Sage Frontier Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of two Fakes! ❯ Second Mission: A failed Success ( Chapter 14 )

DISCLAIMER: I don't own SaGa Frontier. SquareSoft does.

 

As Red kept running frantically up the stairs towards the elevators, he could hear a surprisingly large amount of shuffling behind him, as though whatever was chasing him was becoming hesitant. As he reached the last step, the shuffling stopped altogether, and although Red was pretty sure he didn't want to know why, he forced himself to turn around anyway. No monster was left in the lobby, and all of the dark fog that had begun to settle in was slowly dissipating. And yet the radiation from the crystals still glowed dully, alerting Red that Anita still might be around. He blinked in confusion.

 

“Where did they all go?” he asked, though he didn't expect any reply. He jumped when Alkaiser, though weakened and exhausted, spoke.

 

`They just disappeared…' Alkaiser whispered, just as mystified, `Do you think our friends finished Anita off?' Red looked up towards the ceiling, as though he expected Blue and Rouge to come crashing down, but they didn't. He shrugged.

 

“I don't know. Blue was in pretty bad shape. You think Rouge could've won single-handed?” Red speculated, and then sighed, “I'm tempted to go back to the roof and see.” Frustrated, Red sat on the stair as Alkaiser looked over the banister with grim resolution.

 

`Even if you did, there's still the matter of dealing with Fuse,' Alkaiser reminded the boy, crossing his arms, `He might think we pulled a prank if we don't show up.' Red groaned miserably. Police were so complicated to him, if not a bit faulty at best. Still, Alkaiser had a point, and Red knew that. But his friends…

 

“This day sucks,” Red finally said crossly, and then turned to look at Alkaiser, who had an eyebrow perked with amusement at Red's outburst, “What happened to you back there, anyway? You didn't even answer when I called you.” Alkaiser bit his lower lip hesitantly, and then pointed up toward the ceiling.

 

`There was a huge power flux coming from somewhere that temporarily drained my powers too quickly,' Alkaiser replied regretfully, `It must've been Anita, because it smelled strongly of thick radical waves and splicing rays. But those energies can shut down a superhuman within seconds. It's like kryptonite, but much more dangerous.' Red snorted, and then laughed hysterically at the comparison. That made him seem like more of a comic book character than an actual person.

 

“You mean like Superman?” Red laughed, and Alkaiser's face went slightly red.

 

`I'm being serious here, Red,' he said sternly, and Red suddenly found himself stiffening up at the tone, `Whatever Anita's been playing with, if it's dangerous to me, it could've… and should've killed you. I'd love to know what it was, and I think you should be thankful either of us lived through that.' Red felt guilty at laughing at his other self, but the comparison seemed like such a joke. And yet Alkaiser's face was so hard. Red knew Alkaiser spoke the truth. He sighed again.

 

“Why didn't I feel it?” he asked, throwing his arms up, “If it's so dangerous, shouldn't I have smelled anything?”

 

`Humans aren't as energetically clear as heroes are. Things like that can go unnoticed for days before you get even the slightest hint of infection,' Alkaiser replied, dusting his helmet off, `Why do you think cancer is so dangerous? It originated from radiation that enters a human body.' Red nodded, as he already knew that from high school. At least, the part about cancer. But it didn't comfort him at all, as he sat in the dark lobby. Aside from Alkaiser, everything was so silent. It was making him very nervous.

 

“You think Blue and Rouge are okay?” Red asked, “They were up there, and Anita's probably spewed tons of radical particles on them.” Alkaiser thought about that carefully, then nodded reassuringly.

 

`They're fine,' Alkaiser told him, smiling, `We established that the radiation can only reach so far into the skies before it's rendered completely ineffective to a human's cells. Whatever Anita used, it probably couldn't have done much unless she contaminated herself. And I highly doubt she'd have done that.' Red nodded, but even with Alkaiser's reassurance, he still had a concerned feeling inside of him. He still didn't know what happened to the monsters, or to the fog. And people outside still might have been suffering. As these thoughts rolled through him, Red almost ignored the phone near the elevator that was ringing. Alkaiser alerted him to it, and he picked it up.

