-" Elize began to say, only for Kazuya to interrupt her as well.
"She wasn't trying to hurt me, I should have had my shield up quicker," Kazuya snapped, holding up his left arm. "And look, that's already healed so it doesn't even matter."
"Aoi Kazuya," Yumi Kim said, injecting as much authority as she could into her voice. "You're new here, you don't understand how things work so we'll forgive you today, but in the future remember that we are your elders, teachers and superior officers and it isn't your place to question us."
And that was that. They didn't care what Kazuya had to say or what had actually happened, for whatever reason they seemed dead set on demonizing Satellizer. Of course Kazuya recognized their names and that made it easy to ignore whatever they had to say, they'd been there when his sister died, they'd supposedly been her friends and comrades, but neither of them had thought to visit or call to comfort him after it happened. Then they'd only stepped in when this fight was over, acting as if they were doing their job instead of just victimizing Satellizer. No, Kazuya had no respect for these women or anything they might say.
Turning to Kazuya Satellizer asked, "By the way who are you? I've never seen a limiter like you around here before."
And thoses weren't limiter abilities that you just used. Those unsaid words permeated the air between the two of them as Kazuya considered the most appropriate response.
"My name is Kazuya Aoi. I guess you could say I'm something less than a limiter," he introduced pausing for a moment, "Or perhaps something more."
XXX
Kazuya liked silence for the most part. It was those moments for complete silence that allowed him to fully submerge himself into the memories of his past life. It was the life of when he was just a human boy; one from a privileged background of a family of scientists. Fond memories of playing with his older sister Kazuha and the time he spent playing soccer with other children his age. It made him feel something more than a virus that wanted to consume and kill all those around him.
The urges he felt were constantly there, telling him to devour, to destroy and to spread. From the few times he had once asked about Alex past Kazuya hypothesized that the virus brought the baser instincts of those who were its hosts to the forefront. It loosened restriction and made it far more easy to justify your actions while deluding yourself at the same time.
Viruses just wanted to spread. Kazuya and Alex merely had greater self-control over themselves than any of the infected ever had.
Of course he that didn't mean he loved silence. For every two happy memories Kazuya had, there was a single bad one. Sometimes it would be when his mother attempted to suffocated him as a baby. Other times it would the last memory of his sister before she died. Or worse the Shin-Osaka train station explosion. The memories of being cooked alive from the inside, as the explosion punctured his eardrums, went horrifically with the smell of burning corpses and crushed rubble.
Those were not the memories Kazuya wanted to remember. He could not forget them though.
Thankfully the time spent at West Genetics was met with relative silence after his little encounter with the second ranked second year. The numbers had appeared separating Kazuya and Satellizer from Ganessa.
Physics Teacher and training instructor Yumi Kim and Medical Officer Elize Schmitz. He had branded those names into his memories. Two women that were there when his sister fought and died and yet no one had come to comfort the grieving Kazuya. It made ignoring their admonishments and walking away all that much easier. They had then gone out of the way to break the fight when it had already been settled, much to Kazuya's chagrin.
Was every authority figure in this academy grossly incompetent? Kazuya hopped not, otherwise it was going to be a very long year. Grabbing his bag Kazuya continued walking towards his room number.
… 301 … 302 … Here.
"Is this the correct room?" considered as he looked at the extravagant dwelling.
The windows were somewhat larger than necessary promoting a structural weakness, while the bed seemed a bit excessively large. His bedroom had its own walk in closet and personal bathroom. That didn't even consider the large shoe cupboard or the fact that his shelves were much larger than what he had at home.
Then again, the beds are designed to hold two people, mandating their large size. Does Genetics considered itself a military facility or a love hotel resort?
On the way here Kazuya had noticed several other Pandora and their Limiters whispering or sharing otherwise tender moments with one another. It gave him a sense of longing. Something he might never have.
"Whatever," he sighed as he dumped his bag onto the floor and closed the door.
For a few seconds Kazuya shuffled through his clothes and personal stimulation packs. He was about to organize them into possible locations when he heard a knock on the door.
"Hello," greeted Kazuya wondering who wanted to visit him of all people.
"Hi," greeted a blonde haired boy. Almost certainly a first year by his size, demeanour and uniform, "It's nice to have a …"
His formerly cheerful expression morphed into one of icy fury when he recognized who he was speaking too.
"YOU!"
XXX
"Of all the people who I had to have a neighbour it had to be the one guy who hospitalized my Pandora," moaned Arthur as he whined on the table drinking the sugary tea Kazuya had prepared.
