Part Twenty-Two: The Truth

Two days remain.

...

"Today's the day we go over our plan to storm the stronghold, right?" Tamashi asked his still quite sleepy other half as he stumbled to his feet and yawned.

'That's right,' Nozomi nodded in confirmation, 'You think everyone will be there?'

"Probably," Tamashi speculated, "This is gonna be our most important mission so far. If everyone wasn't present, I'd be worried."

'You're right,' Nozomi agreed, 'But I need to ask you some things before we continue, Tamashi.'

"And what would that be?" Tamashi inquired.

'The truth,' Nozomi demanded, his face turning into a much more serious one, 'Who are my doppelgangers? What are those "Megalo Gods"? And what the hell does Ito Ikuma have to do with all of this?'

The two stood in silence for quite some time before Tamashi let out a long drawn out sigh.

"This might take a while to explain," Tamashi warned, "Brace your head."

Suddenly, a jolt could be felt in Nozomi's brain. Clutching his forehead, Nozomi passed out and drifted into unconsciousness.

...

Nozomi woke up in the usual pitch black room he always did when he got headaches like this. Sighing, he stumbled to his feet somewhat dizzily and made his way to the light. It was there that he saw his Echo, Tamashi, nonchalantly sipping tea as he usually did. Nozomi took a seat on the chair adjacent to his Echo's, pouring a cup of tea for himself while he awaited Tamashi's explanations.

"How close exactly were you with your father, Nozomi?" Tamashi questioned.

"Heh. Not at all," Nozomi wryly grinned, taking a gulp from his tea, "We were never close, not even at a young age."

"I see, so that's what it would have been like," Tamashi pondered before looking up at Nozomi, "Do you want the full story or the abridged version?"

"I'd like as much important information as you have," Nozomi said with a determined expression.

"If that's what you wish," Tamashi nodded, closing his eyes, "Essentially, the world Miss Watson left behind when I time-travelled is the world that manifested itself as the Mirror."

"Yes, that's what she said," Nozomi agreed.

"My theory, however, is that she's also your father's murderer," Tamashi sipped his tea.

"And why would she want to kill my father?" Nozomi questioned, "Not that I doubt it, but there would have to be a motive."

"Oh, there's plenty of motive all right," Tamashi chuckled softly, "Considering father was what you'd call 'an insane bitch'."

"An insane bitch, huh?" Nozomi smirked, "Tell me more."

"If you haven't heard the story, father was raised into a very religious family. They worshipped nearly every god they came across, be it modern or ancient. He was born into eccentricity," Tamashi explained before his face darkened, "His parents were killed in an earthquake. Seeing as how he was just a young boy, he blamed them on the gods he worshipped all so often. He grew to hate these gods, resenting them for slaughtering some of their most devout followers. And he began to work out a theory to overthrow the gods."

"And what theory was that?" Nozomi inquired, quite invested in the tale.

"He planned to release the five gods currently exalted and sealed within ordinary human objects. These gods were referred to as the 'Megalo Gods', as they all attempted to rebel against the current gods due to their thirst for power. Thanatos, sealed within the Skull of Decay, Hypnos, sealed within the Scythe of Slumber, Cthulhu, sealed within the Tome of the Ancients, Amaterasu, sealed within the Blade of Rebirth, and Tsukuyomi, sealed within the Gem of Totality," Tamashi retold, "His innate knack for technology came in handy here. He founded Ito Technologies at age 15, and he began work on a device that could merge objects into one greater object. Once this proved successful, he began testing on living lifeforms. And finally, he gathered all of the objects and released the gods, merging them together to generate Elohim, the most powerful being in existence."

"I see," Nozomi nodded, "What happened to it?"

"The gods weren't able to defeat it, but they were able to temporarily split it," Tamashi explained, "When they were split, they sealed them in the original vessels. However, the gods were unable to keep the objects in the god's realm, as, in their eyes, the relics were 'tainted'. So they were sent to the mortal realm, where they were found by various people. Those being Mori Calliope, Takanashi Kiara, J-chad, Ninomae Ina'nis, and Moona Hoshinova. As punishment for Elohim and Ikuma's actions, the gods released Niku upon the world, a manifestation of humanity's impurities. Soon thereafter, Ito Ikuma was murdered."

"Seems like the story is wrapped up," Nozomi mused, "But that isn't impossible, unfortunately."

"Indeed, unfortunately it wasn't over. Some people tend to have followers, some devout enough to venture the underworld and retrieve a soul amidst a cataclysm," Tamashi smiled sadly.

"You don't mean…" Nozomi's face contorted in shock.

