A\N: This is the one-shot which you are free to read, but the next chapter is the official beginning of the fanfiction. It will have no relation to this one-shot. As far as the overall fanfic goes, this is essentially my idea if Rosario + Vampire manga had continued. Enjoy!
The lonely witch sighed.
Sweeping up fallen leaves at the entrance of Youkai Academy, Ruby teared up at her misfortune. It was Summer break, marking the end of the third school year. There was hardly a peep within the school or the sprawling dead forest around.
Her friends had all left to their homes. No doubt after a few days, they would all hang out at Tsukune's place as usual. If she wasn't stuck as Mikogami's aide, she may have the freedom to take a break like all the other faculty and students. She wanted to visit Tsukune as well as check up on the Sunflower fields, paying respect for her master, Lady Oyakata.
However, she had the important job of helping maintain the Great Barrier of the academy. Regardless if everyone was gone except her, the Headmaster and the eerie janitors of the night, the secrecy of the school had to be kept.
"I don't even know why I'm doing this," she sighed again.
Letting go of the broom, it kept sweeping without her help thanks to her magic. She proceeded back into the school's massive front doors, her head hung and her eyes shut momentarily.
When she opened them, she found herself staring at another large door without warning. She blinked a few times, looking sideways to see hallways. Twisting to see behind, she didn't see the school entrance but a solid wall.
'Ah…he's calling me again,' Ruby thought, now recognizing she had been shifted to the Headmaster's office without any notice. Whenever this happened, it meant that she was needed. Sometimes, Mikogami would personally come over which usually mean a scare that she didn't need. Although unexpected, she would prefer this confusing teleportation over him popping his hooded head from the shadows any day.
Straightening herself up, she opened the engraved double doors to his office which creaked as she pushed forward. Her scarlet-orange eyes stared at the long office which had bookshelves to the side, a large rug laying out between her and Mikogami's desk. The man himself stared straight at her, piercing her from the shining diamond lights within shadows of his hood. She could barely make out his small grin from the darkness of the room.
"Um…you need me?" she asked hesitantly.
"I have an assignment for you, Ruby," he stated, sitting up from his desk. He shuffled a folder on his desk forward and then turned to look out the window behind him, the red sky slowly dimming.
Ruby furrowed her eyebrows and carefully tread forward, wondering if her lonely day was going to turn dangerous. She had been given assignments by the headmaster from time to time. It could be anything from stopping the source of a rumor that could threaten the secrecy of the academy to treading some questionable labyrinths underneath the school, some of which had equally questionable seals to powerful beings.
Yet the mission she was assigned had much more weight to it than the previous ones. As she opened the folio, her eyes stared wide-eyed at the picture of Kiria, captured at a crosswalk in Tokyo and keeping himself low with a hat on and a large black coat. There was no mistaking the silver hair and mismatching colored eyes.
She already knew what this involved.
"Fairy Tale?"
"…or the version they are trying to rebuild," Mikogami added, turning away from the window with his hands behind his back, then continued, "…this was taken just a few days ago. I've had associates of mine keep track of the remaining members. There's no guarantee that you'll find him, but we do have whereabouts of a warehouse on the Eastern edge of Tokyo Bay."
Ruby rummaged through the compiled information and more pictures. She wasn't sure who Mikogami's associates are, but they were good enough to keep an even lower profile than Fairy Tale; otherwise, they could be killed before a report could even be formed.
Skimming through the details of the report, Ruby raised an eyebrow at the circumstances surrounding the warehouse.
"Some shady warehouse operation? From the look of it, this is a human affair, not something we would be interested in."
"Maybe only on the surface," Mikogami countered, "…but Kiria was seen entering this warehouse."
"…and you want me to find more about what's going on?" Ruby guessed.
Mikogami chuckled, his amusement sending shivers down the witch's spine.
"Correct."
Ruby curled her lips and then stared at the photo of Kiria again. The man was extremely fast and cunning, so if she ever got into a fight with him, it would be difficult.
"If you determine there is a threat, to humanity or this school, you can proceed to eliminate it as necessary," he added.
Ruby raised her eyebrows. "Is that wise?"
The grin underneath his shadow grew bigger. "I have complete faith in your abilities. Have you not been training your connection with the Talking Book?"
Ruby widened her eyes. Of course, the headmaster would know about everything going on in this school, including the fact that she had been training by herself whenever she had the spare time. He would also know that it was completely necessary thanks to the increasingly difficult assignments he had been giving her.
Still, she wasn't going to reject the assignment. It's not like she could anyway since this was an order from her boss, but this matter was also personal to her. Kiria had been trying to eliminate her friends and herself by sending odd assassins. They had all failed so far, but even if it didn't affect his bottom line, she wanted to dish out some payback. If it hampered the operation of rebuilding Fairy Tale, then it was worth it.
"I'll leave right away," Ruby answered, her heart beating with excitement, something she hadn't felt in a while.
