© Copyright 2004-2009.  All rights reserved
Chapter 1

“Wake up”

Sukara Anumory, age 16, sat hiding quietly behind a filing cabinet holding her breath, waiting to see if the two men would find her.  Through a hole in the rusted cabinet, she could see that one of them was carrying an electro-blade, a menacing weapon that shot thousands of volts of electricity through its victim's bodies when it made contact.  The man had his blade in its sheath over his shoulders like he was bored.  He was wearing thick leather armor on his upper body, and black rubber boots.  The other man who was not in sight was dragging on about how board he was as they worked their way slowly past Sukara’s hiding spot.
“I still don’t get why we are wasting our time down here.” Said the man who was out of sight.  “We should be upstairs where the action is.  The Anumory Dynasty is dead and over with.  No use worrying about this stupid girl.”
“Your right, it is a waste of time, so why don’t you go up stairs and tell that to Nori so he can gut us both for not following orders?”  The man with the electro-blade responded.
“Forget that!  I’d rather search this underground base for a year than piss Nori off like that.”
When the men finally passed, Sukara darted across the hallway into an adjacent room, nearly tripping over the clutter on the floor.  The room she entered had a lock on its door, and she used it, locking herself in.
“I don’t care if I get locked in again” she thought, “as long as they don’t get in here.”  She took a moment to glance around at the room.  It was a rectangular room jumbled with scientific equipment, open books, and pages of notes scribbled down on paper.  Sukara recognized her father’s handwriting on a page on the floor. She knelt down to look closer.  The paper had been ripped out of a college rule notebook, and stained with rings from a coffee mug.

Further testing has shown that Isa has very little control when his anger is triggered.  I doubt he will be able to fulfill his duties if these breakouts don’t stop happening.

“Isa? Who’s that?” Sukara whispered under her breath.  Continuing on her inspection of the room, she spotted a set of clothes on a table near the corner of the room.  She knew it was a bad time, but there was nothing she loved more than trying on new things.  Besides, it looked cool, and would probably suit her better than the short skirt she was wearing at the moment, she thought.  Cautiously, she walked over, trying not to trip, which was made difficult by the lack of light in the room.  Most of the power was out this deep in the base, and the only real light source was coming from some of the computers humming away at the back of the room.  Sukara quickly slipped out of her skirt and into the armored pants.  They where a lose fit, and she had to tighten the belt, but the extra leg protection made it worth the trouble.  The dark black leg armor had thicker protection on the knees and ankles, and looked as if it could stop a sword slash with no problem.
  Sukara continued by removing her T-shirt, and putting her dark brown hair up in a ponytail.  Normally, her hair, which went down just past her shoulders, wouldn’t bother her, but she was going for the warrior look she had in her head. Before she had the chance to put on the top half of the armor, she heard a noise from outside the door, and she froze, her light blue eyes focused on the keypad. Did I imagine that? She thought to herself, but when she heard footsteps, she quickly tried to hide.  The only thing she could find was a foggy glass chamber that was attached to the wall next to the computers.  The doors access panel sparked from tampering on the other side. Someone was trying to break in. She opened the chamber and slipped quickly inside just as the door opened.  She could hear the footsteps of two men walking around inside the room, and she could only assume that they where the two from before, in the hallway.
“Well look at this, a skirt.  I doubt this is supposed to be down here.”
Frightened, she leaned back away from the glass, bumping into something behind her.  She flinched, and then slowly reached back to feel what she was leaning against.  Her hands touched a warm face with closed eyes, and Sukara screamed in shock. She turned to see a boy her age, strapped to the inside of the chamber.  He had simple raggedy clothes on, and looked as if he were sleeping.  Around his neck, he wore a metal collar with the name Isa printed on it next to a circular symbol with a sword running through it.  He had dark brown, almost black hair that was un-kept, and hung over his eyes.  She resisted the urge to scream again, and covered her mouth.  It was obvious that the two men already knew she was in the room, but all she could do is hope they would not look in the chamber.  She sat in silence, waiting, trying again to hold her breath.


