Chapter XIX

Siege of the High Tower.

Shido trudged along, past the bodies of the unconscious, or unfortunately, dead D.E.M. wizards. His body was lined with bruises and fresh cuts, but he made his way along with the help of his supernatural abilities. Finding his way towards a stairwell, Shido looked up before advancing. Halfway up, though, Shido was stopped by a group of wizards, who greeted him with their territories, pinning him to the wall. "You have come too far." They said, advancing towards Shido with their weapons drawn. The pressure was soon taken off and Shido dropped to his knees before straight onto the floor. He tried to stand up but was pinned down by the wizards' territories. He felt the breath leave him and none to come in. Shido's vision started to fade, but soon, he felt the weight on his back fade, as the window in front of him shattered. Stepping in with panache, was Miku. "How pathetic."

Miku mocked the blue-haired man on the ground with scorn. Carefully stepping over the shards of glass, she stood in front of the wizards. "Gabriel: Solo." An organ pipe rose from the ground to her mouth. Miku placed her mouth to the pipe, before giving a thunderous cry. The powerful shockwave it caused shook the whole room, as the wizard's all dropped their weapons. "Miku!" Shido looked up in surprise. Miku did not take it so kindly with, "Disgusting, don't defile my name with your trash can for a voice, please. Every time you speak it, you stain name that I pray to get off."

The mind-controlled, spirits appeared behind Miku with Yoshino speaking, "Big Sister, what would you like us to do?" Miku quickly changed her attitude into a sweet and kind one as she spun around. "Well, you angels seem too big to fit in this hallway. Would you be kind enough to guard the outside of the building for me?" She spoke with charm in her voice so convincing that Shido could understand why anyone would listen. They made their way into the hoard of wizards and Kurumi clones.

Yuzuru felt an arm grab her shoulder as she flew away. Behind her floated a monstrosity, a crimson red demon, with multiple spikes lining his back, shoulders, arms, everywhere, especially his tail with a pointed end that could pierce through anything. It bore four arms, two large ones on the top, and a pair on the bottom, large black hoove-like feet, and a face of Al'Diabalos himself. His head displayed with a large crest of horns was accompanied with two shoulders bearing their own hellish teeth, a mouth shaped into a devilish grin, and two eyes, that burned with the harsh fire of Terror, which sure made everyone around him tremble to the bone. "Yuzuru! No!" Kaguya tried to rush for her sister but missed. The demon swung her towards the building where she crashed right beside the broken window.

From the wall, sprouted a large, pitch-black patch the seemed to swallow Yuzuru. The demon too retreated. It flashed is diabolic grin, before swinging his tail at spirits seeming to taunt them. "No! Come back here!" Kaguya tried to chase them into the darkness, but it closed on her and she was barred out. A moment of silence was shared, but then confusion swirled over them, especially Shido. "You see what I mean? I'm guessing your little friend is snooping around and snatching my spirits, and God knows what he's doing down there." Miku sighed and turned around. "I'll find Yuzuru, and I'll get answers." Now Shido had two problems to solve. Save Tohka, and find out who that, Mitsuru, or that guy, was.

Determination flared withing him and Shido trudged on. Miku, with an over-exaggerated exhalation, followed suit. Up a few floors, and past a couple of wizards Shido a Miku encountered a dark, empty hallway, with both sides accessible to them. Shido decided the turn left, but Miku had conflicting thoughts. "How about we go left." Shido did not care at this point and decided to listen, turning. "No actually, let's go with your left," Miku smirked.

"Why did you come anyway?!" Shido exclaimed, frustrated, which was the outcome Miku had hoped for. "Do you...want to help me?" Shido asked as he thought that was the conclusion. Miku quickly denied, retorting, "And where'd you get that bogus idea from? It might seem like I'm helping, but I'm only here to add another spirit to my collection." She gave a 'humph' before walking ahead into the darkness. "Well, you're here anyway. Thank you. I owe you very much." Shido gave a deep, before moving along into the darkness.

Through all the missiles, lasers, and gunshots of the night, was the maniacal laughter of the crimson-red-haired woman she had an alliance with, though even then, Jessica and Mana still were always at odds. Jessica fired volley after volley of missiles, and Mana flew past them all, with the Bandersnatches suffering for it. Those are your allies, Jessica. Are you this lost? Mana thought to herself. Jessica did not care though, ally or foe, it was only Mana, and the blood she hoped to spill from her corpse. Mana flew past all the missiles, some coming too close for comfort before a bright yellow laser struck at her. "Oh, I missed," Ellen remarked with a smile, before rushing at the blue-haired girl with her sword. The former Adeptus-2 sidestepped all her swings, while Jessica bombarded her with missiles.