"Yes," Tamashi tried to maintain a smile, "I went into the underworld to retrieve my father's soul. Once I obtained it, I set up an altar, and it seemed that Ikuma had developed a plan while his soul was free in the underworld. 'This time, I'll be successful,' was a phrase I heard all too often."

"So, you worked with the enemy?" Nozomi glared.

"Yes, I did," Tamashi nodded, "And I helped increase his influence in my world due to enhancements made to my body through intense experimentation. As time went on, Ikuma gathered followers, with me as his enforcer. But that got Ikuma thinking. Why have one enforcer, when I can have multiple? He instructed our head scientist at the time, Dr. Pesar, to create a cloning machine. And that's exactly what he did. He created duplicates of me. Oddly enough, we didn't share personalities, nor any of the same battle abilities. He was what you'd call a bit of a perfectionist, and his skills lied in marksmanship rather than swordplay. Ikuma found this greatly interesting, and he began developing more clones. We were eventually marked by number, with me as code 001."

"That's where the doppelgangers came from," Nozomi thought out loud, "What happened next?"

"I had no qualms with this arrangement, nor did I wish to cede from Ikuma's legion," Tamashi informed, "That was until I was out fighting off Malice in the forest. I was outnumbered. There was no way I could have succeeded on my own.

"Except I wasn't alone," Tamashi began to explain more eagerly, "I was blessed by the angel, Amatsuka Uto. She enlightened me. My hair went white. My eyes went orange. And my heart was set. Ito Ikuma is a man wishing to overturn the balance of this world. I was blessed with the knowledge of the Mirror, and I began working on a spell that could help me transfer to the other world. However, Ikuma's legion caught wind of this. They tortured me until I confessed to what I knew. And then I was tortured even more until they were satisfied. And, just like that, I was dead. Or so I thought. Uto saved my life once again, and I was released from the confines of my torture cell. I escaped, attempting to reach you in private. In time, I did reach you, but, funny enough, it was right in time when Ikuma found out how to reach the Mirror. He summoned all the various people he did to the Mirror, while I summoned you. You know the rest."

"W-wow," Nozomi stumbled back, "That's the story up until now, huh?"

"Yep," Tamashi put his hand on his neck, "Sorry for not breaking it to you earlier."

"N-no, it's understandable now," Nozomi shook his head before thinking, "They've got Ina'nis in confines, and are trying to torture her to release Cthulhu… you don't suppose they're trying to reawaken Elohim?"

"Oh, they definitely are," Tamashi cracked a smile, sipping from his teacup, "They must have a secret up their sleeves that'll make the outcome of what happens to Elohim different from last time, what that is, I am unsure. But these guys are devoted."

"Well, so are we," Nozomi smirked pridefully, "We'll win the war."

"For sure," Tamashi nodded as Nozomi's vision began to get blurry and the pitch black room began to fade.

...

Nozomi walked into the Cover Corporation offices, and boy was he not ready for what he saw. Literally everyone he had interacted with since coming on this journey was jam-packed into this room, from people he's known since the beginning like Enma and Roboco from people he had just rescued from the Mirror like Oga and Kaoru. THey all had one thing in common, and that was a desire to rescue Ina'nis and Iofifteen. However, there was one face Nozomi didn't recognize: a man with red shaggy hair, a black suit, and a large scythe protruding from his back standing next to Calliope. He went over to meet the man.

"Oh, Nozomi," Calliope noticed the teen walking over, "This is the guy I was talking about. Ito Nozomi, this is Watanabe Shin."

"Ito Nozomi, eh?" Shin grinned wildly, revealing his incredibly sharp canines, "You're a bit scrawny, you know?"

"Hey, at least I brush my hair in the morning," Nozomi retaliated, grinning along with the reaper.

"Hah! I like this one, Reaper-chan! He's got balls!" Shin laughed, glancing towards Calli.

"You can call me that all you want in the underworld, just not here," Calliope rolled her eyes and groaned, "Still though, I'm glad you two are getting along. You guys are fairly similar, all things considered."

"Me? Similar? To this tiny kid?" Shin scoffed, his smirk still adorning his face, "Never."

"I'll have you know I'm quite tall for my age," Nozomi faked an offended tone, crossing his arms.

"I hear you can't even ask out that robot chick you're interested in," Shin teased, "What a beta."

"Wow, word gets around fast," Calliope butted in, "But don't worry about him. He still can't ask out Ina. He always tries to impress her instead of making the first move."