(Image of Isa's Collar http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/43098832/ )

“If only this Isa guy could help me!”  She thought to herself.  “Wake up Isa!  I don’t care who you are, or how out of control you can get, I’d stand a better chance with you than these two!”
Before she could think about it any longer, the door to the chamber thrust open, and a tall burly man looked down at her, only inches away.  He was the man she was unable to see from her hiding place behind the filing cabinet.  He wore some sort of chest harness that was wrapped in various kinds of tape.  On the shoulder, he kept a small knife, and on the other, there was a small radio.  The man had an unshaved face, and fierce eyes that looked as if they had seen far too many battles. His right eye had a scar that ran down from his forehead to his cheek.  In his right hand, he clutched a jagged blade about a foot in length, with fresh bloodstains on it.
“Why hello there little miss princess.” He said, flashing his bad dental hygiene.   “Finally found you.”  And with overwhelming force, he pulled her out of the chamber and held her against the wall by her neck.  The man with the electro-blade looked in the chamber at Isa.
“Who the hell is this?”
“Who cares, we got what we came here for.” The other responded, grinning.  Sukara screamed, and started to struggle, holding on to the man’s wrists, trying to free herself from his grasp.
“Isa, Help!” she screamed.  The two men laughed.
“Isa’s not going to help you; he’s sleeping like a baby.” Said the one with the scar. “Why don’t you be a good girl and shut up until we get you upstairs to Nori?”  The man with the electro-blade walked up next to him, looking pleased.
“Let’s go.”  The man with the scar glanced back at his comrade.
“Go already?  But I wanted to have a little fun first.” Said the man with the scar, looking back at Sukara with a devious smile on his face.  “It’s not like Nori will be able to tell the difference.”  The man leaned in toward her, his smile getting wider.  Sukara screamed again, calling to Isa for help.
“Isa help! Wake up!”
“He can’t hear you.”  The man with the scar said, squeezing her neck. “Besides, what is that scrawny little kid going to do to save you anyway?”  Sukara began to cry, fighting with all her might.”
“Isa, wake up!”  She screamed desperately, but this time, something happened.  The chamber began to make a hissing noise as it released pressure.  The straps and restraints that held Isa slowly started to move away, releasing him.  The man with the scar looked over slowly. “What is it now?”
The man with the electro-blade pulled his weapon out of its sheath, and an electrical current jumped across its edge, making it glow white. Isa stood upright, and turned his head toward the man with the electro-blade.  He opened his bright green eyes slowly, looking at the man.
“Ooooh, so scary.” The man with the electro-blade taunted, “What are you going to do?  Kick me to death with your scrawny legs?”  Isa ignored him, looking instead at the other one who was holding Sukara against the wall.  Isa’s eyes dilated and streaks of green electricity shot across his skin from his head to his feet.  His muscles bulged and he took a strange fighting stance, which he rested in for only an instant before attacking.  He ran straight for the man with the scar reaching him in the blink of an eye, and kicking him in the head with all of his momentum.  The man flew onto a table of glass equipment, and slid off the other side with a crash.  By this time, the man with the electro-blade was behind Isa, swinging his weapon down to strike.  Isa turned and ducked down, punching the man in the ribs with incredible force, collapsing his lungs and crushing his heart.  The weapon dropped from his hands and Isa caught it, spinning around and throwing it at the man with the scar, who had just stood back up.  The blade pinned him to the wall, and he began to scream.  It only took a few seconds for the blade to kill the man through electrocution.  Isa stood upright, and turned to face Sukara.  Their eyes met for several seconds before Sukara leaped forward and hugged him.  He stood rigidly, as if he were a board.
“…You’re wearing my pants.” He said, with a quiet voice.