"Come on, Mana, die for me Mana!" Jessica madly yelled. Mana held her ground, blocking with her territory. This did not seem to work in her favor, though, as the barrage overpowered her and her territory collapsed. "I certainly do not like unfair fights, but I must follow Ike's orders," Ellen stated before moving in to kill Mana. With tremendous force, Ellen swung down and the blade connected to many other blades. She faced a new opponent. Flying back, Ellen saw that it was an ordinary man of normal stature with a wicked smile and sly eyes.

He walked towards her with the help of tiny black spots the appeared under his feet. These kept him from falling she assumed. Ellen swung at the man, thinking easily that this intruder would die quickly. But her swing was intercepted by the many blades again, and this time, Ellen was able to understand where these came from. The man's head had ripped apart into four sections horizontally. The chunks of his head had stretched out to form fleshy appendages armed with sharp steel blades, and two appendages for eyes looked left and right, assessing its opponents. The monster than began to speak, its voices rather distorted. Mana could not understand it, but to her, it sounded like English. Ellen and Jessica could understand it perfectly, but Jessica could care less what it said. "Insignificant steps towards evolution won't do humans well."

It leaped at Ellen with great speed, clinging onto her sword before grabbing at her throat. The thing then shoved Ellen back, using her as a meat shield, and sliced up all the missiles that came at it. Finally, running up to Jessica, the alien threw the great wizard to the side, before whirling its blade around in a slicing maelstrom, getting in many hits.

Mana simply stood back for most of the time, struck with awe and a little bit of horror. Finally, snapping out of her trance, she caught a glimpse of Origami. She donned a strange CR-Unit when Mana looked closer. "Where is Shido?" Origami asked. "He's going to save Tohka. My big brother's in D.E.M.'s First Office Building." Mana pointed towards the skyscraper in the distance. Origami nodded and headed for the building. "Wait! Stay for a while. I might need your help." Origami halted. The alien walked in front of her with a grin. "None of you are leaving here. Having people in and out is not favorable." From the air behind him, spawned more black blotches. And from those rifts, crawled out more aliens, all bearing their army of blades at both wizards and AST alike. "That's what I mean."

Walking through all the dark hallways made the air around them quiet as a hurricane. All their footsteps sounded like earthquakes. "We need to know where we're heading first. We'll never make it to Tohka by aimlessly walking around."

"Really? So what are we going to do about it?" Miku rudely commented. Footsteps seemed to approach them at that point. Shido readied Sandelphon against any opposing wizard, but the footsteps turned left. The person seemed to be running ahead, to the left, behind, to the right. With all the footsteps all around, it couldn't have bee a single entity running. No, it would have to pass through walls as well. "Who the hell are you?! What do you want." The entity replied with a hysterical laugh. "Both of y'all are going to Hell today!" They couldn't understand the person but since Miku could understand partial English, she could identify it as such. The person's voice sounded quite young and male. If they could differentiate between accents in the complex language, they would be able to make out a Southern accent. "Come on! Get a move on, kiddos. Don't wanna keep you 'smoochy smoochy waitin'!" Shido heard fast footsteps approach. Shido swung as he saw the person run at them, but he managed to slide under and disappear.

He then jumped behind Shido, with a knife in his hand, and stabbed into his chest. Immediately reacting, Shido swung around knocking the man off him, before crashing the ground against a wall. "Gotcha good, didn't I?! Well there's more where that came from!" The man wore a gray zip-up hoodie with the letters 'LCS' in orange. He had stubble, wide deranged eyes, and was of average build. "Oh and another sweetheart too? Yeah, this is gonna be FUN!" Miku summoned Gabriel to try to attack the man, but he was far too agile to her soundwaves to hit, and truly, he was running through walls. "If you wanna reach your Princess, you gonna have to get past ME. Got it? Bon voyage!" The man taunted them to follow, waving a keycard to a room on the 18th floor. By this time, Shido's wounds had healed, and he had got a glimpse of the keycard. Shido quickly got to his feet. "Come on. We gotta catch him."

"Well excuse me, Mr. Bossypants, but I don't have have to take any orders from you. But, since it'll lead me to where I need to be, then get a move on." Ironically, Miku seemed to be the overbearing one out of the two, arrogantly walking off. Shido followed was blocked by a dark mass that he could not make out. Miku turned around and looked at him, thinking he was strange to feel around in the dark. "What now?" Shido felt what he had bumped into. It was smooth, and cold like metal. He could feel a hole in the front of the object. Feeling up it, Shido felt many ridges and parts. A little past that, he felt a giant arm. "Wait. What the heck?!" Shido held onto the object before being flung away. He landed with a hard crash onto the floor. Out of the shadows walked a giant, humanoid monster, and in his hand, was a rocket launcher. The thing had rough palish skin, a long black trench coat, and its mouth was lipless, bearing teeth.

