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 11: Deus
Cain felt a light brush over his cheek. He smiled somewhat in his sleep as
Lilia's soft kiss fairly influenced his dreams. His normal dreams of death and
malice left his troubled mind alone for the night, instead his dreamstate was
promoted to something else. Instead of the bloodshed of his rebel
"family," Cain had dreamed of another disturbing setting. He sat
alone on a surreal beach, sitting on a tall rock and staring out to the gray
mists that hid the ocean's horizon. No one to hurt him, yet no one to love him,
he was truly alone. The moment Lilia laid her gentle lips on his pale, scarred
cheek, the fog cleared and the sun rose, its crimson reflections rippling on
the water's surface. He smiled, before it all disappeared. He saw black, before
that faded to reality as he opened his eyes.
Lilia lay behind him, cuddling him back into her. Her arms wrapped around his
waist in a warm embrace, her breasts to his back, she nuzzled her face into his
hair. She breathed in his aroma, enjoying every second she had with him. She
finally spoke, in a soothing and enchanting voice. "Cain-sama… wake up…"
"…Lilia-sama?" he said, groggy after a rather invigorating night.
"It's time, Cain-sama," Lilia sadly replied. "Everyone is
waiting on us, and they have word that Dorothy is planning something terrible.
We… we have to stop her," she continued, her voice becoming lighter as she
tried desperately not to cry.
"Don't wanna go… wanna stay here with you…" he responded, about
half-awake.
"Cain… we promised we'd be strong. I don't want you to go either, so
please don't make this any harder? Please, Cain…" her voice trailed off as
tears gathered in her eyes. Cain could feel their warmth on the back of his
neck.
"Right… we have to do this." With that, he slowly staggered out of
bed, as did Lilia. They quickly clothed themselves, not blushing this time.
After all, they were the ones who stripped each other down.
"What a night," Cain said, chuckling slightly, as he finished with
his chains.
"I'm glad we could share that," replied Lilia.
"Me too," he answered, as he led her to the door. The team was
waiting for them in the hallway, some leaning against the wall, some sitting
out of boredom. "All right, lets get this over with."
They all rose with his command, and followed him out of the building. The walk
to the tower was uneventful, as the creatures of night had returned to the
dark's embrace. Cain and Lilia were lucky to leave early enough to see the sun
rise, and joined hands as the tower became visible in the distance.
:So at least we can watch the last sunrise,: Cain mind-spoke.
:Yes… It's
beautiful… If only we could see it again…:
:I'm sorry, Lilia… I don't want to go either… but I have to, there is no other
way.: A single tear feel from his left eye, seeping down to his cheek through
the dent of his scar. Lilia could see its reflection from the sun's golden rays.
:Don't cry, Cain… Please… Be strong.:
:Yeah… Are you ready, Lilia?:
:Ready?:
:We may have to fight Rion… He's not your brother, Lilia, don't let that cloud
your judgment.:
:I won't. Rion is gone.:
They neared the tower, this time without any struggle. No guards were present,
and the doors were unlocked. Cain knew it had to be some sort of trap.
"Everyone stay on guard," he yelled back to them. They all nodded,
and Cain led them into the Galerian headquarters. Both he and Lilia felt strong
psychic energy coming from deep below them. Cain put his hand to the floor, and
attempted a scan. His mind's eye delved deep through the building's floors and
inner structures, to a large underground chamber of Galerian tanks. Each of the
hundreds of tanks housed another of the building's defenses, from human guards
to Arabesque creatures alike.
"This must be it… this is what they were planning, to convert everyone in
the building to a higher form… to give them all Galerian powers. They'll have
an army…"
Everyone fell dead silent with Cain's chilling words.
"We need to hurry, the Hand of God awaits." The team followed him to
the elevator, and they soon arrived uninterrupted at the 28th floor. Everyone
had readied their guns, but for no reason, as the entire building was vacant.
All except for the Hand of God. The team made their way to the room quickly,
and Cain began to open the door, his team aiming for anything that would
emerge.
Again, there was nothing. "Everyone stay outside," he instructed.
"Lilia, follow me. She is here, I can sense it. So is Rion. Ready,
Lilia?"
"Ready," she replied, nodding as she followed him. They could see
that Dorothy's stem was gone, all that remained was a computer console where
its base once was, as well as a few large, stray wires hanging from the
ceiling, sparking randomly at their ends. As soon as they entered, the doors
slammed shut behind them, and the shrill voice of Mother Dorothy became
omnipresent, echoing a thousand times from the room's monitor-covered walls.
The black screens all went bright red, and Rion teleported into the room,
several yards away from the two. He was all that came between them and
uploading the virus into the console behind him.
"Going somewhere, brother?" he rhetorically asked, smirking an evil
half-grin. Cain glowered back at him.
"Rion…"
"I am not Rion… Rion is dead… From this day forward, I will be known as
Godhand." His voice was cold and mechanical; his only apparent emotion was
arrogance. Dorothy had rebuilt his very mind, so that he could kill Lilia
himself without shorting out as he had.
Cain snapped
back with his own hereditary arrogance. "Very well… Godhand. Just
remember, Mother's little helper or not, they won't be able to stitch you back
together this time."