(The great hall http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/40697263/?qo=8&q=by%3Aanimenanashi&qh=sort%3Atime+-in%3Ascraps )

Several floors up, in a long hallway lined with marble pillars, a man named Nori approached his enemy.  Nori wore a long black trench coat that split down both sides.  The bottom of the coat hung worn and tattered by his thick black boots.  His right sleeve was missing, revealing a mechanical arm with clawed fingertips, and menacing designs etched in it. The right side of his face was riddled with long deep scars.  A plate of metal had been attached there to cover up some sort of past wound.  His long black hair hung over his blue eyes, giving him an unearthly look.
Nori stood before Sukara’s father, Master Lowell Anumory, the leader of the Anumory Dynasty.  Lowell's face was pail from worry, and his expression was old and wrinkled from years of stress.  He wore simple pants and a shirt with a lab coat over them. His blond hair was parted down the middle, and was not well kept.  Blood was running down his forehead, and he was suffering after being beaten by the attackers.  
Nori spoke in a dry crackly voice. “It’s so good to see you again Lowell, how is the family?”  He paused for a moment as if listening to a response. “What’s that? Your son Daichi died during our last raid?  Maybe you should have had him under better care.  It’s also a shame that you failed to save Mitsuko as well.  You’d think after losing one of your children, you would keep better track of the rest of them, especially your daughter.” Lowell looked up at the man, hanging from the grip of two large men who were holding him up by his arms.
“What do you want? You have already taken most of my family, and my Dynasties wealth.  What could you possibly want now?” A wicked grin spread across Nori’s face.  “You’re still a threat to my Dynasty Lowell.  I can’t have that.  I have come to kill Sukara.  That way your family line will die, and with it, your pathetic excuse for a Dynasty.  You Anumory aren’t what you used to be, and it's time for you to give up your power to the people who chose to fight, not cower underground.”
“You where once part of this dynasty Nori, remember?” Lowell said weakly.
“Yes, I remember.  But that was old times my friend.” Nori said. “I stopped trusting you when you decided to fake the destruction of the Dynasty and go underground.  The strong fight and the weak hide.  I refused to hide like you.  You’re pathetic.  You don’t even have the will to stand in battle anymore, and yet still the Anumory people are revered as some of the greatest fighters. Disgusting.”  Nori looked down upon Lowell with hatred.  “Take him back to his room for now.”   The two men who were holding Lowell up dragged him off, and Nori turned to his assistant.
“Have we found Sukara yet?” He said.
“No master, not yet.  But she couldn’t have escaped, we will find her.”  The assistant responded.
“I hope so, or I’m likely to kill every single one of you.” Nori responded, his assistant coward as he backed away, and ran off.  Nori looked down at his metal hand, and closed it into a fist.  
“You’re also responsible for this arm and face of mine.  And for that I will not allow you to live to see tomorrow.” Nori spoke aloud to himself. “I have waited so many long days for this one.  The one day when I would be able to avenge my family’s death wholly.  Apparently, taking your oldest daughter wasn’t enough, and neither was killing your only son.  That’s why I’m not only going to kill your last daughter; I'm going to kill you Lowell.” He grinned happily, very pleased with the way things were going.  He turned to walk away, and as he did, he swung his metal arm, smashing it through one of the pillars, causing part of the building to collapse behind him.

Back in the basement of the dark facility, Isa ran toward a staircase, pulling Sukara by the arm behind him.  He carried in his other hand the electro-blade from before.  He had no shoes on, only raggedy pants, and a plane shirt.
“Where are we going? Who are you?” Sukara demanded, being dragged along by her arm.
“We are getting out of the capital.  It's not safe here.” Isa responded, not slowing down.
“Ok, that answers the first one,” She said between breaths, “but I still want to know who you are!”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know? How can you not know who you are?”
“I’m sorry”
“You’re sorry? For what? Would you slow down?”
“I'm sorry I don’t know my name.”
“I said slow down, this is hurting my arm!”
Isa stopped, turning to look at Sukara, still holding on to her arm by the wrist.  He looked down at her arm, and then back at her.
