Chaos on the Regnum Dei (Gantz/Zero)

[doctorzero]

Raleigh actually flinched upon being addressed. “...yes, I suppose I do, don't I?”

“You have NO idea!”



Jaron had grabbed Raleigh and slammed him against the wall before he could react. “Starting with those stupid stunts you tried to pull when I got here! Making me play this stupid—this stupid GAME of yours—you actually tried to get people killed, and don't even get me STARTED on Nightmare and that...that...you..."

He flatly ignored any protests Gantz and Red were voicing. “You had no right. No right at ALL to do any of those stupid things! All of this—this is all your fault! YOU JUST COULDN'T LEAVE US ALONE, COULDN'T YOU!!!”

The sheer fury boiling in his veins clouded any other thoughts he might've had. All that mattered was venting his rage against...against this THING.

“You nearly got my friends killed, and Kaitlin...you just...You...you...YOU...YOU STUPID PILE OF—I OUGHTA KILL YOU!!!”

He pulled his fist back—

This isn't you.

He stopped.

(Music stops.)

He was angry, yes. He had every right to beat the stuffing out of Raleigh.

But...this wasn't him. He would never act like this.

All the anger drained away as he released Raleigh, who fell against the wall. He stared at his hands, horrified.



“W...w-what...” he stammered, “What...what came over...oh my...oh sweet Mio, I...I...I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I—”

Raleigh simply got back on his feet, rubbing his neck. “By all rights, your anger's perfectly justified.”

“But I would NEVER—” Jaron choked.

[gantzgun74]

Gantz and Red watched in more then apparent surprise as Jaron suddenly slammed Raleigh against the wall. Much like Jaron hadn't been used to seeing Gantz act like a father, this had been a side of Jaron that Gantz had never seen before.

"J-Jaron, what the he-" He was soundly ignored as Jaron went on his rant, while Red remained silent out of fear. Gantz had been prepared to catch Jaron's fist, but the man had quickly stopped.

..............................

"..... Jaron, look... Everyone can get pushed that far. Anyone. Just look at me." Gantz monotoned this as he looked away. "Either way, Jaron has a point. There is a lot of things that need to be explained... And not a lot of it could be explained EASILY given how the last few days has progressed."

[doctorzero]

There had been plenty of times where Jaron had gotten angry. Heck, the past few days alone were evidence of that.

But this had been the first time he had ever actually wished to hurt someone. And quite frankly, it terrified him.

He sat down on the bed, staring at his hands. “...”

Raleigh broke the ice. “Well, er, now that we have that out of the way, I suppose we...er...Jaron.”

He looked up. “Y-yes?”

“You had a point. My behavior for the past few days was utterly despicable. The things I did to you, your friends, and others...there is no excuse to my actions.”

…

“Then why did you do it?” Jaron asked, quietly.

…

“Things...escalated.”

Jaron looked up at him, his expression blank.

“I don't know what you mean.”

“My...original intent,” Raleigh said slowly, “was more benign in nature. You're an anomaly, Jaron, let's not hide the fact. Thadeus's attitude towards you caught my attention. I wanted to understand why, as well as learn more about you.” He shook his head. “It would've been more simpler to ask.”

“Then why didn't you?”

…

“I...” He stopped. “I...”
Come on, you idiot, say it already. Get it over with. You have nothing to lose by telling them.
It was clear that he had an answer. So why wasn't he sharing it?

[gantzgun74]

.................. Gantz's eyes narrowed suspiciously as Raleigh's response delayed. Something about this didn't seem to fly by him... "You... What?"

Red looked curious herself, unsure of what to say or what to do... "Come on Mr.... You can tell us...."

[doctorzero]

Raleigh seemed to visibly struggle for a moment.
It's just a few words. Tell them. Tell them you couldn't handle the strain, dammit.
Jaron watched him for a moment. “Raleigh—”

“I should show you something,” Raleigh said at last.
Okay, fine. Dodge the question.
With some visible hesitation, Raleigh reached into a pocket and pulled something out.

“I told you before that Thadeus can't enter the island due to it being protected,” he said. “Here is the source of it.”

It was an orb of what appeared to be pure glass, colored a shining gold. Strange letters were printed on it, written in some language they didn't understand. The most interesting thing, though, was that there was a small number of cracks in the glass.

Jaron was almost mesmerized by it. “What IS that...?” He reached for it—

Only for Raleigh to jerk it away. “I'd...rather you didn't.”
Finally, you say something smart. I wouldn't trust him with that thing anyway, he breaks everything he touches.
Jaron withdrew his hand, looking embarrassed. “S-sorry. But seriously, what IS it?”

“The thing protecting the island. It's called a Mother Gospel.”

Something clicked. "Wait, THAT'S the Mother thingamajig?"

"You know about it?" Raleigh asked, looking mildly alarmed.

"Yeah, that guy on the message thing mentioned it. He said it's what's protecting the island."

