Darling in the Franxx: Cold Blood

Chapter Seven: A Violent Encounter

"What the hell happened to you out there, Warrior?" Naosu asked up to you as he looked over the damage done to your suit. More specifically, the slash across your chest plate and the injury to your tail.

"I just got into a little scuffle with a few Klaxosaurs, that's all. I'll be fine," you answer back. Returning your focus to Jyn's gift, you place the flat end of it onto the ground. "And then if I press this, it should-" Your quiet words are cut off as four legs extend from the side of the machine and burrow themselves into the ground, making sure it stays upright. A metallic sound is then heard entering into the soil from the bottom of the cylinder quickly before stopping. After a few seconds of waiting, the cylinder starts to fill up with a chunky orange liquid that gave off a slightly unpleasant smell.

"Is that-" Naosu tries to question.

"A magma energy extractor, yeah. It's apparently a prototype made to suck the stuff out of the ground." You explain lowering your suit and exiting out of the top, throwing a small dark object out before you do so. Though before you even exit, you make sure to put your tail next to the removed part of it to make Naosu's job easier. "But wait, I thought that stuff was-" Naomi tries to question before you finish for her. "Other Klaxoins. Yeah, it is. But it's the only thing that can power the suit. So until we find a new way to keep it running, we're stuck using it."

"Speaking of the suit," Naosu says, getting your attention. "How's the tail, Warrior?" Looking down, the tip of your tail was missing at the same spot the suit was. The bleeding had been halted thanks to your body's ability to regenerate. But that didn't stop the pain. Moving it closer to yourself, you begin to rub up and down the length of the appendage to try and comfort it. "Should I go grab the first aid kit from the pack?" Naomi asks, noticing your injury.

"No, I'll be fine. The Neural Gel is great at cleaning out larger wounds. As for my tail, it'll grow back in a few weeks." You state, grabbing the limp object off of the group. It was a dark grey, bordering on black in color with a small number of blue accents all along its length. One end of it was covered in a dried blue liquid with a visible bone in its center. It didn't take a genius to know the thing you had in your hands was the end of your tail. Which had been removed when your suit's had been. "So let me guess," Naosu says as you bury the limb in a shallow grave. "The reason you brought all that scrap metal was that you want me to use it to reattach your tail and fix your armor."

"Yeah, think can you do it?" you ask sarcastically.

"It'll be hard, I don't have much equipment, and that's a lot of damage. But, I'm sure with yours and Naomi's help Warrior, it'll be a breeze." Naosu says, rather joyfully.

"Who knows," Naomi interjects. "It could be good for all of us to work as a team."

"Yeah, about that. I kinda have other plans," you say to both of your teammates, getting a noise of bewilderment out of the pair. You start to walk over to the hill with Naosu and Naomi following closely behind you. "What do you mean you 'made other plans'? What, did you meet a nice Gen Three and you're both going out for drinks later?" Reaching the top of the hill, you could see four dust trails approaching the Plantation. It was without a doubt Squad 13 returning from their mission. Watching as they near the structure, you could hear Naosu start to say something.

"Wait," he says, coming up with an idea in his head. "Don't tell me. That's what you mean by other plans." He says sarcastically, not expecting to be correct. Without saying a word, you cross your arms and crack a smile, confirming his theory. Through your peripheral vision, you could see Naosu and Naomi make a shocked expression.

"Wait, really," the two say in unison, clearly surprised. 

"What the hell happened to the whole we're only here to observe mentality? Because this seems pretty far from just observing." Naosu said from your left side.