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| CONTENT WARNING |
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| The following content contains discussion of emotional and sexual abuse and homophobia. Please proceed at your own discretion. |
| WARNING: PROFANITY FOLLOWS |
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| The following content contains profanity that may not be suitable for readers of all ages. Please proceed with caution. |
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| Season 2, Episode 1 | |
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| Air date | 10/11/21 |
| Written by | CaT |
| Episode Guide | |
| Previous Dream X Nightmare |
Next Silver X Soul |
Break X Chain is the Season 2 premiere of Tech Cross, and serves as the thirteenth episode overall.
Episode[]
“Svelte, have there been any updates regarding our current investigations?”
Lucius stood at the large window in his office, peering down into the city below. His right-hand man Svelte gave a brief nod before replying.
“Our computer labs expect decompilation of the data sent to us by Dr. Krauze to be finished by this afternoon, with the subsequent analysis estimated to take a few hours at most.”
“Excellent; our hardware upgrades appear to have been a wise investment.” Lucius tsked. “And what of the OS Casualty Management incident?”
“We’ve received the final documents requested from the relevant organizations, but said documents have not revealed any new information.”
“Unfortunate, but not entirely unexpected.” Lucius sighed. “Have the External Affairs department resume their usual business until I decide our next move.”
“Right away, sir.”
“Thank you, Svelte.”
Svelte gave a brief bow and then left the room, appearing to leave Lucius alone in his office.
“There was really no reason to hide your presence, Reynard.” Lucius turned around, eyeing the far left corner of the room. “You know Svelte as well as I do.”
“Yeah, but I don’t like having unnecessary conversations.” A man in an ash-black suit with a similar appearance to Lucius suddenly became visible across the room. “Besides, I’m pretty sure he noticed me anyways. Tricky old bastard.”
Reynard Raivent, one of Lucius’s twelve brothers. He was only in his mid-twenties but had already become an accomplished lawyer. Just as Lucius was the human reincarnation of Lucifer, Reynard was the human reincarnation of Raum, a Great Earl of Hell who thieves from kings and despises the dignities of men; all-in-all, his line of work really hadn’t changed much.
“That’s a bit childish, isn’t it?” Lucius raised a judgmental brow.
“Come on, you transform using an edgelord’s gun and you’re going to lecture me on being immature?” Reynard snorted, walking over to him.
“It’s not ‘edgy’, it’s practical.” Lucius replied with a hint of annoyance. “Why bother wasting pocket space on a lock when I can have it built into something I’d already have on me?”
“You and I both know damn well I could give you at least fifteen different arguments on that on the spot, but I’m not gonna stand here and act like I don’t know what a rhetorical question is, so let’s just skip to business.” Reynard casually cracked his neck, tilting his head at an angle that seemed rather improbable from a bystander’s perspective. “From what Svelte said, it sounds like you’re not going to have definitive evidence for me until this afternoon.”
“I have every confidence this will be an open-and-shut case, and from what I understand, a suit like this is not going to be an in-and-out deal.” Lucius replied. “It’s more efficient if we start outlining the paperwork ahead of time.”
“Well, you’re not wrong.” Reynard smirked, ruffling Lucius’s hair a bit. “Still, I’d recommend leaving most of those calls to me. You’re smart, but I’m the one with a flawless case record.”
“I’m well aware of that.” Lucius swatted his arm away with an annoyed scowl. “That’s why I called you in the first place.”
“Alrighty, then.” Reynard’s eyes went black momentarily as he gave a sharp grin that seemed just a little too wide for his face. “Let’s get this gravy train a-chuggin’.”
Anne was leaned up against a tree in Liberty Park, waiting for Teresa to arrive. It had been almost a week since the Nightmare OS incident, but she still felt anxious any time Teresa was out of her sight. Sure, she was more powerful now, and maybe a bit more self-confident, but she was still Teresa, and Anne still felt uneasy about her safety.
Of course, she also knew Teresa felt the same way about her. In any other situation, you might say they were being paranoid, but given all the chaos that had been going on recently, it was fairly justified for them. Even aside from the obvious dangers in their lives, the fact that they were a couple now naturally increased their concern for each other’s well-being.
Teresa showed up a few minutes later, wearing an outfit Anne hadn’t seen before as she jogged over. The two of them hugged and shared a quick kiss.
“New outfit?” Anne asked as they separated, noting Teresa’s different clothing.
“Y-yeah.” Teresa nodded. “My mom’s getting home soon, and she kinda flips out when I wear tank tops. She says it makes me look like a... well, I’m not comfortable repeating it, but you get the idea.”
“I can relate, unfortunately.” Anne sighed. “My mom says something similar if I so much as wear shorts that don’t cover my knees. The ones you’re wearing now would probably earn me a slap across the face.”
“That’s awful!” Teresa covered her mouth in shock.
“At this point, it’s the least of my problems.” Anne said. “And it’s not like your situation sounds much better.”
“I-I guess not...” Teresa paused for a moment. “What would you wear if you could?”
“Ideally?” Anne hmmed. “A crop top and some shorts, probably. Something to let my skin breathe when it’s hot out during the summer. Realistically? ...I don’t know that I’d do anything different.”
“Why not?” Teresa blinked.
“It’s just... after everything that happened when I was a kid, I feel like the more of my body I expose, the less of it I own.” Anne admitted. “I spent years wearing long-sleeve shirts all year round because I felt nervous even showing off my elbows.”
“O-oh.” Teresa replied, not sure what to say to that.
“Um, putting all that to the side for now, I like the new look.” Anne cleared her throat awkwardly. “It’s kinda rugged, but in a way that really suits you.”
“Th-thanks.” Teresa replied, her face flushing a bit.
“Are you doing okay?” Anne asked. “You seem a bit nervous.”
“I-I’m fine, it’s just... my mom usually yells at me for not keeping the house clean when she gets back from work trips.” Teresa explained. “I-I’m just kinda wound up in preparation for that.”
“Wait, really?” Anne blinked. “I’ve been in your house. It’s spotless.”
“I-I think it’s more about venting for her than really evaluating the state of the house.” Teresa said.
“Yeesh.”
The two of them continued talking for a while, eventually moving their conversation to a shaded picnic table among the park’s trees. Hour passed without them noticing, until eventually an alarm sounded from Teresa’s phone.
“Oh man, uh, CROSS, could you stick around here while I’m gone?” Teresa asked as she got up from the table and stopped the alarm. “I-I’ll call you if I need you, but I-I don’t think I will.”
"Sure, but remember I'm meeting up with Dr. Krauze later for a checkup."
“What’s going on?” Anne questioned, getting up as well.
“I-I need to pick my mom up from the airport.” Teresa explained as the CrossTrix detached from her wrist and hovered into the air. “H-her flight just landed.”
“That’s right, you said she’d be arriving soon.” Anne said. “Be safe, okay?”
Teresa nodded and jogged off towards the parking lot.
“You think she’ll be alright?” Anne asked CROSS as the two of them watched her leave.
“Based on what I know about her mother...” The CrossTrix dial displayed a three-dotted loading animation. “...Hard ‘maybe’. I’d rather be with her than not, but she doesn’t want her mom to know about the whole ‘Tech’ thing yet.”
“Yet?”
“Well, ideally never, but that seems unrealistic.”
They stood in silence for a few moments (well, hovered, in CROSS’s case). After a bit, Anne decided to ask CROSS about something that had been bugging her for a while.
“...Hey, you were with Nightmare OS in the Archives of Oberon, right?” Anne asked. “Did you see whoever approached it in there?”
“Yeah, actually.” The CrossTrix replied. “I have no idea how he got there, but it was Joshua Messias. His actual body, at that.”