The monstrosity would bring any Tyrant to their knees. "Blue...hair." The creature, slowly uttered, walking past Miku and towards Shido. He hastily got up and held up Sandelphon. Shido stared straight ahead at the brute walking towards him and didn't catch another large hand swing at him. Miku, thankfully, reacted using Gabriel to repel it, causing the other mammoth of a humanoid to stumble a few steps back. This one had pale-white skin, was muscular in build, like his monstrous companion, a fedora, and a black trench coat. "Oh sorry, sorry. Forgot to mention, but, uh, you ain't gonna catch me. See, I got these toys here, Tyrants or something, who cares. " The man walked out smiling. "You'd be lucky lasting 10 seconds."

The boy gave up on trying to set himself free long ago. By now, Mitsuru believed it was his fate. So it was Hell he would find himself to be in. "Why? How long has it been? 5 days? 6? Weeks?" It had been so long that Mitsuru even started to forget what he had struggled for. "This darkness, it would scare most people, wouldn't it? I quite enjoy it though. It's like my little own world, my time, my space, just me."

No longer did he bolt up upon hearing the voice. What good would it do to fight him, he was just an unlucky soul caught in his cage, or maybe their confrontation was destined to happen. Since the person walking up to him seemed to be able to speak in English fluently like him, Mitsuru would also speak in English. "What now? You lock me up in your...enourmous cell, and mess around outside, leaving me in the dirt. Isn't me being this low enough for you?"

"If I could occupy your time with something while operating outside, I would have long ago." The boy said to Mitsuru. "Truth is, I don't think fighting you is worth it. Really, I climb Mount Fuji every time I try to even sit up. Can I ask you questions, a way to pass the time?" He asked tiredly. The ground was quite soft actually, not so much like pillows, but more like fine sand in a desert, the one thing that gave any sense of comfort in here. "Ask as you please. We have all of time to talk here."

"What's with the mask? You have something to hide?" Mitsuru pointed a finger at the young boy, his face hidden, behind the grinning mask. "Partly, yes. It's much harder to look for someone you don't even know who you're looking for. At the same time, it does make for good a show."

"Then who are you?" The person paused and held his head for a moment at this question. "Hmm, In some respects I am but a boy, in others, I am you." That was what Mitsuru had hoped to get. Maybe, they as humans weren't identical, but their ability showed some connection. Maybe this boy too had died.

"Of course there is more to it than what I say, but subjects like that are best left unspoken. I am sorry if you are concerned." The quiet young man begged his pardon, giving a slightly low bow. "No no, I'm good. That's all I need." Mitsuru paused. "You know, it's kinda funny. Even though I know I want to kill you. I'm not feeling it right now. Maybe it's just me giving up entirely, but it's quite nice to have a conversation, instead of butting heads the second we meet."

"I understand you. It's much easier to talk, and we have all the time we want to do so." He spun around with the hands outward, embracing the gift of Nothing. "What are you after?" The quiet young man stopped spinning. "What am I after? Another answer I must leave with holes." They both laughed. "I am after spirits, no, the heart of their power."

"Even me?" Mitsuru was curious now. "No, you aren't on my checklist, fortunately. Qlipha crystals, the names given to them, are the forms of such the power at their most unstable." Mitsuru asked, "Who created them, these crystals?" The boy grinned. "There is a woman I know personally. It is she, who created those curses. So am I not he, who is to shatter the cycle?" Through the mask, Mitsuru could sense that he was looking straight at him. "Then who are we? Who am I, besides Mitsuru Kano?"

"Oh these questions, they are amazing. You, sir, hold a primeval power within you, not all of it, but a portion of it, just as I do. If it were not for rare circumstances, you would still be at rest. But as you are now, you are a stray cog in the machine." The voice of the was boy was warped and distorted, the neck of the boy pitch black before shifting back to a place white.

"So your goal is to wipe spirits out? And I was to help you if nothing went wrong?' He asked, standing up. The person gave a head nod as his confirmation.

"Who is this woman?" Mitsuru asked him. "I personally call her the Woman or Lady, though she has her own name. I've met her a time ago, haven't seen her since. Everything that happened in this city, it all points to her. As for me, I do my work until one day," He quickly swiped his hand from left to right, like he was grabbing something mid-air, then opened his hand to show nothing. "It all disappears." They stood in silence for a while. "Do you hold a grudge against her?" He was surprised. "A grudge? I don't know how to answer that. I would say, yes. I do, but that is because it is my purpose to hold that grudge." Mitsuru nodded. "I see."

