Primate Murder: Reforged

"Weren't their coordinates sent out from the space station…?"

What?

"Who cares? They're here and alive. Do they look like a mannequin to you?"

Who is that?

"...Weak heartbeat and pulse… March, you better do CPR."

March? Like the… Month?

"Huh!? Hehe…" I-I've never done it before! Dan Heng, you do it!"

Dan… Heng? Are those… Names?

Names… What are names.

'Names are used to identify people, places, and things.'

What is… My Name?

I opened my eyes for the first time, the voice now gone from my mind. "Wait - stop it!" The light stung, and I was treated to the sight of two people bickering right in front of me. My head hurt, and I tried to soothe the pain with my hand.

"Are you all right?" The one on the left spoke, "Can you hear me?" the girl, she had short pink hair. And she was dressed in blues and whites. "Do you remember your name?" She gave me a look of concern, but I could barely hear her over the ringing in my ears.

I felt weird. Empty? Numb? I couldn't tell, it was like I had been asleep for a long time and was awakened mid-dream. "I... don't remember a thing." I wanted to know my name, it felt like something I should know. Something that… was very important to me.

"Aw, this isn't good…" She hooked my arm over her shoulder, helping me to stand up. She had to lean down a bit despite holding me up to standing. "Can you try harder? I'm sure you can at least remember your name…"

'Zwei. Zwei Aegialeus'

The voice was back, the one that told me what names were. It was low, comforting and melodious. It filled me with this comfort I just couldn't explain. The fog lifted from my mind, the ringing in my ears leaving.

"Hello…?" The girl holding me up was now waving a hand in my face to get my attention. "Sorry." I stepped back, taking my arm back before bowing. "My name is-" My actions, though foreign to me, felt right. Though I did not know if it was truly my name, "-Zwei Aegialeus," is what I have.

"Zwei? Nice to meet you. My name's Dan Heng, and this is March 7th." His and her names, the specific sounds I use to get their attention.

"This space station was just attacked by the Antimatter Legion. We came to help with the rescue at the request of Lead Researcher Asta." I… don't know who that was. I don't know what or where we are. All I know is who I am.

Though, I have this strange feeling. As though I'm supposed to know them, supposed to know this place and everything around. "Antimatter Legion?" I asked, I wanted to know what Dan Heng was talking about, as it seemed like this place was under attack.

"Goons owned by the Destruction." I turned my attention back to March, taking her appearance in with more detail. If I had to guess, she would be roughly a small bit taller than me, around 5'5" is what my gut tells me. "You're lucky that the most dangerous Lord Ravager among them isn't around, just some nasty minions."

She seemed slightly relieved herself, though I don't really know what there is to be relieved of. "We'll take those invaders out soon, don't worry." They talked like this was all common knowledge, but I don't know what is and isn't...

"Um. Where should I go?"

Dan Heng crossed his arms. "Back to the master control zone. Asta and the other researchers have gathered there." I nodded, taking a couple steps to the side. "Right, the… Master Control Zone." I knew where that was… Right? Or rather, I did know, yes? 

"Plus, that's where we parked the Astral Express!" March proudly puffed out her chest, placing her hands on her hips. "Don't you worry, we'll protect you from the monsters and clear up this mess." I sighed in relief at not having to aimlessly wander around with possible enemies around. "Oh, so you're going to bring me there?" She nodded proudly at my question.

"You and March go back together." Dang Heng suddenly said, and he turned to March. "Arlan from the Security Department lost contact in the vicinity. I need to find him first." March's shoulders slightly fell at his words. "Oh, all right. You stay safe." She sounded slightly disappointed, and he nodded to me before leaving.

We just stood there together, watching him leave down the hallway with floating things. "Hmmm… Maybe you should take that." I looked around the hallway, there were various different objects held in stasis around us.

I walked up to what looked like a pair of wings that looked to be what she was pointing at. "I don't know how these are gonna-" She poked me in the side, causing me to flinch and let out a small squeak. Which appeared to amuse her. "The Legion are rampaging through the space station like a pack of wolves."

She leaned down, picking up a metal staff. A good bit of the centre was covered in a brass coloured design, with spider-webs exploding out of it. "This trip won't be a walk in the park. It's better if you have something to protect yourself."

"Just a suggestion, though -" I was enamoured by its beauty, wanting to know how it was made. The smooth metal was cold to the touch, but it comforted me. "You're safe as long as you stick with me~!"

The weapon was beautiful, it was long and cylindrical in nature with a tasteful design.

'Judging the concept of creation'

It was roughly 5'5", the same height as March and perfectly made for someone of my height, roughly 2" longer than 5'3".

'Hypothesizing the basic structure'

Lightweight, likely made of carbon fibre and inlaid with brass to create the design, while the centrepiece maybe a point of structural weakness it was reinforced with layers of carbon fibre in between the brass.

