Naturals Elections: A Kill La Kill Fanfiction
AN: Not terribly happy with this chapter as it feels like I'm treading old ground. But It's done now, so I can get to the fun fight next chapter.
Chapter Ten – Howl
The wind was up today. A bad day to take a shot, but it would have to be done regardless of Mother Nature's temperament. She'd be thanking him later, when the Life Fibers were wiped from her planet. The rig had been set up long ago, the long barrel of Aikuro's rifle aimed squarely at the centre of the Naturals Election's arena. Now all he could do was wait for his target to grace her stage, which she would. Aikuro could feel it in his waters. The placement and failures of her minions mattered little, as Satsuki would make it to the final singlehandedly even if she had to give up an arm and a leg to get there. Once she and Ryuko came to blows, all he had to do was let them crash up against each other until the tyrant of Honnouji wore herself down and opened herself up. With one shot, a quarter of REVOCs' ruling caste would be eliminated, and the keystone to Ragyo's insane plan would be destroyed. Creating a new Kamui from scratch would have burdened the design enough, but there was only one other that could take up the mantle of world-ender. Ragyo would be flushed out into the open come the promised day, and when she did Nudist Beach would show her the power of humanity that she'd arrogantly dismissed.
A deep rumble echoed up the highway, coming to a stop right outside his little nest. Tsumugu had returned, and he almost broke out into a ghost of smile when he saw the setup. It was quickly smothered.
"Should I even ask why you felt the need to bring a picnic basket with you?"
"Well, it's not like I could have been fashionably late to this event. Better to camp out early so I'm ready for when our idol show up. And as an added bonus, I got to watch you go at it with the young puppy. I take it you're not too bashed up after that fall?"
"Some of my bones are still resetting, but I'm used to it by now. I'll be heading back to provide support as soon as I'm done here. But as you've brought lunch…"
He reached into a deep pocket, retrieving a small plastic bag. The bullets inside caught the sun just right, casting the pair in a deeper red than his Mohawk.
"I'll trade you a sandwich for three Red Herrings."
Satsuki knew what had happened the second Nonon vanished. The Life Fibers of the Elite Four's uniforms were unlike the ones found in the COVERS that they'd faced so many times in the bowels of REVOCs factories. These had been steeled and polished in the fires of endless combat that engulfed Honnouji, and when they were combined with the desperate will of Ryuko's fanatical Elite, they could be pushed into unpredictable power. Mankanshoku's uniform was as far beyond the original Three-Star uniforms as they had been above a regular human's capacities. The fact that she could manipulate human senses was testament to that.
The air was still thick with purple smoke from Nonon's final attack, leaving the remaining Life Fiber Hunters to wait and expect the worst. They held stone masks in place of their faces, knowing that Ryuko would be looking for any signs of despair. They would not humour her, even if their comrade had been slain. When the smoke cleared, Mako was still standing, looking up to Ryuko's tower with her hands balled up into nervous fists at her sides. Nonon's standing privileges had been revoked, the former heiress a crumpled mess at her opponent's feet. Marika had received similar treatment, pulled apart like a wishbone and stomped repeatedly for good measure. As Ryuko proudly announced the winner, Mako hauled Nonon over one shoulder and threw her straight at Satsuki, who caught her by the collar without blinking. Ira had produced a blanket and pillow before Nonon was lain down again. She was battered beyond compare, less a girl and more a walking mass of cuts and bruises, each small breath twisting the corners of her mouth in pain. But she was still alive, and Satsuki took the Pyrrhic victory where she could. Nonon would survive in Ira's care. It was Satsuki's task to set about avenging her. Bakuzan-Prime was out in a second, the black blade flashing in the afternoon sun as she stepped out to Ryuko's taunting.
"And here I thought I was supposed to be the monster. Ignoring your friend and marching straight into battle without looking back, without care or consideration for those you've stepped on to keep going."
Her face twisted into an ugly snarl as she began to bark orders.
"As expected of Satsuki Kiryuin. Uzu, take her apart."
The sole elite left unbloodied nodded just once, notching a shinai over his shoulder as he nonchalantly strolled forward to face Satsuki. There was none of the nervousness that Maiko had shown, nor the reluctance of Mako and Houka as lime-green light swallowed the boy and spat out a warrior god.
