Chapter 3: Chapter 3 - Dreamscape of Entwined Destinies [Rewrite]
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~(3 months later)~
*Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap*
Opening his eyes to the noises of steps, Ryo looked around and examined some of the doctors entering his ward.
Ryo looked at the doctors calmly, suppressing his instinctive anger. They wearing white suits as they entered the room where he was.
For past few weeks, these people had started to use some kind of solution to make Ryo become paralyzed as they used metallic claws and sharp objects to extract blood and do some stuff to his body.
He would have been okay if it was in his previous life as he had gone through proper torture resistance training to numb his nerves; but due to his new body, even the smallest of pain hurt-ed him like hell, especially when the curse multiplied the pain by several times.
Ryo's breathing became irregular as he saw how the doctors in front of him started to work over his body.
Ryo looked at Werner Franxx while his body twitched in pain, only to find him staring back at him, making him almost flinch in small shock, but suddenly the wave of calmness returned, making him relax and act like a baby.
Although he doesn't know whether his abnormalities and thoughts were noticed by Franxx or not, he has tried his best to act as a normal child; that is to act according to the thought and instincts of his Klaxosaur blood was telling him to do.
*Grrr* *Blub* *Blub* *Blub* *Blub*
Taking his instincts into consideration, he started to try to tense his muscles and make his breathing as violent as possible when he was in contact with the Magama using machinery. This was merely an act he had to put on the forefront to fool the doctor.
___
(-- Werner Franxx's POV --)
'Interesting! This is quite fascinating!!'
Looking at the test subject, Code 003, I felt an unknown excitement boiling inside me. For a few days, I was keenly observing all his actions, and astonishingly, I was able to see a ray of wisdom far ahead of that of a child inside his mind.
'This is terrifying. At such an age it is able to show signs of intelligence!? I don't know if it's for the good or bad for mankind...'
Although it was interesting, I was also terrified of its adaption. I don't know why but I still can't determine whether 001 can influence him mentally or not. If the child is just like the Queen... I don't know if it will bring doom to us or a blessing...
'He is showing aggressiveness to Humans, especially when we are using equipment fueled by Magma Energy. So he is indeed influenced biologically by his instincts... But there is surprisingly no major attack on the Plantation recently...'
Shaking the feeling of fear, I continue looking at it, 'What is the mystery behind his intellect? It is impossible to have intelligence at such a young age, but I can still see confusion and interest in his eyes when he sees new objects when presented. This means that although he is influenced by his instincts, he is not controlled by the Queen mentally.'
'So he is learning at a fast rate? That would be impossible as his brain should not have been this developed at such a young age... So was it his Genetic Irregularity? That explains... A reward after losing control of emotions. Quite fantastic!'
I started to think of various scenarios of the reason behind how 003 was acting.
He is quite a fascinating experiment, even more than 002!
With 002's instincts and 003's mental capabilities, I will be able to reach the peak of evolution!
'...'
'I hope the 9's Plan for 002's clone will give fruitious results... This brings me back the memories with Karina...', With a stay thought of her, I remembered how my life had been, 'I hope... No... there is no hope in this world... not anymore...'
Stray thoughts started to make me feel confused. Shaking away these stray thoughts, I looked back at 003 as he tried to struggle as a few injections pierced his body...
Looking at the increasing mental reaction, I ordered, "Inject AR101. This is enough data for now." Without looking back, I walked out of the room as some soldiers followed me.
'The council has started to put more eyes on my actions. I hope they don't get in my way. I am very close to success now. It would be really bad if they started to interfere... I can't allow that...'
A flash of thoughts passed my mind as I walked through the hallway and reached the elevators. 'Code 003... Hah'.
-
(-- 3rd POV --)
"R...R..."
"Ry-... R... Ryo!"
"RYO! WAKE THE FUCK UP!"
Waking up from the shouting of a girl, Ryo was startled and jumped out of his body.
*Huff* *Huff* *Huff* *Huff*
Looking around frantically, Ryo saw a teenage girl in a well-dressed suit. She had jet blue hair and eyes with shoulder-length hair. She was his one and only 'love' and the one who he hated and wanted to kill the most in 'this' world's future.
