It seemed as if Aoi blinked, and he was already in front of 'The Architect'. Aoi had already used his ability in his Chrono-Watch to see the fractured version of another. This man was most definitely an Aoi Takamura variation. He wore a smile that creeped both Aoi and Jason out. He looked as if he were a perfect child.
"This is my variation?~, right now, I can say you look pretty weak." He says with a calm, smile that seemed to have good intentions, Jason looked at the man with wariness, analyzing for any moment in time where everyone lowers their guard, even for a second, could result in Jason and Aoi's escape.
"It's okay~ Even the weak and meek have been useful to me." He says, making his voice soothing and calming to the ears. For once in Aoi's adventure through timelines, this variation seemed unsettling, but at the same time, he has this perfect personality to him.
"You could work for me~ I have a lot of amazing technology, surely it can help you with whatever your goal is, after all, there's nothing wrong with saying you need help~" He said calmly, before turning his back on the two, leaving them to decide their fate.
"This…is happening so fast…who even are you?" Aoi muttered, still struggling against his restraints. They're nanotechnology, wrapped around Jason and Aoi. Aoi was eager to ask more questions, while Jason stayed quiet, observant
"I'm Aoi Takamura of course!~ I'm surprised you haven't realized! We look just alike don't we?? Like brothers! Expect, I'm better than you!~" He chirped, he talked so calmly with a soothing tone, but his words were full of mockery.
The room, since the architect left, has been filled with nothing but quietness. Aoi stopped talking, mainly because he was looking around the room. The room seemed off, There was nothing but white around, like a mental asylum.
"Jason? Hey, Jason!" Aoi tried to grab Jason's attention by moving around a bit. This makes Jason stir a bit, he stands up, and his arms are still restrained. Jason's movements cause Aoi to be lifted as well, since they're restrained together. Jason is without his blade, and Aoi without his Chrono-Watch.
"Aoi, I can't stay here long, I have to get back to Chrono-Savior. With this, I'll be going. Have fun!" Jason, using the power and increased strength that comes with wearing his bodysuit, instantly rips apart the nanotechnology and frees himself before the nanotechnology rope forms back together.
Even though Jason broke free, He couldn't break down the door, even with his strength and power. Aoi is still restrained by the nanotech ropes. "Jason..!..Just hear me out here! I'm too weak to do anything..You gotta at least help me get through this timeline!" Aoi pleaded, then bandages still covered the huge wound that Kira inflicted upon him.
"Fine, I'll help, but you owe me food after this, I'm hungry.." Jason admitted, turning back to Aoi and breaking his restraints, freeing him.
While Aoi and Jason are trapped in this Utopia of a timeline, Chrono-Savior was left in his timeline, and Kira had just escaped before he could use his full power. This left him drained and out of breath, panting as his body started to relax. His hospital gown was slightly ripped.
His mother, Akira, rushed downstairs after the noise disappeared, panicking as she ran to embrace Chrono-Savior.
"I'm so glad you're safe!— Wait, where's Jason? The other variation too- Where is everyone..?" She questioned, looking around the room to see only broken chairs, vases, and tables scattered across the room. There was blood on the ground, there were puddles of blood in certain areas, and some areas had more blood than others. Especially the spot where Aoi got stabbed.
Chrono-Savior had blood on his cybernetic arm, as well as deep scars on his face. "They— They escaped. She escaped, Jason and the other variant are in a different timeline." He panted, Each breath was painful for him. He was still hurting from when Kira stabbed him all the way back in the battle with The Tyrant. Chrono-Savior had tended to his father as much as he could until he had time to escort him to a hospital.
"So that's it? This whole battle ended just like that?? This doesn't make any sense!" Chrono-Savior didn't respond. His mother, Akira, glanced at Chrono-Savior's face. His face was scrunched up and his expression showed nothing less than hatred. To see another variation of himself practically be the cause of his father's death was infuriating.
Aoi and Jason, still trapped in a room of all white, had tried banging and striking the door. Unfortunately, it only made tiny dents on the door, there wasn't much Aoi could do but offer the little help he could. There's a wide window for them to talk to people like the Architect variant or other soldiers.
"Dude, I don't think we'll get out of here with brute force.." Jason said before throwing another punch at the door. "But.." He paused- "You have any social skills?" He turned back, his breath quickened from the energy he used, and he sat back on the white floor.
"I've spent basically all of my life being homeschooled and kept in my house, my parents are the only ones I talk to" Aoi sighs, bringing his head down in thought. When he looks up he sees someone through the window, they seem to be in the process of opening the door. "Yo, you seeing this??"
"What the???" Jason blinked, he approached the door. Before he could touch it, it was opened. The figure seems familiar, and Jason instantly knows and instinctively swings his fist.
