"I dreamt I was a butterfly fluttering among the trees, doing as I pleased, completely unaware that I was there.  Then I came across a sudden awakening, and there, looking a little out of sorts, was me."

"Bremare?  I thought I'd find you here."

In the darkness of the dimly lit room, among a background of pure black, he thought he could think without being disturbed.  That he could dream for once without a worry in his life, just like he used to.

With her.

Who had come back to him now.

"F... Ferishi?"

The question was, why?

"I was searching for a man all across Japan, green, black, and blue, where was my samurai?"

Almost in a singing manner, the shadow slinked over to Bremare and leaned against him, holding onto his arm.

"Why would you abandon the butterfly?  I thought you loved her."

"Ferishi, I did..."

"People rarely get a second chance, Bremare.  You can take it now."  The voice emanated from the darkness.  "They said I wasn't good enough.  You said you didn't want to help me prove them wrong.  But she's dead, now, along with the other man who schemed and plotted with you against me."

"Sh... Shidoshi?"  The somewhat shocked as well as disturbed scientist stuttered.  "Eric and I weren't plotting against you, Ferishi.  Shidoshi was a freak!  An abomination..."

The response must have been less than satisfactory, as the doctor's arm was let go.  He knew it was, but he couldn't...

"So.... you won't do anything..."

A pause, as the darkness slowly approached.

"Bremare... there she stayed, hoping for a way.... perhaps a possible way.... but she knew that you wouldn't come there today... that there was no possible way.  She realized it was a lie, but all she could do was cry, because that's what she meant to you."

It wasn't Ferishi.

"You could have made things great, Bremare..."  The shadow whispered.  "You could have saved me.  But you and Eric decided not to.  Because you weren't willing to put in the effort.  Because you were cowards.  You threw me to the vulture, Bremare.  You handed me right over to the mistress of birds.  You killed me, Bremare..."

It was a monster.

"The... mistress of birds?"  Bremare stuttered as there was a sheathing of steel from the shadow.  "Jen-Ya killed... No!"

She closed her eyes, the deed was done.  She then opened them and stared at Bremare pleadingly, the eyes filled with tears.  "Help me, Bremare.  Before I go too far."

Lying on the floor, red spreading around, he could only stare.  Too shocked at the revelation that he had just received.

"Now, I don't know whether it was me who dreamed I was a butterfly, or whether a butterfly was dreaming he was me.  What I do know, is that now that I think about it, it was a bird, flying over the ethereal planes, and not a butterfly.  And that is when I realized the transformation of things."

It was nice to have things back to normal for once.  After that Rose fiasco, mistaking Juni for Avelle, and the entire discovery of the doll project in general, I thought I could sit back for once and take a break from the madness.  Going back to the normal business of stealth espionage missions, slitting throats, and simply hanging around Mrigranka or drinking wine with Bremare would have been nice.

Would have.  But sadly, life always seemed to see fit to deal me the strangest cards at just the most inopportune times.  And that day, it decided to take my wine away from me...
 

"Oh poor Dr. Yamoto... You should be more careful!  I worry about you!"

In the medical ward of Shadowlaw, Noelle crammed another thermometer down Bremare's throat and quickly took away his glass off the tray to refill it with more orange juice, despite it already still having ninety percent of the OJ she poured in it previously.

"Agent Noelle, really, I don't think..."  The doctor began, taking the thermometer out of his mouth.

"You should drink lots of fluids to retain your health."  Noelle interrupted as she put the full glass back on the tray next to the vase of wilted flowers..

Bremare simply sighed as he lay back down in the hospital bed.

"Oh, Dr. Yamoto, you have some more visitors."  Noelle happily stated.  "Agent Juli and Juni have come to see you."

"Erm... I... see that."  Looking at the two sister agents of sorts, Bremare rolled his eyes.

A smirk crossed Juli's face.  "Had enough orange juice, Bremare?  I swear, one of the biggest motivations I have for making sure I don't get harmed in missions is so I won't end up here and have to drink more orange juice or listen to Noelle ranting over me all day about how she worries about me and wishes to take good care of me."

"Shadowlaw members need to remain healthy and in shape."  In her best way of ignoring Juli's rudeness, Noelle countered Juli's comment with her matter of fact statement.  "If they won't look after themselves, I'll just have to do it for them."

The brunette gave Noelle a quick disturbed glance before turning back to the patient again.  "Anyway, Juni and I are glad you're all right.  We were really worried when we heard that an assassin attacked you.  Weren't we, Juni?"

Behind Juli, Juni quickly turned away without a word.

"Erm, yea..."  Juli muttered while looking back.  Reaching behind, she took some flowers that she put down earlier off a table.  "Brought you some flowers and all.  Of course.  I'm sorry, but this is all I could get on such short notice."

She stared at the dried white rose she was holding, then handed it to Bremare.

He took it.  "It's okay, Juli.  It's the thought that cou... OW!"

"Oops!  Oh, I'm sorry."  The girl quickly took the rose back as Noelle rushed to Bremare's hand's aid with a pack of bandages at the ready.  "This one still has thorns, it seems."

Hand fully bandaged up by Noelle in mere seconds, the scientist covered it.  "It's... it's okay.  We'll just leave it in this vase."

"Hmm."  Juli looked over at the vase on the tray and noticed the hydrangea flowers that were already inside of it, then asked, "Who gave you that?"

