Chapter Text
“So, what’s the point of this?” Purifier floated next to Observer, who was busy tapping away at whatever massive computer she had decided to use this time.
Purifier honestly didn’t care about much, all of that complicated science stuff really wasn’t her thing. Her job was to blow stuff up, and she enjoyed it. There really wasn’t much else to it. This however… involved probably her favorite opponent of all time. Enterprise, the legendary Grey Ghost, one of the strongest kansen across every timeline they’d seen.
“Well… We need our good friend Enterprise over here to get stronger. Strong enough so that she can deal with the thorn in our side… the ‘Ashes’.” Observer responded, clacking away at the massive terminal.
“Oooooh, right! Remind me why we can’t just have Arbiters deal with them?”
“Because the Arbiters have a much more important job than pest extermination, and as nice as it would be to simply eradicate the Ashes, we don’t have the power or the resources to squash them all at once.”
“So… you wanna have good ol’ Enty do it for us?”
“Precisely.”
“That sounds super complicated… But I guess it makes sense?”
Purifier floated around a bit more, placing her finger on her chin. “So, why did you start giving her those weird ass dreams? I mean, I’m all for a good bit of mind-fuckery, but what’s the point?”
“First, watch your language, second,It’s to motivate her, to make her desperate for more power… it’s all a part of my plan.”
“Gah… I don’t understand all that complicated stuff!”
“You don’t have to understand it, just follow your orders and it’ll all turn out fine. Now then, I’m going to go deliver a black cube to… her.”
“Huh? You mean the fox?”
“Correct.”
“Why the heck are we giving her one?”
“Because… it’s as those humans constantly say. You need a ‘rival’ to grow the best, and I think our furry little friend is the best rival we can give Enterprise. After all…”
Observer chuckled to herself, before summoning a black cube and beginning to open a portal.
“They have such a wonderfully ill-fated relationship~.”
Smoke.
There was smoke everywhere.
Something’s dripping down her hands.
“This… This is blood…!”
Everywhere Enterprise looks, there’s smoke and flames. She’s standing in the ruins of the command building. Rubble is everywhere, the sky is red, she can smell the stench of sulfur and death in the air.
The other buildings surrounding her have been completely leveled.
Standing on top of a massive pile of rubble, is a terrifying sight. A sight that Enterprise had been fearing ever since she’d become aware of the META phenomenon.
Ash stands on top of a massive mountain of rubble, blood running down her hands as she stares coldly down at her saner counterpart. There is a fire within Ash’s eyes, the same scornful flames she saw when they’d first faced off during The Battle of New York City. Her hand is shaking, her bow is cracked and falling apart, and her body is covered in wounds.
But that’s not all.
“S-Senpai…” A voice calls out from in front of her.
“E-...Essex?” Looking down, Enterprise lays eyes on the broken, battered form of her junior, Essex, gripping her broken left arm as she grips her shattered crossbow.
There are more bodies around her.
Bismarck was slumped against a wall in a pool of her own blood, Akagi lays a few paces away; missing an arm, Washington is sprawled out on her back with several holes in her body, Saratoga was barely breathing two or three feet away from her, and Belfast had a massive golden arrow sticking out of her midsection.
And the worst is yet to come.
Vestal lay a few meters from Saratoga, missing the entire lower section of her body.
Hornet was barely holding herself up, trying to cover up a massive wound in her stomach as she tried to shield Yorktown.
Yorktown, who was missing both legs.
“I got you!” Suddenly from behind Ash, a figure appeared and attempted to strike her down with a shattered blade.
Yet, this attempt was rendered futile as Enterprise’s darker counterpart side-stepped and grabbed the figure by the throat, before slamming her hand into her attacker’s chest.
“G-Grey Ghost…” Coughing up blood, Enterprise’s eyes followed Ash’s arm up to the bloodied form of Zuikaku, who’d attempted to strike her from behind with her broken sword.
“W-Wait-” Enterprise couldn’t stop her own body, as Ash jammed her hand into Zuikaku’s chest, instantly killing the carrier in a single swift blow, and threw her off to the side
“I-I didn’t-” Running up to her rival, she tried to reach out to Zuikaku, placing a hand on her rival’s face.
It was already becoming cold.
A crackling bolt of red energy zipped by her face, fired by Essex’s crossbow as her beloved junior prepared to fight the infamous Code G. Enterprise tried to call out to her, to tell her to run, to tell her to get out of here, anything at all that would save her, but she was too late. Before even a single word could be uttered, her counterpart lunged forward and slammed a golden arrow into Essex’s chest.
