Old Wounds

CRASH!

A weak body was sent smashing against the cold, hard steel of the wall.

Blood seeped from this figure's open wound; her azure hair was tainted by the crimson fluid spewing forth from her body.

Simply put, it was an unexplainable phenomenon.

Even this woman, who received the attack couldn't even slightly understand what had happened to her.

Before she realized it, she had been blown away a great distance. Her entire body, from the surface to her very core, had received damage equally. The shock didn't just come from one spot and spread from there; it was more like an unnatural force had permeated her entire body like a cloth being dunked in water.

This was a power beyond comprehension.

On her last legs, she couldn't fight back against this overwhelming opposition.

Suddenly...

WHOOSH!

A distinctive mechanical unfolding sound echoed throughout the atmosphere.

What this young lady saw in front of her was...

The figure was an armoured azure and silver, with crimson fang-esque attachments adorning their facemask—overall, it had the motif of a bullet train.

Somehow, just by their presence, the young lady felt better already.

"Hold tight." Those words reassured her.

In front of her, this figure appeared like a knight in shining armour, ready to sweep her off her feet and run into the sunset.

"I'm telling you!" Kaguya waved her hands around erratically, as if she were some crazy hobo preaching about the end times. "There was this armoured knight, and he saved me! He had blue and silver armour and there was a red visor!"

Giselle simply listened, taking a sip of coffee—her mug plastered with the words 'World's Okay-est Mother'. "You know that that's Tsuruko, right?"

"Stop trying to be funny." Kaguya immediately brushed her off. "No way that inept idiot could be my knight in shining armour! Besides, girls can't like girls. That's some urban legend."

Giselle attempted to keep a straight face—she mused to herself, "Urban legend my ass." Ah well, Kaguya's ignorance wasn't her problem. She believed that it's the parent's duty to educate their children, not hers. And it wasn't her duty to educate her own children, apparently. "If you want to really know, go ask Tsuruko herself."

Kaguya haughtily crossed her arms like the spoilt brat she was, storming off. "Fine, whatever!"

Giselle, in response, did nothing but take another sip of coffee again. "Stupid kids."

"Hey, teach?" A soft voice called into the classroom. Gently pushing the door open, Excellen Kilekion entered. "...Don't you think you should talk to Tsuruko? I mean, she's really down about Gary leaving all of a sudden."

"...That's the thing." Giselle placed her cup down, grumbling in frustration. "I actually don't know how to handle kids." She hated it, she really did. "Do I know anything about how to handle children? No. Should I pick up a book on parenting sometime? Probably. ...I'm not good with people in general."

Excellen simply rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I can tell. You really need to work on talking to people in a non-bitch way."

Giselle's eyes sharpened upon hearing the last part of that sentence. "What'd you say?"

"Don't worry about it." Excellen went on to ask, "Look, I know how hard it is to deal with family. If you need any help, just ask. I care for Tsuruko a lot. I want her to have what I didn't."

"...I see..."

"Well, I'm going to try and cheer her up."

"Also," Giselle called out. "If you see Straights again, ask him to return our fucking fan."

---

"Ungh...." Tsuruko found herself laying in bed. Sighing, Tsuruko opened her eyes as she rolled off of her bed; thankfully, Rosa wasn't there to jump on her to wake her up; so she could peacefully roll out of bed and not get up for twenty minutes. However, she really missed Rosa—she was wondering where she was.

An incessant beeping sound resounded throughout the air—it rang in Tsuruko's ears; and all across the room.

Groaning in frustration, Tsuruko Sejren was a master of Depression Parkour; as it has been stated time and time again.

"Hey, Tsuruko." A soft voice called to her; she opened her big, purple eyes, looking up at Excellen. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Of course I am!" Tsuruko Sejren straightened her posture, faking a smile. "Never been better! If everyone was as happy as me, then the world would be a better place!"

Excellen simply frowned. "...Practice what you preach, Sejjey."

Tsuruko grumbled directly at her friend; her faux cheerful mood changed back to her depression. "...I...I wouldn't like to discuss this." She let out an audible sigh that sounded like a swan squawking for some reason. "Look, can you just leave me alone."

Excellen's eyebrows sharpened—immediately and upon instinct, she grabbed Tsuruko's hand. "Come with me, I'm not screwing around. You've been like this for a fortnight now, this has to stop. I've tried and tried and tried to get you to cheer up...but what's going on!? I refuse to give up on you. So come on."

Tsuruko struggled to release herself from her friend's grip. "L-Let go..."

"Come on, Tsuruko." Excellen could do nothing but sigh. "You've gone back to your old habits. Remember when we met here? You were shy out of your mind. It wasn't really noticeable to many people, but your confidence grew and you made a lot of friends. But now, you're like you were before...everything happened."

Tsuruko briefly snapped out of her depression, asking, "...How do you know about that?"

Excellen tapped her heart. "It's my power. And that allows me to understand." Excellen was about to give a big speech; but the beeping was getting louder and louder. "...What is that?"

"...I don't know."

