Eri Kamei vs. Morning Musume

[meowchi]

Dr. Chin …?
Unknown, Laboratory …?
October 10, 12:15 AM

RYOKO YOKOHARA HAD FAILED.
Dr. Chin stared at the blinking white light by the door, cursing Yokohara, cursing Ken Matsuura, cursing her luck.

She hadn’t told Yokohara how to get back inside, which could only mean that the intruders had made it past her. Ken Matsuura had left them a message or sent them one, it didn’t matter— all that mattered was that they were coming and she had to assume that they had the key.

She’d torn down the markers weeks ago, but perhaps they had directions, perhaps they’d find her and—

Don’t panic, no need for panic. You prepared for this, simply move on, next plan. Division first, twofold effect—less firepower, bait for later. . . and a chance to see how well Xiaolin can perform.

Chin turned to Dr. Wong and spoke quickly, keeping the instructions clear and simple, the route as easy as possible.

Chin had already worked out the questions they’d probably ask, though she knew
there was a chance they’d try for more information. She gave Xiaolin several random phrases to respond with, then gave him the small semi-automatic pistol from Dr. Niita’s desk drawer, watching as Xiaolin tucked it beneath his lab coat to make sure it was hidden.

The bullet carrier was empty, but she didn’t think it was possible to tell, not if the hammer was pulled back. He also gave Xiaolin her key; a risk, but
then the entire scenario was a risk.

With the fate of the world resting in her hands, she’d take any chance necessary.

After Xiaolin had gone, Chin sat down in a chair to wait for a reasonable amount of time, her gaze wandering to the six stainless canisters in restless anticipation. Her plans wouldn’t fail; the righteousness of her work would see her through this invasion.

If Xiaolin was caught out, there were still the Ma7s, there was still Louis, there were still the syringes and her hiding place, the airlock controls in easy
reach.

And with Dr. Niita away, foolishly chasing those rats from the city- leading her into Niita's secret base- Dr. Chin had no doubts that her loyal test subject will do as she is told- of course, it's just part of Dr. Chin's well thought out betrayal to retrieve a sample of Niita's beloved Kasumi-virus. Selfish ingrate!

Past all of that, there was still the sunrise- a few hours away, waiting.

Dr. Chin smiled dreamily.

[meowchi]

Ai Takahashi
Lighthouse, Lower Level
October 10, 12:21 AM



Sayumi could still walk, still seemed to understand at least part of what they were saying to her, but the few words she could manage didn’t seem to relate to anything.
As they’d gone down the stairs from the lighthouse, she’d said “hot” twice.

As they’d walked into the wide, dank tunnel at the base of the steps, she’d said, “I don’t want,” an expression of fear on her deathly pale, searching face.
Ai was terrified that even if they found a way to reverse the viral load, it would be too late.

It had all happened so suddenly, so fast that she could still hardly comprehend it.

There’d been a woman waiting for them in the darkness of the lighthouse, a trap just as Hitomi had intuited. As soon as they’d gone in, the woman opened fire with an automatic rifle, strafing the door from the shadows beneath the winding
metal stairs.

Thanks to Hitomi’s plan, it had been over in seconds— and as Koharu had discovered the access door and punched in the code, Ai and Reina had looked over their waiting attacker, had seen in the narrow beam of Reina’s flashlight that the woman had been infected— her paper white skin was flaking and creased with strange, peeling etched lines.

She’d looked somehow different than the Trisquad victims Ai’d seen, less decayed, her open, staring eyes somehow more human . . . but then Hitomi had gone to get Sayumi and Ai’s interest had been suddenly and cruelly diverted.

It had been the walk up the hill, Ai’d decided.
Even though it shouldn’t have made a difference, she couldn’t imagine what else might have brought on the amplification so quickly.

Somehow, the virus must have responded to the physiological changes of Sayumi’s increased heart rate and circulation— but as they’d led the confused and stumbling Musume into the lighthouse, Ai had found that she’d
stopped caring about how; all she wanted was to get to the lab, to try and salvage what was left of Sayumi Michishige’s sanity.

The tunnel beneath the lighthouse seemed to lead back toward the compound in a curving, twisting trail, and was carved from the heavy limestone of the cliff.

Mining lights were strung along the walls, casting strange shadows as they moved forward, silent and grimly afraid, Reina and Koharu half pulling Sayumi
between them.

Ai was last, again feeling a horrible sense of deja vu as they stumbled along,
remembering the diverse events that had taken place in the few hours.

The same cold damp emanated from the stone, and she felt the same terrible feelings of moving toward unknown danger, exhausted and afraid of screwing
up— of not being able to prevent a disaster. The disaster has already happened, she thought helplessly, thinking of Miki, Risa, and Eri as she continued watching Sayumi struggle to keep walking.

We’re losing her. In another hour, probably less, she’ll be too far gone to ever come back.

As it was, Reina and Koharu shouldn’t be touching her. In a single, easy movement she could get at either one of them, biting before they had a chance to let go. Even that concept made her sick with sorrow and an aching, heavy feeling of loss.

The tunnel veered to the left, and Ai realized they had to be incredibly close to the ocean; the walls seemed to tremble and shake from a muted thunder beyond, and the tunnel was thick with a damp and fishy smell.
Parts of the floor seemed too smooth to have been created by human hands, and
Ai wondered vaguely if the tunnel opened up ahead somewhere, perhaps had once been flooded by the sea—
“Damn it,” Hitomi whispered angrily. “Shit.”

Ai looked up.

When she saw what was ahead, she felt her last flicker of hope for Sayumi die.
We’ll never find it in time.

The tunnel did open up, a few hundred meters ahead of where Hitomi had stopped. It widened considerably, in fact—and was connected by five smaller tunnels, each branching off in a slightly different direction.

[meowchi]

Ai Takahashi
Lighthouse, Underground (entrance to the five tunnels)
October 10, 12:38 AM



“Which way is southwest?” Reina asked anxiously. Sayumi leaned against Reina, her head rolling forward.

Hitomi’s voice was still angry, frustration raising her words to an echo that bounced through the five stone corridors, circling back to fill the cavern.
“I don’t know, I thought we were already headed southwest—and yet none of these is in direct alignment, and none head directly east, either.”

