Chapter 35: Chapter Thirty-Five: Plots and Plans
"Is Siran doing any better?" Zia asks Demetri while the crew impatiently waits in Vivi's shop. It has already been several weeks since the fight with Zeus, and Siran hasn't shown any signs of waking up anytime soon. Demetri has Siran hooked up to a life support machine and has been feeding him through a tube down his throat to his stomach, as well as trying to massage his muscles and clean Siran's unconscious body with a wet rag everyday.
"Nothing new..." Demetri says in an exhausted voice. "He's stable, and I think he'll be fine for the night. You should sleep. You have only slept four hours these past few days. I know you're waiting on your husband, but if you don't take care of your health too, you'll be the next one on this bed".
"But it's impossible to sleep!" Zia protests.
"Do it for him... Zia" Demetri says.
Zia eventually nods her head slowly and stumbles back out to the living room to crash on a sofa. Eventually, Holly quietly steps into the back room with Demetri and Siran and lightly rests a hand on Demetri's shoulder. "How're you holding up, big guy?" Holly asks.
"Like a constipated man trying to shit in a toilet with a cactus growing out of it" Demetri says without taking his eyes off of Siran.
"I'm sorry to hear that" Holly says quietly. "It's been a rough time for the whole team... but you've really been taking the hardest responsibilities lately. You need to rest too, sometime".
"Yeah... yeah, I think I'd like that" Demetri says.
"Will he be fine if we leave him for a while?" Holly asks.
"I do not know" Demetri says, then looks over his shoulder. "To be honest, it's not looking good. His vitals have stabled, but they dropped in morning. But I couldn't tell wife that".
"That's always the hardest part, man" Holly says. "Come on, we have an important meeting to discuss with the team. Haru's gotten word from her old squad and we'll need everyone briefed in case shit hits the fan. Worse case scenario, we may need to prepare to move Siran somewhere else. That life support will alert us if something goes wrong, won't it?".
"Yeah... yeah, I guess it will" Demetri says.
The two of them slowly walk out of the back room and into the living room where everyone else was gathered. Zia had already passed out on the couch, but everyone else was sitting around eagerly, shaking in anticipation. "I got a major update from lieutenant Suzuki, my previous second in command from my squad" Haru says as Demetri and Holly sit down. "They pitched a covert ops mission and the board accepted it. The mission was to gain intel on China's plans. China, Britain and Japan are supposed to be the leading countries that have allied together to hunt us like dogs, but according to what they have learned, that may no longer be the case".
"What's going on?" Finn asks.
"China hasn't given any updates on their exercises and plans for hunting us down" Haru says, "which was fishy because they've asked for every detail regarding us from Japan and they made a pact that they'd exchange information at every turning point. China hasn't made good on their side of the bargain, and what Suzuki and the others have found may be both good and bad news, plus more bad news".
"We could really use just good news without a catch though..." Rose says with an exhale.
"Correct" Haru says. "Unfortunately, that's not what this meeting is about. There has been several intercepted messages that took days to partially decrypt that Suzuki and the others had intercepted themselves. It was a few sessions of communications that couldn't be fully decrypted due to their complexity, but they have found something rather alarming that may come off as some good news. The gist of it being that China has plans to use Britain to wipe out Japan after they solve the Six Gun Crisis and take all the credit for themselves. Then something something about European economy and more than likely something about debt trapping, followed by more talks between the two of them about marking Japan as traitors and slam the country for aiding terrorists, then using the combined forces to wipe out Japan".
"How is any of this good news?" Satomi asks.
"On the bright side" Haru says, "the Japanese government now knows about their plan and can now work on a counter. As well as, this is obviously going to hurt the allegiance against us, giving us the leeway we need to survive for long enough to unfuck this mess that's plagued the world deeply. And now that the whole world believes that whatever we did while fighting Zeus, plus whatever mess China and Britain pinned on us beforehand is the cause for the world now, unfucking this situation has become more important than ever. The skies have been completely black with no sun, no moon, no stars and occasionally some rain due to the amount of endo being blasted into the atmosphere. Which is the other bad news. The world thinks we did that too, and I fear that there's never going to be a way to clear the name of The Six Guns this time".
"Even so" Alex speaks up, "we're the only ones who know who's really responsible for this, which puts us at the top of the list of those who should be fixing this mess. Even if we can't clear our names and will be criminals for the rest of our lives, we still have to fix it or who knows what will happen?".
"Right!" Ying says.
"So, everyone's in agreement then?" Haru asks.
"Of course we are" Vivi says. "Do we look like cowards to you?".
"Well, you've impressed me once" Haru says. "Let's see you do that again".
"So, what's the game plan?" Robin asks.
"Well... who exactly here thinks they know what we can do here?" Blake asks.
"My best guess would be to split the team" Haru says.
"Split the team?" Shelby asks. "But don't you know how the divide and conquer strategy works? They divide us, and it becomes easier for them to beat us! I vote we wait it out a little longer".
"Wait it out and do what?" Tanya asks. "Not like a solution is going to fall into our laps any time soon".
"But separating our power now could prove detrimental" Benjie says. "I can't fight for one, and the less people we have here, the more danger there is for the kids. They need protection!".
