[BITPR2] Extra Episode 3: Intelligent Design

[strawberryman]

Katsuo blinks. "...why wouldn't I? He's trying to... help me learn... to control this... I may as well know my... limits, right?"

[Frozen_Feet]

"Here's a question for you: in your everyday life, what are you going to do with the ability to lift twenty-two-thousand kilos?", Mikael asks and snorts. "I've been observing our sensei's methods, and I can guarantee you: if he actually wanted to, he could easily find a way for you to 'control' your powers that didn't involve lifting giant boulders."

"He's grooming you for something. I don't know precisely what, but one thing is certain: he is treating it as a foregone conclusion that you will be fighting someone, even against his wishes. It's too bad you weren't here to hear the discussion me and Tamaki had just a moment ago."

[AnimeKid]

Tamaki looks at Mikael with half-lidded eyes as he says, "Man were you always this cynical? It could just be a simple matter of starting big and the working down to something smaller. Besides know his limits is something helpful to Katsuo. He is an upstanding citizen after all. If you don't know your limits then you might find that you might rapidly find yourself reaching them, possibly in a dangerous situation. That could lead to Katsuo getting hurt or possibly others getting hurt if he is trying to help or save someone.

Admittedly that might not be the case, but you don't have to phrase it in such a way that makes him sound like the bad guy."

[strawberryman]

Katsuo sets the boulder down after a few more reps, frowning. "...I know that. T-to be honest, it's not just about that."

"I've always been different. I think I've seen these hollows, and 'soul reapers' before. Most of my family didn't believe me. My mom tried to understand, but it's hard to really believe in those k-kinds of things when you're normal, right...?" He gives a nervous smile.

"...but as silly as it was, after she died, I wished I could do something to stop it. I knew there wasn't, but she was the only person who tried, who didn't judge me. I thought I wouldn't be able to live without her propping me up, that I was t-too weak, that I was a disappointment to her."

"And if she knew, maybe this isn't the life she'd want for me. But what I want isn't to hunt those things. The first one I fought... it was like a giant bull. It nearly destroyed a big part of the park, and hurt one of my classmates. And though it makes things hard on me, though I know that it isn't really helping me to be normal..."

"When I stopped it, when I jumped in the way, I felt like it was worth it. Not because I want to be a hero. But because... I know how it feels to lose someone because you're not strong enough. And even if I'm not able to bring my mom back, I can do what I can to make sure a few people don't have to go through that."

[Frozen_Feet]

If Mikael had a notebook, he would likely cross an item off a checklist. Through his confession, Katsuo has the questionable honor of joining the people supporting Mikael's theory on how suffering begets power.

He can't help but chuckle at Tamaki's comment.

"Cynical? I'd say realistic. But no, I haven't always been so. I have been so longer than I've had my abilities, though." Mikael stands up. "Though in the end, I'm just applying the same doubts to Hasunaga-sensei, as he and that hot-head friend of yours applied to me. Oh, I don't think he's a bad guy. He offered a helping hand to me, a complete stranger. I'm not questioning his morals."

"But I am questioning his wisdom."

Mikael gives both young men present a stern glance. "He said he doesn't want to 'coddle' you. Yet, he considers you kids still. Typical of older people, really. I could be fifty years old, and I bet he would still call me a 'young boy' or some such."

"But there's a saying, in military circles. I don't remember the exact quote, but it was put forward during the American civil war. The key idea was: a good officer has to be like a parent to his men. Because even grown men can lack sense to clothe and feed themselves."

Mikael fetches his uniform jacket and puts it back on. Immediately, the cave feels like it has more air to breathe, as if a weight had been lifted from Tamaki's and Katsuo's shoulders. "This conflict may no be war, but you could still be soldiers. But that would require a certain sort of discipline that Hasunaga-sensei is not teaching you. Now, I can somewhat understand him. He has a life beyond this ghostly realm. He probably wants to enjoy his cigarettes occasionally without having to worry about setting a bad example. It's an awful lot of responsibility to watch backs of people you barely know."

"But honestly? Tamaki, you own a machinegun, but I doubt you have a permit for it. In fact, I doubt you've ever had any real firearms training, seeing how you often get to almost melee range to get your aim. Katsuo, you might not own weapons per se, but your strenght is comparable to a bulldozer. Your powers are weapons. Technically, just having them makes you criminals."

