A warning: Back when I came up with the idea of making this Book, there was a YouTube channel with loads of key scenes of the anime available to watch. In the time since then, however, that channel's been removed for copyright crap, and the only place there is left for me to safely watch Kill la Kill is on Crunchyroll… which isn't happening, because whenever I watch anything on Crunchyroll on my computer, there is HORRIBLE lag and choppiness, enough to render it totally unwatchable. So, any and all scenes and characterization and such in this fic are drawn purely from my memory. And you all know by now how bad my memory is…
Another source of extra time spent making this chapter, as well as a contributing factor to my general very foul mood recently: Master Chief Collection. Halo 2. Legendary. Jackal Snipers. That is all. …Good God, there's like 20 of them when you come out of the tunnel in Metropolis! D8
THE FOLLOWING THINGS ARE THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS; I DO NOT OWN THEM AND MAKE NO MONEY OFF OF THIS STORY
Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha (Teana, various other characters) – 7Arcs
Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Shion and friends/family) – 07th Expansion and Studio Deen
Shuffle! (Kaede Fuyō and associated characters) – Navel and Asread
Erika's New Perfume (Marie, Sarah, Erika, Timmy, Veronica) – DeviantArtist 'Lance the Young'
Mai-chan's Daily Life (Mai, Kizuna) – Waita Uziga
Star Wars (Ahsoka, Cody, Rex, Force Unleashed cast) – George Lucas, Lucasfilm
Halo (Forerunners, UNSC, Sangheili Alliance) – Bungie, 343 Industries
StarCraft (multiple characters, events, and devices) – Blizzard Entertainment
Naruto (characters, techniques, abilities) – Masashi Kishimoto
Mahō Sensei Negima (characters, spells, abilities) – Ken Akamatsu
Kingdom Hearts (characters, weapons, enemies, concepts) – Square-Enix
Neon Genesis Evangelion (characters, concepts, tech) – Studio Gainax
Elfen Lied (Kaede K., others) – Lynn Okamoto, Arms
Red vs. Blue (The Blood-Gulch Crew, the ex-Freelancers) – Rooster Teeth
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic – Hasbro, Lauren Faust
Transformers Film Series – Hasbro, Michael Bay
Transformers: Beast Wars – Hasbro, Mainframe Entertainment
Yu-Gi-Oh! – Kazuki Takahashi, Viz Media
Sonic the Hedgehog – SEGA
Gears of War – Epic Games
Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles – Columbia Tristar (I think)
Mass Effect – Bioware
Metroid – Nintendo
Puella Magi Madoka Magica – Gen Urobuchi, SHAFT
The Legend of Zelda – Nintendo
Tōhō – ZUN
RWBY – Rooster Teeth
Kill la Kill – Studio Trigger
PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES
-BOOK 29 START-
Realm KL-4
S.S. Naked Sun, en route to Honnōji Academy
Ryūko Matoi let out a slow, deep sigh as she sat on the deck of the flagship aircraft carrier of 'Nudist Beach', the ridiculously-named yet surprisingly competent organization leading the resistance against the Kiryūin Conglomerate and the parasitic beings known as Life Fibers. For the abrasive yet heroic young girl, a great deal had happened recently. Things had kicked into high gear that day at the stadium, and hadn't slowed down since. The forces of the Conglomerate controlled nearly all of Japan, with slowly-spreading areas of dominance scattered all over the rest of the planet. And at the head of it was Ragyō Kiryūin, a truly vile woman who had sold her soul to the Primordial Life Fiber, and made herself into a Life-Fiber-infused inhuman monster.
'A monster like me…' Ryūko thought, holding her hand over her heart – the heart that Ragyō had ripped out and shown to her, revealing that it, like the rest of her body, was infused with Life Fibers that gave her superhuman strength and durability as well as a very potent healing factor… and revealing that she was the monster-woman's second daughter, used as a newborn in an experiment – an experiment that she was only conceived and birthed for the purpose of being used in – that infused the things into her and then coldly tossed out when she was presumed to have died.
Upon awakening from the month-long healing coma she'd been knocked into, Ryūko – overcome with self-loathing and -disgust, as well as rage at the heads of Nudist Beach, who apparently knew but didn't tell her – had violently lashed out at her friends and then gone off to fight Ragyō and her enforcer – the Life-Fiber-infused, disgustingly cutesy & cheerful yet actually frighteningly unhinged and bloodthirsty Nui Harime, the girl who'd murdered Ryūko's father Isshin – alone… and in doing so had walked right into Ragyō's trap. The loathsome twosome had forcefully grafted Junketsu – a vicious and near-rabid Kamui (神衣 – 'god-robe', a clothing-shaped entity composed near-entirely of Life Fibers) – onto her body as they violated her mind, forcing false memories into her and rewriting her personality, while at the same time they had also violated her body to further speed along and enhance the process; the girl felt a spike of disgust and feeling of violation, even from just the few scattered fragments of memory of her evil mother and 'sister' having their way with her body after they'd had their way with her mind.
Just as Ragyō had done to her other daughter, Ryūko remembered her cheerfully admitting during 'that time'. That was another hell of a shock for the girl: not only was her hated rival Satsuki Kiryūin actually a good guy all along (though one with extremely questionable methods that Ryūko probably would've fought against even if she'd known back then), she was also Ryūko's older sister. At the moment, that still left an uncomfortable feeling in her; there was a lot of bad blood between them still… Well, mostly on Ryūko's side; the younger girl was fully aware on an intellectual level that she had a problem with holding onto grudges long past the point of them being detrimental to her, regardless of whether they were justified or not.
And yet, even with all that, when Ryūko – forced into Junketsu and brainwashed into a raving whirlwind of violence and destruction sent to massacre the resistance – had attacked the Naked Sun, Satsuki had risked her life to save her, donning Senketsu – Ryūko's trusted Kamui partner, considerably more amicable and friendly and sane than his evil blue-&-white counterpart – to fight her. And though she'd lost in the end, she'd given Senketsu and Mako Mankanshoku – the ditzy, excitable, somewhat dim, yet unfailingly loyal and loving best friend of Ryūko – the opening they needed to free her of the brainwashing, giving her the strength to literally rip Junketsu off of herself despite it being 'sewn' into the Life Fibers that made up part of her body.