Large quantities of sugar and protein were what fuelled his Blacklight powers. It was a poor substitute to actual living organisms but Kazuya knew he would have to cross that bridge when he came to it.
"Ganessa?" questioned Kazuya as drank his own cup. Despite Arthur's, unjustified in Kazuya's opinion, dislike of his fellow limiter he had accepted Kazuya's hospitality for the most part.
At least I'm not scaring off people so much that they can't have somewhat normal conversations with me.
"Yeah my partner," hissed Arthur balling his hands around the cup, "You and the untouchable queen sent her straight to the Recovery Center."
"Wasn't my fault she didn't back down when she could have," retorted Kazuya, "Common sense dictates that you never start a fight you can't finish."
"That didn't make what you did right you know," growled Arthur staring at Kazuya.
Kazuya snorted, "Oh enlighten me what I should have done then Arthur? Go on ask how I should have dealt with the situation when your future wife, don't deny it I know how these partnerships end up, tortured another girl in broad daylight while breaking very specific rules she was supposed to follow all because of petty pride and spite."
"Do you think I should have stood by like every other student did? Or do you think it would have been better if I had merely stopped after the first punch? Perhaps gone to an authority figure? Oh Chiffon is too spineless to break up a fight she knew was getting out of hand. Tell me Arthur? What should I have done? Whatever it is please elaborate?" Kazuya twisted his voice getting louder and more sarcastic the longer he spoke.
Arthur sat in silence at Kazuya's words for a minute looking down at his cup. Its taste was too sweet for most humans but Kazuya didn't care.
"What do you expect me to say then when my partner's in critical care then?" argued Arthur.
Kazuya clipped, "I expect you to find a better one Arthur considering how problematic your current one is. If you were unlucky she'd be dead now."
"That's not your place!" shouted Arthur, "You have no right to criticize whatever relationship I have to Ganessa."
A Pandora and Limiter's bond was sacred to the two of them. At least that's what he had been drilled into his head by his sister. Kazuya realized he had gone too far.
"You're right," conceded Kazuya apologizing to the Limiter in front of him, "It's not my place. I'm sorry."
Arthur's face softened a little at Kazuya's words. Closing his eyes he sighed, "I guess you are right. If it wasn't for you Ganessa wouldn't be alive at this moment."
"So what I'm," struggled Arthur as if the words were foreign to him, "Is thank you for that at least. Thank you for stopping Satellizer from killing her."
"Your welcome," drawled out Kazuya loosely.
Although I don't really know if I should be thanked for something like this.
Placing his cup down on the table Arthur gave a hard look then turned to leave. Only when he was at Kazuya's doorway did he turned his head back.
"Friendly word of advice Kazuya. Don't get involved with the Untouchable Queen. It'll only lead to misery."
Then he walked out.
For a moment Kazuya registered the words the boy had said before looking out the window. What was everyone's problem here? More than that what glass house did Arthur live him that let him give him that advice?
XXX
Miyabi casually sipped a glass of wine, which one of her Limiters had poured for her, "Ganessa Roland was hospitalized today? That happens quite a bit whenever you go to a carnival. The fact that she was hospitalized while using Pandora mode however is disgraceful."
Scrunching her brows in thought, "Then again the ones who hospitalized her were Satellizer L. Bridgette and that new limiter. I didn't know Satellizer had such skills or perhaps it's the Limiter himself."
Miyabi snapped her fingers, "Give me a photo of the new guy. Oh I see. So the rumours were true. He can use volt weapons."
The Breaker of the New just grinned. This was going to be fun.
XXX
If the encounter with Arthur had been frigid, then he had expected most of the student body to be hostile if not more so. Fortunately, for everyone involved that wasn't the case. News had circulated around about how he had beaten the second year Pandora half to death with his unknown abilities. He was certainly the center of unwanted attention but thankfully no one had made the connection the his abilities and that of the Manhattan outbreak.
Not yet at least. Once they do I expect people to avoid me like the plague or run away screaming at least.
For the most part everyone was just content to avoid him for the time being. Even the class representative had been distance in a civil sort of way. Kaho Hiiragi however seemed to have slowly warmth up to Kazuya by the end even joking about how he was probably now the most popular bachelor for any single second-years but the end. Nice girl, a bit naïve and willing to take everyone's word at face value in his opinion.
