Golden X Spirit

Christine sat up in bed, staring off into space as she had done many times before. For her, this cycle of jolting awake from nightmares in the middle of the night had become routine. While the exact nature of these nightmares varied, they all ended the same way: everyone she loved dead, and her utterly helpless to do anything about it.

These days, it seemed as if those dreams were inching closer and closer to becoming a reality.

“Christine?” Emilia asked. “Is everything okay?”

The sound of Emilia’s voice snapped Christine out of her trance. She had almost completely forgotten where she was; in Emilia’s house, spending one last night with her before returning to work the next day.

“I’m... I’m fine.” Christine mumbled. “Didn’t mean to wake you up. You can go back to sleep.”

“Christine.” Emilia’s usually gentle tone was more firm than usual. “This is something that keeps happening. You always say you’re fine, but you’re obviously not. If it’s something that you don’t want to talk about, that’s fine, but I wish you’d just say that instead of lying to me.”

“I’m sorry, it’s just...” Christine sighed. “I don’t want you to worry about me.”

“Not being told what’s going on is what’s worrying me!”

“...Fair.” Christine hung her head. “I know this probably sounds stupid, but I keep having these nightmares that always end in the people I care about being killed in front of me.” She paused. “...Including you.”

“Oh, Christine...” Emilia sat up and hugged her. “That’s not stupid, that’s just human. Seeing that is gonna be disturbing whether it’s in a dream or not. Just try to remember that that’s never going to happen for real, okay?”

“But it already is.” Christine unconsciously clenched the sheets. “Ever since this nonsense with Oberon OS started, I’ve just kept failing and failing to keep the people around me safe. I couldn’t keep Teresa safe from Crow or the OS, I couldn’t keep Anne safe from Messias, I couldn’t even keep *you* safe from the Triumvirate! I know I can’t save everyone, but... it’s beginning to feel like I can’t save *anyone*.”

“What about all the regular people you keep safe just by doing your job?” Emilia asked. “I know what’s been happening lately has been... *demoralizing*, but look at everything you *do* accomplish! I mean for God’s sake, Christine, you’ve been *cut in half*, I don’t think anyone can say you’re not giving it your all out there!”

“Compared to what we’ve been fighting, my “all” might as well be nothing.” Christine muttered.

“Well... that’s another part of being human.” Emilia said. “Everyone has limits, even you.”

“I know that, but I can’t help feeling frustrated about it.” Christine replied.

“Hmm...” Emilia paused in thought for a moment. “Y’know, I could probably whip you up a new DNA Key with a more powerful transformation.”

“Powerful enough to defeat someone like Messias?” Christine asked.

“Um...” Emilia blinked. “...Good question.”

“Look, I appreciate it, but this isn’t your problem.” Christine said. “The last thing I want to do is saddle you with my personal baggage, okay?”

“...Okay.” Emilia sighed.

The two of them kissed and then laid back down, pulling the sheets back over them. While Christine ended up going to sleep surprisingly quickly, it was Emilia’s turn to stare silently into space for a while, blankly looking up at the ceiling as she silently reviewed memories of creating the Transformation Lock system, back when it was an exciting new invention with infinite possibilities.

“...Sure.” She mumbled quietly to herself. “”Not my problem”...”

“I’m sorry, you want to *what?*”

Early the next morning, Emilia was paying a visit to Lucius Raivent’s office with a proposal that he was uncharacteristically flabbergasted by.

“I want to have the EvoLocks and their DNA Keys pulled off the market and destroyed.” Emilia repeated.

“You can’t be serious.” Lucius scowled. “Even putting aside how much of a money sink that would be for my company, these locks are your life’s work! What happened to that idealistic “these locks will change the world!” attitude?”

“Reality happened, Lucius.” Emilia replied firmly. “Just look around you! For every story about someone using Evolvyrns to help people, there’s three more about someone using them to *hurt* people! Heck, if I hadn’t created them, Oberon OS’s plan would’ve failed, the Triumvirate wouldn’t be selling bootleg versions of them to random crooks, and Joshua Messias wouldn’t basically have god powers!”

“And Christine Eldridge’s life would be a lot easier, right?” Lucius raised an eyebrow.

Emilia froze. Lucius sighed and began tapping a pen he was holding on the table.

“You know, even if I weren’t able to read your vices, your real motivations here would still be utterly transparent.” Lucius tsked. “I don’t doubt you have baggage regarding the issues you’ve listed, but those have been problems for a while. Given how obsessive you are with your work, there’s only one thing that could realistically drive you to demand such a drastic measure.”

“Does the motivation really matter here?” Emilia asked impatiently. “The locks ended up changing the world, sure, but they changed it for the worse! They’re a failure!”

Lucius stopped tapping his pen.

“*I don't invest in failures*."

"Huh?" Emilia blinked.

"There's quite a bit of irony in you telling *me* to "look around" when all *you* seem to be seeing are the issues posed inside your own personal bubble." Lucius said. "You may have created the EvoLocks, but my company is the one overseeing their use. Have you even *once* bothered looking at our quarterly contractor reviews?"

