A\N: So...this chapter isn't very long...
…
Hey! Don't look at that scroll bar to the right. That means nothing!
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or Rosario+Vampire. All are written respectively by Akira Toriyama and Akihisa Ikeda.
The headmaster, Tenmei Mikogami, looked beyond the large glass window behind his desk. Even though he couldn't see anything going on, his incredible foresight and ability to predict outcomes was one of the reasons many had trusted him as the headmaster. Though some had questioned the unusual methods, it was assumed that he most certainly knew what he was doing.
It seemed though that nothing was going to be gained from what he had entrusted the newspaper club to "investigate", although, they would at least know who they were going to be dealing with. The only thing that was likely to be gained would be deaths...more than what normally occurred on average.
...and for this reason, the school's grave master would have a surprising end to his long break of managing the dead.
"You called for me, Mikogami-sama?" the gravemaster entered his large office slowly and respectively.
The headmaster turned his head slowly to allow one of his eyes to glance upon the gravemaster. "Pardon the usual request but, I need you to prepare about a hundred graves," he requested.
The gravemaster flinched and he could only reaffirm the request with a bit of fear...
"A...a hundred graves sir? But that's-are they actually going to be a hundred corpses to bury?!" he asked, hesitant in his voice.
The headmaster shrugged. "Yes or no...it depends actually. Regardless, I need you to at least prepare the holes...is that a problem?"
The gravemaster pulled himself together and began nodding furiously. "No absolutely not sir! I'll...I'll get to it right away!"
As the gravemaster took his leave, the headmaster couldn't help but chuckle as he heard the gravemaster's grumbling outside the door.
Well well newspaper club, what's it going to be? the robed man thought as his chuckled deepened.
The hanger clattered with drops of water as the emergency sprinklers continued to run from the deteriorating ceiling to the cold ground filled with cardboard boxes and various wooden items. The interior seemed a lot darker with the sprinklers especially with all the gang members outside of the hanger save for one...
...Midou.
It surprised everyone of the newspaper club to see that the man was not out for the count. He had managed to somehow get up after being beaten and depleted of his youki, something of which occurred when the monstrel gathered everything he had left to land a concussive blow to the half-saiyan's back while he was protecting the sealed vampire, Moka, from a sprinkler system. Unfortunately for him though, it was going to take a lot more than that to kill the half-saiyan warrior.
But now, everyone could feel the gang leader's youkai somehow slowly returning while the rest of the gang members' youki were mysteriously depleting. The half-saiyan could sense all men's lifeforce somehow transferring to Midou and most definitely without their say. They were all moaning and shivering on the ground, adding to the fact that they were beaten by the girls of the club. It was slightly disturbing hearing everyones' groan at the same time.
It didn't make matters better to see that the gang leader was being quiet and groaning himself. His eyes were void of any pupils while his face tightened with an overwhelming sensation of pain. It only made them more confused as to what was going on. The scene looked similar to the time with Oyakata was transferring energy from Broly to herself. It didn't work well in the end though.
"Gohan! Quickly, kill Midou now!" a certain, experienced braided witch yelled meters away as she flew towards the gang's location near the hangar. Her black-feathered wings were still and raised as she allowed herself to glide swiftly down.
The half-saiyan blinked and turned around in confusion to see the witch back from her battle with her eyes wide with urgency. He noticed a few cuts and bruises though it hardly startled him as much as her request.
Kill him? But- the half-saiyan stopped himself in his thoughts and stared at the incoming witch with uncertainty.
"What do you mean? What's going on, Ruby?" Gohan asked back, raising his voice to ensure that the witch could hear it as she continued to glide down from the air.
It was perfectly clear to the witch and unfortunately, she hoped he wouldn't have to ask such questions now. She sighed and tried to calm down. There was still time to explain what was going on though, this was something that she, Moka, and Gohan would be certainly familiar with. She didn't want to dawdle though considering the fact that time was limited.
She stepped next to Gohan as she rotated herself upright and retracted her wings, dispersing them into many black feathers which fluttered down to the ground below her and the group. She turned her head to the hanger and could see a standing figure clouded with sprinklers and boxes which she could only assume was Midou. As she had feared, the witch could feel the youki rising in the gang leader while the rest of the members that were spread out were being slowly being drained of their life. This was exactly what Kiria had planned all along and it made her uneasy to see that her 'brother's' plan was working with only some blood. It would be only a matter of time before the monstrel leader would recover and even grow stronger.
She turned her gaze to Gohan and closed her eyes with regret. "Gohan...it's exactly what you're probably thinking. Kiria somehow managed to implement the same ritual my master had which would drain the energy of a subject to a target...in this case, the members of this gang have been subjected to have their life drawn to their leader..." she explained.
The rest of the group widened their eyes as their suspicions and worries were affirmed.
"How?! I...I thought that something like that required the whole body, right?" Gohan asked remembering how Oyakata had tried to take advantage of the fact that Broly was encased in ice.
Ruby shook her head sadly. "I thought so too but I was wrong...it seems as long as you have at least their blood, you can perform the ritual...though it's slower than having an actual body..."
"How slow?" Gohan continued to press on, hoping to find a solution quickly that may save the members. Truthfully, he didn't see any reason for them to die, especially like this. It just wasn't right...
Ruby sighed once more. "From what I can see, it'll take about two hour before all of them end up sucked dry..." she answered.
"Er...Argh!" Midou grunted in pain as veins started to appear around his body. It looked like he was in serious pain despite his recovery. His breathing became labored and his forehead was beaded with sweat.
Ruby quickly glanced at the increasingly rising youki of the monstrel. What was also unsettling was she could feel him getting unstable. She knew the half-saiyan and everyone else could feel it as well.
"Gohan! If we waste time, we'll be decreasing the chance of saving these monstrels! If you kill him now, you can stop the transfer!" Ruby exclaimed which caused the half-saiyan to look down, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists as he thought.
"H-Help...me..."
It was barely above a whisper, but Gohan was able to hear the struggling and increasingly unstable gang leader. It only made him pull his eyebrows down.
"I...I can't do that...There has to be another way...wait! What about destroying the rituals? Broly was able to break free of the ritual, remember?" Gohan suggested which made the witch curl her lips with her own uncertainty...
"That won't be possible! There are at least a hundred rituals and-"
Her reasoning was cut off as the half-saiyan leaned in and grabbed both of her shoulders with eyes of hope gazing upon her. His grip was tight but not too tight for her to stiffen uncomfortably. She gazed back sadly as she truly wanted to help but her "brother" had made it difficult. She bit her lips before speaking again.
"I may...may be able to negate the rituals though I'm not entirely certain. I don't understand though why you feel the need to keep all of them alive. I know Midou is an important source of information but I'm sure we can gather information with the other-"
"No, that's not it..." Gohan interrupted knowing that the witch probably didn't understand his reasoning. When the witch furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, the half-saiyan continued.
"...I know pure evil when I see it. I've killed those who without a thought would kill my friends and anybody for their own pleasure, but in this school, I've fought a lot who were misguided, mistreated, and have their ideals in the wrong place. Do you understand what I'm saying, Ruby?"
Ruby's eyes widened as her thoughts went to her days with Kiria and her master Oyakata. The smiles...she remembered when Kiria had laughed...truly laughed, not sadistically but in the days of childhood where humans were the last things on their mind. Then there was Oyakata, her beloved master, who showed her true colors in a glimpse of heaven. She was so happy...and for a long time, it was shrouded in hate and in malicious revenge.
...and even she was misguided...and could've even been killed at a moment's notice if Gohan hadn't given her a chance.