Anne’s blood ran cold.
Nightmare OS paused for a moment to analyze the situation. Suddenly, it turned its gaze towards Anne, raising an index finger towards her.
“Does your father have anything to do with this?”
“What...” Anne blinked in surprise. “What kind of question is that?! Why would my dad be involved here?!”
Lucius’s eyes narrowed.
“Your genetic signature indicates that you are the offspring of the individual that approached me in the Archives of Oberon approximately 37 minutes ago.” Nightmare OS stated.
“That means...” Her face drained of color. “Messias is...It means that I’m...”
She stumbled over to a nearby tree and slid into a sitting position as she stared out at nothing.
“...Yeah.” The CrossTrix beeped awkwardly.
“I always wondered what kind of person would marry my mother and then ditch her after getting her pregnant.” Anne shook her head in disbelief. “I just never thought it would be...”
She trailed off and stayed silent for a moment before pulling the Silver Break BootLock out of her pocket.
“That’s why I can use this, isn’t it?” She muttered. “Because genetically... I’m close enough to him.”
She went silent again for a bit before finally heaving a deep, shaky breath.
“As if I wasn’t ashamed of my body enough.”
Teresa pulled up to the airport’s waiting area in her family’s silver sedan. It didn’t take long for her mother to show up, loading her baggage into the back seat before sliding into shotgun and closing the door behind her.
“Oh my God, it is such a relief to be home again.” Dana exhaled loudly, slipping down in her seat a bit before popping back up and pulling Teresa into a tight hug. “Oh, honey, I missed you so much.”
“I-I missed you too, mom.” Teresa returned the hug as best she could while pulling out of the pickup area.
“Hey, you only stuttered on the first word that time.” Dana smiled. “Looks like you’re getting better.”
“I-I did?” Teresa blinked. “I... y-yeah, I guess I did. It’s... been an interesting summer.”
“You’ll have to tell me all about it.” Dana suddenly snapped her fingers. “Oh, right, first thing’s first, I wanted to tell you I'm sorry about chewing you out on your birthday. It's not your fault the media exaggerates things, it was just a stressful experience for me."
"Um...what is it you think they exaggerated?" Teresa asked cautiously.
"Well, there's no way it actually happened like they reported it, right?" Dana laughed. "I mean, honestly, you losing an arm with an Omnitrix on your wrist? Getting abducted by some war criminal? That's completely absurd!"
"R-right..." Teresa decided against correcting her. "...Totally absurd."
"All that drama aside, did you make any new friends over the summer?" Dana raised an eyebrow. "Any boys?"
"Yeah, I-I guess." Teresa thought back to the other Techs she had met. "But...not how you're thinking."
"Oh, you're still going through that phase?" Dana tsked. "I mean, I experimented a bit when I was your age, but honestly, this is going on a bit long, don't you think?"
"It's-"
"I know, I know, 'it's not a phase'. Dana interrupted her. "Teresa, honey, listen to me, I've been there, and I grew out of it."
Teresa's grip on the steering wheel tightened a bit.
"But I'm not you..." She muttered under her breath.
"Sorry, what was that?" Dana asked.
"N-nothing, mom." Teresa said. "A-anyway, um, how was Vancouver?"
"Oh, it was fine, I guess." Dana shrugged. "I was working most of the time, so I didn't really go around and see the sights, you know."
Teresa silently nodded.
"Only thing I could really complain about were how many pride flags were being waved around all July long." Dana sighed. "Honestly, I'm fine with those kinds of people, but I don't like how they feel the need to shove it down everyone's throats."
"Saying it like that kinda makes it sound like you aren't really fine with them." Teresa pointed out.
"Come on, honey, don't act stupid." Dana tsked. "They're adults, they don't need to be such attention-seekers."
Teresa bit down on her tongue and took a deep breath to calm herself down.
"What was that about?" Dana questioned, looking at Teresa suspiciously. "You have something you want to say?"
"...No." Teresa replied curtly. She wasn't lying; she really did not want to talk about this with her mother.
"Watch your attitude." Dana warned her. "I am your mother."
"Sorry, mom." Teresa relented, not wanting to start anything right now.
"Who's sorry, and for what?" Dana demanded expectantly.
"I'm sorry for having an attitude with you, mom." Teresa repeated the apology.
"Much better, thank you." Dana nodded. “You see how it sounds more sincere?”
“I... yeah.” Teresa sighed, deciding not to point out the obvious issue with that statement. “Yeah, I do.”
Dana looked her daughter up and down, taking note of Teresa’s dejected body language.
"Look, Teresa, I-" Dana started before suddenly catching sight of something in front of them. "WATCH OUT!"
A tall, mechanical alien with a wheel in the center of its chest had stepped out into the road in front of them. With no time to brake, Teresa prepared for impact, only for the car to stop moving as soon as it touched the alien, their momentum completely nullified.
"I'd get out of the car if I were you." Dead Stop sneered.
“Oh, of all the stupid...” Dana grumbled, exiting the vehicle and jabbing an accusatory finger at Dead Stop. “This is the road, you moron, not a damn skating rink! What do you think you’re doing?!”
“I’m jacking your ride.” Dead Stop snorted. “Should get me a couple bucks at the chop shop.”
“It’s a 2002 sedan for God’s sake, why would you scavenge this for parts instead of a Tesla or something?!” Dana threw her arms out to the side in disbelief.
“I just got this lock, so I’m starting out low before climbing up to the higher rigs, ya dig?” Dead Stop grunted. “Look, lady, I’m trying to be civil about this. I could’ve just stopped the car without removing your momentum and sent you flying through the windshield, but I decided to play nice. Cut me some slack, huh?”
“Do you actually have fine enough control over your powers to do that?” Dana raised an eyebrow skeptically.
“I- uh- well- sh-shut up!” Dead Stop snapped. “Just let me grab the damn car!”
“Not a chance!” Dana whipped out her cell phone and began dialing 911. “I’m calling the police!”
“Sorry, lady, but no.” Dead Stop leaned over and snatched her phone out of her hands, crushing it between his claws. “No you’re not. Now tell your dumbass kid to get out of the car before things get ugly.”
“Is she seriously-” Dana turned her head to find Teresa still sitting in the driver’s seat with her door closed. “Teresa, get out of the car already! Are you trying to get killed?!”
After a few moments of sitting in silence with her eyes closed, Teresa suddenly slammed her head into the steering wheel before throwing open her door and getting out of the vehicle.
“Please, just go.” Teresa looked up at Dead Stop with a weary expression. “Just... get out of here, leave the car alone, and go. This is the last thing I needed to happen today.”
“You realize this is armed robbery, right?” Dead Stop snapped his claws open and shut to stress his point. “As in I’m the one calling the shots here?”
“I-I know, I just...wanted to avoid this if I could.” Teresa said, reluctantly raising her left arm into the air. “CROSS!”
The CrossTrix slowly hovered over to Anne and set itself down on her wrist.
“You, uh...” CROSS started. “You okay?”
“What kind of question is that?” Anne choked out, barely holding back tears. “How could I possibly be okay with this?”
“That’s not what I mean, it’s just kind of the default question you ask people in these situations from what I understand.”
“Right, I... I keep forgetting you’re not human.” Anne sniffled. “Granted, I-I don’t think I’d know what to say in that situation either.”
“Actually, from what I understand, the guy who became the Anti-Life Entity was human first, then became a Kunenga Entity, then backed himself up as data, then got turned into me.” CROSS stated. “So I’m... vaguely human, I think.”
“It doesn’t matter much either way, I guess.” Anne mumbled. “You’ll always be more human than the man who made me.”