 

“Hello?” he asked, hoping that it wasn't anything dangerous. To his surprise, it was Blue, “Blue!? Are you all right!?”

 

“We're fine,” Blue said, though he sounded exhausted, and his voice was dry, “Anita's dead.” Red's eyes bugged at hearing this. They actually won! Red quickly relayed that to Alkaiser through his mind before speaking to Blue again.

 

“Really!? That's awesome, dude!” Red exclaimed, giving Alkaiser the thumbs-up, which was promptly returned, “We were ambushed by some monsters, but they just disappeared. I'm guessing they were friends of hers?” He heard Blue cough, but Blue continued on anyway.

 

“Yeah. But we have another problem, Red,” Blue coughed, and Red could hear Rouge hacking behind Blue. Were they sick? Red certainly hoped not.

 

“What's the problem?” Red asked, a very perplexed look on his face. Blue was grim, and that was never a good thing.

 

“Anita has a machine somewhere in the building, but it's set to go off soon,” Blue replied, patting Rouge to help him stop coughing, “She programmed it, and it contains DNA clones of her. She was going to contaminate Manhattan and then set off her clones to kill whoever survived. Then she was going to spread her disease everywhere. We have to find that machine.” Alkaiser swore angrily, and Red nearly dropped the phone in shock.

 

“Are you telling me that killing Anita did absolutely nothing!?” Red cried, exasperated, “How much time do we have until that thing blows?” Blue checked a giant clock tower in the far distance.

 

“Less than an hour now,” Blue replied grimly, “Rouge and I will come down and start searching the upper floors, but you need to help us. You have to look in the lower floors.” Red's expression was controlled worry, as he had two problems now. Alkaiser also looked flustered.

 

“Uh… Blue, there's a problem with that plan,” Red stated, “See, we called Fuse because we found one of Anita's casualties, and he told us to meet him outside.” Blue was silent, and it was Rouge that made Red jump in shock.

 

“WHAT!?” Rouge yelled through the phone, snatching it from his brother, “You called Fuse!? Why would you do that!? That idiot can't do anything right!” Blue snickered quietly, as Rouge did have a pretty accurate point. Fuse only seemed to make their missions much harder than they had to be. Red, however, took offense.

 

“I was just trying to help!” Red screamed back, as both Alkaiser and Blue watched on with annoyed looks and drops of sweat rolling down their heads, “It's not like we couldn't use the back-up!”

 

“That's not the point!” Rouge yelled, and Blue finally snapped. He grabbed the phone, and in a voice that sounded no less than thunder, he broke the fight up immediately.

 

“ENOUGH, CHILDREN!” Blue roared angrily, and Red was pretty sure that if he didn't pee himself, Rouge certainly had, “Can we get back to the problem at hand? Red, you go and wait for Fuse. Brief him in on what's happened so far, and tell him we sent you. As for Rouge and I, we're going to start our search and shut down the machine.”

 

“No problem, Blue,” Red replied, giving a thumbs-up even though Blue couldn't see it, “We'll help as soon as we can.”

 

“Don't screw this up, Red,” Rouge called from the background. Red mumbled as the phone clicked off, and hung up. He went to run down the stairs, causing Alkaiser to stare in a mix of surprise and wonderment. Alkaiser tilted his head.

 

`What's going on? Is everything okay?' Alkaiser asked, following Red. Red ran to the front entrance, and pushed the bolted glass doors open before answering. He let the cool breeze from outside rush against his face, before he remembered that it was still tainted. He turned to Alkaiser.

 

“Yeah. Blue and Rouge have to look for the machine Anita left. It's sort of like a time bomb, so they need our help,” Red explained, walking out the door and through the parking lot, “But we have to meet Fuse, so we'll fill him in when we can. Maybe he can help us, too.” Alkaiser didn't say anything, but he didn't object either. Red took that as approval and then turned his attention to the lot, which was thoroughly destroyed. The two guards were already dead, as were the janitor and doctor that Rouge had pickpocketed from before. Cars had begun to rust, and judging off the smell alone, many people must've died. The smell of rot was strong. Red wanted to choke.