What bothered Kazuya the most however was how much everyone seemed to be talking about his abilities and not that Satellizer had been unjustly demoted thanks to his interference. Ganessa had walked away from the whole encounter, expecting to make a fully recovery and an essay on how to manage one's temper. Satellizer on the other hand had been fully demoted to second place.
Ganessa had taken Satellizer's former rank much to Kazuya's annoyance. Ganessa should have been expelled altogether in Kazuya's opinion. The girl clearly wasn't suited for military combat if she couldn't even keep a level head in a friendly match.
Sighing to himself Kazuya used his Stigma tracking sense to search for Satellizer. Usually it wasn't this difficult to find a person with Stigma in them given how rare it was to have them implanted within one's body. However this was Genetics, where everyone had some Stigma inside them making it seem like a colony of ants was grinding over his skin. Only said ants could also be identified individual if he had actually been within speaking distance of them.
Every person had a different feel to their stigma. Chiffon's felt familiar somehow, while Ganessa's was far more twitchy. Satellizer's stigma however felt, cool and comforting somehow; if faintly so. Checking the eight hundred or meters in all directions, Kazuya found her signal on the roof.
Everyone parted away quickly as Kazuya grabbed two boxes of noodles and an entire tray of a little of everything. He didn't really know what Satellizer ate or liked. He'd have to alleviate that sometime in the future.
XXX
Deep within the laboratories facilities Elize and Yumi Kim moaned at the absurd situation the two of them had found themselves in.
"He's a walking Biohazard," stated Elize glaring at the somewhat classified document on the screen.
Chevalier had neither given them the luxury of time or information. The fully classified document was beyond their levels of clearance. Only Gengo and maybe two others had total access to Kazuya's file.
"He's Alex Mercer's progeny," reminded Yumi, "Whether or not he acts like a newly reborn Blacklight virus he's still Mercer's. We can't touch him."
"Chevalier owes some of its existence, support and network to Alex Mercer," conceded Elize, "But I do wish we were dealing with our teammates brother. Not that thing. 139 people, excluding the assailant and Kazuya died at Shin Oska station. That's bound to affect anyone."
"But you do wish you had the whole file don't you?" noted Yumi understanding her friend's predicament, "Whatever those three weeks Kazuya spent with Gengo must have been very informative."
"And now he's our responsibility," scrunched Elize, "Outside of many top secret facilities this is probably the most secure place a Blacklight virus can been contained. We have several holding cells capable of dealing with the infection, cameras located at every possible legal junction, a whole heap of sensors and countermeasures such a Bloodtox."
"You just wished we had more," darkly commented Yumi, "Or that he wasn't here. We can't get rid of him though. It'll be a black mark on our records unless we actually had a very valid, possible not even then, case."
XXX
"Hello there," greeted Kazuya standing over shed Satellizer was leaning against.
The poor girl jumped up in fright at his statement.
"How did you sneak up on me?" questioned the British girl. She had sworn her senses would have been able to notice Kazuya's appearance.
"Ancient Japanese secret," beamed Kazuya before elaborating, "I just ran up the building, jumping whenever I thought I had to."
"You can do that?" questioned Satellizer in disbelief before growling, "Why are you here?"
"I insisted on finding you," explained Kazuya leaping down before pushing the box of noodles and tray towards her.
Satellizer scrunched her face, "And why's that?"
"Because I wanted to apologize," addressed Kazuya keeping to say a good distance away from her, "Because of my interference you were demoted at that carnival. I just don't want you to think badly of me."
Closing her eyes tenderly Satellizer turned away, "It's not your fault. Don't beat yourself up for that."
Satellizer knew that she would have gotten into even greater trouble had Kazuya not appeared that day. A demotion, while humiliating, wasn't something she could not bounce back from. At least Ganessa was still in the hospital after she and Kazuya hospitalized her.
"Thank you," sighed Kazuya before noticing the various bandages over her face and hands, "How's the bandages holding up?"
"They're not too bad to deal with," lied Satellizer. In fact the various bandages itched and rubbed her skin in all the wrong ways, unlike Kazuya's biomass had. That had felt like a natural, if otherwise tight part of her body.
Commenting on her injuries, "Thank you for what you did that day though."
"You welcome Senpai," answered Kazuya, "I'm glad this worked out."
Taking a deep breath Kazuya sighed. He had come to do what he had intended too. There was no other reason for him to stay. Yet he couldn't help but admire the way Satellizer held herself, distant yet proud. She seemed both unyielding and gentle in his eyes. That didn't include the way her uniform hugged her body in all the right places, her curves both illustrating something that was both real and unearthly. Or her smooth skin and piercing eyes.