She closed her eyes and heaved a sigh. With Gohan, it was a reminder and something she would have to remember so that others may have a chance. She opened her eyes with a slight guilt in her previous call to kill Midou. While comparing the gang to Broly made them indeed look less of a threat and harmless, she wasn't going to deny killing their leader was a fair suggestion either.
"I'll try Gohan, but I can't keep any promises...I just hope you know the risks involved..." she said with reluctance. The other members smiled though not without a hint of worry about the decision. They were going to have keep hope though as they too were reminded of the half-saiyan's embed principle.
Gohan gave a grin which almost flipped the witch's heart, but she was able to quickly turn away from the half-saiyan's grasp to get a hold of herself. She turned to her younger sister in magic while trying to keep herself from turning red as a tomato.
"W-well..." she began, clearing her throat and keeping herself from going lightheaded, "...I'll need some help if we're going through this..."
She winked at a certain little witch with a trademarked hat which in turn earned a bright smile from Yukari. She couldn't help but glomp her older fellow witch and burst with happiness to see that the witch was trusting in her abilities.
"Ruby-san! I won't let you down!" she squealed which caused a light chuckle from the older witch.
The werewolf, Gin, who seemed to evade everyone's presence startled everyone as he spoke with an increasingly weary voice. "While I question this decision, don't you think we're all wasting time here?"
Ruby eyes narrowed as she lightly pushed Yukari off. She nodded.
"The werewolf is right..." she agreed and focused on Yukari, "...we should get moving quickly. Like I said, we have two hours or less to figure this out..."
The younger witch nodded firmly and with a wave of her wand, she pulled out her sturdy broom in a presentable cloud of smoke. The broom quivered a bit, apparently feeling the unstable transfer of youki that was occurring.
Likewise, Ruby brought out of her trusted black crow wings in a shroud of black energy which swirled around her. She lifted her staff slightly up and closed her eyes as she began to search out the area. She opened her eyes momentarily in surprise to feel that the rituals were not that far and most importantly, they felt somewhat clustered together...
She frowned. No...it wouldn't be that easy... she thought. She turned to Yukari and gave her a cautious look
"Be on your guard, Yukari. Knowing Kiria, anything is bound to happen," she warned to which the little witch nodded with a bit of anxiety overcoming her. The young scholar hid her worries though and mounted her broom.
Without a moment of hesitation, they took off into the sky as Ruby followed her senses with the help of her staff which glowed red into the distance. Ruby's eyes softened as she couldn't help but worried about the outcome.
If we aren't able to save Midou and most of them, what will you do, Gohan? she thought. She would, for now, carry out her intentions and try to negate as many, if not all of the rituals, with the help of Yukari. Though she did know how Kiria had negated them, there were a few hunches that she had in mind.
The other club members carried their gaze over to the gang leader who seemed to explode at any moment with the strain that was confusingly overcoming him. Normally, people would be happy to recover, but it appeared that the leader was not in the same recovery situation as others. Instead, it was like he was being forcefully fed food he didn't want, in this case, his own men. His silent grunts and painful groans caused everyone to wince.
Just as Kurumu was about to speak in offering her help, a sharp intruding sense of danger past the half-saiyan causing him to gasp and widen his eyes. The succubus quickly shut her mouth as she was equally surprised by the saiyan's outburst. When Gohan's eyes hardened and his eyebrows lowered, she could only worry.
"I can sense him again...and of all times, it looks like he's in deep trouble," the half-saiyan announced which caused everyone but especially Moka and Kurumu to stare in slight confusion. It didn't take long for the succubus to figure out that he was talking about her destined one.
"What?! Where is he? I'll go find him quickly!" Kurumu rapidly demanded and gritted her teeth. Her wings resurfaced as her own emotions wavered a bit.
Gohan's head wrinkled as he began pinpointing his location. He was surprise to find that the boy was just about a hundred metres away. Even when he should've been more than close to his senses, he hadn't been able to locate him due to Kiria's damn cloaking ability.
"I don't sense anyone with him but I can feel he's in danger...damn," Gohan added while biting down his lips. It seemed as if Kiria and the mysterious Anti-Thesis were purposely making it difficult for them. It was cowardly, to be honest, and it especially sickened the half-saiyan. Why would they cause suffering especially to their own men! It was obvious that the Midou and his gang were not aware of this turn of events either.
"He's somewhere in the East from here and not that far either. Take the rest and hurry!" Gohan ordered knowing he had to trust his friends. With what was occurring here, he would rather stay here and hold Midou off, especially since there was a good chance that the gang leader was going to go mad very soon. They should be able to reach him in time before anything bad happens.
Kurumu and Gin nodded, knowing full well that the half-saiyan was far more suited where he was currently. Unlike them though, Mizore hesitated especially when she was the first to notice that Gohan's back was hit with a huge hole visible in his uniform and some patches of dirt on him.
"Are you going to be okay?" Mizore asked, her eyes shining with concern. The half-saiyan's eyebrows rose and the he noticed that the snow woman was looking at where Midou had cheaply landed a blow to. He waved it off though especially since Moka's much needed blood intake took prominence in his neck. Speaking of which, it felt quite stiff.
"You don't have to worry about me, Mizore. I'll be fine," he reassured which earned a small smile from the stoic purple headed woman.
She hesitated but eventually nodded, trusting in her future husband and quickly ran to join with the other two club members who had already took leave to save Tsukune. While the snow woman should've been thinking about the safety of Tsukune, a person who was revealed to her as human and entrusted to keep his identity a secret along with the rest of the club, it proved to be difficult as she couldn't help but think about plans to make Gohan happy. Perhaps a nice backrub was in order...yes, that would certainly put her ahead of the other two girls.
Gohan was perhaps a little surprised to see that the pink haired vampire hadn't budged at all. He glanced at her and raised an eyebrow.
"Again, you don't need to be worried about m-"
"Um no! That's not it but um...my other..." Moka quickly interrupted as she fully knew that Gohan was capable. Still, that didn't mean her other thought otherwise.
Allow me to join the saiyan...I cannot allow our pride to be diminished by the scandalous trick Midou used to weaken us! He must pay!
Moka sweat dropped as she clearly remembered her stronger self's demands. Once again, she had to ask Gohan though as he was the only one who was mysteriously able to unlink her rosario seal. Gohan was quite aware of what the vampire was trying to say. It was pretty obvious that she wanted to be let out which always unnerved him. He couldn't help but relent and quickly grab the rosario.
Moka sighed, partially embarrassed and partially relieved that the half-saiyan understood what she was trying to say. There was no helping it after all. She smiled at him one last time and gave him a pretty bad attempt of a thumbs up.
"I know Ruby and the others will pull through, Gohan," she said in her attempts to boost the half-saiyan's hopes up.
This though only made it hard not for Gohan to chuckle and stay serious. He nodded and easily pulled the rosario off. This, of course, made him wonder whether his judgement was good considering he wanted the gang leader alive.
Tsukune, who was tied to a wooden library chair and grounded to the floor, was in deep trouble. The good news was that the sadistic blond, Kiria, and the mysterious reading man had left, but of course, they gave him a present called fire.
The irony in the situation didn't help either as he recalled Kuyou trying to make him a shish kabob with his own fire. Of course, the last time, he was beaten up badly enough that he couldn't move without hurting. He wasn't in the same condition which could be seen as a plus.
He needed to get out...and fast. He heard the flames grow as it ate each wooden bookshelf in its path. He couldn't see the flames at his position, but he could hear the crackling and rumbling of the fire as it spread and would soon approach him. The heat was rising as it was fueled by the pages of probably ancient academy history causing him to increasingly sweat beads on his forehead.
He looked over head shoulder to see if he could get a good look at how he was tied up. He had to make sure to keep a cool head and not panic if he was going to make use of his time. Being in a monster school, he could safely say he had master the ability to remain calm...at least partially.