"Now, I'm not against teaching kids how to shoot, or to wrestle, or to hold a knife. But ordinarily? Those weapons are skills are put away when the training is done. The trainees are told to never use them unless absolutely necessary. Your teacher leaves a lot to be desired in that regard."

Mikael puts on his shades. "Remember what he said of the hot-head? How his attitude is a 'growth-thing'? Chuck-boy expressed a belief that he might kill another human if he found that person to be in the wrong. If he isn't put on a much tighter leash, whether he will do that will cease to be a hypothetical question really soon. He is not a high-school student, he is a warrior, armed and trained to kill. If he is a child, then he is a child soldier. It might make his fate more tragic, but it doesn't make him any less dangerous. He is one bad day away from turning from an exorcist to a murderer."

"As far as I'm concerned, Tamaki, you stopped being a kid the moment you chose to find and fight a Hollow yourself. You, Katsuo? Well, I don't know your situation as well, but you are getting there. You are making a choice that could alter your whole life. Think carefully."

[AnimeKid]

If Mikael had a notebook, he would likely cross an item off a checklist. Through his confession, Katsuo has the questionable honor of joining the people supporting Mikael's theory on how suffering begets power.

He can't help but chuckle at Tamaki's comment.

"Cynical? I'd say realistic. But no, I haven't always been so. I have been so longer than I've had my abilities, though." Mikael stands up. "Though in the end, I'm just applying the same doubts to Hasunaga-sensei, as he and that hot-head friend of yours applied to me. Oh, I don't think he's a bad guy. He offered a helping hand to me, a complete stranger. I'm not questioning his morals."

"But I am questioning his wisdom."

Mikael gives both young men present a stern glance. "He said he doesn't want to 'coddle' you. Yet, he considers you kids still. Typical of older people, really. I could be fifty years old, and I bet he would still call me a 'young boy' or some such."

"But there's a saying, in military circles. I don't remember the exact quote, but it was put forward during the American civil war. The key idea was: a good officer has to be like a parent to his men. Because even grown men can lack sense to clothe and feed themselves."

Mikael fetches his uniform jacket and puts it back on. Immediately, the cave feels like it has more air to breathe, as if a weight had been lifted from Tamaki's and Katsuo's shoulders. "This conflict may no be war, but you could still be soldiers. But that would require a certain sort of discipline that Hasunaga-sensei is not teaching you. Now, I can somewhat understand him. He has a life beyond this ghostly realm. He probably wants to enjoy his cigarettes occasionally without having to worry about setting a bad example. It's an awful lot of responsibility to watch backs of people you barely know."

"But honestly? Tamaki, you own a machinegun, but I doubt you have a permit for it. In fact, I doubt you've ever had any real firearms training, seeing how you often get to almost melee range to get your aim. Katsuo, you might not own weapons per se, but your strenght is comparable to a bulldozer. Your powers are weapons. Technically, just having them makes you criminals."

"Now, I'm not against teaching kids how to shoot, or to wrestle, or to hold a knife. But ordinarily? Those weapons are skills are put away when the training is done. The trainees are told to never use them unless absolutely necessary. Your teacher leaves a lot to be desired in that regard."

Mikael puts on his shades. "Remember what he said of the hot-head? How his attitude is a 'growth-thing'? Chuck-boy expressed a belief that he might kill another human if he found that person to be in the wrong. If he isn't put on a much tighter leash, whether he will do that will cease to be a hypothetical question really soon. He is not a high-school student, he is a warrior, armed and trained to kill. If he is a child, then he is a child soldier. It might make his fate more tragic, but it doesn't make him any less dangerous. He is one bad day away from turning from an exorcist to a murderer."

"As far as I'm concerned, Tamaki, you stopped being a kid the moment you chose to find and fight a Hollow yourself. You, Katsuo? Well, I don't know your situation as well, but you are getting there. You are making a choice that could alter your whole life. Think carefully."

