Nu shoots her swords forward and the same time that Lambda does, and the blades both collide with one another. Nu rushes in and grabs Lambda by the arm and throws her to the ground and jumps into the air, positioning herself so that she would land on Lambda. Lambda moves out of the way just in time to avoid getting guillotined by Nu's leg.
Ragna jumps in to surprise Lambda just as she's recovering, but his leg is blocked by Lambda's arm. He tries to punch her, but his fist only connects with her arm. Ragna spins around and lashes his foot out, but it's stopped by the sides of her swords forming a makeshift shield.
Nu jumps at Lambda and starts spinning in the air rapidly, becoming a tornado of blades. Ragna's eyes widen when he sees it flying toward him. He grabs Lambda up into the air and aims Bloodscythe's tip at her.
"This is gonna sting," Ragna says, as the blade part of the weapon shoots forward. Lambda gets sent flying into the air and is immediately caught by Nu's spinning body. Her body is carried with Nu until she gets flung at the wall. Nu lands on the ground perfectly, without missing a step. Ragna admires her ability to stay balanced with the moves that she does. Then again, he supposes that he has to chalk it up to her skills that she obtained when she fought the Black Beast long ago. He supposes that's why Hakumen is so much stronger than Jin, as well.
"Come on, Lambda! If you're gonna let me hit you that easily, then this fight is going to be over before you know it!" Nu puts her hands on her hips in a boisterous manner. Almost like she was proud of herself for actually landing her recent attack.
"You didn't think that was going to hit her at all, huh?" Ragna asks her. Nu turns around to face Ragna and smiles widely.
"Nope! Not at all!" Nu chuckles, giving the man a thumbs up. Ragna only sighs and slumps his shoulders.
Lambda finally emerges from the wall that she was thrown into and starts her attack on Nu and Ragna once more, this time falling low to the ground and twirling around. Nu immediately knows that her sickle is about to make its way through the floor toward them and jumps up into the air. She looks at where the sickle appears and is surprised to see how slow it's moving.
"That's a little disappointing," Nu comments, landing on the ground beside it. She puts her hand on the ground and then throws it up into the air, causing giant swords to shoot from the ground in front of her, going on a path to Lambda. They move relatively fast, but Lambda manages to dodge them just in time, feeling the sting of one of them cutting her flesh.
Ragna grabs Bloodscythe and holds it with the blade pointed towards him, leaping into the air towards Lambda and pressing a button on the side of Bloodscythe with his thumb. The blade ejects from the hilt and then turns itself, forming a makeshift scythe. He swings it downward, hitting Lambda right on the back. She doesn't make a sound as it rips into her skin, and Ragna pulls it out of her. He lands behind her and pulls back a fist, covering it with dark energy and charging at her.
"Hell's Fang!" he cries out, punching Lambda's back just as she turns around to try and block his strike. His fist connects with her stomach and she bends into him, then he uses his other hand to throw up a wave of red, flinging her away from Ragna and towards Nu. She smiles at the man and fires a sword at Lambda, hitting her out of the sky. Another sword appears behind her and slashes her arm and Nu jumps into the air to continue her attack. Even more swords make their way to Lambda's body, and finally Nu flips herself around, calling a giant, crescent shaped blade from out of nowhere. The blade hits Lambda head on and sends her down, back to the ground.
"Ragna!" Nu yells, getting Ragna's attention. The man nods his head and rushes over to Lambda, his hand growing into a claw of seithr. He grabs Lambda as she falls and hoists her up into the air.
"Let the darkness consume you!" Ragna yells as multiple waves of seithr shoot up from the ground and pierce Lambda's body. Then, the claw that Ragna's hand became explodes and Lambda is dropped to the floor. The Murakumo Unit attempts to move, but no matter how hard she tries not a single bone in her body refuses to listen to her.
"Damage... critical... Terminating battle mode..." Lambda mutters, laying there, staring up at the ceiling.
"Hey, Kokonoe? I made sure that your little toy wasn't completely destroyed. We're gonna go and head up to Terumi now, so you just watch us," Ragna says, walking past Lambda and up the stairs to the top part of the Librarium, Nu following him closely behind.
"Sorry Lambda, but sometimes you just gotta get yourself taught a lesson," Nu says, turning her head back to look at the other girl.
Hazama stares at the black, shining pillar in front of him with a gleeful smile on his face. He stands at the top part of the Librarium, awaiting a certain group of people that he's been waiting for. It's been quite some time. The sky above him is a dark yellow, with ominous clouds rolling in, covering the sun completely. The color compliments the floor that he is standing on.
On the pillar that he's staring at is a pulsating, blue symbol, and above that even further is what looks like a Cauldron with wings.
"You know, I was really hoping you'd wind up killing Jin, but I suppose that's the power of his Power of Order, isn't it?" Hazama asks, not bothering to turn around. He hears the footsteps of the two close by. He knows that they can hear him.
"Terumi!" Ragna yells, running from the staircase to Hazama. Before he can get close to the man Nu grabs him by the collar of his jacket and pulls him back to her.
"No, Ragna. Don't run in recklessly like that... I've fought alongside that man for years. I know what he's capable of, and if you just run in like that you're gonna die," Nu warns.
"You know me too well, Nu-nu," Hazama turns around to face the two now, done watching the pillar. "Ragna the Bloodedge, it's been a bit of time since I've seen you. How's that arm holding up?"
"Shut up you bastard!" Ragna yells. "Where the hell is Noel Vermillion!"
At that question, Hazama bursts out laughing. "Hahahahahaha! Oooh, that's a good one! You're a real slapstick genius! Ahahaha!"
"What's so funny?" Nu asks.
