Chapter 4: Crossing Space

The Bunker began to rubble. The structure faded from plain sight, almost invisible, the metal door to the outside world shooting up fast into the air. Higher and higher it climbed into the sky, a trail of smoke left behind for all to see. Many saw it as a rocket being blasted into space, and that would be the simplest way to describe it.

It shook hard inside as the Bunker broke through the atmosphere. The door to the outside locked shut and vanished, and once they passed by the moon, the intense shaking ceased, and all doors inside unlocked.

Aqua was the first into the hallway, bounding forward like an excited pup and kicking open the Computer room door. Her eyes lit up, her gentle steps carrying her forward until she placed her hands on Beowulf's head and pushed herself up. "WHOA!!"

"Kid, can you not?" His voice was a little gruff, as he just finished a cigar. The smell lingered in his hair and wolf ears, but she didn't pay it much mind. "Why are you here anyway?"

"I've never seen space like this before. It's so big."

"You sound like a child. You're, how old now?"

"Fourteen."

"Act like it," He scoffed. She puffed her cheeks and pulled his ears hard. He howled in pain as she stuck out her tongue teasingly. 

"Everything stable," Garuga asked as he entered the room. Aqua turned to him and nodded at his words, her smile leaving a relaxing imprint on him. To be young and innocent, a dream he wished he could relive. "Good. Aqua, can you leave us be?"

She smiled at him and strolled out the room, watching all the residents of the Bunker spill from their rooms and head downstairs to the cafe or training room. It felt like it was packed more than usual, but she couldn't complain. The more people here meant the more people that were safe, and that's all she cared about.

Being gifted with power like hers, she understood what it was like to be alone and afraid, to be hunted like she was no more than a simple prize to hang on someone's wall.

Someone's hands clamped on her shoulders, but she knew from the softness and size it was Mia. She turned to her friend, marvelling at her beauty. Her dark hair was swung over her shoulder. The black turtle neck she wore hugged her frame tightly and gave a better visual of the body underneath. Her jeans looked a little loose and hung off her hips, but in a stylish way. The most notable feature, however, was her lack of frames.

"What happened to your glasses?"

"Wanted to try a new spell. Do I look alright?"

"You look awesome, Mia."

The two turned their heads, spotting Nana moving down the hall with a stack of sheets in her hold.

The usual beauty looked a little worse for wear. She was tired. Her body posture was tense, faint bags under her eyes that looked like they recently formed. Her hair was a little messy and a bit unwashed, and her clothes were a bit wrinkled. An unusual development, since they saw her a few hours before they took off.

"You… Okay, Nana," Mia asked.

The Angel lowered the papers and huffed. When she spoke, her voice was a bit strained. "Less than okay. I'm going nuts over these data sheets."

"We can see that," She replied, taking half of the stack to lighten the load. "Why not leave this to me? Go get some rest."

"Can't. He's sleeping in the bed."

Aqua and Mia exchanged a subtle glance, before Mia said, "You gotta make up with him."

"I can't right now. Too busy."

"Nana, seriously. You never put work before him."

"Yeah, well," She began, her gaze snapping as Hailey walked past the three. Nana gave her a snare, but her copy didn't notice. Her face was buried in a book. "Things change."

Not wanting to speak on it further, Mia sighed and handed the second half back to Nana, and the girl made her way into the Board room and shut the door with her foot.

"Girl needs to get laid," Aqua said crossing her arms.

"Aqua!"

"What? It's true. She's letting the baby thing take over her life."

"Well… I see where she's coming from. If I was in love with a guy and found out he had a kid with another woman, never mind my copy, I'd be pretty pissed too."

Aqua looked over the railing into the cafe and huffed.

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Frannie twirled her blonde hair around her finger, eyes scanning over different lines of the data sheets. One of which had all the information needed for Takabi's genes. His strengths and weaknesses, all listed neatly in a column. She sat back in her seat, biting into her apple, looking at Nana and puffing her lips.

Nana rose her palm and stopped her before she could begin speaking. "No."

"Nana, please, go make up with him."

"Why does everyone want me to so bad? Can't we just focus on what needs to be done?"