"The woman, everything about her, it makes one believe that she is angelic. Though my opinions could only be so contradictory." The young boy walked around in circles occasionally looking up. Mitsuru started to look at him concerned. The young man spoke much more softly, but his words were sharp. "The Lady knows not of our existence, though if she did, we would have a rival opposition. We are not of her. We are not of her type, her mold. I, am not of her, and so are you. We defy the Lady, and I'll take what she calls her pure creations, for I am destruction, the inverse of it. I was created to defy her, and along with that, is a part I am to play." He looked at Mitsuru, with a cold and lifeless stare. "Or that is what I choose to live by. You have the right to choose yours, no matter how rebellious it conformation it is." He turned around, his hands behind his back, and walked off, leaving Mitsuru, again, alone in the dark. "By the way, there is a way to get out of here. I'll be waiting for you to find out."

Shido jumped out of the way, dodging the charge. "Let's just get out of here already. We aren't making any progress." Miku blasted the two with soundwaves to ward off the attackers. "I know we don't have time, but the rocket-launcher one is too fast to outrun, and dodging a rocket in this hallway will be difficult. We have to fight them." Shido took his stance. Miku grew frustrated of Shido's attitude, but again gave in and stood by him. "Blue hair." The rocket-launcher-wielding tyrant said with its harsh and monstrous voice. Readying itself, the monster sprinted at the two.

Each step sounded like a tremor as he approached. They both jumped to either side of it as the rocket launcher slammed into the ground like a judge's gavel. The rocket launcher was stuck to the ground as the hulking monster ripped it out, giving Miku and Shido time to land a couple of hits before backing off. It was the fedora donning giant's turn, absorbing all the slashes and soundwaves that hit it like a sponge against water. First, it targetted Miku, blocking her futile attacks. She tried to jump back but failed as she was hit mid-air with a punch that sent her flying. "Miku! You're going to pay for that!" Shido rushed towards the tyrant and swung his sword at it.

The attack caused it to stumble back in a daze and let Shido slash away. Miku slowly recovered, getting up from the ground. Though still in pain, she trudged towards the tyrants. The rocket-launcher-wielding tyrant began to stand up once more. "Gabriel: Rondo." The tyrant was surrounded with organ pipes, which began to blast a tune all around it, forming restraints to keep the tyrant down. Miku couldn't hold it for long though, as she had to move out of the way of Shido, whose sword flew past her onto the ground, and who struggled in the grasp of the fedora tyrant.

Its monochromic, white, and lifeless eyes stared into his. Carrying it towards the now fully recovered abomination, they headed for the darkness. "Let me go!" Shido couldn't struggle against the giant's strong grasp. She gained her full strength again. Miku stood up and summoned her Angel. "Gabriel: Solo!" Sh aimed her command at the rocket launcher-holding tyrant and yelled into the pipe. The magenta waves surrounded the giant, and she knew it was working. it seemed confused at first, struggling against the command. Then, Solo took hold of the giant's mind. The tyrant ran for the other one as it landed a hit with the giant weapon right onto the fedora wearer's face. It lost grip of Shido, luckily, as the tyrant slammed into the window, through the window, and it plunged into the city below. "My God. Thanks for that Miku!"

"Do not make a fuss over something so small." Miku huffed.

Now it was a two-versus-one, though it would still be a challenge. "Blue hair." Again the tyrant began to charge but stopped on hearing approaching footsteps. "We're done here. That fool never gets work done by playing his games." It was a Russian man, wearing a thick blue trenchcoat with a red collar and cuffs. He had a leather belt around his waist and walked with two black boots. Playing with a large knife in his hand, he said in his heavy accent, "Umbrella would not have been happy. Let them pass as they please." This man held the keycard to the quarantine room on the eighteenth floor in his hand, then threw it at them. It landed right in front of Shido's feet.

Behind the man stood two more tyrants, similar to the fedora tyrant, but they wore completely white trenchcoats, belts, and shoes. They wore strange-looking glasses that gave them an overall look of that of an alien. From the look of it, they seemed to act as his bodyguards. Going against them would not be ideal. "Move along." The man and his tyrants walked into the darkness, and so did the rocket-launcher-wielding tyrant. Before it left, the tyrant looked back. "Blue hair," it said intimidatingly, though neither Shido nor Miku could understand, before walking away, the heavy thud of its footsteps disappearing until only their breathing remained.

The shadow moved over to the giant door awaiting them. "Tell me, spirit. What is your purpose here?" Westcott moved alongside the shadow. "My purpose lies in this room, Mr. Westcott. I'm sure you can start inferring my identity with that. Or am I overestimating you?" Oh, he knew exactly who he was talking to, what he was talking to. "Have you any knowledge of a woman?"

"What woman?" He waltzed from one side of the door to the next. "The one you birth with your brothers and sisters?" Westcott was about to open the door with his keycard, but the shadow was sweet enough to do it for him. A black hand extended from the wall, and with his own keycard in hand, he opened the door to the Princess. "Come this way, you have the first row for this moment." Westcott gave a malicious smile. "I humbly thank you for such an offer. It is a reward to be a bystander of the ceremony."