The fight that ensued had been short but oh so satisfying, as Ryūko reclaimed the other half of the Scissor Blades from Nui and then sliced off both of the evil little monster's arms in a way that prevented her from reattaching or regenerating them, sending her into a complete psychotic breakdown that 'cracked the shell off the nut' as Tsumugu had put it. Nui had then been extracted by Ragyō's loyal secretary, Rei Hououmaru, leaving behind a squad of COVERs – Life-Fiber-based humanoid monsters containing captive humans as power sources – to cover their retreat (and have their captives freed by Nudist Beach's specialized weaponry, destroying the things).
It had been about two hours since then, and everyone was busy tending to injuries, trying to repair some of the damage dealt to the ship, preparing for the coming battles, or just relaxing. Ryūko was avoiding a few of the people onboard; she was still quite angry with Satsuki and with Aikurō Mikisugi – the head of Nudist Beach mentioned earlier – and she didn't trust Satsuki's 'Elite Four' – Ira Gamagoori, Uzu Sanageyama, Hōka Inumuta, and Nonon Jakuzure. She'd also been kinda steering clear of Mako, but this was out of guilt; when Mako had dove into Ryūko's Heart to try to save her from the brainwashing, Ryūko had actually tried to kill her – swung her crimson Scissor Blade in an attempt to split the other girl in half. If Senketsu hadn't taken the blow…
"Ryūko-chan~!"
She was startled out of her increasingly depressive musings by a familiar voice overflowing with energy and cheer. Mako came bounding up, the slightly-shorter girl's shoulder-length brown hair bobbing and swaying in the ocean breeze as she walked with her usual spring in her step. She plopped herself down next to Ryūko, and the presence of a wall on the black-haired girl's other side meant she couldn't scoot away.
"I could see your sad face from clear across the deck, Ryūko-chan" Mako said. "What's up?"
"Mako…" Ryūko murmured, trying and failing to get away from the hand now resting on her shoulder. "You… You shouldn't be near me right now…"
Mako looked confused. "Why not?"
"What do you mean, why not? I… I tried to kill you!"
Mako smiled and hugged Ryūko. "No, you didn't. The fake-memoried, brainwashed Ryūko that Ragyō made tried to kill me, but the real Ryūko-chan I'm talking to right now didn't." She hugged a little tighter. "I'm right here. I'm alright, and I'm here, and I've got you."
"You still want to be with me even though I'm not really human – even though I'm some hybrid monster, just like her?"
"Ragyō's a monster because of how she acts, what she does and what she plans to do, not necessarily because of the Life Fibers woven into her. And just because you have them inside you doesn't make you a monster; you're too kind and heroic and good to be called that. It's what you do that matters, not what you are. And I know you'd never willingly do anything that would earn you being called a monster."
"She's absolutely right, Ryūko" Senketsu broke his long silence. "I can't even think of much to add, because she just covered just about everything. …Technically, I'm the same type of being as you, a fusion of Life Fibers and human DNA; would you call me a monster at this point?"
Ryūko, unable to think of any rebuttals to all that her two must trusted companions had said, sighed and gave in, relaxing into Mako's hug. Soon, that embrace was able to chase away her worries for the moment, and she found herself believing that maybe they could win this, that everything would turn out okay.
"Still…" she sighed. "So much crazy shit has happened lately. Any one of those things, I would've found totally unbelievable – like, fantasy story stuff – before they happened."
"Well," Mako replied, "after all that's happened I'm pretty sure there isn't room for any more crazy stuff to happen."
Almost as if in response to Mako's statement, a glowing orange & white rune-circle about seven feet across suddenly appeared with an odd chime-like sound on the flight deck a short distance in front of the duo, slowly revolving, shining brightly even in the mid-afternoon sun. Ryūko slowly turned to face Mako, giving her a look, and the other girl chuckled nervously.
Within seconds Satsuki, Aikurō, and the 'Elite Four' arrived on the scene, ready for a fight. Sparkling bits of energy floated upward from the rune, and then four simultaneous flashes of light accompanied four people being translocated in – a black-haired boy, a short-blue-haired girl, a spiky-blond-haired boy, and a long-red/orange-haired girl, all looking around 16 or 17. After regaining their bearings post-teleport, they took stock of their surroundings.
"Well," Teana said, "I suppose this is better than the one op where I was 'ported in alone, surrounded by three times as many people as this and they were all pointing assault rifles at me."
"Who are you?" Ryūko asked in a low and vaguely threatening tone, Scissor Blades at the ready, "and how & why are you here?"
"We're part of the Dimensional Defense Force," Sasuke replied, "a coalition of several sovereign powers and of many people of special ability, banded together to share tech & knowledge and fight against common foes that threaten our Realms, as well as occasionally intervening to help solve crises in new Realms we discover. Like this one."
"The DDF has already helped deal with a lot of super-dangerous evil things," Naruto picked up, "to the point of building up quite a list: Covenant, Flood, Zerg, a Precursor, Demons, Heartless, mad scientists, an evil goddess, pirates, Collectors, Witches, Decepticons, fallen Xel'Naga, Reapers, a C'tan, Prometheans, an evil Forerunner… Form what information we've managed to get on whatever's going down on this world, we're hoping to add the things called 'Life Fibers' to that list."
"Admittedly we don't have much to go on," Subaru chimed in, "though… if they are some kind of space-traveling parasite like what we've heard, they can't be worse than the Flood…"
"Nothing's worse than the Flood" Teana replied with a light shudder.
"There is indeed a rather large amount of the story you're missing," Satsuki spoke up in response, "though if you are capable and willing to help us, then perhaps we can fill you in on things. We need all the allies we can get…"
-Break-
Over the course of a little more than an hour, the DDF quartet gave the 'local group' a basic explanation and description of their identities, organization, and cause, while the locals gave them detailed explanations on events, individuals, places, and things.
