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Post by HungryHunter on Aug 13, 2018 5:42:40 GMT
"Yuu, put some-" Martha's whining demand didn't finish before Ikari whipped her across the garden, smashing her spine right through a tree. Yuu watched her as she backed away from Ikari. She was standing, but it was slow. There were limits to even Martha's endurance. Getting smashed through a tree appeared to be one of them. She didn't lower her guard when Ikari was struck by Arthur's barrage of ice, and she found this decision justified in mere moments when he rushed the ice mage. She took off after him, but she wasn't fast enough to catch up as he slashed at Arthur.
Only Jane stood with him. She felt her entire body contract when every muscle screamed at her to run from the abomination looming down on her. Ikari was the most monstrous thing she had ever seen. A wolf from hell, flames pouring from his eyes, body shaped by heat haze and terror into something even greater than it was. He seemed to melt like wax, warping and bending in a sloshing mess. The monster looked like he would engulf Jane, would melt down over her and draw her into his core, where she would be tortured by flame. But first, he attacked Arthur, swords moving with force that spun the air into vortexes, pulling at Jane's clothes and hair. Her eyes went from wide to slitted. "Leave him ALONE!" She screamed, and her palms raised.
With the pressure of a firehose, her foam sprayed for Ikari, harder than he had ever sprayed. Just as the acidic goop flew free, Yuu came charging from behind, swinging a sword already worse for wear for one of his hands, where some of the foam was bound to land if it hit at all. "I did not expect you to follow your promise." She admitted. "I wouldn't have either."
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Post by TimePuppy on Aug 18, 2018 16:33:54 GMT
Arthur didn't expect Ikari to stick to his word. He hoped he would, but he didn't expect it. The armored charged in at supersonic speeds holding two swords.
"Oh please. You're not..." Arthur sidestepped the first strike, "...as fast as you..." He ducked under the second, "...think you are." He met the third by locking it with a pair of his own. He was stronger than Arthur expected though. The strike shook Arthur, unbalanced him and stopped him from moving away from the last one. Ikari's sword pushed through an unfinished ice gauntlet and cut into bone on Arthur's forearm.
Gritting his teeth to hold back the pain, Arthur attempted kicking Ikari's knee and then kneeing him side, releasing blasts of cold and ice if they connected. He wasn't sure he was doing much damage, but he dare not move his upper body lest he risked losing his arm or even his head. And if he managed to cover Ikari in ice, maybe he could stifle the flames that were already turning Arthur's skin red.
"Leave him ALONE," shouted an unexpected voice. Arthur turned his head and with his unstained eye saw a spray of foam from Jane. That was followed by Yuu, who's proximity Arthur wasn't too keen on, but he was already suffering so the worst she could do was give him an opportunity to back off or even counterattack.
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Post by waybig1010101 on Aug 23, 2018 2:34:16 GMT
Shin's clone completely vanishes inside the flames. Meanwhile the real Shin is sent flying as Ikari kicks him in the gut. The force knocks the wind completely out of his body, along with a good measure of blood as he smashes against the wall. The young swordsman remain motionless. Paralysis by the blow's damage and his fear. Shin has never encounter an opponent like this. Even as his body is screaming in pain, his confidence is completely crush as he realizes he is completely powerless against this foe. With a single exchange he is able to understand the large gap between them. Ikari is simply way out of his league, and looking at Yuu and Arthur, he also can recognize how much stronger his own teammate are compare to himself. Even if he somehow manages able to get back up to his feet and fight, he will likely end up being a handicap for them. With small tears forming in his eyes, Shin struggles to fight with the reality he now faces.