Tamaki rubs his shoulders as the pressure that Mikael had been exuding relieves itself from him. Looking over at the man he says, "Perhaps so, but if an accident of birth or a rare circumstance makes me criminal even with what I've decided to do with my powers then I'll take that if it lets me defend other people. Maybe I can't be considered a child anymore. However I am still a person, who wishes to protect those that are unable to protect themselves. The human body itself is a weapon. An in depth understanding of anatomy can make you dangerous to other people as well. As far as I can tell people put to much stock in lables like child, adult, high school student, or elderly. I personally think that such things are too broad to classify people properly.

Charles-san might be hot-headed, but I think he has a sense of justice too, though he does need that tempered by something more grounded as well. His is a warrior, but he is also a high school student. If you want to get down to brass tacks though he is Chuck. And none of us properly understand him. One of the cons of humanity I guess." Tamaki shrugs as he finishes his thoughts.

[Frozen_Feet]

Mikael snorts. "'Protect'. You both use that word too lightly." He points at his uniform. "True protection is a mutual decision. Not only must the protector be willing to risk his life, the protected must choose to trust them. Soldiers, policemen, firefighters, they all go through a long process to earn that trust, to show they are capable of doing their job."

"So who chose you? Who even knows you exist?" Mikael paces around, looking at the younger men through his shades. "There's a word for those who licentiously choose to go outside the law to 'protect' something: vigilante. And quite often, they end up being as bad as other criminals, something a society needs protection against."

"I'm not necessarily telling you to not do it. I just want you to think about the ramifications. In the long run, fighting Hollows is very likely to be incompatible with anything resembling normal life. Doing so places you outside society, in the dark where monsters roam. It's the part of the map reading 'Here be dragons'."

"If that doesn't sound like your cup of tea, you might want to consider protecting people in a more ordinary way, from more ordinary threats." Mikael nods at Tamaki. "Find a way to replicate your armor and patent it. Sell it to army or law-enforcement, become a policeman. God knows there's lots of good to be done there. Just because there are ghosts, doesn't mean the rest of the world has vanished."

[AnimeKid]

"It also doesn't mean that I need to forget about it either. Police officers are a dime a dozen, there are always going to be police officers. However this supernatural threat isn't something we can just ignore. To see and then look the other directions because that is what is 'legal' or expedient when 'legal' is extremely hard to define in this kind of situation. You keep citing law and pulling things in when we are clearly dealing with something the majority of the world can't. The rest of the world hasn't vanished, but that doesn't mean the other one has either.

That is a bit different from vigilantism. As for the bit about protection your laying it on a bit thick. The people trust the title, not the people within the organization and even that goes so far. Crooked cops, deserters in war, budget cuts and inadequate training. All of these things lower the peoples trust in those titles. The normal people don't choose the people who join those organizations. They have to hope for the best that people who deserve to be there get in. Even then they are suspicious and sometime even adversarial. However they can show appreciation and gratitude, but it's not as cut and dry as that. As for a normal life? Being able to see spirits like I can ensured that. I can, however, live the best life that I can. The rest of the

[strawberryman]

Katsuo smiles sadly. "...You're right and wrong. No one chose us. I won't act like what I'm choosing is the right t-thing, all things considered. But I never claimed that."

"And... I never said protect. It's what I'd like to... aspire to, I guess. But it's silly to think that anyone normal will really be able to understand what I am."

"...to be absolutely honest, I might have a choice. But... For the first time in a long while, I have people who I hope I can call friends, who don't judge me. And that is more than I had in that normal world."

[AnimeKid]

Tamaki looks at Katsuo and feels a sort of kinship with the boy from what he said. They at least knew what that felt like. He put a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder as he said, "That' right, and don't you forget it. I know I've got your back."

[Frozen_Feet]

If Mikael could, he would smirk. "Listen to yourself. Can you hear it? You are thinking. That's what I wanted you to do, really. Too many people hear just rhetoric where there are questions. They've forgotten how to answer them." The amusement in the man's tone fades. "But there's one thing you're forgetting. Stories of ghosts and ghouls are old news. Shamans and exorcists have existed as long as mankind. I know now, and you know as well, that we are not alone. You can't just assume the world is clawless and toothless against these things. When there are real dragons, you have to reconsider meaning of stories of dragons."