"Okay," Naruto said, "we've got a lot to do and not much time to do it in. We don't know when this 'Ragyō' character is going to start her endgame, but we should assume it could be any moment. We might not have much time, so let's get what training and preparations in that we can."
"Actually," Teana chimed in, "we have quite a bit of time, thanks to something I brought along."
"What do you mean by that?" Sasuke asked as he, Naruto, and Subaru looked at the redhead.
"Remember how in my uncle's Realm, they can store all sorts of things inside those weird capsules? Well~…"
She pulled a small blue & white capsule with a push-button on top out of her Barrier Jacket's pocket, pressed the button and tossed it a few feet. Landing in a shady spot on the ship's deck, it 'burst' into a sizable cloud of what looked like smoke. After a few seconds, this faded to reveal a glass globe/bottle about three feet across atop a sturdy wooden stand. Inside was what looked like an exquisitely-detailed miniature structure surrounded by water.
"This," Teana continued, "is a copy of Evangeline McDowell's temporally-displaced pocket dimension training resort. The Supreme Kai from my uncle's Realm swung by and offered to help Eva-san with the magecraft and forging, so this was created significantly more quickly and easily than the original; I hear they're making two more right now."
"So wait," Ryūko said, "this isn't a model; it's some kinda… magic pocket dimension?"
"Yes. And for every 24 hours that pass inside, one hour passes outside. We can use this to train, to come up with plans, to research ideas, or even to relax and recuperate; from what I understand, you two" she pointed to Ryūko and Satsuki "have both been through a lot lately, and I bet you'll have a better chance against your monster-mother with a few days' worth of rest and recovery than just a few hours."
"That's actually a good idea" said Shiro Iori, the slightly feminine-looking blond young man who worked as Satsuki & company's inventor and 'tailor' (and considering that the locals' Barrier Jacket-esque combat outfits were partially composed of Life Fibers and granted them considerable boosts, this was a rather important position). "I could use that time to finish forging the improved Goku Uniforms I've been working on, and we can take more time to oversee the infusion of Ryūko-san's blood and Senketsu's Life Fibers into Junketsu to try and make it less… volatile."
"Plus," Ryūko added, "some of us can take time to discuss certain things…"
"Alright then," Teana spoke up, placing her palm on the 'resort bottle' until a glowing white rune-circle appeared in front of it, "everyone who's coming in, step into the circle."
She demonstrated, stepping into the rune-circle and vanishing in a burst of light. Subaru and Sasuke followed, and then the rest of the group joined.
-Break-
40 Minutes (Inside) After Entry
Two long-separated siblings stood facing each other as they talked. But the mood was anything but joyous.
"You really think everything is just settled, just like that?" Ryūko asked, a slight growl to her voice as she glared at Satsuki. "Just drop everything, pretend we can have a 'fresh start', never discuss everything that's happened before now?"
"Ryōko, she risked her life to save you!" Senketsu cut in.
"That doesn't excuse the horrible things she said and did all that time before she went public with betraying Ragyō – the hundreds of lives she made miserable, the heartless things she said to everyone, the people who died because of her stupid plan!" She turned her attention back on Satsuki, who looked distinctly uncomfortable. "If I had any choice in the matter, I'd make this a three-way conflict – I'd be fighting Ragyō's forces and yours!"
"Everything I did was toward the purpose of stopping Ragyō and saving the world from the Life Fibers!" Satsuki defended herself, though her tone of voice revealed that Ryūko's words had gotten to her. "I needed an army of loyal followers to fight hers. I had to get rid of people who could jeopardize the fight against her – or worse, side with her if given incentive to. And I had to act heartless so as not to tip her off I was planning to rebel! If I had to sacrifice hundreds or even thousands to save billions, that was the only way I could see to do it!"
"Bullshit" Ryūko growled. "There's always another way. …But you didn't see it because you didn't want to see it. You manipulated and toyed with the lives of the people under and around you, using them as disposable pawns, destroyed people for your own benefit, because that's what comes natural to you! It's in your blood! In the end, you're just like her!-!"
Satsuki reeled as if struck, her breath caught in her throat as her eyes went wide, a look of horror on her face as she realized how right Ryūko was. Her plan, her actions, her behavior… none of it would have looked out of place coming from her vile mother. She was so stunned that she didn't react as Ryūko's fist impacted her face with almost enough force to break her nose, sending her stumbling back.
"I…" she gasped out. "She took my family from me! My father, and my baby sister… I thought she'd killed you, Ryūko! That she took away my chance to have a little sister!"
Ryūko tackled her to the ground. "I didn't ask for it!" she shouted as she started raining blows down on Satsuki, who barely even tried to defend herself. "I didn't ask for any of this fucked-up family! A father who was living a double life under a fake name because he used to be someone else! An ice-hearted sister who used people as tools and worked so hard to make my life miserable! A mother who only even gave birth to me to use as a guinea pig, turned me into a monster, threw me out like garbage as a failed experiment, pulled my heart out of my goddamn chest, sewed a monster into my flesh, dug into my brain and put fake memories and feelings there, and violated me!-!"
Ryūko's blows soon lost their strength as all the built-up trauma and pain from the past month's events finally broke loose, tears filling her eyes. Soon she just couldn't hold it anymore, and she collapsed down on top of Satsuki, her body shaking with sobs as she cried her heart out. Satsuki – her face and upper body now bearing several bloody marks and bruises – wrapped her arms around her little sister for the first time, stroking her hair and whispering out apologies as her own eyes grew moist.
-Break-
The past few days in the 'training resort' had been interesting and fairly productive. After Ryūko's cathartic release of built-up emotions over everything that had happened to her, she and Satsuki had started trying to mend ties, and they were actually making some progress. Iori, meanwhile, had been hard at work; having finished altering Junketsu, he was now working on new Life-Fiber-infused combat uniforms. Meanwhile, the DDF quartet were doing whatever they could to help the locals get ready, teaching them tactics and techniques, and helping the two sisters work on their combinations.
