"Bzzzzzzzzz,"
"Kresssssssk,"
"Hey, give it back!"
"Weeee... come and get it if you can!"
An eight-year-old Clyde was snatching a doll from a six-year-old girl with long, messy, wavy black hair in the backyard garden of an orphanage. Clyde ran fast while the little girl chased after him,
"Give it back, Big Brother Clyde!" the little girl yelled.
"Come get it, Corie! Catch me!" Clyde shouted back, turning his head to tease her by holding the doll up high.
"Clyde, stop picking on Corie!" shouted Celes, who was sitting at the edge of the back porch with her arms wrapped around Casca and Craig, watching Clyde and Corie until her head spun.
"Big Sister Celes, what are they doing? They’re so noisy," Craig asked, turning to look at Celes.
"They’re playing tag, Craig. Go join them, chase Big Brother Clyde, and help Corie," answered an eight-year-old Celes, her face showing a touch of worry.
"Don’t wanna... too tired," replied a seven-year-old Craig, lounging lazily.
They looked back at Corie, who was chasing Clyde through the garden while they shouted at each other.
"Big Brother Clyde... give it baaaack!" Corie yelled.
"Weee... catch me!" Clyde said, turning around to run backward while sticking out his tongue.
"Give it baaaack!"
Without realizing it, Corie transformed. Her arms turned into the forelimbs of a frog, and her legs changed too; her skin became gray with red veins and her eyes turned red. She leaped high into the air and "thump," landed hard right on Clyde’s back, sending him crashing into a pit formed by the impact of her landing with his oddly contorted back, before Corie fell on top of him as well,
"O... ouch... Big Brother, why did you fall into a pit... sigh," Corie looked at her two hands, then at her two feet, and finally at Clyde, who was motionless beneath her feet. Her frog-like eyes blinked, "Huh... I... I transformed... B... Big Brother?" Corie asked.
She climbed down from Clyde’s body and squatted next to him, then with trembling fingers, tried to shake Clyde, but Clyde remained still. Corie’s face instantly turned dead pale as if she had just seen a horror movie, tears welling in her eyes as her hands clutched Clyde’s strangely misshapen back, which bore the imprint of a frog’s webbed foot on his shirt.
"Big Brother... wake up, Big Brother... I’m sorry... wake up, Big Brother... Big Brother... Big Brother... stop playing around, Big Brother... please... help," Corie screamed, starting to panic and cry because Clyde still wasn’t moving.
Hearing Corie’s screams echoing from the pit, Celes immediately stood up. Casca, who had been leaning against Celes, tumbled over and woke up, while Craig, who had been lounging lazily, sat up in a flash. Without a second thought, the three of them ran toward the pit. They looked inside, horrified to see Clyde’s contorted body and Corie crying as she tried to wake him up, but before anyone could make a move,
"Crack... creck,"
Suddenly, Clyde’s body turned gray like a zombie’s as a pair of moth wings burst from his back, appearing to snap his spine back into alignment before he pushed himself up with both hands as if doing a push-up, one hand still holding the doll. After sitting up, he looked at Corie, who was still weeping and rubbing her eyes, and then up at Celes, Casca, and Craig, who looked relieved above.
"Hey, Corie, don’t just transform like that out of nowhere! What if I had died getting kicked by you? Unbelievable," Clyde said, annoyance in his voice as he handed the doll back to Corie.
Seeing Clyde return the doll and hearing his words, Corie, who hadn’t realized Clyde was already sitting right in front of her, immediately leaped forward and wrapped her arms around Clyde.
"Huaaaa... huaaa... sob... sob," Corie sobbed uncontrollably.
"Hey... why are you crying so hard like this? What’s wrong? You know I wouldn’t die from an attack like yours," Clyde said, hugging Corie back, though his expression revealed he felt a little guilty.
"Big Brother, you idiot... what if you died and left us behind... you idiot!" Corie screamed hysterically.
Hearing Corie’s words, Clyde opened his mouth, but no words came out; then he smiled and hugged his younger sister tight,
"I’m sorry, I just love picking on you because you’re such a crybaby," Clyde said, holding Corie close.