Mikael kneels down and scoops up a handful of dust. "More to the point, there are Shinigami. If modern world is helpless against Hollows, it's because they have decided to not give us weapons to fight them. But don't think we're blameless, either. I know I've never tried to give my nature to anyone else, and I have good reasons to think I could. By choosing to fight in secret, we might be perpetuating the problem."

Mikael shapes a perfect sphere of the sand. "Or, we might prevent a lot of disorder by keeping our mouths shut. Both could be true, or maybe neither is. The best we can do is guess."

[AnimeKid]

Tamaki sighs as he nods to Mikael to admit he does have a point. "So we'll have to play it by ear as much as that annoys me. I generally like to have information about a situation but we can't remedy that at the moment. So like you said we'll just have to guess and try not to f*ck things up to badly....These kinds of situations suck."

[Frozen_Feet]

Mikael makes another sphere. "That's why when I got my powers, I ended up doing nothing. I thought of how easily... I might break my society. My... friends." Mikael holds the second sphere between thumb and index finger of his right hand, then crushes it back to dust.

"Your friend Chuck made a big deal of my name. How it was so ironic to him I am named after protector of mankind. As if I chose that name." Mikael starts scraping the dust back together. "I wonder if he'd been happier if I'd told him what I told people in Europe - to call me no-one."

Mikael makes a third sphere, then stands up. He casts a sad look at Katsuo through his shades. "What your friend forgot was that angels of old were scary creatures. There is a reason the host said 'Fear not!' to the shepherds. Because most other times, angels were sent as messengers of God's judgement, to destroy those who'd wronged him."

"But no God has made itself known to me. In his absence, who am I to decide who should live or die? Protection of one often requires destruction of another."

Mikael twirls the spheres on his palm. "It may sound counter-intuitive, but in lack of knowledge, using great power for idle amusement or some petty gain may be better than trying to better the world. The higher you aim, the harder you will fall if you fail. Even my namesake would have been dragged down from Heaven along with the Snake, if not for God's helping hand."

[strawberryman]

Katsuo frowns. "Well... The first hollow I fought, I didn't really finish. But I think if it comes to hurting those around us, or souls of other people, it might be natural, but that doesn't mean we should let it happen."

"We shouldn't decide who lives or dies... but we do. And the world sounds a lot more complicated than most normal people think. I still don't want to do this to fight, but if it comes between a hollow wanting to do harm and a normal soul, then I'm willing to make that decision."

[Frozen_Feet]

"Then do it. But if you do..." Mikael drops the balls down and leaves them in the dust. "... When they come for you, remember you have their blood on your hands. Don't feign innocence. Don't pretend you are just a victim. When you do violence to another, you become a perpetrator. The same reasons you use to fight them, they can use to fight you. It doesn't matter if 'they started it!' - what matters is when someone stops it." The stranger falls silent for a moment.

"... Tamaki. I'm sorry I damaged your scarf. I'll sew it back together in a moment. But before that - I've been thinking. Animals and items are made of the same substances. There should be no reason why I couldn't use my power on a living creature. Would it be okay if I tried it on you?"

[strawberryman]

"...if it comes to that, I'll face the consequences gladly. But I've already said I won't go hunting for them, just to stand in their way if it means someone else's lives. Or soul." Katsuo looks at Mikael with sudden intensity. "And nothing you or anyone else says can make me regret or reconsider that. If I'm going to be punished for stopping those hollows when they hurt people, not because they do, then... I guess that's just how it is."

[Frozen_Feet]

Mikael gives Katsuo a nonchalant look and shrugs. "It's your life."

[AnimeKid]

"Then do it. But if you do..." Mikael drops the balls down and leaves them in the dust. "... When they come for you, remember you have their blood on your hands. Don't feign innocence. Don't pretend you are just a victim. When you do violence to another, you become a perpetrator. The same reasons you use to fight them, they can use to fight you. It doesn't matter if 'they started it!' - what matters is when someone stops it." The stranger falls silent for a moment.

"... Tamaki. I'm sorry I damaged your scarf. I'll sew it back together in a moment. But before that - I've been thinking. Animals and items are made of the same substances. There should be no reason why I couldn't use my power on a living creature. Would it be okay if I tried it on you?"

