Chapter 7, when the very first task starts! Hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: Beelzebub belongs to Ryuuhei Tamura, not me.
Chapter 7- Mimic
"So, everyone's here?" Hilda says, looking around at us gathered in the classroom for this meeting. Even though it's Sunday, the school's open and we've decided to get started on the tasks as quickly as we can. "Last night, Tatsumi and I got a letter that explains our first task. Listen to it." She takes out a rolled up letter and unrolls it.
"'Do you ever use the third stall in a bathroom? Or do you get scared at the thought of the third stall? Well, it doesn't matter. You'll have to go to that one today if you want to retrieve your first item. Your first task: go to the last stall in the girls' bathroom on the third floor of the school. Once you're there, knock on the door three times and ask 'are you there, Hanako-san?'. When you hear her answer, open the door. But beware. She may get rather pissed off and she… might try to kill you. Well, try and destroy her first. When you've done that, retrieve the item from the stall. You'll need it for the next task.'"
"H-Hold on…" Nene says, looking shocked. "Did you just say Hanako-san?!"
"Yes," Hilda replies. "Who is she?"
"She's an urban legend. Hanako-san of the Toilet," I explain. "After she's summoned, they say that if you go into her stall, she'll drag you into the toilet and kill you."
"That legend scared us girls throughout elementary school," Shizuka recalls.
"Who'll carry out this task?" Hilda asks.
I raise my hand up slightly. "I will," I say, bringing out a self-defense steel baton and a small can of pepper spray from my bag.
"So will I," Kunieda adds, pulling out her wooden sword. "I'll help you out, Yumi."
"Let me as well!" Agiel says. "I'd love to help out Aoi-chan and Yumi-chan in this!"
Hilda nods. "Very well," she says. "However, you'll need some backup as well."
Hecadoth raises his hand. "I'll wait outside the bathroom door, just in case," he volunteers.
"Me too!" Takachin adds.
And with that, we go to the girls' bathroom on the third floor of the school. While Hecadoth and Takachin wait outside of the bathroom, us girls enter. When Agiel and Kunieda look at me, I nod and walk up to the third bathroom stall door, which is closed. I knock on the door three times. "Are you there, Hanako-san?" I ask, feeling rather nervous.
A while passes, but eventually, I hear it. "Yes, I'm here," an innocent child's voice rings out from the stall. Right then, we sense it. The demonic aura. I look back at Agiel and Kunieda and they walk closer, their weapons ready.
Agiel kicks the door open, holding her sword up. To our surprise, instead of a little school girl, we see a large, terrifying three-headed lizard with glaring onyx eyes, snarling evilly.
"That's… That's a lower-class demon!" Agiel exclaims. "The Mimic!"
Suddenly, the monster spits some orange substance from its mouth in the center head. We hastily duck as the substance hits the door. To our shock and horror, the substance sizzles and burns a hole in the door. "Holy…" I trail off.
"What the hell was that?!" Takachin shouts from outside, clearly horrified.
Right then, the lizard lets out a hideous roar, causing us to cover our ears. Agiel rushes up to the monster, raising her sword. "Dark Sword… Bloody Grave!" she shouts, slashing it's chest. The lizard shrieks in pain and the three of us run out of the bathroom.
"Heca-chan! Furuichi!" Agiel shouts. "Run for it!"
The five of us run down the hallway around a corner, bringing out our weapons. Hecadoth brings out his spear, Agiel unsheathes her sword, I bring out my baton, and Kunieda brings out her wooden sword. We hear the lizard roaring and its footsteps getting closer.
"What the hell is that?!" Kunieda asks. "I thought we'd encounter a school girl, not this!"
"This is a lower-class demon that was banished to the Human World during the war," Hecadoth explains. "Known as the Mimic, it can imitate anything, including human sounds. To think that this is now feared as the Human World urban legend of Hanako-san of the Toilet…" He smiles wryly. "This thing's weaker than it looks, actually."
"Well, maybe to you, it's weak!" Kunieda says incredulously. "For humans, this thing's pretty damn strong!"
"Guys, I have a plan!" Takachin says. "When that Mimic comes, Hecadoth and Agiel, you two attack its knees. Kunieda-senpai, you distract it with your Shingetsu Style. Once it's distracted, Yumi, you weaken it once more with an attack and then either Hecadoth or Agiel will deliver the final blow."