They moved into the rough-hewn cavern, staring helplessly at the smooth tunnels, each of them strung with lights that disappeared around turns and bends. They  had obviously been carved by water, perhaps had once been connected to the sea caves that Hitomi spotted while they were on the raft.

The tunnels weren’t as wide as the one they stood in, but were wide enough to
accommodate human passage comfortably enough, and at least three meters high. There was no way to guess which one was used to get to the lab—
• or if any of them lead to the lab, we don’t even know for certain that it’s down here. . . .

“If none of them goes east, then we have to pick the one that looks the most likely to go southwest,” Koharu said quietly. “Besides, east of here is water.”

Sayumi mumbled something unintelligible, and Ai stepped forward worriedly to see how she was.
Though Reina and Koharu still steadied her, she seemed to have no trouble standing on her own.

Ai touched her clammy, sweating forehead and Sayumi’s rolling eyes fixed on her, glassy and red, the pupils dilated.
“Sayu-chan, how are you doing?” she asked softly.

Sayumi blinked slowly. “Thirsty,” she whispered, her voice bubbling and liquid sounding.
Still responsive, thank God. . . .

Ai touched Sayumi's throat lightly, feeling the rapid, thready pulse beneath her fingers.

It was definitely quicker than before, up in the lighthouse.
Whatever the virus was doing to her, it wouldn’t be much longer before Sayumi’s body gave out.

Ai turned, feeling desperate and angry, wanting to screamfor somebody to do something—
• and heard the pounding footsteps, echoing up through one of the tunnels.

She grabbed for her Beretta, saw Reina and Hitomi do the same as Koharu held onto Sayumi.
Which one, where’s it coming from? Niita? Is it Niita?

The sound seemed to circle, coming from everywhere at once— and then Ai saw him, appearing from around a corner in the passage second from the right.

A stumbling figure, a flapping, dusty lab coat—
• and then he saw them, and even from fifteen meters away, Ai could see the stunned and almost hysterical joy that swept across his face.

The man ran for them, his short brown hair wild and disheveled, his eyes bright and lips trembling. He wasn’t holding any kind of weapon, though Ai kept hers raised.
“Oh, thank God, thank God! You have to help me! Dr. Thurman, he’s gone mad, we have to get out of here!”

He staggered out of the tunnel and nearly ran into Hitomi, apparently oblivious to the pistols trained on him as he babbled on.

[meowchi]

Hitomi Yoshizawa
Lighthouse, Underground (entrance to the five tunnels)
October 10, 12:52 AM



“We have to go, there’s a boat we can use, we have to get out before he kills us all—“

Hitomi shot a glance back, saw that Ai and Reina still had him covered.

She tucked the Beretta into her side beltand stepped forward, taking the man’s arm. “Easy, calm down. Who are you, do you work here?”

“Xiaolin Wong,” the man gasped. “Thurman kept me locked up in the lab but he heard you coming and I managed to get away. But he’s crazy. You have to help me get to the boat! There’s a radio, we can call for help!”

The lab!

“Which way is the laboratory?” Hitomi asked quickly.

Wong didn’t seem to hear her, too panicked by whatever he thought Thurman might do to them. “The radio’s on the boat, we can call for help and then get away!”

“The laboratory,” Hitomi repeated. “Listen to me—did you just come from there?”

Wong turned and pointed to the tunnel that was next to the one he’d come from, the one in the middle.
“The lab is that way—“

He pointed back the way he’d come. “—and the boat’s down there. These caves are like a maze.”

Though he seemed to have calmed slightly as he pointed to the tunnels, when he turned back to face them, he looked as hysterical as he had before.
He seemed to be in his mid-thirties at first glance, but Hitomi noticed he had deep lines etched at the comers of his eyes and mouth and realized he had to be
much older.

Whoever he was and however old he was, he was caught in the grip of an almost mindless panic. “The radio’s on the boat, we can call for help and then get away!”

Hitomi’s thoughts raced in time with her pounding heart.
This was it, this was their chance—
• we get to the lab, make this Thurman give us the cure and then get out of this place, Risa- Eri, before anyone else gets hurt—

She turned to look at the others and saw the same hopeful looks that she knew she wore, Reina and Koharu both nodding sharply.

Ai didn’t look as enthused.
She jerked her head back, motioning for Hitomi to move out of Wong’s earshot.

“Excuse us a moment,” Hitomi said, forcing a politeness that she didn’t feel.
Wong was one of the researchers from the list.

“We have to hurry!” The man babbled, but he didn’t follow as Hitomi stepped back toward the others, the four of them leaning together to talk, Sayumi resting against Koharu’s arm.

Ai’s voice was hushed and worried. “Hitomi, we can’t take Sayumi to the lab if Niita—if Thurman is there; what if we have to fight?”

Reina nodded, shooting a glance at the wild-eyed researcher. “And I don’t think we should leave this guy alone, he’s likely to take off with our ride home.”

Hitomi frowned, thinking. Koharu was a better shot, but Reina was stronger. If they had to force Thurman to give them the virus cure, Reina could probably intimidate him more easily.

“We split up. Koharu, you take Sayumi to the boat, keep an eye on Wong. We’ll go to the lab, get what we need and then meet you there. Agreed?”

Tight nods, and then Hitomi turned, addressing Wong.
“We need to get to the laboratory, but our friend Sayumi isn’t well. We’d like for you to take her and an escort to the boat, and wait for us.”

Wong’s eyes seemed to blank out for just a second, the strange, vacant look there and gone so quickly that Hitomi wasn’t even sure she’d seen it.

“We have to hurry,” he said quickly, then turned and started back down the passage he’d appeared from, walking at a brisk pace.

Hitomi felt a sudden worry, staring at Wong’s rapidly receding back, his dirty lab coat floating out behind him.
He didn’t even ask who we are...

As Koharu and Sayumi started to enter the tunnel, Hitomi touched Koharu’s arm, speaking softly. “Watch him carefully, Koharu. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

Koharu nodded and moved off after the strange Dr. Wong, Sayumi stumbling along next to her.

Reina and Ai were already standing in front of the middle passageway, weapons still in hand. The chamber shook as outside, a muffled thunder roared.