"Oh... it's just... haha... I've heard that line... hahaha... so many times!" Hazama wipes a stray tear from his eye before opening them and staring at Ragna and Nu. "Hahahahaha! I'm finally, finally here! Do you know how long I've been waiting for this!? How the hell could I not laugh!? Hahahaha! Oh... I'm sorry about that. You're looking for Noel Vermillion, right? Well, miss Noel can be found right there. See her?"
Hazama points the Cauldron-like thing at the top of the pillar that he was staring at moments ago. Ragna and Nu look up to where he's pointing, and Ragna's eyes widen at the realization of what that is.
"That Cauldron can't be... No way!" Ragna stares at it in fear.
"Stop smelting right now, goddammit!" both Hazama and Ragna say at the same time. Hazama continues his laughing fit while a surprised look appears on Ragna's face as he directs his gaze to Hazama.
"This is just too great!" Hazama laughs once more.
"What the hell are you talking about!?" they speak at the same time once more.
"Gahahahahaha! This is too much! Ahahahaha!"
"What the hell is going on here!?" Ragna yells.
"Oh man, even if the little doll is here this still plays out the same! Don't tell me you don't get it!? I observed it. All of it. And it took a helluva long time to do it, too."
"You observed it?" Nu asks.
"Hmm, normally Raggy asks that question. But yes, I observed it. The continuum shift that Takamagahara made. Now, normally it's completely unpredictable but I just observed every pattern of it!" Hazama explains.
"Screw this, I've heard enough of your bullshit!" Ragna yells, ripping himself from Nu's grip and running toward Hazama. He takes out Bloodscythe and swings it at Hazama, but he easily deflects it and counters with a kick that sends Ragna to the floor. Before he can get up, Hazama stomps on the man's arm, keeping him pinned down.
"You should really follow little Nu-nu's example, Ragna. You shouldn't be so impatient. The good part is about to start, after all," Hazama says. His hat flies off of his head and lands on the ground a few feet to his left, near the pillar. His hair is spiked up, just like the last time that they saw him, in the Sheol Gate. "You see, sweet little Noel Vermillion is right here waiting for you. Are you just going to sit with your thumb up your ass like last time? Oh, and before you do anything..."
Hazama turns to Nu and fires a chain with a snake head at the tip of it. She can't react in time and she gets wrapped up in the chain. Hazama laughs to himself as he holds Nu up into the air and stares at her for a little bit, sticking his tongue out at her as she struggles to break free from the chains.
"You know, I had made the mistake of not watching you the last time that this continuum shift happened," Hazama says. "Nearly got my head cut off by you, you grubby little bitch!"
His attention is turned to Ragna once more as he hears Nu's continued grunts as she attempts to break free from the chains. Ragna tries to break free from Hazama's foot, but he rubs it into Ragna's arm causing him to grunt in pain.
"Oh, that's right! Someone cut off your arm! What? Oh, that's right... I DID! Aww, but don't be sad though little Raggy, I left you one other one so you should just switch hands!" Hazama laughs at his joke.
"You goddamn son of a bitch! I'm not gonna let you get away with this!" Hazama and Ragna yell at the same time.
"You little bastard... I bet you enjoy looking at me like this, huh?" Nu asks, glaring down at Hazama.
"Aww, Nu! I can't forget about you, dear. Here, you've been such a patient doll that I'll give you one free shot!" Hazama smirks at Nu as he lowers her to the floor. As soon as the chains that bound her retract, she runs to Hazama and reaches for him, trying to punch him in the face. Hazama laughs at her attack and pushes her arm out of the way, jumping backwards so Ragna can get up too.
"You know, I'm gonna enjoy this..." Hazama laughs.
"Oh yeah? I'm thinking the same thing too asshole! Restriction 666 released! Dimensional interference field deployed! BlazBlue... activate!" Ragna yells, a black aura beginning to surround him from his BlazBlue's activation.
"BlazBlue? That's a nice little toy you got there, Raggy! How'd you do that? It sounded something like... Restriction 666 released..." Hazama smiles. The ground beneath them starts to rumble tremendously, and Ragna almost loses his footing.
"Shit...! I completely forgot...!" Nu yells.
"Dimensional interference field deployed. Code S.O.L. Activate BlazBlue!" A green circle of energy appears around Hazama as the air around him explodes in a green fire. Ragna's eyes nearly pop out of their sockets as they widen at Hazama's activation of a BlazBlue.
"You... with a BlazBlue!? What the hell is going on here!?" Ragna yells.
"Oh, don't tell me that you don't get it. Come on, work those brain cells of yours! This is why you can't beat me, Rags! Make sure you write this down because there's going to be a test after. I'm the one who created the BlazBlue!" Hazama yells. He looks at Nu and smirks.
"Come on, Nu... aren't you gonna use yours? I'm so curious to see if you can beat me, too!" Hazama laughs.
"No, I'm not. I know it's useless and a waste of energy," Nu says. At her words, Ragna suddenly feels the effects of his Azure Grimoire starting to lessen. It lessens more and more until he can't even feel it anymore.
"What the hell is going on? I can't use my..." Ragna tries to move his arm but it refuses to listen.
"Alright, now let's have some fun, shall we!?" Hazama asks.
Ragna is the first to move, jumping into the air and covering his leg in darkness. Hazama easily deflects his Gauntlet Hades with his own leg and kicks Ragna with his other. Nu fires a few swords at Hazama, but they're easily deflected by his chains.
"Try harder! You guys are so boring!" Hazama yells, blocking another one of Ragna's attacks.
"Rising Fang!" he kicks Ragna far up into the air and then throws one of his chains at him. It wraps around his body and Hazama swings his hand downward, sending Ragna careening down into the ground. He slams into the floor, even creating a crater where he landed.