"Agent Fenrir did."  Bremare answered, and with a frown, oddly enough.  "We can put the rose in there, instead.  It might be dry but there's still hope for it."

"Well, okay..."  After slowly removing the flowers already in the vase and quickly throwing them into the trash, Juli placed the white roses where the hydrangeas once were, then turned back to Bremare with a slight hint of her own worry in her face.  "Just... be careful, okay?  I'm worried that there's an assassin out there not caught yet who somehow made his way all the way to your private sanctuary just to... erm, stab you."

"And not kill."  Juni unemotionally added out of nowhere.

"Right..."  Pushing the vase back into place, Juli walked to the door and turned around to Bremare Yamoto one last time.  "Get well, soon, okay?  We'll be seeing you later."

Her partner was out the door the instant Juli finished the sentence.

"He'll be well soon."  The medic girl finally spoke up again.  "My poor Bremare's already much better, isn't that right?"

Bremare and Juli both muttered the same response at the same time.  "Whatever..."

"Ow ow ow... okay, okay!  Enough!"

"That's it?"

In the agent practice dojo, a frown crossed Fenrir's face as she pointed the wooden sword at the knocked down Desire's head.

"I would be disappointed, except it always ends like this..."  She remarked.  "You're lucky I wasn't using Stormbringer, or else you'd really be in for a world of pain."

Slowly getting off the hard wooden floor, Desire simply shrugged.  "Couldn't be anymore than what I'm used to, could it?  Do you always have to beat me up so much in our practice matches?"

A smack of the wooden sword knocked the Native American agent back down.

"Pain is good for you."  Came Fenrir's reply.  "It builds character."

Back on the wooden floor, Desire leaned down on her elbow, slightly annoyed.  "That's what Julia always tells me, too."

"Be thankful."  Taking out her real sword and spinning it around, the Asian agent with the short circular hairstyle grinned.  "Stormbringer already had its meal recently.  So it won't have to feed off you for now."

"Just smacking.  No stabbing.  Please.  Now where the heck did my tomahawks land when you sent me crashing into that wall?"

As Desire went searching around the dojo for her missing axes, Fenrir was approached by a certain pesky brunette and her silly blonde partner.

"Why, if it isn't Agent Juli?  You're still slacking behind in your own training, you know."  The wooden sword flew to the ground and Stormbringer spun around in the air.  "Care for a match?"

"I didn't come here for a match."  Juli snapped back.  "Besides, I could beat you with or without your silly swords and without even trying, anyway.  Quit taking out your frustrations on Desire for a moment.  We need to talk."

"Huh?  Taking out frustrations on me?"  Pausing from updating the scoreboard, Desire took some time to address Juli's comment.  "Agent Juli, we were merely having a sparring match."

The scoreboard had perhaps hundreds of marks under Fenrir's name but under Desire's, it was absolutely blank.

"Without trying... right."  Fenrir remarked with a scowl.  She reluctantly put the sword away.  "Very well, Agent Juli.  What is it that you wish to talk about?"

"Bremare was attacked by an assassin.  In his hidden area.  He was stabbed rather badly with a sword wound but wasn't killed.  That room is so hidden that even the higher ups of Shadowlaw don't know about it.  Only a few people do.  Like me.  Or you."  The brunette was being rather unsubtle.  "I still remember that day when I first met Bremare, you two weren't exactly getting along."

"Attack Bremare, Juli?  Why would I do that?"  Fenrir wasn't worried at all, though.  She leaned closer to Juli and whispered into her ear.  "My sword recently merely had an appetizer, but someday it will devour the entire course.  Careful now, Agent Juli.  Because if you keep tossing these accusations at me, Stormbringer might decide that main course could be you."

Both of the two sister agents were rather shocked, with Juli quickly backing up as her partner stared rather wide-eyed at the sight.

Fenrir decided to address the young blonde's concerns... sorta.

"Agent Juni?  Why would you care about our wonderful friend, Bremare, anyway?  You already learned the hard way what he's like."

"Yea... but..."  Juni quickly looked around then grabbed her partner by the arm.  "Um... Juli, I think we should leave, now."

"I don't know what's going on with you but..."  Juli glared at Fenrir while quickly trying to think of something to say as Juni yanked her away.  "But don't think you can get away with this!"

Desire blinked.  "What was that about?  Fenrir, you really shouldn't take Juli's ribbing so seriously.  I mean, sure, her seventy eight percent efficiency rating is quite a bit higher than your sixty percent, but sixty percent isn't that bad, is it?"

Said she who only had a ridiculously low thirty-four percent rating.

"Sixty percent."  Fenrir angrily repeated to herself out loud.  "It borderlines on failure.  Only through my own hard work and efforts was I able to bring my efficiency rating to be up to sixty percent.  It wasn't my fault.  It wasn't MY failure.  It was Janet's."

"It was Janet's?  Fenrir, what are you talking about, now?"

"Quiet!  It's not your business to pay attention to that damn interruption."  Apparently Fenrir picked up the wooden sword when Desire wasn't looking, because she had it at that moment ready to smack Desire again.

Which it did.

Another failed parry with the practice tomahawks, another thwack to Desire's head.

Damn that Juli.

I wish I knew what the problem was.  I wish I knew what was going on.  Bremare knew.  Fenrir knew.  Hell, even Juni seemed like she knew, but no one was telling me anything.  Despite it all and all that happened, Juni continued to follow me around.  Whenever Bremare was around, though, she would stay but would never say a thing.  The whole experience each time it happened was ridiculously awkward to the point of ludicrousness.