Unfortunately for him, the rope that glued him to the chair was so knotted, it would probably take beyond the time he had to shake or slide out of. He couldn't use his arms since they were held down but he could use his legs which were free. At the very least, he could probably waddle or smash the chair against a wall to break free.
This would seem to be the best plan except he noticed something odd about the wooden chair he was sitting in. Looking down near his feet, he saw the legs of the chair suddenly go pliant and start bending. He at first thought it was the increasing heat waves that was creating the illusion until that is the legs started to dig into the floor like roots.
His jaw dropped as he saw his hopes of at least moving with the chair disappear with this apparent evil wooden chair. To prove even further at how evil and alive it was, he heard a low, dark and distorted chuckle from underneath him. He could only assume it was this devious demon chair...thing.
So now, he was completely immobile. There was no way he could move the chair with how rooted it was and the ropes were so knotted, his arms couldn't even squirm. His eyes started darting to wherever he could see that could provide him with some sort of hope. Suddenly he heard a solid drop and quickly aimed his eyes to the source. He regretted the action immensely as he understood why it seemed like this library was abandoned.
On the floor laid a skull with some dried red blood and cracks. This wasn't a library at all...
...It was a resource to the dead.
Gohan watched with some awe and worry as he saw the vampire, Moka, transforming in front of him with a lot of changes both physically and mentally. The true nature of the vampire somehow made him a little anxious due to her dominating personality. His mind traced back to the times she had decidedly kissed him on her own. Those times confused, shocked, and sometimes scared him because he wasn't sure what to think. It was obvious she was...he thinks...possibly interested in him but was it because he was strong or something else? He shook his head to clear his mind, now was not the time to think of such things.
The now white-haired vampire opened her eyes which fell into immediate glares that pointed toward the hangar where the perpetrator of weakening her was struggling. She was going to pay him back dearly whether or not he was in control or in pain. First though, she had to ask something important to the half-saiyan.
"Gohan," she called which immediately put him on the spot in worry, "Why did you give your blood to me?"
The half-saiyan was a bit confused at the question. It wasn't something he had to have a reason for when it came to helping his friends. "It's because you're our friend, Moka! I couldn't see you getting hurt..."
Strangely enough, Moka closed her hand to her chest as a light blush crept on her cheek. Although she thought it was a stupid reason, it was hard not to respond to the half saiyan's words. She turned away and harrumph.
"Baka," she muttered. Even though it was her weaker self, she didn't need Gohan to help her when she didn't need it. Ignoring the fact that she wouldn't have been in such good shape in her true form if Gohan hadn't, it would damage her pride if such actions continued. Vampires were more than autonomous on their own and especially in a fight.
Gohan shrugged, almost expecting the reaction from the vampire. In some ways, it was kinda amusing to see her reluctance for help. It was a common characteristic for vampires he supposed...self-sufficiency, though it couldn't be entirely true since they relied on blood to survive, right? Or was that another common misconception?
Putting those questions away and getting back to the predicament at hand, Gohan didn't mind working with Moka to hold off the monstrel, but he didn't want her to go over board. It would take the point away out of keeping him alive. The youkai society may have done wrong against his class of people, but revenge couldn't be the answer especially when it was likely that there was pure bred monsters who were not disgusted by them.
"Moka," he began causing the white-haired vampire to glance at the half-saiyan, "I know he did you wrong, but I'd rather have him alive..."
The vampire narrowed her eyes and smirked, slightly amused. "Oh is that so? I may be angry, but I can fully control myself thank you. Don't worry, your precious friend will still be able to see the daylight..."
Gohan couldn't help but sigh. Looking at Midou, it was obvious he was struggling with himself and the amount of power that was coursing through him from his comrades. His energy was unstable and it was obvious he didn't know how to handle all the foreign energies. Gohan had limited knowledge of youki except for the fact that his energy was incompatible with the demonic energy that fueled everyone and surrounded the envioronment. He could assume two things though:
One was that Midou would go berserk and inflict damage at anything around him or he would expel all the caught energy resulting in an explosion.
For all Gohan knew, it could be both. In that case, it was a lose-lose situation where all the energy would be wasted and everyone would die. If it came to that then, he'd have no choice but to eliminate him in order to save everyone else.
Gohan couldn't help but ask what the vampire thought. "Do you have an idea of what will happen to him?"
The vampire crossed her arm and furrowed her eyebrows. "I do not know anything regarding witches' magic and this blood ritual, but it would seem that when we engage him or he loses control, he'll go berserk which won't do any good..."
"Is there a possibility he could explode?" Gohan asked.
The vampire eyebrows raised at the possibility to which she wasn't sure. "I have never heard of anyone exploding from instability, but it could be possible. Either way, I would rather fight him when he is somewhat sane so that he may learn his place!"
The half-saiyan sweat dropped and before he could say anything else, another scream of pain filled the warehouse in front of them which amplified with the metal surrounding walls. Midou wailed as his head rose and looked up to the ceiling. His hands were raised and clutching his head in misery. The scream lasted several seconds causing both the vampire and half-saiyan to go on guard.
The scream finally stopped as the monstrel stood frozen for a moment instilling silence around his groaning comrades and the trees. Gohan eyes slightly widened in surprise as the gang leader finally put his hands down and lowered his head, shrouding his face in darkness.
The leader finally turned to look at him which showed the saiyan a pair of foggy eyes and a sadistic grin plastered across his face. Somehow, he looked much more menacing and crazier than before.
The half-saiyan immediately checked him with his high senses and was surprised to feel that the gang leader wasn't conscious but wasn't in a state of sleeping either. He was in between which made Gohan unsure whether this would prove easier or harder altogether. Either way, it certainly wasn't stopping the blood rituals from transferring the energy.
Moka grimaced in the turn of events. So much for teaching him a lesson, but at the very least, she would still be able to have him feel it once he woke up...if he ever woke up.
"GRAAH!" Midou yelled as his youki flared and his monstrous arm steamed with rejuvenated power. He raised his arm in his own subconscious and without a moment of hesitation, fired a concussive blast at the pair who were several feet away from the warehouse entrance.
In a new blast of reddish energy, the concussive blast flared through and picked up dirt from the ground as it approached the pair. They instantly moved away from each other as the blast rushed past their old position. With around a hundred energies transferring to fuel him, it was no surprise to see that his attacks would get much bolder; however, the fact that he was not fully conscious and unstable made him dangerous to the laying members in the area.
Gohan turned to Moka as they both began running towards the hangar. "We have to lead him away from all these other members!"
The vampire frowned, slightly annoyed by the half-saiyan's protective nature, especially when the members are supposedly his enemies. She huffed knowing the half-saiyan would continue in insisting no matter how much she argued.
"Fine, lead him away by yourself though if you're so worried about our enemies," she replied with reluctance.
Gohan nodded. Of course she had a different mindset about her enemies than he did. Certainly, if her father and his father met, it wouldn't be pretty in the face of ideals. In any case, he wasn't going to try to explain. Hopefully with time, she would understand.
He began sprinting faster and took off ahead of the vampire towards the gang leader. The half-conscious monstrel pulled his bulging arm up again to attempt another blow but Gohan was fast enough to get within his main body frame and outstretch his palms, effectively blowing the half conscious man through the metal walls of the hanger and across the dirt on the outside.
Midou flopped a little but planted his legs firmly into the ground to stop his movements. He raised his huge arm again sloppily without trying to regain his balance and thrusted another great force of youki at the half-saiyan. It missed though as Gohan instinctively side stepped away from the blast allowing it to hit the foundation of the warehouse.