Tamaki silently agreed with what Katsuo said. When he looked at Mikael he thought over his words as well as he said, "A sort of experiment then? Well if you're sure. Your powers seem very developed in that area. Maybe just try something simple and extraneous to start with. Like my hair or fingernails."

[Frozen_Feet]

"I'm not actually sure if it's possible to affect just a part of you. To do that with items, I usually need to tear them apart first. I don't think that's something you would want to undergo." Mikael takes a few steps towards Tamaki and extends his right hand towards him. "It shouldn't really make a difference. Whether you will change in part or in whole, I can always return you to the way you were before. Provided anything happens in the first place."

So are you willing to risk becoming inhuman?

[AnimeKid]

"I'm not actually sure if it's possible to affect just a part of you. To do that with items, I usually need to tear them apart first. I don't think that's something you would want to undergo." Mikael takes a few steps towards Tamaki and extends his right hand towards him. "It shouldn't really make a difference. Whether you will change in part or in whole, I can always return you to the way you were before. Provided anything happens in the first place."

So are you willing to risk becoming inhuman?

Tamaki sweatdrops a little as he says, "Do you have to be so cryptic about it? *sigh* Well, nothing ventured nothing gained. After all, I'm risking death just by continuing along this path. Uncertainty has no place here. Do your thing Mikael."

[Frozen_Feet]

Mikael simply shrugs at the question. In his mind, he isn't being cryptic - he is stating exactly how the situation is. If there is any ambiguity, it's because he, himself, does not really know what will happen. He grabs Tamaki's hand and utters a single word:

Reduce.

For a moment, the air electrifies. Even Katsuo can feel it, as every hair on his body stands on their end. There is a flash of blue light...

... and nothing happens. Oh well. After a while, Mikael let's go of Tamaki's hand... then he realizes the younger man has just become shorter by an inch.

And then, he shrinks down by another, and another, and... Tamaki's physical development seems to be going backwards at accelerated pace. His clothes become loose, then fall off. In just ten seconds, he's shrunk to size and shape he was as a 10-year-old... and then his body starts breaking down, steam rising from his pores as his body-water evaporates, his skin flakes off, his teeth drop, his muscles melt into goo to reveal his bones at ever-accelerating pace.

Simultaneously on the spiritual plane, Tamaki can be seen just as he was - even his hand is extended, as if still holding Mikael's. There is one key difference - a chain hangs from his chest, connected to his degenerating earthly body. But then, the chain breaks - no, that's not it. Rather, it is unmade. The invidual links slide through each other, becoming separate. Then, the links spread around the room, as if scattered by some invisible hand. Clothes on this ghostly Tamaki start to vanish, one by one, and then a light appears on his chest, where his heart should be. It is red, like a spark of fire - and then it grows in intensity, transilluminating his spiritual body, becoming so bright it it prevents Katsuo from seeing the rest of the transformation. Tamaki's spiritual energy explodes forth, feeling like heat radiating from a bonfire on bared skin.

Mikael, however, is lucky enough to wear darkened glasses. For a brief moment, Mikael just stares at what's happening in shock. Then, he tries to grab ghost-Tamaki's hand again to reverse the process - but his hand slips through the transparent figure, as if it was no longer there. After a second futile attempt at trying to grab the fading spirit, Mikael drops down, kneeling besides the pile of clothes that's all that's left of earthly Tamaki. Time slows down for the bandaged man as blood flows into his eyes. Rapidly, he searches through the clothes, being rather surprised at what he finds.

On his hands, Mikael holds what looks like a human embryo, just few weeks old. Wisps of steam rise from its chest, forming links of a chain. One is just forming, sticking partially out of its tiny chest like some bizarre umblical cord. Briefly, Mikael thinks the transformation has now reached its limit, but then he realizes that's not the case - the embryo is still shrinking, it is Mikael himself who has accelerated to a matching pace so that he can perceive it happen! It is likely that if he doesn't work fast, Tamaki's physical body will be reduced to just its DNA, or the zygotes that created it.

Improve! IMPROVE!

Mikael's panicked shout echoes through the cave like two thunderclaps. Bright blue light erupts from his back, clashing with Tamaki's. A whirlwind picks up, throwing around dust and even tossing around smaller boulders around Tamaki and Mikael. Katsuo too feels a force pushing backwards.