Right now, as he watched Teana and Ryūko sparring with their blades, the latter working in perfect concert with her worn 'partner' Senketsu, Naruto heard the voice of his own partner from inside him.
"QUITE A TEAM, AREN'T THEY?" Kurama asked.
"Yeah," Naruto replied, "almost like me and you."
"HMM… NARUTO. YOU STILL HAVE THE ABILITY TO CONTACT MY EIGHT 'SIBLINGS', RIGHT? I'VE GOT AN IDEA FOR SOMETHING…"
-Break-
By the time they emerged from the 'resort', night had fallen in the outside world. Teana returned the thing to its capsule form, and everyone gathered on the carrier's bridge. As they gathered behind Inumuta's computer, he and Satsuki began their explanation.
"Ragyō's ultimate objective" Satsuki explained "is to transform the entire human race into sustenance for Life Fibers which will then cover the entire planet. She calls this the 'Star-seed Cocoon Sphere' plan. All of the REVOCS corporation's products have Life Fibers incorporated into them, and since REVOCS has such an enormous monopoly on clothing through the whole civilized world… Upon receiving a certain powerful signal, all those Life Fibers will awaken. Humans, who have no resistance to it, will be converted into energy sources, and all clothing will transform into Covers."
"By that you mean those bizarre Life-Fiber-based monsters with people trapped inside?" Subaru asked.
"Yes. Seven billion Covers will rise into the stratosphere and transform into a gigantic 'net' of Life Fibers that will enshroud the planet."
"You're telling me she's trying to make the planet wear clothing?" Tsumugu asked, a bit nonplussed at how absurd it sounded on the surface.
"I had heard she was trying to turn the human race into Life Fibers," Aikurō said, "but I had no idea her plan was this epic in scope. But why?"
"Life Fibers are a parasitic species that drifts through space" Satsuki replied. "If they reach a planet that harbors intelligent life, they cause the native life to develop into a state more suitable as an energy source for themselves. Then, they cover the planet with the beings that have been converted into Life Fibers, and then, using the planet itself as an energy source, cause the world to explode, and the force from that scatters Life-Fiber seeds through space. That is how they continue to reproduce themselves through the universe."
"So," Sasuke said, "we call them parasites, but their reproductive method is more in line with a virus; viruses infect cells and use them as raw material and incubators for more viruses, which then burst out of the cell and scatter through the body in the same way these 'Life Fibers' use planets."
"Good grief…" Sanageyama sighed. "Talk about making things up out of whole cloth…"
"Oy, there you go again…" Jakuzure rolled her eyes. "Why do you keep blurting out stupid puns that we've been restraining ourselves from saying?"
"Okay," Inumuta interrupted, "I've managed to hack into REVOS' comm. satellites. They've beefed up their security, so their cameras are all I can get a hold of. I've got a video feed of the Primordial Life Fiber."
The image on his laptop changed to an overhead view from a geo-sync satellite, showing the massive bulbous construct slowly floating its way across the ocean, glowing a reddish-orange hue.
"Damn, that's big…" Teana breathed out. "Bigger than a Tailed Beast, even. …Hey, do you think we have time to call in some help? I'm worried we might need something like a MAC gun to do any serious harm to that thing."
"Unfortunately I don't think we have the time" Naruto replied. "We'll have to take it on as-is."
"What's a MAC?" Jakuzure asked.
"Big huge coilgun" Subaru replied. "Anti-starship weapon, fires magnetically-accelerated projectiles weighing hundreds of tons at c-fractional speeds. UNSC and Phoenix League ships have them as main guns."
The sat-cam image zoomed in further, showing a tall woman with white hair in a long white dress standing atop the 'head' of the Primordial Life Fiber. After a few seconds, she looked straight up as if directly at the satellite and into the camera, and gave a foul smirk. Inumuta quickly zoomed out.
"Ragyō…" Ryūko growled lowly.
"So that's our target, hm?" Sasuke murmured.
"The Primordial Life Fiber is heading toward Honnōji Academy" Inumuta continued. "Just as we expected."
"Why there?" Ryūko asked.
"By attaching the Primordial Life Fiber to the massive transmitter installed at the academy," Satsuki replied, "she can send out the command signal to ensnare and transform all of humanity into Life Fibers."
"So to stop her plan," Sanageyama said, "we just need to smash that tower."
"Oh, there is one more unexpected item" Inumuta spoke up.
"And that would be?" Naruto asked.
"The missiles launched by the Primordial Life Fiber that are heading right toward this ship."
"Oh jeez, what?-!" "Damn it, I see 'em!" "Don't save things like that for the last minute!"
"Teana!" Sasuke shouted.
"Right!" the redhead replied.
The two Uchihas leapt down onto the deck, forming their Stage-2 Susanō. Both fired/launched a wave of Yasaka Magatama at the incoming missiles, intercepting and destroying most of them, but a few managed to get through and strike the ship, blowing holes in the flight deck.
"Mikisugi-san, I'm putting you in command of the operation" Satsuki said to Aikurō. "I'll accompany Ryūko and the DDF group to stop Ragyō."
"Right!" the man leapt up to the captain's chair, posing dramatically. "We'll see to the destruction of the Honnōji Academy transmitter, while these six will keep Ragyō Kiryūin and the Primordial Life Fiber occupied!"
The group of six headed onto the deck, Satsuki donning the repaired and altered Junketsu while the two mages formed their Barrier Jackets.
"Ryōko-sama," Satsuki's butler Soroi contacted the rough heroine via her comm. earpiece, "please look after your sister."
"Got it." Ryūko blushed. "Let's do this, n… née-ch… n-"
"Don't try to force it before you're ready, Ryūko" Satsuki interrupted with a smile. "Your blood is flowing through Junketsu. That's more than enough."