Mikogami nodded, "I only ask you to be as discrete as possible. Ultimately, we don't know what this warehouse is used for. It could be a drug operation or just some industrial front for what's left of Fairy Tale to meet."
Ruby nodded and when she thought of the fact she'll have an opportunity to visit Tsukune, she fidgeted.
"Um…will it be okay if I visit my friend afterward?"
The headmaster sighed knowing exactly which friend she was referring to.
"Do what you must as long as you do not attract attention. I expect you to be back here by tomorrow. You will need to sub in for a teacher in charge of students who are required to retake their exams."
Ruby brightened, seemingly lighting the whole dismal room. The headmaster was not amused. The lights in his own eyes dimmed in annoyance.
"Go."
Ruby jumped, her smile gone in an instant.
"Y-yes, right away sir!"
It was night time in Japan, but where Ruby stood, it was like day and night together. Tokyo city rose tall across the bay, shimmering with livelihood. The sounds of cars honking in the distance and sirens echoed to her position.
On the Eastern side of the bay, most of the industrial plants and factories remained with little light or noise, hidden from most of the people's sight and minds. If there was a place to perform shady business, it would definitely be across the bay area.
Despite that, many cross over the bay to work during the day. If Fairy Tale was involved, it would be weird that it would remain in secret for this long. There had to be some sort of cover.
Thinking about it, Ruby thought it was strange for Fairy Tale to position themselves so close to the bay. After all, just a year ago, Fairy Tale descended from the skies to this very bay where Alucard in his monstrous form resurrected. She wondered if that event was out of most people's minds by now. Granted, she didn't keep up with any of the local news.
Whatever the reason, it was the witch's job to figure out the purpose of such an operation and what Kiria was planning. He was the leader of the new Fairy Tale and the problem with such a guy was that he's unpredictable.
Ruby knew she had to be careful.
Looking down from bay line to the warehouse streets, she focused her attention back to the warehouse that matched the picture and description. What also gave it away was men standing guard with rifles in their hands.
A raven of hers flew from the warehouse and perched itself on her shoulder. It whispered into her ear, telling her of the surroundings. To her disappointment, there was no opening she could sneak in; however, her raven did see light beneath various guarded doors and gates. That told her that something was going on at this hour when most people would have left for home.
Now the real question is whether she was dealing with Youkai in disguise or actual humans. Just because the guards around the perimeter were human didn't mean she shouldn't interfere. If the reports were true, then there could very well be humans mixed among monsters. The question is what kind of operation is occurring within the warehouse.
Ruby could guess all day, but ultimately, she needed to go inside to figure it out.
"Looks like we have to do this the hard way," Ruby sighed, waving her hand around her raven. In response, the raven dispersed into feathers, its main body reverting back to a strip of embellished talisman. Two fingers grasped it as it floated beside her head and she swiped it back into her right pouch filled with more talismans. The pouch to her left contained her Talking Book and it glowed purple in anticipation.
Wings grew out from her back at that moment, drawing wind around her as she flexed them. Under the moonlight, one would see that her wings weren't simply comprised of black feathers. If stretched apart, it would look like blades instead. If necessary, Ruby would use her wings to defend or attack. Hopefully, she would only need it to fly.
Silently, she flapped her wings and glided to the metal rooftop of the guarded warehouse. Her feet lightly touched the top, preventing a large rumble as she slowly applied her own weight. She looked around to make sure she didn't cause any attention.
With only the noise of crickets and the waves of the bay water, she moved to the edge of the warehouse that had the least guards. Below her, there were two guards sitting under a lamp, looking out into the darkness of other warehouses and streets. They seemed pretty aware of their surroundings; however, it didn't occur to them that a person could sneak on the rooftop other than birds.
Dropping down when the other guard looked away from his colleague, Ruby slipped behind the guard silently and he widened his eyes as her wings covered his vision. He was pulled away and before he could scream, a strong pulse to his brain lulled him to sleep. Ruby had channeled her Youki magic with her hands touching the back of the man's head. She pulled him away from the lamp, hiding herself and the guard into the darkness of the night.
The other guard glanced to his left a few seconds later and saw that his partner had suddenly vanished.
"Toshiro?"
With his gun raised, he looked around to see where his friend had gone. Slowly stepping out of the lamp, Ruby waited, her black feathers keeping her further hidden from human sight. She drew one talisman, whispered some words that caused the talisman to glow, and then swiped it at the guard.
Through magic, the talisman was guided towards the guard with the speed of a bullet. It attached to his front and he noticed it too late as it glowed, lulling him to sleep. He wobbled on his feet in response.
Ruby quickly moved to catch him, pulling him further out of his lighted circle. She took the gun out of his hands and he could do nothing as he lost consciousness.
She pulled both men into a nearby corner of the warehouse to avoid as much suspicion. If the guards didn't notice any sounds on her side, they should remain posted. She would be long gone before anyone knew that some guards were subdued.