“That’s a pretty low bar to cross.” CROSS mused. “To be honest, I still don’t really understand how humans turn out that way.”
“What do you mean?” Anne looked down at the CrossTrix.
“I mean... as a general rule, humans are inherently good, right?” CROSS said. “Even babies are born with a basic understanding of right and wrong, and generally favor being good. There are exceptions, obviously, every species has anomalous variants in their biology, but it still seems like there’s a way higher ratio of evil humans than there should be. I don’t get it.”
“Well, it’s... complicated.” Anne said. “Very few people want to be evil; we have a tendency to see ourselves as the protagonists of our own lives, so we try to be good. It’s just that... it’s hard to get people to agree what’s good and what’s bad.”
“Howso?”
“It’s kind of like... well, you know how I used to bully Teresa?” Anne winced at the memories of her past self. “I was doing that because I thought it was good. I was taught that LGBT people were perverts and degenerates, and even when I saw evidence to the contrary, I dismissed it because I thought I knew a truth that other people just refused to see.” She shook her head. “If someone thinks they’re standing up for what’s right... there’s no limit to immoral they’re willing to be.”
“...Huh.” The CrossTrix logo blinked off and on again. “Well, that’s depressing.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
“I don’t know, I still think-” CROSS paused, shortly followed by the CrossTrix detaching from Anne’s arm and shooting up into the air. “Crap.”
“What’s wrong?” Anne asked.
“Teresa’s calling me. Sounds like trouble.” CROSS replied. “Stay safe, okay?”
With that, the CrossTrix flew off, creating a miniature sonic boom as it flied. Anne stared after it for a minute, then eventually turned her gaze towards the BootLock in her hands.
She had always assumed she’d be free of Messias one day. He’d die from old age at some point, and that would be the end of it. There’d be nothing left tying her back to him.
Now that idea was nothing more than a pipe dream.
Her hands shook as she clenched the transformation lock tighter. Even this thing, the item that had given her the power to fight back, came from him. It was as if he’d been sewn into every aspect of her life.
She caught the sound of footsteps approaching her and turned her gaze to the side for a moment to get a look.
She’d say ‘speak of the devil’, but she had met the devil.
The devil was a better man than him.
“I’m surprised you’re still going out in public alone.” Messias snorted, looking down at her. “You must be quite full of yourself.”
Anne simply looked away, not bothering with a response.
“What, no defiant response for me? No insults, no threats?” Messias raised an eyebrow. “Have you finally learned your place?”
“Oberon OS said that you were my father.” Anne replied flatly. “Is that true?”
“Hm?” Messias seemed caught off-guard by the question. “Well, that’s an odd thing for it to mention, but technically speaking, yes, I am your birth father.”
“Does it really count as being birth father if you ran off before I was born?” Anne remarked dryly.
“I didn’t ‘run off’; your mother and I divorced quite amicably.” Messias scowled. “We simply...didn’t quite see eye to eye.”
“Couldn’t imagine why.” Anne muttered.
“Still, I’m surprised she never told you, though it would certainly explain a few things.” Messias tsked, rubbing his chin in thought. “We never had our temple sealing annulled, so we’ll still be together in the Celestial Kingdom after death.”
“And the news today just keeps getting better.” Anne ground her teeth together. “What are you doing here, anyway? I’ve already beaten you one-on-one, so looking for me by yourself seems like a stupid idea.”
“I just had something I wanted to show you.” Messias smirked.
He reached into his coat’s breast pocket and pulled out the All-Evolvyrn Key. Anne scrambled to her feet and readied the Silver Break BootLock, eyes wide.
“How did you get that?!”
“So you know what this is already, hm?” Messias shot her a smug grin. “I suppose that saves me the trouble of explaining it to you.”
“What are you planning on doing with it?” Anne eyed him warily. “You don’t even have a transformation lock.”
“Don’t be naïve; I had a new one made to replace the one you stole from me.” Messias tsked, pulling a lock out of his side pocket that resembled a version of the Silver Break BootLock made with some sort of white metal. “While I was at it, I had them add a few extra touches to make the transformation more distinctly...me.”
“You had them throw it in a septic tank?” Anne shot.
“Cute, but no.” Messias’s eyes narrowed. “After seeing Silver Break in action, I realized it wasn’t quite fit to become a celestial vessel; I’m not sure what else I was expecting, seeing as how it was designed by that degenerate Krauze, but either way, I concluded I would need something better.”
Messias placed the All-Evolvyrn Key in his transformation lock. Anne moved to stop him, but she was knocked back by a transformation field made of circling white rings with intricate eight-pointed star-like designs ‘engraved’ onto them.
“I came here today because I wanted you, my fallen child, to witness my ascension,” Messias continued. “And to finally understand just how weak you truly are.”
Messias turned the key, transforming in a flash of white light. When the light faded, it revealed a new life form, similar to Silver Break and Golden Divide in appearance but covered head-to-toe with a white metallic sheen.
“This...is Platinum Rapture.” Messias introduced his new form. “And today, it will be permanently ending any delusions you ever had of escaping me.”
"Teresa Challice, what the hell are you-" Dana began before being cut off by the whirring sound of the CrossTrix flying in and attaching to her daughter's wrist.
"Guess this isn't exactly turning out how you wanted it to." CROSS commented.
"No, not really." Teresa dialed in the CrossTrix's transformation code.
"Wait, they're selling actual Omnitrixes now?" Dead Stop scowled. "I got jipped!"
"I'm not exactly a commercially available product, and even if I was, there's no way you could afford me." The CrossTrix beeped. "Teresa, I'd recommend Burstbox for this one."
"Got it."
Teresa selected Burstbox and raised her hand to press down on the CrossTrix's dial, only to be interrupted as Dead Stop lunged at her from above her transformation field, forcing her to drop and roll to the side. The CrossTrix's code wheels were spun into a different configuration as they scraped across the asphalt, something Teresa didn't notice until she had already pressed down on the dial.
“Oh, no.” Burstbox Titania winced as she realized what had happened. “This is really not what I needed at the moment.”
“Seriously? You can’t even work a wristwatch?” Dead Stop burst out laughing. “This is great!”
Meanwhile, Dana had been standing petrified in shock as she watched what just happened. If Teresa really did have that Omnitrix, then... what else was true?
She did her best not to think about the implications.
“It’s not that I can’t work it, it’s just...” Burstbox Titania sighed. “Never mind. CROSS, what can you tell me about him?”
“He’s using Dead Stop, the Curyi Evolvyrn.” The CrossTrix beeped. “Curyi have the ability to increase momentum on anything they touch using spinning forces, so Dead Stop has the ability to halt momentum with a touch using anti-spin.”
“Anti-spin?” Burstbox Titania blinked.
“It’s- look, I didn’t really pay attention when Krauze explained the science behind it, so I’m just giving you a basic summary.”
“That’s a handy little trivia machine you have there.” Dead Stop got up in Burstbox Titania’s face, poking the CrossTrix dial. “But what are you gonna do with that info, huh?”
“Still, I think I get it now.” Burstbox Titania ignored the taunt. “You wanted me to go with sound so there wouldn’t be anything physical for him to touch, right?”
“Bingo.” CROSS responded.
“Hey, don’t ignore me!” Dead Stop yelled. “What the hell are you two talking abou-”
He was swiftly interrupted as Burstbox Titania tried to use the least powerful burst of sound she could.
He landed on the other side of the valley.
Anne quickly activated her BootLock, transforming into Silver Break and starting to rise into the air using Cyclone Style.
“Useless.” Platinum Rapture flicked a hand outwards, summoning a massive gust of wind that sent Silver Break tumbling through the air towards him.
