Chapter 76 – Regrets
Miki Fujimoto was standing off to the side of the mutant prison compound, her arms crossed, as she watched Havoc address the recently rescued mutant prisoners. He was offering them a new life, as well as a chance at revenge against the humans who had imprisoned and caused them much physical and mental pain over the years. This was something Fujimoto expected to happen, and sure enough, it didn’t take much coaxing from Havoc to add a few hundred more mutants to their headmaster’s mutant army. However, even with these reinforcements, Miki felt no excitement. All she felt was worry and sadness for Ishibashi, who may have just lost someone very dear to him.
The sound of jet engines roaring overhead snapped her out of her thoughts, as she then turned her gaze to the sky and saw an entire fleet of Brotherhood switchblades de-cloaking, some settling down just outside the prison gates, while others continuously circled the skies above. Havoc then ushered their new recruits towards the waiting switchblades that would take them to the main Brotherhood encampment, where they would join the ranks of the Brotherhood army. However, amidst all the hustle, Fujimoto and her group made no effort to join them just yet. Fujimoto looked off to her right, where the unconscious Ishibashi lay; Doc kneeling beside him. Just as she was nearly finished healing his severe leg wound, Ishibashi suddenly awoke.
“Please just lay sti-” started Doc, but Ishibashi paid her no heed as he shoved her out of the way and began to rush towards the storehouse ruins where he last left Goto Maki. Once again, Fujimoto tried to block his reckless charge, but this time without even hesitating, he plowed right through her, leaving her sprawled on the ground as he continued to run full speed.
Flea and Syther started to chase after him, but Fujimoto raised her hand, a signal for them to stop. They obeyed and instead quickly rushed over to their leader and helped Fujimoto to her feet.
“There’s nothing we can do to stop him…so just let him go,” said Fujimoto. Though she hated the idea, she knew that he was just trying to find out if the girl he loved really died.
Ishibashi reached the doors of the storehouse and desperately bashed open the charred doors; the smell of burned flesh, wood and smoke was overpowering. He raised the front of his shirt over his mouth and nose and entered the storehouse. Once inside, he carefully stepped over the charred corpses of the dead mutants who died in the fire.
Just as he stepped over another corpse, he heard a metallic click from underneath his foot. His heart began to pound deeply in his chest as he slowly raised his foot and looked down. His heart sank when he saw a silver watch. He bent down, dusted some ashes from around the watch and looked at it. His eyes then slowly looked up and he saw a small, petite blackened skeleton lying next to the watch. He crawled towards it on his hands and knees and stared at the charred skeletal remains. They were the same size as Goto Maki.
A tear ran down Ishibashi’s face as he reached out his hand and touched the chin of the skeleton. Placing his hand on the cheek bone of the still warm skull, his sobs echoed loudly as he placed his forehead against the charred skull’s forehead.
“I’m so sorry Gottsuan…” cried Ishibashi.
Fujimoto and her squad were waiting patiently by the side of the mutant prison. A few minutes later, Ishibashi emerged from the smoking storehouse. Miki watched as he glanced at something in his right hand before pocketing it into his prison issue outfit. She then started her way towards Ishibashi. Her squad tried to follow, but Fujimoto held up her hand and shook her head. She then continued on alone towards Ishibashi. Upon reaching him, she felt his grief as Ishibashi continued to stare at the ground sadly.
“Taka-san…” she said softly. Ishibashi raised his eyes and looked at Fujimoto, but his expression didn’t change.
“Mikitty…” said Ishibashi, as he finally recognizing her.
“Yes Taka-san, it’s me.” She then reached out and took his hands in hers.
“I just lost Gottsuan…” said Ishibashi, looking down at the ground.
“I’m sorry Taka-san, but you still have me,” she replied, tightening her grip around Ishibashi’s. “Listen, we’re about to head back to our encampment. It’s a place filled with our kind…and I want you to come with us.”
Ishibashi nodded his head, “Alright, I’ll come along…there’s nothing left for me here anymore.” Fujimoto then led him by the arm towards her squad’s switchblade.
Meanwhile, inside a small uninhabited island, Yuko Nakazawa wandered through the metallic hallways of the new S.M.A.T. hideout, making her way towards the medical facility. Upon arrival, she pushed her way through the swinging steel doors and met up with Koharu, who quickly stood up and saluted Commander Nakazawa.
“What’s the status of our people?” asked Nakazawa.
“I was able to free all of our comrades during the raid, but Goto Maki still hasn’t woken up,” Koharu reported.
She then stepped aside and Commander Nakazawa looked down at an unconscious Goto Maki. She had on an oxygen mask and was hooked up to a heart monitor. A steady beeping sound echoed around the room, indicating Goto’s pulse rate was stabilized.
