Part 4: Game Plan
Now that the initial shock is over, our heroines and our villains review the situation and come up with their plans. Meanwhile, the demon continues to prowl.
Mizore felt the tracks of the tears on her cheeks as she finally stood up. After 2 minutes recuperating and shouting curses, she realized the ghoul would not come back and end her suffering.
The crash of the waves echoed below as she took in the scene, from the blood of their enemies to the glittering of ammunition casings.
Her eyes finally fell on Yukari. The young girl was still on the ground. Mizore bent over the girl, pushing her hair over her forehead.
"Yukari..." Mizore said in a resigned tone. Such a young girl, to be shot down so mercilessly... Once again, she felt abandoned, lost, and alone. Everyone else was dead, what could she have done? It was all pointless now, there was nothing left to do but-
"So they're gone?" Yukari replied.
Mizore nearly screamed. "WHAT THE..."
"Chill out Mizore." Yukari said, smirking grimly at her play of words. "I'm no ghost."
"But..."
"How am I alive? Come on, really?"
"But you were shot!"
"Oh, yeah, sure. Any proof?"
"But you..." Mizore started to understand.
"Thank you. I dived behind Tsukune, or rather, slumped. I played possum and everyone fell for it. "
"How could you stand by and do nothing?" Mizore said angrily.
"Tell me, Mizore, what would I do? I'm not like you, Moka, or Kurumu. Hit me above my waist and I'm a goner." Yukari said with equal frustration. "Would you have wanted me to stay still and die?"
"God damn it Yukari..." Mizore muttered. "I just..."
"I know. I feel like crap too. But I knew I couldn't do anything." Yukari said bitterly. "I couldn't stop him."
"You didn't even try-" Mizore started, but she stopped herself. She could see the red in Yukari's eyes. This wasn't a moment to berate her.
"Anyway, what can we do? Moka and Kurumu are gone." Yukari spat.
Mizore was surprised at Yukari's frustration. While she dwelled in sorrow, Yukari was possessed by some raging fury. The recent events have made such an impact, have done so much emotional damage...But Mizore was beyond that. Some wild hope made her heart beat quicker, if Yukari had survived...
Mizore walked over to the cliff, holding her breath in apprehension. She didn't want to see them dead, but how could she just walk away? She could at least hope.
"What are you doing?" Yukari said angrily.
"Come on Yukari, if you were lucky enough, maybe.."
"Seriously? You think they survived? Wake up. This isn't some god-damn fairy tale that spares every single-"
"SHUT UP Yukari!" Mizore screamed with joy. "They're there, come on, we gotta help them!"
Cupping her mouth, Mizore shouted "KURUMU! MOKA! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"
Moka and Kurumu snapped out of their silence. They were struggling up the cliff wall, scared stiff about the fear of loose holds and the water below. Staring up 90 meters, they saw Mizore and Yukari.
"Well isn't that fucking great." Kurumu panted, tearing up with relief. "YEAH!"
With the knowledge that they were not alone, the ladies felt stronger and no longer felt fear. Invigorated with hope, their climb quickened as they raced to reach their friends.
"Holy crap." Yukari breathed. A second later she was hugging Mizore out of relief.
For a moment they hugged each other tightly, savoring their victory. No matter how slim the odds, somehow all of Tsukune's friends survived the encounter.
Needless to say, our ladies were all very, Very, happy.
Meanwhile, our mercenaries were very, VERY, angry.
Especially the leader. 10 minutes after a strong sprint, the leader turned to a halt and checked his weapons. A second later, 10 others appeared beside him.
"Nobody else?" The leader said quietly.
"No, Yuuta- I mean, boss." One of the elder mercenaries stammered.
Yuuta considered blowing a hole in the dumbass's head right then and there. Stammering names in the mercenary business was not a good move. Anonymity was everything in the business.
"I think someone was following me," a younger man stammered. "The lizard man. But I think he ditched."
"I know him. He'll be dead after we finish this." Yuuta muttered. Then he grinned, his fury thinly concealed. "I guess now we get more from the bounty, now that the others are dead!"