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Post by Kuma on Aug 24, 2018 2:19:33 GMT
Ikari laughed with sinister glee as his attacks connected. He was having a great time, stomping the insects surrounding him. Maybe, he took too much time to gloat, especially upon seeing the crying Shin, an image that made his days, as the Avatar of Hatred loved stepping on people dreams until they shattered. The time he wasted appreciating the mental scars he would leave on the young Mizukara Swordsman was more than enough time for a series of attacks to connect. He didn’t even consider Jane a threat, so he didn’t react to her attack. If this attack came from Yuu or Martha he would’ve noticed it, but the youngest doll was an innocent and her fierce and reckless attack didn’t come from anger or hatred, she was trying to protect her friends. Ikari’s inhuman reflexes depended a lot from his Gainen-assisted ability to perceive negative emotions and synch up with them, allowing a very low level of pre-cog when related to the actions of others when those actions were motivated by those emotions. He already was a world class fighter, but this extra layer of defense made him quite impossible to defeat through anger or sheer brute force. Jane’s attack lacked them, thus he didn’t even see it coming.
-GAAH!!!- The acid hit his back permeating his armor and eating through it. Even if it was composed by Conceptual Energy, the armor itself needed to have certain traits associated with regular matter to work as an armor, thus it counted as an inorganic matter for Jane to burn through. The material thinned out thanks to the high acidic concentration and pressure, reaching Ikari’s back and burning through his jacket. Yet something else happened. His skin was burning, it shouldn’t burn, but it was burning. Ikari wasn’t a slouch when it came to musculature, but beneath the melted skin, he had another layer of skin, with a different color and muscular tone. From looking like a well trained back, it became a concentrated mass of muscle with darker skin than the rest. It seemed that the upper layer of Ikari’s body was somewhat artificial and had some kind of nervous feedback, as he felt the pain from the attack. Ikari turned around to glare at Jane. -YOU LITTLE CU- His eyes flared up like gateways to hell, but before he could act Yuu’s attack reached him from another angle, slashing his exposed back. The blade met a lot of resistance, as the underlayer of his skin was harder than steel.
Ikari roared as the flames flared up around him, but before he could take revenge of Yuu’s attack he felt the cold rushing his knee and side, as Arthur, curiously, performed a move that usually is referred to as “Shining Wizard” in wrestling. The hits didn’t damage Ikari, but they vexed him. He disliked when insects bit him… not he didn’t dislike it… he hated it. Crackles of purple lighting started arching around the Knight of Hatred, as his eyes basically started emanating pillars of flame. -ENOUGH!- He bellowed opening his arms and squaring his stance as his whole body exploded into a massive detonation of deep purple flames. The force was enough to bend whichever tree wasn’t destroyed yet. Once the explosion was over Ikari wasn’t there anymore, he was standing several stories up, looking down on them with scornful flaming eyes. He had Ikki Ryusei on his shoulder. -My role here is completed. Sakka already left.- He said, spewing the words as if they were poison. -I’ll never forget what you did here…- His eyes locked on Jane. -You missy, you’ll pay for this.- He then glanced at Arthur. -And you Frosty the piss-poor Wizard… You’re on my list, sooner or later I’ll kill you.-
He opened one of his hands, creating a sphere of flames and throwing it underneath him, creating a pillar of deep purple blazes that covered his retreat. As this happened Urnas, who spent the whole fight paralyzed, finally got unstuck from his mid-air freeze, landing on the floor, crimson eyes burning bright and hyperventilating while glaring in Yuu’s direction.
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Post by HungryHunter on Aug 24, 2018 7:48:36 GMT
Yuu wasn't sure her sword penetrated when it scraped across Ikari's steely skin, but she put her full weight into it anyway. Sparks flew and her vision was all flame. The flames went purple and she was blown away. She tumbled across the grass and landed across the stream, narrowly missing landing in the water and setting off another explosion. She could hear Ikari's mad snarls through her pounding headache, and her eyes only opened narrowly. "You won't touch her." She struggled to her feet, looking for Shin's sword, dropped in the confusion. She couldn't find it before he vanished again. She stared at the space where he was for what seemed like ages before her knees gave out.
Her fire vanished in a snap, out before she hit the ground. She was on the verge of tears, real tears, not the sticky droplets she started her fires with. Everything that had happened was hammering at the back of her eyes, demanding that the damn burst now. Instead, she stood. "We're going. The JHWAB has to know what happened here." She looked for her companions. Arthur was the only one standing. Martha was still getting up from Ikari's hit. Jane was curled into a tiny ball of terror behind Arthur. And Shin seemed shellshocked, sitting against the far wall. Yuu shivered when a breeze carried through the empty courtyard.