Crap! I'm staring. Better get out of here.
Turning around Kazuya began walking to the staircase. Or least he would have if Satellizer hadn't called out for him.
"Wait! Um … would you like to …," meekly invited Satellizer before rushing out the right words, "Would you like to have lunch with me?"
Oh?
Kazuya just smiled and sat down beside Satellizer. The girl in question just moved herself closer to him.
XXX
"Also next time you want to make it up to me Kazuya get me some hamburgers," Satellizer joked.
Kazuya laughed a bit at that statement, "Well I guess now I know."
For the past ten or so minutes the two of them had spent their time just enjoying each other company while eating lunch it silence. Only after the boxes of noodles were finished did Kazuya break the silence. Contrary to his earlier beliefs Satellizer had saw him staring at here and she hadn't seemed to have minded.
"Well I guess we can't call you the untouchable queen now can we?" mocked a female voice shattering the warm atmosphere to the couple.
She was girl of average height and hourglass body. Her sizeable bust and blue hair gave further credence to her seductive posture. Every bit of this girl oozed sex appeal. That was probably why she had three Limiters around her. Kazuya had to start questioning if every girl in West Genetics was good looking or was it merely because they had to constantly maintain themselves at superhuman level.
"Then again I didn't know you were the lovey dovey type," continued the girl.
Satellizer flushed a little at the comment. Good mood now broken Kazuya watched the second year get up and leave. He could only sigh. Not that there was anything that could be said.
"Leaving so soon?" queried the girl, "Then again its expected from someone of your attitude."
Realizing that he was probably going to be left alone with the girl and Limiters, Kazuya stood up and began walking over the edge of the balcony. He was already beginning to estimate how he would get himself down from the roof.
Or he would have had the girl not grabbed his arm.
"Why don't I introduce myself," smirked the girl, "Then I could show you a really good time. My name is Miyabi Kannazuki."
"Not interested," shot down Kazuya noticing the agitated looks on the boys faces, "Besides your Limiters might object to me having sex with you."
"I think they'll come around," smirked Miyabi, "Especially when you become my fourth. I won't take no for an answer."
Satellizer seemed to have stopped walking at instant.
"Even if it were up to me I'd have to say no," Kazuya answered, frowning,"They say I can't even attempt to bond with a Pandora for now. It is not my choice to make, or yours. Besides, it looks like you've got plenty of Limiters already."
He gestured to the other three boys, "You must be very happy with them otherwise they wouldn't be with yours."
That got a scrowl from Miyabi and smirks from her limiters.
They think I'm joking around.
However, what was most telling was Satellizer's shocked reaction. Perhaps it was in equal parts disbelief or denial, Kazuya did not care. That was the truth. Unfortunately, some people didn't believe him.
"Is this how you reject me!" screeched Miyabi, "Me! The Liberator of Virtue! I have to hand it to you boy, of all the excuses yours is the most outlandish. Try something new next time."
"He says he can't be your Limiter," threatened Satellizer holding a blade to the back of Miyabi's throat, "Whether or not if it's true it doesn't matter. But if you lay one finger on Kazuya I will end you."
"Stella," whispered Kazuya in awe.
"You're going to end me? Why are you even going so far for this guy? I never thought the whole untouchable queen was a façade. Who knew you had a thing for nice guys," taunted Miyabi, " But really? Really? Really!"
Then in an instant Satellizer had been tossed onto her back, Miyabi towering over her a dozen knives circling her body.
"Why don't I show you what the difference between a third and second year is?" proclaimed Miyabi, "Oh and to make sure your friend doesn't get involved in this fight."
A knife was embedded onto each of Kazuya's feet. Kazuya screamed in pain.
"Try getting of that," chuckled Miyabi, "Boys why don't you go wild on him. Remember to activate your freezing fields."
"Yes Miyabi," her limiters answered.
She sounded like a torturer taunting her victim for not fighting back. But that was the least of Kazuya's concerns at the present.
A fist had slammed into his abdomen causing him to bend over slightly. It wasn't overtly painful but Kazuya knew it was just the beginning. He was correctly rewarded with a knee to the face causing his head to whip back. The freezing, hexagonal field kept him from moving and that was a problem. Regeneration was no problem, but how much could he regenerate from if this kept up?
Miyabi's Limiters grinned in anticipation, probably about to relish the fact that they were about to pulverize him.