Most of the mercenaries laughed uncertainly. The older and smarter said nothing, only grinned tightly.
Yuuta pointed to the young man. "Give me your weapon."
"Why? I don't-"
Yuuta, on a flash, drew a pistol and held it towards the mercenaries face. "Give me your damn weapon." He said quietly.
The mood was much different now. Even though they were running from a demon with no heart, the young man trembled at his leader's ferocity. Shaking, he quietly relinquished his Kalashnikov.
Yuuta put the gun down and expertly emptied the gun's ammunition compartment. He took a moment observing the ammunition cartridges. Slowly, he shook his head. He took a single bullet out and brought it inches from the young man's face.
"What is this shit?" He asked quietly.
"Its... Uh... Its a bullet..." The young man stammered. His fear was starting to show. He knew he was in a bad place.
Yuuta shook his head. Idiot. "Its a bullet? That's it?" He asked in a patronizing tone.
"What... What the fuck? Its a bullet. So what?" The young man said angrily, reacting to the sudden claustrophobia.
With that, Yuuta expertly reloaded the assault rife, and fired two shots directly in the man's right leg.
"AHHHHH! Damn! What the fuck?" The mercenary cried.
Yuuta knelt next to his victim, ignoring him. "These, my friend, are ordinary bullets. When you hunt monsters, you never allow error. You never show weakness. You use hollow points. Did I not send an email about that?" The last question was directed to the group. Some of them nodded, some of them avoided eye contact.
"Now, I have a trove, as I always do. Contingency Plan. Back at our base, I have high powered rifles and hollow point rounds to go with. You..." Yuuta turned back to the unfortunate mercenary, "Are our bait. We'll move quickly, you need to move slow, entice the freak, bring him to us. Keep him interested in following us."
"This isn't fair!" The young main wailed. "I won't make it!"
"For your sake, I hope you do," Yuuta said, grinning coldly. "Its only 10 miles more into the forest. You get to the clearing and we'll do the rest. Think of the money."
He turned his back to the frightened mercenary. "Oh yes, don't make to much noise. Don't be sloppy like you were when you chose your bullets. You'll be caught easily if you do that."
The mercenary could only whimper as Yuuta and the others melted into the brush. Behind him, he could feel the cold of the ghoul as it came closer, smelling blood. He struggled to his feet and stumbled into the brush, ignoring the pain in his leg the best he could, desperate to avoid what lay behind him, frightened of what lay ahead.
Moments after they left, as they were running, Yuuta ran next to the man who mentioned his name. " I thought you knew better. Never say my name again. Don't be a hinderance, Keith."
"I'm sorry, boss." The mercenary said quietly.
"I thought that after all of the hits we've done you wouldn't have made such a mistake. Looks like I underestimated your stupidity."
"Look, Boss," Keith muttered angrily. "I said I'm sorry. What do you want from me?"
"I want you to be smarter." Yuuta said. "Don't do it again."
"Fine." Keith said.
Other mercenaries were still struggling to accept what just happened. Suddenly their boss was more messed up than Gyokuro when she was in power.
"So... Uh, boss? What happens if he dies before he draws the monster to the clearing?" One of the mercenaries asked timidly.
Yuuta laughed. "Well, then I'm to check somebody's gun." He said with venom in his words.
Silence was his answer.
Back with the ladies, Mizore finally let go of Yukari to help Kurumu and Moka clamber back onto solid ground. They discussed their tales while Yukari treated to their wounds with magic.
"...and thats how Moka saved my butt after I saved hers." Kurumu finished.
"Great stuff." Moka sighed. "Now what do we do for Tsukune?"
The other girls noticed she was holding Tsukune's Holy Lock in her hands, weaving it around her fingers.
"...I dunno. The locks off, right? Doesn't that mean he's gone for good?" Kurumu muttered quietly.
"That's what the director said, at least." Mizore said quietly.
"But can't we put it back on?" Moka insisted, "Why wouldn't that work?"