Without speaking, the three of them started down the gloomy tunnel in a tired but determined jog, ready to face the human monster behind the many tragedies of Rockfort Cove.

[KonaKaga]

Dr. Chin? Well, it's certainly creative, and it reminds me of a certain ex-momusu Is that a good thing?

“Damn it,” Hitomi whispered angrily. “Shit.”

Ai looked up.

When she saw what was ahead, she felt her last flicker of hope for Sayumi die.
We’ll never find it in time.

The tunnel did open up, a few hundred meters ahead of where Hitomi had stopped. It widened considerably, in fact—and was connected by five smaller tunnels, each branching off in a slightly different direction.

I couldn't agree more Yossie

Don't trust Wong! He's crazy and not good >_> If things turn for the worst, Sayu will turn into a mindless zombie, but she'll eat Wong... But they give Sayu the cure and it works because the world needs Little Miss. Ichiban Kawaii?
 
Agh, your writing is so captivating! I can't wait for an update!
Btw, just out of curiosity, do you know when this fic will finish? I don't want it to, but I can't wait to see the ending as well; either way I'm happy!

[meowchi]

Koharu Kusumi
Lighthouse, Underground (4th Tunnel)
October 10, 1:09 AM



They turned the first corner, Sayumi hanging onto Koharu's shoulder with a cold and sweating hand—and the researcher was just rounding a bend farther ahead, a good hundred meters away.

Koharu caught a glimpse of fluttering white and the heel of a black loafer, and then he was out of sight, clattering footsteps moving away.

Great. Lost in a stupid dumb ol' sea cave labyrinth because Dr. Strangelove has a schedule to keep—
Sayumi let out a low moan of soft distress and Koharu felt the cold, hard knot in her stomach clench tighter, her fear of getting lost nothing next to fear she felt for Sayumi. She was leaning on Koharu more heavily, her feet dragging against the dank limestone floor.

Hitomi, Reina, Ai, please hurry, please don’t let Sayumi get any worse—

Koharu pulled her along as quickly as she could, concerned about catching up to Wong, worried about the others putting themselves in danger, and afraid for the desperately sick Musume who clung to her side.

Except for her recent experience with Ai, it had to be the worst day of her life. She’d only been with Morning Musume for a short period of time, and while she’d been in threatening situations before, they didn’t come close to what she’d experienced in the long hours since they’d been knocked out of the sky.

Terrorists, Fujimoto-san, sea monsters, Risa-chan, Eri-chan, zombies with guns—and now Sayumi. Smart, cute, serious Sayumi, losing her mind, maybe turning into one of those things.
We’re so close to getting out of here and it may still be too late. ...

As they reached the turn in the tunnel, Koharu realized that she couldn’t hear Wong’s footsteps anymore.

She staggered around the corner, thinking that she should call for him to wait up, not to get too far ahead—
• and she stopped cold, her gut plummeting to somewhere around her knees.

Wong stood two meters away, holding a .25 semi-automatic, his face and eyes as strangely blank and lifeless as a mannequin’s. He stepped forward and pressed the small bore into Koharu’s stomach, hard, jerking the Beretta out of her pocket and then stepping back.

The flat-eyed doctor moved to one side, now holding both weapons on them as he motioned for Koharu to move in front of him.

“Watch him carefully, Koharu. ...”

Koharu held on to Sayumi’s side, fumbling through her thoughts for ways to talk, to reason with Wong, her body tensing to spring even as her brain screamed at her to go along, not to get shot—
• what would happen to Sayumi?

“You will come to the lab,” Wong said tonelessly, “or I’ll kill you.”

It was the inflectionless voice of a computer, coming from the blankly merciless face of a man who suddenly didn’t seem human, not at all.

“We know what you did here,” Koharu spat. “We know all about your stupid Trisquads, we know about the virus, and if you want to get out of this without—“

“You will come to the lab or I’ll kill you.”

Koharu felt a helpless shudder run through her body. Wong’s tone hadn’t altered at all, his gaze as fixed and emotionless as his voice. Koharu noticed the lines then, the deep, spidering lines that swept away from his cold brown eyes, sat at the corners of his slack and expressionless lips.
Oh my God—

“You will come to the lab or I’ll kill you,” he repeated, and this time, he raised both weapons—holding them inches away from Sayumi’s sagging head.

Koharu knew she was dying, knew that there was a good chance she’d lose against the virus and become a violent, insane creature before the night was through—
• but I have to protect her for as long as I can. If I sacrificed her to save myself and there was even a chance that she could’ve been cured. . .

Koharu wouldn’t, couldn’t do it. Even if it meant her own life.

Holding Sayumi tightly, she stepped ahead of the thing and started to walk.

[meowchi]

Dr. Chin ... ?
Unknown, Laboratory …?
October 10, 1:21 AM

Enough time had passed. If the intruders had done what they were supposed to do, they would have split up, some of them heading mistakenly for the pen, some accompanying the good doctor back to the lab.
If Xiaolin had failed, he’d at least have stalled the intruders long enough to keep them out in the open.

Either way, it was time.

Chin tapped the control panel for the Ma7 enclosure, thinking wistfully how much fun it would be to see the looks on their faces. The red light flashed to green, signifying that the gate was fully open.

No matter, she supposed. So long as they died.

[meowchi]

Ai Takahashi
Lighthouse, Underground (3rd Tunnel)
October 10, 1:29 AM



THE WINDING TUNNEL SEEMED TO GO ON forever. Every time they rounded a turn, Ai expected to see a sealed door, a slot set next to it for the key card that Hitomi carried.

As the corners continued, the hanging lights going on for another stretch
of tunnel, each as empty and featureless as the stretch before, she stopped wishing for the door.

A sign would suffice, an arrow painted on the wall, a chalk mark— anything that would put to rest her growing suspicion that they’d been misled. Lied to by a Rockfort scientist? Perish the thought. . . .

Tired sarcasm aside, Wong had been weird, but had definitely seemed frightened to the point of hysteria.
Could he have been confused in his panic, pointed to the wrong passage? Or was the lab just better hidden than they thought?

Or did he send us off on a snipe hunt, some dead-end cave—or even a trap, something dangerous, meant to keep us out of the way while he...
While he did something to Koharu and Sayumi.

