Aftermath by Justin
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Disclaimer:
I do not own Galerians, only a copy I bought at Babbages. Galerians is owned by
Ascii, Crave Entertainment, and Polygon Magic. (I think that's all of them...)
I do not own any of the characters from the game, although I do claim ownership
of my own characters, as well as any personality and/or appearance changes I
have given the (very few) surviving game characters. I am not responsible for
any Shorting deaths induced by this fanfic. Enjoy ^_^
GALERIANS
A F T E R M A T H
Chapter 7: The Hand of God
The elevator doors opened, and they were confronted by… nothing. The corridor
was completely void of any opposition. Slowly, cautiously, Cain's team made
their way down the unusually dark hallway, its overhead lights flickering
eerily.
Lilia found herself clinging to Cain's arm as they walked, Cain letting out a
deep sigh. Truly, she could not be fended off by his cold nature, which was not
a good thing at the moment as they both needed to keep their heads clear. This
was too easy… no one in their right mind would leave such a place unguarded,
much less a cunning Mother Dorothy. Something wasn't right here… this had to be
some form of trap.
They soon came to a doorway near the center of the Floor. Cain walked up and
pressed a button on the wall beside it, and the doors shot open with a hissing
sound. They had reached their destination.
The room was the size of a large gym. The surrounding walls of the chamber
housed countless monitor computers, and at its center stood a tall stem…
Mother's brainstem. Measuring fifty feet from floor to ceiling, it was a
monstrosity of large segmented wires, some of metal, others of organic
material. Its outer surface was scattered with thousands of tiny red and blue
wires, as well as translucent nerve-stems, branching out in all directions with
millions of glowing white endings.
"Mother…" Cain muttered, as the rest of the team ogled the titanic
stem. It had the build of a tall tree, about four feet thick. Lilia stood
warily behind Cain, following him as he walked toward the mechanical nightmare.
However, Mother had planned for their arrival all along.
"What the hell?!!" cried Terrae, as a Galerian teleported into the
Hand of God, standing in front of Dorothy's stem. It was Jyun. Slowly, he
reached back with his left hand to draw his katana. Lightning surged through
its silver blade the moment he placed his grip on its hilt. He quickly made a
giant cross-slash in the air, leaving a blinding white "X" in its
wake. Cain gasped as he realized what he was setting up for.
"Everyone get the hell out of here, NOW!" They quickly made for the
door, before Jyun used his psionic forces to send his cross-slash flying at the
team. Cain remained still, protecting himself and Lilia with a force-field.
Most of the team made it out in time, all except for one.
"Jett!!" yelled Cain. He ran to his side as he lay there, lifeless.
The slash had gone through him, dealing him no physical damage, but landing a
deathblow on the spiritual plane. A prismatic wraith of the fallen rebel
floated from his body, before being sucked right into Jyun's sword as its blade
surged with lightning and spiritual energy.
"Gaia Stealer… Bring me the fallen!" he cried, spreading his arms
wide open and letting the lightning flow through him. He then glared menacingly
to Cain and Lilia, an evil smirk across his lips. "You're next,
mundane."
That was all Cain could take. He ascended from the floor, as Jyun followed his
lead and did the same. "Get out of here, Lilia! Go regroup with the
others!" she nodded, hesitantly, and ran out of the room.
"So it's just you and me now, mundane…" continued Jyun, cackling
ominously. "Time to put the deserter scum like you in your place," he
said as he unleashed another deadly cross-slash attack. He barely managed to
dodge it this time, as it brushed past the fluttering ends of his bandage.
"I'm not the scum here," snarled Cain, as he returned fire with a
barrage of plasma shocks. Jyun skillfully blocked them with his katana, seeming
to absorb the energy as a dim blue aura surrounded him.
"You will never defeat me, Cain!" While Jyun was being his arrogant
Galerian self, Cain realized a strategy. He fired off several plasma bolts at
Dorothy's stem.
"Mother, no!!" cried Jyun as he flew around to block the shots, not
even noticing Cain as he gathered his energy to send a giant shockwave of
plasma energy Jyun's way.