"Huuu... I hate you... I hate you, Big Brother... but... I don’t want to be left behind by you, Casca, Big Sister Celes, and Craig... huuu... sob... sob," Corie sobbed hysterically.
Finally, Celes, Casca, and Craig climbed down into the pit and joined in, wrapping their arms around Clyde and Corie, who were already hugging tightly,
"In any case... no matter what, the five of us will always be together, so don’t worry," Celes said, tears streaming down her own face.
"Bzzzzzzzz,"
"Kresssssssk," suddenly everything blurred and dissolved into darkness in an instant, plunging into silence.
***
"Gasp,"
"Blup... blup... blup,"
When Clyde opened his eyes, he found himself submerged in a dense red liquid so thick he couldn’t see his surroundings, "Argh," he looked down, seeing thick, black electronic cables plugged into his body, which had turned gray-skinned, and he felt pain from the wings on his back folded tight, blurring his vision.
"What is this... where am I? he thought."
His mind began to panic, overtaken by terror as he remembered what had happened before, how waking up had turned his whole life into an illusion,
"Casca... Casca... where are you... Mary... Julia... someone... answer me!"
Clyde thrashed around, making the thick red fluid foam up around him. The cables attached to his body were pure agony, and he could feel an electric current stinging him, though it didn’t cause real pain, only making him shiver.
"What is this... help... I don’t want to be like this anymore... Casca... Casca!"
Suddenly, "na... na... na," the hum of a girl singing echoed. Clyde went still, his thrashing ceasing as the foam around him dissolved. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the soft melody sung by the girl,
"Right... this song... this melody... it brings me peace... the one before wasn’t this melody... that painful melody... it was similar... but not the same..."
Clyde’s arms went limp, falling to his sides, his legs relaxing as they floated in the liquid. His mind grew quiet and a sense of comfort washed over him,
"Celes... answer me."
["I’m... here... get... out... please... Corie... Casca... it’s okay... we’re... real."]
Hearing those broken words, Clyde opened his eyes, his gaze no longer panicked as before, but sharp, firm, and fixed resolutely ahead. His hands moved, "crsss," he yanked out the cable at his waist, then pulled the cables from his abdomen, chest, thighs, the bases of his arms, and finally the largest cable at the nape of his neck.
Once all the cables were detached, Clyde moved forward and collided with something, he was back inside a capsule, a much larger one this time, and through the glass he could see massive consoles and machines lined with colorful lights. Clyde pulled both clenched fists back, and "crash," punched through the glass with both hands, shattering it, before the force of the draining red fluid flushed him outward. He landed on one knee, head bowed,
"Beep... beep... beep,"
An alarm blared, bathing the entire room in red. Clyde immediately stood up, whistled to shift into his combat form, and then turned to see the capsule beside his filled with foaming fluid,
"Casca!"
Without a second thought, "crash," he shattered the capsule next to him with his fist, thick red fluid cascading out, revealing Casca struggling to pull off the cables attached to her body. Clyde leaped up and stepped into the capsule, helping Casca detach the cables,
"Transform, Casca," Clyde said.
"Got it, Big Brother," Casca replied.
With the last cable removed, Casca shifted into her combat form, and the two of them stepped down, "psiuuu," as the door slid open, letting in about ten fully armed soldiers, their bodies partially bionic. The two stood ready to face them, but suddenly,
"Thud... thud... thud,"
Clyde and Casca turned their heads around, startled to see another capsule behind them, its occupant attempting to break the glass from within the red fluid, both hands pounding against the barrier.
"Click,"
Clyde and Casca turned back to the soldiers, who had surrounded them with weapons raised and aimed, ready to fire.
"We’ll handle them first," Clyde said.
"Right, Big Brother, let’s wipe them out... and feast," Casca replied.
The two surged forward instantly, "Fire... fire!" the soldiers yelled, and moments later came the sounds of gunshots, screams, groans, and the loud snapping of many bones, echoing through the room bathed in red light from the blaring alarm.