Welp, it's official: this story has topped nearly everything I got. Word count, chapter count, reviews... the only record this story will never break is follows/favs, because Monika's Freedom pretty much has that solidified for all eternity. To be fair, I wrote that at a time when the Doki Doki Literature Club fandom was just starting to grow on this site lol.

Anyways, enough about that. Enjoy the conclusion to the Clone Arc... or whatever the hell you wanna call this nonsense that's getting in the way of the tournament.

It took all the sunlight Friday had to offer for the preparations to be completed. Rendezvous at Heidern's base in Slovenia, gather resources, eat, sleep... all in anticipation of the night raid of the base they had to search for in Normandy before they could storm the damn thing. It was a long day... before anything had even happened. Already, they could feel the fatigue and general annoyance starting to weigh them down. Luckily, Heidern was there to keep them all in line; he had done this enough in his lifetime that he could probably raid operations in his sleep.

NORMANDY, FRANCE, FRIDAY NIGHT: ESTIMATED LOCATION OF NESTS/WAREZ BASE

"...How can you still be playing videogames?"

Mary questioned the sanity of Ai, who was lighting up the darkness of the helicopter with her handheld console. She looked like she had shut out the world around her; not a moment of concentration broken from her intense gaming session.

"That must be hell on your eyes." Ramon chuckled.

"No talky! I'm almost finished.' Ai shushed the luchador's commentary as she mashed buttons furiously. Was she playing a shooter? Fighter? Nobody was really in a comfortable state of mind to inquire about such things. The fact that Ai could be so chill was either inspiring... or she was a freaking weirdo.

On the other side... one fighter was feeling the absolute opposite. For Adelheid, this was a lot more than just putting an end to evil: this was his redemption. The whole flight, he had barely looked Heidern in the eye... how could he? It was HIS mission, HIS job to defeat Rugal... and he failed. Instead, Leona had to do it... and Heidern had to watch his daughter undergo something truly terrifying. She suffered, he suffered... it was all his fault.

"...Heidern."

Heidern's eye opened; he turned to address the young man at his side. "What?"

"...Allow me to take point, sir."

Heidern's eyebrow raised. "You eager for something?"

Adelheid's fist clenched. "I think you already know."

Heidern nodded. "Adelheid, I already told you I don't hold you responsible for-"

"Forgive me, sir, but I choose to take responsibility." Adelheid interrupted. "Rugal was my job, and I failed. I swear to you... I won't screw this up."

"You don't have to convince me." Heidern replied. "I know what you're capable of. Just keep everyone alive, and you can consider yourself redeemed. Clear?"

Adelheid nodded, a small smile forming. "Roger that."

"Commander Heidern!" a voice spoke over the loudspeaker. "We're approaching a compound!"

Heidern rose to his feet. "That's it. ALRIGHT, EVERYBODY KIT UP! Ralf, on me!"

Ralf tightened his bandanna and rose with an intense expression. "This is for Clark."

Mary struggled to secure her strap over her large boobs... which Ramon keenly noticed.

"Need some help with that babe?" he grinned.

Mary gave a good-natured eyeroll. "Watch it, Ramon. You're gonna need all your limbs for this mission."

"Alright you two, let's get this over with and be back in time for breakfast." Seth commanded, strapping on his backpack and heading for the hatch.

"Rose... wait for me." Adelheid whispered to his sister, far away though she was.

The black of night shrouded their descent from the helicopter, as they dropped via parachute into the mask of trees below. The helicopter circled around one time to confirm the landings before heading off into the distance to await extraction. The mission was officially a go.

"This is Heidern. All units sound off."

"This is Ralf. I'm kissin' the ground."

"Adelheid reporting in."

"Seth here."

"Ramon lookin' cool."

"Mary's here. And cute."

"This is Ai! Let's finish this up so I can get back to my- OHH MYGOSHOHMYGOSH!"

Heidern actually did a double take upon hearing that strange report. "Ai, what is it?"

"EVERYONE COME QUICK! Ah... uhhh converge on me! Or something."

Heidern rolled his eye. "All units, form up at the entrance to the compound. And wait for me."