"Urnas... could I borrow something from you?" Outside of the heat of battle, it was quickly becoming very difficult to ignore she was in her underwear. Hesitating only a moment for a response, she had to move. She walked over to Shin, kneeling in front of him. "Shin, he's gone and we need to go. I need you to stick with me and be strong, okay? If you can't move, Martha will carry you." As she spoke, the pale doll had limped over and mutely nodded, refusing to look at Yuu. Yuu extended a hand to help him up. "I just want you to know you did great." She offered before she turned and hopped the stream. Jane she scooped up directly in her arms, holding her tight.
"Shhh. It's okay. He's gone." Yuu wondered if she looked as tired as she felt as she lifted the tiny doll. She was so small, but she felt so heavy. "With Sakka gone, our way out should be clear. Her... obstacles should be gone." She looked to Arthur. For reassurance? For confirmation? Even she didn't know. Martha looked at Shin. The kid looked like shit. Haunted eyes, body shaking. Martha clenched her fists to hide the fact that her hands shook as well. "Come on, we'll get the other Shin to make us a nice meal! I'm thinking pizza with all the toppings!" She put her arm over his shoulder, but was ready to change position if he showed signs of collapse.
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Post by TimePuppy on Aug 25, 2018 17:08:53 GMT
Arthur recognized Ikari's stance as something that usually resulted in a blast around the user, so he rushed in front of Jane and created a wall of ice in front of them. Ikari then taunted them from above.
"Very scary, threatening us while running away. You touch Jane, and I'll kill you! Also, I'm a mage, not a wizard!" Arthur created another wall, stopping the tower of purple flames from spreading towards them. Then Ikari was gone. Arthur breathed a sigh of relief. Despite his boast, Arthur didn't believe they could win that fight if he stuck around. He also wasn't a fan of being on the man's kill list, but he wasn't too worried about it. He was more worried his daughters would end up in danger because of it.
He cast a healing spell on himself, closing his wounds and turned around. Now everyone could see his face and hands were red, a sign of first degree burns. The thing is healing spells weren't so effective on heat-based damage he took. "Don't worry, Jane. Just call me if you see him again. I'll be there in a minute and we can beat him together!" Arthur then caught Yuu's look. "Yeah, we should be free. Assuming our vampire friend over there won't blame his own failure on us."
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Post by waybig1010101 on Sept 5, 2018 0:34:39 GMT
Shin remain motionless inside the wall as he couldn't believe their luck as the mysteries man suddenly leaves in a column of purple flames. However, as soon as Ikari disappears, he immediately begins to hate himself for how weak he is. In frustration, Shin proceeds to slam his fist against the side of the wall as hard as he could, and without any energy left to enhance his body, he ends up breaking his hand against the surface of the wall. As he starts to curse underneath his breath from the pain, he also starts to remove himself from the wall. As he leaps out of the wall, he unfortunately lands in a small pool of ink. As he looks down he is once again paralysis by the reality that the students weren't real this entire time. After taking a few moments he finally is able to move his body once more, and walks over to his companions, though he is walking straight towards Arthur, who Shin believes knows the most of what is going on here. "Who the hell are these people?," he asked looking at the Ice Wizard for an answer. "And why were they here?"