The thought frightened her even more than the concept of walking into a trap. Sayumi was desperately ill, she wouldn’t be able to defend herself, and Koharu—
No, Koharu’s okay. She’d be able to take Wong in a heartbeat—

Except that Sayumi was with her. A very sick Sayumi, struggling just to stay upright.

Their jog had slowed to a shag, Hitomi and Reina both breathing heavily, frowns deepening across their exhausted faces.

Hitomi held up a hand, stopping them.
“I don’t think it’s this way,” she panted. “We should have seen something by now. And the piece of paper with the key card said southwest, east— I’m not sure, but I think after that last turn, we’re heading west.”

Reina bobbed her head, pony-tailed, silky hair glistening with sweat.
“I don’t know which way we’re going, but I know I think Wong’s full of shit. The guy works for Niita, for chrissake.”

“I agree,” Ai said, breathing deeply. “I think we should go back. We have to get to the lab, soon. I don’t think—“
Clank!

They froze, staring at each other. From somewhere farther down the endless tunnel, something made of heavy metal had just been moved.

“The lab?” Ai said hopefully. “Could it—“
A low, strange sound cut her off, the words dying in her throat as the noise picked up strength.
It was like nothing she’d ever heard before— a dog howling, combined with an off-key whistling whine and the sound of a newborn baby’s desperate cry.

It was a lonely, terrible sound, rising and falling through the tunnel, finally building to a warbling, mournful shriek—
• then it was joined by several others.

She was suddenly absolutely certain that she didn’t want to see what was making that sound, even as Hitomi started backing up, her face pale and eyes wide.
“Run,” she said, training her Beretta on the empty passage ahead of them, waiting until they had stumbled past before turning to follow.

Ai felt a burst of incredible energy as adrenaline gushed into her body, sent her sprinting through the shadowy tunnel to escape the rising shrieks of whatever was behind them.

Reina was just in front of her, her slender arms and petite legs pumping madly, and Ai could hear the clattering steps of Hitomi on her heels.

The howls were getting louder, and Ai could feel the stone vibrate beneath her flying feet, the heavy, galloping steps of the shrieking beasts thundering after them.
• not gonna make it—

Even as she realized that they’d be overtaken, she heard Hitomi gasp out,
“Next turn—“
• and as they reached the end of the empty stretch where the tunnel curved again, Ai whirled around, raising the Beretta in her sweating, shaking hand, training it back on the last turn they’d taken.

Reina and Hitomi flanked her, gasping, nine-millimeters aimed alongside hers. Twenty meters of blank passage, filled with the now deafening cries of their unseen pursuers.

As the first of them tore into view, all three of them fired, slugs ripping into the creature that at first Ai thought was a lioness— then a giant lizard—then a dog. She caught only a mad, patchwork vision of the impossible thing, seeing parts of it that her mind fit into a whole— the slitted, cat-like pupils.

The giant snake head, a gaping, slavering jaw filled with bladed teeth. The squat and powerful barrel-chested body, sand-colored, thick legs bowing in front, muscular, springing haunches propelling it toward them at an incredible speed—
• and even as the bullets found its strange, reptilian flesh, there was another behind it—
• and the first explosive rounds that smacked into the thick body of the closest creature knocked it off of its clawed feet, staggered it backward as blooms of watery blood spattered the tunnel walls—
• and, shaking its head, screaming in ferocious sorrow, it launched itself at them again.
• oh shit—

Ai squeezed the trigger again, four, five, six, her mind screaming as loudly as the two monstrous animals that ran at them, eight, nine, ten—
• and the first went down, stayed down, but there was still the second and now a third, tearing down the tunnel, and the Beretta only held fifteen rounds—
We’re gonna die—

Hitomi jumped back, behind the line of thundering fire.
An empty clip skittered across the floor, and then she was next to Ai again, aiming and squeezing, the Beretta jerking smoothly in her practiced hand.

Ai counted her last round and stumbled backward, praying that she could do it as fast as Hitomi—
• and saw that the third animal was stumbling back, its wide chest gushing thin streamers of red.
It collapsed into the puddle of watery fluid it created and stayed there.

Nothing in the tunnel moved, but there were at least two more around the corner.

Their wailing cries continued to wax and wane through the tunnel, but they stayed back, out of sight—as if they knew what had happened to their siblings, and were too smart to charge into waiting death.

“Fall back,” Hitomi said hoarsely, and still aiming at the blind corner, they started to edge backward, the shrieks of the hybrid creatures rolling over them in lonely, terrible waves.

[meowchi]

Dr. Chin ... ?
Unknown, Laboratory …?
October 10, 1:36 AM

Dr. Chin moved quickly away from the door when she heard the key in the lock, not wanting to be too close to whomever Xiaolin had brought along.

She had Thurman already standing ready, just in case there were any sudden moves—but when she saw the young girl and her passive partner step into the lab, she doubted she’d have any trouble.

What’s this? A few too many drinks, perhaps? An unseen mortal wound?

Chin smiled, waiting for her to speak or for the other to move, Chin's heart full and warm with good humor. Besides Dr. Niita, it had been so long since she’d talked to someone who could respond without prompting, and the fact that her fine plan had worked made her all the merrier.

Behind her, Xiaolin sealed the door and stood blankly, holding two weapons on the unlikely pair.

The young girl gazed wide-eyed around the laboratory, her dark gaze settling on the wide airlock window in something like awe. The other ones head was down, rolling across her chest.

The young one had the pale, natural milky skin of an Asian, perhaps someone from Japan.
Somewhat lanky, but tall enough.

Yes, she’d do quite nicely . . . and since this might even have been the one to destroy Yokohara, there was a certain poetic justice being served.

The youth’s darting gaze finally rested on Chin, curious and not altogether as frightened as Chin would have liked.
We’ll see about that. . . .

“Where are we?” the young girl asked quietly.

“You are in a chemical research laboratory, approximately twenty meters below the surface of Rockfort Cove,” Chin said. “Interesting, yes? Those clever designers even built it inside of a shipwreck—or they built the shipwreck around the lab, I forget ex—“

“Are you Thurman?”

Such manners!

Chin smiled again, shaking her head. “No. That fat, hopeless creature standing to your left is Dr. Thurman. I am Jessica Chin. And you might be...?”