"Aw Nu, are you feeling lonely?" he turns his head to the girl and she takes a step back. She knows this side of Terumi the most, but she never thought that it would appear now of all times, against her. "Come on over, then. Let's play!"
Nu's eyes widen in surprise as she sees a green circle wrap itself around her. She tries to get out of the way, but it constricts her too fast for her to see. Hazama wraps a chain around her and pulls her toward him, getting out his knives in the process. Nu shuts her eyes as he readies them to start slashing her repeatedly.
"Die, die die die DIE!" Hazama yells as he starts slashing her everywhere he could imagine. She can do nothing to stop him from cutting her up, still constricted by the green circle that surrounds her. She watches as three serpent heads appear behind Hazama. He throws both of his arms forward and they slam themselves into Nu, sending her spiraling away from him. Before she can hit the ground she holds her hand out in front of her and spins herself around, getting back onto her feet.
Hazama turns around just in time to see Ragna charging at him with Bloodscythe held out in front of him. Hazama throws his knives up and somehow blocks the attack. All of this seems so improbable to Ragna. How can Hazama block his giant sword with those little knives? How is he able to deflect Nu's swords with just chains? Is his BlazBlue really that strong? Ragna factors in that he's severely crippled and Nu knows that her BlazBlue will just be negated if she activates it, so he has the distinct advantage over them.
This really is a hopeless battle in Ragna's eyes.
"Dammit..." Ragna swears as Hazama jumps into the air and punches downward, hitting him right on the top of his head. Ragna is forced down from the impact and Hazama takes clear advantage of the situation, grabbing Ragna from the ground and kicking him away from him, right towards Nu. The girl sees Ragna flying towards her and holds her arms to catch him, but the notices the green circle start to appear around her once more. This time she's prepared, and instead of catching Ragna, pushes him away from her and jumps out of the way of the circle.
"It's impressive that you're able to keep up with me even with my BlazBlue activated, dolly. Maybe this isn't going to be as boring as I thought!" Hazama yells, throwing another chain at Nu. She smacks it away from her as she charges at Hazama, her swords lining up in front of her and ready to fire. She points at him and they all start shooting towards him at one second intervals. Dark green energy erupts from Hazama in the form of tendrils, and he sends them at Nu. They block all of the swords that she sent after him and attempt to wrap themselves around Nu, but she ducks underneath of them and starts running toward Hazama once more.
Ragna struggled to his feet once more and starts running alongside Nu. He's not about to let her fight Terumi all on her own. Call it selfish, but he was going to be the one to defeat Terumi, not her. Terumi has a lot that Ragna needs to pay back to him, and he was going to be the on that does it, not Nu. Nu's swords return to her and as she reaches Hazama she back flips, and the swords follow her movement, cutting Hazama right up his chest.
"Ouch, that actually kinda hurt you bitch!" Hazama grunts in pain as he kicks away Ragna once more. "Oh come on, would you just stop already, Raggy! You know that you can't beat me, so why do you even try!? As it is now, little Nu-nu here is the only one that can fight me on an even level... But even so, she's no match for me right now! Look at her, she's struggling!"
"I'm not gonna give up... I'm never going to give up!" Ragna yells, struggling to his feet once more. Hazama laughs at his effort and grabs Nu by the throat, hosting her into the air.
"Well Nu, looks like I'm gonna have a little fun with Raggy for a bit. So, if you don't mind..." Hazama begins. He drops Nu from the air and she prepares a counter attack, but Hazama disappears from sight. "JUST ROLL OVER AND DIE ALREADY!"
He reappears right in front of Nu and he kicks her chin, his leg accompanied by dark green energy. "Serpent's Infernal Rapture!"
Nu is sent flying into the pillar that shoots into the sky and makes an impact crater due to how hard Hazama kicked her. She sticks to the wall for a while before falling down to the ground, unable to do anything but watch as she plummets.
"Before I play with you, Raggy..." Hazama begins, walking to the pillar where Nu landed. He stares up at the Cauldron above and smiles at it.
"You bastard... are you trying to resurrect the Black Beast...?" Nu asks Hazama. He stops and looks at her in silence with a straight face for a few moments before laughing at her.
"The Black Beast!? What the hell would I want with that failed experiment?" Hazama asks.
"How can you say that it was a failure when all that shit happened!?" Nu yells.
"Yeah, it was a failure. It was a real pain in the ass to keep the Cauldron under control," Hazama says. "We learned all sorts of shit in the process, so... y'know."
"What do you mean by Cauldron?" Nu asks.
"I'd appreciate it if you payed more attention to this. These are your final moments after all. The Cauldron is the Grimoire's original form. It gathers souls to smelt the sword inside its body. That was our pet- the Beast! The Murakumo Unit is incomplete. It need the power of the Grimoire," Hazama says. "Don't you remember the you that belongs to this time not shutting up about it? Well, I mean, you did the same thing in your own timeline too but I suppose using something more recent would have been better. This one... this one's different! This thing embodies the true Azure! Now, Murakumo... activate! This world is nothing but lies! Lies! Allow me to show you the truth! The truth called 'Despair'! In the name of Susano'o I command you! Murakumo, awaken! Behold the sword of the god-slayer, Kusanagi! Let all lies fall before your divine blade!"
The Cauldron above opens up to reveal a girl with very long blonde hair with blue eyes inside of it, almost completely naked. She starts falling from the cauldron as Murakumo armor appears on her body, much like Nu's. However, this one is much more... revealing. It leaves nothing for the mind to imagine.
"Finally, I've got the true successor to the Azure! Try and stop me now, Master Unit Amaterasu!" Hazama yells as the girl lands on the ground in front of Nu.
"You bastaaaard!" Ragna screams as he starts running to Hazama yet again. The girl blocks his attack flawlessly with her swords.