I know that Bremare never did tell her why he stood her up that night.  Yet Juni seemed to have deduced for herself a reason why he did and Bremare wasn't making any effort to disprove whatever she came up with.

This whole fiasco finally led me to decide to seek out the truth myself, which is why I was thankful when Juni told me she needed time to think to herself, allowing me to go find Bremare alone.  All I found at his lab though was a note saying that he was currently busy in the physics sector of the science department, which was odd, because Bremare had been been moved from physics to genetics long ago shortly after I met him...
 

"Bremare?  Are you here?"

Juli slowly looked around the large dark hanger.  There was some big metallic tall vehicle in the center but it was too dark to see anything.

So Juli turned on the lights.  Or tried to, and was partially successful as the vehicle, revealed now to be some sort of ridiculously large mech thing, had its headlights came on after she flipped the switch.  Unfortunately, the fact that said mech had started to move wasn't a very good thing, nor was the large booming announcement it gave.

"WILLKOMMEN.  HIER FINDEST DU NUR DEIN GRAB."

"Welcome, this is where I will bury you?"  Juli translated the German out loud, wondering what it was about.

She quickly found out as she back flipped out of the way and several missiles slammed into where she used to be standing.

"Oh crap..."

The door behind her slammed shut as Juli frantically ran just ahead of a spray of machine gun fire which riddled the walls behind her, then quickly dove underneath a quick blue laser ray firing in her direction, rolling once she hit the floor to stay away from more bullets.

She rolled just in time to get caught in an explosion from one of the missiles.

Slammed against the wall and bleeding heavily, Juli could only think one thing as a huge cannon from the back of the mech entered position to blast her.

"This happens to me pretty often, doesn't it?"

"ICH SCHICKE DICH ZUR HOELLE!"

"You're going to send me to hell..."  Juli sighed after muttering the translation to herself.  "Oh great... why me?"

A large amount of energy gathered around the cannon with obligatory power up noise, then BOOM.

Juli quickly found herself covered with ash and the hangar was filled with quite a lot of smoke.

The machine slowly shut down or at least that's the impression Juli got from the fading sound in the area.

"Are you all right?"

She could only make out two silhouettes among all the smoke but she already knew from the voice that one of them was Bremare.

"Oh sure, I'm all right."  Juli sarcastically remarked.  "It's okay for me, Agent Juli.  I get blown up by missiles on missions all the time.  What's a few more explosions going to do?  But a mere flesh wound!  Really!"

Bremare helped Juli get up as the smoke cleared away.  "Erm... you're bleeding on the arm there.  Need help with that?"

"Don't touch me!"  Juli snapped.  "What's the big deal?  Isn't it a requirement to put a safety on your damn mechs?!"

"We were about to test it out."  Bremare shrugged.  "It's a good thing that we were only testing out minor weaponry and the auto-loudspeaker system.  If I had got the main weapon working, you'd be.... well... erm, having a lot more than just a mere flesh wound."

The view of the mech was clearer after the smoke cleared up, now that the lights were on and it wasn't trying to kill Juli.  It was a rather military green color, generally consisting of two arm cannons, big blocky midsection with cockpit, two really big bulky legs.  And of course, the big cannon strapped to its back.

"You... worked on the loudspeaker system before working on the main weapon?"  One more glance passed at the big bulky robot vehicle, then Juli addressed the scientist again.  "Maybe it's just me, but I don't think you really have your priorities straight on this project."

"I would have finished the main weapon first, but there's one part in the formulas that I can't figure out now."  Bremare shrugged, stared at the mech, himself, then grinned.  "Besides, it wouldn't be the same if we didn't have a cool sound system to accompany it.  This mech is special."

Next to Bremare, the other young scientist, with really large glasses hiding away his eyes and also sporting short black hair (though a part of it was overlapping his left eye), happily agreed.

"It's Bremare's special project that he's been working on for just the most longest of times."

"When it fires its main weapon, it has to do it with style!"  Bremare emphasized the last word of that sentence.

"Oh yes!"  The other scientist agreed.  "Style is just but such of the utmost essence!"

Juli wasn't very happy when she finally realized who the other scientist was.  "Okay, Dr. Yamoto, why are you working with this... this freak?"

"A freeeeaaaaak?"    The scientist was smiling a ridiculously happy and shiny smile to the point where he practically seemed to be emanating sunlight.  "Why, Agent Juli, such a horrible horrible thing to say to me.  You really need to cheer up, yes, you certainly do.  It's such a glorious beautiful glorious day which should be a day where everyone should be happy and be most glorious!"

"GAH!"  Juli blurted out loud, but Bremare interrupted her and saved her the trouble of BSing to the other doctor why she did not like talking to him at all.

"Dr. Erriol Ferrars was assisting me with the main weapon."  Yamoto explained.

"He's a member of the chemistry branch of the science department."  An annoyed Juli stated.  "I don't see why you'd need him to help design a gun which is just supposed to blow things up."

"Ah, but you see, Juli,"  Bremare open his hand towards the gun on the back of the mech.  "The mech is just a standard issue bulk walker, but this gun is special."

"Nice to see you care so much about your ridiculously large gun."  Juli's reply was rather snide.

"Well, it is really big, I have to admit."

After that statement, Bremare paused as Juli, and maybe Erriol though it was hard to tell by the glasses, all raised their eyebrows as they looked at each other for a moment before looking back at the gun.

