Guilty Gear Transmigration: Light of Madness

Daubeny and Emi were in this room an hour ago. The ceiling seemed to stretch forever, with only the emergency lights casting a dim glow. But the most shocking thing was the creature that lay before them. It was a bear, the size of which reached the facility's ceiling. Its fur was matted and dirty, and its eyes were fixed on Emi and Daubeny. 

Daubeny froze, unsure of what to do as he had never seen or heard anything about bears being experimented on. But he was broken out of his shock when the bear let out a low growl, and Daubeny could feel the vibrations of its voice. Suddenly, the door behind them shook under the weight of the frog. It let out a deafening croak, and the door groaned under the pressure. 

"I need to do something!" Daubeny thought while he looked between the breaking door and the bear charging at him. But before he could do anything, the bear had already caught Emi in its jaws.

Daubeny felt his heart break as he watched his friend being swallowed whole by the bear. The sound of her screams echoed in his mind. He felt helpless and lost, unsure of what to do next.

Suddenly, the door behind him shook under the weight of the frog. It let out a deafening croak, and the door groaned under the pressure as the frog had broken into the room. Daubeny snapped out of his shock and looked between the frog already going to swallow him and the bear charging at him next.

"Fuck it, we ball!" Taking a quick, deep breath and screamed at the top of his lungs as he sprinted at the bear as he thought. "If I'm dying here, I'm taking one of your eyes!"

The bear lowered its head as if to bite but swatted him with one of its massive paws, sending him flying toward the wall. He was shot towards the wall as fast as a canon hit the wall hard, breaking his back. As he lay on the ground, the blood rushed up to his ears as he tried to breathe correctly.

"So... this is it." 

"Help... God, I feel the acid burning me."

"Just let him escape. There's still a chance for him to leave." 

These pleas for help were barely an audible whisper, yet Daubeny could hear them thanks to his enhanced hearing. He also listened to the sounds of their flesh melting against the stomach acid, although he had no way of knowing this at the moment.

"Is that their voices? Have I gone mad, and how can I hear them?" He asked himself, having trouble staying awake with one eye open, noticing the frog and bear tearing each other apart. 

As Daubeny struggled to get up, he felt a strange sensation in his body. His eyes began to glow red, and he felt a surge of power coursing through him. Suddenly, words appeared in his mind, and he shouted, "Bolt of Justice!"

A radiant golden light appeared above the frog and bear, and a magical circle appeared underneath Daubeny. The spell shot down from the ceiling, hitting the frog and bear with a deafening explosion and the smell of gunpowder. When the smoke cleared, the charred remains of the gear animals were seen as the bear was dead, but the frog still clung desperately to life.

Daubeny then concentrated all his energy on the light, which grew brighter until it exploded, shattering the frog's stomach and freeing what was left of Luis from its stomach.

With his remaining energy, Daubeny posed, lifting his arms above his head in a V shape with the palms out, whispering, "Praise the Sun!"

Then he slumped against the wall, exhausted from the effort and the pain he was feeling and fell unconscious. 

-

Daubeny retold the event he experienced, except that he had powers and was the one who caused the explosion. Serge had scouted further ahead, finding the hallways clear for the moment, and everyone had reached the break room. A vending machine in the had been smashed open with Serge's axe, and bottles of water passed around. The cool water was a relief to everyone's exhausted bodies, which had been strained by the continuous tension of the day. Each person was sitting in their own corner, with Daubeny and Frederick sitting on metal chairs by a small table. 

"This is what it feels like to be alive…."

Daubeny couldn't help but eat all of the high-nutrition food given to him by the machine alongside the water. At the same time, Frederick recounted the mysterious explosion from earlier, followed by the hounds and owls and then the elevator shaft. 

Daubeny raised his hand to halt his friend's story as he asked. "I'm surprised you're still alive after all that, but there's something more to it, right? You aren't eating anything."