"Well, no, but-"

"The use of Evolvyrns has increased efficiency and quality of life tenfold in every field they're deployed in." Lucius stated pointedly. "Leviathan has turned formerly desolate wastelands into habitable zones. Atmosbore has been used to extract ores from the earth without the environmental damage cause by standard mining. Smog has nearly eliminated air pollution as a threat to public safety. BioHazard has made antibiotic-resistant bacteria a concern of the past. Your inventions have succeeded in improving society exactly as you intended them to, so declaring them a "failure" is frankly ignorant at best and downright foolish at worst."

Lucius paused for a moment and sighed.

"You had a dream and you accomplished it." He tsked. "Most people would be satisfied with that."

"I get what you're saying, but... I can't just let them keep hurting people." Emilia said. "What am I supposed to do?"

"How should I know?" Lucius responded. "I'm a businessman. If you need advice on finances and hard statistics, then I can help, but for something like this... well, you're the inventor here." He pointed at her with his pen. ""Necessity is the mother of invention", correct? If there's an issue you think needs to be addressed, then create something to address it. If you created the Evolvyrns, then surely you can create something to keep them in check."

"Something to keep them in check..." Emilia repeated, muttering to herself. "...I think I might just know how to do that."

“Um, CROSS, where are we going?”

Teresa and Anne sat inside the cabin of the Cross Bullet as it zipped through the air, Anne’s arm wrapped around Teresa’s shoulders and Teresa resting her head on Anne’s shoulder. Their intended destination had been Liberty Park, as usual, but they had already flown over it a good few hundred miles ago.

“I second Teresa’s question.” Anne spoke up. “You got all your wires in the right place up there?”

“It’s a surprise.” CROSS replied over the train’s speaker system. “If you don’t like where we end up, I’ll take you back to the park, but I’ve got a feeling that won’t be necessary.”

Anne gave Teresa a questioning look that Teresa could only answer with a shrug. CROSS had never done this before, so she really had no idea what was going on.

“S-so, um...” Teresa said, trying to think of other things to talk about. “How’s it been with your mom since... you know?”

“Silent.” Anne replied. “I still haven’t talked to her. She’s tried talking to me, but every time I try to respond I feel like there are a million things I want to say all at once clogging up my throat. I don’t even know where to *begin* with that conversation.”

“I get that.” Teresa nodded. “W-well, I’m always here for you if you need to talk.”

“I know.” Anne smiled at her. “What about *your* mom? How are things going with her?”

“Apparently she was following me around when we fought Messias.” Teresa said. “She’s kind of hard to read, but she does seem to approve of us dating a bit more now.”

“Huh.” Anne hmmed. “Well, it’s something, I guess. Any other... incidents with her?”

“Not really.” Teresa shook her head. “I-I mean, I kinda got into an argument with her for the first time, but I don’t know if that counts.”

“Hey, that’s actually pretty big for you.” Anne said. “Like, an actual back-and-forth argument?”

“Y-yeah, I guess.” Teresa replied. “Looking back, I’m honestly kind of worried at how good it felt to be angry instead of scared for once.”

“Hey, for someone in your position, I’d say that’s normal.” Anne gave her a comforting squeeze. “Had to have been extremely cathartic after all that time.”

“That’s what I’m worried about.” Teresa shivered. “If being angry is cathartic for me, what’s going to stop me from lashing out at people who don’t deserve it?”

“The fact that you’re a good person.” Anne stated. “You can’t help what you feel, but you *can* choose what to do with those feelings, and every choice I’ve seen you make has been for the sake of someone else’s well-being. I know you’re scared of turning out like your mom, but from what I’ve seen, you two are totally different people.”

She planted a quick kiss on Teresa’s forehead.

“I want you to believe in yourself as much as I believe in you.”

Teresa didn’t really know how to respond to this, so she just cuddled up even closer to Anne, who gave her a warm grin.

The two of them sat in silence like this for a few minutes, simply content with each other’s company, until the Cross Bullet began slowing down and eventually came to a halt, landing with a bit of a thud as the doors opened. Teresa and Anne looked at each other for a moment and then exited the train together.

The two of them scanned their surroundings a bit only to pause as they turned around, unexpectedly finding themselves standing outside the Eiffel Tower. The Cross Bullet shrank and returned to the CrossTrix, which promptly hovered over to them.

“You took us to *Paris?*” Anne asked in disbelief. “Just how fast *is* that train?”

“Very.” CROSS replied. “Anyways, I know this wasn’t exactly the plan, but you two have really been through the wringer lately, so I figured it would be best for you to take a day off training and just have some fun together. I mean, have you even had the opportunity to go on a proper *date* yet?”

“I... wow, now that I think about it, I guess we haven’t.” Anne blinked. “It’s just been emergency after emergency these past few months.”

“Well, there you go.” CROSS said. “Dr. Krauze needs me back at the lab, so I’ll be heading to her place for now. Just call for me if you need me.”

The CrossTrix began to hover away, but paused as Teresa spoke up.

“Hey, CROSS?” Teresa said with a small grin. “Thank you.”

The CrossTrix displayed a short thumbs-up animation before flying off, leaving Teresa and Anne together in the streets of Paris.

“How’s work been so far?”

Emilia sat inside her laboratory, typing away on a keyboard she had had to move several stacks of paper to access. She spoke as she typed, holding her cell phone with her neck by shifting her head and shoulder into a bit of an awkward position.