Before the young girl could speak, the other one rolled her head up, a wobbling white face looking around in fixed, helpless hunger.
An infected one!

“Thurman, take the viral one and hold her,” Chin said quickly.
She couldn’t have her damaging the fine specimen Xiaolin had managed to catch—
• but as Thurman grabbed for the female, the young girl resisted, pushing at Louis with fast, angry hands, a sneer of bravado on her face.

Chin felt a pulse of distress. “Xiaolin, hit her!”

Dr. Wong brought his hand up quickly, cracking the struggling youth a smart blow across the back of her skull; she stopped fighting just long enough for Thurman to pull the infected one away.

“She’s gone,” Chin said forcefully, wondering why on earth anyone would want to hang on to one of those.
“Look at her, can’t you see she’s not human anymore? She’s one of Niita’s puppets, one of the pathetically altered hungry. A zombie. A Trisquad unit without training.”

Even as Chin spoke, a fascinating turn of events took place.

The infected female squirmed around in Thurman’s grasp—and with one quick movement, darted forward and bit into Louis’s face. She pulled back with a thick, bloody mouthful of his cheek and started to chew enthusiastically.

“Sayumi, oh my God, no— “
For as upset as she sounded, the young girl didn’t move to do anything about it.

For that matter, neither did Louis.
The doctor stood calmly, blood pouring down his face, watching the virus drone lustily swallow the piece of tender flesh. Chin was transfixed.

“Look at that,” Chin said softly. “Not a grimace ot pain, not a flutter of emotion .. . smile, Louis!”

Thurman grinned even as the female lunged forward again, managing to snag his protruding lower lip.
With a wet, tearing sound, the lip ripped away, exposing an even wider grin. Blood gushed.

The female chewed.
Amazing. Absolutely breathtaking.

The young girl was quivering, her milky white skin under-shot with a sickly pallor. She didn’t seem to appreciate what she was seeing, and Chin realized that she probably wouldn’t; the female must have been a friend.
Too bad. Pearls before swine . . .

“Xiaolin, take hold of our young girl, and hold her tightly.”

The youth didn’t struggle, too absorbed in the apparent horror that she was experiencing. The female got another piece of cheek, and Louis’s smile wavered, probably from muscle trauma.

As much as Chin wanted to continue watching, there was work to be done. The young girl’s other friends might manage to put down the Ma7s— and if they succeeded with that, they might come looking for their bright young woman.
But by then, she’ll be my bright young woman....

Chin walked to a counter and picked up a measured syringe, tapping the side of it with one finger. She turned to the silent guest, wondering if she should reveal her brilliant scheme for catching her friends.
Wasn’t that what “villains” always did in movies?

She considered it only briefly, then decided against it; she’d always considered it a foolish plot point.

And she was far from villainous. It was they who had invaded her sanctuary, threatened her plans for creating worldwide peace.
There was no question who the evildoers were in this story.

The young Japanese was still watching the bizarre luncheon, her mouth literally hanging open in dismay; 'Sayumi' was swallowing Thurman’s nose, and making quite a mess.
Chin would have to dispose of her before Louis’s arms gave out, though that gave her plenty of time.

Stepping forward quickly, Chin jabbed the needle into the youth’s skinny arm and depressed the plunger.

Only then did the young girl struggle, her shocked gaze turning to Chin, her body twisting and flailing. One of Xiaolin’s arms seemed to give a little, but he had a good, tight hold on the fighting Japanese.

Chin smiled into her face, shaking her head. “Relax,” she said soothingly. “In just a few moments, you won’t feel a thing.”

[meowchi]

Reina Tanaka
Lighthouse, Underground (3rd Tunnel)
October 10, 1:55 AM



Slowly, too slowly, they backed toward the chamber they’d started in, the lizard-creatures following, care-ful not to step into view, screaming their terrible song.
Reina kept thinking of Sayumi and Koharu, led off to God knew where by the Rockfort doc, and wished desperately that the monsters would just charge.

She felt the moments slipping by, moments that may have already cost Sayumi her only chance, moments in which Koharu might be fighting for her life—
Come on, you stupid shits! We’re right here, free lunch! Come on!

They’d tried yelling, tried firing and stamping their feet, but the creatures wouldn’t take the bait.

Once, Hitomi had tried to fake them out, the three of them slipping back around a corner—and when the big lizards had skulked through the tunnel after them, they’d jumped back around and started blasting. Reina got a single round into one of them, and they’d seen that there were only two of the beasts left—but both had gotten to cover before any serious damage had been done, and hadn’t fallen for the ploy again.

“Sly bastards,” Reina snarled for about the twentieth time, backing up as quickly as she could. “What the hell are they waiting for?"

Neither Ai nor Hitomi answered, since they’d already discussed it, talking over the creeping shrieks of the stalking monsters.
They were waiting for the three of them to turn around.

After what felt like an eternity of slow motion, of backing through the empty tunnel one sliding step at a time, they heard the distant, familiar sound of the cavernous chamber they’d left—muffled waves and thundering vibrations as background to the echoing howls.
Thank God, thank God, how long? Fifteen, twenty minutes?

“When we get into the open, flank the tunnel,” Hitomi said tightly. “I’m going to turn and run, draw them out—“

Ai shook her head, her young features pinched with worry. “You’re a better shot than I am, and I can run faster. I should do it.”

They had almost reached the chamber.

Reina shot a glance at Hitomi, could see her struggling with the decision—and finally she nodded, sighing.
“Right. Run as fast as you can, back for the stairs to the lighthouse. We’ll pick them off as soon as they’re too far along to turn around.”

Ai blew out sharply. “Got it. Just say when.”

Reina could feel the change in the air just behind her, the drafts that swirled around the underground chamber fluttering against the back of her neck. Another
step and they were surrounded by open space. Reina quickly sidestepped, standing between the tunnel they’d just backed out of and the one next to it. She saw Hitomi get into position, Ai standing perfectly still in the mouth of the passage—
“Go!”

Ai spun and ran, sprinting away, and Reina tensed, Beretta held close to her face, listening for the rising shrieks, the pound of feet—
“Now!” Hitomi shouted, and they both swung into the passage, firing.
Crack-crack-crack-crack!