“Sorry.”  He then attached the electro-blade in its sheath to Sukara’s pants.  He picked her up, carrying her in front of him like a bride, and began running again.
“Why did you give me the sword?” Sukara asked.
“Because I can’t carry it and you at the same time.  We wouldn’t have this problem if you didn’t have my pants on.”  By now they were at the staircase, and Isa started up them towards the surface, still carrying Sukara.  He jogged up the stairs effortlessly, skipping 4 steps at a time until they reached the main floor.
“Stop.” Sukara said suddenly “We can’t leave without my dad.” Isa looked down at her.  Sukara stared at him with a pleading look.  After several seconds, Isa turned to face the doorway, and kicked it down, knocking over 2 guards on the other side who where near it.  He stepped sideways through the door so as not to hit Sukara’s head, and stood on the fallen door.  As the two men stood back up, Isa crouched down, extending his right leg, and spun around, tripping one of them.  Still holding Sukara, he set her down, keeping one arm around her, his hand on the sword sheath.  The man who was still standing reached for his weapon, a dagger strapped to his boot, but before he could even lean forward Isa had the electro-blade tip pressed against his throat.
“Don’t” Isa said in a plane tone, looking calm.  The man froze in fear.  They stood like that for several seconds, Isa’s arm still around Sukara, and his other extended full length holding the sword out.  The man slowly stood back, putting his hands up.  Instantly, Isa dropped the sword, turning his body and hitting the man with his other arm, and putting the sword arm around Sukara.  Before the sword dropped more than an inch, he caught it, and sheathed it.  Sukara blinked, comprehending what had just taken place. It all happened so fast that she hadn’t had time to react.  After a few seconds, she spoke.
“Did you really have to hit that guy? He gave up you know.”
“Sorry.”
“Would you stop that? Stop apologizing for no reason.”
“Sorry.” He responded again. Sukara let out a sound of frustration, deciding to drop the subject.  The two of them then looked down, seeing that they had their arms around each other.  They repelled away, surprised.  Isa opened his mouth to speak, but Sukara spoke first.
“Let me guess, you’re sorry.  Don’t worry about it, now let's get going.” Isa nodded, picking her up again.
“Isa…”
“Yes madam Anumory.”
“I can walk you know, and call me Sukara.”
“Sorry madam Anumory.” He said, setting her down again.  They looked at each other for several seconds before continuing on.  The room they were in was some sort of sub lobby, sitting just below ground.  They walked across the floor of large white tiles to a double door on the other side of the dimly lit room.  Isa looked at Sukara.
“Whatever you do, stay with me.”  She nodded in agreement.  He looked back at the door, paused, and looked back at her.
“What’s behind this door?” he asked.
“The main hall.  My dad's office is at the end of it” She answered, lowering her voice.  Isa nodded, and then opened the door.  They found themselves staring down the long hallway lined with pillars.  Part of the roof was collapsed near the end of the hall.  Isa walked quickly to the pile of rubbish, making sure that Sukara stayed close, and then began to remove large chunks, trying to reach the other side.  Sukara looked around nervously.  
“Do you want me to help?” She asked, trying to be helpful.  He turned to look at her, holding up a slab of marble twice his size.
“No, I can get it” he said calmly, going back to work.  Sukara watched him for a while, and then sat down, leaning against a nearby pillar.  Several minutes later, they both looked over, hearing a noise from behind them.  Standing in the hallway entrance was a short man wearing a strange helmet, and a black cloak.  His face was obscured by the helmet device, which had several wires sticking out of it, and reconnecting at other points.  Several creatures stood on each side of him.  They appeared to be human like, hunched forward, arms dangling at their sides.  They wore thick black armor that obscured their unusual shaped bodies.  Each one of the creatures had a device floating above them; which was linked to them by some sort of glowing tubes.  The arms of the creatures had long blades attached to them, running the full length of their forearms, and sticking sharply out word past the elbow.  The creatures all swayed in a uniform fashion, as if they were one mind.  The man in the cloak stared evilly at Isa and Sukara.


