⁕ High Voltage (part 2)

*Hours before Athena's rescue operation, inside the Inverted Monolith

A group of surgeons carefully worked around Kadyn's dormant body while Jagger watched with a devious smile behind a window. Beside him, Dunhill showed an uncomfortable expression as he watched the doctors cut open Kadyn's metallic skull with an industrial saw. The resulting rain of metal sparks caused Dunhill to gasp in shock while Jagger stood unbothered. 

[Dunhill] - "My lord, I know they will be coming after her but is this really necessary? "

Said Dunhill with a disturbed undertone in his voice.

[Jagger] - "This woman means nothing to me. I just happen to appreciate her for my personal pleasures. For this, I figured, why not make her a toy instead? "

[Dunhill] - "I don't understand, my lord, why do this now? We are currently expecting them to attack at any moment from now. This could've been done earlier or even later after we had dealt with the enemies you mentioned. "

As if Dunhill's question had triggered Jagger's happy nerve, he suddenly showed a sadistic smile.

[Jagger] - "I kept her alive because I know my enemies will come to rescue her. However, I don't only want to defeat my enemies, I want to watch them die in despair. I want to destroy their hopes and faith in humanity by putting them in hopeless situations. I want them to die knowing how little their defiance meant to the grander picture. "

Said Jagger with a dilated pupil as he savoured every moment he spent explaining his plan. 

There was a visible look of fear in Dunhill's eyes but he knew better to quickly put on a facade to please Jagger. 

[Dunhill] - "Wha... What a brilliant plan, my lord! "

Ignoring Dunhill's praise, Jagger leaned in closer to observe as the surgeons began lobotomizing Kadyn by slicing into her brain. The scene, on the other hand, was too much even for Dunhill to handle as he lit up a cigarette to distract himself from the cruel show. 

Meanwhile, inside Kadyn's crystal, she watched in horror as the surgeons mercilessly removed her humanity. Like butchers, they stabbed and removed pieces of her frontal cortex until there was nothing left of Kadyn herself. Slowly, Kadyn lowered her head as she noticed Mike sitting by the fire in her periphery. 

[Kadyn] - "I thought this was goodbye. How ironic... "

[Mike] - "I underestimated Jagger's perversion. "

Said Mike in a defeated voice. 

As Kadyn approached Mike, he didn't dare raise his head to look at her. 

[Kadyn] - "This must be what you felt as they opened you up and carved away your humanity. If I never allowed them to play with your body, none of this would've happened. "

Said Kadyn as she kneeled down to meet Mike's gaze.

However, even as she tried to see Mike, he lowered his head further down to hide his face. 

[Kadyn] - "Mike, Mike, stop hiding from me. It's not your fault. That was Jagger, not you. "

Said Kadyn in an understanding tone.

[Mike] - "I don't know what came over me. I told you rescue was coming but look at you now. Everything is now gone, reduced to ashes because I couldn't be there for you when you needed me the most. "

Said Mike with guilt in his voice. 

[Kadyn] - "I don't mind this anymore. As long as I get to spend eternity here with you, I'm happy with this arrangement. "

Said Kadyn as she extended her wrist blade. 

[Mike] - "What are you doing? "

Said Mike in a concerned voice.

[Kadyn] - "Look, they are done with their handy work. I suppose it's time I finish the job. "

Said Kadyn in a relieved voice as she placed her blade against her neck. 

As her oscillating blade began hitting the bottom of her chin, a long sliver of blood began to leak down her chest. In a jolt, Mike jumped up and swung his hand at Kadyn, which caused her to pull her hand away temporarily.

[Mike] - "Are ya out of ya bloody mind? "

Yelled Mike in shock and anger.

[Kadyn] - "What? If I kill myself, then I'll be joining you in the afterlife. "

[Mike] - "No, no, no, there must be another way. This can't be the end, not like this! "

Said Mike as he worryingly rubbed his palms against his face. 

[Kadyn] - "I'm done for, Mike! Whatever the fuck hope we still got, it's over! All our dreams, all our memories and our promises, they are gone! Even if you were alive, I doubt you have the power to heal... That! "

Said Kadyn as she pointed up at herself. 

Just as Kadyn finished her sentence, both she and Mike noticed a trail of blood coating the edge of the crystal outside. Upon closer inspection, both of them realized that Kadyn was bleeding from the place where she accidentally cut herself in real life. 

[Surgeon 1] - "Damn it, Maude, why can't you be more careful? "

Yelled the surgeon as he suddenly noticed the bleeding.

[Surgeon 2] - "What? I didn't cut that place! "

[Surgeon 1] - "Then who the fuck did? A ghost? Fucking get me a bandage and some disinfectant! "

As the surgeons cleaned up the bleeding and applied a bandage, both Mike and Kadyn shared a look with each other. 

