Episode 33

THE POWER OF BELIEVING

Deep inside the London sewer-ways, a group of armed men approach a Chiropteran and open fire. Kai, who is nearby, hears the sound of flesh being ripped apart and men screaming. Back on street level, Kai meets up with Lewis in a van and reports that the Chiropteran ran away while the SAS suffered heavy damage. The two drive out to the countryside to the home where they’ve taken up residence. They are met at the door by a girl named Monique and several young children. The kids notice that Lewis and Kai stink, so Kai jokes that he’s been exterminating monsters. David is apparently staying in this house too, but Monique says that he’s still the same as always – drinking and sleeping. They then talk with older man named Glay who is the owner of this house. He says that David’s heart has been broken and that David has lost his reason to move forward without Red Shield.

The next day, a red van drops off a familiar figure in a wheelchair – Joel. He brings Kai a box of special bullets, which includes a red exploding type called the Igniter. When Lewis asks him about Julia, Joel says that she went with Collins to America. He faults himself for not seeing Collins’ true intentions. A disheveled David then enters the room, gives Joel a stare, and walks back out. As Kai is pushing Joel outside, Joel blames himself for how David turned out. Joel thinks that David may hate him and maybe Kai does too. Kai says that as long as Diva and the Chevalier are around, their fight has not ended. He doesn’t want to stay silent and do nothing while world becomes filled with Chiropteran. He also doesn’t want to be a liar by not being alive when Saya returns. Joel and Kai clasp hands before Lewis drives him off.

Back inside the house, Glay finds David drinking by himself. He tries to stop David from pouring himself another glass by reminding him of the resolution he had when he threw away his original name and took on “David.” David feels that Glay doesn’t understand, but Glay replies that living in the countryside allows one to see and understand things one don’t see on the battlefield. All the children here are orphans who lost their parents to war, and this is a temporary place for the children until foster parents are found. Gray feels responsible for raising children who grew up to be divided as friend and foe, killing each other across the world. But now, he wants to raise children differently, so that they can create the next world. Gray feels that he and Kai are similar in that respect. In the year since Red Shield fell and David has been wallowing in self-pity, Kai has instead been facing forward. Kai has the conviction to continue on for the things that he believes in. Gray thinks that believing is essential – the old David was like that. After having heard all this, David grabs his bottle and leaves the room. During all of this, Kai has been practicing his aim by trying to balance a coin on his pistol while he pretends to shoot.

In an American research facility, there is a Chiropteran in the center of a large open room. One of the spectators comments that this is a person captured in her country who is infected with the Chiropteran disease. Three masked men appear on one side of the arena-like setting, each armed with a blade. James, who is in command, orders “Suppression” and then “Terminate.” The three figures leap around the Chiropteran at lightning fast speed, chopping off its arms and then its head. The spectators are quite impressed with what they’ve seen: only 3 men using no heavy weapons to suppress a Chiropteran. Van Argiano tells one of the military commanders that this group, called the “Corpse Corps,” can deal with the Chiropteran situation in London. He describes them as human from outside, but biological robots with the latest genetic engineering on the inside. One of the nearby female spectators, the same one who said that the Chiropteran was from her country, says that although her country has been able to keep such mutations hidden in the past, there have been an abnormal number of incidents in recent months. Somewhere in London, Okamura and Mao are watching as the police cordon off an area where there’s been an incident. Back at the facility, one of the male spectators decides to request sending Van’s group to his country. He and the military commander shake on the deal. Watching from nearby, Collins puts his hand on Julia’s shoulder and tells her that with this, they won’t need to rely on the unstable Saya anymore.

In the countryside home, David discovers Kai pouring all of the alcohol into the sink and down the drain. David doesn’t care because he can still go to the liquor store. Kai lectures him about how it’s shameful to his dead friends – George, Elizabeth, how can David face them? Kai uses Joel as an example – he can’t walk anymore, but he still tries to fight because he knows that giving up means the end. He chides David for drinking all day and running away. David’s finally heard enough when Kai mentions family and how Red Shield sank. He tries to punch Kai, but Kai just moves his head to avoid the swing and hits David back in the gut. Kai reminds David how he had said that this world is where they exist and asks David if he has the willpower to fight again. David mentions how Saya is gone, but Kai believes that Saya is not dead. He talks about how David had said before that it’s his job to wait for Saya’s return. David simply says that he’s forgotten, which gets Kai angry, but he lays off and leaves. Glay enters and comments how Kai was crying.

Meanwhile, at an airstrip somewhere, Van and his Corpse Corps are disembarking a cargo plane under the watch of Amshel and James. James says that everything is going according to schedule with the establishment of the special force within three months. Amshel is impressed by how well the Delta plan has been going – as one would expect, no mistakes from James. Watching from atop a light pole nearby are two cloaked Schiff.

On one foggy London night, a Chiropteran corners a police officer after having killed his partner. Kai distracts it and uses one of the Igniters, but it only slows down the enemy temporarily. Lewis tries to get the officer to run away, but he gets caught by another Chiropteran – in total, there are actually three of them. Lewis is about to get jumped, but then a familiar cello case comes flying out of nowhere and smashes the Chiropteran into the ground. In the foggy distance, a female figure carrying a sword appears ~ Saya.