"Bold words, for a deserter. Keep in mind that I don't intend to let
either of you live this time." He surrounded himself with a dark aura of
black flame, his own image still lit red by the monitors' light.
:We can't afford to let this equipment become damaged, it's our only way of
stopping Mother,: Cain channeled to Lilia.
:How do we keep it safe?:
:I used this technique a long time ago… to fight him… Lilia, I'll need you to
help me this time, will you?:
:Yes… I will fight for you… to the bitter end.:
Cain closed his eyes in deep concentration, focusing his energy to great
demands. The room around them suddenly became black, and they were surrounded
by nothingness. White stars flew by in the background, and their feet were met
with a metallic grid of large tiles. Godhand was trapped in this parallel
universe as well, not surprised as he had fought Cain like this before, long
ago. Cain levitated a few yards above the tiled floor of the realm, Godhand
following to meet his level. Lilia looks up as the two combatants engaged in a
fire-fight of plasma shocks, Cain using his mastery of the dimension to send
lightning bolts down upon his opponent. Godhand managed to dart quickly between
the bolts, flying closer to Cain as his plasma bolts began to follow Cain,
tracing his movements. A few of them brushed him as he dodged out of their way,
one of them landing its mark on his back, sending him falling back down to the
floor, next to Lilia.
"Lilia, take these!" he cried, as he tossed her a small metal
container. She opened it to find a few PPEC drugs: a Beeject gun, used to
inject the chemicals, and three vials. There was Nalcon, the most
often-utilized drug of the Galerians, a greenish chemical used for plasma
shockwaves. Next, she found a vial of Red, also commonly used, except instead
of firing projectile blasts, this was used to ignite a foe from within; at high
levels, it could be used to spontaneously combust one's opponents. Finally,
there was D-Felon, a rare drug used for creating anti-gravity fields, an
invisible weapon of combat. "Lilia, inject them all, and don't forget the
capsules, they're in the bag-" he yelled as he rolled out of the way to
dodge another devastating blast attack. He flew back up to fight Godhand,
calling down to Lilia. "Take them, now! It's the only way to awaken your
abilities!!"
"Right!" she responded, doing what her "brother" once did,
injecting them into the side of her neck. There were no needles; the Beeject
used air pressure to administer its drugs. After the third vial, she felt her
body begin to heat; lightning surged around her forehead as she realized what
was happening: she was Shorting. Quickly, she searched the small black cloth
pouch from the metal container. Within, she found some additional PPEC drugs:
several green Skip's to raise her psychic powers, as well as a red Appolinar,
used to raise one's psychic anger in dire situations. Lastly, she found every
Galerian's best friend: a holistic blue Delmetor capsule. Instinctively, she
swallowed it down, shaking her head for a moment as her mind returned to
normal, only now she had the use of Galerian psionics at her disposal. After
swallowing a couple of Skips to boost her abilities, she held out her hand
toward the scene of combat high above her. She shot a large pulse of shockwave
energy at Godhand, shooting him right out of the black sky.
"AAAAGGHH--!!!"
he cried, before landing with a crashing thud. "You little wench… by the
order of Mother Dorothy, you will die a painful dea-" he said as he
attempted to stand, before being knocked back to the floor by an energy attack
from Cain. The dimension around them faded back to the real world, the wall's
monitors glowing red as always.
"Now, Lilia! Finish him!!" Cain cried down to her.
Lilia nodded, slowly lifting her hand to aim a deathblow at Godhand. He gave
her a pathetic look, his blue eyes shimmering in the red glow of the
surrounding walls. "You wouldn't-" he said, before a cough of blood.
He continued, "…kill your dear brother, would you?" She returned a
cold glare, one without mercy or pity. She knew Rion was long gone.
"You… are NOT my brother." And with that, she began. Prismatic
strings of plasma energy swirled around her body, all leading to a growing ball
of white light in her palm, pulsing larger until it was the size of a
basketball. She fired, and the devastating blast sent Godhand crashing into the
wall about fifty yards behind him, shattering some monitors behind him. Several
shards of broken glass were impaled into his back. Lilia, glowing with a dim
blue aura, walked slowly toward him. He coughed up darkened blood.
"I… was always Mother's favorite… that's why she chose me to rebuild her
empire… she merely provided her personal memory, I was the one who designed her
brainstem until our scientists could give her the ability to emerge as a new
being, and it was MY idea to implant Galerian powers into everyone in this
building-" He was cut off by several more energy blasts from Lilia and
Cain. Each one landed their mark, around his torso, until several cracking
noises could be heard. "AAAGGGHH--!!!" he cried in pain.
"Bastard… you don't even deserve to live," Cain said, as he and Lilia
aimed with deadly accuracy for Godhand's face. Then, things got ugly.
"GODHAND!!" cried Mother Dorothy as she materialized at the room's
center, floating about halfway in the air. "YOU IGNORANT FOOL… YOU COULD
NEVER HAVE THE STRENGTH TO DEFEAT THEM BOTH!!!"
