Zone Of The Enders Fan Fiction ❯ Zone of the Enders: Resurrection ❯ Enigma ( Chapter 10 )

Warning: This chapter contains some gore and violence, but don't worry, the whole story isn't going to stay like this. Just think of the atmosphere like Constantine's portrayel of Hell, or any random horror/action game (Devil May Cry, Silent Hill, Resident Evil, etc.).

"Destiny is a cruel fiend. It can turn those who have contempt with authority into lawkeepers, and put total bafoons in charge, leaving the smart people ignored. I believe the United Nations Space Force is a fine example of Destiny's sense of humor."
-Dingo Egret

Chapter 10: Enigma

The gangster didn't die, despite the bullet firing through his forehead and out the back. His head was merely thrown back from the shot, to which he thrust it forward again, a fresh stream of blood leaking out from where the .45 caliber bullet pierced. Now, Raven was freaked. At first, he was unnerved, but whatever was going on had managed to break past his empathic barrier and stir his greatest fears. He fired three more shots, this time into the guy's chest, but he remained unphased. The air seemed to shrill around him, and the last warmth in his body had died out. He growled and blinked his eyes, and when he looked up, all three guys were gone. The fear disappeared, but it was now replaced with a dark and cold wonder to his surroundings. There was nothing in the food court out of place, but he still felt he was being watched.

He felt dizzy, his vision beginning to waver. It felt like his skin was rippling around his body that every one of his insides was bending and turning. It was agonizing, but Raven, being the tough ass he usually was, just growled at the pain like a predator to a wound. Ever so strong... the voice mocked again, echoing in his mind as if it were said in every direction, followed by an amount of whispering, laughter and inaudible phrases. It was the kind of thing people usually saw in a fantasy, where the sorcerer would toy with the hero's mind by telepathic communication. C'mon, warrior, let's play. Raven blinked after that phrase. When he opened his eyes, he felt the last of his blood warmth get drained away. For when he opened his eyes, he saw that he was no longer in North Point Mall, or possibly Mars for that matter. Or what he thought was the Mall.

The surroundings had turned from the clean state the Mall was into a ravaged zone. The walls, floor and ceiling were discolored now, turned to a sickening brownish tone with rust building along the edges. Debris and blood littered the ground, the scent of blood and ravaged flesh filling the room with in a foul odor. The windows and entry ways were shut by wooden boards nailed on the inside, but some red colored light managed to leak through, the only real light in the room. For some reason, Raven didn't back away or cover his mouth in a sickening way. He relaxed his body, standing back up. He snorted at the stench. That's more like it, warrior; accept your role to game. The voice said in between the chanting, laughter and whispering. Through whatever means, Raven could feel the voice's origin coming from the outside of the Mall, somewhere in the darkness. Deep into the shadows...

Heh heh, that's it, follow the blood-stained road if you want to get out. Feeling the urge to rid himself of the voice and escape, he walked out of the food court, and over to the nearest exit. The door slowly creeped open…

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The doors in the hangar closed shut, preventing Anubis from escaping and flying to his destination. For the moment, anyway. Without opening his six wing binders, he walked to the hatch that led to the outside, his footsteps making 'clanging' and thundering sounds that echoed around the narrow hangar. Adding to the noise were the alarm klaxons that filled the room with a red color and alert sound, along with the commotion of the humans around the Neith-type orbital frame. Anubis ignored them; he had, after all, better things to do, like escape. He reached the door, starting to pound and bash at it with his two pronged fingers. The large refined titanium slab, being already designed to withstand explosives and energy waves on both sides, stood firm against the blows the jackal made against it. Anubis' effort increased, from merely punching to throttling against the door like the wild beast it was made to represent. Its eyes brightened, showing the "machine's" bloodlust to rip the door open, and the human's below could've sworn they heard a low, frustrated growl echo from the frame. An energy blast to the frame's back stopped its throttling, making it turn around. Two AlterNeiths hovered there, blades deployed. Anubis turned to face them, standing hunched over and crossing its arms, revealing the eight arm blades that lined its wrists, red energy blades emanating.

The AlterNeith runners hesitated at first, but seeing as the frame wasn't hovering, neither did it fire any energy attacks at them. Obviously, they had the advantage, or it was just trying to scare them off. Whatever it was, one of the AlterNeith's fired a shot at Anubis, burning a neat little mark on its shoulder armor. Anubis reeled back from the assault a little, feeling the scorch of the blast. The AlterNeiths fired more shots at Anubis, but by this point, Anubis knew better than to just stand there. It leapt to the ground and ran on all four legs, running up the wall, and then leaping off and landing on one of the AlterNeiths. The runner screamed and brought his OF's blades to bear, but it was too late. Anubis was on top of it, slashing and hacking at the frame with its eight arm blades. The other AlterNeith charged a burst attack launched it into Anubis' back, knocking it off the dismembered frame and drawing its attention. Anubis pounced in the air again, this time the AlterNeith side stepping, and Anubis slashing its left arm at the AlterNeith's head when it landed. The runner of the black frame was prepared, bringing both of the AlterNeith's blades up to deflect the slash. He jetted back and fired another series of energy bursts, to which Anubis crouched on all fours again and dodged each and every shot with cat-like agility. It dove at the AlterNeith, intent on shredding it like it did to the first one. This time, the runner paniced, rather than manuevering to dodge the attack, he extended his frame's arm blades again, crossing them with Anubis' own. Big mistake.