“GAH-!” Essex stumbled back as Ash grabbed her by the throat, holding her fellow Eagle carrier up into the air.
The sound of clapping sounded out from above her.
Looking up, Enterprise's eyes trained upon Observer Alpha, who loftily floated in the air above her, gazing down upon the two Enterprises like a divine messenger… and clapped.
And clapped.
And clapped.
And clapped.
“Yes… very good… very good!” She called out, spreading her arms like the conductor of a grand orchestra, the flames around them roaring to life.
“Well done Enterprise, well done indeed!”
“AAAAHHHHHHH!!” Enterprise shot up in her bed, letting out a fearful shriek as she felt a cold sweat run down her body. She was hyperventilating, panting wildly as she looked
“Miss Enterprise!”
“Enty!”
Enterprise’s door flew open as Saratoga and Belfast burst into the room, quickly running up to the visibly disturbed carrier.
“Miss Enterprise, are you alright?” Belfast placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to help re-center the Eagle Union’s ace.
“Enty, what happened?” Saratoga asked, sitting down on the bed with Enterprise and placing a hand on Enterprise’s.
Enterprise remained silent, though was still visibly disturbed. She looked down at her hands, wrapping her fingers around Saratoga’s and taking a few deep breaths in. It was clear to Saratoga that Enterprise was in no condition to be talking, likely still in a bit of shock after whatever it was that happened. And if her hypothesis was correct…
“...Was it that dream again?” Saratoga asked, looking her junior in the eye.
Enterprise nodded, confirming Saratoga’s theory.
“It’s still happening? I thought it would’ve gone away by now…”
“...No. The dreams just keep getting worse.” Enterprise finally spoke up, taking in a deep breath to further calm herself.
“Enty… It’s gonna be alright.” Saratoga wrapped her arms around Enterprise, patting her junior on the shoulder and rubbing her back.
“Miss Enterprise has been having this same dream ever since the sirens attacked, hasn’t she?” Belfast asked.
“Mhm. I’m not sure what’s going on but… All we can do for now is try to comfort her whenever it happens. Until we find out what’s causing these… we can’t really do much else.” Saratoga explained, turning to face the maid while keeping her hand on Enterprise’s back.
Enterprise looked down at her hands, conflicting feelings brewing within her heart. These dreams had to be happening for a reason, the sirens didn’t just randomly decide to do things. There was always a motive, always some sort of goal they were working towards. Yet, despite countless talks with The Commander, countless nights spent theorizing about what these dreams may truly mean. To make matters worse, this was the worst that the nightmares had gotten, she’d physically felt everything that happened, felt the blood dripping down her hands, felt the heat from the flames in the air, she’d felt everything. She had no idea what they meant, what was going on, and what the sirens’ endgame was.
She was, however, certain of one thing.
She had to get stronger, in order to make sure her nightmares never came to fruition.
She had to get stronger, so that no siren could control her.
She had to get stronger, so that Ash wouldn’t be able to lay a hand on the people closest to her.
…She had an idea.
“I… I’m going to go for a walk.” Enterprise stood up, taking in a deep breath and turning back to the two kansen who’d come in to help her. “Thank you. Really… I mean it.”
Belfast smiled, taking a bow before the legendary ace. “Of course, Miss Enterprise. It’s only natural we worry about you.”
“That’s right, I mean, who else is gonna look after you~?” Saratoga teased, giggling and bopping Enterprise on the nose.
Enterprise sighed, a gentle grin falling across her face. It was a nice reminder of what she wanted to protect, of what she was fighting for. She had so many people who cared about her. Yorktown, Hornet, Belfast, Vestal, Saratoga, even Essex... they were all special people, people who she wanted to keep safe no matter what.
“I’ll see you all later.” Waving goodbye, Enterprise left the room and closed the door behind her.
Taking a breath, she turned away from the door and walked down the hallway. A conversation with The Commander came to mind, as she headed towards his office, located just a bit away from the Eagle Union dorms.
Bursting into the room all of a sudden, Vestal frantically looked around before spotting Saratoga and Belfast. "Where'd Enterprise go, I just finished up with The Commander and I needed to give her news on Yorktown's condition!"
Belfast and Saratoga looked at one another momentarily.
"...She sorta just left."
“So, that Black Wisdom Cube.” The Commander took a seat at his desk, motioning for Enterprise to take a seat.