With an annoyed face, she was looking at Ryo, but as soon as he almost jumped out of his bed, a small blush married her face with a deep breath, she looked away in annoyance and said with an annoyed face, "For god's sake! Get in the habit of wearing clothes while going to sleep! This will be the only time I will let you go."
"Now hurry the fuck up or else I will have to kick your sorry ass for being late to the classes!"
With that, she made a Hmuf sound and walked out of Ryo's room in a bit hurried steps and closed the door.
"Nana...?"
All this while, Ryo was so confused about his current situation...
As he looked down, he saw himself naked, while his body and bed were stained with sweat.
With a confused face, Ryo stood up as suddenly the door opened, making Ryo quickly snap in a hurry and use his blanket to wrap around his lower area.
The door opened by a small gap as a head peaked inside that belonged to a brown-haired teenager.
The boy looked around the room like a cat, trying to find something interesting. As soon as his eyes fell on Ryo, his eyes widened, which widened further when he saw Ryo wrapping his lower area with a blanket.
"Sorry! I just wanted to wake you up as you were a bit late!"
*Bam*
"He ran away..." A cold light flashed in his eyes as the teenage boy closed the door, while Ryo stood there, trying to find the situation.
"..."
"System?"
"..."
Ryo raised eyes and looked at his room in confusion. 'The system is not here. Am I in some sort of illusion?'
"I know I am in illusion, so how about we just skip it to the main point?", Sighing with boredom, Ryo said it out loud... Only to see nothing change...
'Well. This technique usually works well in many stories... Haha. It looks like I have been dreaming a lot recently or something... But... What if it wasn't a dream as the memories that I have are clearly inside my head?'
'Usually, humans forget what they were dreaming after they wake up. And I know what the future holds, making me sure that I'm inside an illusion. If this is the same day as I know, then I will be able to figure out the truth.'
With a mental note, Ryo looked at the clock by his bead and widened his eyes as he saw how late he was going to be.
---
*Huff* *Huff*
Sweating heavily, Ryo quickly entered the class and saw Harry, the brown-haired boy wave at him with a small smile blooming on his face.
Walking through a long corridor took a lot of energy out of Ryo. After all, he was currently inside the Central Nation Mutant Nursery High School. A high school specially created for nurturing Mutant from 1st Rank to the 3rd Rank ones.
Harry, his best friend was a 2nd Rank Offence Type Mutant, Nana was also a 2nd Rank Support Type Mutant while, his other teammate, whose current whereabouts were unknown, who was having a cold was called Haru, a 1st Rank Research Type Mutant.
Giving a nod to Harry, Ryo walked to his seat, which was just by Harry's, but he didn't forget to give an apologetic nod to the girl sitting on the seat in front of his own.
Nana gave a nod back to him with a bored expression.
'It is the same. This further proved my assumption but I don't know why they are showing me this... Wait I think I have it figured out...', With a small sigh, Ryo narrowed his eyes as if figuring out the potential reason for him being in that place.
With that, he quickly walked onto his seat as soon the teacher entered and started to teach new subjects to them.
___
*Tring*
Soon the bell rang, prompting the teacher to stop teaching the class and leave for his lunch break. As soon as the teacher walked out of the class, all the students started to walk out of the classes to the dining hall.
Harry on the other hand walked up to Ryo and said, "Bro, I won't be able to join you guys. I have some important stuff to do. You can go ahead and grab some lunch."
Coming closer to Ryo's ears, he whispered, "By the way, Nana and you will be alone today. Haru was a bit sick so he won't be joining you. So don't forget to give us a party after that, OK?"
With a smug face, Harry rushed out of the class, leaving behind Ryo and Nana. But Ryo ignored the girl sitting by him as his eyes quietly followed Harry.
Although there are many students in the class, the class was actually divided into multiple smaller parts that were formed by the Dean and usually these groups don't interact with each other.
The main reason is that the students can plagiarism the projects from other groups, they can also do shady stuff like acting as an information broker, scandal creations, or bullying someone.
After all, to make students grow mentally and make them more mature and adapt to the new modern society, CN formed groups and made them independent. This not only improved the quality of students but also improved the 'internal' economy.
It's like a small working city but working within a certain area without outer influence except for connections from 3rd Rank ones or higher.
So to not offend anyone that can spark such conflicts, these groups usually just don't interact with each other except for some common courtesy like greeting and stuff.