In between his panic attack, the runner failed to notice Anubis' tail was equipped with a pair of 'forked' blades at the tip, and that Anubis had perfect control over its tail. In a manner that befitted a scorpion, the jackal frame brought its tail over its head piece and in a flash, struck the AlterNeith's support AI module on its chest, disorienting the AlterNeith. With its runner losing control of his frame, Anubis took the opportunity to whip its tail about again, this time severing the cockpit from the AlterNeith's body, letting the body fall the to ground with the cockpit. Seeing no more need to draw its attention away from its own escape, Anubis went back to the door, this time, slashing at it with its arm blades.

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Nadia had just gotten out of her shower and started to slip on her uniform when the battle alert sounded. Her mind immediately jumped to the conclusion that VANGUARD was attacking, but her pilot's instinct told her otherwise. There had been no reports of activity along the border, or any metatron reactions as well, so whatever was happening had nothing to do with their enemies. She opened a comlink to the control room, and since she was only wearing her tank top, Nadia kept it on sound only. "What's going on?" she demanded with impatience.

"We don't know, Colonel." the shaky voice of Sergeant Tanaka replied, "Something's gone wrong with Anubis. It's... Attacking on its own."

"What?" Nadia said, surprised and confused, "Is there somebody in the frame?"

"No, ma'am. That's the strange part. The thing is moving, trying to open the hangar door and it will attack anything that comes near it!" the Seargent replied, "It's already disabled to AlterNeiths."

"I see..." Nadia said, more subdued this time. She took the time to slip on the rest of her underwear, then opening her closet door, revealing her black and magenta frame runner jumpsuit. "What's the status on Anouke?"

"The engineers report 85 complete." the Sergeant said.

"Good enough. Have it ready for combat." Nadia said, taking the jumpsuit out of her closet, starting to slip into it. She couldn't explain why, but something inside of her was jumping at the challenge of fighting the berserk Anubis. After all, with Yuriko gone and Esteraund having disappeared, she was the best runner on the base right now. "You hear me, Sergeant? I don't want anyone to fight that thing. I want to test Anouke's power."

"I understand, Colonel. Anouke is in the secondary hangar, and will be prepared. Control room out." the Sergeant said, signing off.

Nadia zipped her jumpsuit on, now fully dressed. As she ran out the door, she couldn't help but wonder, what the hell was going on? Not that it mattered to her at the moment, she felt a warm feeling overcome her at the though of using her own OF again. “Let's see what you got, fledgling…” she muttered.

Although nobody noticed it in the hangar, Anouke's eyes lit up and its Metatron lines began to pulsate, long before Nadia ever entered the hangar…

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Raven had finally entered the central point of the mall, seething as the stench of rotting flesh and blood strengthened at this point in. Not only the Mall had been affected, but the entire neighborhood around it had been seemingly ravaged by a demonic force. The sky was a blood red color now, lit up in a seldom twilight that even pierced through the sphere. Instead of a sun though, the sky seemed to have images of human eyes, open and looking down on the planet's surface. The buildings were all in decayed ruin, as were the cars, streets and sidewalks, looking as though a nuclear shell had been detonated in Margaritifer. Aside from the rust and desolation, there were also strange organic objects that were spread around the streets in blobs, looking similar to organs in the human body. They were in various places: flattened along the streets like pancakes, bulged against the corner of a building, running up the side of a car hood, and seemingly `creeping' out of sewer manholes. What was disturbing was they were all pulsating, much like human organs moving a long to a heart beat, they seemed to be pumping an unknown type of energy around the area.

Any human would've been gasping for air right now, but Raven just sniffed the air and breathed it as if it were natural for him. He didn't ponder the matter much, he just turned his head left to right to see where the presence was, the one that he was following. North Point was set up like a compass, with four branches pointing in four directions in a cross design. The central point, was as the name meant, Central Avenue, which was the location of the Mall and general shopping centers, and the other directions were just homes and small businesses. Now however, it all looked deserted. Cracked walls, wooden boards over shops and exit doors, debris littered around, the unnatural rusted color and the mysterious organisms. Everything appeared uneven and unbalanced, as if this wasn't what the town was supposed to look like and yet it still was. It was the kind of feeling you got in a horror movie, when the main character was walking through a 'deserted' house, camp or town just to make the audience wonder how the hell the place ended up like this. Raven stopped as something caught his eyes gaze.

In the back corner of an alleyway, slumped against a wall, was a human shape covered over by a white sheet. Raven strolled over to the sheet, curious as to what it was doing here. Now, again, for whatever reason, Raven didn't feel any terror or shock at the site of a body. His eyes just narrowed and he kept his mouth shut. After all, he had seen quite a few in his lifetime, thanks to living and `working' under BAHRAM at an early period of his life. The only thing holding him back from unveiling the cover was he had taken a second to contemplate. If Murphy's Law were in effect here, then this would be a trap, where he'd unveil the body, only to find a bomb or some sort of crude weapon aimed at him. Do it. What's one more corpse to you? You've seen so many… the voice called in his mind, echoing with laughter again. Raven growled again, he had no real choice. Without hesitation, he threw off the blanket. To his surprise, and that was saying a lot with his stone cold demeanor, there was no solid mass under the blanket. Just several stains of blood, and a single peace of note with words the written on it in red. Raven picked it up. Die Bosheit war sein Hauptpläsier, Drum `- spricht die Tante - hängt er hier'. was all that read on the paper.

Though the line was written in German, Raven knew what it was, and it terrified him in a deep way. Translated into English, it read “The aunt speaks, `Malice was his bliss, and that is why he hangs like this.'”. It was the final line in Wilhelm Busch's children story `Hans Huckebein'.