Silver Break reoriented herself and prepared a glowing kick to strike Platinum Rapture with, but he simply flicked his hand downwards, sharply increasing gravity around her and slamming her into the ground in front of him.
Silver Break surrounded her entire body with shattering energy, sinking into the earth until she was out of the gravity field’s range. She tunneled back up behind Platinum Rapture, but as soon as she emerged from the ground, he whirled around and shot her with a massive blast of water, throwing her back a good few meters before she hit the ground. He surrounded his right fist with electricity and slammed it into the ground, sending the electric charge through the water on the ground leading to Silver Break and giving her a nasty shock.
Platinum Rapture summoned a pillar of liquid crystal underneath Silver Break that punted her into the air, where he teleported above her and created a burst of flames that set her on fire as she fell to the ground. Her burning body reverted back to Anne, putting out the flames.
Anne painstakingly pulled herself to her feet as Platinum Rapture landed several meters away with his arms folded.
“So, have I made my point?”
“Like hell.” Anne hissed.
“Do you always have to be so obstinate?” Platinum Rapture sighed. “Your life would be so much easier if you just went along with my requests.”
“I did that for years, and all it did was make my life worse.” Anne scowled. “You think I give a crap about what’s ‘easy’ for me?”
Anne pulled up the Silver Break BootLock again.
“You expect everything handed to you on a silver platter, but I don’t have that luxury.” She continued. “I have to fight tooth and nail for everything I want to protect. I don’t care how hard it gets...”
Her grip on the BootLock tightened as she clenched her fists.
“I’ll keep fighting you to my last breath!”
She pulled up on the BootLock’s loop, activating its transformation sequence. The purple light surrounding her as she transformed crackled with silver energy, and when the light had faded, it revealed a slightly different Silver Break.
“That’s quite a bit of big talk.” Platinum Break sneered. “Let’s see where that naive bravado of yours will get you.”
He bolted forward and attempted to punch her, but to his surprise, he found his fist blocked by one of Silver Break’s palms. He launched his fists into a lightning-fast assault, only for Silver Break to deflect each hit in perfect rhythm.
“What is this?” Platinum Rapture stepped back with a scowl. “How are you able to keep up with my attacks all of a sudden?”
“Evolvyrns evolve.” Silver Break crouched into a fighting stance. “That’s the point.”
Platinum Rapture snarled and fired a large battery of electrified fire missiles, which Silver Break managed to intercept and shatter without missing a beat.
"The new speed is impressive, I'll say that much." Platinum Rapture glowered. "But you're still out of your league."
He activated his own speed powers and rushed forward, clotheslining Silver Break faster than she could blink. She channeled her shattering power into her neck in an attempt to shatter his arm, but he activated his nigh-invulnerability, making his armor practically invincible.
He whirled around and tossed her to the ground, hitting her with a punch that would have punched a hole through her stomach if she hadn't activated her shattering abilities and instead been thrown through the ground.
"This again?" Platinum Rapture scowled, transforming his right arm into a series of spiked tendrils that coalesced into an appendage resembling a mining drill.
He dove into earth and emerged seconds later with Silver Break in tow, tossing her into the air and telekinetically buffering her with rocks to shoot her out of the sky. She hit the ground hard, not damaged enough to automatically revert but too battered to stand.
“This is what it means to be smiled upon by providence.” Platinum Rapture smirked. “This power is proof of God’s favor.”
“If that’s true...God’s full of it.” Silver Break winced as a stinging pain ran through her chest. Something was definitely broken.
“As if humans like us have any right to judge the morality of an eternal being.” Platinum Rapture scoffed. “Fortunately for you, He has provided us with a path of redemption through repentance. Come back to Christ, Annabelle.”
He stared down at her, his mask making his expression unreadable.
“Come back to me.”
Silver Break painfully pushed herself to her knees.
“I refuse.”
“Is that so?” Platinum Rapture began walking towards her. “And how exactly are you going to do that?”
Silver Break stayed silent as he approached.
“You can’t fight, can’t run, can’t call for help...” Platinum Rapture listed off smugly as he drew closer to her. “You’re out of options, Annabelle. I’m sure I don’t have to spell out what the only thing left for you to do is.”
“Not while I’m still moving.”
“Excuse me?” Platinum Rapture’s eyes narrowed.
“I said...” Silver Break groaned, painstakingly pushing herself to her feet. “Not. While. I’m. Still. Moving.”
“I’m sorry, is that supposed to be impressive?” Platinum Rapture laughed. “You can barely stand! All I have to do is wait a few moments for you to collapse!”
“Then I’ll have to beat you before that happens.”
Silver Break’s body began glowing purple, followed by her rising into the air and rocketing towards Platinum Rapture with a two-footed kick imbued with shattering energy. He simply scoffed and raised his arm out in front of him, blocking the attack without so much as flinching.
“Come now, this is getting embarrassing.” He scoffed.
“I know you’re too powerful for me to defeat right now, but that doesn’t mean I’m just going to give up without a fight.” Silver Break intensified the air field around her, pressing harder into Platinum Rapture’s arm. “I know I’m probably going to lose here, but someday, somehow, I’m going to surpass you. I’m going to beat you for good. Giving up here would be the same as giving up on that future, and for Teresa’s sake...for my sake...I refuse to do that!”
Platinum Rapture snorted and was about to wave her off before suddenly glimpsing something sparkling in Silver Break’s aura. Immediately, something happened that genuinely threw him for a loop; though it was small, it was still quite notable:
His invincible armor began to crack.
He quickly threw out his arm, disrupting Silver Break’s attack and tossing her against a nearby tree. The force of the impact cracked enough of Silver Break’s spine to force her out of the transformation, reverting her back to Anne as she tumbled to the ground.
“Do you get it now?” Platinum Rapture reverted to Messias as he walked over to Anne and kicked her in the gut, knocking the wind out of her. “You’re out of your league.”
Anne was unable to reply, still trying to catch her breath.
“Listen, Annabelle, I think you have the wrong impression of me.” Messias tsked, kneeling down next to her. “I’m not doing any of this because I enjoy it-” He paused for a moment. “Well, I do enjoy it, but that’s not why I’m doing it. I’m doing this for the sake of your eternal salvation. A defiant woman is never going to enter the kingdom of heaven.”
“If heaven is full of people like you...” Anne wheezed out. “I’d rather go to hell.”
“Nonsense.” Messias brushed her off. “Someday, you’re going to look back and thank me for all of this. Now...”
Messias grabbed one of her legs.
“You’re coming with me.”
“That seemed...excessive.” Dana cleared her throat.
“I’m still trying to learn how to use these forms correctly.” Burstbox Titania replied. “They’re like... some kind of power up, and it’s hard to judge how much power they’re using.”
“Then you shouldn’t be using them.” Dana replied.
“I try not to.” Burstbox Titania went silent for a moment. “Oh. Oh, wow.”
“What is it?” The CrossTrix dial displayed a flashing question mark.
“It’s just...now that I stop and listen, I think...I think I’m hearing everything in the valley.”
“If you were actually hearing every noise in the valley at once, wouldn’t it just sound like a garbled mess?” Dana tsked skeptically.
“Burstbox’s species have a much more complex auditory center than humans do.” The CrossTrix beeped. “They can hear sounds from miles away and break them down individually. With the enhancement of the Titania forms, I’m surprised she isn’t hearing more, actually.”
“I probably could if I focused, but this is all just what’s easy to hear.” Burstbox Titania said. “It’s insane! I can hear the horses at Wheeler Farm walking around, I can hear the creek flowing near our house, I can hear-”
She abruptly stopped talking.