The howling monsters were less than six meters away and the heavy rounds smashed into them, great, bloody holes exploding through their rubbery skin, bone and watery red splattering wildly. The shrieks died beneath the thundering bullets, neither of the reptilian things making it as far as the opening. Two strange bodies fell still, crumpling to the stone floor in ragged heaps.

As soon as they stopped firing, Ai came jogging back into the chamber, her cheeks flushed, her eyes flashing with urgency.

“Let’s go,” Hitomi said, and then the three of them were running into the passage that Wong had disappeared into, the lost time lending a desperation to their flight.

Reina finally let the fear slip inside, giving up the angry frustration she’d suffered through their backward crawl.
Sayumi, be okay. Please, don’t let anything have happened to her, Kusumi—

The tunnel turned, angled down, the three of them curving with it, terror for their friends and teammates driving them faster. Reina swore to herself that if they were all right, if there was still time for Sayumi, if they
could all make it out of this alive, she’d give anything. My cats, my piano, my money, I won’t call anyone baka anymore, I’ll clean up my act and walk the straight and narrow—
It wasn’t enough, and she didn’t know why anyone would want it—but she’d sacrifice anything, do whatever it took.

The passage swerved again, still sliding down and they tore around the corner—
• and there was a wide open set of doors, a tiny passage between the outer and inner, a giant and dimly lit room behind it.

Koharu leaned against the frame, holding her Beretta, her face pale and blank.

“Koharu! What happened, what—“ Hitomi started, but the look on Koharu’s face as she turned to watch them approach, the terrible emptiness there, made them all stop in their tracks. Even as her mind searched to deny it, Reina’s heart filled with a horrible, aching loss.

“Sayumi’s dead,” Koharu said softly, then turned and walked into the room.

[KonaKaga]

Sayu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By dead you mean zombie dead? Or dead dead?
NO!!! SAYUUUUUUUUUU!!!!
*goes to sulk in a corner*
 

[High-King]

O.M.F.GGG!! i knew it!!! dr chin the name on that list!

There was a short list of names at the top, seven in all:
KEN MATSUURA, RYOKO YOKOHARA, LEO ATHENS, LOUIS THURMAN, NIITA TOMOKO, XIAOLIN WONG, JESSICA CHIN.

[meowchi]

Ai Takahashi
Lighthouse, Underground (Laboratory Entrance)
October 10, 2:15 AM



Ai felt a welling rush of sadness inside as she stared after Koharu, Reina and Hitomi both grim and silent beside her. The blank shock on Koharu’s face before she’d turned away told them what must have happened.
Poor Sayumi. And Koharu, what must it have been like. ..

They’d found the lab too late.

She glanced down at the key card slot next to the door as she stepped
into the double seal, feeling a horrible sense of futility at the pointlessness of it all. They’d come to find information, only to find tests, only for Sayumi to get infected— and then to turn against Koharu even as they’d reached the one chance they might have had to cure her . . .
... but Wong. Thurman—

She stepped through the second door, frowning.

The laboratory was huge, counters lined with equipment, desks piled incredibly high with stacks of paper—but it was the open hatch across from them that first commanded her attention, her gaze immediately drawn to the thick sheet of plexi or reinforced glass set into the thick door.

It was an airlock, the inner door standing open.
And behind the second sealed door, past a mesh grate, the dark waters of the ocean swirled past, bubbles spinning by. The laboratory was underwater.

The second thing she noticed was the blood, a thick trail of crimson leading across the concrete floor in splatters and pools, but ending in a sliding smear. Koharu must have moved a body—
• so much! God, not Sayumi’s...

Koharu had walked to the airlock and turned, seemed to be waiting for them to cross the room. Ai started toward her, her throat tight with sympathy and swelling tears. Reina and Hitomi were right behind her, quiet, looking around the vast room—
• when behind them, the door back into the passage slammed shut.

They spun around, saw Wong standing there, holding a tiny semi-automatic, a .25, pointing it at them with no expression on his face.

“Drop your weapons.”
The low, quiet voice was Koharu’s.

Ai turned again, confused—and saw Koharu pointing her Beretta at them, her face as blank as Wong’s. Now that she was close enough to the airlock, she saw the body on the grated floor.

It was Sayumi, her white face streaked with blood, a gaping blackness where her left eye had been.
Oh, my God, what’s going on—

Hitomi stepped toward the youngest Musume, holding her Beretta loosely, confusion and disbelief in her voice. “Koharu, what are you doing? What’s happened?”

“Drop your weapons,” Koharu said again.
Her voice had no emotion at all.

“What did you do to her?!” Reina screamed, turned and fired at Wong, the round punching neatly through his left temple.
Wong crumpled, sagging—
Boom!

The second shot came from Koharu’s Beretta, hitting Reina in the lower back. Blood gushed from the hole and as she staggered halfway around, Ai saw the dark fluid trickling from her mouth, the dazed disbelief in her eyes—
• and Reina crashed to the cement, spasming once before she lay motionless.

It had all happened in the space of a few seconds.

“Drop your weapons,” Koharu said calmly.
She pointed her semi at Ai.

For a moment, Ai could do nothing at all. She stared at Koharu in horror, felt tears slipping down her frozen cheeks, unable to comprehend what had happened.

“Disarm,” Hitomi said quietly, letting hers slip from her fingers and clatter to the floor.

Ai dropped the Beretta, the heavy weapon falling from her equally heavy fingers.

“Back up,” Koharu said, still aiming at Ai's chest.

“Do as she says,” Hitomi said, her voice trembling just slightly.

They stepped back slowly, Ai unable to take her eyes from Koharu’s face, the smiling, girlish face she’d grown to care about. Now it was only a mask, worn by a ...
.. . by a zombie.

They backed into a desk and stopped, watching dully as Koharu moved to pick up their weapons, Ai’s mind whirling with more than just horror and loss.
A zombie that could walk and talk like a man. Like Wong. Like Koharu.
How? When did this happen?

As Koharu stepped away, a pleasant female voice came out of the corner of the room, from behind a desk.
“All finished, then? My God, what a Greek tragedy. . . .”