Shido and Miku walked past the brutally mutilated bodies. Shido kept himself from gagging at the sight and stench. Driven by his determination, he would get to Tohka. Miku was utterly horrified. Her shoes were a mess and of all things her beautiful dress. The tips grazed over the bodies ever so slightly coming closer to staining itself, but even she had a standard of how much bloodshed and gore she could handle. "Please just get me out of here. I can't do with this stench! And oh! My outfit-how will I perform like this?!" Miku cried, trying to hide her trembling voice. Shido moved forward, albeit quite slowly and on a limp.

"18th floor. That's where Tohka is. We have to hurry, there are 4 more floors to go." The reached the stairwell. Miku was relieved and calmed down. Shido started to walk but found a wave of pain hit him, and he was forced to one knee. "Hey, aren't you really smart? Give it a break, you won't make it like this." Miku looked down at the man.

"I don't care what state I'm in. As long as I save Tohka that's all that matter." To Miku, she thought those were simply words of obligation or an overblown ego, but they truly held meaning. Shido tried to stand back up, walking a mere two steps before falling back down. "How pathetic," Miku stood over the man, struggling to even breathe the air around him. "Do your words really mean anything? Or are you trying to play the fairytale hero your mom read to you about?" Miku wanted to play games with this man she so deeply hated. "How about this? Say, you ditch this dumb idea altogether. I'll give you all the gorgeous women you'll ever need."

"Just leave!" A simple phrase, but when Shido said it, it felt awfully powerful. "If all you're going to is insult me, then leave. I'll save her myself if I have to." Shido walked past her, content with saving Tohka. Miku stood, shocked by his exclamation. "Go ahead then! That pride of yours will get you killed someday! Like your words hold any merit." She a humph before turning her back to him. "Miku," Shido calmed himself and turned to her. "Why do you hate humans so much?" This question struck her. "Humans?" she chuckled, "Humans are my little playthings. Filthy men are my slaves, and useless girls are my dolls. That's all humanity will ever be to me."

"But why do you hate them?! Why do you hate men? Why objectify women so much?" Shido asked once more. Where did this hatred sprout; this obstacle Shido had to overcome to seal her? "Why can't you see the worth in humans?"

"Worth? Humans have no other worths other than that! They are all-" Shido prevented Miku from finishing her sentence. "But you were once a human too! I had my friend, Kurumi, help me figure that out. Don't lie to me, Miku. The spirit called Phantom gave you your powers." Miku gasped slightly, as what Shido had said was true. "Even with your friend, there's no way you could have found out." Her gape turned into a menacing glare. "She has her ways." Shido reminisced the time he and Kurumi were at Miku's mansion. Yod holds the power of reminiscence. Shido remembered Kurumi saying, as she held her flintlock against the picture of a young Miku. Anything that the bullet pierces, I acquire memories of.

"You're just like any other human. Why hate them so much?" Miku could only look down at the ground as he asked her, shame consuming her. "You win." She smiled in defeat.

Again it seemed like ages flying by like seconds. If time truly had no rules in this domain. He could have been here for seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, an indefinite amount of time outside. Time could have even gone backward or not move at all. It didn't matter to him, nothing happened, maybe nothing would ever happen. He had completely given up. "I'm just too half-ass to figure out an exit that could be right in front of my eyes. Time after time, Mitsuru saw the ghosts stop before being pulled into the ground. That was the mechanism that pulled those from beyond into his world. Eventually, he heard voices around him. Whispers, millimeters from his ears, or beyond the black horizon. They all must have been the voices of beings waiting their turn to step out to a new world. Of all the voices one sounded extremely like his, no practically identical to Mitsuru's. "Hello?"

"Yeah, hello," Mitsuru replied instinctively. "Hello?" The voice called out more. This voice he heard, it sounded familiar to him, but he still stared into the darkness above, too lethargic for even his senses to work normally-no wait. "Hello?!" The voice cried once more, and indeed, it was his voice. "Uh-Uh-Um hello...there." Mitsuru scrambled for words. It seemed like the gears in his brain were old and rusted, but now they spun faster than ever before, a rush of adrenaline overcame him. "Hello again." The voice said. Mitsuru replied quickly "Uh, yeah. Hello again." This was very awkward. It was a strange feeling. He remembered the day he had this conversation, now, almost word for word. He remembered this conversation, only to reenact it as the other person. Mitsuru was talking to had called himself, picked up a phone call on himself, and talked to himself. "So I came to ask some questions. Is that okay?" He had asked. "Oh yeah, th-that's great." He couldn't stop stuttering. "Are you alright?"