"Thank you," she chirped, taking off the cap of one of the guards and putting it on herself. She dispersed her wings as she proceeded to remove the guard's jacket and pants.
Ruby changed over her corset and skirt, not wanting to undress at night. She patted herself down and stretched a little, getting used to the feel of the guard's jacket. Then, she took one of the guns to help look the part. Although she despised the feeling of such a weapon, one that had been known to kill her people, she wouldn't let it get to her in this situation.
Before leaving to enter the warehouse, she touched both men on the head, channeling her energy to see if the guards were really good Youkai who could keep their true forms and aura hidden, or simply human.
It was the latter. Still, that didn't mean there was nothing Youkai or Fairy Tale related. These humans may even be unaware that they are part of something dangerous.
Disguised as a guard, she walked briskly towards the warehouse door which was locked through a keypad. From the report, she was given a code to enter which was observed by Mikogami's "associates". Hopefully, the code hadn't been changed since then.
Entering the code, the door buzzed in denial. Furrowing her eyebrows, she tried again, but it was denied again.
She frowned, hung her head, and sighed as she placed her hands on her hips.
She didn't want to attract any attention, but it was becoming harder to do so. Of course, any building that had a secret would have its codes changed regularly.
So how to bypass the keypad without triggering the alarm? She could try asking her fellow guard but she didn't want to risk exposing herself. She wasn't particularly confident in trying to be friendly with people she didn't know.
"Well, there's still a bit of an opening…" she noted, looking down where there was light slipping out beneath the door.
Crouching, she slid in a talisman beneath the door and before letting her fingers let go, she channeled her magic again to activate the talisman. It transformed into another raven which croaked lowly as it came alive.
Mentally sending the raven instruction, it croaked in confirmation and fluttered up to the door handle behind. Seeing through the eyes of the bird, she notes that it was just a single handle which made her relax.
Using its weight, Ruby had the raven press the handle down which resulted in the door creeping out as Ruby tugged on the door on her end.
Once open, the raven perched itself on her shoulder but she didn't dismiss it yet. Looking around and securing the rifle in her arms, she stepped inside and slowly shut the door.
Inside, there were rows of movable shelves and a warm smell that permeated the air. Above, rows of single bulb lights spread around in various states. There were plenty of dark spots, flickering spots, and lowly lit spots. What was common throughout was the low hum of electricity passing through each bulb.
'Now how am I going to navigate this?' she thought.
The answer was obvious as she looked to her crow who croaked as quietly as possible. Ruby smiled in response and then relayed more instructions.
"Do a sweep inside. I'll be looking through your eyes."
The raven nodded and flew up higher. Meanwhile, Ruby scanned her surroundings and stepped in further into the building, looking for anything unusual.
"Hey, what are you doing in here?"
Ruby flinched as she heard a male voice come from the side. There, she sees a young man who wasn't as built as the men outside coming out from a dark spot. It seemed he was close to Tsukune's age, one that graduated recently. Although he was originally suspicious, once he notes that Ruby is their uniform, he lowers the gun in his arms.
"I didn't know we had any females in our security group," the boy stated, raising his eyes.
Ruby glances away, her mouth crooked as she tried to come up with an excuse.
"I uh…I'm just filling in for someone right now."
The boy blinked a few times and then gave a light smile. "Oh, well welcome then! It's an easy job here and I'm not exactly sure what goes on here, but we haven't had any issues for the past week."
"Oh?" Ruby cocked her head, equally smiling and relieved that her excused was bought without question, "Who hired your group?"
The boy shrugged, walking closer to the witch. "If I recall, it's some corporation called ABA though I haven't bother looking up what that means. Around these shelves and the crates, I think they said they perform a lot of work around supplying hydrogen fuel cells."
"Oh, I see…"
As Ruby listened in, she searched out the boy before her to see if there was anything particular. Like the men outside, he was human too and seemed to be unaware of anything unusual.
Searching through her raven though, there didn't seem anything out of the ordinary. There was some machinery around, lots of crates, and shelves filled with fuel cell prototypes.
It couldn't have been just that if Kiria was seen entering this building. Ruby searched harder, channel her magic through the bird to see beyond the appearance. She looked for any traces of Youki or magic. If Kiria came recently, then there should have been even a little bit.
'There!'
Near one particular shelf, she felt a bit of Youki that had remained and having her bird dive closer, she could see some kind of square metal plate that seemed to lead somewhere underground.
'…Now that makes sense,' Ruby thought, finally getting somewhere.
"Hey…um…are you okay?"
Ruby blinked and gasped a little, jumping when she realized she had been staring too focused ahead when looking through her raven. She gives an apologetic smile.
"Sorry, I blanked out there. I'm a little tired, see?"
The boy laughed and patted her shoulder. "It's no problem. Take it easy! Seriously, you should consider joining this post sometime. It gets a little lonely here to be honest. They only need one guard inside and that happens to be me, I guess."