Frederick held his head with both hands, staring at the table as he said slowly. "I've seen too much human blood and the deaths... I can't eat anything." Sighing while staring at the simple nutrient bar in his hand, he continued. "I'm sure I'll just throw it back up." 

"I think you should force yourself to eat it, don't you? We don't know what's going to happen next." Daubeny said as he held his own ration towards Frederick.

"You're really tough, you know that?" Frederick said to him.

It wasn't Daubeny who answered but Viidia, as she said. "You know, Frederick, you might be the only one who is holding back, right? It's surprising how these scientists can calm down in times of panic. They're tougher than you might think."

Nodding in agreement, he sighed and looked at them sadly. "I might not have known them very well, but they were still friends." Taking another bite of his nutrient bar, he continued, "All I can do right now to stop thinking back to them is to eat..."

"I honestly don't know how you do it, but it seems to me you're cured." Frederick couldn't help but chuckle as a part of his soul was put at ease by the knowledge that his friend would no longer die or suffer.

Daubeny tapped his chest gently with his fist as he swallowed a delicious food bar, beaming, "Yep! I've never felt better. There's no pain when breathing. I can walk and jog without an issue and regenerate like a superhero."

Keeping a small smile from his friend's childishness, Frederick asked the question that had been on his mind since he had woken up. "That's the best news I've heard all day, but are Aria and Asuka okay?" 

Looking conflicted, trying to find the right words to describe what had happened, Daubeny said, "Both of them are alive and well for sure in the gamma section."

Frederick released a breath of relief that he didn't know he had been holding onto for the last hour. "They're safe... They're safe... Then why aren't you with them?"

"Well... I was with them when Aria was put into a cryopod." Daubeny said.

"... She agreed to it?"

Daubeny nodded. "A few weeks ago, Asuka told her and me a way to save ourselves. After saying goodbye to her, I went to some room between the gamma and beta sections. In which I waited until Asuka arrived and made me go unconscious by saying a villainous speech, and then..." He stopped speaking, his face twitched, and he hesitated to speak. "Then... Then he... abandoned me to fight for myself."

Frederick looked taken aback by this. "Why would he leave you like that?"

"I don't know, we'll have to ask him ourselves; maybe I'm remembering it wrong." 

They remained in award silence, unsure how to continue the conversation, until Frederick broke the silence by asking.

"...About that, I don't remember anything from the last month except a few bits and pieces. Could you fill me in?"

Daubeny's movements became frozen halfway through eating another nutrient bar. "You don't remember anything?" He then began tapping his fingers against the table. "Okay... we don't have a lot of time left for me to explain, but there was a lot of talk about the dangers in the news the other day," Daubeny sputtered.

"News…? Danger?" Frederick involuntarily put his hand to his forehead.

"About a week ago, there was a report in the press about our research." Daubeny recounted as Frederick struggled to form words.

"Don't worry about that right now; as soon as we're safe and with Aria and Asuka, I'll explain them as soon as we get out."

Frederick wanted to say more but was interrupted by someone clapping loudly, with both hands above his head; Serge from across the room caught everyone's attention as he said to Frederick. 

"Our priority right now is to get out of here. If your friend has recovered, we can move ahead even faster now."

Looking in Serge's direction, they immediately understood the meaning of his words. Illuminated by the red and green of the emergency lights, the floor was beginning to reflect the light and causing ripples in...

"...Water?"

It was more than if someone had only spilled it. Daubeny followed the ripples on the floor to see what was happening and found that water had overflowed from the dust chute by the wall.

"Is it flooding…?"

Was it the result of the several explosions that had occurred earlier? Anyway, Daubeny and his team were headed for the lowest level of the Gamma Section. The escape boat, or the pathway to the escape boat, was supposed to be in that special Laboratory. 

If the Beta Section, where they were now, was not alone in quickly becoming flooded, then there was no more time to waste. Serge turned to Dustin.