Aoi looks past Jason and finally sees someone. His eyebrows instantly furrowed, and his teeth clenched. Kira Yuunagi.
Kira had blocked Jason's first punch with a deadpanned expression. She sighed before forcing Jason's hand down. "I'm not trying to fight, I came to apologize." There was something off about Kira this time around, Aoi's mind instantly shifted to a change or event that happened in her battle with Chrono-Savior that made her apologize.
"It's..it's only been a day!" Aoi got up, still clutching his chest, gently pushing Jason aside. Getting up close to Kira. "ONE day, after an interaction with another variation of me, over those times I gave you a chance?"
"I can't go back to The Tyrant, he's already looking for me. If anything, you guys are my only defense against him, it was either you or him." Kira hides her blade and makes it disappear to prove she has no intention of killing Jason or Aoi. "Unfortunately, if you accept my help, you're in even more danger with The Tyrant." She sighs, with a genuine look of concern. "But, if you accept my help, I'll protect you with my utmost respect. After all, I was the one who inflicted the pain upon you." She holds her hand out for Aoi, who still clutched his bandages in discomfort.
Jason still didn't trust Kira, and for good reason. He crossed his arms and looked Kira directly in the eye. "You're describing that now you want to work with us? You tried to kill him and my master, that, I can't ignore." He takes a deep breath, really thinking over the situation, and he sees that the three of them are in the open, just waiting to be seen. "But, seeing the situation that Aoi can really do much, and I don't have my weapon.." he pondered in thought, before making a decision he soon will regret. "It'll only be temporary, but seeing how Aoi's reacting, he'll probably keep you around-"
Aoi, the moment he sees that Kira is actually serious about this, his eyes are practically shining with glee before taking her hand. "You mean it?? You'll actually team up with us?!" He placed both hands on Kira's left hand, shaking it so much it was going to fall apart.
"That's enough." Kira yanks her hand away, experiencing the second-hand embarrassment that comes with just being around Aoi. She quickly forgets about it and moves on. "Anyway, we need to find the sidekick's sword." She starts to walk down the pristine hallway, leaving Aoi and Jason to follow, she checks each pathway for guards before going down one of them. "Any ideas?"
Jason follows close behind Kira, while Aoi stays behind both of them. "All I wanna do is kick the crap out of that stupid, overly excited, self-centered, wannabe perfect child!"
"You're too stupid to defeat someone like him," Kira comments bluntly, checking different hallways. Her way of thinking is almost as complex as Prime Aoi's, or at least to Aoi.
"I almost beat y-" Jason is interrupted by Aoi as he points to a nearby guard in the left hallway.
Behind the soldier was an armory room, containing various weapons and armors, "Section 12, check in on the prisoners in room 1211. They should be there, over." He talks into the Handheld transceiver before standing there for a couple seconds, waiting for an answer.
A couple seconds of static could be heard before receiving an answer, "Copy, this is from Section 12, prisoners from room 1211 are reported missing, over." The solider almost instantly readies his weapon and rushes down the hallway, halfway down, Jason catches them mid-run, grabs their neck and effectively takes them out.
"Pretty cool, wasn't it?" He smirked, but Kira and Aoi flew right past him as he scurried behind them. "You guys! You completely ignored that awesome takedown!" He whined, taking the lead once again.
"I see takedowns like that all the time, to be honest." Kira says with a deadpanned expression, like she didn't even care.
"I agree!" Aoi exclaimed, trailing behind the two as they came near the armory, There's one thing he just can't get his mind over the fact that these people are in possession of his Chrono-Watch, he didn't even get a chance to see its new upgrades.
The three reach the armory, where Jason and Kira break down the door with ease, the room is filled with energy charged weapons, bodysuits, and hundreds of weird, white disks.
"Alright, is anyone gonna take anything from here??" Jason asked, he could barely contain himself, he had a grin so wide like he was already in front of The Architect, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't excited to find his blade take him down.
"Let Aoi take one of those disks, he might need them." Kira suggested, grabbing one of the disks before tossing it to Aoi, her eyes darting to different sections of the room and finally notices something. "Hey, sidekick. These suits, look almost identical to yours. Expect for the use of nanotechnology."
Jason chuckles awkwardly, his eyes trailing away to avoid eye contact. "I didn't really think you guys needed to know, but I got my suit from this dimension." He tried to brighten up the room with a nervous smile, but Kira was already looking at him all types of wrong.
Aoi had accepted the disk and was now inspecting it while roaming around the armory, the sounds of soft thuds against the cold floor were heard all around the room. There were different types of suits, some carried nanotechnology, some didn't. "Hey uhm, can I take one of these?" He pointed to the huge guns and suits.