"Erm, anyway," He continued with a cough.  "That's not really what's so special about it.  Have you heard about the battle of Jokuzetsu?"

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear."  Behind those glasses, Erriol was probably rolling his eyes as he continued to smile.  "Why, it looks like my dear friend Bremare is beginning that rant again.  Very well, I shall take my leave so I can get back to work on my wonderful formulas that bring wonder and love to all who partake of their wonderness."

Juli stared at Erriol awkwardly as he walked off, then addressed Bremare's question.

"I heard it was a massacre.  Even with the largest of precautions, underground evil organizations sadly don't win all the time.  Actually, contrary to popular belief, it happens pretty often.  I also heard rumors that an upper Shadowlaw scientist was lost in the battle."

She noticed Bremare's mood looked a bit more depressed at that last statement.

"He was your friend, wasn't he?"  Juli blinked, then nervously attempted an apology of sorts.  "I... I'm sorry, Bremare.  I didn't know.  I don't know many people from the science department."

"No no, don't worry about it."  Bremare muttered.  "Anyway, did you hear about the fighting that went on during that battle?"

"There were some pretty nifty special effects, I imagine,"  The brunette continued after that bout of awkwardness.  "Since Shadowlaw even broke out some of the special forces and the Jokuzetsans had quite a few of their own."

Bremare put his hand to his chin.  "Special forces?  Is that what you call them?"

"Hmm."  Juli crossed her arms.  "Not every one can fly, has cybernetics, or is super genetically enhanced.  So yea, I'd consider that to be special enough."

"I call them freaks, Juli."

Juli blinked at Bremare's rather blunt statement.  She was only able to awkwardly comment after a bit of silence, since this was a subject completely thrown at her out of nowhere.  "Erm... well, I guess you could call them that, too."

She wasn't exactly very happy at the fact that her reply was ridiculously true, since for a long time in her own mind, freak was one of the things Juli called her partner.

And her emotional status entered an even more topsy-turvy state when Bremare decided to bring said partner up.

"I thought I could forget after that... incident with Juni."

"Forget what?"

"Forget how much it sickened me."  Dr. Yamoto frowned.  "I thought I could get over it.  That she was a freak, an abomination... hell, a freak abomination cloned from a complete freak."

"Bremare!"  Juli glared at him in shock.  "You shouldn't talk about Juni.... well, heck, all emotions aside, you shouldn't talk about Lord Bison that way especially in public.  Are you asking for a death wish?"

"Lord Bison.  Tsch!  I believe that this area is only monitored when the science department has it monitored to be tested.  Why would Shadowlaw care what happens to a few spare outdated machines, vehicles, and rusty mechs, anyway?  And even if it is being monitored and 'LORD' Bison were watching us right now, I don't care.  I just don't care anymore Juli."

All Juli could do was maintain the shocked look as Bremare continued.

"Bison doesn't care about any of us.  So why should we care about him?"

She wanted to open her mouth to answer, but it sadly was a rhetorical question.

"He sacrificed Eric just for his own stupid whims.  No one cares about us, Juli.  Did you see the videotapes of the battle of Jokuzetsu?   Five hundred men mercilessly slaughtered by one little school girl."

"Well, yea, Bremare,"  Juli stuttered.  "But I heard it was a really powerful little school girl with super fireballs, flight ability, and everything and it's not like she was alone and..."

"Did you see how Eric died?"  The scientist interrupted.  "The supernatural being that killed him, killed him because he was designated a 'coward.'"

"The scientist monitoring the battle?"  Juli blinked.  "Well, you have to admit he was running really fast after he saw that things weren't going so well and... um, I'm not helping, am I?"

"It was videotaped.  You saw it.  Bison saw it."  Bremare's eyes narrowed.  "Bison laughed."

"H... he laughed because he saw that powerful beings existed out there..."  Juli did not like where this was going.  She also didn't like the bullshit explanations she was coming up with but they were the best she could do on such short notice.  "Lord Bison knew he could someday take them to be his own super soldiers..."

Bremare simply sighed.  "Then what are we non-super-soldier cowards supposed to do, Juli?  Be slaughtered by the hundreds to every super hero or every super villain out there?  Must the entire world be fodder and victims of a select uber-few?  Isn't there any one out there who can accomplish anything without resorting to the help of gods?"

"We can... um... use giant mecha?"

Attempting to change the subject, Juli decided to switch Bremare's attention to the giant mech which just earlier almost killed her.  She was partially successful.  Partially.

Bremare's attention did turn to the giant mecha thing, after all.  Though the subject sadly didn't change.

"Ah, yes.  And this is why I asked for Erriol's assistance.  I just hope I don't screw anything up on my end.  It's been a long time since I got out of physics and into genetics.  And now I'm back, designing mechanical things.  I needed Erriol's help to develop... a formula of sorts but he sadly wasn't able to come up with anything."

"A... formula of sorts?"  Juli blinked.  "What?  A happy fun bomb or something?"

Bremare took out a roll of blueprints and spread them across the table.

"Juli, I bring you, the ultimate in super sonic explosive focused weaponry..."

Juli stared at the blueprints in surprise.

"The JJ Valentine."

If there was any dramatic effect, it became quickly washed away with Juli's reply.

"The JJ Valentine?  That's a rather silly name, isn't it?"

Bremare sighed, then explained.  "Originally, it was going to be named 'Liquid Gear' but I decided that JJ Valentine would be better for it."