Indeed, Metatron has judged you, young Huckebein, and it finds you worthy of its power. The question is, will you use it well, or will you hang from the needle kit... the voice mocked, getting louder.

"Will you come out already?" Raven growled, drawing his handgun and firing in the direction of the voice. Again, surprised, he saw a body stumble out of the shadows, where he shot, a narrow hole pierced through the head. It looked human, even dressed in regular clothes, but much of the body had been drastically altered to the point Raven questioned if it was still human. The thing was hunched over, with its left arm lower than its right like a hunchback. Its clothes were torn up, and its skin gored open to reveal the organs. The scent of decaying flesh and blood grew stronger just by the thing's approach. There were no eyes in its head, and its mouth seemed to sewn shut by black thread. It opened its mouth to reveal no teeth, just a thick, slug-shaped tongue. It let out a soft bellow, and then brought itself up, beginning to run at Raven. Raven sighed and shot another bullet into the things head, but it still kept running, until it was on top of him, bringing a clawed fist at Raven. The boy, in a split second, dropped his gun and drew his staff from the seethe at his hip, cutting the thing's head off. The head rolled over, stumbling across the floor, while the body slumped, blood pouring out of its openings.

When it fell, the body Raven had cut was replaced by a normal human body, the clothes intact, but blood still pouring into a small puddle. The head also reformed, showing it was the guy with the Yu-Gi-Oh wig. Raven just grumbled, frustrated, but not the least bit remorseful. In fact, he spat upon the body. So, you are not afraid to kill... the voice announced with an impressive air, So much the better. You are indeed worthy of the task given to you, Huckebein, Domineus of Anubis.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Raven roared, picking up his gun and holding it with his left gloved hand while his right hand held the staff, "You better hope I don't find you, because once I do..." his lips curled into a smile, Raven licking his lips at the thought. "Actually, I wouldn't mind to show you up front rather than explain it."

Oh do not fear, Huckebein, we will meet face to face... at that, five more of the zombies bellowed, coming out of the shadows, this time each were holding a pair of rusted blades in each hand, square shaped swords that seemed to be encrusted with dried blood and rust. Instead of cowering in fear, saying 'holy shit' right off or just standing there unphased, something happened that Raven didn't expect himself to do. His mouth curled into a sadistic grin, much more than any he had seen before. He fished out his 'Neo' sunglasses he had slipped into his pocket earlier, putting them on to shroud his eyes. The glasses weren't amplified for darkness, they were just regular sunglasses, but Raven felt he didn't need his eyes. He replaced his staff into the Vector Trap around his body and took out his second Anaconda, firing bullets from both guns. As he expected, the bullets hit his attackers, but they didn't go down. "Had to make sure." he said to himself. He holstered the guns and drew his staff again, clashing it against the blades of one of the zombies, then spinning around it and back slashing it. The staff passed through the skin like thick gelatin, but Raven didn't feel the blade come across bone or any form of organs. Worst off, the thing still didn't go down, even though its entire midsection had been cut open. Raven jumped back from an oncoming slash from the rusted blades, and then somersaulted from two pairs of blades coming to impale him. In the process, he slip kicked a zombie, making it lose its footing, then jumping up and impaling it with the end of the staff blade.

Still, the thing didn't stay down; instead, it pulled the blade out of its gut and jumped back up with agility Raven. The terror that had long since been held back slowly began to overcome Raven's combat prowlness. He was frightened now; frightened that he may be overwhelmed. But that didn't stop him, he continued hack and slash at the things. His efforts were still in vein, as whatever he cut off, the zombies merely had them regenerated by sprouting new appendages.

"Fuck." Raven said simply, as all the damage he had done was repaired in only a second. He saw that he had no choice, but run from them, as no matter what he did, they simply shrugged it off. And he wasn't about to go to hand-to-hand combat with these things, not if they could absorb bullets. Backing away, he took out one of his guns again and fired shots to slow them down, while he started to move away from the center point of the Mall. He stopped in his tracks, hearing the sound of more zombies coming from the darkness, getting closer by the second. Now, he was breathing heavily, seeing that all directions were closed off by these things. If he ran into the shadows, he'd only fight more of them, and if he stayed there, he'd have to deal with the ones already present, until the others came up. Raven didn't want to think about it, but the thoughts came to him anyway. He shuddered, showing his fear openly. Something he relented upon doing.

Then he saw an abandoned restaurant that had been covered over with wooden boards on the windows, but the entrance was still open. He ran into the restaurant, and locked the door, reinforcing it with a board against the knob. The restaurant, like the rest of the town, was full of blood and rusted over to a brownish. But this time, it was starting to bother Raven. He didn't want to die here, not like this. Not by something out of a twentieth century B-quality horror movie. Silently, he murmured to himself to wake up from this nightmare, even as the bellowing grew louder from the outside. Poor little Huckebein... the voice returned in full power, You say you're fearless, and yet there you are, cowering, wishing you were never born. it laughed, Is all your thoughts made out of fear, Huckebein?

"Shut up." was all Raven said.

The voice laughed again, I see now, you're still thinking as a human and not what you are supposed to be.

"And you probably know all about that, don't you?" Raven scoffed.

It takes more than a mere boy to be the Domineus of Anubis, or an Elemental for that matter. Raven's blood froze. He wasn't expecting the voice to call him that. His thoughts were interrupted by the pounding on the door. The bellowing had grown into a large, unified echo, and the sound of hundreds of those demon things pounding on the door sent chills down Raven's spine. Now, he was in an even worse position than before. Tucked away, in the corner, scared out of his mind. What a way to die...

