Editing KSGU:Volume 10 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 21===

The massive red silhouette standing a mere ten meters away was completely defenseless, and paid no heed to the gun pointed at him. He did not think that he would be shot, nor thinking that he could die. One would have suspicion that even if Banagher fired, he would have easily dodged the bullet.

No, that’s not it. He knows I’m not used to wielding a gun. He thinks I won’t be able to hit. He’s looking down on me. In fact, Banagher himself felt that he might not be able to shoot, his fingertips clamping down on the shivering gun. He knew everything, about their thoughts, the exit to ward them off. He had been this way right from the start, that sneering mask seemed to have noticed their intents beforehand, saying that it is pointless to do anything—

“If you are planning to open the “Box”, my advice is to stop.”

As expected, Frontal said so before they could, taking a step forward. Banagher took a step back instinctively, his back bumping into a still Audrey behind him

“What you are going to do is only going to seal off possibilities. Secrets shall only remain as secrets, a tool to scare the Federation, and sealing it will bring real development and prosperity to the spacenoids.”

“Approach me any more, and I’ll fire.”

Banagher leaned his shoulder on Audrey, who was unwilling to take a step back, and pointed the gun forward. However, Frontal did not stop, the magnetic boots landed once, twice on the floor. “I told you.” His intimidating voice echoed.

“It is a mistake to be overly expectant of humanity and the world. Humans don’t change, and they don’t learn. They’re born from the darkness, and return to the darkness. They’re merely a flash lasting not more than an instance.”

“Move aside, Full Frontal. Save your words. You don’t believe in humanity’s future!”

Audrey poked her body over the shoulder, interrupting with a poignant voice. Frontal stopped, the lips under the mask contorted with a leer.

“Do you still not understand? Your Highness Mineva? I am your tomorrow. Those that have met humanity and the world’s truth will have the same thoughts as me, just like you and young Banagher.”

The cold leer had a furious Audrey wanting to step forward. Banagher blocked her off with one arm, and exchanged looks with Frontal again.

“None of these are my personal thoughts. This is simply the will of the unintelligent humans. There is no need for possibilities. The “Laplace Box” has value just by being shut. If you do not understand—”

An explosion of killing intent had Banagher’s heart jolting wildly. He expected Frontal’s right hand wielding the gun to move quickly, and instinctively moved his handgun.

“I’ll kill you then.”

Frontal naturally raised the gun, the black muzzle pointed at Banagher. Two gunshots rang, the scorching air grazed the helmet, and the impacted body spun half a round, bumping Audrye aside, and falling onto the ground. Just a moment before, Banagher witnessed sparks exploding on Frontal’s face, the massive red body flying backwards.

The bright red pilot suit flew several meters back, blending into the darkness. It was a recoilless gun, but his hands went numb after firing it, and the unprecedented shivers he had as he fired the gun at someone passed through his body. Was he—dead? The recoil off the floor had both Banagher and Audrey floating, and Banagher sought Frontal’s presence as he endured the disgust in his heart. The darkness the night lights could not reach into remained heavy and intense, and he could not identify the profile that had blended in.

“Banagher…”

Audrey called with a quivering voice, her eyes widened as she stared into the darkness. Banagher did manage to hit, either out of coincidence or luck, but he did see the bullet enter the masked face. He would have assumed Frontal to be shot dead, but he dared not lower the gun as he brought his other hand close to her waist. At this moment, something within the darkness stood up, the echoed footsteps entering Banagher’s ears

Thud, thud, something gathered in the darkness, and it broke through the membrane of the darkness, seeping red under the lights, a left hand holding down the face. You’re kidding, that’s impossible. Banagher gasped as his feet landed, nearly tripping over as his mind went blank, staring at the profile before him.

“…I saw the thoughts of humanity surrounding Earth in light.”

His hand on the left side of his face, Frontal’s back was arched as he spoke with a heinous voice. The right eye on his mask shot an emotionless stare as blood kept falling between his fingertips, and Banagher heard a bone-chilling voice.

“I was swallowed by the light, pushed out of the Earth Celestial Sphere. With my own eyes, I saw the abyss of the universe.”

A red black liquid was seeping from the half of the mask that was shattered, irregular droplets formed outside the helmet. Even though the mask managed to block the bullet, such damage was abnormal, never mind how he was able to stand up. What is that guy? Banagher wanted to run, but his legs would not obey, and he could only raise the gun weakly. The words ‘abyss of the universe’ caused him to experience another chill.

During the battle before, he saw the emptiness in Frontal’s heart. He preached that humanity was merely a flash in a pan, so was the darkness of the universe the abyss he saw? A certain Neo Zeon commander saw the light that was the collective human consciousness wrap around Earth, the light of the psycofield that eliminated the space asteroid “Axis”. He was the crux of this incident, yet he vanished—swallowed in the light, pushed out of the Earth Celestial Sphere, and saw the abyss of the universe.