(Stage A biological puppet soldier http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/43099338/ )

“What did we find? Did we found the girl we are looking for we think.  Who is this other we ask… Oh well, matters not does it, we will kill this other for fun.”
Sukara ran behind Isa, peaking around him at the strange man in the cloak.
“Who are you?” She asked fearfully.
“Who is this one?” he asked, looking down at himself. “The one in the middle is myself, Sash Metregi, Puppet master of the highest ranks, and killer of the lowest scum.” Sukara gasped. “His last name is Keltarian!” She whispered franticly to Isa.
“What is Keltarian?” He asked curiously.  The man in the cloak laughed hysterically.
“You don’t know Kelta hu? Is this true that you really don’t and yet you hope to defend this girl?”  Isa held his arm out in front of Sukara.
“I will not try, I will succeed.  I cannot fail.” Hearing this, Sukara looked at him, smiling.
“I don’t care if I don’t know what Keltarian is.  I doubt it’s going to protect you from me.” Isa said, reaching back and pulling the electro-blade from its sheath on Sukara’s belt.
“Ah, so he wants to fight anyway? Good, we want to try out ourselves in actual combat.  We hope he is good don’t we?”  The man in the cloak closed his eyes, and the creatures began to move independently.  7 of them split off from the group, 3 to the left, 4 to the right, and one stayed by Sash, the man in the cloak.  Isa stood at a ready fighting stance, with his sword arm outstretched.  He wore an anticlimactic look on his face, showing no fear, nor enjoyment of the unfolding situation.  The creatures that moved to the sides had slipped pass to the outsides of the pillar rows to give themselves cover as they approached Isa.  They ran at him in two single file lines, like robots, and as they reached him they split off, forming a circle around the two of them.  Isa looked from one to another, studying them.  Each seemed to be the exact same height and build, with no variations.  They all stood with both arms forming an ex in front of them.  Isa guessed that this was their way of putting up a shield, and that there suits where probably insulated from electricity, assuming that they where even alive.  He closed his eyes, feeling a cool sensation rush over his body.  When he opened them again, his eyes dilated, and his vision turned black.  The creatures appeared to him as red glowing entities, with lines of energy surging through their bodies.  The tips of the blades were highlighted in white to define their edges, and a fuzzy outline represented the surrounding walls and pillars.  Sukara’s body was shown outlined with a beautiful display of gold arks, flying around her.  Isa looked at her for several seconds, admiring her in this form.  When he looked back at the creatures, he noticed an increase in brightness in their legs, running down from their thighs to their feet.  The creatures leaned forward, pushing off of the ground with their powerful legs to accelerate themselves into a sprint inward.  They deployed jagged edges from their weapons as they ran, putting their arms out for a defensive attack.  Isa leaned forward, kicking his leg back and hitting one of the creature’s ankles, while dodging the blades of the ones in front of him.  The creature behind him flipped sideways out of control, crashing into several others, and giving Isa a moment to grab Sukara around the waist, and run backwards through the remaining rubble.  He set her down, putting his hands on her shoulders.
“Stay here, I’ll be back in a minute.”  And then he ran back through the pile.  On the other side, the creatures were waiting to ambush him.  He was caught off guard as they came in from the sides, and he had to jump to avoid their attack.  He had expected them to slash each other on accident.  Their swings came with such force that he did not anticipate that they would be able to stop and reverse their movement so quickly, but they did. Only an instant after he had landed, they were right next to him, slashing again.  This time Isa was forced to use his sword to defend himself.  The dark room lit up with white light each time the sword made contact with the creatures’ blades.  The electricity was unable to conduct through their suits, leaving it nowhere to go but back upon its self.  Two hands like that of a clock rotated along the axis of the hilt of Isa’s sword.  The first hand represented how much power remained, and the second marked when it would be out of it.  With each strike, the hands moved closer together, closer to the end of the only thing that made the electro-blade useful.  Isa found himself locked in combat with several angry creatures that moved in swift coordinated movements in conjunction with each other.  