[gantzgun74]

"Wait, message thing what're you-" The young man shook his head, there were more immediate concerns to be had. ".... So... This is what's protecting the island...." He looked it over a moment. "You called it a Mother Gospel but.... What exactly IS IT? What could possibly be strong enough to keep back Thaddeus like this?"

That's when he noticed something else. "And... Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't those.... CRACKS??"

Math was done as this scene went on. "Wait a minute... Let me guess..." He thought a moment. "Those monster things that Zero can unknowingly summon. You said that with each monster he summons the less this island becomes protected due to an energy something or other weakening." ... He looked... ALARMED at the answer that was becoming apparent. "Are you honestly telling me that something THIS small is the source of that?? LOOK at this thing! It's taken a hell of a beating... If Zero was let loose again and went nuts with that stupid gauntlet, it's going to shatter for sure."

[doctorzero]

Raleigh's lips thinned. “I'd rather not go into the exact details. Suffice it to say that it works as a Thadeus repellent. Besides, Gantz, you shouldn't underestimate something just because of its size.”

“Even though it's that damaged?” Jaron asked. “Gantz is right, if Zero does his thing with that claw of his, it's going to break into tiny pieces.”

“Not precisely. It can still manage for at least four times, if we're doing our math right,” Raleigh admitted. “Of course, I'd rather we not risk that.”

Jaron examined the Gospel. “I don't suppose you could fix it? That guy said that it could be fixed.”

“Out of curiosity, Jaron, who is this 'guy' you keep refering to?”

Jaron shrugged. “Dunno, he wouldn't say who he was.”

Raleigh pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Right. Of course.”

“What, you know him?”

“Sort of. Back to the matter at hand. We CAN fix it, it's just that there's one problem.”

Of course there was a problem. Heaven forbid things be EASY.

“Well, what is it?”

“...we're not sure how.”
Oh, son of a bitch.
Jaron stared at him, baffled. “You don't know how to—What do you MEAN you don't know how?!”

[gantzgun74]

There was an indignant facepalm at this moment of stupidity. "So let me get this straight; You know a person that could fix this problem and yet YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO IT YOURSELF?? Who the hell even is this guy you're talking about ANYWAY?"

Red looked at the Mother Gospel Sphere her eyes wide in wonder... "Wow.... It is pretty... It's... Just too bad it has to be in shabby shape.... What can we do?"

[doctorzero]

“Who he is isn't important—”

“He might be,” Jaron replied.

“We're getting off topic—”

“Raleigh, this guy clearly knows just as much about this as you do,” Jaron continued, “and if he can actually fix it, then we—”

“He CAN'T fix it,” said Raleigh irritably. “I don't know why he would say so. And he would be more of a hindrance than a help. Did he tell you why he can't come here?”

There was a pause.

“...I can't remember, actually,” Jaron admitted sheepishly.

Raleigh grunted. “He cannot approach the island, because if he DID, Thadeus will follow him in a heartbeat.”

Another pause.

“But what about the Mo—”

“Wouldn't matter. The individual in question is a...special case.” Raleigh's expression darkened. “Thadeus would quite blatantly ignore the rules and enter the island if HE were to arrive here.”

“...that...doesn't make much sense,” said Jaron.

“Things hardly do when he's involved. Involving him at ALL is never a good idea. We can't rely on him for anything here.”

Jaron nodded, though he was rather unsatisfied with the response. “What's his name, anyway?”

“No idea,” said Raleigh. “Now back to the matter at hand, please?”

[gantzgun74]

There was yet another facepalm as Raleigh decisively shot that option out of the sky. He SWORE Thaddeus was starting to irk him more and more with each passing second. "Okay, back to previous topic then... Which is absolutely NOWHERE. We still have no idea how we can fix this thing, even though it's pretty obvious THAT WE HAVE TO."

"There has to be something we can do....." Red said as she thought deeply.....

............ Wait a second....

"Hold on...." She looked to Raleigh... "Where... did you even find that thing anyway? Maybe if we track down where it was made, we can have someone fix it?" Gantz was about to say something to this, but found no flaw in that idea. Could it have been possible that the Mother Gospel was created? SOMEONE had to have known how it came to be...

[doctorzero]

Well, that was an idea.

“She has a point,” said Jaron. “Where'd you find the thing? It might have some sort of clue.”

“The chapel near Gantz's mansion.”

...none of them had expected the answer to be so abrupt.

“The...wait, the WHAT?” Jaron shook his head, flabbergasted. “The same chapel I woke up in, right? THAT chapel?”
Ask a stupid question...
“The same.”

He was afraid he already knew the answer, but he had to ask. “When—”

“About an hour before you arrived.”

Right. Of course. He now knew how Kaitlin felt.
Believe me, the reader's banging their heads against the desk too.
“Okay, so it was in the chapel, you found it before I showed up...well, what was it DOING there? And DON'T say you have no idea.”
Oh, he knows alright.
Raleigh paused. Cue facepalm on Jaron's part. “Oh, we're not going to like the answer, are we?”

“No, you won't,” Raleigh admitted. “I don't know the exact details of how the Gospel arrived on this island. Maybe someone took it there, or it went adrift somehow and ended up here on some debris or something. Either way, someone probably liked the look of it and used it as a church decoration.”