"Hmm? I'm fine." The tried his best to feign a steady voice. "So now that, I'm like...this. Can you explain to me how much has changed? I know it's been like years, and I still haven't asked." Years. For years, he sat there alone and confused about his nature. He had pondered for years, not ever questioning about himself, until he had question himself. "No problemoo! So, first, you don't have to use the bathroom. You don't have to eat, but you still can, but don' forget to shower because-" Yes, it was like how he remembered it. Like a string laid out for him, Mitsuru had walked alongside what seemed like fate, as he said word for word what he heard himself say before. But like in the past, he was shut up. "Okay, who are you?" If only he had made it easy for himself. Was it safe to say something different? How badly would it mess up time? But then again, he had told himself he from the past was talking to him from the future. "I'm you from the future!" Mitsuru took the risk, praying to God that if he should ever leave this place, everything would be the same. "Me from the future? Then who is the other person?" The other person. That's right, it was that jackass this whole time.

"He's out to get you." Of course, it was that bastard's voice. Why didn't he pick up on the first syllable that cock-sucker spoke? "He knows where you are, I'm assuming at all times. And when you're here, he's got eye all over. Get the hell out of here. That's the best you can do for now."

"Well if that's the case then what do I do? Where do I go?" He remembered being this confused. What had happened next? Mitsuru couldn't remember. "Uhh. Uhhh. Raizen High School. Students. You'll find them, uhh." Pictures! He had given himself pictures. "Where is it? Where is it?!" Mitsuru tore through his satchel; an animal ferociously tearing away flesh. Finally, he felt them. Ripping the photos from his bag he caught one good glimpse at them. Their origins were still unexplained. A circle that seemed to have a beginning. He then let them drop onto the ground. The sunk into the ground. "What the hell? Why do you have these?"

"I have no clue! Just...Raizen High School. You'll find them there. It'll do you and me a big favor." The other voice didn't reply.

"I was just your average idol back then. No superpowers or anything, just me and my voice." Miku's toned saddened and with it, the atmosphere around them. "I use to go by the name Yoimachi Tsukino. My voice was my greatest, the only pride of my life." She reminisced of the days long ago; her, her voice, and the crowd. "Whenever I sang in front of the crowd, whenever my voice was heard by the masses, I felt a rush of euphoria overcome me." Shido's heart's started to feel heavy. "All of my fans, they all loved my voice. They loved me." Miku said, her voice slightly quivering. "Then, when my career was at its peak. My manager told me that a TV producer really liked me. He told me-" She chuckled a little, "that I should get to know him." Shido was taken by surprise. "get to know him? You mean-"

"Yeah, like that. Of course, I refused. I wasn't interested in being a television star, nor commit so early. All I wanted was to do was sing to the audience. And then it all fell apart." Miku bit her lip and looked down upon the ground. "Some magazine spread horrid gossip about me. I asked my company to help, but even they turned their backs on me." Shido's grasp on his blade tightened, so-much-so that it hurt. How could they do this to her?! Shido wanted to scream in anger. "But the worst part was how my fans...what I thought were my fans reacted. But even though everything was falling apart, I still believed in my voice. I could change their minds. I thought, but..." She remembered the concert. A single bright light in all of the stage pointing at her. She opened her mouth and sang into the microphone, only, she sang in silence. "Eventually, even my voice left me. Psychogenic aphonia," She said with a burning resentment. "That's what the doctors diagnosed me with. It was because of them." A scowl grew over her face. "It was because of those filthy male scum that I lost my voice." Shido finally understood.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Miku, and if I ever met your 'fans' and that TV producer, I would want to punch them in the face. But that still does not give you a reason to hate all of humanity." Miku stomped her foot down.

"No matter what you say, you men are all-"

"There had to be someone who truly heard your voice, who believed in you, right? Maybe not the producer, the manager, the 'fans', but a single person who would care?" Miku was taken back by that question but held firm to her conviction. "Really?! There was no one there, and even if there was, it would be a girl!"

"You're wrong! What you see in humanity is an illusion you created for yourself! Maybe you're right about some, I'm not them, I can list off many others who aren't!" Shido retorted, trying to get something into her thick skull.

"Yes because jumping headfirst, recklessly into danger is being a hero." Flights of stairs went by and it was aimless yelling. "And what happens if you'd seal me! What would I do without my voice!"

"I never wanted you to lose your voice. You don't need spirits to have a beautiful voice, you don't need to have powers just to sing what you want from the heart!" Shido convinced her. She froze, seeming in resignation. "Then who will listen to me! What's the good in singing when no one is there to hear you?!" Without her powers, they would all slip away again, no matter what she did. "Then I will." Her eyes widened to that. "You?! Why would you of all people listen to it?!"

"Because I've heard it! I heard the effort, the beauty in your songs! I'll make sure that I stay there for you no matter what! I'll save you here, and be there for you anytime you need it!" The statement was truly moving, and truly, it almost made Miku give in and admit defeat. But it was all lies it had to be.