It took a good 15 minutes for everyone to find each other, since they had landed a kilometer away from the compound and were quite scattered within the trees. But slowly and surely, the fighters were all reunited at the compound... along with an eighth man?

"...So what did you say your name was?" Ramon asked, scratching his head a few times.

The man in question looked straight out of the Tokugawa Era: clad in a white sleeveless gi, along with a white hakama, both with hints of black on the bottoms. A red sash was tied neatly around his waist, which complimented his red gloves quite nicely. His most noticeable feature was his black hair and HUGE ponytail... and the samurai steel at his hip.

"Don't you recognize him?!" Ai bounced up and down as she spoke. "Do you? Do you?"

"It's Haohmaru." the man spoke gruffly, his piece of straw dangling in his mouth with each word.

"It's THE HAOHMARU!" Ai squealed. "Oh my gosh! Ahhh! What are you doing in our time period?!"

Haohmaru balanced one hand on his hilt as he spoke casually. "I dunno how I got here. I was just out seeking worthy opponents to test my steel, but I guess I got turned around and ended up here. Where am I?"

"You're in France, dude." Mary replied, her tone rather deadpan.

Haohmaru grinned. "France, eh? Not bad..."

Ai clung to his arm, wrapping herself around his musculature. "We should totally take him base-raiding with us! EEEEEEEE!"

Heidern was starting to get a mean scowl. "Look, Ai, this isn't a game..."

"You guys headed for battle?" Haohmaru asked. "That sounds right up my alley. You can hire my services if you want."

Ai gave Heidern the most pitiful puppy eyes. "PLEEEEEEEASE~?"

Heidern rolled his eye. "Alright... what do you want? Money?"

Haohmaru put a hand on his chin... and a wide grin formed, as if he had sprouted an idea.

"Tell you what... I once heard a great tale of seven samurai who protected a village from bandits for the price of a mere bowl of hot rice. It was a fantastic story... and it attracted me. I want to live that glory myself. So, I will help you... for rice. Nothing more. Nothing less."

"Heh, my wallet says thank you." Ralf flashed a thumbs up.

"Come help us destroy this base, and you can have all the rice you can eat~" Ai gushed.

"Heh. Done."

SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

In the moonlight, his steel sparkled gallantly as he drew the blade from its sheath. The reflection was so brilliant, it actually caused the others to shield their eyes a little. Haohmaru held his trusty sword up high, placing two hands on the handle... and bringing it to rest beside his cheek.

"Alright, can we get started already?" Seth urged.

"Yes. Enough playing around." Heidern ordered.

With that nonsense over, the team of eight strong finally made their way to the entrance of the NESTS/WAREZ compound. Shockingly, there were no guards; in fact, the place looked pretty run-down, like nobody was even operating there.

"This doesn't look too sophisticated." Mary addressed the obvious.

"It could be a ruse. Throw us off, make us overlook it." Seth wisely analyzed.

"We won't know until we go in." Heidern stated. "Alright, everyone form up!"

At the entrance of the compound, the seven of them gathered to await Heidern's orders. The tall commander stood in front of them, hands behind his back, looking as professional as ever. It was just another day at the office for him...

"Okay. Squad A will consist of myself, Ralf, and Adelheid."

Ralf and Adel approached Heidern and nodded, getting behind him as he continued.

"Seth, you take your squad and find an alternate route through the compound. We'll meet up at the control room."

Seth nodded. "Roger that."

"Lastly, Ai. You take your samurai friend and, uh... go wreck stuff."

Ai stood tall and did the goofiest salute ever. "YES SIR~"

"What's the rules of engagement?" Ralf asked.

Heidern's eye ominously narrowed. "If it's artificial, kill it. If it's living and breathing, take it into custody. Our mission here is to shut down all cloning operations. PERMANENTLY. Am I clear?"

"YES SIR!" the group exclaimed in unison.

That powerful acknowledgement earned a smile from the commander. "Alright, let's go in there and get it done."

Ralf and Seth got on both sides of the entrance; with a simultaneous nod, they kicked the doors open and breached the compound for the first time. The sight before them was... not as expected.