Hecadoth nods. "Good idea, lieutenant," he praises. "But what about you?"
"I'll run into the bathroom and retrieve the item while you guys attack the Mimic," he says.
Right then, we hear the roar of the Mimic. "Let's do this!" I say determinedly.
"Yeah!" Hecadoth and Agiel charge towards the Mimic, holding out their weapons. They proceed to strike its knees, causing it to howl in pain. Right then, Kunieda runs out, a pink glow surrounding her.
"Shingetsu Sword School, Second Style…" she starts. "Countless Petals, Scattering Sakura Blossoms!" Kunieda shouts, repeatedly slashing the Mimic, creating several cuts on its body.
I smile slightly because I realize that now's the chance I can use my new trademark attack that I've taught myself a while back, and that I've just recently perfected. I charge at the Mimic, holding my baton as the demonic aura surrounds me. "Demonic Quintessential Perfume…" I say, the black aura surrounding me and whisking me behind the lizard. "One Thousand Butterfly Surge!" I shout as I materialize again, bringing the baton down and striking it in the back.
The Mimic shrieks hideously, collapsing onto the ground as I land on my feet. Right then, Hecadoth uses the opportunity to jump up and impale the Mimic with his spear. With one last howl of pain from all three heads, the Mimic dissolves into nothing.
"See? What did I tell you?" Agiel scoffs, glaring in disgust at the dissolving corpse. "Nothing but a weak demon."
"Yumi, that was a pretty impressive attack you just did," Hecadoth tells me. "How'd you learn it?"
"I… I taught myself after observing some of the demons," I say. "It's my new trademark attack: Demonic Quintessential Perfume, One Thousand Butterfly Surge. However, I didn't use it in its full force. If I did that, the Mimic would've been sliced into one thousand pieces."
"Guys!" We turn and see Takachin running to us, holding a small pouch. "I've got the item!"
"Let's go back to the others and show it to them," I say.
"So, did you defeat the creepy toilet girl?" Oga asks when we get back to the classroom.
"It wasn't a girl," I say. "It was a giant three-headed lizard."
Takachin hands the small pouch to Hilda, who reaches in to see what it is. She pulls out a silver hand mirror from the pouch as well as two large obsidian rocks. "What does the letter say?" she asks.
"'So you've defeated the Mimic," Takachin reads aloud. "Bet you were surprised to see it was a three-headed lizard and not some school girl, huh? This mirror is known as Medusa's mirror. If you hold it out to your opponent, they will turn to stone. These obsidian rocks are from the Great Makai Volcano. When thrown hard enough, they will destroy almost anything. For your next task, go to the abandoned subway tunnels at the Ishiyama Train Station. In the tunnels is a nest of Demon insects known as Gokiburi-Suzumebachi. They are human-sized hybrids of man-eating cockroaches and hornets. Retrieve the item from the nest before destroying it with the obsidian rocks.'"
My eyes widen in shock. "Uh… human-sized insects?!" I ask, shivering. "I'm outie."
"You don't have to, since you already completed this task," Hilda tells me. "Lamia, tend to whatever injuries that Yumi, Hecadoth, Agiel, Kunieda, and Furuichi got."
Tojo grins. "I'll take care of this one." Right then, he brings out a blowtorch. "I'm so glad I brought this along! I finally get to have a use for it!"
"A… blowtorch…?" Takachin asks, a bead of sweat rolling down his head.
"Where did he get that from?" I ask, sweat-dropping at the sight as well.
"I'll assist you in that." We turn and see Graphel, much to our surprise. "Not even a better-than-average human can take on those bastard bugs alone."
"He's right," Hecadoth agrees. "Those bugs are extremely dangerous."
Tojo looks surprised for a moment but smirks. "Sure," he says. "I guess I'll have to leave our fight to the end."
Graphel smirks. "Right. I nearly forgot," he says. "But first, I must warn you. Gokiburi-Suzumebachi bugs are a bitch. Especially in Makai."
"I'm doing this as well!" Shizuka adds, smiling at Tojo. "After all you've done for my brother and sister, I think I should fight alongside you, Tora."
I smile slightly. One task down, more to go!
Gokiburi-Suzumebachi means "Cockroach-Hornet". Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