'Duplicating the composition material'

I could picture this masterwork of a weapon being made right in my mind, the various processes to make the materials and combine them into a singular weapon.

'Imitating the skill of its making'

This was used to beat things, but it had abilities infused into it's material, with sufficient power imputed you can cause an equally big explosion upon impact.

'Sympathizing with the experience of its growth'

It was relatively new, compared to everything else around me. Having only been crafted for a year or so. Though I can't seem to figure out anything about who made it, what with the fact that there is no blacksmith signature or anything of the like on it.

'Reproducing the accumulated years'

"HEY!" March yelled at me, getting my attention and almost causing me to drop the staff. "Are you okay?" I stared at her for a moment before sighing.

"Sorry, I got lost in the beauty of this weapon." That seemed to cause the taller woman to giggle at my social fumble. "I was worried for a second there, you really did get lost in the moment there."

"Can you blame me, though? This weapon is a master craft!" I presented it to her like a child showing off their art. "I just can't get over the beauty of it and how much it tickles this feeling inside my brain."

She looked at me with a little worry for a moment before moving to the door. "Enough dilly-dallying, we gotta go." Though I have a feeling she's a little uncomfortable now, and I can't tell why.

I silently followed, twirling my new staff along… This needs a name. What can I call this staff? I could try to come up with a name, but this is my first weapon. I was either going to name it or never do so.

We walked through the door and into a quiet hallway, and I looked up just in time to be pulled back and away from the gaze of what looked to be a creature. March silently shushed me before we looked around the corner. "It's the Antimatter Legion." She whispered to me and I started to count them

'Eins, Zwei, Drei.' I paused, my mind registering the fact that I just counted to three in a different language. 'My name means… Two?' I was baffled as I slowly crept back into cover and let myself slide down.

"So these crazy jerks made it all the way here…" I looked back, assessing them. Two of them were tall humanoid-looking things with blades attached to their arms, and the third was a floating ball with a moving shell that orbited it.

"Alright, let's roll." Before I knew it, I had spoken and was moving down the hallway. March had already pulled a bow out of thin air and notched an arrow made of Ice. It was weird, all she had to do was pull at the air and boom - Instant Ammunition.

Though it didn't matter as I kept low to the ground, alerting the enemies with my bare feet slapping against the metal. One of them pointed at me, alerting the others before I reached them.

I reached the one pointing at me before the others could turn towards me, instantly slamming Eins into the back of one of it's knee's, a burst of cold air rushed past me and slammed into the ball right before it could attack me.

March's arrow pierced through the ball, causing the air and ground around it to turn into an ice sculpture ready to be shattered. I moved to destroy it, but had to back away to avoid the business end of the one I didn't knee cap's blade.

"Duck!" I dropped onto my back at March's voice, allowing the arrow to ping off the blade and cause the other to stumble back. The one I hit behind the knee started to stand up, and I just couldn't have that.

Using my hands and legs, I started to spin, letting the force of both my movements and momentum turn me into a rather deadly weapon for the enemy as I used him to bounce the staff while practically break dancing around him.

The Eins slid across my skin and hit the floor before bouncing back into the thing's face, allowing me to catch it and slam the other end into it's pelvis and use the force of the rebound to not only spin but to add more force into slamming the side of it's head-

I saw strands of hair fly as the other tall one swiped for me, forcing me to step back and slam the bottom end of the staff into the ice sculpture and shatter it to just gain control of the Eins before he slipped from my hands.

The battle was less one of wits and planning and more of raw senses and instinct. When I felt the tug to step back, I followed. With each and every move I felt a fire in me grow, with every impact that fire blazed.

I pushed harder, building and using momentum with each and every step I took, bouncing Eins off the ground and my enemy. I continued to speed up until I felt like one miss-step, one wrongly timed attack, and I would dislocate my arms.

Countless sparks flew into the air when the fight was turned into a one vs one on account of March taking the head off the one I first attacked at the start of this… brawl. My face hurt from how much I was smiling.

I jumped back, doing unnecessary flips and landing behind March, she finally let loose an arrow into it's foot, freezing it into place and letting me take a stance. My muscles tensed as I gather air in my lungs before screaming.

"DREI~"

I pushed, leaning forward and sending forth Eins straight through it's head.

I felt good, really good as I stood up. I watched the bodies for a moment, ready to act in case any of them st- "What the!?" Like a chain reaction, 3 miniature holes appeared in space, sucking their bodies in and- "Did they just get eaten?" I couldn't believe my eyes, luckly Eins just clattered to the ground unharmed, but still.

"Nope, that's just how it is when they die." March laughed, patting me on the back as her bow disappeared. "C'mon, we gotta get going."