Gohan noticed a few things about Midou's current state. He had put a good amount of force in pushing the monstrel but it didn't react quite as much as he expected. Not only that but his movements weren't as firm either. It seemed that the only thing that was in control currently was pure instincts and possibly hatred. This was dangerous though as Gohan knew that the leader could very well hurt himself if this continued.
CREAK!
The half-saiyan turned to the warehouse behind him to find that Midou's last blow had taken out a critical support for the abandoned building. It would very soon collapse and it wouldn't have been a problem if there weren't a few of his fellow men in there.
Before he could possibly enact, Midou was already working his arm at Gohan again like a machine on autopilot. It seemed like he was focusing on nothing but destroying Gohan.
"ERAH!" the leader bellowed as he followed through in pushing his massive arm forward. Gohan instinctively powered up and sped into the warehouse quickly to find two monstrels groaning on the ground like everyone else. He picked them up swiftly while levitating above and exited through the main entrance just seconds before the sprinklers stopped and the whole hangar fell apart exponentially.
He laid down the two members along the rest and without another breath, looked at the warehouse which emitted clashing of metal and ruptures. Dirt began to pile up and rise above what was left of the warehouse, clouding the ruins. It didn't seem that the gang leader care of what he did to his base at the moment, but when he hopefully regained some self awareness and sanity, it was obvious he was going to be none too happy.
Seconds later he heard clashing and a certain vampire's yells as she and the gang leader started to engage each other behind the dirt and rubble. The half-saiyan was quick to join the fight again. They had to push the currently insane monstrel away because they were still too close to the gang members lying in the ground. He put himself into a proper stance, shifting his legs apart and pulling his fists to his side as he charged his ki.
In a white blast of motion, he appeared almost instantaneous to the fighting youkai. Moka had effectively dodged the big, red arm of Midou by leaping and putting herself on the arm as a platform. She promptly worked herself up the arm before kicking the gang leader in the chin. She leaped off gallantly after the kick and put herself a few meters away behind the monstrel.
With the force of a vampire's kick, Midou's head was thrown back and his entire body was lifted a few inches before he put one leg back to counterbalance the impending fall. Once leveled, his head snapped back into position with the same expression of a person running on a machine. The half-saiyan was surprised to see that the gang leader had changed his focus to Gohan, effectively ignoring the previous attack of Moka.
"Uragh!" he hollered, his arm steaming and his own disfigured face quivering. The half-saiyan frowned. The man was running on nothing but animalistic instincts. Pain was thoroughly ignored which was going to be a problem. Gohan knew he'd have to be careful in dealing damage to the leader without knowing how much he's inflicting.
With that in mind, he charged forward to the half-conscious leader with a white aura surrounding him. Midou immediately attempted to hit the saiyan in close but he didn't have enough time as the half-saiyan pulled inwardly and slammed the front of the leader with his shoulder.
Midou gagged with saliva leaving his mouth as he felt his body blow away several meters, past the position of Moka and further away from the ruined hangar. Gohan waited a bit as he saw the monstrel falter to the ground and pick up dirt before he halted to a stop with a few yards of movement displaced..
As he and Moka watched the leader slowly get back up to his feet with increasing irritation, Gohan began to wonder if Ruby had any plan to stop the transfer. As the gang leader grew stronger by the minute thanks to the rituals, the less Gohan had to hold back. The half-saiyan would rather not fight this guy a second time much longer.
Just what the hell can I do? Ruby thought with growing anticipation as the jewel on her staff increasingly glowed. She and her fellow sister, Yukari were close to the location. The amount of magical energy she felt was getting stronger and the only possible explanation for it was that Kiria had indeed clustered the rituals together. It made no sense though as it would've made it harder for the witches if he had spread them out.
..and what are you planning, Kiria? Ruby added worriedly.
"Ano...Ruby-san, is Kiria really your little brother?" the young witch asked, bring the older witch out of her thoughts. She turned her gaze to the floating witch beside her and pulled a sad smile.
"Not by blood, but he was like a brother to me. Despite him being quite annoying, I still cared for him. I never expected him to...join something as destructive as this..."
Yukari looked on with sympathy. It was obvious she still cared for him and knowing he was part of Anti-Thesis, it must've been somewhat heartbreaking.
"Gomen, Ruby-san," she apologized.
Ruby's expression changed to one with determination and she shook her head. "...but even if he was my brother, I will stop him. He needs to learn that he can't do as he pleases," the witch explained.
Yukari took a breath and sighed, putting a determined look as well. If her fellow witch could stay strong, she would too. For the sake of her friends and the people who cared for her. They would stop Kiria and Anti-Thesis at all cost.
They both flew in silence for a few seconds but suddenly flinched as a low pitch ring began to enter into their ears. Ruby looked to the source of the ring to see it was coming from the top of her staff where the gem imbued was humming and vibrating. It was here...this was where the rituals where.
Both of them looked at each other for a moment before they looked below them to see where they were positioned at. After following the strong magical aura blindly, they were surprised to see that they were only a little away from the back of the academy.
The witch narrowed her eyes into the dead trees until she caught sight of a weird fog with a blue glow that faded in and out like a heartbeat. There was no doubt this was the place but as to why Kiria had chosen a place so close to the academy flew past any reasoning.
"Be on your guard, Yukari-chan...in that fog, we may not be able to see much," the witch warned a final time.
Yukari nodded and hummed firmly. With that set in place, they both pushed forward and down, allowing themselves to mildly lower themselves down just outside of the blue fog that clouded the dead trees.
With a tap to the ground, the movements of the witches slowed as they settled down. Yukari dismounted her wooden broom and in a small cloud, the broom poofed away. Ruby didn't let go of her half crow transformation yet as she was wary of what may await. She pulled her black wings together and let them hide behind her back.
Only a few feet away from the fogged area, they carefully walked closer while keeping an eye on grounds for any sign of blue glowing circular signs that were the norm of any magical ritual. Yukari could not help but quiver as they got closer into the low visibility of the fog. She had a strong urge to tug to her fellow sister but she knew better than to show her fear. She wanted to remain strong in front of Ruby.
They finally were surrounded by the fog and it seemed that it would make it harder to find the 100 rituals that were set on the ground thanks to the fog. Whether it was by pure coincidence that this small area had erupted a fog or that Kiria placed this fog purposely to increase the difficulty made it much more annoying for the older witch. She believed the latter.
Then they both suddenly stopped with Yukari erupting a small gasp. A footstep other than their own had been heard and Ruby wasn't about to find out who was with them. By instincts, Ruby pulled the younger witch closer to her and opened up her wings. She sidestepped against the ground and pulled her crow forward at the tip in front of where she thought she heard the sound. From the wings, several black feathers shot out like a bullet with edges as sharp as a knife and no where near as soft as a true feather. They drifted into the fog instantly with a sharp whistle. Ruby wasn't sure if they hit anything.
Ruby and Yukari waited for a moment with the younger one now trying hard not to panic. On top of the possible unknown enemy, it didn't help to hear the eerie silence that filled the blue fogged area. Ruby didn't let her guard down while her eyes glanced left to right to see if anything was indeed nearby or if she was just paranoid and hearing things.
It appeared she wasn't hearing things though as an all too familiar sound of high pitch pure energy filled the area, getting louder...and louder...louder...and...
Ruby widened her eyes and she cursed under the moist air that surrounded them. Yukari could only blink as what happened next came so quickly. With no time, Ruby didn't bother performing a proper barrier and simply forced her youki through the staff which was aimed forward, horizontally.
"Haah!" Ruby exerted as she forced a yellow barrier in front of her staff that wavered significantly. What Yukari saw next was a yellow flash of light coming towards them and pushing the blue smoke in front of them aside.
It was getting hotter...
...and the impending feeling of becoming a shish kabob had started to be a realistic possibility.