And then the wind calms, and the light fades. Mikael is on his back, holding himself in half sitting position with his elbows, staring wide-eyed at Tamaki. Tamaki, or rather, his raw materials are floating inside a transparent sphere, one half of which is red, another which is blue. His body is reforming inside it, growing from an infant to adult in mere seconds, absorbing the goo the rest of his body was reduced to through his skin and mouth. Above this, Tamaki's naked spirit floats, appearing to be asleep. The scattered links of a chain arrange into a neat line and then link back to each other, reconnecting the spirit to its body. Then, the spirit floats back down into the body, and the clothes wrap around his body. The glow fades, and Tamaki descends back on the ground, looking exactly like he was barely a minute ago.

Of course, Tamaki doesn't see any of this. Instead...

---

[Inside Tamaki's mind]

When Mikael says the word, it is like a command coming from God. Tamaki's consciousness freezes, his first instinct being to reject it. But then he remembers, he told him to do his thing. This eases his mind, and he relaxes. What's the worst that could happen? Besides, Mikael promised to return him to how he was.

And with that, Tamaki's consciousness shuts down. It's like falling into deep, blissfull sleep. Mikael and Katsuo disappear as everything fades into black...

... and then Tamaki awakens. But he is not in the cave anymore. He can not tell where he is at all, as there is nothing but darkness around. He tries to squint and strain his eyes to see even smallest glint of light, but realizes it won't work - because he has no eyes!

In fact, he has no body, no form at all. He is just energy floating in pitch-blackness. It doesn't actually feel that bad. After a while, he begins to feel something... a current of energy, coming from nothing and ending nowhere, like a wave washing over him periodically. How easy it would be to just let it carry you and... fade... away...

But then, a change occurs. Another current arises from the opposite direction and clashes with the first one, creating turmoil. Tamaki feels like he is being torn apart, but then, something reaches through the chaos, forming a solid path through the void. Without thinking, he begins walking it, towards light.

When he reaches it, he realizes the light is the Earth. He looks around and sees the Sun, the planets, and the stars glinting far away. Looks like he's arrive in space, or maybe he was there all along and only now realized it.

As he returns his gaze on Earth, or maybe something pulls his attention there like a magnet, he realizes that despite being this high, he can see the tiniest detail occurring on the surface. He peers closer and can see... himself. Himself as he was when he just a baby.

As he continues looking, he can see other phases of himself, familiar place, familiar phases. Memories both good and bad repeat themselves before him - even many things he thought he'd forgotten, but he forgets of them again as the display continues.

And it continues for a long time. A lifetime, to be exact, that of Tamaki's own. As it nears his present, however, a foreign element intrudes in his mindscape. Despite trying to look away and returning to his own past, something keeps drawing his attention again, to places he's never been in, to faces he's never seen.

He sees an infant, sleeping in the middle of four other babies who are all bawling. He sees a small kid, four years old at most, pointing angrily at a baby (his brother?) who is eathing his Legos. He sees the same kid, now older, playing hide-and-seek with his grandmother, when a snake bites him, and he is rushed to a hospital. He sees him standing on a rock, playing alone with an imaginary friend, seemingly oblivious to other kids playing soccer just a dozen meters away. He sees the kid cutting cardboard, gluing stickers, playing with legos, carving wood, making fire, crafting chairs, welding together slabs of metal as he progresses towards adulthood. He can see the joy and pride he takes in every knife he forges, every piece of plumbing he puts together, every hull he makes for a car, so on and so forth. He can see him wearing an uniform (the first even faintly familiar trait of this character), marching in line, shooting a rifle and shouting orders to other men. He can see three golden chevrons on the collar of his uniform.

But as this puzzling sequence of images of this unknown man proceeds, Tamaki starts to feel something is wrong. Something is troubling this man. He is dissatisfied with the world and how it works. Tamaki can see people speaking ill of him behind his back. He can hear sounds of quarrel coming from the house this man identifies as 'home'. The man enters a long period during which no-one seems to need for him anything. He seems sad, lonely, and useless. He tries struggling against the tide, meeting a lot of people and going to lot of places, but for all his efforts he never quite succeeds. Tamaki sees him face rejection after rejection, growing increasingly frustrated. Yet, after each time, he picks up his broken heart and moves on again.