 

“Aww man! Fuse had better be here!” Red coughed, covering his mouth. Alkaiser still remained silent, though Red could see he was developing a green glow. The radiation must've been making him sick as well. Red looked around, and saw a police car speeding into the lot. After a sloppy turn and a crash into a pole, the car came to an abrupt stop. Red watched in complete amazement as the hood popped open, and smoke billowed out. Fuse came out, cursing and screaming, and promptly kicked one of the front tires. That only resulted in another heavy scream, as he damaged his foot. A drop of sweat rolled down Red's head, as this certainly wasn't what he thought back-up should be like.

 

“I'm… going to assume you're Fuse,” Red said blandly, and Fuse stopped screaming just long enough to turn around.

 

“Yeah!? And who wants to know!?” Fuse snapped, as the tire popped off and rolled out of the lot, “Look, kid, I'm here on a mission. I don't have time for prattling like yours.” Red twitched and scowled, offended by Fuse's rude remark and how terrible he was at driving.

 

“I know. I'm the one who called you,” Red replied shortly, stuffing his hands into his pockets, “Look, your friends Blue and Rouge sent me. We found out why the Cygnus was getting attacked.” Fuse stopped frowning and his expression softened a bit. He hadn't heard from either of his colleagues in a while, now that he thought about it.

 

“Really? Well, why?” Fuse asked, taking out a cigarette and lighting it, “And why're you all in Manhattan?” Red sighed, as this would take a while to spell the whole situation out. So, he decided to summarize it.

 

“Well, the short version? Anita Campbell was behind it. She was bribing my boss, and when he didn't get it to her fast enough, she ordered an attack on the Cygnus. The cargo was actually tainted metal alloy,” Red explained, and beckoned for Fuse to follow him, “When we found the records in my boss's office, it led us to Manhattan, because it mentioned CIC as one of their customers that ordered the metal. Anita's trying to pull something lethal off, though, so Blue and Rouge are dispatching her right now. I'm telling you, she wasn't human.” Fuse glanced at him, skeptical.

 

“Not human?” Fuse asked, though he sort of believed Red. Red nodded.

 

“She injected herself with radiation, I guess. I'm not sure, but she attacked us, and she looked like a huge spider,” Red replied, and then turned to Fuse, grabbing his arm, “Look, man, I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's the truth. Everyone's dying because of her. Blue asked me to tell you. He needs help finding something. He said Anita's using a machine to pump the air full of the radiation coming from the alloy.” Fuse bit his lower lip, hesitant to reply. Red was sure he didn't believe a word of his story, until he answered.

 

“We were monitoring her activities for a while,” Fuse said, “We did find it odd that she'd order such a large amount of metal, especially when most medical equipment these days are made of plastic. Not to mention the huge increase in sick patients.”

 

“So you actually believe me!?” Red asked, actually surprised with this. Fuse nodded.

 

“I trust Blue. It sounds like we need to hurry,” Fuse answered, as he kicked down the front doors, “Where did he say to look?”

 

“He said that he's checking the upper floors with Rouge. We should look on the lower ones, most probably,” Red replied, as they ran in. Fuse immediately took out his blaster and loaded it as Red looked for a suitable melee weapon of his own. He grabbed a broken piece of wood.

 

“It looks like there's been a heavy attack. If Anita had any accomplices, any security measures, they might still be around,” Fuse stated, looking around and then up a stairwell, “Move out!” Then, they rushed through the doorway toward the side and up a flight of broken, creaking stairs.

 

---

 

“Rouge, come on. She's dead, and no spell is going to do anything to her,” Blue moaned with frustration as he kept the roof door open. Rouge, who was looking over Anita's dead, crushed body, snapped his fingers and ran to his twin.

 

“Darn. I think we went a little on overkill. All these stab wounds. She only needed the one,” Rouge commented, as he walked into the building. Blue followed, but before that, he let go of a rope he'd been holding onto. They had tied Anita's legs to one of the large stone blockades each, and then threw them off the side. The only thing that had kept her up was a thick rope, until Blue dropped it. Her body vanished beyond the edge of the roof, and both brothers heard a massive splat before continuing on.