“Following the attack on the base, we decided to run a few tests on it. After a bit of experimentation by Akashi and I… we think it’s compatible with Project Synchronization.” He continued as Enterprise took her seat, taking off her hat and placing it down on the desk as The Commander continued explaining.
“...We’d like to ask you to help test this out.” He finished, placing a suitcase down on the desk.
Enterprise looked up at The Commander with confusion. “Didn’t you explicitly tell me NOT to use it?”
“That’s true, but that was when you were using the black cube by itself. We theorize that with the application of Synchronization Gear, we’ll be able to significantly reduce the corrupting effects of the cube. That doesn’t mean they’ll be entirely negated, mind you, but if we keep the output rate to a manageable enough level, it should be safe to use.” The Commander responded, pulling out a chalk-board he’d apparently been storing somewhere in his room.
She took a moment to consider the offer, placing her hands onto the desk’s lacquered wooden surface. It was true, she did need power, and she’d nearly attempted to use the black cube at some point… It was a tempting offer.
“Sure. We just have to keep the level of output below a certain threshold, right?” Enterprise asked, crossing her legs as she looked up at The Commander.
He smiled knowingly, taking a seat after placing the chalkboard away. “Yeah, We think around 15-20% is our current threshold. Though, with sufficient training, we should be able to increase this limit. Just remember… Don’t go over that limit.”
Enterprise thought for a moment, nodding as she took in the information. “So, why not anyone else? Surely there had to be other candidates, other people better suited to this.”
“Really? You’re one of, actually probably THE strongest kansen in the base, save for I guess Freidrich, New Jersey, and a few others, and they’re off-base so they don’t count. You’re our safest bet right now.” He responded.
“...I see.”
Placing a small silver suitcase - which was about the size of Enterprise’s hand - down on the desk, he gently pushed the case across the desk towards Enterprise. “In here is a key to where I’m storing the prototype. It’s basically a copy of the prototype for the standard synchronization gear, so you should be familiar with it, given that you helped us test out the original prototype.”
“Is there anything else I need to know?” She responded.
“Nope, that’s about it!”
She nodded, standing up before walking towards the door.
“Actually wait- one last thing.” The Commander spoke up once more, holding up his hand as if to call her to stop.
“Don’t use it without me being there. It’s really dangerous stuff, so don’t do anything without my supervision, got it?” He asked.
“...Alright.” Enterprise nodded in response.
“Awesome! Then, that’s all! Anyways, I think I need to go take bets on another fight, I’m pretty sure I can hear Taihou and Roon going at it again outside. I’ll seeya later!” He responded, before opening up the window behind him and jumping out of it, rushing towards a rather large crowd that had gathered outside of the base.
Enterprise remained silent, looking at the suitcase for a moment.
“...I should be fine.”
Enterprise gently opened the door to The Commander’s office, stepping inside and looking around. The Commander seemingly either hadn’t gotten up yet, or was off doing something, as he was absent from the chair at his desk.
On the left side of the desk sat a picture frame. She’d seen it a few times, but she’d never bothered to actually check out what it was. Picking it up, she moved over to the back of the room, towards the right side, and pulled out the key that The Commander had given her.
She looked down at the picture as she moved aside a potted plant to reveal a rather inconspicuous looking door.
The picture… was blank. As in, The Commander had apparently framed a picture-sized piece of paper and just planted it on his desk. Now that she thought about it… The Commander had never once actually spoken about his past, or his interests, or anything of the like. How the hell did he get along with everyone so well? And why did his personality magically change on the fly all the time?
Questions for later.
Tossing the picture back onto The Commander’s desk - he’d probably be fine with her looking at his stuff, given that he really didn’t care about much regardless - she pulled out the key and unlocked the door, revealing a rather spacious side room, with walls lined with strange metal and wiring. In the center of the room was a suitcase, significantly larger than the one The Commander had stored the key in.
She was about to grab it, before a voice called out to her from the doorway.
“Eyyy, didn’t I say not to open that without my supervision?”
“Jesus Christ-” Enterprise whipped around, almost knocking the suitcase over before quickly standing up straight and dusting herself off.
“...You did.” She confirmed.
“Weeeell, so why are you here then?” He asked, leaning over and raising an eyebrow.
Enterprise remained silent, looking down at the ground before sighing and meeting The Commander’s gaze. “I’ve been having dreams lately.”
“Uh Huh… So does everyone else?”
