"Klang!" Sasha shifted her hand back into a bear paw and snapped the lock chain on the cage. The lesser bandits and prisoners scrambled out, leaving only Celes and Selene behind.
"Thanks for the rescue. Who are you?" Selene asked, immediately wary.
"It's Sasha-oneesan!" Celes immediately hugged Sasha.
"You're safe now, Celes," Sasha replied, holding the girl tight.
"Hmm. So you're the Sasha Celes talks about. What do you want? To return Celes to her parents?" Selene asked, her gaze fixed on Sasha.
"Of course. I work for them," Sasha answered, meeting Selene's stare.
"I don't wanna go back!" Celes cried out.
Celes broke free and hid behind Selene, who stood up to shield her. Sasha looked at Selene: beautiful, with long black hair, her sexy body clad in a tight black, ninja-like suit. Selene opened her palm, and black liquid blood solidified into a bloody red, katana-shaped blade.
"You heard her. She doesn't want to go home," Selene said, readying her stance.
"I see. So you're blocking me. Get ready," Sasha's other hand shifted into a sharp-clawed wolf paw.
"Dong!" A loud crash hit the cage. Sasha and Selene turned to the sound. They saw a headless man slumped against the bars. Sparks flew from the base of his neck, where wires and machinery were exposed, but there was no blood. "Tap..tap..tap." Footsteps approached them from the smoke. Sasha spun around, and Selene tightened her stance. A dancing red laser beam tracked toward them. Moments later, a figure emerged from the smoke.
"Hah, it's you," Sasha sighed.
It was Slade, who was still holding the head of the man whose body had hit the cage. The laser had come from his glowing eyes.
"Oi, put me back on my body!" the head yelled.
"Yeah, yeah… but promise you won't pull a stunt like this again," Slade said.
"I promise! Hurry up, let me go!"
Slade reattached the head to the neck base. Before the connection was even complete, the man jumped up and ran out, leaving them. Slade turned to Sasha, who was standing with her hands on her hips, and Selene, who was in a low stance with the blood katana. Slade stood up and faced them both.
"So? Let's go," Slade prompted.
"Who are you, and where are you taking us?" Selene demanded.
"To Neropolis. I have to report the job is done—finding you two and returning Celes to Sasha," Slade answered.
"Celes isn't going home!" Celes yelled, peeking from behind Selene.
"And if you're not going home, where are you going?" Sasha asked.
"Celes wants to go back to Celes's village, outside the Wall," Celes answered.
"Outside the Wall?" Slade asked.
"See? You heard her. I appreciate you guys saving us and taking down those bandits, but this is where we part ways. I'm taking Celes home," Selene stated.
Slade and Sasha exchanged glances. They both looked back at the wary Selene and Celes.
"Behind the Wall?" Slade asked.
"Yeah… behind the Wall," Celes confirmed.
"Isn't there nothing out there?" Slade asked.
"There's Utopia… Celes's home," Celes said simply.
"Utopia? Isn't that just a legend?" Sasha asked.
"No… Utopia is real. Celes's home," Celes insisted.
"That's enough, Celes. They won't get it. Let's go now. Excuse us," Selene said, pulling Celes and walking past Slade and Sasha.
"Hey! Wait up," Sasha spun around and grabbed Selene's shoulder.
"Let go," Selene snapped, turning to Sasha.
"Hold on, hold on… let's just talk for a minute. I have a question for Selene," Slade interjected, trying to stop the fight before it started.
"What is it?" Selene asked.
"Do you know me?" Slade asked directly, having already confirmed she looked like his twin sister and himself.
Selene looked Slade up and down, then stared back at his face.
"I've never seen you, but… who are you? Why do I feel like I know you?" Selene asked.
"What about me?" Sasha asked.
Selene scanned Sasha again, head to toe and back up. She looked at Slade and Sasha together, then "tes," a single tear fell from her red eye. She touched her face, confused.
"What is this?" she wondered aloud.
"Okay, want to talk before you run off?" Slade asked.
"But Celes doesn't want to go home," Celes asserted.
"Right, right. No one's taking you home. Right, Sasha?" Slade elbowed Sasha.
"Hmph… at least give a decent reason why you don't want to go back," Sasha grumbled, crossing her arms and looking away.
"See? Now that you've both agreed, let's get out of here and talk somewhere else," Slade told Selene and Celes.
"No need. Follow me," Selene said.
Selene led Celes back toward the cage and Slade's bike. Slade and Sasha looked at each other, confused. Selene stopped at a nearby wall, dusted it off, and pressed a red button. The wall turned out to be an old, dusty iron door. "Greeek...gregek." The door slid open, revealing a broken lift shaft, with only thick lift cables running all the way down.
"Blak!" Blood-red wings sprouted from Selene's back. She picked up Celes and leaped down the shaft. Slade and Sasha looked at each other again.