“Good for the most part.” Christine responded on the other end of the line. “The lab guys crunched to rush out the new TAU suit before I came back. As impressive as the last one was, it was just a prototype; this thing is apparently the real deal. If the stats they showed me are correct, wearing it is basically an alien transformation in and of itself. Don’t think I’ll need to use Enlock as often.”

“Well that’s... good.” Emilia replied, shifting focus back and forth between the conversation and what she was doing on the computer. “If you *do* end up trying to use it with Enlock and it doesn’t work, let me know ASAP so I can make the necessary adjustments.”

“Sounds good.” Christine said. “Afraid this isn’t entirely a social call, though; we need information on an Evolvyrn. Something called a “Venefican”.”

“Venefican, Venefican...” Emilia muttered as she tried to recall which one that was. “Oh, that’d be Viva Los Muertos!”

“”Long Live Death”?” Christine questioned.

“Yep.” Emilia instinctively nodded even though Christine couldn’t see it, almost dropping the phone. “Normal Veneficans can temporarily bring life to inorganic inanimate objects and essentially use them as drones they can see and hear through.”

“And what did you change for the Evolvyrn?”

“Just tweaked a couple genes so their powers work on organic/formerly organic objects instead.” Emilia explained. “For example, a normal Venefican would have a hard time controlling a fossil, but Viva Los Muertos could basically make an entire skeleton at an archaeological dig unbury itself and walk straight into a museum! Imagine how much time that could save archaeologists!”

There was no response from Christine.

“Hello?” Emilia asked. “Is something wrong?”

“...I can see where you were coming from while making this thing, but the particular location our suspect is hiding makes that powerset... *really problematic*.” Christine coughed. “How many, say, human-sized skeletons could Viva Los Muertos control at once?”

“As many as the user wanted to, though they’d only be able to see through one or two at a time.” Emilia replied. “Why?”

“I can’t give you any details until the operation is over, but uh... just wish us luck, okay?”

“Always do.” Emilia grinned. “Love you!”

“I love you too, Emilia.” Christine replied. “Bye.”

With that, Christine ended the call, and Emilia leaned over to drop the phone on her desk. It had only been a few hours since her visit with Lucius, but she was already deep into the project it had inspired, programming away like a woman possessed.

“Okay, what’s going on with you?” The CrossTrix beeped from next to the computer tower, hooked into it via USB cable. “You usually drop everything when Christine calls.”

“There are a couple projects related to the CrossTrix I dropped when the Evolvyrn attacks started.” Emilia explained, still staring intensely at the monitor as she typed. “I lost a lot of confidence in my ideas thanks to that.”

“I’m guessing those are what you’re working on now, but what changed?” CROSS asked. “I know you visited Raivent this morning, but he never struck me as much of a pep-talker.”

"He's not, but he did make a good point." Emilia replied. "I'm an inventor. If I've got a problem, I should be making something to solve it."

"I guess that makes sense."

“Everyone else has been giving their all this whole time, but I’ve been holding myself back.” Emilia continued. “I can do more for them than just making a new key here and there! This is *my* system! Messias, the Triumvirate, everyone who uses my technology for evil and claims it as their own...” She slammed a fist on her desk. “I’ll show them all what a *real* inventor can do!”

“Damn, Emmy, I haven’t seen you *this* worked up in a *while*.” A new voice whistled. “It’s nice to see ya back in action.”

Emilia jumped a bit before whipping around in her seat to see who was talking.

Eva Card

“Good grief, Eva, you scared the crap out of me!” Emilia sighed in relief. “When did you get here?”

“Few minutes ago.” Eva snickered. “Looked like you were in the middle of a flashback, so I figured I’d wait for you to snap out of it.”

“No offense, doc, but stuff like this is probably why those guys were able to break into your house so easy.” CROSS coughed.

“Someone broke into your house?!” Eva exclaimed. “The hell happened there?!”

“Long, *long* story you do *not* want any part of, believe you me.” Emilia said. “Situation’s been more or less resolved now, so don’t worry about it.”

“If you say so.” Eva popped her lips and shrugged. “Anyways, you called me over to help with wiring something?”

“Yep.” Emilia nodded. “I’ve been working on something *big*.”

Emilia got up and walked over to the far end of her laboratory and pressed a button that was camouflaged as just another part of the wall. A mechanical hiss could be heard as a sophisticated hydraulics system lifted away part of the wall and pulled it to the side, creating a large opening into a dark room. The lights inside slowly flickered to life, illuminating the space and exposing it as a massive underground garage.

“What the- since when have you had *this?!*” CROSS exclaimed.

“You didn’t think I built the Cross Bullet in this tiny lab space, did you?” Emilia raised an eyebrow. “It’s been here since before you came online.”

“And you haven’t been using it?!”

“Like I said, I dropped the projects I was working on, so I didn’t have any reason to revisit it.” Emilia shrugged. “Everything should be right where I left it.”

“Been a hot minute for both of us then, eh?” Eva elbowed her playfully. “Last time I was here, you needed my help wiring the Cross Bullet.”

“Yep.” Emilia grinned. “Right now I need your help on something similar.”

Eva walked into the garage and looked up, immediately spotting a large train hoisted a good few meters into the air by a hydraulic lift. From a distance, it looked like an exact match for the Cross Bullet, save for being painted a bright orange instead of blue.

“You’re making another train?” Eva laughed. “First one not have enough passenger space?”

