Chapter 11: Goddess of War
While Sirius and Mizuna were on a date – err, outing – somewhere, trouble was brewing at Katipunan's LRT station. As they debarked, some of the passengers fell to the floor as glass corpses, having their life energy drained by a pair of giant fangs, then shattered. In a terrified panic, the rest of them stampeded their way up the stairs. The Fangire, seeing his food running up the stairs, gave chase, specifically opting to target a young boy who was trailing behind. But before he could touch him…
There was a small explosion of white energy as the Fangire was blasted into the nearby wall, followed by the sound of bullets. The boy turned to see who it was: a woman, in her twenties, holding a knuckle duster in her right hand and a submachine gun in her left. "Run!" she said to the kid, who obeyed immediately. With him out of the way, she turned her attention back to the monster, whose arms suddenly reformed themselves into hammer-like projections.
"Monster…" she said. "God made a big mistake when he let your kind live," She then punched the knuckle duster into the floor, creating a small creater. "Ready," said a rasping, robotic voice that seemed to come from it.
"Henshin!" shouted the woman as she slid it downwards into her belt. "Fist on."
A bronze, armored figure materialized in midair and encased her, flashing white as it did so. When the transformation ended, she was clad in white armor, akin to the one Steve had donned, with a cross where her face was; the one difference from his version was that the cross didn't open to reveal her faceplate. She then swept her right arm to the side as she assumed a fighting stance. "Those lives you took… return them to God!"
The monster roared as it charged the woman, who followed its lead. Their punches met, sending the both of them tumbling backwards; good thing she landed on her feet. She wasted no time going on the offensive, hitting the Fangire with hard, fast blows that left it gasping for air. Each attempt it made at counterattacking only led the woman to punish it further. And with a side kick to the gut, she sent it crashing into the stairs.
With the intent of putting the Fangire out of its misery, she took out a white whistle on the side of her belt and plugged it into the buckle.
"Ixa Knuckle - Rise Up."
She then took the Ixa Knuckle in her right hand and swept it to her side, as she did earlier; white energy seemed to be playing on the knuckle's tips. The monster charged at her once more with an unearthly roar, but she didn't give an inch. She crouched slightly, drawing her right fist back.
And as the Fangire reached point-blank range, she drove the Ixa Knuckle full-force into its chest, turning its dark-purple hued body into a stained-glass sculpture; the left hook that followed shattered it completely. It was at that moment that her armor dissolved and she replaced the Ixa Knuckle in the pocket of her jeans. She answered her phone, which began to ring.
"This is Hilda," she said. "What, another attack?" She sighed as she popped a piece of candy in her mouth; today was a very exhausting day. "Alright, I'm there."
Unknown to her, the security cameras captured the scene on video…
That night, at an office building in the business district of Makati City, Steve and his father watched the footage of the battle; needless to say, it came as an utter shock that the Ixa System, supposedly the exclusive property of Steve, was being used by someone else; a woman, at that! He watched her as she took care of the Fangire, torn between disdain and admiration as he held his own Ixa Knuckle in a death grip. She was good; about as good as, if not better than him.
When the video finished, his father spoke. "It can't be…"
"What is it, dad?"
"We did make a prototype Ixa way back in '86," explained Steve's father. "We assigned it to a nun who took part in the People Power Revolution, in case things got bloody. With a mad dictator like Marcos, it was natural that we take precautions, right, son? Even then," he added, voice swelling with pride, "Ixa turned its user into a one-man army – not something to sneeze at, considering the limited technology we had back then, eh?"
Steve grinned at his father; if Ixa was that strong 22 years ago, how much more now? At the same time, though, he figured that something that powerful would come with correspondingly debilitating backlash. And the next thing his father said proved him right:
"Unfortunately, it still had technical problems. Like, say, if you use it for too long it'll hurt horribly," the older man observed. "Of course, that still holds true for your Ixa, but the time limit's a lot more forgiving in your case. For her to use it like she does…" he finished, "She must be something else."
Steve couldn't help but agree with this assessment. "What should I do then, dad?" he asked.
"If – and I'm sure you will – you encounter her, try to bring her here," replied Steve's father. "We may be able to upgrade her system to match yours. Besides," he added, "In the fight against Fangires, we need all the help we can possibly get."
"And Kiva?" asked Steve, referring to his batchmate whom he had fought alongside during the graduation. "I've fought alongside him, dad, he seems to be on our side as well!"
At this, Steve's father bowed his head. "It's… too early to tell," he said as he looked at his son. "Keep an eye on him a little while longer. Then we'll decide," he finished.
In his condo at Burgundy, Sirius was practicing guitar on the Death Jammer as Kivat and Mizuna watched, the latter looking at him with misty eyes; not only did the music turn her on, so did Sirius's voice – as did Sirius himself. He refused to look at her as he played, focusing his eyes on the carpet, although his cheeks were bright red by now. When he had played the last note, she clapped wildly; it was here that he forced himself to look at her.
"T-thanks," he stammered, pink in the face; it was like this whenever there was a girl in front of him, but more so in Mizuna's case; being more than human, her beauty was correspondingly unearthly. In fact, those who saw them earlier were shooting glances at her – guys out of desire, girls out of envy. She giggled in that manner only she could, causing Sirius to feel the sensation of butterflies in his stomach.
"I can see now why Mao picked you, Master," she said admiringly, smiling as she did so. "I'm surprised you aren't taken yet!"
Sirius hid his face as he disappeared behind his PSP, Kivat laughing on his shoulder. "Stop it Mizuna, you're making him blush," he said teasingly. "He's not used to girls, let alone Mermaids, telling him these things!"
"Oh shut up, you stupid bat."
Meanwhile, Mao heard someone lurking in his front yard. He went out the door to see who it was; sure enough, the glowing red eyes of Lilith greeted him. "Good evening, Your Majesty," she said, performing her salute. "Her Highness sent me to fight in her place."
Understandably, Mao was disappointed and incensed. He asked the Queen, specifically, to come and settle things. If he was going to die, it wasn't going to be at the hands of one of her amateur underlings. He doubted this little girl even knew the first thing about being a Rider! Nevertheless, he smiled as he bowed slightly, preparing for battle. "You're not the one I want to fight," he said. "But since you came all the way here, I'll be sure to entertain you!"
He grinned, showing his white, even teeth, as he morphed into the Goat Fangire.
tbc
