The controlled Bronya ceased her blast as she stopped aiming at the pinned Alex and turned back around to face Kiana, standing back in front of the captured Mei.

Kiana aimed both her hand guns at the controlled Bronya as she just stood up.

Immediately, the intercom came back on as yet again Cocolia's voice spoke through it.

"Well well well. If it isn't St. Freya's Kiana Kaslana. I'm not suprised to see you here first." She said.

"Yeah yeah can it. You better stop all of this and give me back Mei!" Demanded the white haired girl as Cocolia sighed.

"You all just don't recognize the true value of a Herrscher. What I'm doing is the best for humanity. Once we figure out how Herrschers can control natural powers, human technology will be advanced by multiple country miles." Explained Cocolia.

"Oh yeah right! That's just a way to mask the fact that you had your men kill two innocent people to achieve all that!" Shouted Alex at her.

"Enough! I'm taking Mei back by force!" Said Kiana, but the moment she tried to take a step foward, the controlled Bronya immediately aimed Project Bunny's cannon back at Alex as it quickly reached max charge, just needing Bronya to release it for Alex's death.

"Sorry girly but you aren't getting any closer to the Herrscher. Take one more step, and say goodbye to your friend over there." Said Cocolia referring to Alex being aimed at.

"W-What!? That's not fair at all!" Complained Kiana as she looked back and forth between Mei and Alex.

"Kiana! Forget about me! Go get Mei and run outta here!" Shouted Alex at the girl.

"W-What!? Your crazy I can't do that! I want all of us out of here together! I'm not leaving anyone behind!" Said Kiana.

"Kiana read the room! Only one of us is getting out of here alive! Take Mei!"

"Hurry up and make a choice girl or else no one is leaving this room alive!" Shouted Cocolia, getting irritated at the bickering.

A decision couldn't even be made as the controlled Bronya dropped her arm, cancelling Project Bunny's charge shot.

"B-Bronya?" Asked both Alex and Kiana in unison as Cocolia was in shock.

"Bronya!? What're you doing!?" She asked.

Suddenly as if she was somehow back in control, she began to speak.

"When the Bronya was little, her parents left this world. The Bronya always saw Cocolia as her mother, but later Bronya met Mei, who was so kind to Bronya. The Bronya doesn't want to hurt Mei. I'm sorry Matushka, but the Bronya won't fight. The Bronya refuses to kill Subject Alex." She said.

Alex and Kiana were in complete shock while Cocolia was in major disbelief at what she was hearing.

"What!? Bronya! Do you dare defy me!? The one who gave you shelter your entire life!?" Asked Cocolia.

Bronya simply smiled as she looked at Alex for a bit.

"It's like Subject Alex said. The Bronya has grown up and moved past Matushka." She said for looking back at Kiana. "Kiana. Free Alex, take Mei, and go." She said.

The two didn't even know what to say, until Bronya dropped a bombshell on them.

"The Bronya, has burned her micro chip to ashes."

"W-What!?/W-Wait Bronya don't!" Said Kiana and Alex respectively.

Even Cocolia was shocked by this.

"I-Impossible! That chip's implanted into your brain! Burning it into ashes means that you're gonna end up dying! Are you really sacrificing yourself to save a Herrscher!?" She asked.

"Bronya believes that Mei's life is more important than hers. Mei isn't a normal Herrscher. The Bronya will never accept orders to hurt Mei." Said Bronya, as she turned to look back at Mei, and smiled at her.

"Goodbye, Mei. Kiana, Subject Alex, please protect Mei at all costs."

Those were Bronya's last words as she closed her eyes and fell to the ground.

Alex and Kiana immediately caught on that they needed to act quickly as the girl hastily released Alex from his bounds.

Alex went to Bronya as Kiana worked on getting Mei rid of her shackles.

Alex held the unconscious Bronya in his arms before sighing.

'Thank you Bronya. I swear we'll find a way to get you back.' Thought Alex as he carried her on his back as he turned to see Kiana had Mei on her back as well, already having freed her from her shackles.

"How far away are Theresa and Himeko" asked Alex.

"Aunt Theresa and Aunt Himeko were busy holding off mechs for me three floors down. They shouldn't be that far." Said Kiana.

"Alright then. We just gotta keep running until we meet up with them. We can't afford to fight with these two on our backs so let's hurry." He said.

Kiana nodded in agreement as the two took off in a hurry, rushing down the stairs as fast as they could possibly go, dodging, weaving, ducking, and even sliding past AE mechs that were targeting them.

There were many close calls but thankfully after going down through three floors, they managed to get back to Himeko and Theresa who seemed to be taking a breather after what seemed to be a large horde of mechs due to all the scrap metal littered all around the area.

"Hey!" Shouted Alex as he called out to them.

The two ran up to them as Himeko and Theresa noticed the unconscious Mei and Bronya.

"Y-You two managed to get Mei and Bronya?" Asked a shocked Theresa.

"Just what the hell happened up there?" Asked Himeko.

"Bronya sacrificed herself. She burnt the micro chip in her brain to break the mind control and allow Kiana to get Mei. Right now though we gotta hurry to get that Wendy girl and get out of here. It's only a matter of time until Bronya ends up dying. Right now she's just unconscious." Said Alex.

They all nodded in agreement and immediately began making their way down the floors at a quick place while also looking around for any clues that could lead them to where Wendy was currently being captured.

Eventually, Mei had quietly groaned as she began to stir.

As she did that, the group stopped as Kiana sat Mei down.

"Mei! Wake up! Wake up please!" Said Kiana.

"Where...where am I? O-Oh, Kiana!" Said Mei, beginning to slowly awaken until she finally did.

"Awesome! You're finally awake!" Said Kiana as everyone in the group had a sigh of relief.

"Last thing I remember, was Alex being tied up next to me." Said Mei, as she turned to see Alex now free, as she was gonna smile until she noticed Bronya unconscious and on his back.

"W-Wait, Bronya's down? What happened?" She asked.

"Bronya burnt the micro chip in her brain to break the mind control. She did it that way she wouldn't hurt you anymore." Said Alex.

Mei immediately went quiet, wanting to blame herself until Theresa gave her a pat on the shoulder.

"Don't worry. Bronya's brain may be damaged, but there's no cause for despair. We'll take her back to St. Freya for treatment. There's a good chance we can cure her. Now, let's go and find Wendy." Said Theresa.

The group nodded, but before they could move along, the intercom came back on as Cocolia's voice came through, as she simply chuckled.

"I spent, two years. TWO YEARS, to make this plan a success and yet again it's derailed by all you St. Freya scum and that traitor of a merc! I may have let you all go off the hook last time, but this time I won't! I'll kill all of you! I'll do anything it takes to gain the 3rd Herrscher's Core! I hope you all love the gift I have prepared, cause its coming REAL soon. Oh, and don't bother trying to find Wendy, because I've already killed her. May your blood stain these halls." Said Cocolia, as the intercom went off.

The group didn't have time to process the information completely as suddenly, a massive and gargantuan dark mech with bright lights on its head and arms bursted up through the ground.

The giant behemoth of a mech firmly planted both of its massive hands down on each side of the floor, as it gave out a massive roar, the shockwave knocking the group back.

During the knockback, Alex couldn't keep his footing and ended up getting launched back.

As he was sent flying, he noticed that at the angle he was gonna land it, the unconscious Bronya's head was gonna make hard contact with a metal pipe, so in a selfless act Alex turned around, as he took the blow to the head instead, immediately being knocked unconscious.

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Chapter 21: Complete