“Not normal dreams. I… In these dreams, I see everyone I care about getting killed by Ash. Belfast, Saratoga, Essex, Hornet, even Yorktown… All dead or dying. They’ve been happening ever since we beat back those sirens and barely survived Ash. I don’t know what’s going on but… I can’t let those dreams happen. I can’t let everyone die.” Enterprise responded, a fire gleaming in her eyes.
The Commander sighed, rubbing his temple before motioning for her to follow him. “Alright then… guess we’ll start you on some training to use that thing. Come on, let’s go get you set up.”
“...Really? No punishment? No nothing?”
“Ye, that’s right. Now come on, do you wanna get your training arc or nah?”
“You… don’t make any sense. Seriously, why are you so random?”
“Eh, I dunno, now hurry, let’s go!” The Commander motioned again for Enterprise to follow, before he briskly walked out of the room, back into his office, and then out the door.
Enterprise stood there looking perplexed… Before shaking her head and walking out to follow him. “I’ll just… ask later.”
3 Days Later
“Mmm… This sucks, Mikasa-daisenpai!” Zuikaku groaned, plopping down on the bar counter and pouting.
Mikasa nervously chuckled, scratching her cheek as she rubbed Zuikaku’s back. The two had gone to the base’s bar in order to catch-up since Mikasa’s previous extended leave, and while they’d intended on talking about more important things…
“It’s not fair! How is everyone else getting so much stronger, and I’ve barely made any progress! This has to be some sort of cheating…!” Zuikaku complained, taking another sip of her drink before flopping back onto the counter in front of her.
“Zuikaku-san… it could just be a result of natural talent, you’ll catch up eventually.” She said, comforting her student with more back-rubs as the crane lamented her situation.
“Grrr… I need to find some way to get stronger! Hey, can you help me with that? I need to know what I’m doing wrong!” Zuikaku asked, quickly sitting back up and whipping around to face her mentor.
“Of course, Zuikaku-san!” Mikasa let out a hearty laugh, smiling at her pupil who quickly shot up out of her seat.
“Really?! Let’s get started then!” Zuikaku shouted enthusiastically, nabbing Mikasa’s hand and tossing some money onto the counter before quickly dashing off with her mentor in tow.
“W-Woah hold on Zuikaku-” Unable to get a word out, Mikasa stumbled about as Zuikaku dragged her out into the hallway and down towards the practice area, nearly knocking over a few destroyers on their way from how fast Zuikaku was going.
The sound of shoes hitting the smooth wooden floor echoed throughout the building as the two nearly ran into Akagi, the fox stumbling back and nearly falling onto the floor before she quickly caught herself.
Akagi had been deep in thought before the two crossed her path, and Zuikaku noted to herself as she quickly turned about that her senior looked… as if she’d resolved herself to some sort of grim fate.
“Ah- Sorry, Akagi-senpai!” Zuikaku called out, stopping for a moment before moving to continue running before Mikasa nabbed her by the ear.
“Now now, you must apologize properly Zuikaku-san!” Mikasa admonished her student, lightly knocking the young crane on the head with her fist as she turned back to Akagi. “We’re terribly sorry for nearly knocking you over.”
“It’s fine, don’t worry Daisenpai, the fifth carrier division just so happens to be rather clumsy, so it’s to be expected~” Akagi teased, making a slight jab at the crane sisters while giggling ever so softly.
Zuikaku pouted as she stared at Akagi, crossing her arms. “That was uncalled for…”
Mikasa sighed, rubbing the back of her neck nervously before motioning for Zuikaku to follow. “In that case, we’d best be on our way, it was good to see you Akagi-san!”
“It was good seeing you too, Mikasa-daisenpai. Now then, I must be on my way as well-”
“Hey wait, Akagi-senpai…” Zuikaku reached out as Akagi turned to leave, nabbing the sleeve of her senior’s kimono before the kitsune could fully leave.
“Are you alright? You looked sorta… sad back there.” She asked, trying to meet Akagi’s eyes.
Her senior however, seemingly avoided the crane’s gaze, forcefully removing her kimono from Zuikaku’s grasp as she snapped her arm back towards herself.
“...It’s nothing.” Akagi responded, before quickly walking away.
“If you need to talk it’s really ok-”
“I said it’s nothing, fifth carrier division!” Akagi snapped back, glaring back at Zuikaku before quickly shaking her head.
“Nothing you’d understand at least…” She thought to herself, as she briskly began to take her leave.
“Jeez… what’s her problem!?” Zuikaku yelled out in frustration, before shaking her head.