“The Cross Bullet’s doing fine on cabin space.” Emilia shook her head as she walked in after Eva. “The idea behind this was just trying to add another piece to CROSS’s arsenal.”

“Another piece?” CROSS beeped. “I can’t see what you’re looking at from over here, but how is having another Cross Bullet going to help? Just as extra ammo?”

“Nope.” Emilia tsked, waving a finger in the air. “This isn’t another Cross Bullet...”

She turned around to look at the CrossTrix with a manic gleam in her eye.

“*This* is the *Cross Sword*.” She grinned. “And once all your upgrades are complete, it’s gonna guarantee that *nothing* will be able to stand in your way.”

“Ominous yet optimistic.” The CrossTrix dial displayed a short “thinking” animation. “...I can roll with that.”

The catacombs of Paris housed around 6 million skeletons, easily making it one of if not *the* largest ossuary in the world. Hardly a comforting piece of trivia under any circumstances, but generally not something you’d have to worry about.

Tracking down a fugitive in said catacombs that had the ability to potentially sic said 6 million skeletons on you at any time, however, certainly *made* it something to worry about.

Christine and the squad member she had partied up with, one Officer Daher, moved ever deeper into the catacombs. The silent, stagnant air of the underground ossuary carried the strong dusty scent of the old stones used in its construction, with a slight hint of an unfamiliar smell that Christine could only assume came from the ancient bones stored there.

The stone bricks making up the walls of the narrow passageways they walked through eventually gave way to walls of skulls and bones that had been piled into crosses, towers, and various other designs, providing a macabre sense of artistic vision to the tomb.

“So, Chief, is there anything specific we should keep an eye out for with this Evolvyrn?” Daher eventually spoke up.

“I told you everything we know during the briefing.” Christine replied. “Did you miss something?”

“No, I just figured that you might have access to information the rest of us don’t.” Daher said. “Seeing as you’re sleeping with the woman who made these things in the first place.”

Christine stopped walking and turned around to look at her.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Hey, it was just a shot in the dark.” Daher put her hands up defensively. “Maybe she tells you things she hasn’t disclosed publicly, I don’t know.”

“Even if she did, I wouldn’t hide relevant information like that from the GP.” Christine responded. “I am perfectly capable of separating my private life from my work.”

“Oh.” Daher began speaking in a hesitant tone. “That’s... good.”

“Is there something wrong with that?” Christine asked.

“No, no, that’s admirable, it’s just... how do you work that into a stable relationship?” Daher questioned. “Doesn’t that mean she can’t fully trust you?”

“...I think we’re done here.” Christine turned around to keep walking. “My relationships outside of work are none of your business.”

“But this isn’t really “outside of work”.” Daher followed after her. “She’s still on the GP’s watchlist and a regular informant on Evolvyrn cases. Isn’t it possible she’s just dating you to stay on the GP’s good side?”

“No.” Christine replied tersely. “She’s not a manipulative person.”

“Sure, but what if she’s just afraid to say “no”?”

Christine stopped walking again, more abruptly this time.

“What are you implying?”

“Nothing; well, nothing intentional, I mean.” Daher started to elaborate. “*I* know you’d never abuse your position like that, but from an outside perspective, you have to admit the power dynamic in the relationship looks iffy. You have the authority to completely ruin her life if she ever backs out.”

“If she ever thought things out that thoroughly, we wouldn’t be down here chasing an Evolvyrn right now.” Christine pointed out with a scowl. “I’d appreciated it if you stopped speculating about my personal life and started paying more attention to-”

Christine paused again.

“What is it?” Daher asked.

“Footsteps.” Christine replied in a hushed tone. “Hard to estimate how far away they are because of the acoustics in here, but they’re definitely getting closer.”

It didn’t take long for Daher to start hearing the footsteps too. She and Christine moved into defensive stances; if they got panicked and ran in a labyrinth like this, there’s a good chance they wouldn’t be able to find their way out again.

The footsteps kept drawing nearer, echoing ominously through the dark halls, until finally, whatever was approaching them rounded a corner at the end of the passageway they stood in and was illuminated by the light from Daher’s headlamp.

It was just some guy.

Daher breathed a huge sigh of relief as Christine began to approach the man. He was moving slowly, clearly exhausted, and eventually collapsed against a wall. Christine rushed over and knelt down in front of him; a quick once-over indicated he was likely suffering from dehydration, so she pulled an emergency water ration out of her vest and held it up to his mouth for him to drink.

“Oh, thank god.” The man wheezed when he was done drinking. “Thank you, whoever you are. I thought I was going to die down here.”

“We’re with the Global Police.” Christine explained. “What are you doing in this part of the catacombs to begin with? This is a restricted area.”

“I just wanted to explore a bit; I didn’t think it’d be a big deal, but I ended up getting lost.” The man coughed. “I don’t even know how long it’s been.”

“Well, unless you found a flooded room down here and drank from that at some point, I’d say it’s probably been a couple of days.” Christine said. “That water I gave you should help, but you’ll probably need a hydration IV when you get back to the... surface...”

Christine’s voice trailed off as she noticed something glistening on the ground beneath the man; a puddle of water, about the size you’d expect if she had poured one of her emergency rations onto the floor. There were no water sources dripping into the room, and as dehydrated as the man was, there’s no way it was any sort of bodily fluid, so how...?