The interior of the base looked like an absolute dump. There were no lights, it was cold, desolate, random debris, paper, trash scattered along the floor. It definitely looked abandoned; no sane person would actually use this place to manufacture clones... right?

"Wait a moment. Let your eyes adjust." Heidern quietly ordered.

"This place looks like a shithole!" Ralf whispered aloud.

"Don't be fooled by appearances." Adelheid reminded, approaching deeper into the compound to take point like he promised.

"Alright, everyone split up. Search the place top to bottom. There's GOT to be something here." Heidern gave that final order, and the team broke off to explore different routes.

"Awwww nuts."

Ai broke the silence shared between her and Haohmaru as they wandered the corridors, searching for any signs of a clone operation.

Naturally, the samurai was intrigued. "What's wrong?"

"I totally forgot about Yuki's fight this morning. I just checked the results... he lost. Damn, I really thought he could do it..."

Haohmaru actually understood. "You must be referring to the tournament currently going on in Italy."

Ai perked up. "Oh my god, you know about that?!"

"Yes, word of this contest has stretched far and wide across the span of the universe."

"How come you didn't join?"

Haohmaru gave a short laugh. "Hah. A fighting contest that's not to the death? Noooot really my forte."

Ai giggled. "Hee hee... you make a good point there."

"Shit! CONTACT!"

Seth's barking voice awoke the combat instincts of Ramon and Mary, as they tensed up in anticipation of the looming figures approaching fast.

...But when they came into view, the faces of the agents twisted in disgust.

"What the..." Ramon muttered.

"What ARE those things?!" Mary asked, a question that really required no answer.

It was obvious what they were. Their unstable, incomplete, nearly naked bodies... their empty eyes, their lack of coherence... some even didn't have hair. These zombie-like figures only had one thing in mind: aggressive intent.

"...Just call em Battle Clones. It doesn't really matter." Seth growled, clenching his fists. "They're coming to kill us. That's all that matters."

"Let's meet em halfway." Ramon grinned.

Ramon sprinted out there like a madman and started having fun. He extended his arm to clothesline one that was approaching fast, laying it out flat. Another clone closed in; he threw his body at it and drop-kicked it to the floor. As the eager luchador sprang up, he threw a sobat to the left and a backhanded chop to the right, flooring two more assailants.

One cheeky clone actually managed to seize him from behind; the eyepatch-clad wrestler was all smiles despite being cranked at the neck. He was able to easily pry the clone's arm loose and reverse their positions, holding the clone at his mercy with the arm bent behind the back. Ramon finished it off with a flashy vertical elbow, raining downwards on the spine so hard it snapped in two.

Mary kept one at bay with a lunging side kick. Another tried to ambush her from behind; a spinning backfist to the nose dropped it. One clone was actually holding a knife, of all things; Mary had a special surprise for it. She threw herself at the clone, locking her legs around the knife-wielding arm in mid-air. Locking her hands around the wrist, her body weight and momentum sent the clone crashing to the ground. With one mighty tug, Mary quite easily tore the ligaments in the arm to the extent that it was a useless slab of meat.

Mary rolled backwards and sprang up; she was able to spin around just in time to intercept the leg of a clone who threw a kick at her. Holding one leg in her hand, she tripped the stationary foot and followed the clone to the ground, seizing the leg tight between her thighs. She grabbed the ankle with two hands, twisted... and severed whatever internal bone or nerve kept that leg sustained.

Seth drove his fists into the ears of an approaching clone, destroying its equilibrium and putting it on its knees. He drew back and unleashed a fist that sent the clone's jaw sideways, complete with flying teeth, blood and saliva particles flying.

Another clone tried to clinch with him; Seth easily pried it apart and rammed a knee into its stomach so hard... the flesh and muscle tissue actually tore through the BACK. The clone slumped to the ground, its spine visibly sticking out.

Another clone charged at Seth; he lunged like a ravenous animal, scooped the clone off its legs and slammed it to the ground. With a ferocious growl, Seth mounted the clone and started raining. Punch, punch, punch... in no time, Seth was no longer punching a face, but the equivalent of a squished basketball, as skull and brain matter spilled out all over the floor.

"Seth, report. What's your status?"