Then another thought entered Raven's mind at that very moment, one he hadn't intended on. A memory of the past. He closed his eyes and opened to see North Point had been replaced by an alleyway, covered in shadow and dust. He could see various shadows surrounding him in what used to be a hangar of some military basin. Raven was now in the center, surrounded by these shadows. That's when one of the shadows came into the light: a blonde haired, glasses-wearing man, dressed in a jacket, white shirt and jeans, as if he were some sort of pilot. Just like the people at North Point, his eyes were rolled back into his head and he was walking like a zombie. The pilot was also brandishing a silenced Walther P199K, both hands clenching the trigger. Raven felt himself crawling back into the corner, breathing heavily. His heart was pounding, and he could feel every blood vessel in his body seem to disappear the sight of this man. Pure and deep terror. That's how many described the feeling, a feeling Raven lamented on since he was born. The UNSF officer angled the gun above Raven's forehead, in between the eyes. The boy could feel the cold metal of the gun's silencer press against him, all life at that part of the body had scattered and dissipated, as if anticipating the .40 caliber bullet.

That did it for Raven, that last motion of life leaving his body. Roaring with a beast-like rage, he knocked the gun away with lightning speed, then used his left hand to grab the man's throat. He struggled to overcome Raven's grip, but it was no avail, the boy's strength was way too much for him. His eyes began to twitch wildly, the sound of bones cracking and the gush of his soft throat being crushed being the last thing he'd hear or feel. His arms fell limp, and Raven dropped the body. He blinked his eyes and saw one of the zombies had broken through the door and was about to impale him, when he suddenly sprang out and crushed its throat, to the point that its pure organic throat had been stretched and thinned. The other zombies drew back, seeing their comrade fall, but keeping to the defensive.

Raven just looked at the body, seeing his handiwork. There was no fear in his mind now; his condition had changed back to what it once was. No, much more. He didn't fear any of them now, but he wasn't stone cold and emotionless. His lips curled into an insane smile, and his blood warmed. He had killed it, it was no longer alive. The body struggled for a bit, probably due to the last of the creature's nerve system acting, but Raven didn't allow it to linger. He stepped on its soft head, squishing it beneath his military boot. The head seemed to explode, sending two drops of blood into Raven's face. Raven closed his eyes, and his insane smile opened, letting out a howl of laughter. Nothing was going to stop him now, nothing. He wasn't afraid of anything, especially not of death. Whatever that force would throw at him, he would destroy with his own power. The creatures drew back further from the laughter, brandishing their rusted blades and different sorts of melee weapons.

Then the laughter stopped and Raven opened his eyes… which were now gleamed purple, as bright as quartz. In fact, slowly, his entire body began to change as energy swirled around him. His clothes changed to a black space suit, like the one he wore in Anubis, covered over by a black, purple and red overcoat. The coat was similar in design to what priests wore, except it was split open down the middle, and it had two slits down the back, giving it three tails instead of the usual two. The strangest part, however, was something no human being should have: wings. Two black wings, angelic in design, came off of Raven's back, outlined in a purple aura like the rest of Raven's body.

Raven's grin increased as his attackers came at him again…

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Anubis continued to slash at the hangar door, its frustration apparent. The last remaining humans in the hangar, a group of NUT engineers that had come out to rescue several of their 'trapped' co-workers', looked up for a moment, wondering why the frame wasn't using any of its long-range energy weapons or sub weapons to blow open the door and fly away. Course, the fact the frame was acting on its own was strange enough, but still... It was as if Anubis didn't know its own abilities. Or it was holding back for whatever reason. Seeing the frame was ignoring them, they chose that moment to run out of the hangar, as fast as they could.

At long last, Anubis decided enough was enough. It brought its right arm back and formed the staff, then stepping back into a combat pose. A trio of slashes came soon after, then a single poke from the unbladed side of the staff. The launch door crumbled open, revealing the outside of Margaritifer County. It walked outside, taking a look around the base. The humans below were a lot smarter than expected, as none of the bases' defense turrets, SAM launchers or automated defense frames were active. Neither was there any more AlterNeiths flying around. If Anubis could do it, it would be a wearing a most feral grin upon its face. It side stepped, avoiding an energy shot from an AlterNeith near by.

Anubis jumped back and back flipped as three more shots blasted toward it, jumping up on all fours and pouncing at where the AlterNeith was firing from. However, instead of landing on his intended target, the frame merely swiped Anubis back into the air, and then flew at it at a speed far greater than a regular AlterNeith. Anubis barely had time to cross its arm blades to defend against his opponent's own arm blade. However, the `blade' divided and opened like a pincer to transform into a bow launcher, and energy began to charge into it. Anubis' eyes widened when the blast struck it, sending it into the ground, where it landed on its two feet. Whatever its opponent was, it wasn't an AlterNeith.

The armor plating had been changed over, using designs from the original Neith prototype design, with breast plate, hip guards, and extended shoulder paldrons. The original tri-binder assembly had been removed and replaced with a pair of multi-wing binders, giving the already fast Neith design extra velocity and power. For normal flight, the wing binders were folded into two separate units, but when it went to full velocity, the wings `unfold' into six vernier points, plus the original base wings. For weapons, the original arm blades had been removed, but it had been given the standard allotment of subweapon options used by the AlterNeith. Its primary weapon was a shield/large blade on its right arm, which could turn into a bow launcher for additional firepower. Other than that, the rest of the design remained true to the original Neith. Its colors were primarily a royal purple, with magenta highlights in different areas similar to the design on Raijin, outlined with curving gold lines making the orbital frame true to its Goddess name, Anouke.