Acting on a hunch, Christine subtly tapped a button on the side of her helmet, switching her display to thermal vision.

The man was cold.

She gave Daher a quick hand signal behind her back indicating immediate danger, then turned her attention back to the man.

“Sir, don’t worry, we’ll have you above ground in no ti-”

“*You shouldn’t have done that.*”

The man effortlessly rose to his feet, prompting Christine to quickly do the same and back off a few feet.

“Let me guess, one of your victims?” Christine’s eyes narrowed.

“No, actually, he was dead when I got here.” The man said, ripping off his shirt to reveal a large hole through his chest. “Some drunk tourist who wandered in here and got himself impaled falling onto a particularly sharp rock. Tragic? Funny? I’d say both, but it hardly matters at this point. I was hoping you two would turn around and take him to the surface for medical attention, but it seems you’re a bit sharper than you look.”

“What was your end goal with that?” Christine asked. “Just delaying us?”

“Pretty much.” The animated corpse replied. “The longer it takes you to find me, the longer I have to animate the bones stored here. I already have enough for a small army, but I’d rather have at least a medium army if I’ve got the Global Police *and* Triumvirate on my tail.”

“The Triumvirate?” Christine repeated. “If that’s true, you’d be a lot safer in custody.”

“Only if they actually catch me, and I don’t plan on letting that happen.” The corpse snorted. “Now get the hell out of here.”

The bones making up the walls suddenly began to move, closing together in a wave-like pattern that forced Christine and Daher backwards.

“Daher, get back to the surface and call in for some ramming equipment.” Christine pressed down on her suit’s hip panels, sending a red light zipping through it in a circuit-like pattern. “I’m heading in.”

“On it.”

Daher turned and jogged for the exit, while Christine planted her feet in the ground and punched at the incoming walls, easily breaking a hole through the ancient bones. She began to advance, ramming her way through the waves of skeletons being thrown at her until she eventually emerged into a large chamber on the other side. The bones moved behind her to close off her exit as one skeleton in particular emerged from the walls to speak to her.

“Alright, you want to play it that way?” The skeleton growled, flapping its jaw up and down as it spoke. “Fine, let’s play! If you think the Triumvirate coming after me is such a big deal...”

A wall of bones on the other side of the room opened up, shoving a very annoyed Malincious Crow into the chamber before closing again.

“Then *you* deal with it!”

Teresa and Anne walked through the streets of Paris, hand-in-hand, and quickly came to the realization that they had no idea what they were doing, seeing as A: they’d never been to Paris before, and B: neither of them had ever been on a *date* before.

It was going to be an interesting day.

“So, um... what do we do now?” Teresa asked as they sat down near a fountain to rest.

“Good question.” Anne hmmed. “...Well, they call Paris the city of love, right? What do they have here that gives it that reputation?”

“I... don’t actually know.” Teresa said. “Maybe people... just think the Eiffel Tower is hot?”

Anne gave Teresa a surprised look.

“Did you just make a joke?”

“W-well, I mean, I-I tried, but I, uh, i-it k-kinda, I-I’m n-not very g-good at-” Teresa hastily stammered out as her face turned red with embarrassment.

“Teresa, calm down, that’s a good thing.” Anne giggled. “I think this is the first time I’ve seen you comfortable enough to say something goofy. I like it.”

“Y-you do?” Teresa blinked.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know, I just...” Teresa paused to think for a moment. “I guess I just kind of assume I did something wrong by default.”

“Well, I came up with an idea for something to do, but it’s a bit self-indulgent.” Anne said.

“What is it?”

“Do you remember when you asked me what clothing I’d wear if I could and I said I’d probably be too uncomfortable to change anything because of... you know?”

Teresa nodded.

“Well, when we were fighting Messias this last time, I vowed not to let him control anything about me anymore, and avoiding things I want to wear because of what he did to me just... it doesn’t feel right.” Anne sighed. “I know it’s more of a trauma response than anything, but it’s something I’d like to overcome, and suddenly being dropped into the fashion capital of the world... I don’t know if I believe in God anymore, but it feels like *something’s* trying to kick me upside the head.”

“So you want to go clothes shopping?” Teresa surmised.

“I... well... I guess... basically, yeah.” Anne’s face flushed a little. “I know it’s probably silly to put so much weight on something so mundane, and like I said it *is* kind of self-indulgent, so if you’d rather do something else-”

“I don’t think it’s silly.” Teresa said, putting a hand on Anne’s shoulder. “If it’s important to you, it’s important to me. Besides, I, um...” She cleared her throat and blushed a little as she mumbled out the rest of the sentence. “...I can’t say I’m entirely opposed to seeing you try on a bunch of cute outfits.”

Anne looked stunned for a moment before laughing.

“Do you have any idea how cute you are when you’re forward?” She chuckled. “It’s like being flirted with by a kitten.”

“I-I’m gonna be honest, I feel more awkward than cute.” Teresa laughed nervously. “Flirting doesn’t really come naturally to me unless I’m NeOhm.”

“Trust me, I’m not too good at it myself.” Anne grinned. “Best I can manage is a charismatic wink.”

Anne proceeded to demonstrate said wink to Teresa, whose heart rate abruptly skyrocketed as her legs turned to Jello. She was pretty sure that if she had been standing up, she’d have fallen over.