Heidern spoke into his headset, just in time to avoid the clone swinging at him. Heidern rammed his hand through the clone's heart, killing it instantly.

"This is Seth. We're under attack by shambling clones. We're holding our own."

"Roger that. We're getting the same here." Heidern responded. He swung his hand and cleaved through the torso diagonally, felling another clone that tried to sneak up on him. He spun around and swung wide, slashing the necks wide open of two more and dropping them like flies.

A clone tried to rush Heidern from the left; just before it touched him, Ralf plowed into the clone and took it down to the ground. He grabbed the clone's head and started ramming it against the concrete until the skull cracked like an egg, the yolk of its brain oozing out.

Adelheid was finding great success; his personalized Genocide Cutter cleaved through clones left and right. His foot was no less effective than a sword. Each clone that came at him met similar fates: one lost the entire upper half of its torso. Another clone was bisected from the head to the waist. Another clone lost everything on the left side of its body, from its head to its arm.

"CLEAR! MOVE UP!" Ralf shouted, just before breaking the necks of two clones he had tucked under his armpits. The last surviving clone met a gruesome fate; Ralf scooped him up, flipped him like a pancake, and slammed him on his knee, snapping the spine like a pencil. Even the stomach ripped open from the force of that thunderous back-breaker.

In the hallway before Ai and Haohmaru... there was nearly an army of them. 20? 30? Maybe even more...

"Oh wow. That's a whole bunch!" Ai squeaked, summoning her virtual baseball bat. "SERVE EM UP!"

One clone tried to dive at her legs. It flopped to the ground right in front of her as Ai leaped out of the way and rained down on the back of its head. Her baseball bat split the head open like a coconut.

Ai got a running start and threw a home run swing, literally knocking the head off the clone that was charging at her. With her tremendous momentum, she spun her body around wildly and swung the bat like a madwoman, cracking yet another unfortunate skull. Finally, she spun around one more time and swung low, shattering the knee of a charging clone and felling it. A swift conk to the head finished the job.

Haohmaru was utterly rushed from the front. The bulk of the entire clone army decided to divert their attention from Ai and swarm him instead. His back was to the wall; there was no retreat.

...Despite this, he smiled and spit the piece of hay from his teeth.

Haohmaru put one hand on the hilt of his katana... and everything went by like a blur. Before anyone could blink, Haohmaru was on the OTHER side of the hallway... now behind all the clones, his katana extended in post-swing.

The blood fell like rain. The heads rolled off like a hailstorm. Bodies thudded, one after the other, one after the other, one after the other... a never ending orchestra of corpses. As Haohmaru rose back up, he sheathed his sword smoothly... and the last body hit the ground.

Ai's eyes had stars in them. Her knees buckled. Her mouth hung open, nearly drooling, as a huge red rush tinted her cheeks. She just seriously, honest-to-god had a fangasm.

"Let's keep moving, Miss Ai." Haohmaru urged,

"Y-y-yesssss... H-haohmaru... sama~" Ai swooned.

Things finally calmed down, at least on Heidern's end. He, Ralf, and Adelheid proceeded towards what they believed to be the nucleus of the base. Now, more than ever, they had reason to believe that cloning operations were indeed underway here... how could there not be after the legion of barely-finished vessels that just swarmed them?

"What's going on here... is unnatural." Adelheid spat. "It's a crime against nature. Man was not meant to create man. Only a woman should be capable of such a thing... through the miracle of life of course."

"Well, people are getting smarter and smarter." Ralf joined in the philosophy. "I mean... people create sophisticated machines for use in combat. You know, robots, drones... even androids. Creating other humans is just the next step in the chain, I think. I mean, just think about it... what if one day, we could create artificial people to fight wars-"

"Shut up, Ralf. Right now." Heidern swiftly and coldly shot that down. "I won't tolerate that kind of filthy talk."

Ralf went meek in seconds. "S-sorry sir... I was just making a point..."

"Adelheid is right." Heidern continued, a little calmer. "It's disgusting. Creating flesh and blood to inflict violence... only despicable humans could think of such things. We really are a sad species. As if we don't shed enough blood already..."