 

“As long as we killed her for good, nothing is overkill,” Blue stated, as they ran down the steps, “After all, you're the one who took over and slashed her to bits.”

 

“Even so, I was sort of hoping I could revive her and bring her under our command,” Rouge replied casually, and Blue gave him an odd look, “Oh, think about it! Think of the ass-kicking we could do!” Blue, however, wasn't amused.

 

“Need I remind you that she almost killed us, and everyone in Manhattan?” Blue asked, perking an interested, if not slightly annoyed, brow, “She was about to enslave the world.” Rouge thought about this, and Blue was sure he'd won the argument until a grin crept along Rouge's face.

 

“She could tell us about the machine!” Rouge exclaimed, obviously feeling he was the victor, “Ah, man! Think of the money! The moolah! The dinero! Even if we only had a penny for every dollar she owned, we'd still have money falling out of our butts!” Blue's lips tightened, and a streak of blue edged across his cheeks.

 

“Even under brain control, she won't help us,” Blue said bluntly, “Rouge, just drop it. We have bigger fish to fry besides the “what ifs” of life. You need to focus.”

 

“But Blue, what about…”

 

“NO!” Blue yelled forcefully, turning around and hitting Rouge with his index finger in a scold, “Rouge, just no. Not only is it a poor theory, but necromancy is a dangerous art! You can barely deal with the basic classes and properties of magic, and you're going to try one of the most forbidden acts in magic and the arcane? Are you mad?” Rouge frowned at hearing Blue's strong disapproval, but he also understood. Even the masters back at the Magic Kingdom feared necromancy, and they usually hunted or jailed all those associated with it. He sighed.

 

“I just wanted to see if I could do it,” Rouge said, “It's not like I'm going to be great at magic like you, and no one's ever done necromancy for nearly 1000 years. Aren't you a little curious yourself, bro?” Now Blue sighed, feeling very frustrated at how their search was starting. He shook his head, though it was more to clear his thoughts than for an answer.

 

“Maybe, but it's dangerous even for me,” Blue replied gently, “Look, Rouge, maybe if it weren't so morally corrupt, I'd consider trying it. But the point is, it's wrong. It's wrong to animate the dead and force their souls to help us. Magicians with weak will who've attempted this died, and some of them were of the highest classes you can reach.” Rouge bit his lower lip, knowing Blue spoke the truth. He always heard the tales, but it just sounded so interesting. But one final glance back at the rooftop door told him not to try it, so instead he waited for Blue to open up a locked door. Blue, having no luck with his blaster, threw an Energy Chain and blew the door apart. Using their arms to shield themselves from the tiny shrapnel flying about from the small explosion, they both ran inside. What they expected was to be in a hallway, but instead, they were greeted with a large conference room. Unsurprisingly, it was empty.

 

“Think this is her office?” Rouge asked, as he walked over and patted one of the chairs. It was solid oak, and the cushioning was made of durable, comfortable red polyester, though the seat cushioning itself was either silk or velvet. On the wall, behind the large chair that could only have been for the head executive here, was a large monitor. It was static.

 

“We're probably close to it, but this looks like a meeting room,” Blue replied, walking over to the monitor, “I wonder if this'll tell us anything. What are the chances that she shared her plans with a few close co-workers?” Rouge, who'd taken to actually lounging in one of the seats, shrugged.

 

“Who knows? If she injected them with the radiation to mutate them, then they probably know about it. But she didn't say anything about that,” Rouge replied, watching Blue intently, “Chances are she probably killed everyone up here rather than take the time to immunize anyone under her. Less of a chance of rebellion.” As Blue tinkered with the monitor's controls, he looked back at Rouge and smiled. That made a lot of sense, and to hear Rouge actually reason as he would made Blue proud. Rouge gave him the thumbs-up as acknowledgement.

 

“Good thinking, Rouge,” Blue stated, and then the monitor flickered and the room came into view, “Ah, it's working. It looks like it was playing a security tape, though. Should I press play?”