The aerial view from her raven also validated his claim that there was nobody else. She was actually relieved by that since it would mean she didn't have to worry about anyone else.
"By the way, mind telling me your name?" He asked, suddenly smiling.
Ruby was taken aback but she had no reason for keeping her name a secret. They wouldn't see each other again after all.
"Ruby. Yours?"
"Hiro," he answered.
Ruby closed her eyes. "Well, Hiro. You should resume your usual walk. I won't get in your way."
Hiro chuckled at her formal tone. "Oh come on, it's just us! Besides, I highly doubt that anyone would be interested and attempt to break into a dinky warehouse at this hour."
'Yeah, me.' Ruby thought as she stared blankly at him, keeping her lips sealed. She couldn't keep talking to this boy, despite however happy he is to see someone to talk with. It would be only a matter of time before the other guards would find out their colleagues she took out were missing.
"Hey, could you turn around for me? I think I see something on your back?" Ruby asked, deciding she'll just put him to sleep like the rest.
Hiro grew worried and immediately turned his back towards her, trying to look over his shoulder. "Huh? Where?"
Ruby mentally shook her head. This boy was too lax.
She placed a talisman on his back and spoke some simple words that remained incoherent to everyone but her. Before the boy could wonder what the witch had put on him and was speaking, he felt extremely sleepy.
"R-ruby? What are you…oh…"
Before the boy could drop, Ruby supported him and eased him against the wall near the entrance door. She smiled apologetically at his now sleeping face.
"Sorry, Hiro. You seem like a nice guy but I don't think this is the place for you."
Now that the coast was clear, Ruby immediately took off the security uniform and dropped the gun down. She had no reason to remain in disguise, especially after checking what is down underground. If there are any guards that came in above, she was confident she'd be seen as a harmless bird by then.
Remembering the location of the underground entrance, she slipped between the vast shelves, disappearing in and out of various unlit spots. When she finally arrived at the designated shelf, she summoned her raven wings and used their strength to scoot the shelf away.
The metal plated door stared at her and Ruby moved to open it with her hands. It was easy enough sliding the plate out of the way and she only saw a ladder and a darkness below.
Curling her lips, she decided not to think of it too much and transformed into a raven, dropping into the depths below. Meanwhile, the unconscious Hiro's face started to grow red and his expression tightened in pain.
When Ruby reached the bottom, she found a small concrete square room with a simple light and a wooden table. It's not at all what she expected for something to be underground.
"Their meeting room, perhaps?"
Maybe the real danger is above in the warehouse within the various crates, but it would be a lot of work to try search all of them.
As she tried thinking of the possibilities, she failed to notice a cell phone on the table which suddenly rang. She jumped and her head turned to the phone which vibrated.
'Oh…shit…'
It was a trap. For a lone cellphone to be waiting and suddenly ring when she arrived could only imply that; however, she couldn't ignore it.
Taking a deep breath, she moved to grab it. She didn't have a cell phone herself and didn't think she would have to bother with it, but she had seen plenty of people use it.
"Um…I think it's this button I have to press," she reaffirmed to herself.
Pressing the cell phone icon on the keypad, it stopped ringing and she placed it to her ear, frowning.
"Who…is this?" she asked after some silence.
"I think you know that pretty well, Ruby."
Ruby widened her eyes, yet at the same time, she couldn't be too surprised. It was Kiria.
"Damn it," Ruby cursed, "…you've been causing nothing but trouble, haven't you?"
On the other line, Kiria chuckled. She couldn't make out where she was, but if he knew that she had entered the warehouse, he had to be close.
"That's my nature, witch. You and your friends should know that by now. I'm not one to laze around and accept defeat, after all. No, that would be quite boring, you think?"
"…and so what are you planning with your version of Fairy Tale?" Ruby asked, keeping her voice cool. At this moment, growing worried would do nothing.
Kiria hummed. "Well, since you gladly fell into my trap and initiated my experiment, I think I could tell you what you'll be up against."
Ruby's eyes remained open and she stopped herself from clenching her teeth.
"What did you do?"
"It's more of what you did, Ruby. I've been watching with cameras we've placed in the building and I'm glad you met one of the security guards we hired for this place. I believe his name is Hiro, right? Isn't he a nice guy? He wants to join Tokyo university after he saved up some money, though…not sure if it matters anymore."
Ruby breathed in and held it. "No, you didn't…"
"Since a week ago, we requested that we only needed a single guard inside and that it would be the same guard. Over time, we ensured that he would be exposed to a special chemical in the air that we've been working on. The hydrogen, of course, is just a front.
"The chemical has already permeated his body. Basically, he's poisoned but to finalize it all, he needs something to initiate the chemical process using Youki. Luckily, that has been provided ever since you channeled your magic into him. Thanks to you…"
A pained howl echoed through the chamber and Ruby's hands shook, not wanting to believe that this whole time, she was tricked into something that could have been prevented if she had been more careful.