"Aww, now isn't that cute! Who's my good little sword...? It's you. Yes you are! Yes you are!" Hazama says in a baby-like tone. "Oh, now don't get jealous Rags, but this sword is all mine now. Isn't she nice, though? It wasn't cheap but I thought: 'You know, Hazama, you deserve this. Spoil yourself! Go for the 'Ragna's Little Sister model'! Oh, but don't worry though. You can still have the other Ragna's Little Sister model! She's right over there, see?" Hazama points to Nu, who stands up on her feet once more, still ready to fight with Hazama. "Though, I guess I played a little rough with her. Don't worry, she's really... durable. You see, this all works out in the end!"
"I'm gonna rip your goddamn head off!" Ragna yells, clearly in a blind rage.
"C'mon, Ragna, hate me more! Give me some of that delicious hatred! You know, it was you that's keeping me in this world, and now little miss Noel has given me a chance to stay! So hate me all you want! Come on, I need that hatred!" Hazama yells.
"Noel!" Nu yells. "I'll take care of you!"
Her swords reappear behind her and point themselves at Noel. The girl turns around and only stares at Nu.
"Ooh, now this should be interesting to watch! Nu-13 vs. Mu-12!" Hazama laughs to himself. "No, wait... Kusanagi, you don't have the time for this. You need to go down there and kick the ever-loving shit out of Amaterasu, so go ahead and do that for daddy."
Mu turns to Hazama and nods her head. "Acknowledged." Before anyone can stop her she dashes off, down into the Librarium.
"Oh, no, Jin!" Nu yells. She knows where she's heading, and she doesn't like it one bit.
"Shouldn't you have more pressing matters to worry about? Then again, I did say that I was gonna play with Raggy for a bit," Hazama says. "Though, I guess if you're in such a hurry to die I mind as well save you the agonizing wait. You were good Nu, I'll give you that."
The same tendrils that he shot at her before send themselves soaring toward her again. Nu knows that she has no time to dodge them and shuts her eyes tight. She hears her own voice grunt in pain and her eyes open themselves slowly to see Lambda standing in front of Nu, the tendrils meant for her coming out of the other.
"Lambda..." Nu mutters.
"You stupid doll...! Fine, then you can die too!" Hazama yells. He pulls the tendril out of Lambda, causing more blood to splatter on the ground. She falls into Nu, who catches her before she hits the ground.
"Shit!" Ragna yells, running over to Nu and Lambda.
"Rag...na..." Lambda utters.
"...Nu... it... it was you...?" Ragna asks.
"Did I do a good job... big sister...?" Nu-13 asks, looking at Nu.
"...Yes..." Nu mutters.
"Ragna... it's been a long time..." Nu-13 says, looking back to Ragna.
"For... for so long Nu was out in the Boundary by herself... I kept... I kept dreaming about you..." Nu-13 says. "That's why... Nu wasn't lonely..."
The girl starts to fade away as Ragna says, "I'm so sorry, Nu..."
"Nu will forever be by your sides..." Nu-13 says, as she completely fades away into little yellow orbs. Ragna starts sobbing uncontrollably when she's completely gone. Nu remains silent.
"This is bullshit! Why the hell did you die for us!?" Ragna asks.
"What is this?" Ragna hears Kokonoe's voice in his mind. "Ragna...? Ragna, this is you, isn't it?"
"Kokonoe..." Ragna says.
"How am I...? That's impossible...! Ragna, did you absorb Lambda's Idea Engine?" Kokonoe asks. "But how...?"
"Hey, uh... guys? It kinda really hurts when you just leave me out like that. I mean, I know you've got your own stuff, and that soap opera right there was a real hoot to watch, but... hey, wait a second..." Hazama looks at Ragna, whose fists start shaking.
"Restriction 666 released. Dimensional interference field deployed," Ragna says.
"What? We've been through this befo-" Hazama begins.
"Now engaging the Idea Engine! BlazBlue... activate!" Ragna yells.
"What!?" Hazama is taken by surprise at Ragna's sudden activation of his BlazBlue. The dark aura that normally surrounded him begins to surround him once more.
"I'm gonna kill you," he says darkly.
"He can use his BlazBlue...? The Idea Engine thing must have overridden it! Wait..." Nu begins.
"You only have a prototype. There'll be some negative drawbacks, though, so be careful. You'll know when to use it when the time comes."
"Restriction 666 released... Dimensional interference field deployed... Engaging the Idea Engine... Murakumo Unit activate... Activate BlazBlue!" Nu yells. A dark, swirling energy erupts out of her, catching both Hazama and Ragna by surprise.
"Are you kidding me!?" Hazama yells. "Oh, this doesn't matter, I'll still wipe the floor with you!"
"Nu... you have that too?" Ragna asks.
"I'll destroy you, Terumi!" Nu yells, rushing at Hazama. For what seems to be the first time in ages, the man's eyes widen. He is taken by utter surprise when Nu almost teleports to him and picks him up effortlessly. She jumps high into the air and wraps her arms around him. He struggles to break free, but her grip is too strong. She drives him into the ground head first and jumps away from him. Hazama growls in rage as he stands up, firing a chain at Ragna. Ragna grabs it out of the air and pulls Hazama towards him, punching him in the face as soon as he gets close enough.
Hazama falls to the floor, but gets up immediately, using his knives to slash at Ragna's legs. His blades tear into Ragna's right leg, forcing him down. Hazama smirks and swipes downward, scooping Ragna out of the air. He jumps into the air and spins around, kicking him down to the ground. Ragna tries to get up but he's caught by Hazama and is thrown into the air again. This time, Hazama throws chains at him. They wrap around him and Hazama smiles as he starts laughing maniacally, throwing Ragna into the ground with the chains, raising him back up into the air and slamming him back down again.