"What the--!!!" Jyun yelled, before the blast sent him flying back
against the wall, a storm of sparks from shattered monitors falling with him to
the floor. His katana laid near the stem where he was shot. He was helpless
now. Without his sword, he was limited to using his standard Galerian powers,
which he couldn't even do now as he was barely conscious.
Cain hovered to a landing, slowly walking over to Jyun with clenched fists.
Jyun… he'd just killed Jett. He was like a brother to him, and now he was gone.
Even if Cain defeated Jyun, he would never come back. But that didn't matter
anymore. As he approached with eyes narrowed, he knew exactly what he was going
to do.
Jyun looked up to a towering Cain and gasped, followed by a cough of blood.
"C-Cain!" He was too weak to even move, lying on the floor with his
back leaned up against the wall.
"You killed my friend…" he said to the Galerian, who was barely
alive.
"Th-" attempted Jyun, interrupted by another spurt of blood.
"They're just humans… they don't deserve to live… Mother told me so-"
The blood came thicker this time as he began to spew forth tissue from his
lungs.
"YOU don't deserve to live…" stated Cain, as he aimed his arm out
toward the half-dead Galerian.
"Cain… you wouldn't…" pleaded Jyun, "Join us… together we can
kill them all-"
He was cut off as Cain blasted him in the stomach with a powerful plasma shock.
The force ripped open his shirt, and a large black welt appeared where Cain had
left his mark.
"Cain… you're no better than the rest of them-" he struggled, before
another shockwave of Cain's psionic energy. This time, the skin of his bruise
began to split, as blood seeped forth from the open cuts.
"Bastard! Mother will show you the true power of a God's wrath-" And
another, this one tearing the cuts even wider, the muscles of his abs now torn
and ravaged as they could be seen through the wounds. The intensity of Cain's
psionics grew with his hateful rage.
"I-" he sputtered, "I shouldn't have been so easy on you last
time," gasped Jyun, looking to Cain's bandage. "Damn you!
Traitor-" he managed, before the next plasma shock ripped open his belly.
Blood and muscular tissue flew from the blast, exposing his innards. Parts of
his entrails hung out the side of his gaping wound.
"AAGH---!!!" he cried, gasping and barely able to breathe as the cold
air of the room struck his warm organs like razors. So this was it. He was
going to die. He looked up to Cain, tears running from his eyes. "Cain,
please… kill me-" he fought to say, before he coughed up even more blood
followed by some brackish stomach acids. "P-Please, Cain… just kill me
now…"
Cain
just stood there, towering over him. "You wish for death, Galerian?"
"Please, it- it hurts…"
Cain turned his back, leaving the creature to rot. He would not give Jyun such
an easy escape from the pain of death. As he slowly walked away to find Lilia
and load the virus into Mother, he heard Jyun croak in a painful death as acids
from his viscera mixed with his bloodstream.
A moment later, all the countless souls that Jyun had stolen with the Gaia
Stealer were now free. Hundreds of prismatic essences, the silhouettes of all
the humans that had fallen to the Galerian floated away from Jyun's mutilated
body, through the ceiling of the room. Cain stopped for a moment and looked up
to see a spectacular light show of flying specters. Where they would go from
there, only God knew.
He looked back to the door and saw Lilia standing there, shaking nervously.
Cain walked over, nodding as he mind-spoke to her.
:You… you saw everything?:
She nodded in return. :I did, Cain… and he deserved it.:
:Are you ready?:
:……Yes.:
:Lets hurry… I…:
:What is it?:
:I sense the presence of another Galerian in this tower,: responded Cain.
Nodding, she followed him as he turned and walked to the stem of Mother
Dorothy. He took off his left glove, as Lilia slightly winced again, still
thinking of how painful his procedures must have been.
He placed his hand on the side of the massive stem, as he held out his other to
Lilia. She took his hand, looking worriedly to Cain. She knew how the transfer
worked, and awaited his word.
"Lilia, send me the virus."
She remembered her lost brother using those same words… but it didn't really
matter now. She concentrated her powers, sending the virus to Cain, who
instantly relayed it to Dorothy. He closed his eyes in deep concentration,
Lilia doing the same.
Just then, Cain felt a blast of energy thrash his back. "Agghh!" he
yelled as his connection to Dorothy was cut with his loss of concentration.
They turned to see a hooded figure wearing a black robe.