"…you'll be the first to witness what we've been working on this whole time. Honestly, Fairy Tale's original goal of wiping out humanity was boring. It's more fun to see what you can do with all the resources you have on your hand, right? So, I think we'll try changing humanity instead."
Ruby shook, unable to control the emotions and upset she was feeling.
"Chaos…that's all you want."
Kiria chuckled and mocked her. "Just what gave you that idea? Time is ticking, Ruby. We'll require many more iterations before we can release this to the world!"
The witch didn't waste any more time listening as she let the phone drop and break on the ground. She transformed into a raven and flew up the shaft, her mind racing over how she could stop the transformation.
Indeed, she felt an unusual amount of Youki being created and exuding through Hiro who awakened and was groaning in pain.
This kind of permeation of Youki should have been impossible through chemical alone. What sort of alchemy could have done this?
She didn't know and she didn't have much time to research it either.
'I need to restrict him first!' she thought. If there was any chance to save this boy, she had to capture him! There may be even a chance that the headmaster could save him if she couldn't figure out what is going on with him.
"Hey, what's that noise! Hiro, are you alright?"
From the opposite side of where Hiro was, Ruby could hear the guards she left alone entering the building. Even they could hear the unnatural growling that was coming within.
"Damn it," she muttered, moving fast.
Reaching the boy whose body was steaming and completely red, Ruby tried to touch him, but she lept back when she found his body was burning hot.
Any normal human should have been dead already, but Hiro was still groaning and howling in pain. She could sense changes inside of him, but couldn't figure how or why he was changing. If he truly was exposed to a chemical in the air, then it's certainly not the same as a Youki blood transfusion.
She flinched when his head lifted on its own. There were no pupils in his eyes and his teeth had become like a shark. For a moment, Ruby saw a little of Tsukune's internal struggle with his ghoul form. It could be similar to that.
"Hiro, are you still in there? Do not panic! I'll get you out of here, just-"
Hiro let out a horrific scream and the heat of his body expelled further out, causing Ruby to jump back and cover her eyes from the intensity. Waves of heat fluttered around him, bending the air a little.
'I don't have time!'
Ruby took out four talismans and threw them. They managed to survive within the heat as Ruby applied some more protection to them. Right now, she needed a stable barrier to contain him and couldn't have it burning in flames.
All four talismans surrounded him in a square and then glowed brightly, connecting each other as Ruby began whispering instructions.
Hiro howled again, his body essentially becoming beet red like some sort of demon. The barrier was up and contained him in a yellow, translucent box. Ruby could feel the air around her cool a little as her barrier trapped the heat within. The only problem was Hiro was getting hotter and the Youki he is exuding would inevitably break her barrier. What she gained was time to think.
'Where is all this Youki coming from? I only used a little bit to try to lure him to sleep. How could he be drawing more?'
She tried to perform some analysis, pulling up her book quickly which flipped to the correct page on its own. Although she could sense Youki on her own, it was not apparent with Hiro as he heated up. Just as she found a spell to trace energy, three guards posted out arrived at her location.
"What the hell?!" One of the guards screamed.
Indeed, seeing a girl with bladed wings and a growing red monster inside a barrier would make one freak out. They all stared frozen with their guns aimed forward, unsure whether to shoot or run away. The witch would make that very clear.
"Leave…Now!" Ruby shouted. Three individual blades of her wings extended at each of the rifles the guards were holding, slapping them away. If the sight made them shocked, the threat of Ruby's wings made their eyes go wide. Each of them stumbled as they turned to flee.
Ruby couldn't breathe easy as she focused all her efforts on saving Hiro. She hoped she didn't waste time scaring the guards away. If she failed, it would be even worse to have others die in the process.
Activating her spell, she channeled herself to the four talismans that surrounded Hiro. She could see that he was growing bigger. Saliva dripped from his mouth and he was growling like some animal. Yet, she could feel some sort of resistance from the boy. If she didn't hurry though, she had no doubt he would be going on a rampage. She resolved herself to do anything necessary if that happened.
'Let's try to remain positive, Ruby' she thought to herself, but upon seeing the internal flow of the burning monster before her, she widened her eyes in horror.
"N-no…it's a complete transformation!"
There was no external energy as she thought was driving his transformation. Everyone, even humans, had an internal energy. Some small and some big, but that's what is called Ki. Youki, on the other hand, is demonic energy or negative energy.
In the case of Hokuto and Tsukune, who both received blood transfusions from Kiria and Moka respectively, one cannot say they underwent a complete transformation. Their Ki becomes tainted and unstable as a result, but depending on the Youki, it's possible to heal over time and return human. Tsukune was a special case in that he never let his body heal and kept damaging it. Fortunately, he was able to overcome his instability and become a Youki-user permanently.
In Hiro's case, he had abundant Ki potential and it may very well be similar to Tsukune's original potential. In other words, Hiro probably lived a very positive and fulfilling life so far for his Ki to be so pure and abundant within his body. He was probably healthier than the most average human beings and that's probably why Kiria had chosen him to "guard" the warehouse.