“I only wish we had one of our medics here. We’d be able to heal her faster then,” sighed Commander Nakazawa.
“I don’t think she’s hurt too badly, Commander,” said Koharu. “I’m only glad I made it to her in time before…” trailing off at the end, as her mind drifted back to that all too horrific scene.
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Koharu had just rescued Ayaka Kimura from one of the storehouses inside the mutant prison. She was not sure whether to feel lucky that the prison was under attack by another force, thereby allowing her to phase through the walls undetected, or feel bad that she was only ordered to pull her own people out and not help anyone else. Thanks to the attack, the power supply to the suppression collars was deactivated and there was no danger of them exploding once they left the prison.
Ayaka and Koharu then reached the tree line of a nearby forest where Inaba, Maeda, and Tsuji were huddled together, crouched down for camouflage. Koharu then left Ayaka with the others and ran back towards the prison. As she ran, she saw numerous explosions going off, as the roar of jets flying overhead filled the air.
“It’s getting a little too hot here,” Koharu thought, so she took her radio off her belt and raised it to her lips.
“This is Koharu. We need immediate extraction from the mutant prison.”
The radio crackled, and Miyabi’s voice came on. “Roger that, we’re heading there now, ETA five minutes.”
“I need to find Goto-san before that and get her out of there.” Koharu thought, as she clipped the radio back onto her belt. Moments later, she reached the walls of the prison, running right through them, and into another storehouse. The scene was chaotic, as mutant prisoners were scrambling around inside the building screaming, trying to get out.
Koharu made her way through the crowds, calling Maki’s name over and over. She then spotted her by the front door, pounding on it relentlessly. Quickly, she ran through the crowd and grabbed Maki by the arm. Startled, Maki turned around and was both surprised and relieved to see Koharu.
“Koharu, what are you doing here?” Maki asked.
“No time to explain, we have to get out of here.”
Goto Maki nodded and began to follow Koharu through the crowd, but someone bumped into her. The force of the blow made her drop Ishibashi’s watch. She broke free from Koharu’s grip and went back to find it.
“Goto-san, what are you doing?” shouted Koharu. She then checked her watch and saw that her time was up; the S.M.A.T forces would be at the extraction point any minute.
“Just give me a second! I need to find something extremely important,” Maki shouted back, as she dropped to her hands and knees, desperately searching for the watch. A few seconds later, she found and grabbed it and quickly scrambled to her feet.
“I got it!” shouted Goto Maki.
**BOOM**
An extremely loud and powerful explosion rang out, the shockwave throwing all of the mutants off their feet. Others weren’t as lucky, as something crashed right on top of them. Luckily, Koharu’s reflexes made her automatically activate her mutant powers, as all the debris and bodies of falling mutants phased through. Despite all that occurred, she alone remained standing, shielding her face with her arms.
Looking to her right, Koharu saw that some sort of aircraft had crashed into the far side of the storehouse roof. Flames began to spread, but even more horrific was that there were mutants trapped underneath the wreckage, screaming for help. Others were on fire as they stumbled around, screaming in pain. All around her were unconscious mutant prisoners, knocked out from the explosion.
In the chaos that surrounded her, Koharu wanted to help them all but remembered that she didn’t have time and had orders to save her own people first. She instinctively rushed over to where she last saw Goto Maki. Spotting her lying unconscious on the ground, Koharu mustered up all of her strength and picked Maki up and began to drag her towards the back of the storehouse. They both then phased through the wall and out into the open to safety.
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Koharu then snapped back to reality and looked over at Commander Nakazawa.
“I just wish I could have done more to save the others trapped in that building,” Koharu sadly muttered.
“I know Koharu, but we didn’t count on another force being there while we were,” Nakazawa replied.
Just then a soft moan disturbed the air. Startled, Commander Nakazawa and Koharu looked down at Maki as they saw her eyelids twitch slightly then open.
“Glad to see that you’re finally awake.” Commander Nakazawa spoke out first.
“W-W-Where…?” Goto asked, still disorientated from the explosion.
Nakazawa chuckled, “Don’t worry, you just rest up, and we’ll explain everything later.”
Goto nodded and blinked a few times, getting used to the lighting, when a familiar voice spoke up.
“How is she?”
Goto turned her head and saw Mika Todd step up next to Commander Nakazawa.
“Mi…Mika?” Goto whispered softly, as her eyelids suddenly felt heavy.
“Yes, it’s me,” Mika replied. “Now, just go to sleep. You need some rest.”
Goto nodded, closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, the steady sound of her heart monitor beeping in the background.
Topic: Mutant Musume!! (Read 68051 times)