-Chapter 44: Moving Forward (Kara's POV)
I push myself off the ground and look up, staring at Hiiro. "What is going on?" I ask, looking around. "Hiiro, why can't I remember what is going on? Where's Kuroto?"
"Kara, you have the Bugster Virus. Don't worry, I reprogrammed you so you could share your body with her. Serene can't control you whenever she wants to anymore. She's forever going to be a part of you and you are going to be a part of her. Don't worry, she can't harm you." Emu smiles. "You can smile again now.
"Emu..."
"Are you alright?" Miyuki asks me, getting beside me. "I was worried about you when I saw that you were acting out. Kuroto...daddy..." She sniffles. "He's gone."
"I'll be fine. So, my Bugster, what was she like?"
"She's terribly insane and just plain cruel. She was trying to take over the world much like your buddy, Parad," Taiga states. "Oh, she referred to him as your ex-boyfriend."
"Parad is my ex-boyfriend. I'm done with him." He didn't have to put Kuroto out like that. He could have just sent him to prison.
"So, Miyuki is Arcana Arcade officially now, huh?" Taiga chuckles. "She's part of the gang here at the CR now. She an official member thanks to the Minister of Health. Also, we didn't out you as a Foundation X member to him. We kept that out of it because Emu doesn't want you to be in prison. Besides, you haven't done anything wrong."
"I plan on helping you out here in the CR, Kara. We should become a good team now, right?" Miyuki smiles warmly at me and I nod. "Serene might not want to help us. She doesn't seem like she's all for helping anyone but herself."
"Is she really that bad? What does she look like?"
"She used your body so she looked like you. I guess she isn't a separate being yet," Hiiro answers. "Or she can hold onto your body. She did make it seem like she was using your body intentionally. That makes me think she could have separated from you if she wanted to. But why would she want to keep using you?"
"She had someone that has access to patients," Emu says. "That is the clear reason. She wanted to hurt people that were weak and defenseless but she didn't get to. Miyuki was able to stop her from her plan."
"Well, I hope she doesn't come back anytime soon. I should have a choice if she takes over or not now, right?"
"I hope that is what I did. If I didn't, I'm sorry," Emu says, bowing his head a bit. "I am really sorry, Kara. I didn't mean to let your husband die. I didn't know Parad would show up and end his life like that. If I would have known that, I wouldn't have took his immortality away. I would have just taken his power to transform away."
"We all can't predict things like that. Just like Kiriya," I reply.
"Yeah, none of us knew he would kill Kiriya. Kuroto didn't have to do that. He could have kidnapped him and kept him far, far away from us."
"He wanted him dead. He wanted to stop him from finding out his secret. He also wanted to prevent us from finding out about Masamune."
"Masamune should be getting out in the future. The Investigator said he would be working on freeing him thanks to the truth coming out. Too bad none of the victims' families will get actual justice. Bugsters are still roaming around," Hiiro states. He's saying that because there is no justice for Saki.
I nod. "I hope he enjoys his freedom when he gets out." Even though he's a jerk, he deserves it.
Nico sighs heavily. "Parad is still out there to hurt people. We all know he is up to no good."
"We will stop him," Emu says. "Right everyone?"
"Right," Taiga says, nodding his head.
"Let's get on with things!" I shout, smiling. It is time to move forward and not worry too much about things. I'll deal with Parad later.
~.~
Parad looks me in the eyes. "I can't accept this," he states. "I refuse to accept that our relationship is over, Kara. You can't leave me."
"I'm leaving you because of what you did. I love you but how can I be with someone who is just going to do that to someone? That is cruel and unusual! You shouldn't have gave him the lethal dosage of the Bugster Virus. Parad, I refuse to be with you ever again."
"Then let's fight this out. We're enemies now, right?"
I nod and pull out my Gamer Driver, placing it on my waist. "Right, Parad." I pull out my Gashat as he takes his out, starting his transformation.
"Let the best player win."
"I will win this." I place my Gashat the spot it needs to be and I pull to lever, transforming. "Thank you for this new form, Parad."
"I only did it so we could play together. We're supposed to be on the same team," Parad states as he rushes towards me and I grab his head, lifting it over my head and flipping him over.
He gets off the ground and he rushes at me again and I move out of the way, holding out my hand and making a weapon appear. I grab the sword and rush at Parad, jumping into the air. I hold the blade in front of me as I come down on him and he blocks it with his arms.
"You're really good but can you handle what I can do?" Parad asks.
"I can handle you very well," I answer and I lift my foot up and place it against his stomach, putting force on it to send him back.
He stumbles back and he regains his composure. "I can tell," he replies. He holds up his hand and selects three boosters to increase his strength.
"I'm going to switch to maximum output for this," I tell him and I close my eyes. I open them and move towards him and he kicks me in the side, knocking me onto the ground.
"Should I just end you here, Kara?"
"That wouldn't be kind you know. You have to treat a woman with respect." I get up. "How about we get closer, Parad? That would be nice."
"Will your Bugster buddy be joining us?"
"She's resting after what happened earlier. I heard you helped out. Thank you."
"I don't like her. That is the only reason why I bothered."
"Sure, sure."
"Yeah, sure you are."