"I've been waiting for you… BROTHER."
Cain recognized the voice. "No… you died!"
"…The
grave cannot hold me."
Lilia acknowledged the voice as well. "R-"
Red static buzzed around her forehead as the hooded Galerian gave her a dose of
mind-combat. "Lilia!" shouted Cain as she fell to the floor, stunned.
"Do not worry… I wouldn't hurt her… she's the reason I let you get this
far," he said, smirking. "And if you're wondering why the others
never arrived… They were taken care of before they could even reach this
building." An evil grin was all that could be seen of his shadowed face,
besides a few strands of blond hair.
"Brother-" Cain muttered, before he was sent flying back by another
powerful blast of plasma energy.
"Poor Cain, couldn't get his death wish…"
"Death wish?!" exclaimed Lilia, as she came to.
"Cain, you miserable bastard… how could you lie to a sweet girl like
Lilia?" continued the cloaked one, as he shot Cain in the chest with
another plasma bolt.
"Damn, you, Ri-"
"Silence! I clearly have the advantage here, so I suggest you keep quiet.
You've brought much suffering today, Cain." His words were cold and
unforgiving, as was the look on his face, as he lifted his hood. With his blond
hair and blue eyes lit by the flickering monitors covering the room's walls,
Lilia recognized him without hesitation.
"RION??!!!" she shouted. She could not believe what was happening. It
was like some horrible nightmare, a good dream gone horribly wrong. Rion,
helping the Galerians?
"You seem surprised, Lilia… Allow me to explain. As you know, after the
Mushroom Tower you were cloned. Your body was destroyed beyond the help of
medical science. Mine, however…"
Lilia watched as he threw aside his cloak, revealing his garb: a gray tank top,
its right arm holding a black leather sleeve, quite poorly sewn on at that,
connected to his shirt by several crossed strings of brown leather. He also
wore brown jean-shorts, much like the ones he wore as a child.
Lilia instantly noticed that his left arm was partially mechanical, from his
mid upper-arm, down to his wrist, his natural hand continuing after that. She
also saw several small metal plates scattered around his lower right leg. He
had a metal plate where each eyebrow would be, his left one with a green wire
leading behind his head. Numerous red and blue wires also led from his
mechanical mid-arm into his skin, near his shoulder and into the back of his hand.
Finally, on the same arm he also had a small metal pad on his shoulder. Truly,
the Galerians had rebuilt him into a freak of nature.
"This body was saved, with a few minor repairs. Other than that, I'm
full-blood Galerian."
"Rion… my brother…" she whispered.
"You seem to forget… I'm NOT your brother. I am a Galerian, altered to
look like him. The REAL Rion died a long time ago. I had you cloned for a
reason, Lilia… Join me. Together, we can rule this world, with you as my queen.
Our spawn will thrive in a world free of the human plague. That… is why I had
you reborn." Lilia slowly backed away, appalled by what had become of her
brother.
"You're a monster-" said Cain before he was blasted back again by
another plasma shock from a twisted Rion.
"You're
the monster, Cain. Teaming with humans… HUMANITY, the very disease which eats
this planet alive."
"You're no better," he muttered. But this reanimated Galerian was
beyond reason. He'd obviously been brainwashed somehow, and now he was just
another of Dorothy's puppets.
"Heh… by now you are aware that your allies from the other rebel factions
didn't arrive. It appears my plan worked… it was intended that only you would
arrive here safely." An evil half-smile grew up his cheek.
"You bastard!" Cain yelled at the atrocity.
"Mother… the time has come!" Rion yelled as he looked up to Dorothy's
massive stem. It was that moment the building began to shake, as Cain and Lilia
looked up to see a horrifying sight: Mother was beginning to awaken. No longer
would she be confined to the building's wired network; she would become her own
being.
The stem shifted its appearance, its ending points at the floor and ceiling
remaining as they were, with its everything in-between pulling outward, soon
looking vaguely like a birdcage, the thick mechanical and organic wires
resembling bars. The nerve cords stretched like cobwebs before they broke
apart, as did the red and blue wires. The limits of the large wires spread to
several yards near the midpoint of the rounded "cage." Millions of
red sparks rained down as the small wires broke. Cain and Lilia jumped out of
the way to avoid a searing shower.