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Post by Kuma on Sept 6, 2018 3:08:33 GMT
-You mongrel bitch!- Urnas roared as he rushed towards Yuu. -Your pathetic group couldn’t deal with a single enemy?- He was foaming out of the sides of his mouth, his eyes weren’t just bloodshot, the whole orb was red, bleeding heavily, blood rolling down his cheeks. His claws popped out his curled and twisted fingers, destroying his gloves. Urnas face was a contorted mass of twisted sinew, wrinkled skin, and contracted muscles, revealing his massive fangs, getting longer by the second. Any semblance of nobility or manners vanished. -Nobody even bothered to attempt and help me? You moronic in-bred low born hicks!?- He stomped the floor with enough force to crack it, but instead of that his foot sunk deeply into the floor, accompanied by a sloshing sound. When he pulled it out his shoe and the bottom of his pants was completely covered in black ink. -This place!- He roared, looking around like a cornered animal. -THIS SCHOOL WAS HER CREATION AS WELL!?- Urnas shouted as the scenery around the group started twisting and bending, almost as if it was made of melting gelatin.
A loud splash echoed around the inner garden, as a large glob of ink fell from the roof and crashed into the floor beside them, causing a cloud of ink to raise up, before falling back into the increasingly unstable ground. Urnas glared at Yuu and the others for one last time before turning into shadows and flying away, his voice lingering behind him. -You’ll all pay, mark my words.- The school was falling apart around them and through their commlinks, a voice shouted. -WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING!? WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS SCHOOL!? AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, WHERE IS MY SWORD!?- Shin Bushitora, who they left unconscious on a staircase almost 1 hour ago was finally awake and clearly pretty confused about the whole building become squid ink flavored jello. -RENDEZVOUS WITH ME AT THE ENTRANCE IF YOU’RE STILL INSIDE!- He shouted, while on his end of the building, he tried to rush towards the nearest exit. The Young Bushitora was dazed and confused, but he could still run.
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Post by HungryHunter on Sept 6, 2018 4:57:57 GMT
Yuu's sword whipped out when Urnas charged her, aiming right at his heart. "Please Urnas. There has been enough killing today." She remained still as a statue until he had faded into shadows. The sword remained pointed for another few seconds before the tip dropped. Her arms ached. Everything ached. "Martha. Make us the quickest path out. The walls should be weaker now." Yuu put a hand on Martha's shoulder and she nodded. "Shin, we're here. We'll explain when we meet you. Heading there now." Yuu watched the world dissolve. The school looked how she felt.
Martha lowered her body and dug in her feet. "Alright guys, this is gonna suck if I can't do this!" Before it was difficult as hell to get through the walls, but now that they were all runny? She exploded forward, shoulder first, seeking to pummel holes in wall after wall until they had a clear line to the exit. If it failed, they'd have to take the long way. If it succeeded, she was going to need a shower even more.
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Post by TimePuppy on Sept 8, 2018 20:23:14 GMT
After Ikari and Sakka disappeared, Shin approached Arthur with what appeared to be a mixture of pain, fear, and despair. Unfortunately, Arthur didn't have answers to his questions.
"From everything that happened, my best guess is they were a distraction for whoever wanted to mess with JHWAB's supercomputer. But who exactly they are, I haven't the slightest."
While Arthur was talking to Shin, Urnas showed that he did indeed blame his failure on them. "Hey now, we promised to get you to her and not to try and stop you from killing her. We did both. You got yourself trapped by rushing in blindly and couldn't even get out of it, so don't think you're any better than us who were stuck fighting an unstoppable monster of a man."
Arthur was ready to have a verbal showdown with Urnas, but the school started melting. Urnas melted into shadows and flew away. The team heard the voice of the other Shin on the other end of the school who told them to meet up at the entrance. The dolls had the idea of running through the melting walls to get there and Arthur saw that as a decent idea. He also saw Shin seemed tired from the fighting.
"Hey, Shin, if you're tired you can get on my shoulders and I'll get you out of here in no time."
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Post by Kuma on Sept 23, 2018 3:10:29 GMT
Shin accepted Arthur’s help, tiredly climbing over the offered shoulders and collapsing on them, falling prey to exhaustion and pain. The group rushed following behind Martha who was essentially shoulder checking an entire collapsing building to make a path for the rest. Each wall exploded into a gooey mess as she crashed through, covering her and anybody near enough with a thick layer of the ink-like substance composing them. Thankfully she picked the right direction, managing to crash through the front wall of the school, meters away from Shin Bushitora, who looked quite confused and pained as they met him. -Perfect! Just run off the school grounds, not even the floor is safe!- He shouted, rushing towards the school exit. Behind them, coming out from holes in the walls or the former doors, humanoid figures slowly turning into sludge walked towards them, leaving pieces of them behind. The moaned in suffering, like ghosts stepping out from a haunted house.
-WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE!?- The Military Agent screamed looking over his shoulder while running. -WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS PLACE!?- He repeated his previous remark, still unsure of what was happening. The floor beneath them became increasingly wobbly, almost as if they were walking on Jello. The cement pathway was getting darker and wetter, losing solidity and becoming an inky marsh, that would swallow them whole if they stopped. The density seemed to be something in the ballpark of a non-newtonian fluid. Everything was sinking into a hole below the school, the massive crater that Shin Mizukara discovered beneath the construct. The black ink swirled, becoming a massive whirlpool, as dark as a moonless sky, spinning with massive spikes and waves forming by the rapid movement. Shin Bushitora jumped out the gate, crashing through the now weakened bars, opening a path for the others behind him.
He turned around checking that the rest of the people managed to escape the sinkhole. Once they managed to get safe he turned around glancing in their direction with utter and complete shock. -We’ll need to talk about what happened here… At length...- His eyes focused on Yuu. -But first things first…- He extended his hand, his face a stern mask of anger and frustration. -May I have my sword back?- He said with a dangerously calm tone and burning eyes aimed at Yuu.
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Post by TimePuppy on Sept 23, 2018 23:05:35 GMT
Arthur carried Shin, staying far back enough from Martha not to get splattered by the walls. They ran into the other Shin who was oblivious to the events in the school. Explaining it all to him would take a while, but for now, the best explanation was "Ink. It's ink. The answer to all your questions is ink."
Arthur's report during the debrief was a lot more detailed, describing everything he perceived including the freakiness of the melting ink kids as the escaped, an unusual sight even for a Hidden World veteran. After the debrief, Arthur talked to the dolls to make sure the wouldn't go home just yet. He had to do something first.
Sometime later, Arthur was walking out of a toy store. It took longer than he expected without someone to guide him. But Tsubasa wasn't in a state to help him find it. Arthur had no idea where Tsubasa even was now. Did he get out of the school okay? Arthur hadn't seen him with the inky students running out of the melting school. Was he still possessed by the ghost, or did those vanish with the school? Did he remember his friends' deaths? Would he have nightmares about them?
Arthur let those questions sink deep down into the unconscious and focused on finding Jane at whatever location they agreed on meeting at. He had the idea since the operation started, seldom a day ago even though it felt like months now, and he finally had the opportunity to do it.
He bought her a tanuki doll. Soft, cute and cuddly, just like her. He also bought souvenirs for his daughters, naturally, but he could give those to them whenever. Besides, Jane really earned a plushie for her bravery in the end there.
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Post by HungryHunter on Sept 24, 2018 17:59:03 GMT
Martha was entirely covered in ink by the time she made her way through. She kept running until she hit the street, and she was still twitching when she looked back. Bile and tears competed to escape her face. The moans of the zombies baked into her eardrums and she knew she'd never forget them. She fell against the wall, staring into space as the school vanished. Shin drew her attention with his demand for his sword. "I apologize for taking your sword, sir. It was a transgression on my part." Yuu bowed, holding out the sword for Shin to take.
"It's not her fault! We would have died without it!" Martha pushed off the wall to glare at Shin. "Martha, enough! I'm sorry, she's stressed." Yuu held out a hand, a solid sign to stop. Martha just twitched, too much rage to even stand still. "Martha. It's alright. You can just be afraid. Everybody is." Yuu spoke softly, taking Martha into her arms. Martha practically snarled and her muscles tensed to push her away, but something else came to the forefront. Martha broke down, putting her face on Yuu's shoulder and sobbing.
Yuu was silent until Martha stepped back, wiping at her face and only trailing more ink on it in the process. "Yes, we must talk about this." Yuu took Jane's hand and walked back to the JHWAB HQ with everybody in tow. The misery of being the adult was that there was no shoulder for her to cry on, and she needed it just as much as Martha.