Anubis immediately leaped back at Anouke, moving faster than Nadia could see, but she still managed to block its attack with her energy shield. She threw the black and red jackal off of her with a gauntlet shot to the chest and jetted back up into the air, extending her arm blades. Anubis went back on all fours again, and was slowly moving to the side like a crazed beast.

"What is this, a cornered jackal?" Nadia said, grinning sharply, "Without your runner, you're weak."

Anubis seemed to bellow in response, and then leaped up again. This time, Nadia was prepared for the fast attack. Being much more skilled than the previous runners Anubis had dealt with, she blocked a strike from the frame's arm blades with her own, then flipping backward in midair and tossing the frame back onto the ground. She followed this up with a homing laser shot, which Anubis ran and leapt as far as its 'running' on all fours would allow, resulting in each shot landing on the ground. It then looked back up at Anouke and whipped its tail with anticipation, awaiting Nadia's next attack. However, after a moment, it seemed Nadia was also waiting for it to move. And Anubis knew just how to move. It stood up on its hind legs and then letting out a gust of scarlet flame from its wing binders, floating in the air until it met equal level with Anouke. Then it reformed its staff and changed over to a rather familiar combat pose.

Nadia was about to attack, but before she could move, she recognized the stance. "You..." she muttered, seeing the combat pose Anubis had taken. The image of her late beloved's Bizac S formed over the frame, followed by a second image, being that of Grafficane. "Lunatic Sin... Bolozof..." she murmered. The form, the steps taken, it all looked like her beloved's prized combat maneuver. Against her better thinking, she dove at it, brandishing both arm blades for an overhead slash. A pair of slashes from Anubis' staff, one swiping overhead and the second going to the right deflect both slashes, and seeing the frame's guard open, it whipped around, catching Anouke's head with its tail blades. Anouke spun and shot toward the Earth, recovering to touch down on the ground and fly back up. Anubis once again countered her attack, this time throwing her out so they faced each other.

Breathing heavily in Anouke's cockpit, Nadia had no real idea what was going on. Anubis was a feral beast a minute ago; no it had apparently adopted the fighting style of Bolozof Velasgo, her dead commander and lover. It just stood there, waiting for her to move, while assuming the Lunatic Sin combat pose again.

"Are..." she murmured, "Are you testing me, Bolozof?" she said to Anubis.

Anubis' eyes flashed to a blinding level.

"No, you're not Bolozof." she laughed softly, "Foul beast..." she halted, seeing Anubis jet forward this time and attempt to strike her. She dodged the assault by sidestepping, then taking off and going into a spin against Anubis' attack. Anouke seemingly danced around Anubis' staff strikes while attacking with its own beam blade. The attack was called `Death Waltz', her own little attack she had developed for her own Bizac a long time ago. She could see the image of Bolozof grinning in her head, the way he did when he anticipated an attack's execution. To her, a seal of approval. "I guess I can humor you." she remarked.

It was the classic stand off, two opposing fighters brandishing their weapons and combat styles against each other, at equal level. A few soldiers rushed out of the base to see their second-in-command squaring off against the beast they had come to fear, staring up in awe at the two equal fighters. Then the time came, and both fighters launched forward, landing combination after combination of staff and blade stroke on each other. Anubis had the upper hand, but Nadia had skill to her, and she was keeping the beast at bay. She blocked the frame's staff strokes, and then continued to slice at the frame's torso. Anubis managed to back away just in time, then jetted at Anouke in a hit and run attack. Nadia maneuvered away from the attacking herself going into a dash. The original still sword fight had changed into a strike-and-run duel, with the two appearing as red and green shooting stars, going at each other and away again. It was a hard fight to watch, as both frames were moving faster than their eyes could track.

In the cockpit of Anouke, Colonel Nadia Velasgo sucked in a large amount of air into her lungs, even while she was dodging each blow, flying around and then striking at Anubis again. No matter what she did, the frame counterattacked at the very moment she attacked, throwing off her assault, and then attacking her just for her to do the same. The thing was playing with her, testing her skills, she could see it by the way it was fighting. Deep down, she was a little scared of Anubis' true power, but she didn't let that show in her combat style. She continued to slash and attack, as much as Anouke could. At the same time, Anubis couldn't touch her, or at least it appeared that way...

A curious thing happened after that. Anubis landed on the ground and let its staff dissimilate, crossing its arms. Nadia took the opportunity, against her better logic; she fired a large green orb at the still standing orbital frame. Anubis' eyes flashed, and it zero shifted again, coming up behind Anouke and wrappings its arms around it. Nadia struggled to escape, but her captor was far stronger than she anticipated, even for Anouke. The defense turrets below came active, and more AlterNeiths scurried to the ground below, powering up their main weapons.

Along with the AlterNeiths, and Idolo joined them, with Idolo arming its sword. Xander could only stare seldom for a moment, then closing his eyes.

During her struggles, Nadia felt she was slowly drifting out of consciousness. There was some sort of sound being made by Anubis, something that made her phase in and out of reality. It sounded like chanting, yes, the chanting of a prayer or a spell. It was no louder than a whisper and yet it was so powerful, that it blocked out all the communication from Anouke's AI and the hails from friendly units. Soon, she phased out of Anouke's cockpit entirely, floating in a dark abysmal plain. Metatron lines ran up and down her jumpsuit, in perfect synchronization with her heart beat. In the shadows, she could've sworn she saw a man's silhouette, cloaked in a dark overcoat that came down to his feet, a mixture of chanting and laughter coming from his form. Nadia felt as though she were going to faint from the energy flowing from the silhouette, but a pair of hands caught her before she could. Strong hands.