“You better not be listening in on anything dirty.” Dana scowled.
Burstbox Titania suddenly detransformed, reverting to an infuriated Teresa whose face was uncharacteristically twisted with rage. She summoned the Cross Bullet, startling Dana as the train car suddenly shot out of the CrossTrix’s gauntlet and expanded to full size.
“What is that?!” Dana yelled, eyes widened.
“...It’s a train.” CROSS stated flatly. “More to the point, where are we going with it? Teresa, what did you hear?”
“It’s Messias.” Teresa clenched her fists. “He’s with Anne.”
“Then we better hurry.” The CrossTrix detached from Teresa’s arm and flew into the Cross Bullet’s driver’s cabin, docking with the main console.
“Wha- Teresa, where do you think you’re going?!” Dana snapped as Teresa stepped on board. “Get off that train immediately!”
“I don’t have time for this!” Teresa snapped back. “My gi- my friend is in danger! This is an emergency!”
“Just who do you think you are?!” Dana snarled, stepping on board and grabbing Teresa by the arm. “You are getting off this train, and that’s-”
Dana was cut off as the Cross Bullet suddenly shot forward, the doors having closed behind her while she was busy yelling. She stumbled backwards a bit before being able to grab onto one of the standing poles.
“What is wrong with you?!” Dana shrieked. “You’ve never acted like this before!”
“I’ve done a lot of things this summer that I’ve never done before.” Teresa said. “And if I see someone in danger, I’m not going to let anyone stop me from helping them.”
She gave her mother a pointed glare.
“Not even you.”
Messias smirked as he dragged a struggling Anne across the ground, feeling rather pleased with himself.
He was then abruptly hit by a train.
He let go of Anne as his metal body went flying out of the park and across the road. The Cross Bullet came to an abrupt stop and opened its doors, allowing Teresa to jump out of the vehicle and run over to Anne, helping her to her feet.
“Anne, are you okay?!” Teresa questioned worriedly. “Did he hurt you?!”
“Yeah, but that much is a given.” Anne groaned, checking under her shirt to find a nasty bruise forming where Messias had kicked her earlier. “Listen, we’ve got a problem; you know that key Oberon OS created for-”
“Alright, will somebody explain to me what’s going on here?!” Dana snapped, marching over to them. “Who is this?!”
“O-oh, this is Anne.” Teresa introduced her. “We, uh...met at school.”
“Let me guess; this is your mom?” Anne grunted quietly.
“Y-yeah.”
“Well, I suppose it’s good you’ve made friends.” Dana sniffed. “Still, your behavior today has been unacceptable. What’s this supposed ‘emergency’ you were talking about?”
“Did you seriously not notice the guy we hit with the train?” The CrossTrix beeped, flying back over to Teresa’s wrist and recalling the Cross Bullet. “It was a pretty big bump.”
“That’s what that was?!”
“Right, Messias.” Anne looked at Teresa. “What I was trying to say earlier is that Messias has the Evolvyrn key Oberon OS made for Nightmare OS, and he’s got his own custom Teilen Evolvyrn he’s using it with. Silver Break didn’t stand a chance against him.”
“W-what?” Teresa’s eyes widened.
“Enough!” Dana snapped her fingers, drawing their attention back to her. “For the last time, tell me what’s going on!”
“Yes, Challice, why don’t you do that?” Messias’s voice hissed from nearby. “Tell the nice lady what you’re doing here.”
They turned their heads to find Messias approaching them with a scowl.
“Actually, you know what, forget the lady.” Messias cracked his neck. “You’re about to answer to me.”
"Excuse me, just who do you think you are, butting into a conversation like that?" Dana snapped. "I am trying to talk to my daughter!"
"Your daugh-" Messias paused for a moment, looking between Teresa and Dana before suddenly clapping his hands together and throwing his head back in laughter. "You're Challice's mother? I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't this."
"Are you laughing at me?!" Dana hissed.
"No, not at all, just...more at the general situation, really." Messias tilted his head to the side with a smug look. "Oh, you are a gem. I don't know what you did to that child growing up, but it turned her into exactly the traumatized shell Oberon OS needed to produce the All-Evolvyrn Key. I should really be thanking you for that."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Dana walked over to Messias and looked him up and down with an annoyed expression. "Teresa, how do you know this man?"
"Mom, get away from him!" Teresa yelled. "He's dangerous!"
"Do not raise your voice at me, young lady!" Dana rebuked her. "Answer the question! Is this some sort of drug thing?"
"'Some sort of drug thing'?" Messias burst out laughing again. "Ma'am, I am a business executive. What sort of drug dealer dresses like this?"
"You stay out of this!" Dana jabbed a finger at him. "This is between me and my daughter!"
"Well, I'm afraid we've got a bit of an issue, then." Messias tsked, summoning the Torch Module around his left arm. "I need to kill your daughter."
“Excuse me?!”
“You’re excused.”
Messias casually smacked Dana out of the way, sending her tumbling to the ground.
“Mom!” Teresa yelled.
“Oh, calm down, she’ll be fine.” Messias tsked, raising the Torch Module. “You two, on the other hand...”
CROSS fired the Cross Bullet out of the CrossTrix, only for Messias to backhand it away before it increased in size.
“Come on now, did you really think that would work?” Messias tsked. “You just hit me with it a few minutes ago and it barely put a scratch on me.”
“Do I really need to explain the effects of applying an equal amount of force to a smaller point of impact?” CROSS huffed.
“I’m just saying.”
“Stay away from us, Messias!” Teresa stepped out in front of Anne. “I really will kill you if I have to!”
“I sincerely doubt that, and it’s not like you know where my actual body is either way.” Messias sneered. “You’re in no position to make demands.”
“I’m not giving you a demand.” Teresa’s eyes narrowed. “I’m giving you a warning.”
“If you’re feeling overconfident simply because you can scrap one of my robotic bodies, I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news for you.” Messias snorted. “In case Annabelle here hasn’t informed you, I’ve recently acquired some new tricks.”
“So have I.” Teresa hissed.
“I’ve practically acquired omnipotence.” Messias laughed. “Unless you’ve somehow acquired a Celestialsapien transformation, you’re still outmatched. If you’re simply trying to bluff to save your life, I applaud the attempt, but it is ultimately futile. You are going to die here, and Annabelle...”
Messias’s face spread into an eerie grin.
“Is going to come with me.”
Teresa’s pupils shrunk as her fists shook with rage. Suddenly, the CrossTrix’s dial lit up, followed by a hard-light chainsaw bursting out of the front of the chassis.
"Isn't that the chainsaw Nightmare OS used?" Anne's eyes widened.
"Its modifications to the CrossTrix were never removed, so that's probably a 'yes'." CROSS remarked. "What I don't understand is how Teresa activated it."
"I don't know how I did it either..." Teresa looked at the chainsaw for a moment before turning her head back towards Messias. "...But I'll take what I can get."
"'Take what you can get'?" Messias scoffed. "Did you forget what you're up against? How is a hard-light chainsaw of all things going to help you here?"
"If we get in range, it should be able to slice through that metal body of yours like a hot knife through butter." CROSS pointed out.
"That's a very big 'if'." Messias snorted derisively.
Messias fired, shooting a massive burst of flames out from the Torch Module. Teresa dove to the side, narrowly avoiding being burned, rolling across the ground to avoid the flames as Messias adjusted his aim. Her rolling eventually brought her close enough to Messias’s legs to get a hit in with the chainsaw, lopping off his mechanical foot at the ankle.