The argument kept on going back and forth, they yelled so loudly, that both of them could not net hear Yuzuru drowsily calling out his name. Only when she had collapsed onto the ground did Shido and Miku realize she was there. Rushing to her side, Shido held Yuzuru in his arms. Luckily, there were no signs of injury. Really, the only concern was fatigue. Yuzuru quickly fell into a deep slumber in his arms. "Yuzuru? Yuzuru!" Shido shook Yuzuru to wake her up, but it was no use. "We can't keep her here. It's not safe. We need to find her a place." Shido said.

"Oh fine." Miku walked over to the window and shouted. The window shattered. "Girls?! Spirit! I need your service." Her call was answered, and the spirits abandoned their posts. "What is it, Big Sister?" Shido walked up to them, with Yuzuru, sleeping soundly in his arms. Kaguya froze suddenly. First, it was pure shock, then tears. She rushed to Yuzuru, quickly picking up her sister from Shido's arms, and hugged her as tight as she could. While one sister, calmly rested, the other wept tears of joy. The other spirits only watched, while Shido smiled at the scene, but knowing that the clock was still ticking, Shido turned around. "Come on, Miku. We still need to save Tohka." Miku thought about it. Maybe she was wrong, or at least, he wasn't as bad as she believed. No, what was she thinking?

"Am I causing any problems?" The shadow asked. "I should have chosen less...brutal assistants."

"No not at all, really, it made it much more interesting to see your powers in action," Westcott affirmed. They waited for the two to show up, talking about nonsense: dark roast or light. Hobbies. "What are you planning to do, Isaac?" The strange spirit's shadow walked around the room. Westcott never told his true intentions, only to his closest subordinate. "This world is tainted. No place for me, no place for mages." He declared, looking at the still unconscious Tohka. "And you plan is to use her to do so?"

"Yes, the new world will be magnificent and ridden of humans and spirits, but she alone will not suffice." The shadow tilted his head in confusion. "You mages are strange, but ambitious plans are to be admired." The shadow clapped. "Then again, the sudden death of the world is not an outcome I desire."

"Are you planning to ruin it all?" Isaac asked. "Why of course! I have my own agenda to achieve, and our goals diverge right here" He said as he pointed to Tohka. "Then we have a competition." As a sign of that pact, Isaac extended his hand out. The shadow did as well, and they shook hands. "No matter how much I crumble your wishes, I hold no hard feelings."

"What the hell are these things?!" Mana was agile, but she was forced on her toes the whole time, or she would have been in pieces in a heartbeat. Jessica was too mad for such caution. She rammed and exploded masses of then without hesitation. "Ike would be pleased to have one brought back to him." Ellen thrusted Caledvwich into one of the aliens. She flung the body over her shoulder but disappointed as it disintegrated, fading into black wisps. It seemed like the hoard would never cease, yet such easy fodder was a clear sign of a greater beast to come.

"Mana!" Origami yelled out in time as Mana's quick reflexes helped her slice a thrown alien in two. In front of them, stood a middle-aged man donning a well-ironed suit. He had a stoic expression and his eyes looked like they could read the slightest of movements. He held a briefcase in his left hand and adjusted his tie with the other. Letting out a feral growl, Jessica rushed at him, blasting shots and attempting to ram Scarlet Licorice into the person. Just by lifting a hand, he grabbed one of the cannons, halting all movement. He tugged Jessica closer, before launching her back with a round-house-kick, that of which was inhumanly powerful.

"No Miki, I take command for this." He seemed to talk to himself, before turning back towards them. "My name is Gotou, prepare to die." Instantly, every part of his body shook and wriggled. The clothes on his body ripped apart, and his features turned less human, digitigrade feet, bare sharp teeth with many pairs of eyes, multiple bladed tentacles, a body of exposed muscle, and a monstrous size. "Ellen, report back here. It's time." It was Isaac. "Yes, Ike." The creature sent its appendages towards Origami and Ellen. They wrapped around both of their blades. Ellen was able to rip them off. "Have fun." She flew back to the tower. Origami was less fortunate. Like Jessica, she was pulled in before being kicked extremely far back, so much so that she went through the windows of a nearby skyscraper and landed with a hard thud.

The intricate mechanism unraveled itself. Shido and Miku walked in, his sword up and ready, and Miku with her voice. The only lights were those that lined the floor, but that was all Shido needed to see Tohka, slumped on a chair across the room. "Tohka!" He ran for her, but a rumbling sound stopped him. One of the giant panels lining the walls, slid away from the other, revealing a crevice into a secret chamber. From that dark sliver walked out a man in a black suit and spiky as blond hair. The panels closed leaving only them in the room, but there was a strong feeling lingering in the air as if there was another invisible being hovering over them. "Hello there, friends of the Princess. My name's Sir Isaac Ray Pelham Westcott, managing director of Dues Ex Machina Industries." He waved with a grin. "So you're the bag of crap behind everything!" Shido drew Sandelphon and Miku raised and organ pipe. "Well since I have formally introduced myself, tell me, what is your name boy? I already who Diva is."