Sukara stood looking from the hole in the rubble behind her to the door to her father’s office.  She was torn between risking more danger and entering the office, or waiting longer to see her father, who could be dyeing at that very moment.  All she could do was pace back and forth, listening nervously to the ongoing battle only feet away from her.  Finally she could stand doing nothing no more, and she entered the office, totally unprepared for what she saw.  Most of the office looked as it always did; a large oak desk covered with notes and documents involving the Dynasties matters sat in the middle of the room.  A small desk lamp that was almost always on was lying on the floor broken.  Next to it, her father’s chair had been moved to the corner of the room.  It was wrapped in bloody ropes that had been cut down the middle.  Sukara covered her mouth, horrified at the idea of her father being tortured.  She was overwhelmed with a sick feeling, as she comprehended for the first time the severity of the situation.  The enemy has penetrated their capitals defenses, their soldiers roamed freely through the halls unchecked.  Her father and possibly everyone she knew could already be dead, and the only thing that stood between her and death was a strange boy she had just met.  
“I have to find him” She thought to herself. “I just can’t give up.”  She stood for a moment, looking at the chair, and then turned and ran out the door.  As she approached the pile of rubble, she could hear the fierce battle underway on the other side.  She poked her head through the hole to investigate, and in less than a second, the attacking puppet creatures turned to attack her.  As they did this, they left themselves open to attack from Isa.  He took the opportunity, striking his blade against the neck of one of the creatures.  The swing did no damage on impact, and the last drop of power was shorted out of the electro-blades reserves, but on the way in, it had severed one of the glowing tubes that ran from the creatures left shoulder to the device floating above it.  Isa could see an immediate change in the creature’s behavior.  It seemed that the man who called himself the puppet commander was controlling all of the creatures as one.  Because of this, it seemed he had trouble giving the damaged puppet specialized instructions to deal with its handicap.  The creature wasn’t even half as threatening as before, and it soon backed off from the fight.  Isa decided to take that opportunity to destroy it while it was weak, so he attacked it with full force.  Fighting creatures that shared one mind was a lot different than fighting independent ones.  Once Sash realized what was happening, all of the creatures reacted, slashing at Isa from behind.  One of them landed a good hit on him with its arm blade, slicing him down his back.  He ignored the pain, and decided to change his tactic.  As he reached the disabled creature, he leaped in the air, and planted his foot in its chest, kicking off of it like it was a wall.  With his momentum, he back flipped over the puppets behind him, slashing one of their pods that floated above them.  Isa had added a little torque to his flip so that when he landed, he was facing away from them.  He sat, kneeling down with his sword arm shifted back behind him, and his other, touching the ground in front of him.  Several seconds passed before the puppet he had slashed fell to the floor with a thud.  Without its neural controls, it flailed about on the floor, making a bizarre screeching noise.  Sash stood gawking in disbelief at Isa.