"Mother, I'm… I'm sorry… I've failed you…"
"Not yet… you will merge with me, and we will defeat them together. Come
to me, my child." Dorothy used a powerful gravity technique to pull
Godhand to her. As he floated toward her, his body crystallized into thousands
of tiny prismatic shards and into Mother Dorothy's glowing white eyes, the
negative blue glow of her body flashing briefly to a blinding white light,
before fading back to another shade. She was now flesh and blood, her pale skin
still clad in the metal plates covering her. Her mechanical angel wings spread
like a bird taking flight as she levitated to the room's floor. Her white eyes
faded, now showing blue irises, much like Godhand's. "Now, you will
die."
Cain quickly opened a psychic channel to Jynx, who stood outside with the
others. :Go down to the basement floor, destroy everything, desecrate the lab,
set bombs around the Galerian tanks and get out. Go, NOW!:
He looked back to Mother Dorothy, who began to charge her psionic energy for a
deadly attack. "Any last words, my child?"
"Not really… I'm not gonna die just yet," he calmly replied, giving
an arrogant half-grin.
"I warned you, my child… You should not have come back." With that,
she sent a gigantic plasma bolt heading toward Cain and Lilia, who both jumped
off to the side just in time to avoid its destructive blast. Shards of glass
flew everywhere from several broken monitors as Cain stood to his feet and
helped Lilia up.
"Because you're afraid to DIE!" Cain snapped as both he and Lilia
fired off several shots of plasma at the ominous Mother Dorothy, who simply
blocked them by shielding herself with her wings. She seemingly absorbed the
energy as a negative aura of black light enshrouded her. She appeared more
demonic than ever as the black "flames" flickered like an open fire.
"Dammit!"
he exclaimed. He turned to Lilia and mind-spoke to her. :Lilia, you'll have to
cover for me here, I need a minute to summon my room.:
:Right. I'll watch out for you, Cain,: Lilia returned as she began to attack
Dorothy with a barrage of plasma shockwaves, each one blocked by her wings.
Still, it was just the kind of distraction they needed, as Cain stood there,
closing his eyes and silently meditating. Soon, the room began to shake, and
was once again Cain's own fighting realm. He took to the air, levitating
several dozen yards above the plated floor. Lilia's newborn powers allowed her
to follow, as Mother Dorothy followed, taking wing to the blackened skies of
Cain's battleground.
Now in his own realm, Cain's power was greatly enhanced, as he shot off a dozen
plasma bolts at once in Dorothy's general direction. A few of them landed their
mark, knocking her back slightly, before she returned with an onslaught of her
own. Several shockwaves of prismatic psychic energy flew toward Cain, as he
flew downward to dodge the waves. They continued to drift into the endless
oblivion of the blackened, star-filled sky of Cain's realm.
As Dorothy was firing at Cain, Lilia took that opportunity to charge several
energy shots. She fired them just as Dorothy had released hers, landing every
shot to Dorothy's exposed torso. "AAAAGGHH--!!!" she cried, as she
flew back to the plated floor. Crouched to one knee, clutching her chest in
pain, she knew she had to stop them.
Cain and Lilia flew down to the floor to meet Dorothy's level, both giving her
an evil smirk before aiming their hands to finish her.
Suddenly, her metal angel wings began to shatter apart, every
"feather" of a plate disconnecting from the rest. Now devoid of her
wings, the metal plates flew around her, encircling her like a hurricane, with
her at its eye. They spun rapidly around her, before flying at Lilia and Cain
with lightning speed. They both jumped out of harm's way, with one exception.
One of the hundreds of plates managed to scrape Cain, right below his left eye.
It reopened his scar, a grave mistake on Mother Dorothy's part. Blood dripped
to the floor as Cain could take no more.
"Die, bitch!!!" he cried as he released a surge of pyrokinesis,
setting the weakened Mother of Destruction ablaze. Engulfed in a flare from
within, she tried desperately to return a plasma shock, but to no avail as she
was too weak to even conjure up one blast. Lilia joined in and used an
anti-gravity field to send Dorothy sky-high, then crash her downward to the
cold metal floor below. The pyrokinesis had worn out by now, as Dorothy smoked
from beneath the metal plates that randomly covered her body.
"Cain, please… You… You can't kill me… I created you-" she tried,
before Cain blasted her several feet away with another plasma shockwave.
"It's
OVER," stated Cain as he called forth several bolts of lightning to
descend upon the hapless Mother Dorothy. They each landed their mark with
deadly accuracy, several along her torso and abdomen. Her body shook violently,
as the electricity surged through her. Another bolt made contact with her neck,
and she screamed in pain, before she was silenced with one final blow to her
forehead, sending her unconscious. Any normal human would have been
disintegrated by now, but Mother Dorothy was no human, much less normal.
Quickly, Cain broke away from his personal fighting realm, the room returning
once again to normal. Mother was still seeping up vigor from the room's energy
storage, and it would only be a matter of time before she would awaken. With
Cain and Lilia drained of psychic power, and out of their valuable PPEC drugs,
they wouldn't have the power to fight her again. They knew that they must act
now; they must destroy Mother Dorothy for good. Cain and Lilia turned to the
computer console at the room's center, slowly walking to their destiny.
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