VOTOMS Ep. 27: Dark Change

Borough hangs from a steel pipe and tells Chirico to just hurry up and kill him. Chirico says he’ll kill Borough when he has some questions answered. He asks Borough why he brought Ypsilon and Fyana to Kummen, and he shoots the pipe when Borough doesn’t answer. He says they needed to experiment on the psychology of the PS because they’re incomplete. He says their bodies are perfect, but their mind is still dominated by human emotions. To be successful, a true PS must only have hatred in their minds. Ypsilon arrives and tells Chirico that while he may be incomplete as a PS, the Strike Dog is perfect. Outside, the battle rages between the Assemble mercenaries and the Veela forces. Kan Yu and Shako hide from enemy fire behind a column. Shako suggests joining up with the other Assemble units, but Kan Yu says he can’t show his face to Gon Nu until he gets the PS back. In the underground area, Borough tells Ypsilon to kill Chirico. Chirico quickly asks Borough if a PS can be turned back into a normal human, but Borough answers that it’s impossible. Kiderra radios Chirico and tells him he’s sneaking up behind Ypsilon. Chirico tells Kiderra not to attack because Ypsilon knows he’s there, but Kiderra ignores Chirico and attacks. Ypsilon smashes Kiderra’s cockpit and flips him over the walkway and into a long fall. The stairwell completely crumbles, but Borough grabs hold of another pipe. Ypsilon shoots Chirico and causes him to fall down to a lower level. Borough scrambles to a phone and calls for a status report, but the news isn’t good. He decides to escape as soon as Ypsilon kills Chirico. Kan Yu calls Gon Nu and tells him he’s spotted the PS. Elsewhere, a Melkian army group approaches the palace. Rochina tells Battentain that soon they’ll have Fyana back. Battentain tells Rochina that the Assemble mercenaries are not part of the Kummen government’s plan for the future and need to be dealt with as soon as the Veela are crushed. Vanilla hauls Potaria to a safe place, and Potaria tells him he has to protect Chirico from Gon Nu. He gives Vanilla the shuttle key and asks him to pass it along to Chirico.

Ypsilon and Chirico continue to fight on the large pipes and knock each other down. Ypsilon uses his claw to destroy Chirico’s machine gun. They break a few oil pipes as they fall into a jijirium pit. Chirico sees that Borough was planning on creating more Perfect Soldiers with so much jijirium. Ypsilon gets out of his Strike Dog and declares he will finish Chirico with his bare hands. Fyana shoots at Ypsilon and asks him to stop. He says she can’t shoot him, and she says that she can because she loves Chirico. Fyana shoots again and wounds Ypsilon. Suddenly, Gon Nu drops flares into the pit and tells everyone to surrender. The base then begins to rumble from Melkian bombardment. The Melkian army Scopedogs parachute onto the palace grounds and begin destroying all the Veela ATs. As the underground area explodes, Gon Nu realizes he has been betrayed just before he dies. Borough tries to run over to Ypsilon, but a large pipe falls on him and kills him. The Scopedogs enter the underground expanse and begin destroying the Assemble ATs. Vanilla finds a small car and picks up Chirico and Fyana. He takes them to the shuttle and says that Potaria wanted Chirico to escape. Chirico notes that the shuttle is a one seater, but Fyana says it has a PS capsule in the back. Chirico asks Vanilla what he’s going to do, and Vanilla says he’s safe because no one is after him. Kan Yu tells them they aren’t going anywhere and shoots Vanilla in the arm. Shako picks Kan Yu up and is shot in the leg, but he manages to toss Kan Yu into a pit with a bottomless drop. Fyana takes off her clothes and gets into the PS capsule while Chirico climbs into the pilot’s seat. Several Scopedogs enter the launch bay and are incinerated when Chirico activates the shuttle’s thrusters. As the shuttle climbs the atmosphere, Chirico wonders if he too is capable of fighting for love.