'Let's follow the plan.', Ryo stood up from his desk and looked at Nana, who was looking at him with expectations.
'We had a complicated relationship... I used to like her but I would also be the first one to kill her if I was actually really reborn. After all, she made me who I was... And I was the one who killed her.'
Ryo knew the future, and he was sure that if he followed the past, he would have been in deep conspiracies, and overall in the end, again follow fate and kill her.
Even if there was his 3rd ranked father who was watching over their every move, Ryo had already formulated a strategy to destroy all the major powerful families that would definitely come his way.
But there was something much more essential for him to do right now...
With a regretful smile, Ryo said, "Sorry Nana, I too won't be able to join you. I've got something important."
"Wait..!"
With that, Ryo quickly rushed out of the classroom, trying to catch up with Harry.
With a bit of trembling hand, he rushed out of the room. But he still wasn't able to find a shadow of Harry. But even then an unknown mental smirk formed in his mind, 'Let the acting begin.'
After a quick withdrawal from the bank, he rushed to "Feral Cameras" a hidden information breaker house, a place where his friend Harry used to go.
It was unknown even to Ryo why Harry would be visiting such a place as this place was a hidden area. It was so hidden that only the 3rd Rank ones knew about it and from his future knowledge, Harry didn't have any connection with any 3rd Rank ones.
'Wait... Don't tell me... Harry... don't make me regret making you my friend...', An assumption came to his mind as he entered a Cab and rushed to the Feral Cameras, a shop, selling replicas of old vintage cameras.
___
Buying a mask, cap, shirt, and some other stuff, Ryo calmly entered Feral Cameras.
He then walked to the manager tapped the table and said, "Red. Camera. Broker.", A password that was once given to him by the same organization in the future when his ability shined a bit.
With a brow raised, the manager smiled and welcomed Ryo and pressed a button by his seat as a gate opened by a camera self. A substantial tan bodyguard was guarding the door.
With a bow, he started to walk while encouraging Ryo to follow him. With that, Ryo suddenly flicked his hand, trying to press an area on the back of the bodyguard.
But as if expecting the attack, the Bodyguard, quickly dodged the attack.
'As expected. He is trained.', Ryo already knew about it. As a hidden organization, the bodyguard in front of him was a 2nd Rank Offence Type Mutant.
"Broken Ingis."
Ryo said a word, making the tan bodyguard stop his track. It was as if he stopped moving completely. With that, Ryo quickly rushed and knocked out the manager who was in a state of shock before he could alert the others.
With that, Ryo walked up to the tan guys and ordered, "Enter the area and hide this inside the room where this guy is.", showing the picture of Harry, Ryo gave the guy a camera recording device.
"After that, you will forget what happened. The only thing that you will remember is that you had a fight with your manager and you accidentally knocked him out and dissatisfied your customer. Do you understand?"
With a nod, the tan guy took the recorder and walked away as Ryo also walked outside to an annoying place.
---
*Bam* *Bam* *Bam*
With an expressionless face, Ryo heard the noises from the device in his hand. The gunshots and information he got from their talk were enough for him to think of his life again. 'So he got into Nana's family business and tried to sell our information out...'
Emptiness...
Looking at the now Darker sky, a tear flowed from his eyes as Ryo clenched his fists and shouted out. "Have you seen enough? Can we stop playing this game? This is already enough and I'm tired of this."
"..."
*Crack* *Crack* *Bang!*
Suddenly the sky started to form cracks as all of Ryo's surroundings disappeared as he was left floating inside a void of darkness.
In front of Ryo were two beings floating in the void. One was a completely Red Humanoid Entity while the other was Dark Blue Humanoid Entity.
Clenching his fist, Ryo took a deep breath and calmed his mind down. Just then he noticed that he was in his old body, the same body which he used to have before it was blown into nothingness by the experiment.
Opening and closing his hands a few times, Ryo looked back at them expressionlessly at the two beings who were watching him silently, and asked, "Who are you and what do you want? Surely you didn't make me go through all that for no reason, right?"
'Let's maintain my character until or unless they are able to read my mind, but they probably aren't able to... Otherwise, things won't have been developed to this point. Why would they waste their time? They are trying to perceive my personality if I am correct...'
'They only wanted to see my character... And I showed them something they can use... A broken man, but they can't read my mind or else they wouldn't have resorted to it. This is probably because of the System.'