"Well, it's not fair to him. He didn't do anything wrong."

"As far as we know."

She bit her lip and placed the apple down. "Can you at least take a shower and clean up?"

"Right now, I just want to focus on decoding these sheets. Takabi's sheet, mine, Kairas' and Shine's. All of them are from when we were kids, but added with new information. We figure out what's linking the four of us from then, we can figure out how he plans to raise an army."

Frannie crossed her legs, but didn't argue with her. She was stubborn, something she learned in the short time she was a member of the Bunker. "Fine. Well, I guess the most obvious thing is your relationship with one another. You were all close."

"Still are. Being close isn't enough to clone and create new spawns though. Something's missing. A purpose." She raised the stack, flipping through the unnamed sheets. Each one was listed with simple results and the creature made from them. Hunters, Huntresses, High Breeds and something called an End Class. The End Class had the least amount of information on its sheet.

All that was written was that it was a new organism unrelated to the others. Something about it worried her though. If it wasn't a branch of Hunter or Huntress, what was it?

"Thirsty," Frannie asked after looking through the other sheets. Nana nodded, and Frannie stood, moving towards the door. When she opened it, she came face to face with Shine.

There was a tension in the air, thicker than butter. Biting her lip, Frannie moved past Shine without a word. Shine watched her friend's back, before looking at Nana. "I was coming to check on you. Kairas and I are worried, ya know."

"Not you guys too. Look, I'm fine. Seriously."

"Doesn't look that way, Hon." She walked over and leaned on the back of one of the seats around the table. "I'm not one to preach forgiveness, but you should at least tell him how it makes you feel."

"Why?"

"Because hiding how you feel causes a drift. You lose him, he loses you. In his case though, he has a copy of you he can end up with if need be."

The air in the room thrashed wildly in rage. Shine craned her head aside, watching the current cut her cheek and draw fresh blood. She knew she struck a nerve, but that was the point. Her wound closed in a thin steam, and she rested her chin on her palm. "We all have issues, Nana. It's why we talk with one another, so we can move past it."

Nana snapped her eyes at Shine. "Yeah, well my issues are worse than yours right now." Her hands were shaking, a strong fury building up in her stomach. "Just get out and leave me alone."

Shine shrugged in response, and left the room. Nana watched her hands, taking heavy breaths, before slamming them on the table and denting the wood. Faintly, a thin black steam rose from her shoulders.

"What the fuck is wrong with me," She uttered, placing a hand against her head.

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Hot. Pain.

His eyes filled with water. His heart was broken. He was hurt. A grass field lay around him. There was a body in his arms, lifeless, cold, but he couldn't see whose. Another body stood across from him, shoulders rising and falling rapidly as if it were laughing.

He was hurt. He was angry. He felt weak. He was unsure.

Unsure of what to do. Powerless to raise a hand. Broken, all over again. Broken, like he was years ago.

No amount of power could do anything.

It was too late.

The body no longer had a soul.

Dark.

Too dark.

His heart rammed. His muscles tensed.

He cried. He sobbed. He wept, in endless anguish, a feeling he never wanted to experience, never hoped to experience.

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Takabi woke in an extremely awful mood. It was hard to breathe. He felt dirty, and his chest hurt. Slowly he sat up, placing his back against head board of his bed and rest his arms on his knees.

That wasn't a nightmare.

It was too real.

The effects lingered in his body.

Not a nightmare.

He mulled over possibility after possibility, but the truth was there, waiting to be accepted.

It wasn't a nightmare.

It was a premonition. A vision of the future, of things to come.

Why did it hurt so bad? He's dealt with death so painlessly before. He witnessed his friend's, ex friend now, sister's body floating in a river. Decapitated, bloody, exposed and lifeless.

He's taken innocent lives, and while he continuously felt guilt for the souls he robbed of life, he was unphased later on and almost forgets most of them. He hated to admit it, but he was becoming more demon than angel.

Or maybe, it's just he's beginning to become a half and half, a warrior of light who lingers with darkness.

Who can say for sure?

The vision is what plagued him now.