Messias stumbled forward, thrown off-balance by this, giving Teresa a chance to climb to her feet. She swung at his head with the chainsaw, only for him to suddenly replace the Torch Module with the Tank Module and whirl around, smashing her in the chest with enough force to shatter her rib cage and send her flying. Anne pulled out the Silver Break BootLock, only for him to advance forward and throw her to the ground.
"I'll be honest, I'm getting tired of these games." Messias said, lifting Anne off the grass by her scalp. "I've wasted billions of dollars fighting you and your little posse, and I'll be damned if I don't get a satisfactory payoff from it."
Anne tried to kick at him, but he caught her leg with the Tank Module and snapped the bone like a twig.
"You're coming with me one way or another." Messias growled as Anne screamed in pain. "You know what, I’ll even cut you deal; behave for me, and I just might let that Challice brat live."
Messias paused as he heard footsteps approaching him. He turned to find Teresa limping towards him, her head tilted forward and her eyes obscured beneath her bangs.
"Well, speak of the devil." Messias chuckled. "What's your grand plan now, Challice? Spit up blood at me?"
Instead of responding right away, Teresa slowly raised her left arm in the air and pointed towards him.
"...I said I'd kill you, remember?" Teresa's speech was slow and flat in tone.
"Teresa, get away from him!" Dana yelled from the side. "It's too dangerous!"
"I changed my mind." Teresa lifted her head, revealing that her left iris had begun glowing red while her right eye had glazed over entirely.
The CrossTrix's number dial suddenly began rotating on its own, switching to the code 0-0-1 as its chassis turned black and its standard blue lighting turned red.
"I'm going to make you wish I'd killed you."
A warped transformation field carrying what looked like various severed body parts of the CrossTrix’s aliens sprung up around Teresa, turning shades of black and white as they rotated around her body in a ring.
Wordlessly, she pressed down on the CrossTrix dial.
The body parts surrounding her slammed into her body, morphing together in a red flash that faded to reveal an armored humanoid amalgamation of the CrossTrix’s alien forms. The CrossTrix, still anchored on her arm, lit up as she re-activated its chainsaw blade.
"What on Earth-" Messias's eyes widened as he dropped Anne in shock. "The OS?!"
Nightmare lunged forward at him. She forced his mouth open and grabbed onto his upper and lower jaws, ripping his head apart in one clean motion. Messias's decapitated body jumped back as Nightmare melted down the remains of his head in her hands, the molten metal scorching the grass below as it dripped onto the ground. Pausing as she watched his head melt away, Nightmare eventually tilted her head back and let out a vicious, enraged roar.
"No, Oberon OS wouldn't act this feral." Messias muttered to himself. "It seems as if Challice has simply lost control."
He fired the Tank Module’s transformation nullifier at Nightmare. The beam of light hit her straight in the chest, but failed to accomplish anything other than drawing her attention back to him.
“Well, no point in playing around, I suppose.” Messias pulled out the Platinum BootLock and All-Evolvyrn key, using them to transform into Platinum Rapture. “If she’s going to act like an animal, I’ll put her down like an animal.”
Platinum Rapture raised a hand, using the power of Remote Meltdown on Nightmare, whose body armor began to twist and melt from the heat. She roared in pain for a moment before dropping her body temperature to below zero, negating the meltdown and creating a burst of wind as the surrounding air was abruptly compacted and depressurized.
Platinum Rapture scowled and leaped forward, invoking several strength abilities in his fist, hoping to blow Nightmare apart with one hit. As soon as his fist made contact, however, he found it simply creating a large splash as it passed through her chest, which she had quickly converted into water.
Nightmare let out an unearthly scream that shook the ground with its sheer force. Platinum Rapture used his own sonic powers to match the scream’s frequency and cancel it out before grabbing onto Nightmare’s tallest horn and swinging her around by it, tossing her into the air. He flew up after her, intending to attack her while she was unable to maneuver, but was caught off-guard as she suddenly manifested Skyjack’s wing cloak and took control of her arc through the air.
Skyjack’s talons manifested from Nightmare’s feet as she flew up and back around towards Platinum Rapture, slamming into him at high speeds. While her talons could not pierce his armor, the impact did temporarily knock him off-balance, leaving him open as she fired a burst of explosive liquid off at him. The liquid detonated as soon as it made impact with his body, sending him flying into the ground.
Platinum Rapture decided to lie still as Nightmare touched down nearby, dissipating its wing cloak as it screamed aimlessly towards the sky. None of her attacks had actually had any effect on him, but killing her was proving to be a bit of a pain. As long as he stayed still, the animalistic transformation didn’t seem to be paying any attention to him, so he decided to simply lay there and see what it would do next.
Anne, who had transformed into Silver Break and back to heal her injuries, ran over to Nightmare, who had abruptly stopped screaming and limply hung her head.
“Teresa, be careful!” Anne advised. “You got him down, but there’s no way he’s out!”
Nightmare slowly moved her head to look at Anne, staring at her blankly through her single eye.
“...Teresa?” Anne asked hesitantly. “Can you hear me?”
Nightmare tilted her head, as if she didn’t understand what Anne was saying.
“CROSS, what’s going on?” Anne looked at the CrossTrix. “Is Teresa okay?”
"Teresa's not in control of this thing right now." CROSS beeped from the CrossTrix dial. "She's completely dissociating."
"Then what is controlling it?"
"Nothing." CROSS said. "Oberon OS didn't design Nightmare to be operated by anything other than itself; without its higher consciousness controlling the transformation, it's just acting on instinct."
“So...is it dangerous?” Anne took a cautious step back.
“Not to you; on some level, it understands that you’re not a threat.” CROSS replied. “Messias, on the other hand...”
“Alright, makes sense.” Anne nodded. “So how do we get Teresa back to normal?”
“Not sure.” CROSS admitted. “Call Dr. Krauze. She might know what to do.”
“Got it.” Anne pulled out her cell phone. “What do we do until she gets here?”
“Uh...nothing, I guess.” The CrossTrix dial displayed a shrugging icon. “Unless Messias gets back up, there shouldn’t be anything around it registers as a threat.”
“You’re all insane!” Dana yelled shakily, pulling her cell phone out of her purse. “We need to call the police!”
“Ms. Challice, wait!” CROSS exclaimed as something suddenly clicked for him. “Stay perfectly still! If it recognized Messias as a threat right away, it might register you as one too!”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Dana scoffed. “What have I ever done to it?”
“It’s not about what you’ve done to it specifically, it’s what you’ve done to Teresa!” CROSS clarified
“Oh, please.” Dana rolled her eyes. “I’ve never laid a hand on Teresa.”
“Gaslighting is not going to help you in this situation!”
Nightmare looked over in Dana’s direction. As soon as it caught sight of her, it froze, then slowly began lowering itself into a lunging position as a guttural growl formed in its throat.
“Ms. Challice, drop and play dead!” CROSS yelled. “It won’t attack you if it thinks you’re out!”
“Teresa, if this is a joke, it’s not funny.” Dana eyed Nightmare warily. “Knock it off!”
“Teresa isn’t in control of this thing, you moron!”
Well, this should be amusing. Platinum Rapture thought to himself. I get to watch Challice rip apart her own idiot mother.
Right as Nightmare leaped into the air, several energy locks flew towards it, locking it in place. Anne and Dana turned to find Enlock running towards them, accompanied by Dr. Krauze.
“Is everyone alright?” Enlock asked. “How is Nightmare OS back?!”
“It looks...different.” Emilia noted.
“It’s not Nightmare OS, it’s just...uh, ‘Nightmare’, I guess.” The CrossTrix beeped. “Teresa accidentally activated it somehow. It’s completely feral.”