 

“I don't see why not. It'd prove if I was right in her murdering everyone,” Rouge replied, waving his hand airily, “At least with the few executives up here. That'd probably help Fuse believe our story.” Blue nodded, and hit the play button. The tape continued, and for a minute, the monitor was dead silent. Then a scream was heard, and a female executive ran across the room as Anita chased after her. They ran off-screen, and another scream was heard, followed by maniacal laughter. Rouge blinked, and Blue flinched. The woman was killed, and Anita had done it. But something else was happening, something neither twin could hear, but they knew Anita was still in the room.

 

“What's she doing!?” Rouge asked, glancing at Blue. But the look on Blue's face told Rouge he had no idea either. Blue turned off the monitor, as they saw all they needed to see. Anita had murdered someone, and chances are that was the woman Red had found. Rouge got out of the chair, shivering. He hated to see someone die.

 

“I think we both have seen enough,” Blue said, patting Rouge on the back. Rouge nodded, and watched as Blue glanced around the room, noticing a black door in the back. The two brothers walked over to it, and Rouge turned the knob. It was locked. Cautiously, Blue leaned against it, pressing his ear as close as he could to it. Nothing but silence greeted him.

 

“Anything inside?” Rouge whispered, and Blue shook his head.

 

“It's dead quiet in there,” Blue replied, “…Wait. I can faintly hear something. It sounds like… ticking of some sort.” Rouge tilted his head, trying to figure out what could be ticking. Blue was also perplexed, until he remembered what Anita had said and realized it could only be one thing as he said, “Rouge, stand back! I'm blowing the door apart!” Rouge, though wide-eyed, obeyed without question and ran back as Blue prepared not only an Energy Chain, but combined it with Implosion as well. The door instantly flew apart in tiny pieces, allowing access inside. The twins rushed in, to be greeted with a spacious suite of an office. It was so much more than that, as they soon saw. A large, comfortable bed rested to one side of the room, and a desk with a large, dark chair greeted them instantly. Compared to the rest of the building, this made them feel almost at home. But the ticking continued, and it worried Blue.

 

“Does she live here!?” Rouge asked, picking up a magazine. He didn't read it, but instead looked at a bookcase to the side. It was crammed full of books, though their contents were something Rouge didn't care for. He ignored them, and looked out the large window behind the desk. It overlooked a suburban part of Manhattan, which now looked grey and foreboding. He knew that the disease was still spreading, and he could see Blue searching for something.

 

“What're you looking for, bro?” Rouge asked interested, as Blue picked up a box and threw it, and it landed with a heavy thud. At first, Blue didn't answer. He heaved another box across the room, and it slammed open, throwing shoes everywhere. Whatever he was looking for, he must've felt he was near it. When Rouge asked the question again, Blue sighed and wiped his forehead.

 

“The ticking is louder over here,” Blue replied, kicking another box full of shoes away, “But there's nothing here! Is it in one of the boxes!?” Rouge looked back over to the boxes Blue had pretty much destroyed just minutes ago. The contents of all three were strewn about the room carelessly, and most of it consisted of shoes. The rest were fancy jewelry or clothing, and nothing smelled of magic. Rouge shook his head.

 

“Maybe you're hearing an alarm clock,” Rouge suggested, but he also knew that wasn't true. Blue sighed, and then looked under the bed. But nothing was there, not even a dust bunny. The room just seemed too perfect, too innocent. Rouge was ready to give up and look elsewhere until he accidentally stepped on something, and a small click was heard. Blue straightened up, perking a concerned eyebrow, as he heard that click. Rouge was mildly bewildered, as a small rumbling erupted on the wall just next to the bed. A secret door appeared, and the rumbling stopped abruptly. The two twins looked at each other with a skeptical notion.

 

“Well, that shouldn't surprise us,” Blue commented, amused.

 

“Who opens it?” Rouge asked. Though they were silent, both boys seemed to think Blue should risk it as he outstretched his arm until his fingers graced the door. It was smooth, possibly made of copper, and cool to the touch. But what got Blue the most was that the ticking was even louder now. Whatever the bomb was supposed to be, it was in there. It had to be! A drop of sweat rolled down Blue's cheeks, and the door slid upward, and opened to reveal a control panel, and behind it, a huge, dark room. Test tubes lined all of the walls, and it was unbearably warm. Rouge could feel the sweat trickling down his forehead, and he was farther from it than Blue was.