Nu rushes to Hazama and slashes him with her swords across his stomach. She knows that he can finally feel all of the pain that they're dishing out to him, but she still has to be careful. She knows the kind of trickery that Hazama uses. This fight is finally looking more even, but now she and Ragna have to be more careful than ever. She doesn't want to die due to carelessness.
Hazama jumps to his feet and slams down on Nu's head, sending her to the ground. He stands over of her, and before she can get up starts to stomp on her head. He repeats the stomps over and over and over and over again until he's satisfied, deciding to grind his foot on it. He crouches down and smirks at Nu. "Not even worth my time."
He uses his foot to flip her over and kicks her right into Ragna, who was rushing over to help Nu get out of Hazama's vicious kicks. Ragna catches Nu and sets her down on the ground.
"Wait, shit... I can use my Grimoire now!" Ragna announces, realizing that since he's been able to stay in his powered up state he has to be able to use his Grimoire's powers now. "Take this Terumi! Carnage..."
Ragna charges at Hazama, propelling himself forward with his blade. Hazama tries to block the attack this time, but the sword knocks one of his knives right out of his hands. "Scissors!"
An explosion of red energy attacks Hazama, sending him flying into the air.
"Hahahaha! NOW THIS IS FUN! WE'RE HAVING A GOOD TIME, NOW!" Hazama screams as he lands on the floor. "Kill me! Kill me kill me kill me kill me!"
"What the hell is wrong with you!?" Ragna asks as he stabs Hazama with his sword. The suited man coughs up blood, splattering it on Ragna's face and the bottom of Bloodscythe, and then smiles.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" he says ominously. Ragna pulls Bloodscythe out of him and puts it back. Hazama falls to the floor, still coughing up blood. He looks up at Ragna, who's starting to walk away. "C'mon now, what the hell is that!? You're just gonna... ugh! You're just gonna walk away when you have the perfect chance to take my life!?"
"I'm not gonna waste the energy on degenerate scum like you, bastard," Ragna says. "Besides, that lifelink is going to make killing you a bitch. I'm not done with you yet, so just lay there and suffer, okay? C'mon, Nu, let's go find Noel."
"Ah, I get it! Hurgh... You're just... chicken!" Hazama turns around so he can look up into the sky. No one can see it, but the man has a smirk on his face.
Ragna walks down into the Librarium. However, Nu stays. She walks to Hazama's motionless body.
"You're fucking smiling. Why are you fucking smiling you piece of shit?" Nu asks.
"Someone's a little..." Hazama coughs. "Hostile... You sad that I just killed the you of this timeline again? You... shouldn't be!"
"I... when I first saw here I treated her like she was a cheap knockoff of me... I was nothing but cruel to her. But... she died for me! Wouldn't you see why I would be as mad as I am!?" Nu asks. "So I'm gonna do what Ragna's too weak to do."
"You're gonna kill me, then?" Hazama asks. He laughs. "Oh please, go ahead. I mean, I'd love to stop you if I could move, but that's not exactly possible now, is it?"
Nu hoists Hazama up from the ground and her swords all stab him in different locations. Hazama realizes just how she's going to go about killing him and laughs.
"Man, what a brutal way to die! Befitting of someone like me, right!?" Hazama asks. Nu stops and turns her full attention to Hazama. "Go ahead, don't stop. Do it. You're not weak like Ragna, right?"
"Even in death, you're still making jokes. Then die laughing, you clown," Nu says, beginning to make her swords pull on him.
"You don't know what you've done... Prime Field Device... Nu 13..." Hazama cackles as Nu's swords split him in two. The two pieces of his body fall at either side of Nu in a bloody heap as a rain of crimson falls down onto her face.
"I... actually killed him..." Nu says, turning to face the staircase downstairs. "It's over... this nightmare... is finally, finally over..."
Hakumen stands in the remains of the Sheol Gate with Jin and Tsubaki at his side. The three have been waiting for whatever it is that's supposed to come here for a long time. The only thing that they could pay attention to was the fight that was erupting upstairs. The sounds of battle and the countless screaming died down, so they were left in silence once more. They refused to speak with one another.
Until...
The gate that is positioned at the bottom begins to open, the same as it had done when the Nu that belonged to this timeline appeared out of it. Is something going to come out of this one? What is it that they are waiting for, exactly?
"Sankishin Susano'o Unit confirmed," a voice says. Hakumen, Tsubaki, and Jin turn around to see a girl wearing next to nothing with eight swords behind her and blonde hair walking up to them.
"So... it is you, Child of the Azure," Hakumen says.
"...Noel...?" Tsubaki takes a step forward.
"No, Tsubaki! Don't go near her! Right now that's not the Noel that you know. That is Kusanagi... Mu-12!" Hakumen warns.
"But...!" Tsubaki looks at Hakumen, and then back to Noel. She can't believe that she's seeing the girl like this. What happened to her? Who did this to her?
"Hakumen is right, Tsubaki. You should lay back and leave this to us," Jin says as a cross made out of ice appears in front of him. A blade is encased in it, and he grabs it out of the cross.
"I am the white void. I am the cold steel. I am the just sword. With blade in hand shall I reap the sins of this world and cleanse it in the fires of destruction! I am Hakumen! The end has come!" Hakumen cries out, drawing Ookami from its sheath.
'Never would I have thought the day would come where I team up with myself...' Hakumen thinks as Jin prepares himself for battle.
"Deploying petals," Mu says. Behind her two little spheres appear. They open up to reveal guns stationed inside of them. Hakumen smirks from underneath his helm.
"Jin Kisaragi, leave this to me," Hakumen says. As the guns fire little lasers at the two, Hakumen slashes them with his sword, making two red circles appear in front of them. Jin looks at them in awe. He had never seen something quite like this before. He supposes that it's a good thing that one of the Six Heroes is here.
