9 Forevermore Chapter 11

9 Forevermore
Written by *pieface123 and *Tifa-the-Strange

Into the Past... Prt. 1

The small machines scattered across the factory and the outside as X kept on making more of them, "In just a few days I'll have a fine army."
The evil prototype didn't have to look up as he heard the slithering of the Seamstress returning from the hunt. "I hope you got a good kick out of hunting..." X chuckled at the snake like beast. 0 and 9 slowly sneaked inside a can not too far from it. "There he is..." 0 growled, "How are you going to get 8 and 7 out of that thing?" she whispered to 9.
He looked around, trying to think up something. He noticed a piece of cloth with holes and grabbed it, an idea formulating inside his mind.
The Seamstress' body regurgitated and, in its own way, spat out the body guard and the warrior. X chuckled, his back facing them as the Seamstress bowed, giving its offering to its master. "You came back with prey unlike your predecessor... Well done..."
"Hurry..." 0 gasped, waiting for instructions. After a few quick thoughts, 9 began to wrap the fabric over his light staff. "Just go with your part of the plan..." he tied the fabric on place and looked around, picking up some strong rope and a screw. "I have an idea..." 0 nodded, "Good luck, 9..." with that she snuck out of the can, quickly sneaking away and near the fabrication machine. Right were X could see her, she gulped. This was it... she had to distract X so 9 could rescue her friends. "H-HEY!!!"
The Seamstress screeched in surprise, about to attack as one of the machine's long metal arms, "I know that voice..." X muttered before he turned to face the source of the voice, "Miss 0..." a sickening grin greeted her.
"0!!" 7 gasped once she regained consciousness alongside the brute. "W-what is she doing here...?!" she told herself.
"T-that's right..." she growled, holding up her needle. 0 looked back at the can quickly to see 9 sneak past everyone's gaze. 'Oh creator, please work...'
"Such a brave woman you are, coming here..." his whole being loomed above her, his feet never touched the ground as the cables held him like a hovering ghost of the past. "All alone... No one to aid you in your time of need..." X flicked his hand before gently caressing her chin, "You look lovely..."
0 froze, tightening her grip on her nail. She slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me..." she muttered sternly.
"Feisty as always..." X examined her body, back and front, "Not to mention lovely, I'm glad that in our last encounter I didn't scar you too much," he chuckled.
That comment made her 'blood' boil; she tightened her grip again, glaring icy daggers. "Yes... so nice to see 2 didn't hurt you as much either..." she spat, her voice dripping in sarcasm.
"I would have made this machine fix me up, but I kind of like it. It reminds me that our species aren't to be taken lightly. Full of unexpected surprises... So tell me... Have you come here to finish me off... or to join me so I can spare their lives?" X's face was so close to hers she could see the mechanisms working under his ripped burlap skin.
0 gulped, glaring slightly. 'Please hurry, 9' she pleaded in her head. "Just let them go..." she growled.
"Why give up squealing game? They are my new pet's prey; I should let it play with its new toys before I suck out their very souls."
0 backed away slightly, She forced herself to smirk, "What?...you don't want me to fight for it?"
"If I ever learned something from our last encounter is to never underestimate you." X's needle fingers held her face, making sure she wouldn't dare to move, "Such a pretty little face, and yet it causes so much trouble."
0 stayed perfectly still, a blush of anger rising on her face. If she moved, his needle fingers would cut her. She just tightened her hold on her nail and held her breath.
"Hmm... Not answering your King..." his face grew closer to hers, his tongue flickering like a lizard's. "You're hiding something... And I know it..." he licked her cheek. "Tell me, Miss 0... How is the girl with the different soul?"
0 shivered with a grimace, she tried to gently back away but she felt his other hand wrap around her middle, needles pinching her waist. "T-that's none of your business..."
"I bet she's still traumatized for me almost having her little rats butchered. She should be for all the trauma she had when her soul donor was still alive..." X chuckled, "That girl tried to kill off our Creator, from what I remember..."
0's eyes widened slightly, "W-what?!"
X chuckled, "You didn't know? Her soul donor tried to kill our Creator after he finished the dancer's body. She kept screaming at him that it was all his fault for the war that was commenced after the Chancellor got a hold of my little friend here..." he pointed to the Fabrication Machine.
0 looked at him in confusion and shock; she squirmed a little in his arms, at least this bought 9 some extra time. "W-what do you mean?!... so... h-her soul...?"
"13's soul is not from our Creator, but ripped apart from a human girl who tried to kill him off. The girl's name is so fresh in my mind, it's like I've only heard it yesterday... Roxanne..." he laughed, "A student of our Creator, always the rebel and hated politics, thinking that life would have been better with diplomacy and fair justice, yet her attitude only showed a young woman who hated the world."
0 stared at him, speechless. The plan all out of her head, all she could think about was how an unpleasant human woman could provide a soul for such a gentle, sweet soul such as 13.
"That teenager would have been perfect for the role of being a hateful scientist, the whole opposite of our gentle Creator." He looked out to the hole above the factory, reminiscing the days of old...