“… Impossible!” he stammered, looking amazed. “No one person can defeat one of us, how could this other who isn’t a warrior do such…?  We will forget this fun, and do as we have instructed by boss.” And with that, Sash closed his eyes and clenched the muscles in his face.  The remaining 5 creatures split up, 2 on one side, 3 on the other, filing behind the pillars again, trying to get around Isa to reach Sukara.  Isa would not have this, and ran at her, trying to beat them to her.  She was hiding back behind the rubble again, hoping not to be noticed.  To both her, and Isa’s surprise, the creatures smashed mindlessly through the rubble instead of going through the hole.  Sukara had only an instant to duck, dodging one of the puppets blades that smashed into the wall behind her.  If she had hesitated at all, she would have lost her head.  A second creature came in from the side, jabbing at her with the protruding section of its arm blade.  Isa was struggling to find his way through the now rearranged rubble.  When he heard Sukara screaming, he dropped the sword, punching his way through, cracking bones and flinging blood from his bleeding knuckles onto the surrounding walls and pillars.  Isa screamed with an ever-increasing ferocity, pushing his body as hard as he could.  Moments later he came smashing through, plow-driving the puppet closest to Sukara.  He smashed it up against the wall, and without turning to look, kicked backwards, hitting another straight in the face.  A third puppet tried to slash both him and Sukara at the same time, but Isa caught the blade in his bare hand.  It sliced deep into the flesh, only stopping when it hit bone.  Isa applied force, trying to push the creature back while Sukara watched horrified, hidden behind Isa with her back on the door to her father’s office.  Isa realized this, and without letting go of the blade, he kicked the door in, and she fell into the office with it.  He then grasped the arm of the puppet whose blade was embedded in his hand, and pulled, leaning back.  He was able to flip the puppet over; smashing it into another which was running at them.  The 2 of them flew backwards and into the debris, smashing their pods, and disabling them.  When another puppet slashed at him, he leaned backwards.  Its blade smashed into another puppet, which was still trying to pull its arm blade out of the wall after its unsuccessful swing at Sukara.  The swing smashed straight through its pod, and it fell limp, hanging by its arm in the wall.  The last puppet gaped at Isa.  After a few seconds, it too collapsed, dropping to the floor.  Isa looked around, confused.  
After a moment, Sukara emerged from her dad's office.  
“That hurt, you need to be more careful.” She said, rubbing the back of her head.  She looked over at Isa, and was shocked.  He was standing normally, but blood was running down his fingers and dripping onto the floor.  Bits of marble and steel protruded from his knuckles, embedded in bone, and blood was running from the deep cut in his back, down his legs and onto the floor.  His simple clothes where torn up, soaked in dark red blood.  She gasped.
“Are you alright?” She asked, sounding scared.  She started to approach him, but stopped, looking unsure.  “We have to stop that bleeding.”
“I’m fine, are you hurt?” He responded in an unusual sounding, detached tone of voice.
“Am I hurt? Don’t be stupid, you’re the one bleeding all over yourself after fighting a horde of monsters and you want to know if I'm hurt?  What’s wrong with you?” Sukara said, looking worried.  The two of them stood silent in the dark, on the blood covered marble floor.  They found themselves looking at each other, eye-to-eye, thinking.  Suddenly Isa looked away.
“What? What is it?” Sukara asked.
“I just realized. You don’t have a top on.” Isa responded, blushing.  Sukara didn’t move.  Her vision was slowly clouded in red, and she could feel the heat coming off of her face.  She was overwhelmed with embarrassment.  She had taken off her shirt to change into Isa’s armor, and now she only had her bra on.  In all of the excitement, she had totally forgotten.  She shoved him roughly.
“Now you tell me!” She yelled. “Why didn’t you say something earlier you pervert!?”  Isa winced with pain.  Sukara hadn’t taken into account that he was hurt.  Realizing he was still bleeding, she ripped off the ragged remains of his shirt, and wrapped it tightly around his waist, covering most of the cut on his back.  She then bandaged his fingers with the remaining material.
“It looks bad.  If we find my dad, he can fix you right up.” She said, trying to stay calm.  Isa nodded, showing no signs of feeling the pain.  The whole time, he kept his vision focused on a point on the wall to his side, refusing to look at her. After a few moments of silence, he finally spoke.
“Thank you.” He whispered in a quiet voice.  Sukara just looked at him.  She was trying to read the look on his face.  It seemed strange.  His eyes where sad, but the rest of his face was emotionless.
“No one has ever shown me so much kindness.”  He said quietly, as if he didn’t want it to be heard.  Sukara’s eyes started to water.  She could be overly emotional at times, and this was no exception.  She continued to stare at him with a caring look.
“What do you mean? Didn’t you have parents?” She said.
“I had a mother… But…” He stopped, closing his eyes.