In flashes of red and bluish-white light, the two sisters activated their Kamui. Ryūko shifted to flight mode, and a second later so did Satsuki, displaying one of the results of incorporating Senketsu's essence into Junketsu's form. The sextet took off, auras of ki/chakra surrounding Naruto and Sasuke as they shot up into the sky, while auras of magical power enshrouded Teana & Subaru as they did the same. Up ahead, another six missiles were inbound, but Sasuke drew and swung his sword, releasing a slicing wave of Lightning chakra that cut through and detonated two of them. Teana's Fūton: Shinkūha set off another, and the two sisters' blades handled the rest.
Down below, as the Naked Sun set course for the academy, the water in front of it suddenly became turbulent, a deep red glow emitting from below. An enormous white mass burst up from beneath the water, stopping the carrier in its path and looming over it – a gigantic 'Cover', fueled by the life-force of dozens of captive humans and optimized for heavy combat. Seeing this, a few of the airborne group prepared to double back and engage. However, that was rendered unnecessary as a new addition joined the battle from within the ship, a huge extending fist of Life-Fiber cloth delivering a smashing uppercut that knocked the Giant Cover back, stunning it.
"Honnōji Academy Fight Club President Mankanshoku Mako, back in action!-! You guys get going! I'll protect the ship!"
As Mako brought out a multitude of 'Super Suction Saver' devices, the airborne group continued on, firing a few parting shots at another small batch of missiles as they passed.
"Oh by the way, I figured out why Harime Nui couldn't regenerate her arms" Inumuta contacted them via radio. "The Scissor Blades and Bakuzan can sever Life Fibers, but the powerful kind begin regenerating immediately after they're cut. However, cutting them from both sides at the same time lets you sever the regenerating Life Fibers in succession. …Thank Ragyō for breaking Bakuzan in half, I suppose."
"You're the ones who deserve gratitude for turning the halves into two blades" Satsuki replied.
Inumuta chuckled softly. "Since when did you get into the whole 'positive reinforcement' thing?"
"Sounds like the local pair and I will be in charge of doing most of the damage" Teana remarked as she readied dual Mirage Longswords. "Heh… I've never tried to cut something scissor-style with these blades; let's see if I can do it."
They made a beeline for their target, which wasn't hard; between the reddish glow of the massive and mobile Primordial Life Fiber in the night, and the 'feel' of its and Ragyō's powerful and twisted energy signatures, finding the thing was not difficult at all. They quickly closed in on their two targets, the smaller of which soon spotted them coming as well.
"So you girls still plan on trying to stand against me again, hm?" Ragyō asked with a smirk as the sextet took up position hovering together several meters up & away from her; they noticed that she was not standing directly on the PLF, but on a specially-prepared handkerchief spread out beneath her high-heel-clad feet. "Oh, and who are these newcomers?"
"They are representatives from the Dimensional Defense Force," Satsuki replied, "a coalition of individuals and sovereign powers with jurisdiction over several Realms."
"They saw a bit of what was goin' on here," Ryūko picked up, "and sent a few of their heavy hitters to help us out."
"We got the whole story from these guys," Subaru said, "and we won't let you succeed in your twisted goal to sacrifice this Realm's humanity."
"We're gonna burn you and the Primordial Life Fiber to ashes" Teana added. "We'll stop the spread of the parasite here and now!"
"We of the DDF have stopped a great number of world-threatening giant monsters and superpowered evildoers" Sasuke said. "You and the Life Fibers will just be two more names on a long list. Hell, Naruto & I have already stopped someone with a plan superficially similar to yours; at least you won't be trying to reflect a giant illusion-casting eye off the Moon…"
Ragyō chuckled. "How amusing… But now that I know there are other human-populated Realms out there, perhaps I can spread the Life Fibers' glory and perfection to them as well… May I have at least have your names, so I may know what to carve on your headstones?"
"Hmph. Uchiha Sasuke, great-grandson of the great and terrible Uchiha Madara, inheritor of Ōtsutsuki Indra's will and power."
"Nakajima Subaru, partner of the second 7-Tails and member of TSAB Sigma Team."
"First Lieutenant Teana Uchiha-Lanstar, leader of UNSC Gamma Team, cousin of Sasuke and great-granddaughter of Uchiha Madara."
"You're meeting your end today, Kiryūin Ragyō – this world will be freed from the Life Fibers' tyranny. So says son of the Yellow Flash, Partner of the Nine-Tails, Second Sage of Myōbokuzan, inheritor of Ōtsutsuki Asura's will and power…" He flashed Ragyō a thumbs-down. "Uzumaki Naruto!"
"With the six of us together," Ryūko said, "our power and techniques combined… There's no way we can lose!"
Ragyō chuckled softly, and then it built into full-blown laughter that showed off her unnaturally sharp teeth. "La vie est drôle… Alright then, children." From the glowing red surface beneath and to either side of her, two handles rose up that she gripped and pulled free, revealing two dull-red blades of ultra-hardened Life Fibers. "Let us play!"
Ryūko and Teana moved in first, striking with the Scissor Blades and Mirage Longswords in a rapid barrage of blows from both sides. However, Ragyō managed to block the blows, and then countered with two rapid swings strong enough to send both girls flying back. Sasuke and Satsuki moved in next, the latter showing a result of her time-displaced training by channeling Lightning-type chakra through her blades just as Sasuke did the same with his weapon. Another flurry of strikes put Ragyō on the defensive, and this time Satsuki managed to land a hit. It wasn't much, a tiny two-inch-long cut across Ragyō's cheek, but the Lightning chakra briefly paralyzed the Life Fibers that were interwoven with the woman's body, slowing (though not stopping) the regeneration.
What's more, however, it got her attention. Ragyō's expression switched to a frown, and she went for a feint leading into a slash aimed at Satsuki's chest. The girl and her partner leapt back away from her, dodging the blow, and they landed atop the Primordial Life Fiber a few meters away. Then, Sasuke's eyes widened and he immediately formed a Stage-0 Susanō ribcage around himself with a skeletal arm extending to shield Satsuki, protecting the both of them from a lightning-fast strike from Ragyō, who now suddenly looked furious.
"How dare you place your filthy feet upon this divine being?" she snarled.