“...Let’s get going, Zuikaku-san.” Mikasa interjected, grabbing her student’s shoulder and motioning for her to keep going.
Admittedly, Mikasa also had her suspicions about what was going on with the acting leader of the Sakura Empire. But for now, there wasn’t much she could do about it. Looking at her student, Mikasa could see a mixture of concern and frustration brewing in her student’s eyes, like a growing flame beginning to rise.
Maybe they could talk later.
A few minutes later, the two hopped into the practice area, the calm sea waves barely moving beneath their rigging as the two sailed out a bit to get more room. It would be pretty bad to accidentally damage something in the middle of training.
“So, what is it you think your problem is?” Mikasa asked, crossing her arms as she and Zuikaku stood out a ways away from the massive practice area, water stretching out as far as they could see.
“I’m… not really sure. I mean, I think my swordsmanship is good enough, my rigging skills are still as sharp as ever, I don’t really think there’s anything I’m doing wrong!” Zuikaku explained.
“Hmm… In that case, how about we spar! That way, I can gauge your strength, and see what needs to be worked on!” Mikasa offered.
“Ooooh… that’s a good idea! I’m ready whenever you are, Daisenpai!” Zuikaku responded, quickly sailing back a few meters in order to get some distance.
“Of course! Now, come at me, Zuikaku!” Mikasa called out, drawing her blade and preparing herself for Zuikaku’s inevitable charge.
Taking the initiative so kindly given to her, Zuikaku rushed forward as she drew her sword, leading with a textbook overhead strike, swinging as she stepped and bringing down her sword with incredible force. Mikasa however, deftly knocked the sword aside and swung for Zuikaku’s neck with the flat edge of her blade.
Ducking underneath the strike, Zuikaku was undeterred as she quickly continued her assault, swinging rapidly and forcefully as she attempted to brute force her way through Mikasa’s iron defense, finishing her string of rapid attacks with an upward blow meant to disarm her mentor.
Despite this attempt, Mikasa merely turned with the force of the ascending slash and quickly turned back to face her pupil, kicking up and slamming her rising foot into the bottom of Zuikaku’s pommel, sending her arms and sword flying upward and leaving the crane wide open.
“I’ve got yo-”
“Not yet!”
The paper shikigami Zuikaku stored suddenly burst into flames and flew out from within her haori, swirling around the crane before accumulating on her blade. Zuikaku raised her burning blade up high, attempting to swing it down before-
Mikasa suddenly struck out, pointing the edge of her sword at Zuikaku’s throat.
“Aww man… I didn’t even get to use my special move!” Zuikaku whined, dropping her arms as the flames surrounding her sword quickly dissipated.
“Is that the technique you developed after I left?” Mikasa asked, sheathing her blade and turning back to face the crane studying under her.
“Mhm! I still can’t really use the same fire stuff that Akagi and Kaga-senpai can by myself, but I’ve found out that if I use my shikigami planes as catalysts, I can do all sorts of cool fire things!” She responded, holding out some extra shikigami that hadn’t been ignited in her attack.
“I see… It's a good idea, but your technique takes far too long to execute. By the time you’ve gathered all of your flames your opponent has already defeated you!”
“Oooh… So, I should try to focus on learning how to use the power of the first carrier division?”
“Not exactly. For now, focus on generating fire without needing to use your paper planes. Once you get that down, you’ll be free to grow as far as you want!”
“Ok… that sounds like a good idea. One problem, how do I do that?”
“...”
“...”
“...I don’t know.”
Zuikaku sighed, flopping onto her back and splashing a bit of water around. “Aw come on! I guess I’ll have to ask Kaga-senpai about it…”
Suddenly, a massive distant explosion rocked the entire base, sending Mikasa stumbling about and Zuikaku splashing around as the crane swiftly returned to her feet, looking up and seeing a massive pillar of flames and smoke shooting up into the sky from deep within the forest area of the base.
“Zuikaku, Mikasa-daisenpai!” A voice called out from in front of the two, familiar and distressed.
“Shoukaku-nee? What’s going on!?” Zuikaku asked, as she and Mikasa quickly began to sail back towards the practice to dock and investigate, Shoukaku quickly following them after meeting them half-way.
“It’s Enterprise and Akagi-senpai, those two idiots are fighting!”
“What!?”
A sudden flourish of dark purple and black flames rose into the sky, followed by beams of golden light scattering into the air above.
“I have a really, really bad feeling about this…”