"I didn't see any gates that looked like it on this floor, Dustin, but what floor is the junction with the Gamma Section on?"

"There should be five-floor divisions from the very bottom of the Beta Section."

"Got it. Then, let's hurry and head downstairs. I found them earlier."

"Down…? If you want to make sure you get into the Gamma Section, wouldn't it be better to go up?" Viidia disagreed with Serge's assessment.

"If the water is coming this far up, even though it's backed up from the air duct, the lower gate might not work anymore."

"Of course, we thought we might be able to escape by the stairs, but unfortunately, the stairway to the top was blocked for a whole floor."

"The aftermath of the earlier collapse?"

"It could be the effects of an explosion from when this was all starting?"

In answer to Daubeny's question, Serge clapped his hands twice. "At any rate, if the escape boat and its tunnel are submerged, there will be nothing we can do. Let's hurry!."

With these words, they all started to move.

"I guess that's okay..."

For some reason, Viidia seemed dissatisfied, but Frederick's hearing did not miss the barely audible complaint she let out shortly after that.

"Tunnel, huh? Disgusting."

"Well, there's only one way. It happens."

"What? Did you hear that?"

"Don't think anything of it. I'm sick of this sharp hearing, too."

Frederick patted Viidia on the shoulder to comfort her and started walking away.

"Frederick, I'm sorry, but can you and your friend take the lead?"

The line would naturally form without being told to do so. Frederick and Daubeny consented. They both accepted the last of the emergency axes. Both led the group out of the break room and into the corridor with Daubeny in the front.

Then Daubeny said, "Serge, which way to the stairs?"

"Straight ahead, then right at the end."

Daubeny followed the instructions from Serge's voice behind them and started down the hallway. Since Serge had looked around earlier and was fine, it was unlikely that a monster would attack anytime soon, but what would have happened if he had gone down one floor was unknown. As the staircase came into view in the glow of the emergency lights. 

Daubeny braced himself. But when he looked behind him, he saw only Viidia and Frederick there with him asking.

"What happened to the others?"

"I guess they don't want to be anywhere near danger, huh?"

Daubeny sighed at Viidia's unconvincing smile.

"They're willing to let Frederick and me get eaten at the first encounter."

It wasn't hard to understand the staff's desire to leave a leg to run on or to keep some distance from Daubney and Frederick.

"But they just told us they didn't have much time left."

"Well, if we keep going, they'll follow."

"Are you sure you want to be at the front of the line?"

"If you think about it, it might be safer for me to be behind you." Viidia flashed a quick wink at Daubeny.

"That isn't making me feel any better…." Daubeny said while removing some blood from his uniform with the shallow water.

"Well, I suppose we'll make good physical shield substitutes," Frederick said, and Viidia shrugged and looked back down the hallway where the rest of the group was.

But for some strange reason, her eyes, looking behind her, seemed somewhat cold. "Hm. Looks like they're finally here."

Daubeny followed her gaze and blinked a few times involuntarily. The red of the emergency lights, visible behind the following station staff. He thought he saw it flicker for a moment.

"Sorry, I'm a little late." Serge took the third lead behind Frederick, and the remaining staff caught up behind him. But then, for some reason, Daubeny had a strangely bad feeling. He stared at the red of the emergency lights shining behind them until Serge spoke up.

"What's wrong? Keep moving."

"You're right, sorry."

As Daubeny made his way to the staircase, he thought about conflicting information he had realized.

"I thought at first I received the Flame of Corruption, but Frederick is a Gear... and I don't think I received the Scales of Juno." 

The two divine seeds, or cores, for a better word, are the Flame of Corruption and Scales of Juno. They are two immortal informational bodies that have existed in the backyard for billions of years, granting whoever has them immense power at a cost. Whether it be the urge to destroy like the Flame of Corruption or whatever the price is for the Scales of Juno.

"Regardless of either one, there should be a noticeable symptom. That's what's worrying me right now."

He thought of these questions while making his way down the staircases.