"Yea,"  Juli muttered.  "Everyone will laugh themselves to death at the name."

She turned to look at the blueprints that were presented to her.

"I can't make out these blueprints very well."  Juli commented.  "Hell, I can't even figure out exactly what this weapon is.  From the looks of it, it's either an arm cannon, a missile launcher, an odd shaped tank, or a very big... erm, nevermind."

"It's that big gun right over there on the back of that mech, Juli!"  Bremare snapped.

"Oh."

"It's a super weapon.  A prerequisite for all renegade scientists, I suppose."  Bremare continued.  "At least, in all the video games, they have one.  Like the infamous Metal Gear, for instance."

"Um,"  Juli asked.  "Didn't the inventor of Metal Gear purposefully give it a weakness because a character isn't complete without a flaw?

Bremare glared at her again.  "Juli, you know me.  Do you really think I have to purposefully give it a weakness?"

"....true.  Odds are you'd screw it up and accidentally make the JJ Valentine invincible, instead."

"Regardless,"  Bremare continued.  "With this, we won't have to fear those super soldiers anymore.  We won't have to be cannon fodder expendables to these freaks.  With this, we'll be able to fight back."

"We'll... be... able... to fight back?"  She was stuttering again.  "But... why would Shadowlaw need this, Bremare?"

Silence.

Bremare's eyes narrowed once again.

"He laughed."

More silence.

"Ah...."  Juli attempted to begin, but fortunately Erriol came back in just in time to break up the situation.  Juli was never more happy to see that weirdo, despite how he normally always freaked her out.

"Breeeemaaaaaare!"  Erriol shouted.  "I do see you are still oh so sad about poor Eric's death.  Cheer up!  There are other fish in the sea! And someone left doughnuts in the breakroom for once. You just have to look to the happy side of the sunshine and the wonderful bright side of things!"

The other scientist looked down at the ground and muttered to himself.  "If Eric were here, he would have told me to just drown my sorrows with all these beautiful women going around."

".... oh!  I hadn't realized you two were so open that way."  A grin crossed Erriol's face.  "You must have some wonderful memories!!!"

More happy shiny smiles from happy shiny freakboy.

Juli shuddered at what he just said.  Maybe she wasn't so happy to see him, after all.  "Why is this conversation which doesn't really involve me starting to make me feel uncomfortable?"

Unfortunately, her statement caught Erriol's attention.  "Haaaalloooooo, Ms. Juli!  Wonderful day, isn't it?  Oh please don't let Bremare put a damper on what should just be the brightest of days.  Donut?"

"Oh dear god, he's talking to me now..."  Juli responded with a look of horror.  "Erm, Bremare, we'll talk later.  I'm getting out of here."

She rushed to get away from the crazy man as fast as possible.  Erm, both of them.  Though mainly Erriol.  She'd have to see that other sadly deluded one later.

When Juli was gone, Bremare decided to address his companion.

"You really should stop doing that, you know."

Erriol simply shrugged and continued eating his donut.

"How to Win Friends and Influence People says that smiling is one of the best ways to win friends."  He replied to Bremare with a grin, then quickly added, "And influence people."
 

I didn't know what I could say to Bremare right now.  I didn't want to realize what was going on.

What was I supposed to say?  I... I just wanted to run away.  I didn't want him to know the truth.

I didn't want him to know that I was one of those freaks...

"I don't know what to do.  I really did feel worried for him when I found out what happened.  But... I can't get over it.  I'm wondering if this is all just a big mistake."

A mistake which was obvious.

Juni finished typing then pressed enter as Cuddles took a nap on top of her computer monitor, where a new sentence appeared across the screen.

sk8tbrdmstr:  well if u really loved him u'd prolly talk to him or sumthing.  thats what i'd do

"Yea, I guess so."  Juni typed her reply, though guessing wouldn't fix the fact that something was wrong.  "Maybe I should..."

The computer turned off before she could finish.  She quickly turned around and annoyedly glared at Avelle.  "Hey!"

"Dear, it's bad enough that you were going around the internet chatrooms giving prospective hunter rival strangers some tips about hunting.  You shouldn't get advice for serious matters from complete strangers that you randomly found on the internet."  Avelle calmly stated.  "I have some better advice for you, anyway."

"I met you from the computer..."  An annoyed Juni muttered.

"Don't give me that crap!"  Avelle snapped.  "Look, are you going to listen to me or not?"

"Okay, okay, sheesh."  Juni sighed as Cuddles leaped into her arms.

It wasn't like a complete stranger would know all the details, anyway.

"Do NOT love those that won't love you back, Juni."  There was quite an amount of forcefulness in Avelle's voice.  "I made that mistake, Juli is making that mistake, and now you're going to make that mistake, too."

But Avelle already knew everything.

"Do you think he really cares about you?  I will tell you right now that he doesn't."

For the first date, he stood you up.

"If you really cared about him, you would talk to him, right?  Thus if he really cared about you, wouldn't he be obliged to do the same?"

He never would be there when you need him the most.

"But all he'll do is run away.  He won't be there for you.  The proof of this will come soon enough."

Bremare's actions would speak louder than words ever will.

Juni opened her eyes and quickly looked around, trying to figure out what just happened.  She didn't recall falling asleep.  However, before she could think about it any further, her partner had come back into the room.

"Juni, something's wrong."

Sure, just state the obvious.

Avelle wasn't there.  No wait, actually she was there, listening as Juli anxiously explained how Bremare was actually talking aggressively about Lord Bison in public, about how he said something about not caring about death, and about... about how...