“When you didn’t show up for your inspection, I figured something was going down, but this...” Emilia paused. “Well, I was going to say it was unexpected, but in hindsight I guess I should’ve seen this coming. I really should have taken a look at you earlier.”
“Y’think?”
“Okay, so who’s that, then?” Enlock pointed at Platinum Rapture.
“That’s Messias.” Anne informed her. “He’s using the All-Evolvyrn Key Oberon OS made with a custom Teilin transformation. I’m... actually not sure how Nightmare knocked him out for this long.”
“I’m still conscious, I was just hoping to see an evisceration.” Platinum Rapture tsked. “That clearly isn’t happening anymore, so I’m leaving.”
Enlock threw an energy lock at him, but his body sank into the ground before it hit, allowing him to escape unscathed.
“Dammit!”
“Okay, now who are you two?!” Dana demanded.
“I’m Christine Eldridge, Chief of the Global Police’s mobile task force.” Enlock approached her, crossing her arms. “I’m not currently on duty, but I’m authorized to handle emergency situations if necessary.”
“...Right.” Dana skeptically looked Enlock up and down before turning her attention to Emilia. “And you?”
“Dr. Emilia Krauze.” Emilia introduced herself.
“That crazy bitch who thought the EvoLocks were a good idea?” Dana raised an eyebrow.
“Um...” Emilia blinked, not sure how to respond. “Well, I, uh, also made the CrossTrix.”
“You mean it’s your fault my daughter’s stuck like that?!” Dana snapped, pointing at Nightmare. “You better fix this shit right now!”
“Your...daughter?”
“Yeah, uh, the loud screamy lady is Teresa’s mom.” Anne sighed. “Apparently.”
After heading into the laboratory, Emilia gathered up a few medical supplies and made her way back upstairs to sit next to Teresa, who hesitantly held out her left arm. Emilia turned her arm around to look for blood vessels, but paused upon noticing a long scar about an inch thick running down the underside of Teresa's forearm.
"What's this from?"
"Oh, I've had that since I was a kid." Teresa replied. "I was being too loud one time when my mom was curling her hair, so she tried to smack me with the curling iron while it was plugged in. I put my arms out in front of my face to block it and she accidentally held it there too long trying to push me over. We couldn't afford to get it treated, so it didn't really heal right."
Emilia gave Teresa a concerned look.
"D-don't get the wrong idea!" Teresa backtracked after seeing Emilia's face. "She didn't mean to burn me; she was just having a bad day. It's fine."
"Didn't she notice something was wrong when you started crying?" Emilia asked.
"Oh, I made sure not to cry." Teresa said. "She always got angrier if I cried."
“...Oh.” Emilia spoke through gritted teeth. “Nice...to...meet you.”
“Save it!” Dana hissed. “Get me my daughter back!”
“Oh, so now you want to get her help from a doctor...” Emilia muttered under her breath.
“What was that?” Dana squinted at her.
“Nothing.”
Emilia walked over to Nightmare’s left arm and inspected the CrossTrix. The unusual wheel lock code stuck out to her immediately, so she tried setting the code back to its ‘neutral’ mode, 0-0-0. One turn of a wheel later, there was a bright red flash that faded into a teal one before disappearing entirely as Nightmare reverted to Teresa.
Being significantly smaller than Nightmare, Teresa was no longer secured in place by the energy locks, and had to be caught by Emilia as she fell; unfortunately, Emilia’s arm strength left something to be desired, and they both ended up tumbling to the ground.
Enlock reverted to Christine and walked over to them, helping both of them to their feet. Anne quickly ran over to Teresa, who was looking a bit dazed.
“Are you feeling okay?” Anne asked concernedly.
“I...yeah, I just...what happened?” Teresa rubbed her eyes out a bit. “I-I remember Messias grabbing you, and then...it all just went black.” Her eyes suddenly widened. “Th-that’s right, Messias! I-I should be the one asking if you’re okay! What did he do to you?!”
“Well, he broke my leg, but turning into Silver Break and back patched that up for me.” Anne said. “It’s kinda complicated, but you managed to drive him off... kinda.”
“What?” Teresa blinked, then shook out her head to regain some focus. “N-never mind. We can talk about it later. What’s important is that you’re okay.”
With the tensions of the situation still running high, the two of them shared a quick kiss, forgetting for a moment who was there with them. Christine looked a bit surprised but really not all that surprised, Emilia looked like she was about to burst with excitement, and Dana...
Well, Dana lost her shit.
“TERESA, WHAT THE FUCK?!”
Teresa jumped a bit as everyone turned to stare at her mother.
“When were you going to tell me about...” She vaguely gestured at Anne and Teresa. “This?!”
“I-I, well, um...” Teresa stammered. “I-I-I d-didn’t think y-you’d t-take it well, s-so-”
“OF COURSE I’M NOT GOING TO FUCKING TAKE IT WELL!” Dana screeched. “Being attracted to girls is one thing, it’s a phase, whatever, but actually dating one?! I did not raise my daughter to be a fucking dy-”
Dana’s yelling was interrupted as Emilia suddenly smacked her across the face. It wasn’t a strong hit thanks to Emilia’s aforementioned noodle arms, but it was enough to send Dana reeling backwards, if only more out of shock than pain.
“You...” Dana stared at her in disbelief. “You hit me!”
“Miss Challice, I have tried very hard to be patient with you until now, but you have gone above and beyond crossing the line!” Emilia snapped.
“You hit me!” Dana repeated with a snarl.
“Focus!” Emilia grabbed Dana by the shirt collar and got up in her face, speaking to her more quietly. “Right now, you’re making the same mistake my own parents made with me, and you know how that ended? With burnt bridges and a broken home. I’m not expecting you to immediately understand everything about your daughter, but I am expecting you to treat her with some fucking human decency. You think you can manage that?”
“Who are you to tell me how to raise my own child?” Dana hissed.
“Whether it’s me or somebody else, someone obviously has to.” Emilia replied with a hard glare. “Would your own parents be proud of you right now?”
Dana flinched and looked down at the ground. Something about that question had obviously struck a nerve.
“...Yeah.” Dana muttered. “Yeah, they would be.”
Emilia’s expression turned to one of slight confusion as Dana pushed past her and walked up to Teresa, who did her best not to cower in front of her mother.
“...Teresa, I’m...” She paused and pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a sigh of frustration. “Look, just...ignore what I said, okay? We’ll talk about this later.”
Teresa watched nervously as Dana walked a few meters away from the group and silently stared off into the distance.
“Wh-what did you say to her?” Teresa looked at Emilia, eyes wide. “Sh-she never backs down in the middle of a rant.”
“I gave her a bit of advice based on personal experience.” Emilia replied. “...I think your mother might have some problems of her own she should’ve worked through before having a kid.”
“From what I’ve observed, that seems to be a common theme among our forebearers.” Lucius tsked, having suddenly appeared next to Anne.
“Crap!” Anne jumped back in surprise. “Where did you come from?!”
“Did you not see me walking in?” Lucius raised a questioning eyebrow.
“No!” Anne snapped. “Nobody did! How do you do that?!”
“If I knew the ‘how’, I would stop doing it.” Lucius scowled. “Having this conversation every time I go somewhere is hardly ideal.”
“...Right.” Anne squinted at him.
“All that aside, onto business.” Lucius cleared his throat. “Dr. Krauze, my company’s data lab has finished analyzing the information you obtained from Messias’s body.”
“The information she what?” Anne asked.
“Oh, um, I have a transformation lock that turns me into an alien I call DataMiner.” Emilia explained. “It can convert physical matter into data packets. I used it on one of Messias’s robotic bodies and sent the data to Lucius before transforming back and losing it.”
