Before the Collision: The Cycle Repeats Itself

[Markus Hederick]

"Well, Makoto is still at-large, all thanks to you know who," Markus complained, having returned to the house he now owns, the same one that belonged to his parents before the tragedies. "It's not like the Grim Reapers had a time-limit on the contract, but it doesn't make it any less annoying than it is."

"The way I see it, we need to re-negotiate the terms, considering we're now being hunted on the job," Gargulion mentioned. "We should be getting paid a helluva lot more if their own comrades want a piece of us WHILE we're trying to get someone."

"We must," Markus agreed. "Then again, I don't know how that works, or if that really matters at all. I don't care to know right now."

Markus had a light scan over a portion of the kitchen floor, which called on three identical bodies to the one Gargulion was using. Gargulion tapped all three of them to activate them, turning them into extensions of himself with equal power and skill. "Here's what we're going to do," Markus began explaining. "The one on the right will continue trying to find Makoto and to kill him on sight, since he is too dangerous to leave alive anymore. The one in the middle will remain here to haunt the residence, just to make sure no one comes over here expecting to find me. The one on the left will start monitoring any and all Silver Knight activity as it relates to being around this area; that one will do so until I feel like stopping it."

"And us?"

"You and I need to pay someone a little visit."

The next day...

Markus was tipped on the location where Lydia was giving Noland and Alana therapeutic sessions. Rather than show up there unannounced - as he wasn't supposed to know where it was - he waited until Alana was scheduled to go to her. He had Alana be possessed by Gargulion so that when she goes to see Lydia, Markus may speak with her without running the risk of being personally attacked by Maste.

When Alana finally met Lydia at this location, Markus decided to speak before the session officially started, as he didn't want to know what they were going to talk about or do.

"Good afternoon, Lydia," Markus greeted through Alana. "Yes, this is exactly who you think it is. I'd have met you in person, but I realize how busy you are and how I'm not supposed to know where this is; rest assured, I only know about what I see in front of me now. Anyway, I'm going to assume that you were talked to about a recent incident and understand why I'm here. Would I be correct that you already know?"

[Lydia Andersen]

Lydia was slightly displeased by Markus's arrival in the way he did it. "I hope you, at least, asked miss Alana before jumping inside her mind." She commented shortly, but she was not going to hold onto that right now. She knew what this was all about from the moment she heard him talk. She was well-aware that Alex went frenzy and attacked him with intention of 'punishing' him- knowing Alex he would probably trample over Markus's brain with his newfound Achron powers- he was not much of a killer knowing how he did not want to finish Kyuki off even though he was responsible for much worse things than Markus- Kyuki turned both Alex's parents into monsters, forced their kids to kill them and then brought them back and nearly repeated the circle. Daniel died in the process as well. So it was not his nature to kill no matter how difficult the situation is, but he would still harm one to avenge a harmed person. Though, Alex was not as reliable as Daniel in her eyes considering he cannot bear what he has- yet.

"I am aware." Lydia responded. "Why did you come?" She inquired curiously.

[Markus Hederick]

"I did. Actually, this was her idea," Markus clarified, not wanting to make himself look even worse by not getting anyone's permission.

As for answering Lydia's question, Markus was less than enthusiastic about what he was going to be saying. There were only so many things he could say in this situation. Sorry? Of course he is. He couldn't just leave it at that though. He's going to kill Alex the next time he attacks? That's a good way to include her on the list of people that wants to go after him.

"...I'm staying completely silent on this one..." Gargulion commented on the situation, making sure to keep that one inside of his mind than to say it out loud.

"I'll be brief," Markus stated. "This is a rather difficult question, so I'm going to do my best to summarize what I'm talking about. Suppose what I did happened very recently. You are one of the Seven Angels, and you had a hand in deciding what was going to happen to me. What would you have said, knowing who I affected?"

[Lydia Andersen]

"You would be seized and put in the jail." Lydia answered simply without holding her opinion back on the matter. She was not intending to play nice and avoid the topic because it was a sensitive one and directly tell a Resistor what she would do to them. Seven Angels had simple orders- to find Markus and to bring him in if they spot him. Lydia would not do anything different- it was all part of the protocol and part of a job of an actual Angel. "What you did comes from an affect- which is stronger than emotion or alignment, but lasts shortly. Punishments for that are not as severe as for planned murder- you simply were not thinking straight. Please, do not misunderstand- I do not justify your revenge in any way; I merely understand how you feel because I was in your position multiple times. Though you have killed multiple innocent scientists who happened to be part of the department... only reason why you are still not in jail is because they were revived." Lydia explained. Eden stopped chasing Markus once they revived all the scientists- including criminal ones. Criminals were, of course, revived for purpose of gaining information and instead of being put into jail they were executed once they revealed their true intentions with Markus's family which was nothing different than acting like Kyuki. President of Eden personally requested 'silent execution'. 

"You wouldn't ask that without knowing what Andrea meant to me." Lydia brought up a more important topic out there since she was best friends with Andrea. And it was not that simple either- Andrea is one of the responsible people for Lydia's salvation. If it was not for Wolfang family Lydia would not have been saved from Kyuki's clutches once he attacked Andersens. Wolfangs saved her and Lydia was part of the family ever since- Andrea and her grew up together and enjoyed youth together until Markus came about and did what he did. "Back then I wanted to kill you more than Alex probably wants now, Markus. Andrea is one of the people responsible for me being alive today- without her I would have ended up as another ornament in Kyuki's laboratory. However, you said 'very recently' so I suppose I would not do much- I would go with my first option and just put you into jail cell because, thankfully, Maste removed my ability to feel angry, upset or sad once she evolved into her current form." Lydia explained herself based on her emotions back then and on what Andrea meant for her. Due to Maste's ability called False Harmony her partner may not feel some negative emotions which, in a way, turns a person into something akin to a machine rather than human. Due to that Lydia does not have any aggressive tendencies towards Markus.