FOUR STAR GOKU UNIFORM – WAR GOD REGALIA
Golden plates cast with depictions of every battle in history formed over him, creating a living statue ready for combat. Every feature of Uzu Sanagayama had disappeared behind gilded splendour, but it was his helmet that concealed the most, a blank fascicle of his face staring emptily at her from behind closed eyes. Four extra arms burst from his back, each one already armed with lance and axe, claymore and bastard sword. His shinai had become a katana to rival Bakuzan-Prime, held in the only hands he could claim as his own. It was all so much flash and thunder, an entity designed to inspire fear and awe in he who had snatched the fourth star. The moment Ryuko called for the start Satsuki was already pressing him with quick, calculated strikes, each one testing the speed of the man inside. The battle was one of near silence as the katanas flickered and clashed again and again, the only sound that of metal on metal as they advanced though their deadly dance. There was no desperate screaming or banter, as true warriors had need for such things. Even Ryuko was quieted as they took steps forward only to retreat when the flank was threatened, struck and feinted so quickly and interchangeably that the outside viewers dared not even cheer when a blow appeared to land for fear of being premature in celebration. It took five minutes before first blood was drawn. Uzu misjudged a feint, Bakuzan-Prime darting forward and slitting a thin line across his collarbone before he could correct himself. The golden warrior leapt back, one hand resting across the wound to check the damage.
"Impressive. Even with Shingantsu, you're moving quickly enough that it makes no difference."
Satsuki didn't respond, already moving to put him on the back foot once more. She had seen and experienced enough of Uzu's style that she could counter-read his moves as he read hers. After that, it was simply a matter of who could move faster. There was no clash of blades this time, as it was clear Satsuki could best his swordplay, uniform or no uniform. Instead the lance came to greet her, punching out to disrupt her flow. When she avoided that the axe was already crashing down on her, and by the time she'd defended herself against that the bastard sword was moving, chopping into her space to force her back. As she did so, the back of the War God Regalia was opening up, a hundred strings tensing in preparation. Uzu braced himself as his unleashed his new attack, a deadly hail of arrows flying high up before coming crashing down on every inch of the arena. Satsuki stepped back to avoid one, and from there she was locked into defence as the hail thickened into a storm. A hundred strings tensed and released every few seconds, laying on the arrows in such furious numbers that neither contestant could see the sun though the barrage. But Satsuki kept moving, stepping away where she could and hacking away those she couldn't. For all Uzu's artillery, her advance was only delayed in starts and faults. And so it was the Uzu ran to meet her instead, ramming his lance as she made to dodge his final volley. It almost worked, but as Satsuki stepped into his range she reached out with one hand and sprung over the lance, knocking a flight of arrows asunder as she did so. The lance arm was next to go, and she removed it at the elbow in one swift motion. The numbers game came back into play, undeterred by the loss of their fellow as the useless arm was ejected. It was here that Uzu had the advantage, keeping Satsuki at bay by separating her focus between four weapons moving in conjunction. For each one she turned away, another was already preparing to bite her unguarded zones. And yet they never hit home, Satsuki weaving a web of metal all around her to deflect the multi-headed blows that came at her. Each movement was perfect, but there was no sign of thought or elation on her face as she kept him out. That calm, unapproachable demeanour burned him far greater than the loss of his arm.
Uzu had very little to be proud of since he had begun attending Honnouji. The gang he'd set up had been demolished by the same girl who tested him now with nothing more than a shout. He'd been given power only to be dwarfed by not only by her, but her sister as well. He'd watched as Ryuko went mad with power and then mad in general, his powerlessness proven day after day in trials and sealed with Ira Gamagoori's exile. Every advance he made to catch up was demolished either under overwhelming brute force or plain ignored yet again. Looking upon that same indifferent face as it took him apart again after three years just brought it all crashing back down on him. Some small part of his mind screamed at him to stop, that they were on the same side. He could take the loss now and come back later when the world wasn't at stake. But he couldn't stop, not here, not now, not without scoring at least one point and not while both the younger and elder Satsuki kept staring down at him with that passive expression. He called upon the fourth star, and threw himself into madness.