“Why?” Anne looked puzzled.
“Because I have the resources to convert that data into usable information,” Lucius said. “Including one particularly important discovery; to be more specific, the method by which he commits his crimes in public with no one but a select few noticing.”
Lucius pulled a few folded papers out of his coat and handed them over to Christine, who read through them fairly quickly.
“Perception Jammers?” Christine looked up from the papers and down at Lucius. “You’re sure about this?”
“What are Perception Jammers?” Anne asked.
“Highly sophisticated, highly illegal pieces of alien technology that cut off the brain’s ability to process any input the user doesn’t want an observer to perceive.” Christine said. “They’re not perfect, and there are workarounds, but only if you know about their presence in advance.”
“It would seem he has them installed in each robotic body.” Lucius continued. “He’s likely purchasing them from the Triumvirate.”
“This is great info, but I’m under suspension for at least a few more days, so there’s not much I can do with it right now.” Christine sighed.
“You don’t need to do anything.” Lucius replied.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Christine raised an eyebrow.
“You’re not the first people I’ve delivered this analysis data to.”
Messias’s real body sat in his office doing paperwork. Controlling his robotic bodies took up quite a bit of brainpower, but at this point he was able to process his work through sheer muscle memory. With the Platinum Rapture body buried safely inside the Earth, Messias disconnected from its wireless neural network and returned his focus to his organic body.
“Well, Annabelle’s new evolution is something to keep an eye on, but it’s certainly not a threat to Platinum Rapture for now.” Messias muttered to himself as he thought aloud. “As for what to do about Challice... I do need her dead, but I’d like to break her first.”
He went silent and tapped his pen on the desk as he tried to come up with something particularly vile. Platinum Rapture’s abilities opened up a whole new world of options, but trying to figure out what would have the most psychological impact was proving more difficult than he originally thought.
“Her relationship with her mother seems strained at best, so I wouldn’t get much mileage out of killing her.” Messias tsked. “Torturing Annabelle in front of her only made her willing to fight back, so that’s also more trouble than it’s worth. Is there anything in particular I could use to-”
Then it hit him.
One very specific Evolvyrn ability that offered exactly what he needed.
Just as he was pulling a small notebook out of his coat pocket with the intent of writing it down, the door to his office was abruptly forced open. He quickly dropped the notebook and leaned back over his paperwork just in time before a small squadron of Global Police officers entered his office.
"I'm sorry, is there some sort of problem here?" Messias tsked.
"Joshua Messias, you are under arrest under the authority of the Global Police." The commanding officer stated. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."
"You can't be serious." Messias scoffed. "On what charges?"
"Kidnapping, torture, sexual assault, assault and battery, and attempted murder." The commanding officer replied. “Specific violations placing this under our jurisdiction include the purchase and possession of illegal alien technology used in committing these offenses.”
"Don't be ridiculous." Messias rolled his eyes. "What proof do you have of tha-"
He paused.
“Don’t wanna admit it, huh?” Emilia sighed, pulling something out of her pocket. “Fair enough, I guess; I’m lying to you too. There was no plea deal.”
Before Messias could question her as to what that meant, a flash of blue light suddenly went off behind him. He turned around as fast as he could, only to have a large drill planted into his chest.
“I already know exactly what you did.”
DataMiner’s drill turned, transforming Messias’s robotic body into a stream of data that was absorbed into her arm.
That species Krauze had turned into back then... he wasn't overly familiar with them- he tried not to be when it came to aliens- but he had a vague idea of the basics. If he was remembering correctly, they were called Datum, and they had the ability to extract and analyze data from objects they drilled into.
Including his robotic body.
Which had overseen the kidnapping and torture of Anne and Teresa.
....
Well.
This could be a problem.
....
But if he played his cards right...
"Alright, I'll go with you for now." Messias sighed, putting his hands in the air. "Of course, I would like to speak with a lawyer as soon as possible."
As they led him out of his office, Messias did his best to hide an arrogant smirk.
“Hey.” Anne said to him. “You weren’t really getting impatient back there, were you?”
Lucius turned to her with a questioning look.
“Back in the mountains, when we were fighting Nightmare OS.” Anne elaborated. “It was about to tell me who my father was when you cut it off.”
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” Lucius lied in a flat tone. “I may appear eternally composed, but even my patience has its-”
“I know Messias is my father.” Anne cut him off. “CROSS told me.”
“...Oh.” Lucius looked away. “I see.”
“Why’d you try to hide it from me?” Anne asked.
“I have a father with a similar level of moral fiber to yours.” Lucius replied. “It can be a...difficult position.”
“I appreciate the concern, but... I’d rather know the truth, even if it hurts.” Anne sighed. “You can’t confront a problem if you don’t even know it exists.”
“True.” Lucius said. “It would appear I’m still rather inexperienced in the art of handling sensitive information.”
“Well, you could be worse.” Anne glanced at Dana, who was still looking away from the group.
“I suppose so.”
Lucius walked over to Christine, who looked to be taking down notes for an incident report at the moment.
“Officer Eldridge, a word?”
“Sure, just give me a second to-” Christine paused and looked up from her phone. “Actually, you know what, it’s never good news from you. Let’s just get this over with.”
“Alright, Lucius, whatever this is better be important.” Christine stated as she followed him into his office. “And if it is, I feel like I should remind you again that I’m not off suspension yet.”
“Perhaps not, but you know the most about this case, and frankly I’d like to keep the chain of information as short as possible until we learn more about it.” Lucius replied.
“What case?” Christine asked. “We already found out that Teresa’s death certificate existed because of Oberon OS meddling with the timeline.”
“While this is related to Oberon OS, it’s not about that specifically.” Lucius said. “What do you remember about the day Oberon OS raised an army of corpses to attempt mass murder?”
“Uh... pretty much everything.” Christine raised an eyebrow. “If you want to ask me about something in particular, you’re gonna need to be a bit more specific.”
“Then I’ll get straight to the point:” Lucius finally looked over at her. “Do you know what happened to the corpses?”
“The corpses?” Christine blinked. “I wasn’t around for cleanup, so I couldn’t tell you, to be honest.”
“That’s the problem; nobody seems to be able to tell me.” Lucius tsked. “I’ve had my team go through the records of every possible service or organization that could have had a hand in cleaning up the bodies. They weren’t re-buried, they weren’t taken in for cremation, they weren’t picked up by a biohazard disposal unit, they simply... disappeared. I even went through all the documentation myself just to double-check.”
“Hang on, isn’t there footage of trucks coming through to pick up the bodies?” Christine questioned.
“Yes, but said trucks were unmarked, and if you run their license plate numbers, I believe you’ll find that they were all registered to a company that goes by ‘Incident Disposal Inc.’”
“That doesn’t sound like a real company.” Christine raised an eyebrow.
“It isn’t; it’s a shell corporation.” Lucius stated. “Someone went to a lot of trouble to abduct these corpses and do it anonymously.”
“Christ, I am way too burned out for this.” Christine pinched the bridge of her nose. “Normally I’d put this down to black market organ harvesters, but the majority of those bodies were way too decomposed to be useful. Who the hell steals hundreds of half-rotten corpses?”
“Who, indeed.” Lucius tsked. “But more importantly...why?”
Major Events[]
- Joshua Messias is arrested by the Global Police.
Characters[]
Protagonists[]
Neutral[]
- Reynard Raivent
Antagonists[]
Aliens Used[]
By Teresa[]
By Anne[]
By Christine[]
By Messias[]
Trivia[]
- While their existence was discussed in Truth X Morning, this is the first episode to formally introduce one of Lucius's brothers.
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