"Because, baka, seals don't work like that. Now that Tsukune's bonkers the seal won't have an effect." Kurumu said in an solemn tone.
"Actually..." Yukari said. "It may still have the effect we need."
All eyes on Yukari!
"But that seal was for restraining the ghoul personality, and Moka's blood. Now that the blood is in full effect, you would need to seal it." Mizore said.
"But you don't get it. We thought that the seal was meant to stop it, but suddenly Tsukune was able to bring power from it, release it. It was meant to soften its integration. Wasn't Mikogami using Tsukune as a vector to bring down Hokuto and the anti-schoolers?" Yukari said.
"Yeah... So your saying the seal was supposed to slow his infection and allow him to subdue it?" Moka said.
"I guess. And now with your account Mizore, it makes sense." Yukari said.
"My..?" Mizore said in confusion.
"You said the ghoul stepped on you and then kept walking?"
"Yeah, the fucking thing just walked on me like I was a rock."
"But it looked at you, right?"
"Makes no difference!"
"It does. I've been studying ghouls and their psychology."
"When..." Kurumu said.
"... I'm a genius remember? Like summoning, it was a easy."
The rest of the ladies sighed. Obviously.
"I'll be simple. Ghouls are mindless creatures that feast on the dead, yadda yadda. They run purely on adrenaline and instinct. Right?"
Nods all around. Even Kurumu knew that.
"But when Tsukune became a ghoul, it knew about the seal. It knew about sealing techniques. It knew it was being restrained by it. It was no idiot. This thing had intelligence."
Silence.
"When it saw Mizore, covered in blood, and when it stepped on her and she didn't respond aggressively, it assumed that Mizore was going to kick the bucket any minute and didn't bother... No offense Mizore, you really need to find another shirt"
"None taken." Mizore said in her usual monotone. "But you weren't hit by a bullet. I couldn't help myself. I had to bleed." The last part had some sarcasm.
"Whatever. So my thought is this. Since the ghoul has intelligence, Tsukune isn't completely braindead, his mind hasn't necrotized like a usual ghoul."
"Wait, you mean the other times Tsukune's undergone a ghoul breakout..." Moka started.
"Yes, your blood reacted in his head and started to turn it into mush. That's what happens during ghoulification." Yukari said blatantly. "But this time its different. Tsukune is still in there, as it seems that his brain cells have some resistance to the blood now. Thats what the seal has been doing, allowed his human cells to develop resistance. I don't know how long it will last though."
"...So all we need to do is get him to where the seal again?" Kurumu said.
"Its our best shot. And if we knock it out good, I think Tsukune might be able to come back to his senses. At least he is still in there. But remember, it knows about the seal, and how it is a threat. It will know our intentions if it sees us with the Holy Lock." Yukari said.
"But why didn't it throw it off the cliff? Get it somewhere far away?" Mizore said.
"I said it had intelligence. I didn't say it was smart." Yukari smirked.
"Okay, Yukari, you go get Gin and the others. We're going to need everyone for this." Moka said.
"Bu-"
"No buts. You shouldn't be put in danger. We wouldn't want you to get hurt. You're fragile compared to the rest of us. Kurumu can trail Tsukune by flying and Mizore can freeze him if we need to escape. And I'm a vampire. I can at least take a few hits."
"But that isn't fair!"
"Once you get Gin and the rest then you can come. But please be careful" Moka said.
"...Fine."
End Chapter
Now we get to see the much anticipated arrival of the rest of the cast! Kokoa to Ruby, all shall join in the effort to stop Tsukune! Meanwhile, the ghoul closes in on our poor, poor mercenary.
Author's Note:
There ya go. Two chapters. Fun stuff. Very interesting stuff too. Finally I can stop writing about how they survive and writing about how they'll kick some arse!
I hope you enjoyed. Please drop a review! Every time you write a review, I give my cat a treat. Be nice to my cat and write a review!
P.S. You know about my other FF? Well, its in hatius. Trying to figure out what to do with it. So yeah.