[Kadyn] - "My ability... It can translate to real life? "

[Mike] - "Apparently. "

[Kadyn] - "Wait! Say, Mike, how the fuck do you know what your ability does? Like I had no bloody clue what mine did unless we saw an example of it somewhere. "

[Mike] - "You just know it. Like me, the moment they connected my crystals to my brain, I knew what I could do just as humans are born knowing how to eat and drink. Unless for you... "

Mike paused as he thought of something while looking at her crystal. 

[Mike] - "Say, Lemon, how did Ethan install your crystal? "

After a brief brainstorming and discussion, Mike pushed his face into his hands in despair. 

[Mike] - "The peripheral system... He only managed to connect your crystal to your spine? "

Yelled Mike with a flabbergasted expression.

[Kadyn] - "Well, since my creator Miho Tsujinaka kicked the bucket... With my help, Ethan is left with a bit of a difficult situation considering my biology. "

Said Kadyn with a silly smirk.

[Mike] - "So he installed your crystal only partially like that? "

[Kadyn] - "With my insistence, yes. "

Said Kadyn with a hint of shame in her voice.

[Mike] - "Bloody hell, I'm surprised it even worked as well as it did until now. "

[Kadyn] - "However, considering we can affect real life with our actions here, I've got a crazy idea that I'd like to try. "

A while later, after getting seated on a comfortable chair, Kadyn tied up her hair before searching for the relevant tools and medications for her surgery. Mike followed Kadyn as he stepped into the strange Imperial laboratory. 

[Kadyn] - "Welcome to my place of birth, Mike. As you can see, the fifth tube on the right is where little ol' me is born. "

[Mike] - "This idea is madness, Lemon. One wrong move and we both die. "

Ignoring Mike's concerns, Kadyn took off her clothes before pouring alcohol on her back and neck. Then, with her wrist blade, she carefully shaved off all of her pretty blonde hair before cleaning her head with disinfectant.

[Kadyn] - "My brain has been calibrated to coordinate my arms with the same steadiness as a machine. Your job is to tell me the situation in places I can't see with the mirrors since you can phase your eyes into my body. "

Said Kadyn as she put down the necessary instruments and tools she needed for the surgery.

[Mike] - "Rearranging nerves is no easy task. Even with your surgical precision, this would still be more than a herculean task. "

Said Mike with a worried look.

[Kadyn] - "I don't mind this because I'm doing this for us! "

Said Kadyn as she used the suspended robotic limbs to hold mirrors around her.

[Mike] - "You don't have to risk it like this, Lemon. This is not a hell I wish upon you. "

Kadyn looked at Mike using the mirrors before her before realizing that he couldn't be reflected off mirrors. Slowly, Kadyn turned to face him before reassuring him with a smile. 

[Kadyn] - "We are out of roads to walk on, Mike. Just promise me you'll be here with me throughout the operation. Promise me we'll meet again in the next life if I make a mistake. "

Said Kadyn while holding back tears. 

[Mike] - "Always, I'll be right beside you until the end. "

With Mike's assurance, Kadyn turned around and injected herself with an adrenaline shot. Slowly, she grabbed the surgical cloths and placed them around her back and head. Then, with a final breath of air, she injected doses of local anesthesia into her back, neck and scalp.

[Kadyn] - "Look at me, I look like a monster without my hair. "

Said Kadyn sarcastically while staring at herself in the mirror. 

[Mike] - "No, you look beautiful. More than ever. "

Kadyn smiled upon hearing Mike's remark. With steady hands, she grabbed the blade from the table before her and began cutting away at her flesh. Meanwhile, outside, Jagger and the surgeons were already gone for a while after the conclusion of the lobotomy, thus leaving no one to notice the hair falling off Kadyn's head and the blood leaking onto her bedsheet. 

As time passed, both of Kadyn's hands were soaked in blood and bone fragments as she finished work on her spine. However, one more place needed surgical intervention; Her brain. After shooting herself in the head with anesthesia, Kadyn sliced her skull open using her own wrist blade with ease. 

[Mike] - "Stay strong, Lemon, you got this! I'm here right with you! "

Said Mike while almost crying at the sight of his wife tearing herself apart. 

With extreme precision, Kadyn guided a set of wires and nerves from her spinal cord through her Conagher system. Mike watched as Kadyn successfully navigated the back of her brain with the wires and connected them to her nerves. As Kadyn opened the final piece of her skull and exposed her prefrontal cortex, Mike saw the small quantic computer that was implanted in the place of her parietal lobe. 

[Kadyn] - "I'm mostly machine... Not even human. I have such a different biology and so many implants. "

Said Kadyn in an attempt to distract herself from the pain. 