The crowd watched Satsuki lose her stance for the first time since the fight started, knocked askew by a tumultuous Ki blast that shook the arena tower down to its core. It was the first of many, each one roaring out in wave after wave, and in the centre of each ring of power was the War God Regalia, growing more distorted and bulging with every second that passed. The finely crafted armour buckled from the internal pressure as Uzu's muscles expended unnaturally within. One arm tore the helmet away completely as the remaining weapons were blown away, revealing blank eyes and terrible fangs as Uzu screamed fury to the heavens. Just as the shockwaves died down the back of the Four-Star uniform opened up again, releasing not arrows but hundreds of katanas, each on landing point-down in the platform. He was moving before anyone could react, a sword in each of his twitching arms and every one of them bearing down on Satsuki. One caught her clean across the chest, another one coming dangerously close to her neck before she regained her balance and deflected it. What had been a back-and-forth match now dissolved into a frenzied chase, Satsuki set to a desperate defence as Uzu ran her down. The few blows she slipped through the storm of blades skipped off the enhanced armour, and when she managed to dislodge a sword from his iron-cast grip it was immediately replaced by one of its brethren from the floor. There were more openings in his attack now, but none she could capitalise on through the unending blitzkrieg that was hunting her. Whatever the Life Fibers had done to him, it had increased his strength and speed to a level that tested even her. So she repeated the tactic that had served her in the ruins of Dr Matoi's mansion, and began a ranged offensive in kind. The katanas that had been spread throughout the arena were now turned on their master, each one knocked back with rapid swings from Bakuzan-Prime. They bounced off him to no avail, but the distraction was all she needed. Even an animal back into a corner recognised danger when it flew into their vision, and as Uzu recoiled to avoid the swords Satsuki swept in, aiming a fist right into a gap created by his transformation. She had only a second to grab a fistful of Life Fibers, but it was enough to locate a clump of strings that could be the Banshi and tear it out. Whatever she pulled out was clearly enough, as the War God Regalia froze, great gouts of steam erupting from the cracks in Uzu's armour. The madness that had overcome him fast faded from his face as he tumbled forward with one final swing of his swords. They never made their targets as his additional arms fell away in pieces, the katana in his naked hands coming to a slow stop as he collapsed against Satsuki.
"One… more. Give me… one… more chance. I'm… almost there."
"Almost, but not quite."
Uzu gave a low, rattling moan as he pitched over sideways to lie among the ruined fragments of his uniform. There was no cheering as Satsuki returned to her companions; Uzu had been too well liked for that. She kept her footsteps slow and steady, ignoring the long cut that he had rent on her from breast to shoulder even as she felt the open area become fingered by hundreds of tiny, thirsty mouths. Acknowledging it would only drive them into thinking they could feed. Thankfully, Ira already had bandages prepared when she returned, passing by her with grim determination as Ryuko demanded that Uzu be swept off the side and for the next round to begin as soon as possible.
The crowds were out in full force to watch the Naturals Elections. As Honnouji's premiere event and elective campaign, it was a must-watch for the citizens who tentatively called Honnouji home. It helped that Ryuko loved being on display, and as such had massive screens prepared for the masses to huddle around. But none of that concerned Nui, who had different entertainment in mind as she danced from rooftop to rooftop, booing the screens as she went. The lousy monkey in Ryuko's employ had only put one scratch on Satsuki, which wasn't nearly enough. Not nearly, nearly, even one-one thousandth good enough! Then again, Satsuki wasn't good enough for a lot of things. Bludgeoning was too quick, burning was too slow, even if she started with only a candle and built up a bonfire around it. Poisoning was out of the question, as Nui was a sweet girl who had no knowledge of such things. And turning her into a human pincushion was also out of the question, as it would be terribly unfashionable to ruin a pig with the same trick twice in a row. Nui was an expert. She had standards to uphold, and becoming a one-trick-pony would kill her creative soul. So clearly she would have to put all her best women on the case.
All along the rooftops and watchtowers of Honnouji, packs of REVOCs' grand couturier wove terrible plans as they converged upon the academy.