The voice was followed by an appearance. A slender, gray-haired woman stood up and walked around the desk, moving almost casually to stand by Koharu. She was in her mid-fifties, her hair long enough to brush at the collar of her lab coat, her lined face sporting a beaming smile.

“I’ll repeat my instructions for the benefit of our guests,” the woman said happily. “If either of them makes any sudden moves, shoot them.”

Ai knew who she was immediately, or at the very least, someone from the list.
“Dr. Niita?” she said quietly.

The woman arched an eyebrow, seeming amused. “That selfish Niita's reputation precedes mine? Blasphemy to the very least- However, the answer is no. I am Jessica Chin. Quite different from the foolish woman you speak of.”

“You work with Niita,” Ai said coldly. “If you kill us, others will kn-”

"I worked with Niita. Though that is, how you say, an ordeal in progress." Dr. Chin held her smile. "And you must be referring to your brethen? Surely you did not assume  we were oblivious to the two 'contacts' you sent into the city, hmm? Unlike the foolish woman, I can assure you, I know exactly what's
progressed within the few hours they've been there."

Ai suddenly tensed.

"Needless to say-", Chin continued. " -they are dead. Dr. Niita personally dispatched herself to do so. It seems your contacts have riled her up quite a bit- enough for her to bring the insane twin sister into the fray, hmm?"

no... R dead- dead- gone-isa, Eri-... How? How does she know?
"Sick- You-", Ai couldn't find the words. "Murderer-!!"

The doctor's smile froze, then widened again. “All in the past,” she said dismissively, waving one hand in the air.
“And you’ll never have a chance to tell anyone about the pleasure of our acquaintance, I’m afraid.”

Chin’s smile faded, her dark brown gaze turning icy. “You people have held me up long enough. I’m tired of this game, so I believe that I’m going to have your nice young woman kill you. . . .”

She brightened suddenly, and Ai saw the madness flashing in those eyes, the complete break from sanity.
“Now that I think of it, why create even more of a mess? Koharu, tell our friends to get into the airlock, if you would be so kind.”

Koharu kept her weapon trained on Ai's heart.
“Get into the airlock,” she said calmly.

[meowchi]

Hitomi Yoshizawa
Lighthouse, Underground (Laboratory)
October 10, 2:27 AM



Before Hitomi could take a step, Ai started talking, fast and deadly serious.

“Was it the Ebola virus? Did you use that as a platform for whatever this is? I know you were responsible for the increase in amplification time, but this is something new, this is something that Japan doesn’t even know about. It’s a mutagen with an instantaneous membrane fusion, isn’t it?”

Chin’s eyes widened. “Koharu, wait. . . what do you know about membrane fusion, little girl?”

“I know that you’ve perfected it with Niita. I know that you’ve managed to create a rapid fuse virion that apparently infects the brain tissue in under an hour—“

“In under ten minutes,” Chin said, her whole demeanor changing
from that of a smiling old woman to that of a fanatic, her gaze narrowing with a dangerously brilliant intensity, her lips drawing tight over clenched teeth.

“These stupid, stupid animals with their ridiculous virus! Niita may have a mind, but the rest of them rancid fools, playing with war games while I’ve created a miracle!”
She turned, gesturing at a row of shining oxygen tanks next to the lab’s entrance. “Do you know what that is, do you know what I’ve managed to synthesize? Peace! Peace and the freedom from choice for all of mankind!”

Hitomi felt her heart start to pound viciously, her entire body breaking out in a cold sweat.

Chin was pacing in front of them now, her eyes burning with mad genius.
“There’s enough of my strain, of my creation in those tanks to infect a billion people in less than twenty-four hours! I’ve managed to find the answer, the answer to the pitiful, selfish, and self-important breed that the human race has become—when I give my gift to the wind, the world will become free again, it will be reborn, a simple and beautiful place for every creature, great and small, surviving on instinct alone!”

“You’re insane,” Hitomi breathed, knowing that Chin could kill them, was going to kill them, but unable to stop herself from saying it. “You’re out of your fucking mind!”

This is why Morning Musume is dead, why all those people are dead. She wants to turn the world into things like Wong. Like Koharu.

Chin snarled at her, flecks of spittle flying from her lips. “And you’re dead. You’re not going to be here when my miracle graces this earth, I, I—deprive you of my gift, both of you! When the sun comes up tomorrow, there will be peace, and neither of you will ever know a second of it!”

She whirled around, pointing at Koharu. “Put them in the airlock, now!”

Koharu raised the Beretta again, motioning toward the opened hatch, where Sayumi’s lifeless body lay slumped and bloody on the floor.

Koharu's out of reach, can’t grab the weapon in time—
“Koharu, now! Kill them if they won’t go!”

Hitomi and Ai stepped into the lock, Hitomi’s body cold, tensed, she had to do something or the world would be infected by this maniac’s psychotic dream—
Koharu slammed the lock closed.

They were trapped.

[meowchi]

Jessica Chin
Lighthouse, Underground (Laboratory)
October 10, 2:34 AM

CHIN WAS FURIOUS, SHAKING WITH ANGER as the airlock door slammed closed.

Didn’t they see, didn’t they understand anything but their own petty, stupid lives?

She stared at the young Koharu, the rage spilling out, threatening to drive her insane, to make her vomit, to kill—
“Put that gun in your ugly face and pull the trigger, die, die, just die!”

Koharu raised the weapon.

[x_sleepyhead]

holy ...
omg
i'm speechless O_O
your story
omg
what

*babbles incoherent speech*

*cough*
okay ...
that was insane O_O
and omg ... reina's dead
sayumi's dead
koharu's gonna dieee 

..... ai ... hitomi ... waaah 

but holy crap
after i read your story
i was like ... speechless ...
that was so .. @_@

keep up the good work =D

[meowchi]

Ai Takahashi
Lighthouse, Laboratory (Airlock)
October 10, 2:35 AM



Ai screamed, beating her fists helplessly against the thick metal door.
No no no no no—

BOOM!

The thunder of the shot cut her screams off. Koharu fell against the base of the hatch, mercifully out of sight.
Already dead, she was already dead, it wasn’t Koharu anymore—

“Jesus...” Hitomi whispered, and Ai looked up, looked straight into Chin’s wildly petulant gaze through the window—
• and Chin smiled suddenly, a beaming, triumphant grin of accomplishment and malicious spite.