[Mike] - "If you consider it, I'm more machine than you are. By percentage of the body replaced by implants, I'd be more of a machine than you are by definition. "

Kadyn grinned as she began working on connecting the implants to her prefrontal and frontal cortex. With this being the final and most critical act in her surgery, Kadyn paused to look at where Mike should be.

[Kadyn] - "I love you, Mike. "

[Mike] - "I love you too, Lemon. "

Not long after, Kadyn's room shook violently before Athena burned through the steel door using the body of her enemy. With the blanket providing a veil of cover for Kadyn's terrifying state, Athena approached her, partially navigating in total darkness. After jabbing both her needles into Kadyn's neck, Athena waited patiently for Kadyn to have a response. 

During this time, after establishing a neuronal connection with her crystal, Kadyn suddenly gained insight into her ability's functions. Information flowed into her mind as she discovered the part of herself that had been hidden for so long. 

[Mike] - "So? What do you have? "

Kadyn blinked a few times before letting a breath mixed with relief and worry. 

[Kadyn] - "I understand now but... The implications are grim. "

Said Kadyn in a shaken voice. 

As if Kadyn could see through her crystal, she understood that Athena was trying to wake her up from the outside. However, due to the severity of her surgery, she would need at least a few days to heal before she could walk or move. 

[Kadyn] - "Mike, the parts of my ability which I had not discovered were before me, yet I can't use it effectively. I can not only capture a moment in time but entering my ability grants me access to the past as well. Within this world of mine, as I had guessed, mending is possible by replacing yourself with a past version of yourself in time. Unfortunately, I can't replace you since my ability didn't capture your body into this world when it activated. "

With a snap of her finger, Kadyn transported her and Mike to her room minutes before Jagger's lobotomy operation. 

[Kadyn] - "By replacing my current self which still has an open skull and injuries with me a few hours ago, I will be able to recover. However, my current surgery and memory will be replaced as well. "

Before Kadyn could do anything, Mike placed himself before Kadyn. 

[Mike] - "No, you need to go back further to the point you were a second before they sedated you and put you in a coma. "

[Kadyn] - "Huh? But that would be so far back, even before all this even happened. "

Said Kadyn with a shocked look in her eyes.

[Mike] - "Exactly! Because Athena had already injected you with the drugs, so if you went back only a few hours, you would still be in a comatose state. You need to wake up right away. From the looks of it, Jagger would not be held forever by whoever is fighting him at this moment. "

Said Mike as he felt Jerry's dread in his soul.

[Kadyn] - "You mean forgetting everything? Forgetting all this adventure we've been through? Forgetting that there is a chance to bring you back? Forgetting I even had this ability in the first place? "

Said Kadyn in a panic. 

[Mike] - "You need to do this or this would truly be the end. When you gained access to your ability's inner workings, I did too. Going back only a few hours will also make your surgery worthless as you'll no longer be in control of your ability. "

Said Mike in a serious tone. 

[Kadyn] - "Mike... Stop... I agreed to leave earlier that day because I knew I would remember the hope of seeing you again. Going that far back will erase everything and put me back in my spiral of anger and despair. "

Said Kadyn in a terrified voice.

[Mike] - "Yet, does that change how things will be? If you can find the strength to exfoliate your crystal and fight so valiantly as you did now, what prevents you from doing it again? "

Said Mike as he kneeled before Kadyn.

[Kadyn] - "But I'll lose you! I don't know if I'll ever see you again if I lose my ability. I can't afford to lose you again, not a second time. "

[Mike] - "But is dying going to help our case, Lemon? I know you are scared, I know how it feels to leave everything behind to go fight a battle in the unknown because I've been there. My fight is not over, just like yours. These people outside risked their lives to save you because they knew what you represented. To your friends, you were the beacon which lit up their lives in their moments of need. To my old disciples, you were the lighthouse of justice they lost with my death. To me, you are Kadyn, a girl who despite her chains, broke free. "

Said Mike with passion and urgency in his voice.

Before Mike could continue, Kadyn cut in.

[Kadyn] - "What if I never recover my ability? What if I walked a different path? Does that mean I'm supposed to simply let you die without a fight? "

Yelled Kadyn in anger and sadness. 

However, Mike wasn't angry or sad and instead, he showed Kadyn a compassionate look. 

[Mike] - "Before I died, I pointed my finger at your heart. I did that because I know I'll live on inside you. Even if your ability is lost, will that void all my promises to you? Even if both of us forgot the time we spent together in this solitary world, will it undersell the day we eventually see each other again? Trust yourself just as you had once trusted me. "

The words resonated with Kadyn as she lingered for a moment while looking at Mike's optimistic grin. With a pained look in her eyes, while breathing heavily, Kadyn conceded by activating her ability. Mike felt internal relief as he witnessed the clock going back around them. Before long, Kadyn arrived on the day she was put to sleep by Jagger. 