As Tsukune felt his own sweat drip off his chin and his uniform becoming more wet with the increasing humidity, he attempted violently to shake loose of the rope that holding him to the demonic chair which apparently didn't hold enough intelligence that it would become smoked wood too. Embarrassingly, he had tried to reason to the holding chair.
"H-hey, look, I don't know what you are...but if you don't let me go, we'll both burn to ashes!" Tsukune had asked.
"He-ehe-heh..."
Getting impatient and frustrated, he screamed. "Can't you do anything except hold me to the ground and wheeze like a broken record! Let go!"
"He-ehe-heh..."
Yeah...clearly that was a pointless effort. That was apparently its job, hold its victims for life in a burning library...
Tsukune grunted as he shook violently across the chair. He felt some movement in between which mean that the ropes were getting somewhat looser but it still required a lot of effort and possibly heat to get it to open up. He couldn't wait forever though as the blazing fire and the uprooting black smoke was either going to burn or suffocate him.
He had to get out!
He squirmed viciously, not caring anymore if his ribs was about to crack under the pressure. It seemed his efforts was paying off along with the sweat as the ropes was increasingly rising up higher to the point where he could use his arms and push the ropes over him.
With a gasp as his lungs opened up more and probably would start filling up with more smoke, he used whatever strength he had to move forward and kick the demon chair behind him. It erupted a dog like whimper before it's back supporting wood cracked.
Tsukune started to move again but as he felt the exhaustion overcome him, he was unable to walk normally and stumbled to the ground. He wheezed, coughing as more smoke started to pierce his lungs. With sweat continuing to crawl down his forehead, he continued to move forward, albeit weakly.
The door was in front of him, he only needed to open a single door to give him some more time to recover and breathe...unless it wasn't really the exit and it was another room burning. He hoped for the best though and dragged himself slowly across the heating carpet.
WOOSH!
He could hear the fire continue to eat the old books that laid around...and it would be only a matter of time before it would eat him. He continued to move with that the only thing pushing him forward. This was a time where he could actually help himself...but if he couldn't do that, did he have any worth in his own defense?
Damn it...almost...there... Tsukune thought, getting closer to the door that Kiria and the mysterious man had left through with smirks on their faces. What he hadn't realized was that there was a book shelf next to the door. It wasn't on fire though, at least not yet...however...
THUMP!
Tsukune coughed again as more smoke filled his lungs. His vision started to become blurry, but he continued to move...at least, that's what his oxygen-deprived mind thought. His ear had caught the thump as a possible fallen book but...
THUMP!
THUMP!
THUMP!
More books were heard falling to the floor and they surprisingly sounded close. He took a look to the bookshelf that was beside him and the door with his half-opened eyes but in seconds, he opened them fully in shock. The bookshelf was starting to tilt over his position thanks to another bookshelf that had collapsed behind it. He noticed that had fell were lying next to him on the floor. Luckily they had missed, but it didn't help the current predicament.
If he tried to escape the bookshelf, it would block his exit to the door and he would die suffocating. The other option was to continue making his way to the door in hopes that he would reach it before the bookshelf could collapse on top of him. As it seemed, there was no other option but to press on. He was determined to make this out by himself alive. This was no longer just an effort to stay alive, but an effort to prove that he wasn't completely helpless.
With that, he moved forward, inching closer and closer to the door, with wheezing breaths and jagged movements. As he moved further, more books clattered to the ground before him as if it was telling him how much time he had left.
With continuous determination despite how close he was to losing consciousness, the human boy was finally able to latch his hand on to the door handle. For a moment, he smiled weakly while continue to breathe in and out weakly. Unfortunately for him though, that was all he could muster with an additional difficulty in getting the door open.
As the bookshelf started to slowly dawn on him, he couldn't help but think of his friends. Those who had protected him so many times and stood by his side especially when they found out he was human. Even Mizore had not wavered when it was revealed to her by everyone else. If anything, he was lucky to have such great people...
Kurumu...
The human boy stood outside the dorm room of a certain blue-headed girl whom he had confessed his feelings to in the midst of heat during his saving by the gang. Remembering that time, it was quite embarrassing but he couldn't deny he loved the succubus as well. Unlike before though when he was in a bruised and injured state, he wanted to ask her out properly. Despite knowing she would likely accept, he still felt nervous...but what was he if he couldn't take the initiative?
With a increasing heartbeat and a gulp, he knocked on the door. He hoped he had the room number right, it would be embarrassing if he hadn't. He heard a muffled but cheerful response on the other end and widened his eyes to see the violet eyes of the succubus peaking through the door.
"Ah! Tsukune! I didn't know you'd be here! Hold on a second!" Kurumu immediately exclaimed before the human boy could utter a word. What came next was the door shutting and some rustling inside. He hoped he didn't catch her at a bad time. He wanted to properly confess to her at a better place but the problem was...where the hell was that 'better' place?
In seconds, the cheerful and bubbly Kurumu opened the door wide with a beaming face who was clearly happy to see her destined one. She was wearing a striped pajamas that, along with the enormity of her assets, did very little to stop Tsukune from having perverted thoughts. He quickly shook his head remembering his goal.
Again though, before he could utter a word, Kurumu spoke again. "How are you feeling? I couldn't help but worry after that whole incident with you and...um..."
Tsukune nodded, knowing he didn't want to have Kurumu say anything more. He did worry though about having scared Kurumu in his mysterious transformation. Whether or not it appeared again, he wasn't sure but either way, Gohan had promised to train him. Hopefully with dedication and time, he could protect himself and maybe even protect everyone else.
"I...uh...I actually came by to properly ask you something..." the boy began, hesitating as the next words seemed to choke him.
The succubus cocked her head with a increasing curiosity. She smiled at the boy with interest as he tried to find his words.
"Yes, my sweet destined-one?" she drawled, wondering what he could possible need of her.
Tsukune, at this moment, decided to just let it out. There would be no use in trying to find a way to say it without feeling embarrassed. With a deep breath, he let it out.
"I really like you and I really would love to be your destined one-er-I mean boyfriend! Would you please go out with me!"
Kurumu blinked, but after a few seconds of awkward silence, the girls' dorm was filled with giggles of the succubus. She held her breath in a effort to stop herself from laughing. This made Tsukune confused and more embarrassed than he felt before. His face was flushed red.
Finally, after Kurumu had gotten a hold of herself. She gazed at her destined one with a newly refound happiness.
"Silly, I thought you confessed to me already, hmm?" she asked.
Tsukune continued to remain red all over his face. He tightened his arms together and looked down. "U-um y-yeah, but it...I felt I should tell you...properly..."
Another giggle was heard and then Tsukune was surprised to feel the soft and petite hands of Kurumu on his cheeks, rising his head to meet his gaze with hers. All his embarrassment vanished a little as he became entranced in the violet eyes of the succubus.
"Even after me confessing to you many times before and even giving you a kiss-"
"W-wait, you kissed me before?"
Kurumu curled her lips to the side as she remembered. "Yeah...twice...you fainted though..."
Once again, Tsukune was in the right to blush.
"...however," she continued, "now that you've fussed up your feelings to me...will you faint again?"
Tsukune eyes widened as Kurumu started to draw closer to the human boy. Her breath touching his skin and her lips begging to be kissed back. Tsukune softened his gaze and felt a different kind of peace that took over his embarrassed self. She...she was absolutely gorgeous. How could he have been so blind to realize someone as happy as Kurumu?
He didn't think any longer as he pressed his lips against Kurumu's...
Tsukune gritted his teeth and cursed in his mind. The fire and smoke threatened to take him to the dark where he would die alone...but he wasn't going to have any of that. He felt something swell in the pit of his stomach that made his heart beat much faster than it already was.