The raging loss and terror she felt were transformed by the sight of that smile.

Ai stared into those raving brown eyes and realized that she’d never truly felt hate before.
Oh you miserable bastard—

Chin’d told them of her plan, but at that second, the thought was too big for her to fathom, too vast and insane a tragedy for her to fit her mind around. All she could think of was that they killed Sayumi and Reina, they killed Koharu, Miki, Risa and Eri—and Ai wanted nothing more than to destroy her, to see her lose, to see her suffer and feel pain and—
• and if we don’t do something her madness will be fully realized and we have to stop it, to stop her from dancing on the grave of the world.

Chin moved to a control panel next to the door and started to press buttons, still smiling.

There was a heavy clanking from the grated floor and water started to gurgle in, drawn from the icy black waters of the cove that pressed against the outer hatch.

The airlock was just big enough for her and Hitomi not to have to stand on Sayumi’s bloody, twisted body, and already the water was turning red, foaming up from an unseen vent and lapping at their feet, covering Sayumi’s white fingers.
A minute, maybe less....

In the lab, Chin was leaning against a desk across from them, arms folded smugly, watching. Behind her, a backdrop of death— Wong, Reina, and the gleaming steel cylinders filled with Chin's evil genius.
We have to do something!

Ai turned desperately to Hitomi, praying that her leader had some brilliant plan—and saw only resignation and sorrow in her eyes as she stared down at Sayumi’s corpse, her shoulders slumped with defeat.
“Hitomi—“

She looked up at her bleakly, hopelessly. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “All my fault....”

Sayumi’s hands were already floating, tendrils of long black hair haloing around her pitiful face.

Ai grabbed at the latch of the door uselessly, felt its unmoving strength, sealed by Chin’s controls.

Cold water seeped through the canvas of her shoes, over her ankles, the rising smells of salt and darkness and blood frightening her as badly as Hitomi’s hopeless whispering drone.
“If I hadn’t been so selfish .. . Ai, I’m so sorry, you have to believe that I never meant—“

Terrified, on the edge of hysteria, she grabbed Hitomi's shoulders roughly, shouting. “Okay, fine, you’re an asshole, but if Chin releases that virus, millions of people are gonna die!”

For a second, she didn’t think Hitomi had heard her and she felt the water rising, inching up her calves, her heart pounding wildly— and then Hitomi's dark eyes sharpened, losing their glassy sheen.

Hitomi looked quickly around the tight compartment, and Ai could see her mind working, see the sharp gaze taking in all of the details.
Steel, watertight hatches; a mesh enclosure over the outer door, like a thin shark cage, two feet deep; cold water bubbling, over her knees now, Sayumi’s arms and head lifting, floating—

“Doors are steel, the window’s two inches of plexi— once the outer hatch pops, there’s the cage—“ She looked into Ai's eyes, Hitomi's own filled with frustrated anger, with shock and apology— and shook her head.

Ai dropped her hands, her body starting to shiver from the cold, her thoughts delving into black despair.

Hitomi sloshed closer and put her arms around Ai. “Just your luck to meet me,” she said softly, rubbing Ai's upper arms as Ai's teeth started to chatter, as the water swirled up around Ai's hips, as Sayumi’s lifeless hand brushed Ai's leg—
Luck. Sayumi.

Ai’s heart seemed to stop in mid-beat.

[meowchi]

Hitomi Yoshizawa
Lighthouse, Laboratory (Airlock)
October 10, 2:37 AM



Hitomi held her tightly, wishing a million things, knowing that it was too late for any of them.

She glanced into the lab and saw that Chin was still watching them, still smiling. Hitomi looked away, filled with a useless, dismal hatred as the icy water slopped against her hips.
Murdering bloody bastard—

Ai tensed against Hitomi's chest suddenly.

She pushed away from her and grabbed at Sayumi’s body, her fingers searching frantically through the dead Musume's clothes. She laughed, a bright, hysterical snap of joy—
• she’s gone mad—
• and jerked a dark, round object from one of Sayumi’s pockets.

Hitomi saw what it was and felt pure amazement sweep through her.

“She kept blushing about it,” Ai chattered out quickly. “Sayumin's good luck.”

Hitomi took the grenade and held it behind her back, her thoughts racing again, assessing, the water to her torso and almost to Ai’s heaving chest.
• outer door pops, pull the pin and get in the cage, hold the hatch closed—

They’d probably still die.
But if they could pull it off, they wouldn’t go out alone.

[KonaKaga]

  Sayu's good luck charm is going to come in handy!

[meowchi]

Jessica Chin
Lighthouse, Laboratory
October 10, 2:38 AM

Chin watched the water rise, watched the two run through a stereotypical melodrama almost absently—her thoughts had already turned to the coming dawn, and the problem of getting the heavy canisters upstairs.
She supposed it served her right, losing her temper that way....

The pair were putting on quite a show.

The short girl, angry at the taller girl’s apathy; the quick, desperate look for
a way out of then- predicament. The final embrace, then the panic— the short one clutching at the virus drone, the taller one talking at her, frowning, worried for the short one's sanity even as the dark water rose over her young bosom.
Sad, so sad. They should never have come, never have tried to, to get at me....

Now the taller one was holding her up, pathetically working to postpone the inevitable as the water spun up across the glass.

Once they were dead, she’d pop the cage, give the Leviathans a treat before setting them free again, free to swim in unmanned seas and live out their days in peace.

Ocean and land as one, her mind murmured dreamily. Mirrors of simplicity, instinct...
The drone body fluttered lazily past the window, and he saw that the two invaders had propped themselves between the hatches, struggling to hold on to the last bit of air.

A determined pair, if thick-headed.

It occurred to her suddenly that she’d never bothered to find out who they were, who had sent them ...
... and it doesn’t matter now, does it?

The lock had filled. The light on the control panel indicated that the outer door had unlatched. It was over—
• except they were scrambling to get out, kicking through into the cage, and something small dropped past the window as they pushed the door closed behind them—
Chin frowned and—
BOOM!

She just had time to register disbelief before the hatch slammed into her body and the screaming torrent of liquid ice took her breath away.