Chapter 9
After the appearance of Varan, Daijin and Mizore went back inside the school grounds.
"Daijin, what happened? We saw another figure out there with you two…" Tsukune started.
"The situation doesn't seem so good… we need to talk…" Daijin replied.
(Club Room)
With all the Newspaper Club members seated, Daijin told them all of the arrival of his new 'associate' and the imminent threat.
"Okay… so we've got a bit of a fight ahead of us, how does that explain her silence?" Kurumu asked, pointing at Mizore.
Mizore sat with a blank stare, as if she was in despair.
"Beats me, I hope she snaps out of it soon."
"Ok, what are we gonna do till then?" Yukari asked.
"Well, I think we should inform the PSC..." replied Tsukune.
"Oh god, why would you even suggest that? They probably don't want anything to do with us anyhow.." Kurumu groaned.
"What is the PSC?" Daijin asked.
Moka sighed and said, "The Public Safety Committee…"
(PSC meeting room)
Upon entry, the Newspaper Club was given looks of hatred and scorn. As they stated their case to the head of student police, sounds of displeasure were heard throughout the room. The head of the committee spoke up.
"You expect us to help you, after shaming and tarnishing our committee's name? Defeating Kuyo was a tragic end for us in general, but the action of your new friend, such as fighting and winning against 50 or more students, isn't helping your case right now!"
"It couldn't be helped; Daijin was set off by the other student's rash actions! Besides if you don't help us, many of us won't make it!" Tsukune tried to explain.
"Irrelevant, since we can't really subdue you in any way, I pass the decree for the future events that you, Zakunero Daijin, are responsible for the lives of this school that are lost in the coming threat! That is my verdict, and I shall not change it. Now I ask you once, and only once, BEGONE!" the committee leader boomed.
As they left, the rest of the group became as shaken up as Mizore was.
"What'll we do now?" Yukari asked.
"We'll just have to wait…" Tsukune said, holding Moka's hand tightly.
(One month later, homeroom)
"Hello students! I have an announcement to make. Today we will be welcoming another transfer student. Everyone, meet Obake Arashikawa!"
The mentioned student stood in front of the class, Daijin immediately recognized him.
'He did not waste any time. I like his new name, too.' he thought.
'Obake' sat down at the seat to Daijin's right and the class began.
"How are things?" Obake whispered.
"Nothing out of the ordinary has occurred, however we're receiving no help from the Public Safety Committee. On the personal front, well…" Daijin said as he turned to Mizore, who hadn't spoken to him for more than a month.
"You must keep your mind clear. Focus on the task ahead." Obake replied.
"Maybe you're right…"
Daijin took another glimpse at her before facing forward.
As class ended, Daijin walked towards Mizore, only to see her walk away quickly.
'Mizore… Why are you being so distant?' Daijin wondered.
A tear slid down his face as he left with Obake following behind.
(Late evening, in the human world)
At this time of day, a man in his early twenties was walking down the sidewalk, chewing through a piece of raw fish. He had light-blue hair and a vile pair of eyes, as orange as the setting sun. Unlike the citizens of the city, he was not on his way home. This same person was tracking someone, who was his target of interest. When nobody was around, he went into a dark alley. He revealed his true form, which in the dark was hard to describe. He climbed up the nearby building as if it was his birthright and when he reached the top, he swiftly and silently traveled across the rooftops, following the scent. The scent led him to a dark tunnel where he landed in front of. In order to avoid confrontation with the locals, he shifted back to his human form.
'This is Iridio, I found the bastard!' he stated telepathically.
'Good work, now wait until morning to infiltrate. When you do, find a way to lure him out, and kill him.' responded an unknown entity.
With that directive given, Iridio's skin slithered around, changing his look. He now looked completely identical to his target: Daijin.
"With pleasure…" he grinned.
(7:00a.m., Yokai Academy)
Iridio had entered the tunnel and to his surprise, the tunnel led to a school.
'Iridio here, the target appears to be in a school…' he mentally reported.
'Interesting... Perhaps he chose this place to make sure we would have problems succeeding in our mission. Find someone who he is close to, that will draw him out of the crowd.' responded his "boss".
'Damn, this may take a while…' he thought to himself.
Hours later, Iridio found the scent of Daijin on another classmate, a woman with light purple hair.
"Bingo," he said to himself.
(After school)
"Dear God, school's just been a drag since Mizore gave me the cold shoulder, no pun intended." Daijin whined.
"Maybe she needs time to figure things out, until then let's find a way to fight off the intruding monsters…" Obake reassured.
"Fine, who's first? Are there any distinctive traits to identify him?" he asked.
"The Pretender is an agile creature, quite full of himself too. He often pigs out on as many fish as he can find. The smell is quite noticeable." Obake explained.
"Why's he called that?"
"Because he tried to take your father's place. He's bound to try and take yours."
"Then we got a problem…" Daijin said.
"Why is that?" Obake asked.
"I can smell tuna…"
(Ridge from chapter 7)
Mizore sat at the edge of the ridge, thinking on her actions.
'Daijin… forgive me.'
She wept and curled up like a child.
"Why can't I get myself to utter a word to him?" Mizore asked herself.
She fell dormant for a full minute before someone broke the silence.
"Why don't you tell me yourself?"
She turned around and saw, to her surprise, the person she fell in love with.
Daijin.
She ran into his arms and held him tightly, not wanting to let go.
"I've wanted to apologize to you but I didn't know how to say-"
"It's fine…I'm just glad you're smiling again…" stated Daijin
She was feeling happy at first…
Until she smelled something…awkward.
'Why does he smell like tuna?' she wondered.
Then a voice behind him yelled,
"Get the fuck away from her!"