'Kiria…you monster!' Ruby thought, her eyes narrowing. The effects of the chemical upon activation were apparent and Ruby couldn't believe it: Hiro's body was transforming his internal Ki into Youki, specifically one of fire, and at such a rapid pace too! She wouldn't doubt if Kuyo had a hand in this.
The need to stop the process was more apparent than ever. She wasn't sure if she could revert it since it's unlike anything she has seen, but the first step was getting him out of the warehouse. Perhaps this is where she would need the expertise of Mikogami.
Unfortunately, before she could send a talisman to teleport the growing beast outside, the entire cube of her barrier started to turn red. Cracks began to form on the talismans and heated up with smoke.
"No, don't break yet!"
The rate of his internal ki being transformed was simply too fast. His entire body had acclimated to the chemical in the air within his time as a guard which probably helped too. Ruby began to feel the heat reaching her body again and in reaction, she planted a talisman on the ground and raised her wings in front of her to protect herself from the inevitable explosion.
In a flurry of flames, the barrier and talismans burned away and all the pent-up energy from the resultant transformation spread everywhere within the warehouse, eating up the many shelves and hydrogen crates.
Outside, the entire warehouse then exploded with the hydrogen powder adding fuel to its range. It sent a shockwave of sound that traveled even to the city across the bay. The fire spread to other warehouses in its vicinity and various steel bars screeched in agony into the night sky.
There would be no doubt people coming to access the damage and mitigate any fire, but for now, there was even a bigger problem as "Hiro" rose from his confinement and roared into the sky, adding to the flames that rose around the district.
Ruby rose from a crouched position, her skin slightly seared as she barely managed to place a proper barrier in time. Fortunately, her wings were a form of magical protection as well and helped support her. She stared at the monster that was Hiro, now a gigantic red beast two or three feet taller than before, bearing his claws and teeth towards her.
The beast roared, showing little resemblance of the human male but Ruby couldn't dwindle on the fact that she couldn't do much in his transformation. If she had noticed something strange beforehand, perhaps all of this could have been prevented.
'This is bad…'
That was a serious understatement, but the witch couldn't help think it as she watched the flames around her and pieces of various metal melting and falling. She can usually deal with pain, but burns and being roasted alive is not on her agenda.
The human-turned-beast roared and without delay started rushing towards her. The witch, in turn, pulled up her heated wings and flew into the air to gain some distance; however, the red beast wouldn't give her that chance.
"Hiro" jumped, his strength increased manifold and could leap farther than what his new body weight might imply. Before the witch could fly out of reach, it caught her leg.
Ruby yelped and was promptly slammed into the ground. She let out a pained grunt as she smashed into the cement concrete, then was thrown into a nearby fire.
With a tightened face, Ruby ignored the bounce back and her headache. She forced her wings to stop the momentum before she could be doused in fire.
Her wings spread and slammed into the concrete behind her, screeching against it as she slowed herself down. When she came to a halt with embers flying past her braided hair, she straightened herself with wobbly movements.
She stretched herself for a moment, cracking some bones especially in her back in place and around her shoulders. The beast didn't wait for the witch to recover and was now running towards her with large thud-inducing movements. She already had a plan in mind: Don't get caught again.
Yet at the same time, she shivered a little in pleasure over the brutality of the red beast. She knew this was the worst time to let her masochistic side show, but she couldn't help it.
She smiles.
'Not bad, Hiro…' she thinks before growing serious, '…but I'm not letting you do that again.'
She flung three talismans towards the beast that all turned to crows. They croaked like warriors towards the beast who roared back.
The beast's movements towards the witch were slowed as he tried swatting away some of the birds but as soon as they got close, they exploded on contact, doing little damage but enough to blind him and fully stop his movements.
He grunted, trying to wipe away the resultant smoke caused by the exploded birds. In the middle of his pause though, Ruby made her move, swiftly pushing herself towards the beast with her wings.
She lifted herself into the air and just above the beast, she pointed the wings at him, extending her bladed feathers.
Crunching sounds echoed in consecutive fashion as Ruby pierced the beast's flesh, intentionally avoiding vital points. That said, even if she tried to kill him, that may prove to be difficult as his skin was now harder. The feathers didn't reach that far into his body.
The beast howled and Ruby knew that she had to push harder. She channeled more magical energy into her wings and solidified them further. Shouting, the blades were pushed in deeper and the beast roared in pain, flailing.
Not letting herself be flung off, she swiped more talismans, imbuing a spell to help restrain his movements. It may not help for long, but she just needed enough time to visualize how to essentially "shut him off" without killing him.
The talismans attached to his arms and legs, glowing. It was enough for the beast's howling to turn into small grunts as he fell to the floor allowing Ruby to further pierce through him.
Not wasting time, the witch pulled herself onto the massive body of the red beast and didn't let her wings escape off him. She placed a hand on his chest and winced as the heat of his body burned her hand.