Martha sat alone on the edge of the kaspa’s property. The yard was huge, large enough for Cadence’s abandoned greenhouse and a towering, shady tree big enough for Josefina to sit under. Martha leaned against the dome that formed the sky, right on the setting sun. Her usually spiked hair sat black and limp. The ink had left a permanent stain. She couldn’t stop feeling it on her scalp, bleeding into her brain. Even her tears that night were black. Was she imagining that? She wasn’t able to understand anything, and there was nobody she could turn to. She had opened her mouth to talk to Haven multiple times, but never did the words come out. It was an admission of weakness to say she was broken, shaken to her core. It wasn’t the killing. That hurt, but it was worse than that. It was that every time she looked in the mirror, she saw ink.
Yuu stepped out of the kaspa, onto the streets of Nagoya. She left the same alleyway she had ambushed Jun Li in and took all the same turns she had taken a few days ago. She paused outside of the building where she had taken this job for a moment, but she was gone again before she’d be noticed. She would be hard-pressed to explain why she was here. Onward she walked until she came within eyeshot of where the school had been. Bold yellow police tape screamed at her to not enter, one or two police cars still here to enforce the tape’s orders.
Yuu walked up to the edge and peered down. It was nothing but a chasm now, a crater of horrifying scope. The crews would be coming here soon to fill it in, to make it like it never was. Her gloved fingers pulled something from her sleeve. A kunai with a ribbon tied around it. Printed on the ribbon was a name, written in Roman letters on one side and kanji on the other. Aoi Hisaki. She felt selfish. Ignoring everybody but your crush? How cruel. Marika-voice taunted. “I promised I would not forget.” Yuu hissed back, and she threw the kunai. It sailed out, arcing until it landed right in the center of the crater. It couldn’t be missed. When they inspected the crater further, his name would be found. A mysterious weapon, bearing the name of a man who didn’t exist? That would get attention. That would be in the papers. And people would remember Aoi Hisaki, if only for a little while.
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Post by Kuma on Sept 26, 2018 1:59:40 GMT
1 Week Later - JHWAB Intelligence Branch - Kanto HQ
Norio Bushitora was nursing the mother of all headaches sitting in one of the sofas in his office... He just had one of the longest weeks of his life, decoding all the new information brought to him by Roshi Yasumori, the Leader of the JHWAB. Not to mention the debacle in the school, with two high priority targets being there, one of them even breached the Bureau HQ before going to the school. He had been working like crazy for so many days and now finally he could breathe and relax. Or at least he thought so until the door to his office was kicked open by no other than his son. -OLD MAN! WE HAVE PROBLEMS!- The door almost flew off its hinges upon Shin’s entrance. -Oh no… What now?- Norio asked, covering his eyes with one hand, absolutely done with whatever this was even before it started. -THE GIRLS! THE ONES IN THE LAST MISSION!- Shin shouted while shaking his father by the shoulders. -Stop! Stop! Less shouting and more explaining!- Norio roared, breaking off from his son’s grip.
Shin, in a hurry, jumped over his father’s desk, sliding and dropping several trinkets and papers on the process. -HEY!- Norio shouted, but Shin ignored him, moving his rolling chair away (More throwing than pushing) and logged into the JHWAB Database. Norio and a full team of experts spent the whole week checking mistakes and bugs caused by the virus brought by the Nexus Stone they got in Kyoto. Shin frantically scrolled around the Mercenary Database, while also opening another tab with the Criminal database until he had two profiles open. One had a regular photo, while the second had a blurry one taken from afar, but decent enough to allow some features being noticed.