"Noel! Please, wake up!" Tsubaki yells from the sidelines. "Please!"
"Tsubaki, it's no use! She can't hear you!" Jin says, looking back to the red haired girl.
Mu moves from the entrance of the gate to the other end and Hakumen jumps for the guns she summoned earlier. He slashes them with Ookami and they explode into pieces. He lands on the ground and turns around just in time to block an attack from Mu with his sword. Her swords move around his blade, but Hakumen grabs Mu before she can command them to do anything else and throws her away from him.
Jin calls up a wall of ice and catches her as she's flying away from the two and toward Tsubaki. He hears a surprised gasp from her as the ice wall shoots up in front of her, but she's safe otherwise. Jin decides to keep that ice wall up so that Tsubaki didn't get hurt during the current battle and rushes to Mu, Yukianesa ready to slash at her.
"Ineffective," Mu says as a prism-like object appears around her, shielding her from Yukianesa. The blade bounces off of it, surprising Jin. He didn't expect it to just reflect his sword like that!
"You damned bitch... you were a pain in the ass when you were Noel Vermillion, and you're still a pain in the ass now!" Jin yells, creating a bow made of ice with Yukianesa. Hakumen stands out of the way as he fires multiple arrows made out of ice at Mu. The girl starts slashing the arrows away, but a few make contact with her since there were more arrows than there were swords.
"Hey! Hakumen! We're here!" Hakumen turns around when he hears Ragna's voice. Alongside him he sees Rachel and Nu tagging along with him. How Rachel got here is beyond his understanding, but that doesn't matter right now. What matters is the battle at hand.
"Do not interfere. This battle is between us," Hakumen says as he slashes at Mu, only for his blade to be deflected by her own. He swipes his sword at her once more, but their blades clash again. Hakumen, instead of using his blade, kicks her in the stomach, taking her by surprise. Mu goes flying into the ice wall that Jin set up in front of Tsubaki once more, but bounces back like nothing had ever happened to her.
Jin steps in front of Hakumen and stabs Yukianesa into the ground, causing a pillar of ice to shoot up and hit Mu on her way to them. She is caught by surprise and is sent hurdling toward Jin, who makes his bow and arrow once again, firing more shots at her that, this time, she can't avoid. Eventually she is frozen by these arrows and falls to the floor helplessly.
Hakumen takes a step forward and pulls his blade back. "This is the end, Child of the Azure!"
Before his blade can connect with the ice sculpture that is Mu-12, the Murakumo Unit suddenly bursts out of her icy prison and dodges Hakumen's blade. "Sword of Decimation!"
The swords behind her form a much larger one and it swings itself at Hakumen. The armored man can only hold his arm up and form a red shield before it hits him. "Empty Sky Form: Winter's Riposte!"
Hakumen pauses for a second and slashes forward, going at a speed that even Mu couldn't have seen. She feels the sting of his sword cutting into her flesh, but disregards it. She has no time for pain.
"Damage..." Mu announces. Jin smirks as he realizes that they're beginning to push her to her limit, and the two may win this fight. However, his hopes are crushed when Mu's swords disappear and reappear in front of him. He puts up a shield of ice at the last second, but the sword breaks through it and only catches his arm.
"Dammit... you're just full of tricks aren't you, Noel Vermillion!? I'll end your misery right here! Reaping Blizzard!" Jin slashes his sword upward and a giant wave of ice starts to make its way to Mu. The Murakumo Unit jumps over it and starts moving her arms slowly and deliberately. Four guns come out from nowhere and start firing at Jin.
Hakumen leaps in front of them and slashes all of the lasers that were making their way to Jin, instantly destroying them. Jin sighs in relief and looks at Hakumen, a rare sign of respect.
"I have to thank you for that, Hakumen," Jin says. He stands at Hakumen's side once more and they continue their assault on Mu.
"Hakumen, don't you go dying on me now!" Nu yells from the sidelines. Ragna turns to her, staring at her in disbelief.
"What are we doing just standing here? We have to go and help them!" Ragna yells at her. Nu shakes her head at Ragna.
"Ragna, they said that they can handle it. Do you have such little faith in them that you think they can't do it without our help? That's pretty rude of you," Nu says. "I don't know about your Jin, but my Jin can handle much worse than this!"
Mu grabs Hakumen as he tries to slash at her and raises him into the air, much like Nu. The sword make their way to stab Hakumen repeatedly, but Jin throws a sword made out of ice at Mu. The sword change their priority and slash at the sword, breaking it apart before it can make it to her. Hakumen takes the time to spin around in Mu's grasp and kick her into the air. He takes the time that she has in the air to land and catch his bearings, and prepares himself for more when she comes down.
"Deploying more petals. Switching current threat level to SS," Mu says, throwing more guns out for the two. This time they're all in different locations. Mu is making sure that Hakumen can't use Ookami to destroy the lasers that they summon.
"Stand by me, Hakumen!" Jin yells, throwing up a sphere of ice around them to protect from the lasers. He hears them fire and starts to focus on maintaining the ice. He knows that they can easily melt through the ice wall, but if he puts all of his focus into it, he can keep it up and the lasers won't touch them.
Hakumen sees part of the ice wall start to turn into water and taps Jin's shoulder to alert him that they were breaking through anyway, moving to the edge of the sphere to avoid some of the lasers. Jin lets out a cry of pain as one of them catches his shoulder. It burns!
The ice wall that surrounded by dissipates and Hakumen moves out from the area quickly, looking around to find where Mu is. He feels her swords graze his back and he turns around to see her right there in front of him, flipping herself over. Her legs connect with his own and he falls to the ground on his knees. Mu looks at him for a moment before preparing her swords to pierce right through the Susano'o Unit.