"I'm Shido Itsuka! I'm here to save Tohka." Shido tried his best to be intimidating, but in Isaac's eyes, this was unbearably hilarious. He started howling. "Itsuka...Shido." He couldn't speak a coherent sentence without laughing hysterically. "So you're the boy who wields the powers of spirits. It all makes sense now! I hope you're laughing as much as I am!" He talked to something that didn't respond. "What is with this guy? And you speak highly of humans." He'd be an insane woman then. Shido thought. "Whatever. Release Tohka now, or else." Shido threatened the man. "Or else what?" Westcott leaned in and asked. "I-I'll force you to do it." It was the best he could come up with. "You'll force me?" Isaac let out a sigh. "The sad thing is, you most likely could. Unlike my colleague, Ellen. I am not skilled at fighting." Isaac snapped his fingers and the big lights from above flashed, turning the darkly lit room into a completely white room.

She awoke groggily, the change in lighting hurting her eyed. Tohka thought she could hear the distant voice of Shido calling out to her. "Sh-Shido?" Her vision was still blurry. The restraints that locked her hands and feet in place released. "Tohka!" Shido cried out once more. He rushed over to her. Tohka's eyes widened. It was Shido! "Shido!" She almost tripped standing up. They ran for each other as a thick wall of glass raised from the ground. She was so relieved to see his face again, so much so that Tohka slowly knelt down in from of glass and wept out of joy. "Take this damn wall down, Westcott!" Shido demanded, but the man shook his head. "There is no need. You have that beast of a sword. Why not try that?" Shido gritted his teeth, then looked towards Miku. "I need you to help make him listen to me." Miku gave a huff. "As much as I hate listening to your orders-"

"I almost forgot to say! Shido Itsuka," Isaac's grin stretched extremely wide, and his eyes were slim as a snake's. "Don't be standing there for long or you might just get hurt." Tohka looked up, behind him was the silhouette of a woman in a CR-Unit and yellow sword dashing at Shido. "Behind you!" Shido was late on the warning. Before he could turn around, an excruciatingly painful feeling went through his chest. He slowly looked down, to see Caledvwich, its bright yellow, and Shido's crimson red blood. Shido fell to his knees as his head spun madly, and his vision blurred. He coughed splotches of blood, before collapsing on the floor. Tohka could only hopeless bash on the window, as Ellen walked closer. "Do I have the authorization to continue?" She asked Isaac.

"Yes of course. We don't want to keep our guest waiting." His flames wouldn't save Shido this time. "Princess, Yatogami Tohka, in the next 30 seconds, we will kill you beloved Shido Itsuka. Do whatever is needed to save him. Use your astral dress, then your angel, and if all else fails, good." He cruelly watched as everything unfolded. Caledvwich slowly lowered onto Shido. Tohka quickly took to her feet, stomping tirelessly on the ground. "Sandelphon! Sandelphon!" She chanted in desperation until she felt it. With her blade in hand, Tohka gave the hardest swing she could. A mockingly small scratch was all it produced. She swung even when her arms pleaded her to stop. Tohka made no progress as demise drew near. What was this awful feeling she felt? It pained her greatly, and she tried everything to push it back, to save Shido.

The scene was horrifying yet depressing to Miku. She only watched as the girl in front of her gave it her all for nothing in return. "Don't hurt him! Stop! Please! Don't hurt Shido! I'll give you everything! I'll do anything! Anyone but him!" Tohka said everything she could, but the blade drew closer. Memories flashed of all the times Shido was there for her, all the times he saved her, all the times he rewarded her, all the times they had working together, their dates, their kisses. This was when she finally understood. Tohka dropped her blade, and gave out a blood-curdling shriek, that of which was filled with despair.

Alarms blared their hideous sounds through the Fraxinus. These ones, in particular, signaled the worst of outcomes. "No way! Category E!" They looked as Tohka's meter dropped to zero, then past zero into the negatives. On the screen clouds of dark purple energy leaked from the building. This was the Inversion they had all heard of, a sort of legend to behold. But Reine sensed something much worse was to come.

Isaac laughed, he laughed to most he had ever, and it was only the beginning. Even Ellen couldn't believe her eyes. "So this is Inversion, Ike?" Isaac could sense the power seeping out. It would all be his. "Do you see this. The lordship has inverted!" He called out to their guest.

"Enjoy your view while it lasts."

Author's Note:

The following characters,

-Diablo, the Prime Evil

-Parasites

-Gotou

-Jack Baker

-Mr. X

-Nemesis

-Seregei Valdimir

-Ivan

Belong to Blizzard Entertainment, Hitoshi Iwaaki, and Capcom's Diablo III, Parasyte, Resident Evil 7, 2&3 Remake, and Umbrella Chronicles.