“I-I don’t know, tha-tha-that’s pretty good!” Teresa put her hands over her face in an attempt to hide how hard she was blushing.

“Wow, remind me to do that more often.” Anne giggled at Teresa’s reaction. “Apparently it packs a punch.”

“Too much punch! Too much punch!” Teresa squeaked.

Malincious Crow, who had been dispatched on what he *thought* was just another “teach this person that ripped us off a lesson” job by Sephtis, suddenly found himself thrown up against a wall made of bones with one of Christine’s hands around his neck.

“*CROW!*” Christine snarled.

“Who the fuck-” Crow cut himself off as he recognized her voice. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, not you again!”

“That’s my line!” Christine snapped. “How are you back from the dead *this* time?!”

“The fuck do you mean *this* time?” Crow wheezed. “Y’know, it’d probably be easier for me to answer your questions if you weren’t crushing my windpipe.”

Christine hesitantly let go of him, allowing him to drop to his feet as he took a deep breath.

“Christ, police brutality, thy name is *you*.” Crow tsked, rubbing his throat.

“This coming from a man who worked for the *CIA*.” Christine scowled.

“Being a hypocrite does not make me wrong.” Crow rebutted.

“Christ, just... just answer the question.” Christine said frustratedly.

“Well, as much as I’m tempted to lead you on by just making up some bullshit, I am neither creative nor patient enough to do so, so I’m just gonna tell you straight-up that I have no goddamn clue.” Crow stated. “Most I know is it’s the product of an experiment some rich fuck named Messias is running to resurrect the dead. Some shit nobody should be fucking around with if you ask me, but since I’m standing here right now I don’t have much room to bitch.”

“*Messias?*” Christine repeated in disbelief.

“Yeah, whitest white guy to ever white guy from what I’ve heard.” Crow tsked. “What, you know him?”

“Let me put it this way:” Christine said. “I *despise you* and everything you stand for, but if you were ever hired to work on *him*, I would give you a goddamn *tip*.”

“Oh, wow, that is some *advanced* resentment.” Crow whistled. “Funny how fast you can ditch your morals when it comes to people ya don’t like, huh?”

“Okay, what the fuck is your problem?” Christine snapped. “Does the fact that I get angry with people who do horrific shit *actually bug you* or are you just trying to be fucking annoying?!”

“As much as I like just being a pain in the ass, what genuinely pisses me off about people like you is that massive goddamn high horse you’re riding in on when you have the exact same double standards as everyone else!” Crow scowled.

“*You torture and murder people for money!*” Christine yelled. “”Wah, wah, people think I’m worse than them for skinning children alive even though they’d punch someone who killed their family!”, *GROW THE FUCK UP!* “Double standard”, my fucking ass! *Fuck* you! *Dipshit!*”

Christine grabbed Crow and threw him across the room, sending him crashing through a wall of bones covering up a hallway that had been hidden from view.

“Alright, fuck it, I was trying to play nice, but I can see you’re gonna insist on being a problem.” Crow grunted as he pulled himself to his feet and grabbed a BootLock out of his pocket. “Can’t say it won’t be satisfying to see you burn to death.”

Crow activated the BootLock, transforming into a new version of Blitzkrieg.

Blitzkrieg EV1 Card

“This here is a custom evolution of the Blitzkrieg Evolvyrn made using data collected from the real EvoLock; more specifically, the data from the last time we fought.” Blitzkrieg boasted. “You were barely able to beat me last time, so good fucking luck-”

Blitzkrieg was interrupted by a flying kick from Christine that sent him sprawling backwards.

“What the fuck?!” Blitzkrieg wheezed. “You don’t interrupt someone in the middle of their monologue!”

“EAT SHIT!” Christine snapped.

“Y’know, if you wanted to skip to the part where you die that fast, you could’ve just said so!” Blitzkrieg threw out his hands, creating a massive burst of flames that filled the entire hallway in front of him, engulfing Christine entirely while the heat they produced began incinerating bones and melting the stone behind them.

Fairly confident that Christine couldn’t possibly have survived this, Blitzkrieg was caught completely off-guard when she suddenly lunged out of the flames and hit him with a punch to the gut that winded him and sent him flying down the hallway.

“You’re not the only one who got upgrades based on our fight.” Christine stated as she stormed down the hall towards him. “This new suit could keep me safe from heat in a *volcano*-”

She was interrupted as Blitzkrieg growled and fired a bolt of electricity at her, only for it to have no effect.

“...And as I was about to say, it’s been electro-proofed too.”

“Well now that’s just unfair.” Blitzkrieg grumbled. “Looks like I’m gonna have to pull out the nuclear option.”

Christine quickly assumed a defensive stance, bracing for whatever attack Blitzkrieg was surely about to launch. To her surprise, however, Blitzkrieg simply reverted back to Crow and pulled out a black electronic tablet that he promptly tossed over to her.

“What is this, a bomb?” Christine glanced between him and the tablet. “Even at this range, an explosive of this size isn’t going to be capable of breaching this suit.”

“Well, by all rights, I guess you could call it a *truth* bomb, but that’s a bit cheesy for my taste.” Crow tsked. “Just turn it on. There’s someone I think you need to have a chat with.”