She turned to see another woman standing behind her, a blonde haired woman dressed in magenta battle armor over a light violet dress. Her face showed no emotion but determination from her pale green eyes, as if pressing Nadia to move forward. Strength re-entered Nadia's body, and she struggled, reaching out to the man in the shadow with her right hand. As she did that, Anouke's eyes lit green, and energy pulsated along its body faster. It broke out of Anubis' hold and ascended, opening its wings like a purple cloak. Energy formed around the frame, appearing as small orbs as bright as the sun, but small and concentrated. A moment later, the orbs shot into pillars of light that rained down upon the jackal below. Anubis struggled to dodge each blast, but one of them caught Anubis and sent into the ground.

Nadia awoke again, still in the cockpit of Anouke. "Guardian One do you read?" blared a communication link, "Colonel Velasgo, do you read?"

She hesitantly reached out and opened a communication window, "I'm still here. Report what just happened, Nemesis Two."

Xander's eyes narrowed, "Don't you know, Colonel?" he said, “Your frame had fired a multi-burst attack and subdued Anubis. I hoped you would explain to us what you happened, Colonel."

"Eh?" Nadia said. Realization came into her mind, and she had Anouke turn to the right. There was Anubis, kneeling before her, metatron lines no longer flowing and its eyes were dimmed. She sighed, not remembering fighting back or disabling it, but she made an explanation anyway, so she would not raise confusion. "I managed to get a shot into its torso, almost hitting the Anti-Proton Reactor. Anubis' AI must've seen the damage and it deactivated."

"I see, Colonel." the Xander replied, "Please return. Avenger and I will clean up the mess."

"Roger, returning." Nadia said. She took one last look at Anubis, and then re-engaged her verniers, flying back to the hangar. What had just happened, and why?

Xander's eyes wavered a little bit, and a trace of green energy pulsated from them, then channeled down his body to his arms and legs, and into Idolo itself. “Could Anubis have reacted to him…?” he muttered to no one in particular.

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Raven slowly entered back into North Point, still looking in his overly amused state. The zombies bellowed back a little, but they still kept their various weapons up, waiting to see what Raven would do. The black haired boy grinned, running, drawing his staff, and then jumping into the air at abnormal heights, only to fall into the center of the pack. He ducked from a zombie's blade slash; twirling his staff and cutting into the legs of the thing, making it fall to the ground. He then got back up and spun around another zombie, stabbing it in the back with his staff, and pushing it into another group. This time, the zombies seemed to die when he stabbed them, rather than just re-heal themselves as if nothing had happened. Raven didn't think about it, he was too busy slashing away at the forces that came at him. "Nothing will stand in my way..." he whispered to himself at every moment he could, before going back to hack open one of his opponents.

One of the zombies swung a rusted mace like weapon at Raven, which he blocked, only to have his staff knocked away. Raven was disoriented for a second, allowing another zombie to take the opportunity to fire a crossbow shot into him. He gasped as he felt the arrow pierce through his chest, the long bolt sticking right out. The zombies began to move in for the kill, but they stopped, seeing as Raven was still standing. Despite their generally emotionless gazes, they were now being taken back by fear, the same kind of fear that Raven felt earlier. For before them, the boy was grinning, ripping out the arrow with no showing of pain or cry. The boy saw there was blood on the tip, but it only provided a warm feeling inside of him. As if he enjoyed being wounded. In fact, seeing his own blood run down the stick of the bolt made him decide he would try something new. Up to this point, he had been using either his staff or his guns to take down his adversaries, but now, he wasn't afraid to engage them with no weapons. He tossed the arrow down on the ground and stepped on it, giving an amused glare at his opponents, before slipping off his gloves and tucking them in his coat pocket. That's it... the voice said, You know what to do...

Raven let out a silent growl. "Strike down evil instantly." he said, under his breath. He laughed, forcing the zombies back further. They actually feared him now. "Evil to me is whoever stands in my way." The voice laughed back, and one of the zombies came at him, this one armed with a huge broad staff. Raven side stepped from the downward slash and kicked the zombie in the gut, making it back away a little, allowing Raven to take its staff arm and impale it through its stomach. He threw it back, to the ground, dead, and then running after the last few. There were twelve now, two having crossbows, two having broad staffs, three having maces and the last five having those square blades. They were all rusted, but as Raven learned, they were still sharp. Raven opened up by jumping in the air again, this time landing on one of the broad staff users with his right leg, knocking it on the ground and smashing its gut. He followed this up by punching one of the blade users, so hard that his fist literally broke through the things face and almost going entirely through had Raven continued. He ripped his fist free and let the thing fall, only to kick another one's head clean off with his right leg. That was three. Another shot from the crossbow wielders slowed him down, but it only aggravated him further. Ripping the arrow from his gut, he tracked the shooter and sent it flying with a jump kick. The zombie flew several feet until passing through one of the bolted shops, never to rise again.

Now Raven was getting more and more aggressive, ignoring his wounds. He grunted, his grin never disappearing, as he dove at another one of the blade carriers. This time, he grabbed it by the top of the head, applying pressure. The thing hissed in pain, until its head was crushed entirely by Raven's fingers. Blood encompassed Raven's hand, warm, red blood. It matched the feeling he felt inside, the very warmth of his soul. The rest of the zombies didn't last long, the ones that were lucky enough to wound Raven, a little, but Raven destroyed them with his bare inhuman strength alone. Their blood was all over his hands now, as well as his body, so much that he could smell it mix with his own sweat. He stood there for moments, inhaling the smell, letting it warm him further. It was almost intoxicating, the feeling he had now. It was how humans described comfort, the feeling that there was no pain in him or any cold darkness that would limit him. He reveled in it, cherishing the feeling as he sniffed in the scent of blood, starting to wipe his hands with it the way people winced their hands with water.