He felt angry at himself...He couldn't give up now! He had to live...he had to live for the sake of everyone. What was the point in trying to get Gohan to teach him if he died? ...and Kurumu, there was no way he wanted to see her worry...
The bookshelf finally collapsed under pressure and headed straight towards the human boy. His mind was preoccupied though and his body was quivering under some form of pressure.
He glared at the ceiling clouded with the overhead of smoke and screamed with all his might to the ends of his lungs.
"I AM NOT GOING TO DIE HERE!"
A large breeze threatened to take away the younger witch's hat as she held on to Ruby with one hand and the other onto her top. Her eyes were shut tightly, scared that whatever had been pushed at them was going to vaporize them.
Finally when the breeze stopped and there laid only silence and laboring breaths, Yukari slowly opened her eyes to see that the white incoming energy had disappeared. The panting breaths could come only from Ruby who was slightly exhausted. Looking closer at the older witch whose eyes were partially closed, she was sweating some on her forehead.
Thankfully, she was able to disperse the yellow blast of energy that was shot at them. She didn't have much time to react though to put up a proper barrier, so she forced her youki through in order to materialize one as best as she could. If a witch did things in haste, it could have severe consequence on the physical stability of performing. She had no choice though.
Yukari, knowing that Ruby needed all the help she could offer, decidedly put away her fears and pulled out her wand. She frowned into the open air and looked in every direction to see where the enemy was hiding at. In mere milliseconds though, none of them could see react in time as a flash of green sped by them and it was then they felt a strong presence just behind them.
"Don't move...I promise I won't miss again this time if you do anything," a deep and menacing voice rose which caused them both to stay frozen.
In the back of Ruby's mind, she cursed as it seemed they had fallen into a trap. No doubt planned by her "little brother". She was really going to give him a piece of her mind when she met him again...otherwise in the afterlife if she didn't survived this ordeal.
Yukari then gasped, but not in fear but in genuine surprise. She had the slight courage to turn around to see who was behind them only to be filled with a new shocking revelation. Standing behind them with his palm forward, ready to blast them was the green namekian, Piccolo.
"Plant man-sama! Y-you're with Anti-Thesis?!" Yukari yelled in shock.
Now it was Ruby's turn to turn around, forgetting about the fact that this "plant man" could attack them. What she saw instead was a familiar face she had seen in the hallways and with the headmaster before. She wasn't sure whether to be just as shocked as Yukari or relieved.
It became clear to Piccolo as he likewise recognized both of them. She knew the little one to be one of Gohan's friends who had left quite the annoying impression. The next was the older witch who had recently been hired to help the headmaster but even more as the one who helped Gohan and Vegeta against Broly.
"You..." Piccolo could only say as he was equally surprised. He let his guard down as all three of them stared at each other in confusion.
Ruby was the first to speak. She tried to remember details about the unique fellow that the headmaster had spoken to her about. According to him, his name was Piccolo and was apparently Gohan's former mentor. It was no wonder why she couldn't react fast enough much less in the fog.
"You're...Piccolo-sensei, right? D-don't tell me...you're part of Anti-Thesis?!" Ruby exclaimed.
Piccolo just narrowed his eyes in confusion. "I don't know what the hell is going on or what this Anti-Thesis business is, but I assure you I came out here only because I felt a disturbance..."
Both Ruby and Yukari could only stare wide-eyed as it hit them. "Ah..."
Ruby began nervously rubbing her neck in shame. "A-ah...gomen...I didn't know..." the witch apologized.
Piccolo merely gruffed in response though it could have been serious if they hadn't been able to recognize each other. He looked to his arm where a small cut, the severity of a papercut, had been thanks to a feather lightly brushing against his skin. It surprised him that even feathers could be sharp. He took a look at Ruby who was a bit embarrassed by the predicament. For a person who couldn't see, she had quite the ability to use her senses. The cut was insignificant though and he ignored it fully.
"Do you know what's going on here?" Piccolo asked them, more specifically towards Ruby.
The older witch nodded sadly. "Yes, spread out around this fog, there are about a hundred magical blood rituals that are being used to transfer an equal amount of monstrels' life to a single person," she explained.
Piccolo eyes widened for a moment and then softened. "...and I'll guess that's what happened with Broly and your former master?"
"E-eh?!" Ruby stammered, a bit surprised that he knew that. Now she was getting suspicious...was he really part of Anti-Thesis as well?
"How do you know that? Are you really a member of Anti-Thesis?!" she demanded, hardening her gaze and stepping back with Yukari in her hand. There was no reason she shouldn't be wary. They didn't know much about who exactly was part of the organization. All they knew so far was that Kiria and Midou's gang were part of them but that was all.
Piccolo held a poker face as he shook his head. "I was an observer with the headmaster, that's all...more importantly, is there a way to stop this?"
Normally, he wouldn't have gotten involved but the disturbance he felt just behind the school had been enough to break his daily concentration. Not only that, but he felt an unusual amount of energy being surfaced. He'd have to talk with the headmaster about this and see what he knows.
Ruby relaxed her gaze, still wary but for now, something about the green man made her trust him a little. Besides, why on Earth would an ally of Gohan be connected with Anti-Thesis? The help would be much appreciated especially when there wasn't much time left. An hour or so left would be more correct.
Ruby sighed and looked around her. "First, it might be good to remove this fog..."
Piccolo grunted in annoyance as he crossed his arms together. "I have already tried to dismiss the fog but it doesn't appear to be normal. It always seem to retract," he explained.
Ruby closed her eyes and sighed. It seemed Kiria did put on a fog to "hide" everything. The fog would eventually disappear but they didn't have the time to wait for that. Magical fogs were nothing more than artificially induced fogs which meant the area had been forced to increased and decreased its temperature to the point that water droplets were suspended. The magical part was that it was contained thus making it impossible to push it away. She quickly began wondering if Mizore should have came along but dismissed the idea as it would only cause the area to be covered with freezing water and make it even more difficult to negate the laying rituals. Well, it seemed she was going to have to use a bit of magic to do this...
"You can't push away this kind of fog, but you can heat up the area to evaporate the water molecules completely," she explained as she twirled her staff and planted into the ground. The gem on top glowed brightly as Ruby kept a hold on it and closed her eyes.
"Excresco..." the older witch whispered, her body flowing with youki which began traveling through her arm and down the staff to the ground. Both Yukari and Piccolo watched in silence as the older witch penetrated the ground with her energy.
It took several seconds before Yukari felt a rising heat that threatened her to remove her clothes. She quickly began fanning herself with her hat. Looking down at the ground, she saw some cracks already forming as the ground began to dry up.
The namekian watched with somewhat an interest as slowly but surely, with the rising heat in the ground, the low clouds that filled their view began to dissipate higher into the air.
Unbeknownst to them though, Piccolo was standing next to a circular formation of blue signs on the ground that was slowly revealing itself. It could only be identified as one of the many hidden rituals laying around. The small cut on his arm allowed a single drop of purple blood to slowly draw out in his time with the witches. Without further notice, it fell out of his green skin and begun its descent on the ritual.
The fight with Midou raged on and it was getting increasingly faster and much bolder. In an hour that had past, Midou had already accumulated half of his mens' life force. Moka was particularly careful about not getting hit by his massive monstrous arm while Gohan found it hard to hold back against him. The two did a lot of switching with Moka to attack first acrobatically and Gohan to counterattack any motions or blows the gang leader tried to attempt.
"Hah!" Moka cried as she landed a multiple kicks across the leader's abdomen. The leader took them all while being pushed back by the powerful vampire blows; however, once the vampire was done attacking, Midou would only falter a bit before coming to the offensive once again. The vampire was sure she had heard some ribs cracked during her attacks but it didn't seem like Midou cared that much. He was acting like a machine, his goal only to create destruction and kill Moka and Gohan. If the guy was anywhere near the academy, it wouldn't have been pretty.