The gentle scientist gently threaded the thread inside the needle, muttering softly to himself as he sewed the dark blue dress in place. There... it was done... number 13 was finished... he gave a weak smile.
He rubbed his forehead, sighing, it sounded like he hadn't gotten any sleep for almost a week. "The war is getting worse..." The Scientist stared out into the horizon, hearing bullets as he saw fire coming out from the University he once attended and turned into a teacher, making him feel less accomplished at the sight of the flames.
He looked away sadly, rubbing his forehead with a miserable groan. As if his voice was begging for any amount of rest. But he had to keep going... so many more projects needed to be done before his final creation.
He closed the door to his home, quickly walking towards the nearest school he worked at. The Scientist dropped his bag on his desk, his hands trembling as he took out a few blueprints out of his drawer, editing and changing a few things on it with his pencil. "5 barely left yesterday..." he muttered, "I wonder how 6 will be once it awakens..."
He hoped they would be alright out there all alone. So far only six were out there in the war, one headstrong leader, two mute twins, one kind inventor, one strong, but gentle female, and a timid mechanic. Oh how the rest will turn out... all new fragments of his own soul...
It tore him apart, literally, ripping out his own soul to give life to these small beings, all thanks to alchemy, a dark science that was believed to be fake until he tampered with it, hoping to make a better future.
He hid his blueprints when he heard a knock at the door.
"U-um, come in..."
He tried to tidy himself and his desk up, standing up once the door opened.
"R-Roxanne? What are you doing here at this hour? Class doesn't start in 10 minutes."
A young woman stood in the entrance, around the age of 18. She wore pants and shoes for a young man but her top was of a dress, cut around the waist and arms that gave way to a long sleeved shirt, her dark brown half-curly hair hanging past her shoulders. "Sorry, Doc. I'm not gonna just stand there in an empty classroom waiting for that damn Chancellor to give his boring speech again through the radio..." she told with a growl at the end.
The scientist sighed, rubbing his forehead for the millionth time that day. "Please, Roxanne... let's not discuss him at this moment..." he was stressed enough already.
"Why? He's been the topic of the day for the past eight months," she slumped on the chair in front of his desk. "We must praise him for bringing peace to the state and all of that crap."
"Roxanne, didn't your mother ever tell you to mind your manners? That's no language for a young lady." he told as calm as he could be.
"Young lady? Pfeh! A young lady wouldn't dissect a frog and experiment with its organs," she chuckled with a devious look on her face before turning serious, looking at him. "What the hell happened to you, Doc? You look like something sucked out your life or something."
The scientist sighed once more, taking his glasses and cleaning them weakly on his lab coat. "It's nothing... I'm perfectly fine..." he muttered.
"Well, whatever it is, you better stop doing it," Roxanne got up from her seat and walked out the door, "We still got class and I want to know more about that new topic you've been mentioning, you know, that alchemy thing..."
He placed his glasses back on with a small mutter, "Very well..."
It didn't take long for him to get to the classroom where he taught his many students, only now thanks to the war he only had around four to five students, including Roxanne. Even if she gave him trouble every now and then she would always do everything he asked for his students, from basic homework to some research that his other students would complain about.
The Scientist felt awkward teaching about alchemy, he was practicing it back at his home but he didn't feel comfortable teaching the topic to his students. He was making little life forms and ripping out his soul in order to make them alive, he hoped that no one would take his class seriously.
After class was dismissed, however, Roxanne seemed more than interested in the stunt and demanded to know more. As tired and stressed as the poor man was, be finally gave in.
"Why teach about some science that involves life? It sounds impossible." she said as she walked towards him, the rest of his students walking out. "Not to mention that it sounds just stupid and idiotic."
"Well, that may be..." he sighed, "But as impossible as it sounds, it works at times..."
"Yeah, and raindrops are made of small sugary globes that fall from the sky..." she scoffed, "I'm out of here..." she stood near the door before turning to him, "If I didn't know any better, I would think that you're hiding something..." Roxanne stood there for a moment before leaving.
The Scientist groaned, "That girl has always been trouble since before High School... At least she made progress for her parents' sake..."
The weak man slowly packed up his things, blueprints and all, and blew out the candle on the desk. He still had so much to do and very little time to do it in.
A week passed and the war began to grow even worse, the walker machines tore down houses and started to shoot innocent civilians, everyone ran in havoc. The Scientist ran to his room, making sure everything was in place as bombs self-destructed around the city.
The man stopped as all was silent for a while, his test tubes shook and soon fell and crashed as a small rumble of machines ducked the earth. The scientist held his things steady with a groan.
The only thing that struck his mind was that this was indeed the end of civilization... And he was responsible for it...