"Dammit!" Hakumen swears. He moves out of the way just in time to avoid getting gutted by Mu's blades and counterattacks by hopping up and spinning around, crying out "Tsubaki!"
Tsubaki, from the sidelines, watches as Hakumen's technique in awe. Though the situation looked terribly bad, she can't help but marvel at both Jin and Hakumen's nerves of steel. She even got to hear Hakumen's speech, too!
Jin slashes at Mu this time, hoping to at least get one scratch on her. Most of the damage has been from Hakumen this battle, and the two of them are feeling their fair share of pain. Mu blocks Jin's sword and grabs his arm, yanking him closer to her. She thrusts her hands out, piercing him with the blades attached to them. Jin yells as she rips them out of his body, kicking him away from her and into the same ice wall that he created. Jin laughs at the irony of the situation for a quick second and jumps back into the fray.
He slashes at Mu once more, only to have it once again blocked by her swords. This time, she kicks him in his ribcage, watching as he falls to the ground after feeling the blade on her legs cut him. Hakumen jumps in to save Jin from Mu's next attack, but Jin calls up a wall of ice to protect both him and make it known to Hakumen that he was going to be fighting this for now, and that Hakumen should get out of the way. As the ice wall sinks into the ground, he looks into Jin's eyes. It looks like they're pleading with him to let him fight more.
Hakumen understands this gesture and backs away, still holding Ookami in case something terrible happens and he needs to intervene.
Jin struggles to his feet to meet Mu, and this time kicks at her. Mu deflects the blow with her own leg and throws a fist at Jin, aimed in a way to that the blade attached to her hand cuts into him. Jin ducks underneath of the blade and stabs Mu in the stomach with the hilt of his blade. She is surprised by the sudden strike and Jin takes full advantage of this. He slashes her up with no distinct patter in his slashes. Afterwards, he slashes seemingly through her, much like Hakumen's Winter's Riposte. She is frozen by this attack, and when Jin sheathes his sword the ice around her breaks.
"Why do you still stand?" Mu asks as she gets back up on her feet.
"So I can wipe monsters like you from this world," Jin replies, slashing at Mu once more. The Murakumo Unit commands her swords to move in front of Jin and block his blade, stopping it dangerously close from piercing her chest. She looks at the guns that have been placed and jumps back from Jin, bending over. A blue laser appears on her back and is fired from it, toward one of the guns.
"Hah! What are you doing, you stupid puppet!?" Jin asks, running up to Mu and slashing her once more across the stomach. The Murakumo Unit bends over in pain at this, but is watching the laser that is moving from gun to gun behind Jin. He notices that she wasn't paying any real attention to him and looks where she is looking, only to see the blue laser that she fired aimed right for his shoulder. He moves out of the way as fast as he can and it only catches his arm, running down it and burning him. He yelps out in pain as he habitually grabs his new wound.
"JIN!" Tsubaki yells, running forward to the wall of ice. She can't stand watching this fight anymore. Jin is going to die if it keeps up! She has to save him! "Get out of my way!"
She takes the blade of the Izayoi and slashes the ice wall with it, cutting it down and shattering it to pieces. Jin looks at Tsubaki as she runs toward him. Mu stands on top of Jin's back, preventing him from moving. All he can do is watch as Tsubaki runs to him.
"Noel, please wake up from this! This is your friend Jin you're doing this to!" Tsubaki yells.
"I am... I am... Kusanagi," Mu responds, looking back to Jin. She raises her foot off of the ground and prepares to decapitate the man with the blade attached to her leg. Tsubaki, just in time, pushes Mu off of Jin. The man looks up at Tsubaki, surprised that she put herself in danger to save him.
"Tsubaki... why did you save me...?" Jin asks. Tsubaki looks down at Jin and smiles at him warmly.
"I don't want to see you die in front of me, Jin..." Tsubaki says. "Now stand up. We can fight together."
"...Tsubaki, no!" Jin yells. Tsubaki looks at Mu and her eyes widen. Mu's swords are flying straight at Tsubaki, and she has no time to move out of the way.
"Tsubaki!" Hakumen yells, running to the girl. He watches as Jin gets up from the ground quickly and pushes Tsubaki aside.
Hakumen freezes.
Just about everyone in the room freezes.
"Guh... Tsubaki... Are you... alright...?" Jin chokes out. All eight swords are lodged inside of his chest.
Tsubaki stares at the sight before her in shock. She lies down on the floor, unable to move. Then, she screams his name. Her scream is ear splitting compared to all of the other screams that Hakumen or Nu or even Ragna have heard in their lives. Her scream is filled with pain, frustration, anger... all of those emotions at the same time.
Tears start to form from her eyes as she crawls over to Jin, who falls on the floor beside her. The swords disappear from his body, and Mu only stares at the scene before her. It looks like she is pained to continue on.
No one can move, though. They're all in shock.
"Jin! Jin, why!?" Tsubaki asks, picking Jin's head up from the ground and resting it on her lap. Jin looks up at Tsubaki and smiles.
"I... wanted to save you... Tsubaki..." Jin manages to say. He closes his eyes and looks up to the ceiling, opening his eyes to see everyone by his side. "I always imagined that this was how it was... going to end... A man who lives on the battlefield... dies on the battlefield. Tsubaki... Do you remember what you said...? About wanting to be by my side? The same... goes for me..."
"Jin... why the hell did you have to go and do that!?" Ragna yells.
"Brother... Brother... it's you..." Jin smiles. It isn't the sadistic smile that is usually on his face when he calls his name. It's one of true happiness. "Brother... I'm so glad to see you..."
"Jin, don't talk... Save your strength..." Tsubaki says. "Please, don't talk like you're dying! You're not going to die, Jin! You're not!"