As Gohan pushed forward to attack him, he and Moka were caught off guard as Midou suddenly screamed while putting one hand on his head in pain. The gang leader fell to one knee and curtly groaned after he stopped screaming.
Both Moka and Gohan had completely halted at the abrupt action of the gang leader. It wasn't long though before he got up though and then faced Gohan with the same half-conscious face and pupiless eyes. Gohan decided to think about what was going on later as Midou raised his arm and began another concussive attack.
Gohan quickly dodged to the side as Midou's youki filled blows plowed through the dirt until it dissipated. He dashed towards the leader before he could pull another attack and flip kicked off the ground and twisted in the air momentarily until his leg slammed against his brutish arm.
Midou felt his arm sway away and he could only continue to fall without anyway to stop it as his arm and then his entire body fell flat to the ground. A small crater was formed beneath him thanks to the pressure and increasingly renewed strength that Midou emanated.
Gohan took a leap back alongside Moka who stood equally firm. The vampire seemed to become increasingly impatient with the gang leader. Just as she was going to complain though, another strong presence suddenly pierced through as well as Gohan. They both stood still as Midou got up from the crater with consistent anger.
"Moka...is that..." Gohan began, feeling the strong presence which had a slight familiarity to it. Moka bit her lips with a mixture of denial and confusion. Gohan stared at Moka worriedly as she looked down at the ground.
"No...it shouldn't be possible...he...it should have left him! How...?" Moka whispered but it was all too clear for the half-saiyan.
Tsukune...
Gohan looked back at Midou who had already started charging them again. They put yet another thought behind as they prepared for the gang leader's attack. He remembered one last time what seemed months ago that Tsukune had transformed temporarily to a vampire and was able to control youki. It was supposedly only a one time thing but...this presence proved otherwise. It had the familiarity of Tsukune while, at the same time, something was majorly wrong. He only hoped that the boy and Kurumu, Gin, and Mizore would be safe.
Gin, Kurumu, and Mizore finally came to what appeared to be an abandoned library separate from the main academy; however, to their shock and worry, it was going to become even less than that as heat could be felt from the building while clouds of smoke were seen through the windows.
Kurumu's velvet eyes stared in horror before she started to run towards it in hopes that Tsukune was still in there and alive. She wasn't going to dare think otherwise. As she placed a step forward, Mizore immediately felt something wrong as did Gin. Kurumu seemed oblivious with the only thing on her mind was the safety of her destined one. Quickly, Gin grabbed hold of the succubus immediately creating rebelliousness.
"Let go of me! We have to save Tsukune!" she screamed and struggled against the firm grasp of Gin.
"Hold on a second! Something doesn't feel right!" Gin replied back with a wary voice. Mizore nodded but Kurumu didn't seem to care.
"The only thing that's not right is that Tsukune could be burning no-"
"NOT GOING TO DIE HERE!"
Kurumu's protests were cut short though as without a warning, the library exploded, blowing pieces of wood and old books across the ground and air. The three closed their eyes and covered themselves but were luckily far from the explosion with only a strong, hot breeze to pass by them.
Hearing sizzling and crackling, the three uncovered themselves and opened their eyes to see the library no longer a structural building. It was a newly ruin of its former self. The ground had no doubt this was the doing of Anti-Thesis or more specifically, Kiria.
"TSUKUNE!" Kurumu screamed, breaking away from Gin's hold as she began to get closer to the fire, not caring about the possibility of getting burnt herself from the remaining fires that filled the grounds. Gin had been too shocked and quickly realized his mistake as the succubus left his grasp. He cursed to himself and then he and the snow woman started to join the succubus in hopes that the human boy was still alive.
As she got closer to the library and past some of the smoke that obstructed much of the explosion radius, her eyes widened to see a figure too blurry with the remaining heat and clouded to make out. She could only hope it was Tsukune.
"T-tsukune!?" she asked, half frantic and half hopeful. She and her two comrades behind slowed their pace and walked carefully towards the figure in an effort to make out who had survived the fiery explosion. When the figure came into a clear view with the familiar brown and messy hair, Kurumu could only jump for joy. Gin and Mizore, however, continued to remain cautious and a bit suspicious. How did he survive?
Kurumu could care less though as she ran ahead, filled with tears of joy to see that Tsukune had survived. She wouldn't have known what to do if her destined one was harmed. While she continued to get closer, she noticed the details where her lover was burnt in some areas and had patches of stuck smoke on him. His clothes were completely tattered with only his green uniform pants seemingly the least destroyed.
Tsukune had his head lowered, shadowing his eyes. Something was wrong with Tsukune...he couldn't place his finger though. It didn't take him long though to find out a sudden aura of...really dark youki was felt including by Mizore. Both eyes were widened as the succubus continued to get closer and closer until Gin took the initiate to act.
"KURUMU! DON'T GET ANY CLOSER TO HIM!" Gin yelled as grey fur began to grow from his arms and his face started to elongate with fangs protruding from his mouth. Kurumu barely heard Gin nor felt the dark and dangerous presence that was starting to accumulate within the human boy. She ran towrads him with only tears of happiness unaware of the danger she was in.
Before she realized it, Gin used his werewolf speed to pass the succubus and get in front of the human boy. Kurumu watched as Tsukune immediately rose his arm and struck the werewolf across the head without hesitation. Instantly the werewolf was slapped away to the side, several feet into the lying trees.
SNAP!
Gin let out a howl of pain until it was cut short by the breaking of trees and the sound of dirt accumulating. At that moment, Kurumu froze, unable to believe what had just happen. The voice in her throat was lost as she could only gape at her destined one.
"T-tsku...ne?" she hesitated in her voice as she wondered what had just happen. Her eyes were wide in a half shocked and half joyous expression. She couldn't control her body as one of her legs stepped back on its own.
The human boy finally looked up, revealing his eyes underneath his hair. They were...wide...and the pupils were small making him look quite hysterical.
"Not going...to die..." Tsukune spoke in a broken, yet angry voice that sent chills to the succubus.
"Kurumu! Stay back!" Mizore yelled and Kurumu's body could only comply as she took few steps back. The snow woman had already transformed into her true nature with ice claws replacing her fingers and her purple hair now crystallized.
A wall of ice sprouted up between the human boy and the succubus as Mizore had leapt to the side and blew her arms across. Kurumu still wasn't able to comprehend what was going on as she just stood there, quite shocked.
"No...Tsukune..." she murmured, tears of joy replaced by tears of denial.
That moment, Tsukune gaze shifted to the snow woman. Mizore responded by pulling her claws up in defense.
She knew that she wouldn't be able to win with whatever power this "human" was wielding. She closed her eyes and exhaled a breath of cool air. She would have no choice but to go drastic if she was to properly defend herself.
With that set, Mizore channeled her youki. Ice formed at the bottom of her feet and a chilling air began to surround her. The problem was that there was no water anywhere that could aid her in the process of effectively changing the landscape. The remaining fires didn't help either as beads of sweat started forming on her forehead.
Kuso... the snow woman thought in her head. She knew this was going to take a lot out of her and probably exhaust her but in any case, she was the only one standing who could do something. Gin hadn't appeared from the trees which she assumed meant he was knocked unconscious. Kurumu was still standing in shock. There was no telling what would happen when the situation began to take hold to her.
"Gomen Tsukune-san, but you'll need to cool down for a bit," the snow woman said, fully aware of the lame pun she had unintentionally forged. Then, with all her might, she pushed her youki into the surrounding environment.
As the fog started to clear with the rising heat Ruby was pushing into the depths of the ground, the many rituals were becoming clear. Everyone was surprised at how close each other was. In fact, they may not have even needed to clear the fog if they knew how close all of them were. There were clusters of ten spread out but not so much so it wasn't visible to the naked eye.