A glowing white fetus appeared, floating at the center of the cage, looking
harmless in its current form. Then, things got nasty. The fetus suddenly let
out a screeching howl that could be heard in the minds of Cain, Lilia and the
rest of the rebels standing outside the door.
It suddenly turned to a luminescent blue color, its white eyes still shining
brightly. It then shrouded itself in an ungodly black aura, and everything in
the room became masked with effects much like a black light.
"Cain, my son… you will pay." The unmistakable shrill voice, full of
hate and fury, of pain and revenge. It was she. Mother. She had awoken. But her
transformation wasn't over yet.
Still shrouded in her black aura of negative light, her fetal form quickly
morphed to that of a mature woman. Dozens of segmented tentacles sprouted from
the back of her head, falling just short of her waist, with small pincers at
the end of each tendril. Wires and metal plates from the stem's base suddenly
flew to cover her figure. She was now clothed in a mess of wires and hardware,
as her glowing blue form sprouted wings. They resembled the wings of an angel,
only hers were mechanical, each "feather" a flat, rectangular plate
of metal. Floating in the center of her haven, lightning surged all around her
reborn figure. :Rion… I command you to kill the traitor.:
:Yes, Mother.: He shot Cain with another energy blast, sending him flying back
into the nearby wall of monitors near the room's entrance. As Cain stumbled to
his feet, Rion slowly walked toward him, levitating Jyun's sword to his hand.
The Gaia Stealer was a fine weapon as it was, even if Rion didn't have the ability
to bring out its full potential.
Lilia saw Rion making his way toward Cain, before running to save him. She ran
out in front of Cain, stopping between him and the deranged Galerian. "I
won't let you hurt him-" she cried, but Rion was already in mid-swing
before she got there. Cain watched in horror as Rion's slash made its
connection to Lilia's abdomen, badly wounding her.
"LILIA--!!!" shouted Cain as he caught her fall. She looked up to
him, a pitiful look in her reddish brown eyes, as she fought to stay alive.
"Damn it, Lilia… why'd you have to do that?!"
"Because… because I had to… because I-" she struggled, before she was
stopped by a cough of blood.
"Don't talk, Lilia… save your strength." Cain picked Lilia up in his
arms as Rion gawked in horror at what he'd done.
"No…
Lilia, my queen… I-" He was truly out of his mind, thinking that Lilia
would actually join him. That she would give birth to his Galerian offspring.
He fell to his knees, devastated, as if striking down Lilia had sparked a loose
end in his brain. He didn't even notice Cain and the others making their escape
to the elevator from whence they came, Lilia dripping a trail of blood as Cain
carried her. Mother Dorothy simply watched everything, allowing them to escape
with a cold glade in her blinding white eyes.
:Just a little longer, Lilia… just hold on, you're gonna make it.:
They made their way to the elevator, Shaeda punching in the 1st floor while
Cain set down Lilia. "Everyone stand back," he ordered, as they
quickly followed. Cain held his hands over her deep wound, and a green
spherical aura of energy surrounded them both. Cain's palms glowed a bright
white.
The blood dripping to the floor of the elevator seeped back into her wound, as
did all the blood that soaked her clothing. Thin strands of muscle structure,
blood vessels and flesh slowly strung back together and restored to their
normal state, healing her in less than a minute.
Exhausted, Cain fell beside her, unconscious from such a tremendous release of
energy. He nearly lost his life to save hers. She came to, her eyes opening
groggily as she reached down to feel her wound, finding not even a scratch. She
looked to her side and saw Cain lying there next to her, not moving. She felt
his pulse, and found that he was still alive, just barely.
"Poor Cain," she thought, stroking his cold cheek. "He almost
died trying to heal me…"
The elevator came to a stop on the 1st floor without any interruptions this
time. Lilia staggered to her feet, while Jynx picked up Cain over his shoulder,
and the Northern Faction made their escape. They fortunately managed to hitch a
ride back to the ghetto, where the team waited for Cain to recuperate. Their
mission just got a lot harder. Rion may have been the last surviving Galerian
at this point, on the enemy's side at least, but Mother had now awakened.
Dorothy once again had a physical body, one much more powerful than her last.
And this time around, she would not be so easily defeated.
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