As the tablet in Christine’s hands flickered to life, it quickly became clear that its purpose was to facilitate video calls between the user and one very specific individual.

On the other end of the line was the head director of the CIA.

“Christine Eldridge, Chief Field Officer of the Global Police, correct?” The director inquired bluntly.

“Um... yes, this is Officer Eldridge.” Christine glanced between Crow and the tablet again in disbelief. “Pardon my French-”

“See it’s funny because we’re in France.” Crow interjected.

“*But,*” Christine continued, shooting Crow a dirty look. “What in the nine fresh hells is going on here?!”

“It appears that Agent Crow decided now was an appropriate time to have you debriefed.” The director tsked. “Why that is, he’ll have to explain in a proper report.”

“Well, it turns out the GP’s goin’ after the same Evolvyrn as the Triumvirate, and-” Crow started.

“Save it for the paperwork, Crow, I could not care less.”

“Hang on, *Agent* Crow?!” Christine snapped. “I thought you kicked him out over a decade ago!”

“Publicly, yes, that’s what we had announced.” The director stated. “It’s what allowed him to infiltrate Raivent’s operations so seamlessly.”

“This- this is insane!” Christine yelled. “What makes you think I’m going to go along with this?!”

“The fact that the GP is only able to operate in countries that *allow* it to do so.” The director said. “Cross us, and your jurisdiction in the United States will be revoked. Reveal any of what you were just told, and... well, I’m afraid your family unit will become just that much smaller.”

“Are you threatening me?” Christine growled.

“Heavens no, we don’t need another martyr.” The director snorted. “Let me be clear. We will not target *you* if you fail to cooperate. Your track record shows that you have a blatant disregard for your personal safety. We will target your family. We will target your friends. We will kill your mother. We will kill your father. We will kill your brother. *We will kill Emilia Krauze.* Are. We. *Clear?*”

Christine’s fists clenched up with rage, nearly breaking the tablet she was holding.

“...Clear.”

“Good.” The director said. “Now, if you could kindly stop bickering with my operative and assist him in neutralizing the present Evolvyrn threat, we would be greatly appreciative. Take care.”

With that, the tablet shut off, after which it was promptly thrown to the ground with an infuriated yell.

“Hey, if it’s any consolation, I suggested just killing you outright instead of dragging you along for the ride, but hey, I’m just a field operative, nobody fuckin’ listens to little ‘ol me.” Crow tsked. “No way this *isn’t* gonna backfire, but hey, might as well enjoy it while it lasts, right?”

Christine’s only response was a silent, venomous glare.

“Nice to be workin’ with ya,” Crow let slip a smug grin. “*”Partner”*.”

Anne was interrupted as a horde of skeletons suddenly began exploding out of the ground surrounding them and attacking any nearby civilians on sight. She and Teresa immediately jumped into defensive stances in a back-to-back position.

"CROSS!" Teresa yelled.

The CrossTrix quickly came flying in from above, taking the time to smash through several approaching skeletons on its way.

"I was worried this might happen." The device beeped as it landed on Teresa's wrist.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Teresa asked.

"Christine called while I was in maintenance asking for info about an Evolvyrn that can reanimate organic remains like skeletons." CROSS explained. "Considering Paris is home to a very large collection of skeletons, I got the feeling there might be a connection."

"Good intuition, I guess." Anne said. "Any idea how to deal with them?"

"Well, they're centuries-old, non-fossilized bones, so they shouldn't be too difficult to break." CROSS posited. "The main issue is going to be their sheer numbers. Finding the Evolvyrn controlling them and defeating it would put them all out of commission at once, so that should be the top priority."

"Skyjack would be the best for that." Teresa said. "Anne, will you be okay down here?"

"Silver Breaking Point should pretty much be immune to their attacks, right?" Anne asked, pulling out her lock and key.

"That's like asking if a tank would be immune to paper mache." CROSS commented.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Teresa and Anne both transformed into their respective aliens, and after sharing a brief nod, took off in separate directions, with Skyjack soaring into the skies above Paris as Silver Breaking Point began mowing through the skeletons infesting the streets.

"So what am I looking for, exactly?" Skyjack asked as she began circling above the city.

"Viva Los Muertos, the Venefican Evolvyrn." CROSS replied. "Humanoid, vaguely crab-like, brown body with orange and white forelimbs."

"Got it."

After a few minutes of flying without having spotted the Evolvyrn, Skyjack started to get worried.

"Hey, um, CROSS?" She spoke up. "What if it's underground?"

"The Evolvyrn?" CROSS hmmed. "I guess that'd make sense since that's where all the skeletons are coming from."

"Right, but if that's the case, how am I supposed to find it?"

"Normally I'd say Ferrarachnid's thermal vision would be your best bet for finding a concealed target, but it's primarily adapted for seeing through vegetation, not rocks and soil; you'd probably only be able to see 7 meters down at best."

"What if I went Titania?"

"Well, we haven't used Ferrarachnid Titania yet, so honestly? No clue." The CrossTrix dial displayed a shrugging emote. "That said, I am *more* than down for trying it if you are."

"Alright then." Skyjack nodded, banking left towards the Eiffel Tower. "Let's see what it can do."