Dam it how do I get out of this field? I'm not expected to have learnt this yet …
XXX
Satellizer and Miyabi clashed with one another, blade against twin daggers; deflection against throws. Air rippled as the two continued their bout. But it seemed Miyabi was getting impatient with how things were going.
"Why don't I take this up a notch and show you a skill only third years now," taunted Miyabi as she performed an accel turn.
Air rippled around her as she charged at Satellizer knives ready to imbed them into her chest. However at the last second Satellizer avoid the stabs using her own accel and slashed Miyabi across the face. Blood spurted out across Miyabi's cheeks causing her to freeze momentarily in panic. All eyes turned to her. Her Limiters turned towards Miyabi, attentively awaiting her command.
Blood dripping from her cheek Miyabi screamed, "Freeze her! Freeze here now! I was hoping that my Limiters wouldn't have to use this on you!"
"But you give me no choice," she chuckled as the array of hexagons erupted around her.
XXX
Seeing the Freezing array encompass the entire floor surprised Kazuya. He had to get out now.
Come on I have to escape. But how? I'm stuck in this freezing array, and even if I wasn't I'm basically embedded with these volt weapons. They're Miyabi's Volt Weapons.
There didn't seem to be any obvious way out of this scenario. Satellizer had obvious leapt away, leaving him to his own faith. It was kind of sad actually. Time and time again it had been proven that he could only count on Alex to be there for him. Kazuya would have chuckled morbidly if it were not so depressing.
Looking down on his feet, Kazuya tried to take advantage of their distractions to pull out of the knives or activate his own Freezing. Doing the former would have been easy to do, if given enough time and he was not completely at the mercy of a Freezing field. Or if he could use his own Freezing abilities but working with those Stigma was mentally taxing and confusing, due to the rabidly different biology of Nova and earth life forms. If he had more time he could have done it immediately but at the present, absorbing the knives was taking a good portion of his mental capacity.
Suddenly a shadow appeared over Kazuya's head.
Satellizer.
She'd come back for him. She came. Later Kazuya would have cried tears of joy at the memory but at the present he felt a mixture of shock, joy and, to his later understanding, terror for someone else.
"Senpai!" he cried out.
Reaching forward she called, "Grab my hand."
Wordlessly he would have done that if the world had not come crashing down at that very moment when Miyabi had not thrown several knives across her mid-section.
"Got her!" she gleefully announced, "We've captured Satellizer."
"No!" screamed Kazuya memories of his sister's death echoing through his mind and the day Alex showed up to comfort him.
XXX – Five Years Ago
Meeting Alex Mercer was terrifying to the younger Kazuya at first. Especially because the man looked like death itself to the young boy. But there was an odd gentleness to the man. He spoke constantly about Kazuha and the fond memories the two of them shared together. At first the ten year old had asked if he was his sister's Limiter. It would have made sense to him. No one else could have been as close to his sister as a Limiter could have.
Unfortunately that didn't seem to be the case although he had promised to tell him how Kazuha and he had met, when Kazuya was older.
"Then how did you know so much about sister?" asked Kazuya, "And why do you care so much about me? No one else seems to."
"Because she's been there for me when I needed it," elaborated Alex, "When no one else was. The least I could do is be here for you."
"Thank you," choked Kazuya, "Thank you for that at least."
"I can't promise to be there for you in every step of your life although you'd probably want me to," apologized Alex, "But if you do find a person of your sister's calibre in the future make sure you are there."
"Why?" questioned the young Kazuya.
Alex oddly enough patted the boy on his head, "Because those are people worth living for."
XXX
"First let me tell you something," beckoned Miyabi as she gestured her Limiters to pull her downed opponent forward, "How exactly do you plan on repaying the damage to my face?"
Miyabi slammed her fist into Satellizer's stomach.
"How precisely?" she asked again knife piercing Satellizer's right breast. The girl in question gasped from the intrusion.
"So long as your being restrained there is nothing you can do?" hissed Miyabi knife edging over Satellizer's throat.
"But I can!" screamed Kazuya right before impaling one of Miyabi's Limiters with his claws.
The action got shocked looks from all parties.
Satellizer eyes widened the gruesome spectacle in front of her, not because of what Kazuya was doing but simply because he was doing it for her. The two remaining Limiters themselves were now sweating profusely at the matter they were facing. With their freezing fields broken they were at a hopeless disadvantage against Kazuya
"How are you free from the Freezing field?" gasped Miyabi collectively summing up the thoughts of everyone there, "And even if you were those knives should have kept you in place."
Suddenly a dozen knives appeared over Kazuya's head in a semi-circle.