"You can talk him out of this, Juni."

"Me?"  Juni stared at her partner in surprise.  "What would I do?  How?"

She was responded to with a glare.  "How?!?   Come on!  You make Hitler seem WAFFy for crying out loud whenever you talk about him.  You're like... the WAFFmaster or something!"

"Juli, I can't!"

Yes, Avelle listened to it all.  About all the problems Bremare was having, the worries Juli had about him, the death of a friend of his that was driving him mad.

And Avelle laughed.

Of course, that idiot Juli just has to keep on poking you, doesn't she?

"What do you mean you can't?!  You have to!"

Juni must have said something to anger her.  But she wasn't paying much attention to the brunette.

"Juni, go talk to him!  Now!"

If only she listened, and even now she's in denial!

"STOP POKING ME!!!!"  Juni snapped out loud.  Avelle was kind enough to finish the rest.

"You don't know anything!!!"  Avelle screamed at Juli's face.  "Bremare was a coward!  He doesn't deserve any of our sympathy!"

This caused a reaction of shock from all three of the girls in the room, including Avelle herself, for realizing what she just said.  There was a large silence in the room, and Juni even thought she saw Juli back away a little nervously, though maybe she was just seeing things.

She finally let out a sigh.

"Yea sure, Juli, I'll go talk to him."

"Y... yea, you do that."  Juli stuttered, still a bit stunned.

And so, Juni found herself walking down the hall to find Bremare.  As she approached the science sector, she passed by a shadow of the past. A shadow she saw earlier that week, but her memory was feeling hazy for reasons she couldn't figure out.

"So you actually decided to talk to him after all?"  A sly grin crossed its face in the darkness.  "Throw in a good word for me.  Don't worry so much.  I believe that Bremare will pull through.  If not for you, than for me.  You know the whole story now.  Test him for me."

She stopped for a brief moment to nod in reply, then continued down the hall as Fenrir whispered her appreciation.

"Thank you, Junivelle.  Maybe there is hope for you, after all."

"ARGH!"

The notebook slammed against the laboratory wall, slowly sliding down to land in the graveyard of paperwork.

Bremare Yamoto was not having a good day.  Or to be more accurate, a good week.  Or maybe even a good month.  Heck, a good three years.

The formula was wrong.  There was one part of the equation which no matter how much he thought about it, how much everyone else thought about it... no matter what he did, it wouldn't work.

It was hopeless.

The scientist's shoulders slumped as he kneeled his head down on the table.  He didn't know who's fault it was that this screwed up in the first place.  He did everything that he thought would be right for the equation.  Everything should have fit in perfectly.  But it all fell apart in the end.  There had to be a way. But if there was, he wasn't finding it.  Bremare sighed as he tried to think if there was any possible way to fix the mess.

"Hello, Bremare."

A certain short blonde-haired agent was conveniently there to answer his question.

"I know why you did it, Bremare..."

It was an answer which Bremare didn't believe she could possibly know.

"You threw me to the vulture, Bremare.  You handed me right over to the mistress of birds.  You killed me, Bremare..."  Behind her, the shadow's echo still loomed.

Avelle slowly angrily gazed into Bremare's eyes.  "Because you were jealous that she loved M. Bison more than you.  But it never occurred to you that maybe she became that way because you were never there for her, did it?"

"But she's... not the type we're looking for, really.  And we already sorta have a martial weapons specialist leading the unit.  Besides, erm, you really wouldn't want her to join this type of unit."Another ghost of the past, who helped create the shadow, but was now sadly gone, also continued to echo through the air.

"What?  How did you..."  Bremare backed away, before quickly changing his sentence.  "No, that's not true!"

"That damn Jen-Ya gave me custodian duty.  Can you believe that?!?  What's worse is she didn't even let me get to be the head custodian.  She made me the custodian's apprentice for crying out loud!  Did you even SEE the custodian?  That guy is EVIL!  He makes me leave the toilet seats up in the ladies' room just for 'the sheer evilness of it all'!"

"Denial is our friend, isn't it, Bremare?  When you escape into its realm, everything seems wonderful when it really isn't, huh?"  She slowly leaned on him then sadly put her finger to his mouth.  "But, you see, some of us manage to channel it so it IS something wonderful.  You, however, have only managed to use it to hurt those who were dearest to you."

"Eric, I don't care if she really wants to join this 'super' unit.  Did you see the treatments?  I'm not going to let Ferishi do this to herself!"

"That's easy for you to say, Bremare.  That crazy girl put a freaking sword to my neck.  She REALLY wants to try it.  But I have to admit, you're right.  I stand by my original statement that it's not for her."

"I can't take it!  If I have to clean one more toilet, I'll... it's just that... you know I'm only here for your sake, right, Bremare?  Why can't you be here for mine?!"

"All you've ever done is run away.  So why not now?  Run away forever, because you are a coward and nothing more..."  The girl shoved a set of keys against his chest.  "The keys to a Shadowlaw Jet christened number zero two fourteen.  You'll take them and you'll run, won't you?  Because that's all you've ever done in your life."

Was that it?  Was that what they all believed?

"She's insane!"

What was he supposed to do?!?

"You're worthless!"

It wasn't like there was any other option!

"What happened, Ferishi?  Where did things go wrong?"

He tried, but there wasn't any other way.  He tried to tell her that it didn't have to be that way, but all he got...