Daijin turned to see an enraged interloper standing three meters away.
This guy was also Daijin.
"Huh?" Mizore said, puzzled about this new occurrence.
"Back away, he's an impostor!" Obake said as he ran to the real Daijin's side.
Mizore ran quickly to Daijin's side holding onto him for dear life.
"Looks like the charade's over before it could begin." The imposter stated, his skin pulsing back to his original human skin.
"If you think for one minute that you would've been able to pull it off, you've got another thing coming!" Daijin seethed.
"Then I shall kill you here and now!" yelled his opponent.
A small explosion formed around him, and he revealed himself to the group. The Pretender was a raptorial lizard, with a rectangular head and an iguana-like frill on its neck. On its back were the reversed fins of a shark.
Daijin was slightly impressed… Slightly.
He then transformed in a quick manner, and prepped himself in a fighting position.
"Let's go. Obake, this one's mine."
Iridio soon lunged at Daijin, clawing his chest with his claws. As Iridio landed Daijin slammed him with his tail. Falling to the ground, a huge dust cloud formed around Iridio, and as it dispersed, he was gone as well. Then the earth began to split around Daijin, trapping him inside the ground.
Re-appearing from the ground, Iridio laughed at his trapped opponent and said,
"Well well, seems like you aren't cut out for royalty after all… Since you are so easy to defeat, maybe your girl will have a change of heart!"
After hearing those words, Daijin broke out of his confinement and ran straight towards the cackling Iridio. The raptorial lizard's fins charged up, and green fire came blasting from his maw. The fire reached Daijin's face, singeing him. Munzo didn't stop his attack, he began walking forward and with each step forward, Daijin took two steps back. It became clear that he was going to make Daijin fall of the ridge. An evil grin appeared on Iridio's face as he continued his fiery onslaught, believing that he was going to win. As Daijin reached the edge, his own fins began to glow. He released his heat ray, scoring a direct shot at Iridio's chest which launched him back. Daijin, now with the upper hand, launched himself towards his attacker and unleashed a volley of painful blows. The beat down lasted ten minutes, and when he stopped, Iridio was coughing up blood.
Practically rasping he whimpered,
"Damn….. Looks like I didn't think…you'd be this brutal."
"Yeah, I've got a habit for going a bit overboard," replied an exhausted Daijin.
"Hear my words, you pathetic excuse for a king! When the other two come, they'll tear you and your girl to shreds," Iridio cackled.
"I won't let that happen." Daijin stated.
"You know… Ever since I found out you were born, I always hated you!" Iridio said, coughing up more blood.
"That's fine by me; I could care less about what you think. Also, let's see what she thinks about your proposal…" Daijin replied, pointing at Mizore.
She walked up to Iridio, smiled at him and shot an ice kunai into his eye.
"Son of a-" Iridio began, before Daijin hammered it into his brain.
With that, he lay dead on the ground.
"One down, two to go." Daijin smirked.
"Zaku-chan…" Mizore began.
Her reptilian boyfriend turned to her in order to hear what she had to say.
"Listen, I want to apologize for not speaking to you for the past month, I was afraid for my life when I heard of these new monsters coming. I guess I didn't have what you and Obake had."
"Really, what's that?" Daijin asked curiously.
She smiled and answered, "Hope…"
Daijin smiled back, and they held hands while they headed back to the Academy grounds. Obake smiled and followed behind.
(Human World, abandoned warehouse)
Two guys appeared, apparently one waiting for the other. When it was visible, the two revealed their real forms. The one barely entering the fray was what one would describe as a dark, armored vile bird-lizard with two big scythes for hands and what looked like three frill like wings on his back. He was well equipped with a circular saw on his abdomen, and a tail with what looked a metal claw attached to the tip.
The other was a golden scaled dragon with three heads, each pair of eyes gleamed bright red; he had a huge set of wings, two tails and no arms.
These two were the Assailant and The King of Terror, better known as Gigan and Ghidorah.
"Good evening, Gigan." said the one awaiting his arrival.
"Hey, boss." He replied, "How is Iridio?"
"Dead…he died like a frail dog. Quite a shame, if you ask me…" Ghidorah replied.
"Well on the bright side, he did find where he's hiding…"
"True, now all we need to do is hit him where it hurts, but first, we should welcome our new guests…" Ghidorah remarked.
"-!"
Ghidorah and Gigan turned their heads to identify their first intruder.
"Come on out now, there's nothing to fear…" Ghidorah assured.
Out came another monster from the dark, having red bumpy skin and the fins of a fish for his head crest, back, and tail. Judging by his cautious movement and lashes on his back, he was a shy, misunderstood creature.
"State your name, intruder…" Ghidorah said softly.
"M-my name is…Titanosaurus," stammered the creature.
"You too," Ghidorah said, pointing his center head to the ceiling while his other two focused on Titanosaurus.
The one on the ceiling landed on the ground. It was a cockroach-like creature with only four limbs, a stag beetle horn, and drill hands.
He placed one of his arms at his chest and rattled, "Megalon…"
Ghidorah's eyes lit up as his gaze was set on the lumbering roach and the dinosaur.
'You now take orders from me. We all are going to strike the school that our target, Zakunero Daijin resides. It is going to be an all out war.' Ghidorah said mentally.
"What about the other students?" Titanosaurus asked.
"What about them..." Gigan replied.
"I really don't want to be apart of this anymore. I don't think it's-"
Before Titanosaurus could finish, Ghidorah enhanced the telekinetic hold on him. He wailed in pain for a few seconds before he was under Ghidorah's control.
'I will rally you when we begin the strike.' Ghidorah said.
With that they all dispersed.