"Blak!" Sasha's arms transformed into eagle wings, and she jumped down after them.
"Huh… well, I'll be," Slade muttered.
He tapped his belt, and "sliing," two rockets deployed from his waist. He threw back his duster and jumped down. They descended deep, deep down, until an elevator door opened, and they floated out. Landing, Slade saw they were in a room that looked like a petrified office with desks and old computer equipment. They walked and sat on some of the desks in front of them.
"It's safe here," Selene said.
"What is this place?" Sasha asked.
"Where I store the stuff I'm going to sell," Selene answered.
Slade and Sasha looked around in the gloom. Slade's eyes could make out piles of ancient artifacts: desktop phones, intercoms, smartphones, computer monitors, TVs, laptops, along with cables, intact light bulbs, electronic components, tennis rackets, petrified basketballs, and smashed dolls. Slade turned to Selene.
"So this is your home. How did you get caught then?" Slade asked.
"They grabbed Celes. If I fought back, they threatened to kill her, so I let them take me so I could protect her. Besides, they planned to take us to the Vorg capital, which is close to the Wall," Selene explained.
"She acts reckless, just like my sister. But there's no way she is." Slade thought.
"Alright, Celes, tell us. Why don't you want to go home?" Sasha asked.
Celes looked at Selene, who nodded. Celes then explained that she wasn't a cyborg, were beast, or vampire. She was a human, living behind the high Wall that contained the three factions. To prove it, Celes scratched her arm. Bright, red, fresh blood flowed from the wound. It was clearly different from Selene's black-red blood, the Vorg's unused oil-yellow blood, and the Zoan's greenish-red blood. Slade and Sasha stared, stunned.
"Is that real? There's a world behind the Wall? I always thought the Wall was the end of the world," Slade muttered.
"I can't believe it. The legend of Utopia is actually true," Sasha murmured.
"I need you both to keep this a secret. You know what would happen if any of the three factions got their hands on a real human like Celes," Selene urged.
"Does that mean you betrayed the Noz faction, Selene?" Slade asked.
"Yes. Sasha might not know, but I was the one who planned Celes's first kidnapping," Selene confessed.
"Hmph. That makes sense. Celes never would have slipped past me if I hadn't been tricked. I thought you had rescued her and were bringing her back to the Noz capital, but since you never showed, and Celes's parents were pressuring me—threatening to fire me—I had to come looking for you. Celes, please tell me next time. Trust me. Is it because I'm a Zoan that you don't trust me?" Sasha asked, clearly hurt.
"I'm sorry, Sasha, but I couldn't tell you then because you work for those two people," Celes said.
"It's alright, Sasha. Celes had her reasons. So now you two are planning to go behind the Wall? That's a brutal journey, and you'll pass a ton of checkpoints," Slade warned.
"I know. That's partly why I let myself and Celes get caught—at least they were taking us toward the Vorg capital, and I planned to eliminate them before we got there," Selene admitted.
"That's way too dangerous. What if they figured out Celes is human?" Slade asked.
"I'd accounted for that. But even so, I appreciate you two helping us," Selene replied.
"Here's an idea. How about Sasha and I go with you to the Wall?" Slade suggested.
"Huh? What?!" Sasha yelled.
"What, you don't want to? If Celes disappears, isn't your life in danger too?" Slade asked Sasha.
"Uuuh," Sasha mumbled, looking down.
"No matter how tough you are, fighting the entire Noz faction will just get you killed. You might as well run with Celes," Slade pressed.
"Wait. Don't just decide that. I can understand Sasha since she's Celes's bodyguard, but you? What's your motive?" Selene asked Slade suspiciously.
"Ah, right. My reason's simple: I think Utopia sounds interesting. (I can't exactly say I want to get closer to you and Sasha, can I?)" Slade replied.
"Hmph. Tell me the truth, or I kill you right here," Selene threatened, pointing the blood katana at Slade's face.
"Whoaaah… calm down, okay, okay, I'll tell you," Slade said, raising both hands.
Slade explained that he felt like he knew both Selene and Sasha, but he kept the explanation brief, saying nothing about his memories.
"That's it?" Selene asked, keeping the katana pointed.
"Yep, that's it. And let me introduce myself. My name is Slade, and I was born (woke up) in the Vorg capital 300 years ago. Maybe if I travel with you two, I'll find out who I really am. (I already know, but I want to find out who you two are)." Slade said, his hands still raised.
"Hmph. No one asked who you were, and that reason sounds totally bogus," Sasha scoffed.
"Hoo, so you've already agreed to join us, huh? Hehe," Slade teased.
"Hah! Who said I agreed? I don't have a choice, do I? I'm not ready to die yet," Sasha retorted, looking away.
Slade smiled, but he noticed Selene's fierce gaze was still fixed on him, and Celes was still hiding behind her.