Nightmare tossed Christine to the side with a roar powerful enough to crack the ground beneath it. Anne took advantage of its momentary distraction to run towards the creature, aiming to disengage the CrossTrix. As she approached, however, Nightmare swung around to face her, and interpreting her charge at it as a threat, wound up to slash her with its arm blade.

Before the strike could be made, Nightmare suddenly seized up, twitching in place as if it were fighting against its own movements. Anne skid to a halt, staring wide-eyed as Nightmare let out one last pained roar before dissolving away in a burst of light that left an unconscious Teresa behind. Anne caught her as she collapsed, saving her from a potentially nasty concussion.

“Teresa, can you hear me?” Anne asked worriedly. “Are you okay?”

Teresa slowly stirred to life, blinking her eyes open as if coming out of a daze.

"Teresa, I...I'm so sorry." Christine said. "Believe me, no-one wants that son of a bitch dead more than I do, but right now... there are just some things that-"

"I-it's okay, I-I get it." Teresa interrupted her. "Y-you're an officer, there are rules you have to follow. I-I don't think any less of you for it."

"But... Nightmare..." Christine trailed off.

"What about Nightmare?" Teresa asked worriedly. "D-did it hurt you?"

"No, no, it just..." Christine looked away from Teresa. "It called me a "traitor". I know you're not really in control of that thing, I just thought that you might... I don't know."

"It- it *spoke?*" Teresa's eyes widened as she turned her attention towards the CrossTrix. "CROSS, I thought you said Nightmare isn't sentient!"

"It isn't!" CROSS beeped. "I mean, it... it *shouldn't* be. It definitely doesn't have a mind of its own, so something else had to have been speaking through it. If it wasn't you, then..."

"...Who was it?" Teresa finished the thought with a shudder.

"Emilia, I... I think we should see other people."

Dead silence.

"I... y-you're joking, right?" Emilia choked out some forced laughter. "I-I mean, this is so out-of-nowhere, there's no way you could be serious!"

"I *am* serious, Emilia." Christine said.

"But... but *why?*" Emilia started to tear up. "I-is it something I said, something I did? Whatever it is, I-I swear I can change, just please, don't... don't leave me alone!"

"It's got nothing to do with you, Emilia." Christine pulled her into a tight embrace. "I love you just the way you are."

"Th-then why-"

"My job's always been dangerous, but it just got a lot more complicated, and now just being around you means I'm putting you in danger." Christine explained. "I wish I could tell you more, but if I did... it'd be the same as killing you myself. I want you to be happy, and I want you to be *safe*. As long as you're with me... I can't guarantee either of those."

"...Christine, I need you to understand something." Emilia locked eyes with her. "I would rather die in your arms than live a full lifetime without you."

"My god, these fuckers are melodramatic." Crow rolled his eyes. "Seriously, just let me kill them right now. Keeping them alive is *not* going to end well."

"We're more than aware of the risks involved here, Crow, we've just deemed them acceptable." The director tsked on the other end of the call. "I don't think you appreciate how valuable having the leader of the Global Police in our pocket is."

"Oh no, I get it, I just don't think *you* appreciate how *fucked* we are if this gets out." Crow hissed. "The GP is a branch of the goddamn *Plumbers*. If we get on their bad side, we're not gonna be able to JFK our way out of it this time."

"You!" Teresa clenched her fists. "What *are* you?!"

Nightmare slowly raised their left arm and pointed at her.

Teresa froze.

"A-are you trying to say..." She shook her head out and shot Nightmare a defiant glare. "No, no no no, you're not me! You're not *anything* like me! You- you attacked Christine! You tried to hurt Anne! I would never do that! *Never!*"

The mindscape around them suddenly shifted to show her memory of NeOhm attempting to kill Fuviquo.

"That... that was different!" Teresa protested, wincing as she watched NeOhm pummel her hapless foe into the ground. "He was trying to kill me! I-I didn't even *choose* to turn into NeOhm!"

The mindscape abruptly switched over to her memory of brutally dismembering Messias's android body during their first encounter.

"I- o-okay, yes, I lose it sometimes, b-but I try my best to avoid it, and even when it happens, I don't hurt any innocent people!" Teresa said. "Maybe, *maybe*, I could understand fighting Christine because of what happened with Crow, but- but *Anne?!* She's my *girlfriend!* Why would I ever try to hurt her?!"

"No..." Teresa shook her head. "No, no, this is all in the past! It doesn't matter anymore!"

"She- she already apologized for all of this! She's done nothing but try to make it up to me!"

"She's not like this anymore! She's a good person!"

"She... she's not..."

"I'm in love with her... so why...?"

"Why is this all still so vivid?" Teresa began to choke up. "Why... why do I feel like this?"

Her vision began to blur as Nightmare simply stood there, watching.

"Why do I-"

The mindscape around them began to fade back into darkness as Teresa began to realize something awful.

"...Oh my God." She sobbed. "I... I really did want to hurt her, didn't I?"

Her vision went black as her other senses began to go numb, detaching her from the world around her.

"Nightmare was never something else, was it?" She muttered to herself. "It was the part of me I've always tried to dissociate from. The part of me I rejected."

All of her senses suddenly came back to her at once, and she found herself standing exactly where Nightmare had been just moments before, staring at the now-empty space where she had fallen to the ground.

"...It was just me."

She fell to her knees, burying her head in hands.

"I'm such a piece of shit."