I lift my hand up and he goes to block it. I lift my leg and kick him in the side, sending him down to the ground. I flip over him and jump up, bringing my knee down onto him. He lifts his hand, stopping it from connecting with his chest.
He tosses me to the side, sending me into a table. I roll off of it and land on my knees. I look up as Parad approaches me, taking out his Dual Gear Gashat and he turns it to Knockout Fighter. He puts it in and activates it, switching his form.
"I see you're going for more power. I can handle that."
"Can you, Kara? Just admit that I'm the better player," Parad says, moving towards me once again. He tries punching me and I catch his hand.
"I won't admit that, Parad. It isn't true," I reply, pushing on his hand. His arm goes back a bit and he lifts his leg up, kicking me in the arm.
I jump back and get on the ground, sliding my leg towards his feet. He jumps over it and I flip over, kicking him in the chest before landing on the ground on my side. He stumbles back, bumping into several objects that surround us. Why didn't we change our location?
"What are you planning to do now, Parad?"
"I'm going to make the ultimate game work out for my race. Us, Bugsters, will take over the world," he answers. "Don't you want to play that game, Kara? You're pretty much a Bugster now too. Not the kind of Bugster I would want in my world though. It is a shame that you aren't like that at all."
"I guess we can't have good things." Let me take over, child. Serene?
I will handle him. Rest now.
I nod and close my eyes.
(Serene's POV)
I open my eyes and look at Parad. "Hello, Parad," I say, laughing. "Did you think I would be done with you? I won't accept a loss to you."
"You're cheating. I should be fighting Kara."
"You are fighting her. I'm in her body so it is Kara. Besides, we're a part of each other now. So shut up and start fighting!" I rush at him and jump into the air, going over his head as I duck my head a bit so I don't hit the ceiling.
I land on the ground as he groans. "This is boring!"
"You shouldn't have decided to play with her then."
"Don't tell me what I can do, Serene." He moves towards me and I catch his arm.
"Is that all you have for us?" I squeeze his hand and he gasps. "Be rougher if you're going to play with me. I enjoy it when someone is rough with me."
He lifts his leg up and places it against my stomach, knocking me back. I land on the ground as he tries punching me in the face. I block it and hit him in the face with my fist. I jump up and lift my leg up and kick him in the head. He falls over, stopping his fall with his hands and knees. That must hurt. Even a Bugster would be in pain from that.
"Are you playing this because you're serious or because you're having fun, Serene?"
"Does that matter to you?"
"It does. Kara plays for fun."
"No, she's playing to kick your sorry ass for screwing over her husband," I state as he gets up. He moves at me and I flip over, dodging the attack he tried hitting me with.
"So, she wants me gone is that what you're saying?" Parad asks me and I shrug. "How come you can't give me an answer on that? Don't you know what she is thinking about?"
"I do know what she is thinking about but I don't need to go through everything she thinks or does. I have each and every single memory in her head. I know it all. I have all her save data but I refuse to look through each and every single memory. The last thing I want to see is her going down on you."
"Is that bad for you? Do you hate love?" He stomps on the ground and charges at me and hits me in the face. He is trying to distract me with his talking it seems. Does he want Kara back in? "Yes, put her back in this match up."
"No, I refuse to do that. She deserves to have a break from you." I touch my face. "I should make you pay for doing that, Parad. I'm higher than you."
"Sure."
"Okay, let's settle this," I say, moving away from him. I need to do the Critical Strike on him now so I can end this. I activate my Critical Strike and he activates his and we goes towards each other. We connect and I fly back, exiting my transformation.
He lands on the ground in front of me and exits his transformation. "Dang...it's a tie," he says, looking down at the ground. Is he disappointed?
I get up and sigh heavily. "Child, you have much to learn about this world. I know more than you do and that is just plain sad since you have been out of your Human for too long. I guess this is where we should end things for now. Let's have fun in the future." I turn away from him and step towards the exit.
"Aren't you going to let Kara come back?" Parad asks, practically shouting at me.
I turn my head a bit, meeting his eyes. "Hm? You want her to come back just to tell you what you already know? I could do that but I think we all know that isn't the best thing to do right now. I'll see you again." I turn a bit towards him and pull out my Gashat, holding it up with a smile on my face. "We will play again, Parad. Okay?"
"Serene, I don't want to play with you," he replies, glaring at me. "I will defeat you and end you. I won't let you use Kara as your pawn."
"Am I using her as my pawn?" I place my Gashat away, laughing. I shrug. "I guess I don't know what I am doing then. If I was using her like that, it would be dangerous. We're connected permanently now. If she dies, I die. If I die, she'll die. Do you want that?"
"No, I don't want her to die. I want you to die," Parad tells me, looking down.
"Distraught now? Don't worry, you'll get your chance to get rid of me one day. I'm sure of it," I reply, laughing. "See you later, friend."
"Serene, wait!"
"What?"
"What do you intend to do now? You can't do your own thing anymore."
"I know I can't but I can do what I need to."
"And that is?"
"Have fun messing with people. Once you start the game, I will play it. But I won't be playing it for you."
"Who will you play it for?"
I smile. "Hiiro Kagami."
"Hiiro? Why?"
I wave at him. "Goodbye now."