 

“This is her lab…” Blue whispered, “Those clones, and the source of the disease… it's in there.”

 

“Let's bust it up then,” Rouge said determinedly, raising his arms for a Flash Flood, but Blue stopped him.

 

“We can't!” Blue cried, “We have to shut it down or we could release the clones by accident! Think about it. If we burst those tubes apart, they'll crawl out, having survived the attack.” Rouge scowled, and reluctantly lowered his arms. Blue had a point, but this would take too long otherwise. Still, he didn't raise his arms or prepare another spell.

 

“You better know what you're doing,” he mumbled, as Blue set to working on the controls. Sweat poured off of him, pressured only by the fact that they had less than fifteen minutes now, and he could feel every stirring movement the clones inside the tubes made. The heat pouring off the glowing crystal inside the room didn't help at all, and Blue had to fight to resist the urge to start coughing madly. He input any command he could think, but the machine wouldn't obey. The clock ticked down to ten minutes, and Blue could feel Rouge getting restless behind him. He continued, this time typing invalid code after invalid code in an attempt to override the system's main core and corrupt the files inside. Many of the commands shut down various programs, but none of them operated the lab. Six minutes were left, and Blue was ready to give up and cry, as the computer had frozen. Five minutes, and Blue had rebooted the machine, yet it didn't affect anything inside that lab. The heat grew more forceful, and some of the glass was breaking, the clones itching to be released. Two minutes, and Rouge finally intervened.

 

“Let me do this,” he commanded, and pulled Blue away. Blue didn't object, as his mental and physical exhaustion kicked in. Rouge looked in horror at the controls, unable to decide what should be done. With the exception of the computer in his office, he didn't know how to work machines. But he did know how to blow one up. And stopping the computer seemed to be what mattered. He knew better than to use magic, with the crystal there, so he tried the next best thing. He battered the control panel as forcefully as possible. Buttons crushed into the keyboard, and levers were broken, ripped frantically with the wires. Alarms had sounded, and yet that didn't stop Rouge. One minute remained, and he continued pounding. He ripped the monitor off the ceiling, and it crashed into the keyboard, destroying the thing for sure. And yet the clock kept ticking as it neared just thirty seconds. Sparks were flying, and the heat was uncontrollable. Rouge knew he did all he could, as he grabbed Blue. They needed to leave. It didn't matter where, but they'd be killed in the explosion if they remained. Twenty seconds, and Rouge was already bounding down the hall with Blue, as alarms blared throughout the building. Ten seconds, and Rouge made it to the stairwell, and then that fated word reached the PA.

 

“Self-Destruction complete,” blared throughout the building, throughout Manhattan itself. Rouge heard fires crackling and explosions erupting on the upper floors, and decided to jump out the window. He glanced at Blue, who was barely conscious.

 

“All right, bro, this is it,” Rouge said, and Blue nodded groggily, “We have to jump. Are you ready?” Blue nodded again, smiling. Rouge smiled back, and held onto Blue tightly as they both made a lunge at the window. It blew open, glass flying everywhere as the two magicians flew out. Just as they flew out, the explosions hit their floor, and they were blasted with heat and fire as they were thrown mercilessly forward. Down far below, Rouge could barely see Fuse and Red also being thrown out the windows, but that didn't matter to him. All he cared about was living through this and making sure Blue would live as well. And yet the town was rushed right under them as they kept flying, the grey becoming a soft green, and the ground coming closer and closer, slowly, but surely. Rouge closed his eyes, as he was sure Blue was unconscious. All he could do was wait for the crash landing to come.

 

-----------------------------(End chapter)

 

And so, it looks like another mission is completed. But has it ended in disaster? Will our beloved twins die a tragic death? What about Fuse, and Red? And the lab, was it truly destroyed? Find out the answers next chapter, so click that Review button!