"Would you all shut it for a moment?" Holly raises her voice. "Look, leading isn't just about having the right idea... it's about providing the right amount of confidence we need to stay convicted with the plans we've made as a team. Now, our leader is down for the count and the closest thing we have to him is asleep on the couch... so what say you that we all gather all the ideas we can, discuss them without coming to a decision, and seeing if she even has the will to think beyond crying by Siran's bedside for long enough to be the deciding vote on all of this?". There was a long pause in the room until Holly says "I'll take that silence as a lack of disagreement on that. Then I guess we will wait until... I dunno, is it gonna be morning soon? Is it even night right now? A-anyways, waiting until... the closest thing to morning we have now, for Zia to wake up and discuss this like adults".
Meanwhile, in Britain, Ares has shown himself and began aiding Agent Holland and his cell of agents to strengthen their skills with endo in order to combat. As well as, Ares has been giving small doses of pure endo from himself to Holland and his cell, giving them more power but causing them to be obsessed with power and with the task of taking down The Six Guns. This is Ares's brainwash dominion. However, with the shards of Chronos, has a much more efficient effect on humans. Once he plants an idea in someone's head and they accept it as their own idea, he can manipulate how strongly they feel about it, and seemingly control how they act from there. With this, he's caused man to wage countless wars for fun. "You know" Ares says, "I've heard about some pretty... jazzy tech that the Americans have gotten their hands on. Heh heh... interesting stuff".
"Where'd you get this intel from?" Holland asks.
"That's on a need to know basis" Ares says. "Anyhow, it's an endo draining suit that can store large amounts of endo and pump your body with an overload of endo".
"Wouldn't that prove fatal?" Holland asks.
"It would be if all of it is suddenly introduced to your body at once" Ares says, "and if you couldn't get rid of it. Endo is hard to permanently pass on to people, and very few are born with this secret skill you know, me being one of them. But, alas, I can only give so much... and the endo being injected into your body wouldn't restore itself since it isn't transferred, but merely just exhausted. If you use it all up, it would prove to be an important tool for a big battle against a strong foe. Seeing as how The Six Guns can do something as big as... oh say, blacken the skies permanently... actually, never mind. I think you guys are ready now". Ares begins to walk away as he says "Well, that's all I can do for you guys today. I'm exhausted and all of my magic is drained. I need to rest if we're to save this world".
"Where do we secure this tech?" Holland asks immediately.
Ares turns around with a sinister smile and says "It's actually being manufactured in southern Omnia. Giga Desert, underground facility that used to be a part of the MTRU before Omnia fell. It's practically yours at this point if you just simply go and take it. Who's going to stop you, the Americans?".
"So, why do you want to help so much?" Inari asks, back in this ancient age when Ishmael and Inari were alive.
"Well, I have no problems with humans" Ishmael says. "Plus, I do love nature still".
"Oh?" Inari asks with a pleased look.
"What do you expect?" Ishmael asks. "My mother is Gaia. Goddess of all nature". There was a short pause before Ishmael says "Well, I guess they called her Gaea now... she's turned bitter after the other gods got power hungry and tore her apart. Most of which were also like her children. She made my little brother and I for the sake of taking those gods down...".
"But even though you hate the gods..." Inari asks, "you don't want to... do you?".
"I'd rather not be caught up in their web of greed" Ishmael replies.
"Do you hate your mother?" Inari asks.
Ishmael paused for a while, then says "I feel like I'm supposed to. Like, for some reason, I should hate her. And maybe it's because she made me out of spite for someone else, or maybe because I'm worried that outside of completing that task she meant for me, that my life has no meaning".
"Ishmael..." Inari says softly with sympathy.
"But even though I feel like I'm supposed to hate her..." Ishmael says, "I don't. I don't hate her, and I never really have. If nothing else, you and her are the only two gods I can stand being around".
"Aww" Inari says with an awkward smile as she blushes.
"Though, mom never is around, since she made Naris" Ishmael says. "She tore herself up more making us, and now her body is kinda... gone... while her spirit is still within the Earth. She's not dead, she's just... not around anymore".
"Oh..." Inari says, now feeling more awkward as well as guilty and confused.
"Long story" Ishmael says as he stands up. He dusts off his body, then says "Doesn't have a good ending either".
"What about your brother?" Inari asks.
"Naris?" Ishmael asks. "What about him?".
"What's he up to?" Inari asks.
"Probably being angry over nothing" Ishmael replies. "I don't hate my brother either, but... well, he's stubborn".
"I see" Inari says. "Sounds like you'll miss him eventually".
"I guess we'll see" Ishmael says with a laugh. "It's about time I get to work now. I'll be leading the foxes near the village to aide that nearby village. If we show them how to take care of the forests, maybe the ecosystem will stand a better chance".
"Mhm" Inari says, then pauses. "Umm... Ishmael?".
"Yeah?" Ishmael asks as he turns around and see Inari looking down with a red face.
"Well... g-good luck" Inari says. "And also thanks for being here and helping me. You're a great help and a blessing".
"A goddess receiving a blessing" Ishmael says with a laugh. "Who would've thought?".
"Ha ha... yeah" Inari says, her face still red. "Don't hurt the humans and good luck".
"You already said that" Ishmael says with a laugh.
"I-I did?" Inari panics.
"You certainly are interesting" Ishmael says with a laugh before turning around and leading a pack of Inari's messenger foxes near the village.
"He thinks I'm... interesting?" Inari asks with a smile and an even brighter red face.
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