"...Tsubaki... if there was one thing that I always wanted to tell you..." Jin reaches his hand up to Tsubaki's tear-ridden face and cups it gently with his hand. "I..."
He doesn't finish.
No longer finding the strength to keep his eyes open, Jin's arm falls to his side and he shuts his eyes.
"Nu... and... and... Jin, now, too!?" Ragna gets up from the ground and points at Mu. At Noel.
"THAT WAS MY BROTHER YOU BITCH!" he roars as he charges at Mu. Hakumen grabs Ragna before he can attack Mu, bringing him back down to the ground.
"Dark One... I do not need to see you die, either," Hakumen says. Ragna remembers that Hakumen is his brother underneath of that armor and realizes how painful it must be for Hakumen to see himself die right before his eyes.
"Jin Kisaragi..." Hakumen begins. "He was a noble man. A man of honor. He walked the path he chose without hesitation, and he fought for what he thought was right. He... in the end... he died protecting those he cared for. He may not have shown it... but he deeply cared for you, Tsubaki, Ragna..."
"Why are you speaking like you know him...?" Tsubaki asks.
"A tale for another time," Hakumen says, unable to look the woman in the eye. "Jin Kisaragi... in the end... you were truly... a respectable man."
"I always knew Jin cared about me. I guess... I guess he just did it in his own way..." Ragna says. "But... I never imagined that he would die in front of me like this..."
"Ragna... he's... your brother...?" Tsubaki asks. There is no doubt in Ragna's mind that she heard Jin call him brother.
"Yes. Jin's my little brother..." Ragna nods slowly.
"...I see..." Tsubaki says.
"Commencing attack," Mu says. Hakumen spins around on his feet and punches Mu away from everyone.
"Stay back, you fiend!" Hakumen screams.
"Phew... man, what a touching scene. If I actually gave a shit I'd have been crying."
Slowly, Nu and Ragna look up to see a man wearing a black suit standing in front of them, looking down at Jin Kisaragi. His green hair is kept underneath of a fedora. He holds it so that it covers his eye.
"Terumi! How the hell are you still alive!?" Nu yells.
"Aww! What's with the glares!? I was hoping that you would all be so happy to see me! You guys are mean," Hazama says in a fake hurt tone. "Aaanyway, breaking news! I just took away all of Takamagahara's power!"
"Impossible! If you have, then why are you here!?" Hakumen asks.
"Well, I have to admit, the credit for this one goes all to Rags and Nu-nu!" Hazama starts clapping. "And you wanna know what your reward is? DEATH, HANDED TO YOU ON A SILVER PLATTER!"
Hazama throws one of his Ouroboros chains at Ragna, but Hakumen pushes him out of the way. The chains continue on their path, heading for Mu. Hazama's taken by surprise and tries to call back his chains, but it's too late.
"Well, shit," Hazama says as the chains bite into Mu's body. "Oh god... this doesn't look too good. Hey, Kusanagi! Ignore that! Friendly fire, I swear!"
"New target added," Mu says.
"Oh, you little bitch. Come on, you stupid doll, I'm the guy who friggin' made you! Show some goddamn respect!" Hazama yells.
"...I am... I AM!" Mu yells, breaking the chains that ensnared her. "I HATE YOU. I HATE YOU. HATE HATE HATE HATE HATEHATEHATEHATEHATE!"
"What the hell is going on with her!?" Nu yells. "Terumi, what did you do!?"
"It wasn't what I did, you retard! It's her already fragile mind going mentally insane!" Hazama snaps. "Wait, this could work out in my favor! Kusanagi, these guys are the guys you should be-"
He narrowly dodges an attack from Mu aimed directly at his head and sighs as he backs away from her slowly. "You know... nothing can go right, can it? Alright, you wanna play with me, you little bitch? That's fine. But be warned... I play a little rough! Restriction 666 released! Dimensional interference field deployed! Code S.O.L., activate BlazBlue!"
Hazama turns to the others behind him and smirks. "Hey, Jin, we're all in this together, right? I just joined in the fight with my little dolly. You see, she's just becoming such a miserable pile of garbage that I have to teach her a lesson... possibly even put her down if she keeps misbehaving. So why not work together? C'mon, for old time's sake?"
"You think I would put my trust into you, Terumi? What's stopping me from believing that you're going to betray us in the end, just like last time?" Hakumen asks.
"Did he just call you Jin, Hakumen...?" Tsubaki asks. "I... I don't understand what's going on here! What's wrong with Noel, why is Ragna the Bloodedge working with one of the Six Heroes!? Why are you here, Captain Hazama, and what are they talking about!? Why did Jin have to die!?"
"Oh, you're telling me you don't know? Well, alright then, First Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi... lemme tell ya a story!" Hazama begins.
"I suggest you stop speaking lest I sever your head from your body," Hakumen says. "Besides... do we not have a... common enemy?"
"Ah, yes, Kusanagi, that's right," Hazama turns around. "You must excuse me, Hakumen. Oh, and Tsubaki? I think it'd be a really good thing if you just activated your Izayoi right now. Y'know, safety measures."
Then, he turns his full attention to Mu. "Alright you bitch... it's time for daddy to give out his punishment! Naught girls do need to get spanked after all."
Hakumen stands by Hazama's side in complete disbelief that he would be fighting alongside the man once more.
"It's been a long time since we've done this, huh? Bout 100 years, right? Man, this sure brings back some memories! Feeling nostalgic yet, bud?" Hazama asks.
"Shut up, Terumi. After we defeat Kusanagi I will turn my blade to you. None of you interfere with this," Hakumen says.
"Yeah. Me and good ol' Haku here are more than enough to kick this bitch's shit in," Hazama says.
"Let's go!" Hakumen and Hazama shout at the same time.