"You mean these knives?" he sarcastically asked right before they pierced the Limiter Kazuya was still holding up. The boy cried out in pain. Trickles of blood and gasps of mercy were the contents of his mouth.
Too bad Kazuya wasn't in a merciful mood at the moment. Ganessa he could accept as an anomaly. Miyabi was a step too much. If the only way to make these people stop was to make them fear for their lives so be it.
Those are Miyabi's volt weapons! Thought Satellizer as she watched Kazuya chuck the body of the last limiter over the far edge of the rooftop. A trail of blood rained down over the arc which the dead boy had sailed over.
It might have seemed odd but that one single selfless act of kindness, when Kazuya needed it was all it took for him to be willing to throw his mind away.
Those are the people worth living for.
"Stop him!" screamed Miyabi at her Limiters who began attempting another Freezing on Kazuya to no avail.
There was a very simple reason why Kazuya was able to shift around the array with relative ease now. When Miyabi had impaled him with her volt weapons, she hadn't considered the fact that Kazuya would have the ability to replicate them in any manner after absorbing them. By absorbing the knives, Kazuya had gain Miyabi's volt texture which made her limiters Freezing fields useless as they merely recognized him as Miyabi in their friend and foe system. The only way for them to stop him now was to Freeze Miyabi as well.
Which was something Kazuya was going to make sure of. Grabbing another Limiter by the throat Kazuya tossed him down to the floor. The terrified boy shrieked from the skin contact, which Kazuya ignored. All that mattered was the burning rage he felt inside him.
They were going to pay. He was going to make this last a long, long time.
Quickly Kazuya mounted himself over the boy and began pummelling with his bare hands. His claws were unnecessary in this case. The first strike caused Kazuya's fist to collapse his ribs. The second caved in his skull. The third punched through his body, making Kazuya actually feel the floor on the other side. The fourth shattered his entire spine. At each strike blood and guts spew over the floor and onto Kazuya. At each strike Kazuya refused to stop. At each strike he got closer.
Closer until the tendrils around his body erupted to consume the boy in question.
XXX
Meanwhile Satellizer wasn't being idle with the opportunity Kazuya had provided her. Without a moment's hesistation she conjured up her Volt Weapon and stabbed Miyabi through the chest.
"Ka …" choked Miyabi paralysed by the pain as Satellizer kept stabbing her in the chest.
Four times.
Five times.
Ten times.
It didn't matter as muscle, organs and blood dripped over the entire floor. The last thing she would see before Satellizer beheaded her was the cold, unflinching fury in her opponent's eyes.
Seeing his fellow Limiter be eaten alive and his Pandora killed by their respective opponents would shatter any resolve or idea of retribution. Kang, the Limiter in question, could only snivel in terror as he backed away from the scene in front of him. Eventually he found himself at the edge of the balcony. With a moment's hesitation he weighed his options before jumping over the edge. His body would later be found and taken towards the morgue half an hour later.
XXX
The first consumption of a human being was having horrifying effects on Kazuya's psyche. The flashes of Michio's memories kept flashing through his mind.
His upbringing:
I'm so proud of you Michio for become a Limiter. You're the envy of my friends.
His fears:
I can't fail my family. They mean too much to me.
His dreams:
"I heard your looking for a Pandora?" asked Miyabi, "Why should I consider you?"
"Please! I'll do anything! The Limiter's stripend is all that's keeping my family alive!" he begged.
"Anything you say?"
To his last thoughts:
"Someone please help me! Anyone! Anyone! AH!"
"I ate him," whispered Kazuya in horror, "I didn't just kill him. I consumed him. Michio Tanaka. That was his name. Oh my. Oh no, no, no."
"Kazuya?" noticed Satellizer as she walked over toward him but only got a horrified cry.
"Please get away from me!" he screamed scampering away tears falling down his face, "I'm a monster. I'm a cannibal. I'm a killer."
Whatever words Satellizer might have wanted to tell him never came because just at that moment Chiffon and Ticy had both found themselves at the scene of carnage; too late to stop the slaughter but too early for Kazuya. Their collective gasps of shock were the only other sound on the roof not drowned out by Kazuya's tears.
Ending Scene from a different part of the world"After all this time you've come to see me," noted Alex as he stared over the edge.
"It's been five years since we last met," commented Gengo as he walked up beside the virus.
Alex snorted, "Five years too little. You and I both know you could have found me easily. And I can kill you just as much. What changed?"
"Kazuya. Kazuya is who changed."