With a short silence in the void, the Dark red entity moved his hand and snapped his finger, summoning a long table.
While this was happening, the dark purple 'spoke', "Why in such a hurry? We will answer your questions but do take a seat first.", with that, a chair popped into existence just by the side of the table.
Nodding his head, Ryo sat on the chair while looking at the two others sitting in front of him, "How about we get to the point? Who... No... What are you...?"
"We? We are concepts. Concepts that form the basics of the universe. We are the reason the multiverses forms, follow the laws-"
With a small frown, Ryo interrupted the dark blue entity, and continued, "How about we go straight to the point like I said? I know the basics of concepts and I have studied a lot about them. There are various different concepts that form reality but which one of them are you? And what do you want from me?"
As soon as Ryo said that, he felt a chill pass his body as the blue entity continued, "... You are quite a rude man, Ryo... I am the concept of 'Order', while this is 'Chaos'. I can control positivity while 'Chaos' can control Negativity. We are currently looking for a being who passes our criteria."
Frowing, Ryo asked back, "Criteria? What is there for me if I complete all the required conditions?"
"Haha. I like you, Otsuki Ryo, but sadly you don't fulfill all the requirements, that's all you need to know. As for what you will get if you were chosen? We would have supported your growth so that you can help us in the future."
Ryo's eyes raised as he looked over to Chaos's side, "... I see. So you even want to kill D-?"
"Don't say his name! Although we were able to talk to you in this separate dream dimension, taking his name will gather his attention."
"As for the reason we want to kill him? Just know that 'He' breaks off the balance of the Infiniteverse! 'He' has too much power and we can neither see nor control him. This breaks the laws of Paradox."
'Paradox? I need to dive deep into this term. And they sound like hypocrites. Control 'Him' for being too strong? Heh.'
Sighing, Ryo replied, "... I see... Looks like the talk is over. Is there anything else there for me? After all, I went through all that just for waste?"
"... Well as a reward for going our test... how about we let you talk to the soul fragment of your father?"
*Bang*
Standing in anger, Ryo instantly held the Red being 'neck' with a tight grip as if trying to choke him. "Do you know what you did?"
*Bang*
With a single flick of his finger, the Chaos sent Ryo into a dream-like state.
Looking back at the Order, Chaos responded in annoyance, "Why are you denying him? I like him and he is supported by the unknown entity. If we find a way, we can raise him to defeat 'Him'!"
Order looked at the scene and sounded uninterested, "Do you really think so?"
This caused the scene to go silent, from Ryo's perspective but actually, both entities were communicating telepathically.
(Chaos)<>
(Order)<>
"..."
With that silence ensued. The two opposite concepts were standing in the same place and talking peacefully after a very long time. But due to its properties, Chaos wasn't able to accept not interfering with Ryo and helping him grow while Order did not accept helping Ryo as it would break the future and alert the opponent.
Furthermore, they have already formulated all the possible ways he can grow with each different variation. It was just a matter of time for them, to wait for Ryo to grow and help them in their goals.
-----
(-- Ryo's POV --)
I looked into endless darkness, trying to understand where I was. 'Was I successful? I think they aren't able to read my mind for sure, or else they would have said something about it. Let's wait and see...'
'I am sure that although they weren't successful in uncovering my personality they would have still created a lot of contingencies for every different action I could take. But I feel like Chaos is showing me some sort of favoritism. I don't expect him to offer me a reward.'
'On the other end, Order was the most creative one. He is trying to somehow give me a favor by revealing some information. This makes it so complicated. Who are trustful and who are not... But I am sure that they will definitely know that I will be rising in power or else they won't have even met me...'
'What if their goal was to agitate me to kill them in the future...? I cannot trust either of them. I don't know there are just too many possibilities. But there is one thing for sure, they can't hurt me... Probably because of protection from System... or 'Him'...'
I knew for sure that if they were stronger than Dio, they wouldn't have tried to make me go through that dream world. That was just a waste of time and energy from their side. But the information they provided me also helped me learn a lot.
With that, I took a deep breath. There are too many possibilities. Too many loopholes or just too many theories.
'The information they provided me was already confusing enough to form a picture in my mind of the higher world. For now, my primary goal will be to grow strong and fulfill my goal of achieving the 'Perfect Ending' that befits me.'