"At least some people do it for a noble cause. Like us." Adelheid tried to cheer Heidern up.

"Hmph. Rhetoric." was the commander's unfortunate dismissal of those uplifting words.

The three of them walked onward, hallway through hallway... until they stumbled upon a piece of damning evidence, in the form of a big white sign with black letters:

BREEDING FACILITY A

"...Could this be it?" Ralf asked.

"Only one way to find out." Adelheid initiated. Without restraint, he busted the door open...

...The sight before them blew their minds.

"Holy..."

Rows and rows of glass tanks, filled with colorful, bubbling liquids, running through cords... connected to living, breathing human-like forms for sustenance. It was endless: a field, where the cash crop was the growth of human beings.

"Th-this is... what the everloving... hell..." Ralf's words nearly failed to manifest properly.

They browsed through row after row, their faces twisted in disgust at the forms floating before them. Males, females, varying muscle sizes, skin pigmentation, bone structure... life was being created here, against the laws of nature and science.

"Over here guys! We got software."

Ralf motioned to the others, as they ran over there to browse the computers lined up all over the facility. The monitors were scrolling with a SEA of code: letters, symbols, stuff that would make one's eyes leak with tears if they tried to decipher it.

On some of the monitors were more interesting developments: some contained images of more fundamental procedures, such as basic movement. But some animated images depicted previews of the life forms practicing various basic strikes: punches, kicks, elbows, knees... some were demonstrating more advanced techniques on the monitors, such as initiating a takedown, stuffing a takedown, even reversing a position.

"Incredible... this data is being infused into their brains. They're learning, at the pressing of a keyboard." Adelheid observed.

"If it wasn't so damn barbaric, it'd be impressive." Heidern admitted. "But this is forbidden science. This is a taboo no man should ever break. This has to come down. ALL of it."

"Then let's get wreckin'." Ralf grinned, cracking his knuckles.

"No." Heidern halted. "We have to proceed and find the mastermind. Air support will flatten all of this when we're through. For now, we're searching for REAL people."

"Roger that... sigh..."

"GUYS! Look over here!"

Adelheid motioned to the others, standing in front of a glass tank that was containing a much, MUCH more sophisticated-looking model than the other floating meatbags. This one was incredibly, vividly distinguished. Clothing, in the form of a flowing kimono with various shades of purple, yellow, red. It had a full head of fiery hair, long and rich in volume. The skin pigment wasn't a healthy shade, but a rather ghastly pallor of white. But that was the only anomaly: everything else leaned towards the conclusion that a lot more time and effort had been put into the creation of this clone, compared to the others.

"Look, there's the name."

Heidern squinted his eye as he leaned in close, examining the label plastered on the glass:

PROJECT: AMAKUSA

"Amakusa... I read about him." Heidern spoke. "He was a radical Christian from Japan. Led a revolt, if I recall correctly. He was defeated and executed."

"This the same guy?" Ralf asked.

Heidern shook his head. "I wouldn't know. But I do know this... look at the intricacy of him. Full hair, clothes... this must've been one of their bigger projects, like Rugal."

Ralf raised an eyebrow as he tapped the glass. "It looks so alive... like he could jump at us any second. Hey! You alive in there? Hellooooooo!"

...A pair of colorless eyes opened, and the glass exploded.

Heidern was sent crashing onto a row of computers. Ralf hit one of the glass tanks, so hard it cracked. Adelheid was the only one who managed to remain on his feet, despite getting blown backwards quite intensely.

The figure didn't so much approach as he did levitate... his body brimming with a sinister green aura. He extended his palm... and a crystal ball emerged from his clothing and floated into his grasp. That must have been his weapon of choice.

"Shit! Heidern, this thing's active!" Ralf cried.

"Tell me something I don't know." Heidern snarked back. Remaining calm, he dusted himself off and spoke into his headset.

"This is Heidern, requesting backup immediately. There was still a powerful one sleeping in the base. He's awake now. Get over here!"

"This is Seth. We're on the way."

"Uhhhh Ai here! I c-can't reach you right now! I'm busy bludgeoning clones. SMASH! SMASH! SMASHEROOOOOO! WOOOO SO FUN~!"