Finally, things start to look decent. The man has a house. He has a job. He is tall, and strong, and skilled, or at least he feels so. Something is still missing, though... but maybe, it's just ahead? From the grey masses of people, an image emerges. A girl. It might be the prettiest girl Tamaki has ever seen, with her curly her and bright smile and frilly dress... okay, that might be exaggerating. Maybe it's this unknown man who feels like that, and not Tamaki himself. Maybe he is just seeing his point of view?

But, as the man reaches for her, both he and Tamaki see that she's with another man. Tamaki can see the protagonist of this tale hesitate. He can guess what's going on in his mind - is it worth it to get to know this person, when it's clear he'll just face another rejection? It's hardly realistic to expect her to abandon her boyfriend for him.

He decides to give it a shot anyway. She goes and talks to the girl, and they become friends. When one is going through a rough patch, she helps him, and he helps her. Tamaki sees that it's her this man goes to, more than anyone else, when he's had a bad date, or when he's having a hard time at work, or when his family life's stressfull. Even after he reveals his crush to her, and she turns him down, nothing changes. There is no awkwardness, no aversion, no severing of times. The man's respect for her just grows. He feels he can tell pretty much anything to her.

But there's an ominous undertone to these pictures. A sense of growing dread that Tamaki can't pinpoint the source of. The pictures are becoming blurry and indistinct. One day, he can see the man reach for the girl again, to tell her something... when a truck crashes to him and knocks him out of the picture! There's a sound of shattering glass as he lands on his back just next to Tamaki! It's rather startling - wasn't he supposed to be above the atmosphere???

Painstakingly, the man gets back up. He is bleeding all over, but somehow he crawls back to Earth through the crack between dimensions. He reaches for her, intent to tell her something... but she shakes her head in horror, and turns her back to him. The picture halts and loses color, becoming a black-and-white photo floating in the void.

Then it catches fire, and when it's gone Tamaki can perceive a new scene before him - a dark silhouette of a man (?), standing in front of and facing a raging conflagration, apparently a burning house. It might be the shadowed figure has just emerged from the wreckage. The scene ripples and distorts due to the heat, and Tamaki can even feel it through the crack in space.

When the fire dies down, only white ash is left behind. Silver sickle of the moon shines from the night sky, casting its pale light on the figure. Then, a man dressed in white jumps down from the sky, standing imposingly before the forlorn figure. A fight breaks out between them, that of white against black, a horribly destructive fight exceeding even those Tamaki himself has fought. The White Devil fights like a legion of men, spawning guns and cannons from his very flesh. The shaded figure doesn't really feel like a match to it, fighting only with its hands and feet. It is knocked around helplessly, trampled to the ground and shot, its skin and body torn away piece at a time.

Yet, against all expectations, it triumphs. It catches the bullets and artillery shells and shoves them down the barrels that shot them. Then it grows fangs like those of a snake and swallows the White Devil whole.

Then the figure turns and looks at Tamaki, and he can finally see clearly who it is. It is Mikael, bandaged from head to toe, wearing an uniform devoid of all the emblems and insignia he was once proud of. His face is disfigured, capable of only unblinking stare and a skeletal grin. His eyes are color-inverted eyes of a snake, white slit pupils staring coldly at Tamaki through the crack. It seems nothing's left of the man he once was.

Then, a cold wind blows through the crack and pushes Tamaki further into space. Once again, he can see all of Earth, but it looks rather different now. It is... alive. Like a giant snake coiling around itself, biting its own tail. Eternally dying, yet eternally renewing itself at the same time. And the creatures on it follow the same pattern. From plants to fishes to humans, every second is a struggle, with someone's benefit being someone else's detriment. Even Hollows and Shinigami are no different in this outlook - they are just another pair of prey and predator, hunter and hunted, fighting over the right to exist. That they are souls instead of matter makes no difference.

Tamaki can see what would happen if the Hollows win. He sees a tall, majestic man dressed in black leather, with a hole through his collarbone, standing above all others. He sees him slaughter everyone, devour everyone, untill he alone is left amidst white sand. And then, with nothing else to eat, he turns into a serpent and devours himself, and from the blood of his dying body, new plants and animals emerge.

