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 3: The Wrong Side of Town
The two walked the dark streets of Michelangelo, toward the dreaded ghetto of
the city. Many a vagrant had ventured these limits, yet few had survived. The
rough-edged wilds of Michelangelo housed more than the average ruffian; since
the Tower's fall, these rundown streets crawled with something much worse.
Creatures that emerged from the subway tunnels at sundown to feed on the weary
and the helpless, before returning to the sweet embrace of underworld darkness,
come sunrise.
Those savage beasts Cain had explained in vivid detail as the they walked
through into the ghetto. Lilia was terrified at their very descriptions, as she
remembered some from her experience at the Tower. Yet, she felt surprisingly
mature, wondering why she didn't run back to the hotel they'd left several
blocks behind by now.
"…and if you're wondering why you haven't run away like a little girl by
now…" said Cain, starting to annoy Lilia with his ability to read her
mind. She let a mutter of a sigh, as she admitted to him. "Yes,
Galerian?"
Cain gave her a smirk, by now gaining an immunity to her calling him
"Galerian." He then continued, knowing she desired an answer, yet she
was too proud to admit it verbally.
"As you probably remember, Lilia, you were only 14 when you died at the
Tower… because of that, your mind was still immature. To compensate, the
scientists implanted more mature hormones in your mind. As I already know
you've wondered, you know more of the world now than when you died. They
basically programmed you with an older mind to match your body, which grew from
14 at the time you were cloned to 17 as you are now."
Lilia listened in awe, as Cain apparently did know more about her than she knew
of herself.
"…Furthermore, because of that, you may even have a more mature mind than
my own… you were estimated to have the mind of 19, 20… maybe even 22, but then
again that's just an estimate-"
"And how do you know so much of this, Cain?"
Cain had already predicted she'd ask that by now, from the waves of curiosity
he'd sensed from her.
"This may seem surprising but about five percent of the workers within the
Galerian headquarters are spies for the Resistance Factions. Through them, we
get all the information we need to infiltrate them. Without maps from those
spies, I wouldn't have been able to find you in there."
"Cain… you mean to say I'm 22 and trapped in a body of 17?"
He nodded slightly, a sign she was finally starting to realize her own state of
being. Just as the rebel sanctuary came into their line of sight, they were
ambushed. Not by an other-worldly creature of Galerian blood, but instead a
knife-wielding thug.
"Give up the woman, and I'll let you live!"
Cain stared at the savage and laughed slightly, before returning a smirk,
followed by a cliché of intimidation. Lilia stood behind him, confident in the
young man as he did manage to save her from the Galerians once.
"Foolish hoodlum… did I not teach you a good enough lesson the last time
we met?"
The ruffian then laughed evilly, before pulling up his right sleeve to reveal a
mechanical hand. Apparently Cain had given him quite a wound when last they
met. "Look! I got a new one! And now I'm gonna return the favor,
kid!"
Cain sighed, before continuing his attempt to reason with the demented savage,
not wanting to kill unless the times called for it. "I'll give you a
chance, hoodlum… Out of my sight, and you may yet live to see tomorrow's
sun."
"That's it, punk-bitch, you die now!" replied the persistent hood,
before lunging forward with his red-stained dagger. Cain just stood there,
motionless, his eyes closed in concentration.
"Now it's your turn, kid--!" yelled the thug, before he felt himself
rising off the ground, due to Cain's conjuration of an anti-gravity field.
Unable to move himself, he took his chance and threw his knife for Cain's
heart.
"Cain-!!" cried Lilia, but it didn't matter any. Cain had the
situation under his control, as he telekinetically stopped the knife inches
from his chest.
"Pretty close that time… I need stop getting so cocky." With those
words, Cain looked back up to the mugger, who was by now sweating quite
nervously. "How does that sound, hmm? Kiss them goodbye, brigand…"
And with that, Cain sent the thug's own knife back at him, ending his days of
rape and sadism with one excruciating slash. The hood, unable to speak, unable
to even breathe with such pain, gasped with eyes wide open. His jewels severed,
he could only watch as Cain used his powers to yank the knife from him, as it
dripped of blood and other fluids. Harnessing great power in his mind, he
slammed it deep into the blacktop, digging the blade to its hilt.
"Go home, dog… may you live to suffer a neutered life." Cain
viciously smashed the brute back to the cold street below. He somehow managed
to stumble to his feet and stagger away, clutching himself in extreme pain,
hearing Cain's mind-spoken words in his head.
:Who's the punk-bitch now?:
Lilia was speechless. Until now she had no idea of the sadistic Galerian
cruelty. Cain turned around and continued walking toward the rebel hideout, as
Lilia nervously followed.
"Cain… you didn't have to go that far-"
"Who are you to tell me that? This is not a world of mercy, Lilia! You
know what would've happened if I wasn't there to stop him, and what would
happen if I didn't teach him a good lesson. Punks of his sort don't deserve the
privilege of spreading their evil seed, much less forcefully! Now hurry along,
or we'll face things much worse!"
She followed without argument as he made his point, damn good at that. She
couldn't help but feel the least bit sorry for the hoodlum, but that thought
soon cleared her mind as she realized that such a rapist deserved exactly what
Cain had given him.
"…Cain…" she said, hesitantly.
"Yes?"
"Thanks… you were right, if you weren't there to stop him, I surely
would've been…"
There was a cold silence as they continued to walk back, picking up their pace
a little. Then one of them finally spoke.
"Don't worry about it, Lilia… That's what I'm here for."
She was stunned, surprised at hearing such words of compassion from a Galerian.
Maybe, just maybe, they weren't the soulless monsters she'd taken them for.
Some of them, at least.
"You mean you're here… to protect me?"
Deep down, Cain did care for her safety, but worried about the consequences if
he ever developed a friendship with her. He would not admit so easily.
"Well, yeah… I mean, you're vital to the cause, so I guess I don't really
have much of a choice, right?"
The Galerian once again managed to catch Lilia's mind off guard. Just as she'd
begun to think of him as a kind, caring being, he'd shattered her assumptions
to shards of pieces.
As they continued along their path to the hideout, they could faintly hear the
sounds and screeches of the escaped underlings, and the last cries of those
taken by the night. Michelangelo City, much like the rest of the world, was
cruel and unforgiving; a single mistake could mean death. The base was very
close now, less than a block away. Lilia wondered why Cain was being so cold
after saving her life, as Cain himself wondered why he had to be. Nonetheless,
they walked closer to a rundown apartment building, apparently deserted. A good
place to serve as a base of operations, inconspicuous to any at first glance.
Cain walked to the door and gave it the famous knock of Room 204, as a cloaked
individual opened it for them with haste. He entered, as Lilia followed him,
both completely indifferent to one another. The rebellion finally had Lilia,
the key element needed to bring about the fall of the Galerians.
__