I knew I was right about you, Huckebein! The voice, this time audible, yelled, amidst the laughter. A strong aura came over Raven this time, something he never felt until now. It turned his bloodlust into a twinge of fear on the spot. In fact, it sent Raven onto his back, like the shockwave from an explosion.

”Why are you calling me `Huckebein'?” Raven yelled out loud, “Who are you?”

The voice seemed to verbally frown, if that were possible. “Is that all you can say? After seven years apart from each other, you have forgotten me already?”

Raven's eyes widened. Seven years? Was this guy referring to Antilia? Only he and Esteraund survived that nightmare, how could…? The fear enveloped Raven, as he opened his mouth to speak, but only one word came out. “…Isaac?”

Upon the mentioning of that word, a single human being seemingly walked out of thin air. Isaac Mattheris, now clothed in a silver, blue and gold frame runner suit, the total opposite of what Raven was wearing, covered by a white cape over his back and a hood that came off of it. He folded the hood down as he walked out into the open, golden eyes shimmering from the aura that came around him. “It's been a while, hasn't it Huckebein? Good to see you remember that day…” Isaac asked.

The black-clothed frame runner's rage returned and he lunged at Isaac with his staff, attempting to impale him. Isaac merely closed his eyes and side stepped the lunge, then continued to dodge the follow-up strikes, until he caught the blade end of the staff between his right hand index and middle fingers. It seemed to be enough strength to stop Raven. “Temper, temper. That's no way to greet an old friend.”

”Isaac!” Raven roared, trying to push further with the attack. Seeing this, Isaac let off of the staff and side stepped again, letting it pass, while he grabbed the handle and using it as a lever, flipped Raven over with it. Raven landed on his palms and pushed back to his feet, and opened his wings.

At the same time, a pair of white-silverish wings formed upon Isaac's back, also similar to Raven's. He tossed the staff aside as Raven dived at him, then held out his right hand to block the incoming attack. Raven's dive halted as he hit Isaac's palm with his fist.

”That's it!” Isaac mock-cried in joy, “Use your real power! Strike me down with your rage!” he called to Raven.

Raven gritted his teeth, still trying to push, but he could not break through the apparent shield Isaac had formed.

Isaac raised an eyebrow, “What's wrong? You're much more powerful than this…”

Raven could only respond by closing his eyes, still struggling.

”…Oh, I get it!” Isaac tossed Raven aside like a rag doll, making him fly a few feet. He laughed when Raven landed, “After all this time, you're still afraid of your own power?”

”Son of a bitch…” Raven shouted as he got up.

”Eh?” Isaac asked, curious, “No need to call names, I was just making an observation…” he mocked.

Raven snarled at Isaac's fake-naiveté, “You remember… You slaughtered all those people like livestock!” His aura brightened as he continued, “Back on Antilia… Our brothers, our guardians and everyone in between…”

Isaac laughed wildly, “You still hold a grudge over that? If I hadn't done that, you wouldn't be the person you are today, Huckebein. You should thank me, because I helped you…”

”Helped me?” a purple orb formed in Raven's hand, like a burst shot on an OF, to which he through at Isaac. The orb hit the other boy head on, but it merely impacted against a golden energy shield that appeared just as the orb hit.

Isaac merely sighed as Raven prepared to make another attack, starting to walk toward him. The attack never came though, as Raven's body froze into place unexpectedly. He struggled to break the hold Isaac placed on his body, but he couldn't, not before Isaac facing him.

Isaac blinked once, and his golden eyes flashed brightly.

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The world swirled around Raven for a second, as the world around him changed again. The buildings became faded and changed into a more urban design, cleaner than North Point, but still covered over by a great shadow. He looked at his surroundings and saw he was in an industrial sector of a city. No, a colony. He recognized it all to well, a high school that had been used as a headquarters for the Nephilim Project during its final days of experimentation and sortie. Except now, the place had been overrun, and had been set on fire from an explosion. Raven's eyes widened. “No!” he called out, squinting his eyes, trying to block out the images.

”Yes…” Isaac chimed as he appeared behind Raven, “Antilia, just before the Raid, the night that defined your life. The night when your true nature awakened. This is no trick, Huckebein; it's all as you remember, as your soul can tell…”

As Isaac spoke this, shadows began to appear around the Raven as he found himself in a new location. A hangar bay of some kind, covered in human blood and with the image of a large monolith in the background. The shadows surrounded him entirely. What seemed like hundreds of people, walking mindlessly towards him en mass, eyes glazed over and slow movements showing that they were not under their own control. As the continued walking, Raven reached up to defend himself, but there was no attack…

What seemed like a moment phased past, and Raven saw a new building, this time a Church. The same Church that he ran to when Jehuty appeared to fight off the incoming Raptors, except now it was on fire, as was the rest of the surrounding neighborhood. He looked up into the sky and saw Raptor orbital frames flying over the area like a swarm of locust, only their red mono-eyes shining out of their black silhouettes. A few of the frames landed, beginning to fly through the streets while firing energy blasts at the random buildings. That's when new arrivals appeared. Three of them. Three orbital frames landing in the center of the street, as the Raptors flew overhead, observing the destruction. Due to the lack of light, Raven couldn't see them clearly, but he recognized two. Anubis and Jehuty, their weapons armed. The third remained in the shadow, but he thought he could see a pair of golden eyes shine through the cloud, as it brought an arm blade to bare…

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Back at North Point, Raven screamed, ending up falling on his knees while clutching his head, trying to stop the flow of the images. They were his memories, originally locked away in the depths of his mind like prisoners to be forgotten, only to be freed again by Isaac's power. Isaac himself continued to hover over Raven as he cried in agony. “That's it… You remember it well…” Isaac said, “Remember why you are Huckebein the Raven, and the chosen Domineus of…”

”That's enough!”