It's the great cycle of life, and at the same time, the great cycle of suffering. It has no beginning and it has no end; from creation comes destruction, and from destruction comes creation. In the void it spins, going on and on and on, grinding everything and everyone to dust so that from that dust, new things can be made. The only thing that lasts is change...

... or is it? Surely, there must be something more than this depressing world! As Tamaki muses on this, he realizes he is not alone in space. As he looks behind, he sees two other figures. One is that black-clad Hollow. Second is a gentle-looking brown-haired, green-eyed man wearing a leather jacket, who Tamaki at this point can recognize as Mikael as he might be if not for fateful encounter with Hollows. Behind Mikael, there is a second window in space, from which bright light shines. Tamaki can feel himself pulled toward it. As he nears it, he sees an array of pictures - a God of Thunder fighting against the World Serpent, a Knight piercing a Dragon's snout with his lance and roses blooming from the blood of the beast, and an Angel standing on top of a Serpent, stabbing towards it with a spear. Written under them is a message: "We all have our dragons to slay."

The light washes over Tamaki, drowning all other things from sight. It sears him, it fills him, and it remakes him, revealing and burning away weakness in him. It is painfull to look at, so he instinctively tries to close his eyes...

... and then he wakes up.

---

[Back in the training cave]

Tamaki is standing right where he was. His clothes are just like before. Even his hand is extended still, as if to grab Mikael's. It really doesn't feel like more than a second has passed... yet, the stones around him are in completely different position, Mikael is meters away from him and on his back, and it looks like he has difficulties picking up his jaw from the floor... figuratively speaking.

[AnimeKid]

Tamaki blinks as his vision returns to normal from what he had seen before. It was a bit disorienting to be honest and how short it seemed was baffling. He slowly looked around at how many rocks were in a different position and Mikael looked like he just saw a ghost. "Well, that was a bit unsettling. However it seems that everything worked out okay. Out of curiosity what did it look like on this end?"

[strawberryman]

Katsuo just stands there dumbfounded for a while. One might expect that he would attack Mikael, but that was actually the furthest thing from his mind. With a few stuttering starts, the boy responds to his peer.

"You... I t-t-think you were r-r-reborn..." He looks rather disturbed as he admits this, looking over to Mikael in awe, like some sort of godly monster.

[Frozen_Feet]

The "godly monster" doesn't have much to add. "... What he said", Mikael mutters weakly after collecting himself. He tries to stand up, but falls back down. Bemused, he opens his jacket part way to look at his stomach. "Urgh. Maybe we shouldn't have done that so soon after I got an anti-tank weapon launched against my chest." The black stain has grown larger. "I'm gonna climb upstairs and get some fresh gauze. You two can do whatever." Mikael crawls up and heads for the ladder.

[Frozen_Feet]

Some thirty minutes later, Mikael painstakingly descends the ladder back into the cave. Once he's at the two younger men, he draws a small sewing kit from his uniform jacket's chest pocket. "Hey Tamaki. Hand me that scarf of yours for a moment."

[AnimeKid]

Tamaki sees the sewing kit in Mikael's hands and nods to him, a grateful look on his face. He hands the scarf over to him with a soft, "Thank you."

[Frozen_Feet]

Mikael takes the scarf and sits down on a nearby rock. Despite the bandages covering his hands, he is surprisingly nimble. Also, very apt at sewing. But if Tamaki listens closely, he'll realize it's because Mikael has help - he is whispering to the items, asking for their aid, and they respond, the thread moving through the eye of the needle on its own, and the needle slipping through the tiniest gaps in the fabric without damaging it further.

After ten minutes, the torn corner is reattached, the scarf almost as good as new - it would take a magnifying lens to spot the patch. Only one short piece of red string can't find its place anymore. Mikael leaves it hanging from the needle and tugs it in his pocket. "There. I think I'll catch some sleep now. You and Katsuo-kun, be careful. If he slips with one of those rocks, I don't think there's anyone else who could lift them off of you." Mikael turns away to climb back up and head at Hasunaga's place.