"What the heck are you gonna do with a energy sniper rifle?" Jason crossed his arms, while Kira completely ignored both Aoi and Jason because she though their questions were too dumb to receive answers.
While the three practically raid the place, someone had opened the door. None of them did so, Jason turns around, and in the blink of an eye, covers Aoi. There was a group of advanced TRA agents, already firing rounds at them.
Kira was the first to move, while Jason covered and protected Aoi, Kira rushes in to eliminate the group of 6, her blade crystallizing in her hand. She plunged her sword through one of them, turning around and kicking another in a pressure point, immobilizing them.
"We found her, she's in Armory #114." The 3rd one speaks into a radio, before engaging in hand-to-hand combat. One hook to the side of Kira's face, she blocks faster than he could throw the punch. Kira grabs his face and smashes it into a wall, the impact makes the ground vibrate for a split second as the wall caves in on itself.
"Don't you think you went too hard?!" Jason yells behind the smoke, taking Aoi with him to Kira. 3 more TRA agents approach Aoi simultaneously, firing their weapons in a spray of bullets and empty shells. Jason blocks the best he could, but without his blade, his options are limited. Bullets scrap his knees and shoulders, making small but still painful cuts.
Kira was busy fending off another TRA agent, experienced in various combat techniques. She grabs them by the neck and tightens her grip to limit air supply. "The Tyrant. Is he here?! Why is the TRA here?"
"I'm not allowed to say anything about the whereabouts of The Tyra-" Those were the last words the agent could get out before Kira snaps his neck in frustration with one hand.
Jason was unable to block all of the bullets and was forced on the offensive, he dashes in with his bare hands with all of the strength that came from his suit. He punches one in the stomach before knocking them out with a single uppercut. Before turning around, he throws another over his shoulder.
Aoi was knocked over in the crossfire, falling on his back. The impact activated the disk in his hand as a nanotech suit begins to cover his body within 2 seconds. Suddenly, before Aoi could realize, there was an AI speaking through the helmet. "Hello, Welcome to the nanotechnology test program. You've selected one of our testing disks. Activating fast mode."
Aoi experiences a wave of new options on a GUI, his health points, how much damage the suit can take, everything. "Uhh, Jason?! Kira?!..Help!" Aoi begged, he couldn't get the suit off of him. Suddenly, another TRA agent approaches.
"Stand down! We know you're weak enough to be taken down by these." They ordered, reloading their weapon before aiming it directly at Aoi's forehead. Aoi could barely register that they were there before the GUI of the nanosuit showed different weak spots, places to target, revealed all to Aoi. He could see that his leg was sprained, another weak spot. Weak back, that's one too..
Kira just got finished with her fight, just to find Aoi. In a suit that matched his exact frame, sleek white with glowing blue outlines, her eyes widen, realizing that this could be a whole new upgrade for Aoi here on out. Jason turns around as well, instead of reacting accordingly, he cackles with a wide grin on his face. "That's WAYY better than mine! Did I get the older version?"
The agent began firing at Aoi, but to his surprise, the bullets either bounced off the suit, or dealt microscopic damage. "Uhh, what do I do?!" Aoi panicked, instead of getting an idea, the AI within the suit responded. "Would you like me to turn on combat instructions? Allow me to propel you forward so we can strike with maximum accuracy." Suddenly, it's like the suit propelled Aoi by itself as he skidded forward. Out of instinct, Aoi threw a punch at the agent with full force. The impact created a blue shockwave that knocked back Kira and Jason, the agent was instantly knocked out, unconscious.
When Aoi looked at his hand to his forearm, the suit was ripped easily, "Expected strength measurement: false, adjusting nanites." The AI reassured, the suit practically came right back, the nanites swarming to repair the damage, and with that, the damage was repaired. Before Aoi can realize, Jason pounced on him with a smile.
"Awesome! Much better than my suit! Maybe we can swap!" Jason pressed on with multiple questions and comments, while Kira looked unimpressed. Aoi suddenly collapsed to the floor, the sudden burst of movement opened his wound back up, sweat rushed down his forehead. "Can't..breathe.." He wheezed, notifications of his heart rate came up on the GUI. "Sensing irregular heart rates, along with an open wound. Would you like treatment within the suit?" Once Aoi agreed, green mist began to engulf the entire inside of the suit, Aoi started violently coughing, Jason and Kira came to his side, Jason started to carry him while they progressed. Kira stood in front so she can protect the two.
Inside the suit, Aoi was completely unconscious. The AI started to preform in-suit surgery with the help of extremely advanced technology and nanites. This way of treatment is extremely new, developed by Architect Aoi himself and supposedly treats the wearer while in the battlefield. "Estimated time: 1 day, 1 hour, 6 minutes to fully close the wound." The AI notifies as Aoi is unconscious with anesthesia.