[Markus Hederick]

"All of that is fair," Markus accepted. "I asked that of you for one reason. I wanted to know how your approach to this was as opposed to Alex's. Now, I think it's fair that I tell you what I think of the situation so there's no misunderstandings."

"First and foremost, I will say that if you were an Angel and decided right now that I should be arrested, I'd let you do that without resistance," Markus admitted. "It has been a while since it happened. I'm not hot-headed about the issue. What I did was wrong and it came with its consequences. That's that."

"HOWEVER...as you aren't one of them, and Alex is clearly not one, I cannot and will not allow any of you to do that to me."

"It's not a matter of not wanting to face the music. After all, why should I think I'm exempt when the people I affected weren't? No, this is about how things work. It was the Angels' decision to do what they ultimately decided on. I don't think that your brother should be undermining their authority by taking matters into his own hands."

"So to conclude, I wanted to let you know that I AM SORRY for what I did and the tragedies that surfaced later on, but I can't be punished like what your brother has in store for me. If he attacks me again...well, I'll have little choice to do anything else except for the unthinkable, okay? His powers are dangerous..."

[Lydia Andersen]

Lydia was aware of Alex's state and what he was ready to do.

Though she could not allow any of that happen herself- she had to take actions since she was the one with most knowledge about Alex after all. She had insight in his weaknesses, she was stronger than him and, mostly importantly, she is his sister who cannot ignore such behavior. She was more capable than most of the Angels with Maste on her side. Conflict between those two would have to arise eventually and best she could do is try to delay it for as long as her abilities allowed her to do so. First, Alex had to be seized since, in his rage, he could seriously injure somebody and if he goes to fight infected Andrea, most certainly, he is going to die a slow and painful death. "I cannot blame him for what he does. Neither I can blame you for defending yourself from him. Only thing I can do is delay inevitable conflict for as long as possible. Though it will require another." Lydia said. 

Maste suddenly appeared out of a brief flash and landed by Lydia. She put her hand on Lydia's left shoulder and Lydia's body began to glow in blue. That was one of Maste's non-cost abilities, Message. Once that is active she may telepathically communicate with any willing person she knows. "Hello, Daniel?" Lydia said. Probably there is no needed explanation on who Daniel was. "I sent you a file- look it up. When you are done, please, take care of Alex for me, okay? Use as much force as necessary and call me if it becomes difficult for you." She requested.

"Thank you." With that it was obvious Daniel was not going to decline.

"Now, that might be helpful." Lydia said once telepathy wore off. "You do not have to apologize to me- as I said I cannot feel some of the emotions due to Maste's help. I do not feel sad for Andrea anymore despite how much I love her. All I need now is for her to be cured and removed from the streets to safety. I figured it would be the best not to feel anything to be able to cope with living among humans." She explained.

[Markus Hederick]

"...Okay." That last statement by Lydia was horrible. Markus didn't want to get into anything involved with that sentiment. That was a cue to scram. "Well, I took enough of your time, so I'm out of here. Farewell, and thank you."

Markus relinquished control of Alana's body so they could get on with their session, provided it wasn't ruined as Alana heard everything that was said.

"You think that's going to be okay with the lady?" Gargulion mentioned to him as the duo was sitting inside of a Chick-fil-A.

"I couldn't care less what Tracy thinks," Markus admitted. "I can't believe she had the nerve to argue with me about that last night. What the hell am I supposed to do? Just sit down on an open field and call Alex to come over there and fuck me? To hell with all of this pacifistic shit. We're Legendary Soldiers, but that doesn't mean I have to keep holding punches."

"...Enough said, buddy. Enough said," Gargulion agreed.

[Andrew Bullock]

While the Resistors were getting riled up...

Andrew was kicking back and relaxing while performing maintenance on Hades after his latest operation. Montai walked in his lab with an angry look on her face.

"Hey," Andrew greeted, not knowing that Montai was apparently pissed.

"Go to hell," Montai replied before stomping out of the lab. Andrew turned around like he didn't believe what he was hearing.

"Well daaammmnnnn," Andrew said in shock. "Period must be something fierce..."

"I heard that!" Montai must have ears that are blessed by the gods, because she can apparently hear anything Andrew says regardless of how far away she is. Makes perfect sense.

"What did I do this time?"

"You attacked the United States Army!"

"No I didn't!"

"Nero!" Montai ran back into the room, apparently riled up over Andrew lying.

"You said you wouldn't call me that again!"

"Don't you lie to me!"

"I'm not!"

"You blew up an army base!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Who else here has a mechanical Hydranoid!?"

"I could have someone else imitating me again! It happens!"

"...You attacked the army, didn't you?"

".............Yes."

Montai was giving him the hard look of death. This meant that he better explain himself now, despite the fact that he was in trouble no matter what he said. "Look, you're not going to believe this, but something's wrong with the army. The army general basically threatened Noland and I. What he basically said was, 'I was in the battles you've caused. You taught me there was a lot I needed to learn to toughen up, so in a few more months, you two are going to be the first ones to see what the army is going to be capable of."

"So you didn't bother telling me first? You just went on ahead and blew up an army base?"

"...If it's alright with you, I'll just take the couch for tonight."

"That sounds very good to me."