"You sound like that 'Kenson' woman after Harbinger's artifact messed with her brain" Sasuke replied. "Hmm… Maybe the Primordial Life Fiber has a similar 'Indoctrinating' effect as the Reapers?"
Sasuke and Satsuki suddenly leapt clear as Naruto came in with a falling axe kick right onto Ragyō's upper back, putting so much chakra-enhanced strength into it that it made the Life-Fiber 'ground' beneath her buckle and warp downward a little bit. As the Life Fibers inside her body rapidly worked to knit her cracked bones back together, she growled and spun around with a swing of one of her blades, cutting a thin slice across the front of Naruto's jacket as he leapt back. Subaru came in next from the right, lashing out with a supercharged punch augmented by the spinning force of her Revolver Knuckle. Ragyō blocked as best she could, but the force still sent her flying/spinning back.
"Katon: Gōkakyū!"
A sizable fireball from Teana rushed in, and Ragyō swung both her blades in an 'X' strike, cleaving it apart. The evil woman took to the air, rushing at Teana with blinding speed and catching hold of her by the front of her open jacket. Teana growled and struggled as Ragyō looked her over.
"Clothing made of transformed and solidified magical energy… Quite interesting. But you'll look so much better once I've stripped that pale imitation of perfection off of you and wrapped you in a beautiful 'dress' of Life Fibers."
Teana's response was to form a Form-0 Susanō arm and lash out, forcing Ragyō to leap back to avoid being smashed by the reddish-orange skeletal arm.
"Sorry, but I'm kinda attached to this outfit" Teana replied. "Besides, after what I've heard from your daughters, the thought of you seeing me naked makes my skin crawl. Plus, I prefer tuxedoes over dresses."
"Raiton: Raijū Hashiri!"
"Katon: Hōsenka!"
Ragyō turned and saw the two hounds made of semi-solidified Lightning chakra unleashed toward her by Sasuke and the barrage of small smart-tracking fireballs exhaled by Ryūko. She dove/dropped straight down just when they were about to hit, and the chakra 'projectiles' couldn't correct for the sudden course change and were left to fizzle out. Ryūko & Satsuki charged into melee range, triggering their outfits' 'Blade Modes' for extra angles of attack. They struck in twin whirling barrages of strikes from both sides, but Ragyō managed to dodge of block every blow and then shove both girls back.
The evil woman's attention was then drawn to a sudden flash of golden light. Naruto hovered in place a few dozen meters away, shrouded in a golden-yellow aura that conformed to his body from head to toe, flickering like a calm flame. Six magatama markings were around his neck, and a swirl pattern with a downward-curving tomoe at the bottom was on the center of his stomach area, surrounded by two 'spurs' that ran down the front of his legs and up to a vertical black 'bar' that lined up with his sternum, connected to which were two rows of circles that extended out to spiral patterns on his upper arms. His eyes had turned red with slit pupils.
[AN: Basically, it's the form Naruto's golden chakra shroud took after he snatched the Nine-Tails' power but before he gained Kurama's trust and full cooperation; he now uses it as an intermediary power- and capability-wise between baseline and 'full' (post-Kurama-befriending) Chakra Shroud states – imagine this as his Super Saiyan 1 equivalent, while the post-Kurama variant/mode is SS2]
"Nine-Tails' Chakra Shroud, Stage One!" he announced.
"What is this power?" Ragyō murmured, staring in curious wonder at what she saw and 'sensed'.
"That is the power of a Tailed Beast."
Ragyō turned to see Satsuki looking at her, arms crossed.
"The Tailed Beasts" the eldest daughter continued "are entities of vast age and incredible power, most of them native to Naruto-kun & Sasuke-kun's world. Centuries, if not millennia, in age, they are essentially living, sapient masses of chakra able to take physical form. The 'prime' Tailed Beasts are nine in number, ranging from one to nine tails in increasing power, and the DDF also 'possesses' two more Beasts, separate in origin from the prime Nine, who are survivors/refugees from a 'dead' Realm. The weakest of the 12 Beasts, the 1-Tailed Tanuki, can easily level a whole forest by himself. Furthermore, they can be bound – forcibly or willingly – to a sapient host, sealed within them, and in that case the host can utilize their power and abilities. An unwilling partnership can cause… side effects to this, but if Host and Beast gain each other's trust and respect, they can utilize each other's strengths to the fullest without drawbacks."
She smirked. "What you see before you is but a fraction of Naruto & Kurama's full combined power."
"A fraction's all we'll need for now" Naruto chimed in, pounding his fist into his palm.
Ragyō scowled. "No force, man or 'beast', can stand against the might of the Life Fibers. And I, Kiryūin Ragyō, bear their power and blessing! You cannot stop us!"
'WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT, YOU CRAZY BITCH' Kurama's telepathic voice replied.
Meanwhile, over on the Naked Sun, the Elite Four had donned/activated their newest, highest-level Goku Uniforms, and were using their new abilities and power boosts to help Mako thrash the horde of Covers continually attacking the ship. However, the enemy was stepping up their assault, attacking in greater numbers and greater aggression, and the quintet was beginning to be pushed back. There was a sudden flare of energy and light in the air above the ship, but it was lost amongst the numerous explosions from the firepower being thrown around.
Down on the bow-ward portion of the flight deck, Mako used her uniform's numerous clubs and maces to bash away Covers, along with kicks from her super-strength-enabled legs. However, after taking down three standard-size Covers, she looked up as a 15-meter one made ready to body slam her, and realized she didn't have time to get out of the way…
"SHANNARO!-!-!"
A green and pink blur shot down, delivering a punch charged with so much explosive power that the huge construct was sent hurtling away into the ocean. Mako looked on in mild amazement as a newcomer landed on the flight deck – clad in a red dress under a green flak jacket, with light-pink hair fluttering in the ocean breeze, a green diamond-shaped seal on her forehead.
"Hey" Sakura said to Mako. "DDF reinforcements are here."
"…Are you the Sakura-san Naruto-kun mentioned?"
