❝We always find eachother.❞
[♪]
DIALOGUE
#853c41
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Black spikes shot out from the pierce of red. Wrapped around Loretta's weapon, splintered its crystallized blood and absorbed it. The more she was "struck" the better.
"Red is too flashy, I adore my monochrome design." She giggled at The Monster, her choice in weaponry diminished in size.
The rip of fabric caught her attention—little brat. Vakira slapped her across the face, drew lines of blood where her claws broke skin. "Ruining my best shirt, that's unforgivable, dearie." The girl was utterly laughable, so unaccustomed to power that it became a consciousness of its own. "My my, you're still clueless as ever." She shoved the young girl back, prolonging the inevitable. "You think that hiding in sleep will protect you, wrong. You won't be as strong until you embrace it."
At the corner of her eye she caught movement, "Stick around, boys." She sent a stream of inky webbing that trapped both Ren and Zero, pinning them us against the wall. "At least for the grand finale."
Then she spun back to the girl, "Is this all you got?" She said with a sneer, "Come on now, show me who you really are."
*
"Zero, wake up." Ren sliced his wrist and pressed into the others mouth. The blood flowed fast. But was it enough? Zero flinched a moment after, then his eyes fluttered but he didn't move. Not that they could do much pinned against the wall.
But then a low growl ripped through the older sibling and Zero tore at the webbing with bloodied vectors. He struck at Ren, snapping razor teeth into his neck.
"It's okay." Ren tugged him closer, wrapped him in a half embrace as his arm was trapped under thick black threads.
--
Flashes of light and sound filtered through the haze of emptiness. Zero saw the lab again, the chaos of files and shattered glass. The mess was disorienting but his hands grasped pages of data sheets, flipping them over and trying to make out the unreadable. He blinked away the muted colors that came with the change.
"What is this, father?" Ren's voice sounded breathless and Zero knew. This was his memory. Ren's hands rifled through the mess of torn metal and debres collecting pages that hadn't been ruined. On the table he flipped them around searching for something. Then a number appeared on the corner. 4.
Ren stared. That number wasn't there before was it? He searched the corners of other files and found a matching number, then another and one more. Something about the crinkled pages... His sight lost most of its color and a strange purpleish tint glowed from the page. He turned the data sheets backwards and the strangest lines and figures curved like half-moons.
"Ren, you can't hide from me." Vakira's voice sounded dangerously close.
He stood over the mess of sheets and spread the four purple ones each overlapped the other and that's when he saw it. The circular door. Father's vault. In the middle, another stone.
"Ren~"
He memorized the image before shoving it away, leaving a mess of scattered data sheets as he turned and stumbled out the room. She wouldn't think to search here for anything. He'd make sure of that.
The memory ended when Ren's mind changed it, flashes of images of his torment under Vakira's hold, all the way up to their current battle. Zero snapped out of it and pulled back, all this time he thought he'd been with Ren.
"We have to stop them, Vakira is toying with her." Ren pointed.
Zero sliced through the webbing, freeing his little brother. On his feet, he managed to keep upright long enough to plan out just what to do. Ren however kept backing away.
"Hey, get Loretta away from her." Zero gripped at his arm, ignoring the pain, he was gonna strike with all he's got left.
"But she's kinda busy." He stood back and there she was, unmistakable. Loretta was standing. She was fighting. But her movements weren't natural, or her voice. No, it happened! He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Loretta attacked as if she was out for blood. This wasn't her. This shouldn't have happened. "What's behind that door?"
"Something only we can figure out when all this is over."
Zero took a step, then another.
"No, I'm not loosing you." Ren grabbed at him but Zero kept on.
"You won't." Then he picked up a piece of bent table leg and sent it flying. It struck above Vakira and she glared back, "You missed."
Zero smirked, "Got your attention didn't it?" He had to take her down, because the only monster here, was him.