Francine is behind one of these doors.
In that case, let's go Minghai!
-Hey! -Mingxia!
Her wounds must be deeper than we thought.
She drank some of my blood, but it seems it wasn't enough.
I can help her out.
Ta-da! The "Egg" medical capsule.
You brought this with you?
Amazing, huh? It's small, but it can treat pretty much anything.
-Fatima. -Yes?
Look after her for me. And you get fixed up, too.
Yes.
What's taking you so long, shiroganes?
Have you chickened out?
-Let us go then. -All right!
Remember the mission.
If any of us get to Francine, we destroy her.
The fate of mankind rests upon us.
Before dawn, when the stars paint the sky
I am searching for the thing I lost
With a restless heart Under the sun yet in the dark
I patch together little prayers to light my path
I don't need anything, as my hands are full
My hands are full of emptiness
Please, just once, nod for me
Just once, reach out to me like the mirror
I will live for that single moment, that single second
All the rest can just burn away
What's right for me is for me alone
Whatever the path, I'll follow it to you
This feeling grows and grows, deep inside my heart
For one single reason
I continue to climb up on the stage
#12 The faceless commander
It's pitch black.
Yeah, but I feel a draft from below.
You can't see in this bit of darkness?
You poor plain shiroganes.
We don't have light-correcting eyes, if that's what you're implying.
Not like you shirogane-Os.
The name is Malina. Call me "Lina."
And yes, I can see. I see sinister steps leading down to hell.
I haven't introduced myself.
I'm Steve Rockenfield.
I'm a medical professor at a British university.
I'm Schwarzes Tor from Germany.
Whatever.
It seems you have a rather low opinion of us shiroganes.
Yep.
I can't forgive people who throw away their lives like nothing.
My precious family.
I came here to protect them
by destroying the puppets spreading ZONAPHA syndrome.
Please understand, Narumi.
We're all here for a reason, but nobody plans on dying.
I have a fiancée waiting at home. I'm going to marry her when I return.
We're not like the shirogane-Os.
That's so stupid. Family? Marriage?
Unnecessary feelings will just make you scared of fighting.
That's why we had Commander Faceless turn us into machines.
If you don't cherish life or know how to cooperate, you can't win.
Yeah, well we're not made that way.
Congratulations. You chose the right door.
Now, you may begin fighting.
Fighting?
That's right.
Lady Francine is behind that door.
But only half of you are allowed to go through.
Only the two who survive a fight among the four of you can proceed.
Go to hell! We won't.
You have no choice.
If you try anything funny...
You'll die. You have 18 minutes.
Part of the floor will crumble every 3 minutes.
Okay, begin.
I suppose we have no choice.
I wish we didn't have to fight each other.
I feel you.
To the Sahara via Japan, eh?
This is quite a journey, George.
Your curiosity brought you here.
You could've left after taking me to your village to pick that load up.
I wanted to see that world I've never seen before.
It'll keep me from getting bored.
Okay, let's do this.
No way.
What?
Only two of us can go ahead.
We have to do as they say.
You too? Oh, come on.
I'll never fight just because somebody told me to.
-But... -You guys go ahead.
I will not allow that.
You'll all die right here, right now. 10 seconds till launch.
Just go, you two.
Why? You said so yourself. Not to throw away our lives so easily.
3, 2...
Why choose death?
Narumi...
Mr. Rockenfield, Mr. Tor.
Not everything needs a reason.
But why?
I said this to somebody before.
That if something happens, think with your heart.
And here's what my heart said.
The children with ZONAPHA syndrome... Your families...
I just don't want them to cry.
Go now, and destroy Francine.
I've never felt so much pain before in being a shirogane.
Don't worry, I'll catch up to you.
He still hasn't given up.
I was careless.
I can't believe I'm going to die.
It's not over yet.
When the floor crumbles, jump onto the wall. I'll support you.
Dig through the wall.
What do you...
Jump!
Oh, Narumi and Lina. You're alive.
-Glad to see you are too. -Yeah, somehow.
Did you do this?
No, it was them.
Because we refused to fight each other.
Some latecomers to the party?
Now you can all kill each other.
I don't understand this man, Faceless.
He doesn't even blink when his people die.
Narumi.
Your face has your thoughts written all over it.
I see you don't like me much.
But let me set things straight.
I have feelings, too.
Do you know why I became a shirogane?
Because an automaton took my wife away from me.
-Hey! -Seems like he wants to die now.
Dirt to dirt, ashes to ashes.
Detestable automata to piles of gears.
-Wow. -Of course.
He's Faceless of the 3 solutions.
3 solutions?
The first is dismantle, the second is dissolve.
And the third?
Let's just say it's a secret trick that can shut up any automaton.