“Either way, that STILL doesn't help,” Jaron grumbled. “We don't know how to fix it, we don't know where it CAME from, and now—honestly, Raleigh, if I didn't know better I'd say you were being deliberately unhelpful!”

Raleigh was up in his face in his adult guise before he knew what was happening. “Would I mislead you in a situation like this?!” he growled.

“...no. No, not at all,” Jaron said quietly.

Raleigh took a step back. “I'm sorry for making the situation sound hopeless. But we're not completely out of options, however. I don't know how to fix it...yet. It's entirely possible for me to figure it out. I just need time.”

Jaron was about to respond when a thought struck him. Wait, if he doesn't know how to fix it or where it came from...then how come he knows so much about it anyway?

[gantzgun74]

Well there went that plan... Upon noticing Red's disappointed face to this, Gantz smiled. "It's okay Red, it was a nice idea." He groans as he turns back to Kavma. "IN ANY CASES, this doesn't bode well for any of us. Let's face it Kavma, if Thaddeus is as unpredictable as you claim, it's likely he's already working up some kind of plan to screw things up. I hate being a nag, but we need an answer and fast."

He sat down on a chair. "Okay.... Let's approach this logically... Is the Mother Gospel REALLY the only thing protecting the island? If it can repel Thaddeus it needs something that Thaddeus can't get close to or otherwise can't stand. What could that be?"

Gantz had plenty of questions regarding the Island, how Raleigh knew so much about the Gospel... Maybe some about this... Ingrid character.... But he had his priorities straight. He knew that this matter came before personal curiosity.

"Also... Are you SURE Thaddeus can't approach this island any other way? It's either this mystery guy shows up and screws everyone over, or something shatters the gospel? We should do our best to cover all bases..."

[doctorzero]

“Thadeus cannot enter the island with the Gospel in place, period,” Raleigh said flatly. “Believe me, if there was another way he would've done so a long time ago.”
Or he would, if the island had any interest.
“What about Zero?” Jaron asked. “I mean, he managed to crack the thing with those monsters, what if Thadeus managed to send him here to do that?”

Raleigh raised an eyebrow. “You just figured that out?”

Jaron rubbed the back of his head. “No, I—I thought it was kind of obvious, actually...”

“Zero stole our prototype D Gear and the tainted DEVA sample. And given his increasingly deranged behavior, there's no way Thadeus isn't influencing him.” He looked to Gantz and Red. “Which is why we will be removing Zero from the island at the first opportunity.”

[gantzgun74]

"At first opportunity? Screw THAT man, you need to get Zero away from the island NOW. Yesterday is great too." Gantz said with a completely straight face. "The longer he remains here, the more we risk. I more then remember what you said about what Thaddeus is capable of if he managed to get here."

That seemed to catch Red's attention. "Huh? What'll happen if he does?"

"You don't wanna know." He sighs a bit. "Jesus... Can we NOT catch a break here? ..... Look Raleigh, if you need time, we'll do what we can to give you time. Just PLEASE find the answer ASAP."

That's when Red noticed something odd about Gantz. He seemed to be getting even more skittish. "Dad? Are... Are you okay?"

Gantz tried to answer, but he felt his head swim and his knees quiver. "..... No. The reason I'm so on edge is because my head's getting all swimmy and my knees have been shaking for a while..." Jaron looked curious at this. "In one of the world's I visited, I practiced an ancient art of mental Manipulation and spiritual perception called the dreaming. This feeling I'm feeling is called the Gitchy.... Trust me when I say that the Gitchy is never a good sign... And it's NEVER WRONG."

[doctorzero]

Ever heard of the saying, 'it has to get worse before it gets better?'
It's wrong. It never gets better. Ever.
Jaron desperately hoped that saying was true, because he didn't know how much more he could take this week.

“Are you sure it's never wrong?” he asked hopefully. “You might just have...er...gas, or something?”

“Jaron, it is never gas, or any other kind of ilness,” Raleigh said, sounding resigned. “It's never wrong by definition. Otherwise he wouldn't have the feeling—”

He was interrupted by a loud knocking on the door. “Enter!”

Cue the panicked CRL Agent. “S-sir! Raleigh! We have a HUGE problem!”
And it's in my pants.
“Did Zero escape?!” Jaron asked, hoping that he was wrong.
Do you have to ask?
“That's just the first thing!”

“There's more?!”

“We can discuss it on the way,” Raleigh snapped as he moved past Jaron on his way to the door. “Siles, fill me in as we go.”

The agent saluted and left the room. Raleigh turned to the other three.

“Either stay or follow, I don't care, but remember the danger involved.”

Jaron immediately stepped forward. “Well, I'm coming.”
Ever the idiot, gallivanting off into danger when common sense says no.
Raleigh raised an eyebrow.

“Hey, Zero's loose, what if he tries to hurt the others?”

“Zero would be more preoccupied with CRL personnel and myself.”

“Won't stop me,” Jaron said defiantly.