”Eh?” Isaac flapped his wings and flew up, as a fireball landed where he was standing a second ago. He flew back and landed on the roof top of a building, looking at his attacker. He smiled with great amusement. “Lady Mirielle of House Faroh, this is quite the switch. Isn't it supposed to be the knight that's supposed to save the Princess, ma chierre?”

Indeed, his attacker was Mirielle, clothed in a scarlet and gold flight suit to Isaac's silver and blue, as well as Raven's black and purple. She didn't have wings on her back like Raven and Isaac did, but she retained a crimson aura around herself as she glared at Isaac. “I told you a long time ago, Isaac, if anything happened to Raven, I would chase you to Hell if I had too…” Another fireball formed in her hand.

”Don't threaten my Master that way…” yet another voice called out.

Mirielle barely had time to dodge as a fiery whip cracked next to her. She turned to see another woman standing there, a green haired woman covered by a tattered, forest green cloak that covered a bright crimson flight suit. Unlike Mirielle and Isaac, she wasn't generating an aura, but she still seemed to be a hard opponent. Her whip retracted some length like a serpent, just after Mirielle noticed her. “Wahrsager…” she spat, “Or should I say Major Victoria Melphan, Special Forces VANGUARD.”

”'Victoria Melphan' disappeared from this world two years ago, when she learned the truth.” Wahrsager shot back, “And that is exactly what Lord Isaac is trying to get Raven Vostrikov to do…” she lashed her whip at Mirielle again as she said that.

However, the Scarmiglione runner showed surprising agility, running and doing a handstand, then pushing herself into the air. Mirielle landed a kick in Wahrsager's face faster than the opposing fighter could keep track, forcing the green-haired woman on her back. Wahrsager gritted her teeth and attempted to counter, but Mirielle thrust her palm at her face, stopping short, but forming a fire ball in her hand. “Truth hurts, bitch.” She taunted.

Isaac laughed, “Amusing. You are indeed a worthy Domineus, Lady Mirielle. However, your attack is meaningless.” He shrugged, “I don't want to harm Huckebein, I just want him to remember his purpose.”

”Purpose?” Mirielle questioned, getting away from Wahrsager. She had no reason to fight her, if what Isaac said was true. As well, Wahrsager got up and leapt into the air artfully, landing next to Isaac.

“Yes, Huckebein has been chosen by Metatron for a special purpose, so special in fact that he must remain alive and well.” Isaac said.

”And what purpose is that?” Mirielle demanded.

”Oh…” Isaac contemplated, then shrugged, “What's that response that everyone is so fond of… Ah I remember!” he raised his hand up, then folded all of his fingers except his index, which he moved in a `tsk tsk' motion. “Sore wa himitsu desu.”

”Not for long, it won't be.” Mirielle snarled.

”Are you willing to fight two Dominions on your own? Especially when one is a Light Elemental?” Wahrsager intervened, preparing to re-brandish her whip.

Isaac stopped her. ”That's enough fighting for one day. As everyone in this sphere knows, more will come soon.” He told her. “Wilhelm is seeing to that.” Wahrsager hesitated at first, but she retracted her whip back into her cloak when Isaac mentioned the last point.

”So, what are you going to do now, Isaac? If you're not going to kill Raven…” Mirielle demanded.

”Fear not, Lady Mirielle, we're done here. Huckebein will need some rest, but he will recover…” Isaac told her. He reached out and fired a pillar of energy at Mirielle.

Though Mirielle was blinded by the intensity, she summoned her energy and formed a fiery shield over her, deflecting the beam as it encompassed her. After the blast dissimilated, she looked up to see a crimson orbital frame lift off from the ground, with Isaac standing in one of its open palms. Mirielle recognized it as Wahrsager's orbital frame, Adavari. “You won't get away…” Mirielle spoke, ready to summon Scarmiglione.

”Au contrair ma chierre, now isn't the time.” Isaac blinked once, energy swirling over him. Before Mirielle could do anything, Adavari disappeared, most likely from the effect of a zero-shift, though it was unimaginable how a human being like Isaac could survive such transference.

The explanation didn't matter, however, as Isaac Mattheris was definitely gone. The sky and buildings had all reverted back to normal as it was before. Mirielle leapt from the rooftop and landed back on the ground level where Raven was laying unconscious, back in his normal attire. As well, Mirielle's original black t-shirt and jeans reformed over her body, and her aura dispersed. She rushed over to his side and checked his pulse.

Mirielle sighed with relief when she felt a normal heartbeat. Slowly, she picked him up and slung him onto her back for a fireman's carry. “Why is it whenever you go somewhere, that you have to bring these great adversaries along?” she joked, as she walked to the parking garage.

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TO BE CONTINUED...

-Wahrsager is a character from Swordmaster Silvace's fanfic Zone of the Enders: Triad 2177.

-For Anouke's overall design, just think of the original Neith in purple colors, with Freedom Gundam (Gundam SEED) wing binders and a shield/blade assembly on the right arm, like that of ES Asher's (Xenosaga II).