[Mike] - "Now, do what you must. I forgot how many times I said this but I'll always be on your side. You may forget my words today but I will remember them. What matters is the values which reside within your heart. "

Said Mike as he pointed at Kadyn's heart just as he did before.

[Kadyn] - "Hey, before I go, Mike, I want to make a promise to you. I promise you I'll recover my ability and free you someday. "

Said Kadyn with a hopeful look in her eyes.

[Mike] - "I'll be waiting, Lemon. "

Said Mike as he stepped on the side.

As soon as Kadyn activated her ability, her current mutilated self was immediately replaced with her a few months ago before she got sedated by Jagger. In an instant, the world went dark before Kadyn abruptly sat up on her bed. 

[Athena] - "Jesus! You scared the fuck out of me! "

Yelled Athena as she jumped back. 

[Kadyn] - "Where am I? Where is that bastard Jagger? "

Said Kadyn as she stared confusingly at the room around her. 

[Athena] - "And I thought you were never going to wake up, you discount Marilyn Monroe. You just came out of a fucking coma, so you probably don't remember shit. To summarize, your beloved Jagger put you to sleep for a few months before I came to bust your ass out of here. "

[Kadyn] - "Wait... What? Athena? "

Said Kadyn in a confused tone before turning toward Athena.

[Athena] - "Well, at least you remember me, you boyfriend thief. Look at you, more wasted than a drunk homeless man after finding a hundred on the ground. "

After making sense of the situation with her past memory and Athena's summary, Kadyn finally began to think rationally.

[Kadyn] - "Oh, shut up, you bloody gyros saleswoman. I can't believe you are still fighting with me over Mike. He chose me because I sold actual melons on my plank while you were out of product to begin with. "

Said Kadyn as she pressed one hand on her breasts while pointing at Athena's chest. 

[Athena] - "Fuck you, you ungrateful little shit! You were simply lucky Mike was tolerant enough to let female Jeffrey Dalmer in his bed. "

Screamed Athena as she covered her chest before pointing at Kadyn.

[Kadyn] - "Because Mike would rather fuck an actual woman with a healthy plump body than King Tut over there with a skunk put on his head. "

Athena's mouth was wide open as she bore the full shock of Kadyn's roast. 

[Athena] - "Hahaha! You were indeed the Kadyn I knew. Welcome back, you absolute bitch! "

Said Athena as she reached out to help Kadyn get out of bed. 

[Kadyn] - "Yeah, yeah, Athena, you bloody cunt, thanks for rescuing me. It's insane I slept for so long without even dreaming. It's like all this time passed by instantaneously the moment I fell under. "

Said Kadyn as she began putting on her clothes. 

[Athena] - "Well, that's a coma for you. I guess I should save the formalities for later. Your boyfriend Jagger still requires our attention. "

[Kadyn] - "Boyfriend my ass! Who knew Bill Cosby would team up with Hitler to possess Mike's body? Are you sure you and whoever you brought can deal with him? Do you need my help in this? "

Said Kadyn as she put on Mike's coat. 

[Athena] - "Oh please, leave the fighting to the adults. Little girls like you should just sit on the side and look cute. Put on some makeup and perfume while I hand Jagger his death certificate. "

Said Athena as she stepped outside of the room.

[Kadyn] - "Yeah I will. My favourite perfume is luxury lavender. I'm sure you are familiar with that if you remember your early days as Mike's apprentice. "

Said Kadyn tauntingly.

[Athena] - "Don't care. Once you reach the ground floor, go South and meet up with your friend McCree. I'll join you people once my job is done here. "

Said Athena as one of her conjured hands elevated Kadyn toward the top.

As Kadyn ascended, Athena suddenly realized what Kadyn meant by lavender as she had finally understood where the lavender odour came from when she trained with Mike.

[Athena] - "Kadyn! You bitch! You were fucking with Mike behind my back this whole time? "

Yelled Athena at Kadyn from below. 

[Kadyn] - "Yep! Leave the fun for the elders. Adults like you should be fighting and punching the air out of jealousy. "

Said Kadyn with a victorious grin.

With an amused grin, Athena showed Kadyn her middle finger before stepping away to find Jagger. As Kadyn prepared to jump off Athena's hand, she remained oblivious to how she reached this point. All the moments Kadyn had spent with Mike in her ability, a forgotten memory... At least for her. Meanwhile, Mike lay on the ground beside the campfire and closed his eyes to enjoy a long peaceful sleep, knowing Kadyn had made it out alive. 

To be continued...