It wasn't the holo-phone, either.

Tsuruko Sejren simply ignored it; going back to sulking. "Now leave me alone."

"No. I've had enough of this."

The two struggled for a bit—Excellen trying to pull Tsuruko out of the room, and Tsuruko responding by trying to break out of her friend's hold and shove her out, all until...

Tsuruko accidentally utilized too much force—pushing Excellen down; who didn't let go, taking Tsuruko with her...In an instant, Tsuruko reached out and took the back of Excellen's head in her hands; it was an unconscious reflex.

...The two fell right on top of each other. Tsuruko felt a sharp pain run through the hand between the back of Excellen's head and the wooden floorboard.

When Tsuruko opened her eyes after the fall, she saw Excellen's face right in front of her; she looked completely dumbfounded. She probably had a similar expression on her face.

Neither Tsuruko nor Excellen were really hurt.

"..."

"..."

Glued to each other on the wooden floor, they stared at each other for a few seconds; it took them both a few seconds to understand what had just happened.

It looked almost like she was trying to pull Excellen closer with her right hand securely behind her head.

Meanwhile, Excellen's left hand looked like it was just about to try to tear off the bra that was peeking out from Tsuruko's upturned clothing.

And, their lower bodies were tangled up, as if they were completely glued to each other.

"…….."

… If this were an eroge, then an event CG would definitely start here…

"Ehehehehehehehe!" Tsuruko erupted into laughter.

"Ahahaha..." Excellen warmly smiled; it was something about Tsuruko's cheerfulness that was infectious.

...And...

The beeping ceased.

"...EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?" Tsuruko's body began to shine an emerald green. That colour was emitted as a hologram in front of her—right above Excellen, who turned around quickly.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT.

A few seconds of static.

Moments after, the hologram properly formed—what they could see, was a woman who looked exactly like Tsuruko herself. However, something was vastly different; she had black-rimmed glasses, and was dressed like a scientist, labcoat and all.

This lady was standing in front of somebody else, it seemed—Tsuruko noted internally, that the POV looked like her HUD.

She was holding up a clipboard; her eyes looked weary. With a soft voice akin to Tsuruko's herself, she groaned, "Okay, so...this is Dzerve Sejren, and this is the ninety-ninth test of the Sixth Generation Interstellar Warfare Decisive Weapon, Deus Machina Number Three." Her voice filled with doubt, she asked, "What do you say...?"

Another voice, also similar to Tsuruko's, responded, "Hello. I am Deus Machina Number Three, Tactical Soul Unison Robot-Ultimate Kaizorg-unit Zero."

Dzerve closed in on the HUD, wrapping her arms around the figure, jumping for joy. "This is amazing! You finally work! I can't believe it! You work, I can't believe it!" She seemed like an excited child. "Okay, now to test you. What's the info about me on your heads-up-display?"

The third Deus Machina replied casually, "It says that you are experiencing 'happiness'."

"You're damn right I am!" Dzerve shouted in triumph. "You're gonna be a hero!"

"...Hero?" The robot was confused. "What is a 'hero'?"

"You know, a superhero!" Dzerve continued, "I designed you to be a superhero! You know, fighting crime, saving people! Just like the comic characters!" She went on to add, "Klaus wanted you to be a giant robot, but I downsized you to a humanoid shape; I couldn't find a particular model, so I based your appearance on my own. You're powered by the new particle we discovered, "Element Zero"—it cancels out phenomena for some reason. Don't worry about running out! You've got a Mercurius-class Black Hole Generator, which'll draw in element zero from other dimensions soon enough."

"Soon enough?"

"...Listen," Dzerve leant in closer to the robot. "Klaus is going to do an experiment regarding smashing our universe together with another using the power of the "Philosopher's Stone"—that'll recreate the world. I can't do anything with my current power, and you're not strong enough. Don't worry!"

"What is about to happen?"

"I'm going to disassemble you. I created you to infuse you with this message." She withdrew a belt similar to the Phoenix Driver. "This is my other magnum opus, the Driver Belt. It'll grant you the power to defeat Klaus in the new universe that's going to be created. However... once a brilliant mind finds your blueprints, it needs a soul of somebody of my bloodline. You are simply the core processing unit, the soul will function as a heart drive for you; and then you'll be able to use as much element zero as you want. Upon infusion, these memories will flood back at a time I can't really determine."

"I see."

Dzerve patted the robot's shoulder enthusiastically. "Even though I won't survive this second big bang, you'll be there to make people happy. I can only pray that a soul filled with kindness and purity merges with you. The power of the Deus Machina will allow them to do great things! You are the light to fling into the future." She leant in closer, as if she were addressing Tsuruko and Excellen. "Hey, you! If you're watching, live your life to the fullest! Remember, life's like a gameshow—you never know what's going to happen!"

...The hologram cut off.

Tsuruko's eyes were wide with shock—so were Excellen's. "...No...way..." She couldn't believe it; this was yet another wham with a sledgehammer to her life. "I hope that's just a joke mum installed."