Jun Li - BHA Member - Mercenary - Magical - Tengu 4
Yuu Arachne - Member of the Arachne Clan - Criminal - Artificial Oddity - Tengu 4 (1)
-Look at this!- He spun the monitor towards his father, who was getting up from the sofa. Norio couldn’t see shit until he remembered he wasn’t wearing his glasses. He put on them and saw what Shin was talking about. They looked similar, but Jun Li had green eyes and dark brown hair, while Yuu Arachne had black hair and eyes. -Oh shit… OOOOOH SHIT!- Norio cursed as he backed away from the screen. For a moment it seemed as if he was about to kick something, but he contained his anger. He sighed, lowering his shoulder as if the weight of the entire world. -I cannot deal with this shit right now, not right now.- Shin looking at his father with concern only managed to ask. -But what do we do?- Norio sighed again, plopping down to the sofa, defeated. -Just make a note in Jun Li’s file pointing out that she needs to be examined for “Artificial Oddities” traits before taking any jobs.- Shin nodded and quickly added the warning.
-And add “Jun Li” to the Arachne file under an assumed alias, while noting that she isn’t the actual Jun Li.- Norio added while putting a wet towel over his forehead. Shin did what his father asked and walked to sit opposite to him. -Dad, you look like you need a vacation.- Norio nodded. -Yeah, but I don’t think I’ll get one, considering they’re planning to give me a promotion.- Shin smiled. -Congratulations! Which rank will they give you now? Grand Inspector?- Norio shook his head. -No, Vice Director.- His son whistled with admiration. -Damn! You’re getting Old Man Nurarihyon office? That’s great!- Shin chuckled. -That bald asshole really needed to retire, last time he got drunk he almost caused a major incident with his menagerie of assholes.- Norio nodded. -Yeah, but that means more work for me, not to mention that his “menagerie of assholes” is leaving with him.- Shin smile vanished. -I feel for you, wouldn’t want to be involved in a recruitment drive, things get really chaotic.-
Norio sighed, removing the towel from his face and wring it over a bucket. -You have any recommendations?- He asked his son, hoping for the best. Shin thought for a moment. -What about that Nomene guy from the BHA? I mean, he must have balls of steel considering he went toe to toe against Ikari Fukus- Norio groaned upon hearing the name. -Don’t remind me of that name, for fuck’s sake.- Shin chuckled. -Okay, sorry, but you must admit, he is pretty badass, I read his file, he fought some nasty things and survived.- Norio nodded. -You’re right and his BHA superiors have nothing but good things to say. We should give him some tests.- Shin snapped his fingers. -What about sending him as a bodyguard for Yasumori-sama, nobody wants the job because the old man is so cranky.- Norio grinned. -Yes, that's a good idea, but we also need more, we’ll see what happens.- Norio stood up and cracked open a couple of beers, giving one to his son. -Let’s just hope for the best.- He toasted, knocking his bottle against his son’s.
-NO! NO! NO! NO! I WANNA MY CHARACTERS BACK! I DIDN’T EVEN DO THE WHOLE STORYLINE WITH THE SCHOOL NURSE AND THE RUGBY ACE!- Sakka was kicking and screaming, throwing shit around, in full tantrum mode. She had kept it together for a while, but after seeing the footage of her creation collapsing she lost it, becoming a whirlwind of insults and screams, turning her whole room upside down. Her door was closed, slammed by her, and besides it, Doctor Kago was curled in the floor grabbing his genitals, as he tried to shut her up only to get kicked in the nuts by Sakka. -I’LL KILL THEM ALL! THE ZOMBIE WHORES! THE FROST FUCK-UP! THE DUAL IDIOT! AND THAT FUCKING VAMPIRE! VAMPIRES ARE SO LAST YEAR!- Ikari arrived at her door, called by the other Doctors, who didn’t even dared to do anything after seeing the fate of Kago’s balls. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. The Avatar of Hatred knocked on the door. -I DON’T CARE WHO THE FUCK IT IS, LET ME SHOUT IN PEACE!- Sakka replied, foaming from the mouth.