Still, she ignored the pain as she does best and channeled her energy further into the beast through her wings. She could feel out how his corrupted Ki was traversing through his body. For the beast to change, it would mean that the flow would have to drastically change from when he was human. She would have to disrupt the flow in hopes of knocking the beast out and potentially reverting Hiro back.
During the training with Touhou Fuhai for preparation against Fairy Tale, he told her a lot of information on how Youki is channeled and how to properly manipulate it. She could only trust one of the dark lord's teachings in this case as she followed through to find where the energy is gathered.
There is the initiation of Ki, the storage of Ki, and the expel of Ki.
Initiation of Ki or entrance is the activation period so for Ruby, it is wired as a spell but for most others, it's simply gathering…perhaps even a simple act of breathing in.
Storing is where the Ki is held for a moment during the gathering process.
Finally, the expel period or exit is where a spell is cast or some attack is performed.
Ruby followed where the beast was storing its energy. If she could prevent storage, then none of the build-up required to continue transformation or heat up would occur. That would hopefully force the beast's rampage to stop. If she had tried to obstruct anything else, it could harm Hiro's development though, he may already be damaged at this point.
The hottest area in his body was around his stomach and Ruby let out a relieved smile as she made progress, but before she could slap on a talisman on that area, the talismans around each of his limps weakened upon the continuous heat and his struggles.
"Hiro" roared once more and before the witch could realize it, she was smacked across with his massive arm. She shook, her mind blanking for a few seconds as she finds herself pushed off the giant. Her wings slipped out of the beast's flesh and she was thrown several meters into the warehouse that hadn't fallen yet but had its walls torn from the prior blast.
Smoke and dust filled the warehouse as the witch crashed into various boxes and torn metal. Using her wings, she protects herself a little and she has a natural pain threshold to endure some of the debris, but it still hurts like hell.
Ruby groaned as she saw the beast roar into the sky from her position on top of broken crates. She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed, then grunted as she forced herself back onto her feet. She channeled her magic to heal herself a little and then frowned at the turned-Youkai.
'I need to end this quickly. I might as well use that.'
Taking a deep breath, she focused her Youki through her Talking Book which began shaking like crazy. It flipped through multiple pages as she closed her eyes and called forth her talismans.
All the talismans she had on her flew out of her pouch and circled around her. The beast sensed that the witch was not at all dead and slowly thumped towards her. The talismans and his punctured wounds still affected his movement but not for long as his body started healing at a rapid pace, emitting hot steam as he walked forward with a snarl on his face.
Ruby paid no attention as she whispered critical forbidden words that were basically magical instructions to her talismans. The pieces of paper connected together into a strange white cloth unlike any element in the world. With pure magical properties as it absorbed energy from its surroundings, they eventually begin to wrap around the witch.
As they did and wrapped more, Ruby's wings began to turn white. The wrappings around her arms and legs warped and grew tighter, turning into metal plates of armor that acted like gauntlets.
The wraps stretched her in every possible way, both restricting and empowering her, filling with a boost of magical energy and power. Her body shook and she felt her mouth go dry upon the painful tightening around her, yet she could not help but take pleasure in the sensation, even in this burning situation.
When all is said and done, Ruby opened her eyes. The scarlet-orange colors in her eyes shine with just as much ferocity as the fires that surrounded her. The red beast reflected in her eyes.
"This is going to hurt me a lot more than it's going to hurt you," she muttered.
This statement was not an exaggeration as she used her most powerful enhancement spell: Iron Maiden.
The beast roared, instinctively stepping back as it felt the sudden boost in Youki around Ruby. The witch didn't want to waste time or movement now. Literally, every action she did would increasingly become more and more painful to perform, so she needed to finish up fast.
With a tap from her foot, she shot towards the beast with heart-pounding speed. The beast could see it, yet it had no time to react. It attempted to swipe, but it only passed through its own heated air.
The witch's eyes were wide and dangerous as she stood before it within its shadow. In a split second, her gauntlet claws extended and grabbed its head.
"Hiro" had no chance to roar or try to remove Ruby's crushing metal arms. It lost balance as the witch pushed forward with a cry, slamming its massive body and head down into the concrete below.
The ground shook and the concrete cracked, embedding the beast's form into the ground and sending dust and ash into the air. Some of the fire around wavered upon the crushing force.
It was impactful enough to cause enough internal damage to the beast which would surely disable him for a while. Hearing a weak groan emit from the beast, Ruby let go and closed her eyes in preparation for the consequence of her action.
Here it comes...
An awful twisting noise erupted from her shoulders and arms which she used to take down the beast. She couldn't help but scream in agony as some of her flesh tore away from her body, sending streams of blood down her wrapped arm and gauntlets. She couldn't look at what her arm would look like without the armor.
The rest of her body took less damage, only making her wince as the wraps tighten further around her. After her fight with Raika, she learned to control herself and minimize the amount of penalty she received, yet Iron Maiden still took a toll on the user if one wanted to perform a worthwhile feat.