"No, it has to!  You don't understand... I don't understand why..."

Was rejection.

"Don't worry.  I'll get another one.  In fact, I've already secured one from a poor lonely random Shadaloo pilot who just needed someone to be there for him.  Why am I offering you the use of my plane, dear dear Dr. Yamoto?"  The final ray of hope was leaving and fading away, but not without one last statement.  "Because I want you to leave.  Because I never want to see your face or hear your name ever again..."

All that remained was the outer shell of a memory.  A broken wing, with which the bird would never be able to fly with, again.  It was a memory of a time when my life... was perfect... but now I've finally realized that it's too late.  The bird will never soar again...

I didn't know what Juni talked to Bremare about.

"Will he stay?"  Avelle kneeled against the wall and sighed.  "He won't be there for you when you need him."

I didn't know what she said.

"Bremare..."  Juni's eyes slowly closed.  "Please be there for me..."

I didn't know what was going on between Fenrir and Bremare, either.

"He'll be there."  The gleam of the steel from Fenrir's sword reflected in her eyes.  "Bremare, you will stop running someday... I still believe you will."

But after looking at him that night, I realized it.  That they weren't going to be there for him.  That only I could.

But I wasn't good enough.  I was neither a WAFF goddess nor an ex-girlfriend that he once loved.  I was simply Bremare's friend Juli and nothing more...
 

In the darkness of Bremare's private room, all was silent, despite the room having two occupants sitting at the clothed table.  It was that way for almost twenty minutes now, the two only content to just remain there together, for maybe a little longer...

Night was going by, and Bremare finally decided to break the silence.

"Juli, have you ever thought back... on how sometimes you wished for 'the good old days'?"

"I've been through a lot lately, Bremare."  Juli closed her eyes and drank from the cup.  "I'd just... I'd like for everything to be normal again."

"That's the problem, Juli.  I don't know what normal is anymore."  Bremare sighed.  "You probably don't, either.  My life has taken so many twists and turns that it's impossible for me to recall what 'the good old days' are, now.  Do you mean the old times before we met?  Before you joined Shadowlaw?  Afterwards?  Before or after Juni came along?"

"..... I don't know."  A pause.  "I have a hint though.  It would be some time after I met you, I think."

"That... would be perhaps close to the time when the old days ended for me."

Juli opened her eyes and stared at Bremare, who seemed to be lost in thought as his chin rested on his hands.  She sadly looked off to the side.

"Oh..."

Bremare looked up, then realized what he just said.  "Juli, I'm sorry.  I didn't mean it that way."

She stared back at him, before just taking his word for it and taking another sip of the wine.  "Hmm.  I guess I'm just too nervous, these days.  You must have lost something really important to you.  But don't worry, I can see that you don't want to talk about it.  I can respect that."

She put the cup down and slowly closed her eyes again.

"I hope."

Silence took its place over the room again, until the scientist decided to break it once more.

"You just said you've been through a lot, Juli.  Did you ever get the feeling that you'd just like to run away from it all?"

"I used to think that I couldn't run away.  That I didn't have the self-consciousness to do it."  Juli muttered.  "As it is, maybe I've considered it, but I believe I wouldn't.  I have too many people I care about to just run away from it all."

Bremare took a sip of his wine, too, even though the glass was practically empty.  "And if those people were gone... Do you know what you would do if you had a friend that you cared about but attempted to run away from Shadowlaw?"

"....Yea, Bremare, I know what I'd do if I had a friend that I cared about betray Shadowlaw.  I should know, since it already happened."  Juli looked off to the side and sighed.  "She was a good friend of mine despite us having a friendly rivalry of sorts, but in the end she decided that she had to get away from Shadowlaw and Lord Bison."

"Oh?"  Bremare stared with interest.  "What happened to her?"

"I killed her."

Another pause.  Juli was having lots of those, that day.

The doctor finally spoke up again.

"I see... but I guess you wouldn't be able to kill someone who's already dead, would you?"

"Well, obviously."  Juli rolled her eyes, unaware of where the conversation was going.

"Very well."  Bremare took one last sip from the glass, then stood up.  "Thank you, Juli.  For being a friend for me until the end.  But it looks like the end has come for me.  Tell Erriol to hold the fort now that I'll be gone."

Juli stared at him in surprise as he walked towards the exit.  "Bremare, what are you talking about?"

She quickly dashed after the doctor, but he was no where to be seen even after she ran out of the room and looked around the laboratory.  She couldn't figure out where he was.  Until the door to the private room shut behind her.

"Bremare!!!"  Juli quickly turned around.  "What are you doing?!"

"The monster that consumed Ferishi will never get the chance to consume me, Juli!"  The doctor's voice shouted from behind the closed door.  "You can't kill what's already dead, and it's about time I've faced the truth!  Juli, I'm sorry that you're the last victim of my foolishness.  Please forgive me."

"Bremare, wait!!!  Stop!"  She frantically pounded at the wall blocking the entrance, but it didn't move.  Bremare didn't reply, and she frantically tried to think of a way in.  But she couldn't think of any possible way.  All she realized she could do was try to get help.

Even though it was probably too late.

"Mmm.... who next, Stormbringer?  I see that you're still starving for retribution."  In one of the hallways of Mrigranka, Fenrir's eyes slowly shut as she smiled and continued polishing the sword.  "Maybe Janet?  For all the torture she purposefully put me through.  Or perhaps Irvine?  To thank him for his corruption.  There's a lot of blood in the world, Stormbringer.  You'll have to choose wisely which is of the highest quality for you."