A spark of electricity erupted from behind them, surprising everyone. As they turned around, they saw one of the rituals in a cluster spark violently under the ground. It intensified only for a moment before it stopped sparking completely and slowly faded from view. Now only nine rituals were shown.
Ruby was at a lost for words, pulling her staff up from the ground as it seemed she had put enough energy into the Earth to lift the fog. She began searching quickly for anything that might have negated the ritual. Quickly, she thought back to what Kiria had told her...
'Unfortunately, I can't give off the details since I have another surprise before I leave, but let's just say it was supposed to negate it immediately, it seemed the years of cold and ice slowed the process though...'
It seemed the solution was actually pretty simple. The witch's eyes darted to the green arm of the namekian which had a miniscule paper cut thanks to her feathers. The namekian was the closest to standing to the ritual.
Blood...foreign blood...
That would be the only logical explanation to negating the rituals. Each ritual was meant for one body or as she found out thanks to her ''brother', each person's blood. if another person's blood came into contact with the ritual, it wouldn't been able to handle it...
This was only a theory since none of them had exactly seen what happened...
'...it seemed the years of cold and ice slowed the process though...'
Yes...that would make sense, Kiria had visited the ritual in the mountains where Broly was after the ritual had been set up. Knowing the cold climate of the mountains, it was possible that the ritual was underneath a sheet of ice meaning that Kiria's blood had a little while to make contact.
Piccolo could see what the witch was thinking as he looked at his own arm where the feather had brushed against. He gave a low growl in affirmation. If it was blood that these rituals needed to give him peace, then so be it.
...that wasn't to say though that he wasn't hesitant about spilling his blood. Last time he did it, he was tricked by the headmaster thinking the school contract was the only way to ensure he got to leave this barren wasteland.
Yukari looked at the unsaid acknowledgement between them with confusion. She looked towards Ruby in hopes she would relay what she was thinking. She was the brightest in the school and not knowing was killing her.
"Ruby, did you find out how-"
"Hold on a second, I have to test something," Ruby hastily cut her fellow witch off as she spread out one her crow wings in front of her and plucked a sharp feather out. What she did next made the little witch go pale as Ruby opened up her palm with very little expression of pain.
"Wha...wha..." Yukari began, not understanding the self injury until her sister faced her palm down and then whipped her arm across the cluster beside them. Her blood was stained across three magical circles which prompted them to generate static on the ground before, likewise disappearing the same as the previous one.
Ruby grinned with satisfaction. She couldn't believe it was as simple as that to negate the rituals. If that were the case, then the rituals may not have had a failsafe guard to them.
Yukari's mouth was agape as the implications settled into her head. She...she had to cut her self and spill her blood?!
"N-no! I can't do that!" the little witch screamed, shutting her eyes tight, against the thought of spilling her own blood.
Ruby looked to Yukari with a sisterly affection but the little witch could have sworn she saw Ruby reveal a masochistic smile. This didn't settle well with her. The older witch bent down to meet eye to eye with Yukari.
"Hey, it's not so bad! Trust me, I've received a whole lot worse...it'll be painless I promise..." she tried to reassure not aware that her words were putting dread into the young witch's very soul.
"N-no! I...I can't do it! It's...It's just too much...and..."
Yukari's words slowed down as she felt something wet against her hand. What she didn't realize was Ruby took the opportunity in distracting her to give a tiny prick to her index finger. The blood was miniscule but fluid enough to drip down her hand.
She stared in horror at what her role model had done. She turned white for a few seconds and Ruby was quick to hold her lest she falls. After another few seconds, she returned to her normal color and looked weakly at Ruby in an overly dramatic fashion.
"Wh-why...why Ruby?" the young witch asked, feeling betrayed.
At this point, Ruby rolled her eyes and let go of her sisterly witch. "If you don't want to help, that's fine but you'd be making the cleaning a lot quicker..."
Yukari could only blandly look at the scene in front of her where Piccolo was already starting spilling his purple blood everywhere. She pointed past Ruby with deadpanned eyes.
"Well, it doesn't seem like that with the pace plant man is going at..." she stated.
Ruby blinked and looked behind. She froze at the sight of all the purple blood that the green man was now throwing around, completely ignoring the two witches and taking action first. Suddenly a fierce competitiveness grew inside the witch that disturbed the younger one.
"H-heh...I wonder what Gohan would say if I told him I beat his sensei in a blood spilling contest?" she asked a bit creepily with a blush growing on her face.
At this point, Yukari could no longer believe what she was seeing and without a delay, her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she allowed the two to unofficially see who could spill the most blood and negate the most rituals.
"Aaaaah!" Midou screamed in pain as once again, he began putting his hands to his head and lurched forward. This time, Moka and Gohan were quick to notice that the energy that had been consistently transferring from the rest of the gang several yards away were diminishing in number. The two weren't keeping with time but they hoped that it was because the witches were negating the rituals and not because there was already men that were dying.
Nothing was draining from the gang leader, but his youki gain was decreasing. So far, it was getting increasingly difficult to land a blow as the leader had somehow learned to instinctively dodge, Not only that, but he was getting a little faster. If witches hurried, he hoped he wouldn't have to push further to keep a tab on the monstrel.
Both Moka and Gohan waited for Midou to stop screaming and writhing in pain...but when almost a minute had past, they realized that the witches was getting it done surprisingly fast. The rituals must have not been that far apart if it was indeed the case.
Moka let her guard go and harrumphed, a bit disappointment. "How pathetic, it appears this game of babysitting is over, Gohan..."
Gohan didn't quite like that tone with Moka; however, he didn't say anything. It certainly wasn't Midou's fault that he ended up like this. The real fault was on Kiria and the unknown leader. They were the ones who appeared to be making the calls and not to mention betraying others. Those were the worst kind, Gohan knew.
…
Gohan and Moka observed and waited as the gang leader continued to grunt in pain. It was obvious he was going to fully lose consciousness. It would definitely be a major break. When the last of the apparent rituals were negated, Midou looked at the two with his pupiless eyes one last time before he lost balance and his body planted against the ground without a word.
For a few moments, Moka and Gohan starred until they were sure he wasn't going to get up again. Gohan could feel Midou's lifeforce stabilize slowly but interestingly enough, his youki had remained the same which could only mean that Midou did gain quite a bit of strength. He wasn't sure how to feel about that, but for now, he would let him get his rest before he and the gang would try to learn everything about Anti-Thesis from him.
Then, without another spoken word, they looked at each other and knew that another problem had arisen. They quickly dashed in the direction where Kurumu and the others had rushed...
A\N: I told you it wasn't that long! … :p
In all seriousness though, my imagination was running quite wild and I had a lot of scenarios I wanted to play out. Just as an example, I was planning on having the witches and piccolo fight two cyclops...
...but for the sake of time and keeping a...moderate...length (this is a moderate length, right?), I decided not to keep expanding because truthfully, it would've been a bit overkill. Too many things happening at the same time.
Lastly, I want to point out that Tsukune is not in ghoul form. I couldn't make the distinction this early, but in time, you'll find out what's going on. Likewise, Midou was not in any ghoul form either...it was more like he had lost half his mind after being fed food he didn't want.
So...cool (pun intended) fight, relationship issues (This one should be obvious), a surprise twists, and (possibly if I don't forget) a bit of history about Mizore in the next chapter. Until then, i hope you enjoyed.
… Also I fixed the Krillin hair thing and number of dragonball wishes in ch. 21. I really shouldn't have been lazy. It doesn't look good at all whether I am writing for fun or not. As always, please give me your thoughts, constructive criticisms, and what not. Thanks.