Come, Timbavati.
We need your puppet to get across.
Not so fast.
-No breaking the rules. -That's right.
Rule breakers will be blown to bits.
How long have I been out?
Don't worry, Narumi and the others will destroy Francine.
Yeah right, I'm going too.
She's right.
Let's go find Francine though a different route.
A different route? There's a way?
Of course.
That's what I'm waiting for.
What's this silver smoke?
The helicopter can't fly straight, either.
This is the source of ZONAPHA syndrome.
It looks like smoke, but it's microscopic insectoid automata.
I can't breathe...
The ZONAPHA got him.
This is prohibited, but it can't be helped.
Hey.
Oops, my mistake.
What the hell...
I'll help you, so you must help me too.
I'll take on the automata, you guys go!
Stop acting like a big shot.
Blade feet, huh?
Don't think you can ignore me like that.
-Narumi! -Timbavati.
Don't waste Narumi's choice.
Okay, it's safe. Hurry.
Not so fast.
Fire!
You're such a fool.
-Narumi! -What do you think you're doing?
Trying to make us owe you something?
No...
Sometimes I just...
I want to be free to choose what's dangerous and foolish.
That's the kind of person I want to be.
Hurry, go!
You go on.
I can't let Narumi do this by himself.
What are you doing? You get going too!
The Rolling Slasher's awake!
Either you can be killed by me or crushed by the Slasher.
5 minutes, Narumi.
Just 5 minutes will do.
He's trying to escape alone.
He left you here to die.
Who do you think I am? Guess what?
I was going to do it alone anyways!
Pretty heavy, huh?
Damn it.
It stopped.
You lasted the 5 minutes.
That's why you survived.
You did that to save me?
Machines are such pitiful things.
It only takes a small rock like me
to stop the gears of such a huge machine.
My wife and I were childhood friends.
She was so pretty.
She was always sincere and laughed at all of my jokes.
I had no parents, so I was handed off to live with different relatives.
That's when I began to act like a jester.
Even when sad, I could bear it if I fooled around.
Yet with her...
I could show my true face.
But her mother detested me.
She didn't trust me.
So she tore us apart.
The next time I met her, she was the wife of an automaton.
I went to rescue her.
But...
I'd pitifully survived, but was infected with ZONAPHA.
That's when Lucille came.
And that's how I became a shirogane.
-I... -Don't mention it.
You just kindly listened
to the boring old story of a man who lost his face.
Go on now.
And destroy Doll Francine.
I should put these on.
Without them, I tend to talk too much...
Rest easy.
I will destroy Doll Francine.
What the hell is this?
Not even I have seen this many corpses before.
A battle between the shiroganes and the automata.
Are you okay?
Tor, good. You're alive.
Yes, but I've lost sight of Prof. Rockenfield.
I see, but jeez.
It's so darn cold in here.
And it's dark, too.
Narumi.
Lord, please protect him.
What's this?
It seems to be a gallery glorifying Doll Francine.
Looks like we have to pass through it.
Narumi, I must apologize to you.
I lied about having a fiancée.
What do you mean?
It was over 90 years ago.
Father... Mother...
Why is this happening?
That was the first time I laid eyes on Doll Francine.
She watched the people suffer without moving a brow.
She looked down on me like I was a bug.
It sent a chill down my spine.
Because I saw that there was nothing inside her heart.
She moved on into the circle of puppets dancing around.
And what should happen next,
but the hideous puppets, the demons that spread the disease...
An abominable thought pierced my mind.
That she was beautiful.
Like the Holy Mother of Hell.
I can't forgive myself for it.
The fact I thought that way for even a second.
My father, mother, and friends all died from the disease.
I must destroy Doll Francine.
I must eliminate the cause of ZONAPHA syndrome.
And with it, I wish to erase my past.
Narumi, Tor.
You're all alive.
Where's Commander Faceless?
I see.
Welcome. I congratulate you. This is your final destination.
Let us begin.
Those are...
The four oldest and strongest automata.
The road to hell must be lonely without friends.
Now, you will put on a show for Lady Francine.
A fight with us, Les Quatre Pionniers.
Fly up high, Marionette
Turn to ash, gracefully
My only purpose in life was to fight
Why am I so angry even I dump my humanity
Without you, I can't smile anymore
I assume that I am to be blamed
Like a puppet that can't smile naturally
I feel like someone is pulling my strings
What am I even living for?
I was hurt, and thought that nobody would understand
But you came along, and took me in your arms
I felt my tangled arms and legs
become free
Fly up high, Marionette
I think now I can reach you
Before I met you, I was empty
Now I have something I'd give my all to protect
You taught me how to feel, the feeling of sorrow too