Heidern let out an annoyed groan, rolling his eye. "We're gonna have to hold it off on our own. Stay strong, men."

Adelheid growled, approaching fast. "I'm gonna do more than hold it off... I'm going to crush it!"

Adelheid rushed in wildly, underestimating the versatility of Amakusa's crystal ball. He learned the hard way, when the Japanese sorcerer sent it flying into his gut. He was sent back a good distance, but still remained on his feet and tried to charge in again: this time with a flying kick.

"YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Amakusa howled as his body went transparent and he easily phase-shifted through Adelheid's kick. As he reappeared behind the son of Rugal, his crystal ball struck him dead in the back and floored him.

Ralf tried to rush him with a takedown; Amakusa gave him much of a similar fate. The clone demonstrated the extent of his otherworldy magic when he opened a wormhole in the ground, sent his crystal ball through it... and it emerged underneath Ralf and sent him flying upwards via his stomach.

"OOOUUUUuffffffffff..."

Heidern tried to zone him out at first with a projectile; Amakusa phase-shifted through it, but made the mistake of reappearing CLOSER to Heidern. But perhaps this wasn't a mistake at all; when Heidern tried to lunge and stab, his fingers collided against the surface of the crystal ball... and his attack was stopped dead.

With a rather effeminate cackle, Amakusa countered with a sweep kick that knocked Heidern off his feet... and before Heidern could even hit the ground, the crystal ball acted of its own will and slammed him into the wall. The weapon then returned back to Amakusa's hand, like a pet running to his master's call.

Adelheid came flying in with an axe kick, his heel slamming against the ground as Amakusa shifted just out of reach. Bernstein remained aggressive, doubling up with a back kick, then bringing that foot down to push off and go airborne, unleashing his slashing aura with a third attack. Amakusa was simply too fast, able to zoom out of reach of each strike. Upon the third kick missing, Amakusa charged in with crystal ball in hand, thrusting it at the blonde kid's chest.

Adelheid actually met him halfway, throwing a roundhouse... but he realized that Amakusa was too close and he had to awkwardly ease off on the torque. The end result was Amakusa's attack and Adelheid's kick colliding, the crystal ball smacking into solid shinbone, and the two opponents backing away from the stalemate.

Adelheid and Amakusa stared each other down, one with fire in his eyes... and the other devoid of human emotions.

...At that moment, Ralf tried to ambush with a sloppy haymaker. Amakusa sidestepped and the crystal ball sent Ralf flying. THAT was Adelheid's opening.

Now temporarily disarmed, Amakusa was forced to parry Adelheid's kick with his bare wrist. This proved to be a problem; Adelheid's leg was so powerful, he managed to dislocate the hand and put Amakusa on the retreat. The clone didn't seem bothered by the face his hand had twisted out of place.

Adelheid smelled blood. He went in for the kill... only for the crystal ball to come zooming in out of nowhere and plowing into his side, knocking him off course. As the pesky weapon returned to Amakusa's side... the clone casually grabbed his hand and snapped it back in place before grasping his malevolent orb once again.

Heidern flew in from behind, hand drawn back, enough force to take the clone's head off with a single swipe... but Amakusa didn't even have to turn around, and the crystal ball sought out Heidern's body to knock him out of the air.

"This is Seth! I'm approaching your 6, but we got a whole swarm of Battle Clones coming up behind us! We're bringing company, whether you like it or not!"

"Agh! AHHH! I prefer company of the tall, redhead, female kind!" Ramon could be heard squealing in the background.

"What I wouldn't give for a Power Geyser right now." Mary also added in.

Heidern slammed his fist on the floor as he rose up. "Just get here ASAP and provide support! We're losing ground here!"

With that command, the trio once again stood before Amakusa. Their hearts burned with fighting passion, determined to face down and defeat this powerful foe.

...But Amakusa was just getting started. This was evidenced by his body unleashing an evil magic so powerful, it turned his very skin violet and the purple of his garb to a macabre dark green.

I hate that this has to be folded into a Part 2... but the word count is getting a little high. Ugh -_-

NEXT CHAPTER: the end of this bullshit