"Ryo... is that you?"
'This voice... Hah... I can't face him like this... I can't show him what I have become. It's better for him to see me as what I used to be.', Taking a deep breath, I calmed down my mind and turned in the direction where my 'Father' was.
I saw him; with brown eyes, black hair, and a beard, he walked toward me quickly and hugged me. To that, I also hugged him back.
Feeling him pat my back, memories freshened as I remembered how we used to live. A lovely simple life.
He grabbed my shoulders and asked, "How are you, Son? And what the hell is going on right now? I thought that I was dead but then a red floating figure came to me and introduced himself as a ROB and asked me what I wished for... and here I am!"
Knowing what was about to come, I smiled wryly at him and narrated what had happened to me and how we met again. Albeit, missing a lot of information. It was for the best of him.
Both of us knew that it was not time for jokes. Both of us sat down on the empty... void? It was hard to say as we were literally floating in the void and were actually floating in the endless darkness.
"You know, Ryo... I always wished to live a quiet life. Yes, I did indeed wish for an exciting life but when I looked upon my thoughts, I deep down knew that what I truly wished for was a quite happy life. I have already seen so many tragedies. So much so, that I asked myself what was truly the real meaning of life... And do you know what conclusion I came to?"
"...I know... Death. The state when you stop feeling everything."
"... I don't know what led you to think that but it's not that. It's about enjoying life as much as you can and trying to make others happy. Happiness is the final goal of life. But you have to be very careful about it. It can be dangerous."
Patting my shoulder, he continued, "Sometimes happiness can be very addictive. It can make you go to lengths to do something. But you have to make a line for your satisfaction. Overdose of anything is not good. As for how to gain happiness? It depends on your goals. Tell me, Ryo what do you think is your goal?"
'What my goal is...?'
"I think it's reaching the peak and being in control of my own destiny.", I lied under my breath and replied. I can't tell him my real goal. It's better for him to not know.
"... Do you really think so? Don't try to confuse yourself. I can see the uncertainty in your eyes. Eyes are the window of souls, haha! So tell me your real desire..."
My heart skipped a beat. 'Did he figure out my real intentions? No... He was not that keen observer... Let's go over the information... Happiness... Simple life...'
"My real desire...?", Laying flat in the void, my memories flashed through my eyes. Many smiles, smirks, sad faces, satisfied faces, eyes of emptiness, people with great ambitions...
"..."
"I think I know what my real desires are..."
A smile formed on my face. To that, he chuckled at my expression. Going through so many things and having many conflicts in my mind... He knew for sure... But it was all just a false dream.
"So tell me, Ryo, what are your real desires?"
"... I desired a normal short life. Full of happiness, where I can feel free, unbounded by any chains. Be able to do whatever I want to do..."
"Haha. I knew it from the start. I have seen you grow, how I can miss the conflicts of your mind? Although you aren't my blood, I am your father after all. I can see through what you have on your mind."
Rolling my eyes, I responded, "Was it important to say that? Hah! You're just heartless to say that to my face. At least you should have said something better at the final meeting right? Old man...?"
My eyes widened in horror as he started to turn into glowy particles.
As if he knew that his time was up, he patted my back and replied, "Haha, sorry Ryo. Looks like my time is up. But remember, never betray anyone's love. It can break a person. Also, your goals are very hard to achieve. I am praying for your success. Never lose hope, Ry-..."
"WAIT!!"
---
*Blub* *Blub* *Blub*
'I hope you're satisfied with this much, old man. It's better for you to see false hope than to see my true face. That's all I can do for you. Giving you a happy ending. This will possibly be the best ending you can have... Now it's my turn to have my own 'Ending'... This is all I can do to repay you for helping me grow.'
'There is but one thing bugging me... Why didn't they use 'Her'? Have they figured it out? No, it's not possible unless they can read my mind...'
Staring into the green liquid, my thoughts ran wild with many probabilities. 'I have long gone down the path. It's too long for me to be a good guy. Even if it is really her, I can't change what truly I am now. All I can do is to pray that you're born somewhere safe and sound and never meet me face to face... It's for our own good.'
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[4780]
The background won't be much of a help in the future. Mainly to Ryo's character, and some... foreshadowing... I guess? I am planning for a good world-building.
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