“She… had other things on her mind most of the time.  There was something wrong with her.” He swallowed, trying to force away the emotions that where building inside him.
“She was broken.” He said, in a shaky voice “In a way that no one could fix.”  Tears started running down Sukara’s face.  She couldn’t stand it any longer.  She leaned forward and hugged him, crying out loud.  She seemed to have forgotten his wound again.  Isa didn’t care.  He didn’t know how to show it, but he felt more at home than he had ever before.  They sat together in the darkness, in the middle of the falling facility, ignoring the world around them.


Elsewhere in the facility, the mood was quite different.  Lowell had been kept in his room, waiting with several guards for Nori to decide what he was going to do.  No one had yet realized that every decision they made would have a profound result in the time to come.  Nori himself stood outside the room, hands behind his back, looking at an American flag that was hanging from the ceiling.  It was obviously very old, and untouched as it was, quite tattered and worn.  He looked at the flag with a smug look on his face, his assistant behind him.
“I heard this flag represented a great dynasty that existed long ago.” Nori said.
“The greatest dynasty on earth.  Like no other…  You see, it's said that they didn’t possess all of the land, or all of the population, but they did possess the greatest knowledge.  That is what made them so great.”  Suddenly, Sash, the puppet commander entered the corridor, gasping for breath.
“Master, the girl-“ He started, but Nori cut him off.
“Where is she?”  Sash approached cautiously.
“Master, there was this boy-“
“I give you a simple task Sash.  A very simple task.  All you have to do is kill one little girl. One little girl!”  Nori clenched his fists with anger.
“But master, we found a boy who could hurt us!”  Nori had had enough.  He grabbed Sash by the throat with his metal arm, squeezing.  Sash coughed and gasped for air, trying to speak.
“Master!”
“I have no reason not to crush your neck right now.”
“But maaasstterr… He didn’t know Kelta.”  Nori stopped squeezing, looking at Sash.
“What’s that?  You say he can fight but doesn’t know Kelta?  Now that’s interesting.”  Sash nodded vigorously, looking relieved.  Nori let go of him, letting him drop to the floor.
“So he defeated you hu?” Nori said, looking back at the flag. “If it was such a great defeat, why do you still have a puppet with you?  Don’t tell me you coward, I already know the answer.”
“Master…” Sash started, but he stopped, lowering his head in thought.  “Give me more.  Yes, that will help.  Make more for us and we will smash them!”  Nori laughed.
“Ha! I don’t think so.  I have a much better plan in mind.  That stupid girl is arrogant.  I'm sure she’ll come looking for daddy, and that’s where we will have her.”  Sash looked at him excitedly.
“We should set us up a trap now master?” Nori looked at the room that held Lowell.
“Not yet.  I have one more card that I’d like to play before we risk ending Lowell's life.”  And with that Nori entered the room.  Lowell was huddling in the corner of his bedroom, battered and bruised.  He raised his head when Nori came in.
“Lowell, before I kill you, there is someone I would like you to meet. I think you might remember her.” A wicked smile spread quickly across his half scarred face, and his blue eyes gleamed with a hint of insanity.
“Send her in!” He yelled to his assistant outside.
“At first you thought you had the edge.  You thought you were the only one who could expand on the ancient knowledge.  I'm sure when you first saw our genetically engineered puppet soldiers; you thought we couldn’t take the science beyond what we learned here before we broke from this family.”  As Nori talked, a figure immerged from the doorway behind him.  Its armor-covered body was cloaked in darkness, as it stood motionless, staring at Lowell.  He could scarcely make out a female figure wearing full body armor.  He stood up, shaking, bleeding, stripped of his entire world.  As his eyes adjusted, he began to recognize what he saw, and he let out a long horrific scream.  He began crying and screaming, dropping to the floor again, denying what he was seeing.
“No!  That’s impossible, it can’t be...!”  He moved back, shaking his head, eyes filled with tears.
“How could you do this to me? How could you have done this to her?”