“Even though I witnessed that miracle, humanity hasn’t changed. They know that change is meaningless. There’s nothing before them, and no matter where they go, there’s only the same darkness before them. Even if they finally find a way to leave the galaxy, all shall return to the darkness …”

The eye beneath the shattered mask had become twisted, along with the voice curdling the darkness. He was no longer Full Frontal, the man resembling Char, nor did he resemble human. This creature was giving a grey glint, and Banagher felt his legs turn limp.

“Are…are you really Char…?”

Frontal held down the bloodied mask as he stumbled two steps forward. “No!” Audrey yelled at this moment, charging out from behind, and she stood next to Banagher before the latter could stop her.

“I know Char. He praised me for playing the violin well. That Char Azanable is not a hollow human like you!”

The eye containing fury and anguish was giving a more intimidating pressure than the gun. She glared back at the red profile, which did not falter, “Then what am I?” he taunted back,

“The Red Comet of the “Sleeves” acts just like Char, and has voiced Char’s despair. Where is he born from though?”

“You’re created by the Republic of Zeon…Monaghan Bakharov. An enhanced human made to imitate Char.”

Audrey immediately answered, her reply shaking Banagher’s heart as a heavy hit. She ignored the stunned banagher as she stared forth with a tragic look. “Oh?” Frontal hissed, and lifted his face slightly.

“Monaghan needed pieces for the Sides to establish a co-prosperity sphere, and yearned for a Neo Zeon as an organization for many to gather towards.  The two purposes resulted in a common interest, that  a puppet like you can be dubbed the Second Coming of Char. You did not fool everyone, but that everyone fooled themselves, including me. Our fragile hearts desired an existence like Char, the power he brings…redemption for each and every one of us.”
 
The Red Comet here is just a hallucination borne from our grudges. Banagher recalled the similarly spiteful voice from the previous night, and looked towards Frontal again. As it was hollow, everyone projected their illusions on the empty mask.  Once he recognized this in his own words, the darkness cracked, and the tunnel space became clear.

“This might have been the case in the beginning.”

The palm pressing down on the face remained tense, and Frontal stopped leering, muttering away. Banagher sensed that on the wall behind him, there was an emergency air canister.

“But I am not hollow now. This body as a vessel has several things inside it, and shall bring forth Char’s curse.”

Audrey gulped lightly, and Banagher could sense her backpedalling, his eyes still on Frontal, his consciousness on the gas canister in a corner of his eyes.

“Actually, I have no idea who exactly is the person who injected this hatred and despair in this artificial body—”

Frontal immediately raised the right hand, the muzzle pointed at them, “Get down!” But Banagher yelled before then, jumping to the side as he pushed Audrye down, squeezing the trigger.

The ricochet flew about messily, one passing by Frontal as it hit the canister. Banagher was in no mood to notice his hands and the sparks from the bullet. The flash swallows his visions, creating a loud explosion that would have cratered his skull, the heat and the gales blowing above his head.

They dodged the first impact, but the impact off the wall swelled as gales of searing heat. Banagher shielded Audrey while being dragged off the floor. He spun in the air as she clung firmly onto him, and he saw the burning wall over her shoulder, along with countless shrapnel floating in the air. The partition wall started to close as a fire was detected, and Frontal too became one of it, passing through the wall towards the residential block. He did not return to the ship block they were headed, and instead vanished into the path he came, causing Banagher to assume something was amiss.

Frontal was hiding his mobile suit. If the “Sinanju” wrecked havoc in the ship, there was no way the “Box” could open. Banagher kicked off the wall, landed on the floor, and with his back facing the searing gales, he pulled Audrey’s shoulder close. “Audrey, go ahead!” He said as he looked into her eyes, her fiery colored eyes quivering slightly.

“I’ll go chase after Frontal. Who knows what he’s going to do if we let him escape.”

“But…!”

“This is caused by my weakness. I couldn’t do anything when seeing him right before me, even though I could do it in a mobile suit.”

It was not that he did not want to kill, but that he did not want to directly accept that he killed. “Banagher…” Audrey muttered, and half the wall nudged aside the smoke, gradually blocking their path. “Go!” Banagher called as he shoved her out of his clutches.

“I’ll definitely be back. No matter what happens, I’ll return to your side.”

The emerald eyes were filled with anguish, and Audrey bit her lips firmly as she turned to leave. Right then, Banagher had an impulse to retract his words, a desire to embrace her, but he knew he should not be doing such things. Once he saw her pass through the partition, he waved aside the surrounding smoke as he wandered off in the other direction.

The wall was about to close completely, doing as it was supposed to as it stood before him. Banagher made a mad dash, reaching his body forward at the last moment, sliding through when the wall was 50cm away from the floor. Once he got into the neighboring wall, the sealed walls let out a heavy thud that echoed through the tunnel, the sounds of the flames vanishing in an instant. Audrey’s presence too vanished along with the heat, and a cold silence beckoned again, surrounding Banagher.

The enemy’s killing intent lingered in the tense darkness, just like before, but he had no time to stand and shiver. At the very least, there was no place to hide the “Sinanju”. Frontal must have come from another place, and the “Sinanju” was hidden there.  Banagher raised the gun as he hopped off the floor. He felt so useless passing through the vast corridor alone, and Frontal appeared to be hiding in every single shadow he passed.