"Yep! And I didn't come alone…"
Elsewhere around or over the ship, each of the Elite Four gained some sudden help. Inumuta saw as glowing green threads formed around and entangled a trio of armored Covers trying to box him in, and then a blonde-haired woman in a flowing green dress emerged and blasted them with a Wind-style attack that blew them clear off the ship. Near the stern, Gamagoori was about to turn to try and strike an oncoming 8-meter Cover with a backhand while fending off its partner still grappling with him, when suddenly a muscled man with wolf ears & tail stepped into its path, blocking its blow with armored gauntlets and then lashing out with an electrified punch that sent it hurtling clear across the deck. Nonon felt a flash of panic as three Covers got in close enough that her shoulder-mounted cannons might miss, but then a little red blur moved in and swung a big-ass hammer that knocked them all skyward. Lastly, as Sanageyama grappled with a pair of arm-blade-wielding Covers, he saw as four more touched down and rushed him, but then a purple-hued flash of motion accompanied a tall pink-haired woman dashing by them. She sheathed her ornate-looking sword, and the Covers were sliced open, their human captives falling free, and then exploded.
"The Blazing General, Signum, on station" she announced.
"The Iron Hammer Knight, Vita, on station!" the little redhead girl in a fancy red dress wielding a hammer announced.
"Lady of the Lake, Shamal, on station" the green-clad woman spoke with serene calmness and iron strength at the same time.
"The Shielding Guardian Beast, Zafira, on station" the wolf-man spoke in an impressive baritone.
"Knights of the Silver Cloud, the Wolkenritter, in attendance!-!" the quartet announced together.
Mako, Sakura, and the two groups of four gathered at the center of the deck during the brief lull in enemy action.
"Our Commander and mistress, Yagami Hayate, was unable to join us in this deployment due to a political meeting of some importance" Signum said to the locals. "However, she sent us to provide assistance and firepower here, just as Senju Tsunade-sama, mentor of young Haruno Sakura-san here, sent her."
"Our mistress, Kiryūin Satsuki-sama, is among the fighters engaging our true enemy out there" Gamagoori pointed to the aerial battle raging near the massive Primordial Life Fiber. "She tasked us with defending this vessel in her absence."
"Then we shall aid in that defense" Zafira replied.
"Another wave's comin' in" Vita remarked, gripping Graf Eisen's hilt tightly as she looked out at the sizable approaching force of Covers making their way toward the Naked Sun.
"Then let's meet them head-on and show them who they're dealing with" Sakura replied, cracking her knuckles.
"Alllllright!" Mako shouted, folding her arms dramatically. "Let's break 'em!"
Back at the 'main' battle area, Naruto's increased speed and strength had put Ragyō on the defensive for a while. However, she was now using more of her considerable power, moving faster and striking harder, enough to give the sextet trouble even with Uzumaki's power boost, and what's more the Primordial Life Fiber had actively joined the fight, firing missiles and high-velocity 'spears' of ultra-hardened Life Fibers up at the flying heroes. Right now, Ragyō was grappling with Satsuki, mother and daughter trying to out-muscle each other.
"I can sense you've altered Junketsu," Ragyō said with a fanged grin, "augmented it with part of the essence from that flawed Kamui Senketsu. Tainting Junketsu's purity with that human-sympathizing heretic's power… I can hardly wait to see you punished for such insolence."
"You won't be 'punishing' anyone anymore!" Ryūko cried out as she rushed in from the side, lashing out with a super-strength blow that forced Ragyō back, if only briefly. The younger sister followed with a focused shockwave-blast of power that sent Ragyō hurtling back nearly a hundred meters, with Ryūko flying right after her in close pursuit, Scissor Blades raised for a deadly strike. However, Ragyō abruptly regained control, and with a cold smirk she flashed forward and gripped Ryūko by the throat.
"My, my, little daughter…" she purred. "Still giving me such attitude and defiance…" Her other hand reached out to caress Ryūko's bare midriff. "Perhaps a little more 'training' is in order… Mm?"
Ragyō's eyes widened a little, her smile dropping into a confused expression, as she looked closely at what Ryūko was wearing. When she'd gazed up close at Junketsu just a moment ago, she could see the tainted creature's eyes staring right back at her, but here… what was once Senketsu's left eye was now just an 'eye-spot' – a decorative pattern, almost.
"…Where… is your Kamui?"
"Heh… Heheh… Shall we show her your new self's power, Senketsu?"
'I THOUGHT YOU'D NEVER ASK' the entity's voice echoed telepathically.
Ryūko's whole body was suddenly enveloped in a surging aura of red chakra, forcing Ragyō back. Red flickers of 'flames' rose up and around, and intricate black symbols covered her body.
"WHILE WE WERE TRAINING FOR THIS BATTLE," Kurama's voice echoed out from Naruto's position, "I HAD NARUTO USE HIS CONNECTION WITH ALL MY OTHER BRETHREN TO CALL US ALL TOGETHER. THEN, USING THE KNOWLEDGE THAT OUR 'FATHER' ŌTSUTSUKI HAGOROMO PASSED ONTO ME, I HEADED AN ELABORATE RITUAL, USING OUR POWER, OUR ESSENCES AND THE STRENGTH OF THE BOND BETWEEN RYŪKO'S HEART AND SENKETSU'S, TO TRANSCEND SENKETSU INTO A NEW FORM, A NEW POWER, A NEW ESSENCE …"
Ryūko's eyelids rose, and she glared at her evil mother with red-rimmed eyes, golden-yellow sclera surrounding red irises and orange-ringed yellow pupils.
"…A NEW TAILED BEAST!"
Superimposed over the image before her, Ragyō 'saw' a brief image of a massive figure, hidden completely in shadow except for two glowing multicolored eyes with an X-shaped scar over one, as well as at least two swishing shadowy tails behind, along with 'hearing' a soft and very deep growl.
"ROUND TWO, WITCH" Senketsu's voice echoed out.
"Come on, 'mom'…" Ryūko snarled, her red aura flickering a bit stronger. "Let's go!-!"