Dropping to her knees, she deactivated the forbidden armor. The wrappings around her soon flooded off of her as they transformed into ravens that surrounded her and "Hiro".
Taking a look at the beast beneath her who was shaken and in a lot of pain from the witch's crushing magical energy, Ruby sighed. She swiped out a lone talisman and leaning forward and ignoring the pain of her mangled arm, she placed it on the beast's stomach and began whispering.
Although the fires continued around her, the fires within Hiro started to dampen as Ruby locked the internal storage of his body. With no way to continue retaining his transformation, his body calmed down and regressed to its previous skinny state.
Steam dissipated from his body and the boy fell into a deep slumber while descending further into his own monstrous cavity in the ground.
Ruby checked his state to ensure that he would be stable. For good measure, she slapped on another talisman before drawing back and staring at the smoke-filled sky.
"I won't let this pass, Kiria," she spoke, knowing nobody would hear her except the ravens that surrounded her and the boy. For now, she couldn't think about him any longer and she had bigger things to worry about: herself.
She closed her eyes for a moment as the loss of blood from her arms made her dizzy. With her vision getting blurry, she blinked slowly a few times.
In one second after reopening her eyes and swaying, she sees a white-cloaked man with diamond eyes.
She smiles weakly.
"M-mission…accomplished, but…"
A small smile shined within his hood as he stepped forward, but Ruby couldn't tell if he was real or was simply hallucinating with her blood loss and the heat around her.
She felt a hand on her head. Any of her concerns and failures were quietly eliminated.
"You performed well, Ruby. Now, sleep. I will take care of the rest here."
The witch nodded, no longer caring anymore whether the headmaster was actually there or not. In her state anyway, she wasn't sure if she could lift herself up anyways and fly to safety. So, she slumped, falling unconscious.
"Um…wouldn't you guys rather be with your parents instead?"
"What? Tsukune, why would I ever leave my destined-one alone?"
"Remove your hand from Tsukune, succubus. He's a full fledge Shino, someone that you cannot hope to compare to!"
"You think I don't know? Why don't you kick me to see how much I care!"
"Oh? Is that a challenge?"
"Um…never mind."
"Can't we just watch a movie peacefully?"
"Tch…everything on these human channels lacks taste."
Mizore, Kurumu, and a newly blended Moka crowded around Tsukune as he flipped through various channels, embarrassed by the attention but having gotten used to the usual antics of his friends.
Tsukune's mother, Kasumi was in the kitchen, watching her son try to relax in the midst of beautiful schoolmates she still couldn't believe existed. They had visited their home regularly and Kasumi always invited them in as she enjoys the extra company.
She particularly likes Mizore who has helped her with the dishes and chores. She claimed it was in preparation to become her son's wife.
At this point, she wasn't sure if the woman was joking or not, but she found the thought of a daughter-in-law like her to be delightful. To be honest, any of the girls would make a nice daughter-in-law.
As Kasumi daydreams for a little bit about her son's future. A sudden silence from the girls and Tsukune brings her back to reality. On the television, everyone was suddenly paying attention to a news alert on a channel that was flipped to.
"We are here near Tokyo Bay and the industrial district where a few hours ago, a loud explosion occurred around various warehouses. It's estimated that millions of dollars in damages have occurred thanks to the resultant fire. According to a person who was guarding the warehouse before it exploded, this is what he had to say:"
"It was crazy! I and my colleagues thought we were going to die! For some reason, my…memory is a little fuzzy to be honest, but…I think some raven might have got in and accidentally ignited something. We have a lot of hydrogen in there from what I recall, so I wouldn't say it's impossible, but certainly bad luck. I'm just amazed that we got out alive!"
The news returned back to the reporter. "…along with him, there were three others. Some claimed there was another inside the building but there are no records from the security group that anyone was inside. Strangely enough, though, there is an unusual amount of ravens that are flying overhead this district as I speak. In one area, a crater was discovered after firefighters worked hard to put out the flames. There were birds everywhere, circling that crater. It's unknown why none of the birds fled during the fire, but it's safe to say that something may have occurred by one or more of these birds."
The news returned to the main studio as the anchor cleared his throat. "That is very strange indeed. We'll keep an eye on this story for more updates. For those that perform work in that area, please call your company to see if you are affected as you may be prevented from working during this time-"
Tsukune turned off the television and stared at it, his eyebrows furrowed. The others around him had an equally serious expression on their face.
"Ruby…" Mizore whispered, her voice cool but worry filled her eyes.
It's safe to say that everyone that night would leave immediately to visit the witch. The Newspaper Club would no doubt have long days ahead of them. In a world filled with Youkai, there's hardly a Summer Break for those who are aware of its dangers.
A\N: This was originally a half-written intro I scrapped and then decided to make something out of it. Although I'm sure it could turn into a full chapter-based story, I'm not sure if it's worth pursuing.