"H-hey! Don't go telling the newbie shit like that!" Shin's smirk dropped as he berated Calliope. Nozomi laughed, witnessing the two's bickering. They reminded him of siblings.

"Hello, everyone," a familiar voice could be heard from the loudspeakers of the office as YAGOO stood up from his chair and went up to a projector screen, "My name is Motoaki Tanigo, CEO of Cover Corporation. Today, we will be presenting our plan for infiltrating the stronghold located in the Mirror. This plan will be put into action tomorrow, and our goals are to rescue Ninomae Ina'nis and Airani Iofifteen, as well as dispatch some of the enemy, if possible."

The projector screen began to show a map of the stronghold. YAGOO went up to it.

"As you can see, there are three different pathways we can take here, one going to the right, where Airani Iofifteen is located, one going to the left, where all of her clones are located, and one going straight down the middle, where Ninomae Ina'nis is located," YAGOO explained, "As such, we will separate into three different groups on the day of the attack, with each person being assigned a number. Each numbered group will take a different hallway. I realize this presentation was quite short, but I feel it was quite important to share the plan for tomorrow with you all. The most I can advise you is this: sharpen your swords, polish your shields, and get some good rest for tomorrow. You are all dismissed. Thank you."

The crowd began to disperse, while only a few people stayed, namely YAGOO and the managers, Nozomi, and Ayame. She went up to face the black-haired teen.

"Can I pop into your mindscape for a second?" she asked.

"That's no problem," Nozomi grinned, putting out his hand. Ayame smiled, gladly shaking it. She felt a sudden jolt in her mind and she fell to the ground. Nozomi set her unconscious body on a nearby chair.

...

Ayame found herself in the pitch black room she was used to. Walking towards the light, she found Tamashi sitting on the chair he usually did. Blushing, she went up to the boy and hugged him.

"I missed you," Ayame said, giggling.

"I missed you too, Ayame-chan," Tamashi said with a light blush on his face, "Anything you wanted to talk about?"

"Not really, just…" Ayame sighed, sitting down next to Tamashi, "If we don't make it out of there alive, I want you to know you're really special to me."

"You're really special to me too, Ayame," Tamashi said.

"No, no you don't understand," Ayame shook her head before putting it on Tamashi's shoulder, "You're special to me. You're the only one I feel that's understood me, that's got me so nailed down. You know me better than I know myself sometimes."

"You really think that way?" Tamashi asked, wrapping his arm around the oni girl.

"I do," Ayame confirmed, gazing into Tamashi's eyes, "I want you, Tamashi."

"God, am I in love…" Tamashi sighed, pulling Ayame into a hug. Ayame gladly returned the favor as the two shared a long embrace, "But I promise Ayame. I will not let you die, nor will I let anyone else in there die. You have my word."

"Why would you promise something like that?" Ayame asked dumbfoundedly.

"Because it would make you sad," Tamashi explained, "I hate seeing you angry and sad."

"If you wanted to see me happy so bad, I'm surprised you haven't done this yet," Ayame smirked flirtatiously, pulling Tamashi into a deep kiss. As the two's faces got hotter, they released from the kiss, quickly turning away from each other.

"I'll keep that in mind," Tamashi smiled, sighing, "I assume you want to go back now?"

"I never want to go back, Tamashi," Ayame giggled, "But it's something I'm afraid I have to do."

"Well, see next time then, Ayame-chan," Tamashi said, gazing into Ayame's red eyes, "I love you."

"I…" Ayame stammered as her vision began to fade and the black room began to disappear, "Love you too…"

...

"Ame, are you sure you're okay?" Gura asked her wife worriedly, "I saw you crying a little bit during YAGOO's presentation…"

"I'm actually better than fine," Amelia grinned, "It's gonna be awesome giving those bastards hell."

Gura looked at Amelia, quite in awe of her change in personality. She smirked.

"It sure is," Gura smiled devilishly, going to her bed.

"Hey, Ame," Gura kept her smile, although it changed slightly from devilish to playful, as red began to cover her face, "Since we're gonna be risking our lives out there, I was wondering… I know I'm not a mom, but… what do you say to… ground-pounding me?~"

...

"You're sure they'll be coming tomorrow?" the boy in the blue armor asked his clones.

"Positive," the boy in the lab coat nodded, "We detected tracing in the PC of computer room 07, and the bodies of dead guards were peppered around that area. They most assuredly found the plans for our release of Cthulhu. Are the duplicates ready now?"

"In about 12 hours, they will all be ready," the boy in green armor smirked, "God, I can't wait…"

"Please be patient, 006," the boy in the lab coat rolled his eyes, "They will come."