Sigma/Star

Chapter 102: The Cure

Sigma drew closer to Christian, stumbling a bit and falling to one knee, pausing a minute to regain his balance. His vision was still shaky, leaving copies of everything he looked at floating around the original source. Sometimes he knew he was staring at Christian and other times he wasn't sure if it was the real thing. It wasn't helping with his control over his body either that he couldn't figure out who was what or what was what or whether up was down. Things were constantly spinning, and he was only urged forwards by the mantra he repeated in his head: I must get to him. Over and over he replayed it, with each step he took, and it kept him from simply falling onto his face.

The Archangel was suddenly swarming with Bahari, different monsters lunging at the machine, trying to take a piece off of it. They showed no fear, no hesitation in duelling with a superior officer. Jahari could not distinguish rank and cared very little for the reputation of whomever they fought against. There was only the enemy and killing the enemy and that was all they understood. They knew of different ways to fight, of how to defeat the opponent, but their minds did not process any information beyond that. They did not have the ability to fear nor the choice to run, and so Marian was left with no option but to fight.

The Brigadier General twisted to dodge a lance-like appendage, striking back by smashing his elbow into the monster's chest. The creature did not pause though, lashing out once more and scraping the side of the Goliath, taking a chunk out of its armour. Marian's fingers wrapped around a blade as he imagined it, projecting his desires through his battlesuit to form them with his chi. He knew he was on a limited reserve and was still recovering from the fight with the black chi, but he was certain he had enough left to fend off the Jahari, especially if he got some assistance from nearby soldiers.

The Blue Blur flashed through the air, and a massive shuriken sliced a Bahari in two before spinning back to its master. "I have received your order sir," Raul said, his voice shaking a bit, "and I will protect you with my life."

"You're a good soldier, but I believe I ordered a retreat from the area." Marian shook his head, only slightly surprised at the brash behaviour of youth.

"And I am doing that sir, by helping you retreat. I will protect you."

"No soldier, you need to leave immediately, and that is an or-"

"No." Raul appeared on Marian's viewscreen, his face set with a grim look of determination, but Marian could see the loss that hovered in the young man's eyes. He had been saddened by the death of his comrade, and Marian could recognize it instantly. Failure to protect one person leads to stupid decisions to protect others, Marian thought. "I will protect you sir."

Sigma was so close, so painfully close, that he could almost smell Christian. He wasn't sure if he really would be able to if he got close enough, unsure of whether or not he had human sense once again, but he knew it wouldn't be long now before he got to the man. The android was on his knees, slowly crawling forwards like a dog, his balance almost completely lost to him as the pulsating feeling in his head grew worse and worse. Every movement that drew him towards Christian only amplified his suffering, and portions of his mind had begun to shout at him, demanding he turn around and run as far as he could to escape the terrible pain coursing through his brain.

The cyborg grabbed Christian's foot, then his leg, ready to haul himself up to bring down the Emperor. He was shocked that there was no resistance, that he wasn't being shooed away or beaten. There was no attempt at escape from Christian; there was barely any movement at all. Sigma titled his head back to gaze up at Christian to try and figure out why the man had not noticed the robot at his feet.

A drop of blood fell onto Sigma's forehead, slowly trickling down his face and sliding down his cheek before falling off his chin. Sigma wrinkled his forehead in confusion as his vision danced in front of his eyes. Another drop hit his face, this time splashing on his nose, and Sigma began to make out a hand protruding from Christian's chest, and something red held between the fingers of the hand. It was a white hand, armoured, and coated in blood, with fingers that ended in claws. It took Sigma a moment to process what was happening before looking back and seeing Syn hovering just behind the Emperor.

"This is boring," Syn announced, pulling his hand back through Christian's body, letting it drop to the ground at his feet and sprawl out next to Sigma, who was still clutching at the foot.

"W...why Syn," Christian gasped, blood bubbling up between his lips as he spoke. "H-how?"

"Willpower can overcome anything, master," Syn giggled, emphasizing the final word in a mocking tone. "You think your machine can keep me down like that, but I can fight through it. And I don't think you're very entertaining. A world of total control, of no more violence or war or any wonderful things? No, that's boring, so very very boring. That won't entertain me at all. I thought we were going to bring the world chaos, and I like what I see right now." Syn stopped to wave at the Bahari all around him. "But you, you are kind of...well you're no fun. Why take the killing out of the world? I like the killing, I like the entertainment, the games. I like the face people make right before they die, the cries they make as you skin them alive, the begging and the pleading they will do with you to try and spare themselves. I love it! That's what I live for Christian."

Syn stretched out his arms a bit before licking some of the blood from them. "All this talk of cures and needles, it creeps me out. I don't like hospitals or doctors or any of those things. Do you know why?" Syn landed on the ground and bent down, leaning his face over Christian's. "It's because I'm a disease." The android snatched the machine out of the Emperor's dying grip, and crushed it in his hand in an instant. "I am the disease that will spread to every corner of this world."

A/N: The disease begins to spread. The Emperor's plans fall to pieces in an instant as Syn takes control, with plans to send the world into a slaughter. Do Marian and Sigma have power left to stop him or will the android's dream world come to life?