Footsteps were heard.  Really fast footsteps.  It rather surprised Fenrir since she didn't realize that Juli could run that fast.

"Hmm... her, then?  Stormbringer, I must admit, you have good taste."  The grin on Fenrir's face sharpened as her eyes narrowed.  "But not now.  Let's see what Agent Juli is up to."

Fenrir followed Juli over to the main laboratory.  Juni was already there, too, also curious as to what was going on.

"Janet!!!"  Juli, out of breath, dashed up to the only other person in the room.  "Where's Doctor Janet?!?  She's the one in charge of that sector!  She has to know a way!"

"Hmm.... zee good doctor?"  Professor Irvine calmly turned around.  "Silly silly girl.  I have had a premonition!!!  A way to follow zee way more so when zee good doctor realized zat zee way was not following her!  Doctor Janet, in pursuit of zee ultimate enlightenment, is already off to pursue it, for she now knows zat zere is no other possible alternate except to force zee way of zee mate for herself, and zat zere will be no other!"

Juli stared at Irvine in complete dumbfounded confusion, trying to figure out what the hell he just said, though the most important part quickly registered to her.  Janet wasn't in Mrigranka.

"Juli,"  Juni walked up to her partner.  "What's going on?"

The girl turned around and tried to contain herself as she explained.  "It's Bremare!!  He's going to kill himself!"

The other two girls lit up in surprise.  "WHAT?!?"

"I'm going to try to stop him!"  Juli made the decision to go back, even though she knew it was hopeless. Fenrir, however, was fuming.

"He can't... He wouldn't!!!"  She angrily glared at Juli.  "No one should have to stop him!!!  He was supposed to be there for me!  I won't let him get away!"

As they all dashed out of the room, the professor merely sighed after he was alone again.

"Stupid stupid repressing fool..."  Irvine muttered to himself.  "Perhaps sadly for you, Freud was proven right yet again.  Dr. Yamoto, see what you get?"

There     she      stays,

She hopes that there's a way,

perhaps a possible way.
 

I didn't know anything at first.  But now I knew.  I knew my wine would be gone forever.  Fenrir somehow knew the password to break back into Bremare's private sanctuary.  As she frantically inputted the keys, I knew she didn't want him to.  Deep down, she didn't want him to die.
 

Will    I     say,

That he won't come there today?

That there's no possible way.
 

But we were too late.  Bremare was already gone.  No, he wasn't dead.  Well, maybe to us he was.
 

Because that's what we're here for,

That's why we fight forever more,

But he doesn't want to be with you...
 

But to himself, he was alive more than he'd ever been in a long time.
 

Will the bird ever fly again?

Can it forever ever be changed?

He will never be with you.
 

A secret passage in the room, which Fenrir knew about but I didn't, led us to the airport hangar.  Because I didn't know anything back then.
 

He    sees    you.

But everything is blue.

Because the one he hates is you.
 

But as I saw that jet plane take off with Bremare piloting it, now I knew.  I knew that the bird was finally soaring again.
 

Yet    he    tried.

He tried to stop on by.

He tried to stop on by.   Stop on by.
 

Enraged, Fenrir ran after the jet plane as it was taking off.  With a scream, she even managed to slash a wing quite badly.
 

But he can not fight the truth,

Despite how he knows about how it's rude.

And despite how he knows it breaks your heart.
 

For once, her sword didn't break.  Still, Lord Bison's sword wasn't enough to break the wing as the bearer of it soared into the air.  I guess Fenrir couldn't admit that you can't kill what's already dead.
 

Will the bird now ever soar?

Will it ever fly forever more?

It will now, now forever again.
 

Juni knew, though.  She didn't bother attempting to chase after Bremare like Fenrir did.  No, Juni remained content to just simply cry in the background where no one would notice.
 

Because that's what we're here for,
So think about it, dream about it,
That's why we fight forever more,
wonder about it,       act upon it,
But he doesn't want to be with you...
So run away, run away, run away...
 

Bremare didn't say a word, but I don't think I'll ever forget what Fenrir shouted after him, that day.
 

Can I smash all of this open,
That's what we're fighting for,
can I pass the hurt with a little pain?
That's why we fought forever more,
I wanna see all of it crumble, and start afresh and over again,
Because that's what we were fighting for, so run away, forever today...
 

"I will KILL you, Bremare!!!  Do you hear me?!?  YOU WILL NEVER ESCAPE FROM ME!  I WILL KILL YOU!!!!  I will destroy your mind, your body, your spirit, and YOUR LIFE!  Just like you did to me!!!  I WILL TRACK YOU DOWN TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH AND YOU WILL DIE BY MY SWORD, BREMARE!!!  YOU WILL DIE!!!!!!!!"
 

Oddly enough, amidst everyone scrambling to stop him, to prevent the impossible... amidst Fenrir's shouts and Juni's tears... in the middle of the hopelessness of everything as life decided to yank my wine away from me, I didn't share in any of the anger, the sadness, or even the depression.  For me, there was merely acceptance.  No amount of anything could fix things.  I realized long ago what we meant to you, Bremare.  So in the middle of all the chaos, I simply stood there and watched.  Because there was nothing else I could do.

"Goodbye, Bremare."  Juli calmly saluted as Fenrir continued to shout after him.  "I'll forgive you, Bremare.  So at least you know that makes two of us..."