She blitzed forward, landing a punch to Ragyō's face that sent the woman tumbling end over end with great velocity for a considerable distance. She flew in hot pursuit, and this time she was ready for Ragyō's counter, flying up & over the woman's sword stab and forming a large red chakra claw that she swung downward, sending Ragyō hurtling toward the ocean below. She pulled up at the last second, only to be blindsided by a punch from Sasuke's Form-1 Susanō that rocketed her toward the Primordial Life Fiber, impacting and skipping across the top of it.
Ragyō managed to roll to a stop on one knee, snarling in fury, but then she looked up at Teana hovering overhead, gathering chakra. Teana could sense as something rather powerful entered the dimensional realm that the Mangekyō eyes could access, sent into it by Kakashi as he helped Arbiter-led forces wrap up a fight against Mdama's people back in their Realm. Before it could dissipate, she opened another 'gate' to let the transferred power out, and from a distortion a few meters in front of her a massive, very bright beam of greenish-white superheated plasma shot out: a blast/beam from a Sangheili Type-47 'Scarab' Ultra-Heavy Assault Platform's main gun – fired at Kakashi, sucked up by his eye's ability, and now 'spat out' directly down at the Primordial Life Fiber and Ragyō. The evil woman immediately flew out of the way, but could not hope to stop the beam of plasma – hot and powerful enough to literally melt a tank with just a second's direct fire – from burning a line up the PLF's topside, blasting a deep burning gouge as it went. When it faded, the Primordial Life Fiber had a sizable smoldering scar, exposed Life Fibers visibly struggling to pull themselves together in the wake of the heavy superheated damage.
Ragyō's dark aura of twisted power flared like a twisted inferno as she became completely enraged at the desecration and damaging of the Primordial Life Fiber. Now at full power, she charged upward at Teana with bloody murder on her mind, fangs and Life-Fiber swords bared. Naruto and Satsuki intercepted her, the blond boy firing off a Fūton: Shinkūgyoku and the tall girl a Raiton: Chidori Senbon, but the wind bullets and lightning needles were ignored as they crashed against the enraged woman. Naruto roared out in challenge, channeling power into his fist as he dove down to meet her.
The Primordial Life Fiber wasn't very happy with current events, either. Its front end split open, now resembling a giant flower of sorts, and it fired a giant 'harpoon' out through the night sky, striking and burying itself in the forward section of the Naked Sun's flight deck. The massive entity began to turn in the air, slowly moving toward the stricken carrier. All attempts to blast the harpoon's cord off by the ship's defenders failed, it proving too resilient to be destroyed by their attacks.
"We've gotta take that thing out quick," Sasuke shouted, "before it can cause any major damage!"
"Do we even have anything that can dish out enough firepower to accomplish that?" Teana asked.
"…We do, actually" Ryūko replied. "Guys, cover me! Senketsu and I are gonna need a minute to get ready!"
She flew out, getting some distance from the main battle, and then began charging chakra. Meanwhile, a flash of blue light signaled Subaru entering her Stage-1 Tailed Beast Chakra Mode as she rushed at Ragyō from above, entering a rapid exchange of blows finishing with a chakra-charged kick that Ragyō blocked against as it sent her 'skidding' back through the air. Satsuki moved in next, matching blades with her evil mother, and the second she stepped back Teana was in to take her place. Finally, Naruto came in with a haymaker that knocked Ragyō for a loop.
Ragyō growled as she shook off the blow, glaring at the heroes menacing her. Suddenly, she noticed a growing light, and turned to see Ryūko hovering near the outer 'edge' of the battle area, her red chakra coat steadily brightening and growing more animated. Her hands were clasped in a seal, and it was plainly obvious that, for whatever reason, she was gathering power. A lot of power.
(MUSIC: Kill La Kill OST 1 – "KiLL La KiLL (斬LLLア生LL)") – (0:34)
"So you have Ryūko preparing for something big…" Ragyō sneered. "It won't matter; nothing you have can kill the Primordial Life Fiber. …But why take the chance? I'll put an end to this now!"
She took off flying full-speed toward Ryūko, aiming to slice her apart.
"Not so fast!"
Ragyō had to abruptly halt to block the strike from Satsuki's blades, the eldest sister unleashing a flurry of lightning-charged blows with such ferocity and speed that Ragyō was forced back a little. Satsuki shrugged off a kick to the midsection, and countered with a backhand to the side of the head, and then flash-stepped back and away to get distance as the other four fighters readied and fired the techniques taught to them by the Z-Group, two blue and two purple beams of ki/chakra:
Naruto & Subaru: "Kamehameha!"
Teana & Sasuke: "Galick Gun!"
The four beams converged on Ragyō, triggering a sizable explosion. After a few seconds, she flew up out of it, visibly regenerating from the damage and looking even angrier. But then, she noticed as the glowing light of chakra from the final member of the sextet peaked with a beautiful flash.
(1:06)
"LET'S GO, RYUUKOOOO!-!"
Both: "BIJŪ HENSHIN!-!-!" {尾獣変身}
A loud crack sounded out as a huge burst of 'smoke' erupted out around Ryūko. After a second, a huge black-furred hand-like clawed paw emerged stepping out, its bottom glowing faintly with chakra as it stood atop the water. Then, with a loud and long thunderous roar, awesome and majestic, the smoke was blown away to reveal an enormous fox, black fur with red along the ears, on the paws, and at the tips of its six extended swaying tails. Two large eyes – rimmed with red fur, with yellow sclera, red irises, and orange-rimmed yellow pupils, an X-shaped scar-like pattern across the right eye – shone in the night, glaring right at Ragyō. Down on the Naked Sun, the people stared in awe, shock, and wonder, while Ragyō felt a twinge of fear as she beheld the full might and majesty of Senketsu's new self.
"This battle…" Ryūko and Senketsu's voices sounded out together "WILL END!-!"
(END at 1:42)
-CHAPTER END-
Next Time: Things get even more epic and explodey! Stay tuned…