Ikari, not a man who takes shit from others, kicked the door with such ferocity he didn’t just break it off the wall, but he split it into four jagged pieces. Sakka, beyond pissed, didn’t even shout, she picked the closest notebook she had and scribbled on it, her hand turning into a blur. A figure with white straight hair, blue and silver armor, and a black sword appeared beside her. Cavaler from the Orasul Sange Crimson Knights. He charged at Ikari who swatted him like a fly, making him explode into an inky mist. -YOU ASSHOLE!- She shouted, scribbling again, but Ikari, swift as raging wind, dashed until being right next to her and grabbed her writing hand, gripping to the point she had to drop her pen. Sakka, without thinking too much, blind with rage, spat Ikari on the face. The Avatar of Hatred popped his neck to the side and growled. -I… hate… disrespectful… people…- and backhanded Sakka. He didn’t use super strength, he just slapped her. The Demented Writer spun twice in the air before crashing down, blood pouring from her split lip.
Ikari looked down on her with disgust. -I saved you and our boss saved you more than once, and you pay us with this scandal?- Deep Purple flames burst on his eyes. -You’re a spoiled little brat and I hate spoiled little brats.- He pointed at the door. -If you don’t like what we’re planning you can leave right now, and you’ll never get what you want.- Sakka didn’t reply but glared intensely at him. -Now shut up and let everybody else work.- He ordered as he left the room. But he stopped on the doorway upon hearing Sakka mutter something. -Fucking fake asshole telling me what to do.- Ikari heard that, turning around as his right arm was covered in armor. He glared at Sakka with unmatched ferocity. But before he could do anything a sharp pain hit his head like an ax . The armor dissipated and he grabbed the sides of his head. His fingers, instead of touching flesh sunk into the skin, as if it was made of pudding.
Ikari trembled, shaking his head and convulsing. He took one of his hands off his face, seeing black ink all over it. -What… What? I… What?- He talked, dazed and confused, looking around the room. -The water… where is the water?- He asked scanning his surroundings frenetically. -Master? Gainen? What?- Ikari did a rapid-fire series of questions to nobody in particular with a faint whisper of a voice. He pulled his other hand away from his face, taking a handful of black ink. Underneath his skin, there was other skin, three shades darker, like a good suntan, with many scars. He looked at the hand and then stumbled on the room looking for a mirror. Sakka, on the floor, scurried to a corner, scared of Ikari. The Avatar of Hatred looked himself in the mirror. -What happened to my face? Which one is my face?- He asked, getting closer to the mirror, almost as if he was trying to enter it. His fingers touched it, leaving black fingerprints. For a moment he was in silence, breathing heavily until his postured changed as if he realized something.
He turned around and shouted, in a completely different voice. -WHAT THE FUCK DID YA DO TO MY FACE YA FUCKIN’ BITCH!?- Until now he had been talking in regular Japanese, but now he had a very thick Kansai accent. He advanced towards Sakka, but before he could get too close he stopped, almost like a robot. Kuro-san entered the room, followed by a figure floating behind him. -Melancholy Memory, please erase the last 5 minutes.- Kuro-san talked in his usual monotone, with just a hint of pain behind his voice.
Golden threads came out from Ikari’s head and the shadowy figure dressed in billowing black fabric started playing on them, as a chorus of suffering voices accompanied the mournful music. The Avatar of Hatred collapsed, falling to the ground. Kuro-san closed his hand over the Gainen Medal, returning Melancholy Memory into it. He looked down on Sakka. -Fix his face, he has much to do, we need to place the Shishioh brat inside the Hub, for safekeeping, we need him out of the picture for a while, like everyone who knows about the Medals.- Sakka nodded, scared shitless. -And please avoid making mistakes like this in the future, or I’ll have to ask our new ally to deal with your punishment.- Sakka looked at Kuro-san confused until from the Forgotten Emperor’s shadow an inhumanly tall figure dressed in a black suit emerged. Urnas, the Vampire Noble, was now serving Kuro-san, looking down on Sakka with superiority, before leaving with Kuro-san without saying a word.
Sakka was left on her own, scrambling to find ink, before Ikari woke up. She didn't realize that her action kickstarted the events that would allow certain groups to find this hidden laboratory, months after this incident. And that would cascade in something even greater.
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