Himeko Tachibana was bored.
Despite her supposedly glamorous part-time job of being the receptionist at Houkago Records' headquarters (or at least that was what Sawako-sensei claimed), nothing much had happened during her time there. Idly drumming her fingers on the reception desk's polished glass surface, she briefly wondered why she even took up her high school teacher's job offer in the first place.
While it had certainly been an unexpected opportunity for her to reunite with most of her former classmates, especially the four girls in HTT, Himeko mostly thought of her job as nothing more than that. Sure, it was a mostly stress-free way to earn some walking-around money and street cred while studying at college, but she'd thought working at a famous rock band's record label would be more interesting than this.
That was when she remembered Sawako-sensei's warning from yesterday.
"Due to ahh… extraneous circumstances which include the forcible relocation of other people," she told Houkago Records' support staff, which was largely comprised of Himeko's friends in high school, "We may be expecting some non-peaceful visits here sometime in the next few days by umm… let's say interested personnel. If anyone sees something out of the ordinary, then report it to me ASAP!"
Despite her creative wording, the message behind what Sawako-sensei said was crystal-clear to Himeko. For whatever reason, someone had been kidnapped, and they would be investigated by the authorities. Himeko didn't know the specifics, but she was completely sure none of her former classmates or their friends were involved in this. They were too sweet and kind to do anything like that.
Hoping Sawako-sensei was just being overly paranoid about any upcoming investigation, Himeko leaned back in her comfy swivel chair and looked up at the cracked ceiling. Whatever incident caused those fractures to appear happened when she was off-duty three days ago, so Himeko didn't know much about where they came from. As repairs were scheduled to happen today, all Himeko had to do now was wait.
Stretching her arms in the air, the gentle light of the morning sun shone on Himeko's face from the glass doors of the building's main entrance, casting shadows on… Wait, casting shadows? Wasn't there supposed to be nothing between the doors and her desk which could do that?
Immediately snapping back up in her chair, Himeko realized that meant someone had entered without her knowing. As she frantically scrambled to greet the guest, Himeko couldn't help but feel a little suspicious about how she had been caught off guard. Wouldn't the security guards at the gates alerted her first?
"Hello there, young lady. Who are you here to…" Himeko's voice trailed off as she saw that the teenage girl was accompanied by five Pokémon. Spotting a Maractus, a Mega Gallade, a Mega Ampharos, a Deino, and a Whimscott, sirens began to wail in Himeko's head at how fishy this felt before she shifted her gaze back to the girl.
Her outfit consisted of a denim-blue crop jacket obscuring the letters on her grey hoodie, black short shorts, and similarly-colored socks covered by white sneakers with light blue highlights. However, what unnerved Himeko the most about the girl were the soulless golden eyes hidden beneath the brim of her black baseball cap, which were flanked by poofy brown hair on both sides.
Feeling an eerie chill begin to run down her spine, Himeko was about to press the silent alarm underneath her desk when the girl's Whimsicott struck first, launching an Energy Ball directly at her. The impact knocking her to the floor, Himeko saw her chair sailing across the reception area before crashing into a glass table behind her, shattering it into pieces.
As she prepared to send out her only Pokémon in response, Himeko then noticed the girl had basically ignored her, and was rushing towards the lift lobby along with her Pokémon. Knowing nothing good would come of this, Himeko crawled back to her desk, pressing the silent alarm while also deactivating the elevators. If the girl's intention was to cause further havoc, then Himeko hoped her actions would limit any damage to the ground floor.
The elevator signal lamps powering down, it seemed what Himeko just did caught the girl's attention. Feeling that empty gaze transform into a murderous glare, Himeko sent out her Meowth as a last resort, hoping she could at least stall the girl for some time before the relevant authorities arrived. Unfortunately, this was not to be.
Jabbing her finger directly at Himeko's direction, the girl's Deino then rushed directly at her Meowth, slamming it into her as they were both launched back towards her desk. Feeling the sickening 'crunch' of her bones being broken from the resulting impact, Himeko heard every single alarm possible being activated across the building before passing out from the shock.
Kumiko Oumae's attack on HTT had now begun.
"Sawako-sensei, Kumiko Oumae's now in the building! And she just knocked Miss Tachibana out!"
Running over to where the rest of HTT was from her position near the surveillance wall, Nodoka nearly tripped over herself as she scampered to deliver the news. Everyone's head turning in her direction, Sawako was about to speak first, but it was Yui who snatched that chance away from her as she grinned from ear to ear.
"Ooh, so Sawa-chan-sensei guessed correctly! Kumiko actually decided to come pay us a visit after all!" Yui exclaimed in excitement, barely being able to contain herself. "Uhh, now that she's here, will I get to fight her today? I've been itching for a rematch ever since our fight at Ongaku Stadium got interrupted. Wonder how strong she's become since then?"
"Big sis, don't you remember Sawako-sensei told you to save your strength for our other special guest?" Ui chimed in, worried Yui forgot what she had been told yet again. "Though now that Miss Oumae's here, they'll certainly be arriving soon as well. Speaking of which, should we deploy our trump card to stop Miss Oumae's rampage if needs be?"
"Of course not, Ui-chan." Sawako replied, wagging a finger in her direction. "That's definitely overkill against someone like her, so we'll just send our regular forces for now. But assuming everything goes to plan from here on out, our secret weapon will most likely be used in action later on. Then, we'll give the world a glimpse of what happens when you choose to oppose HTT!"
Reina. Where was she?
Not even sparing a moment to check on the receptionist Trip indirectly knocked out, Kumiko's mind was solely focused on finding where HTT took her beloved. While this shouldn't have been an issue considering Orpheus' telepathic abilities, Kumiko had ran into some complications along the way.
Before Teleporting directly into the building, Orpheus informed Kumiko that there were psychic jammers placed all around it, which prevented him from locating exactly where Reina was and warping directly to her. The most he could do was transport Kumiko and his teammates to the closest location outside of the jammers' radius, which was where they had now ended up.
After that SNAFU back there at the reception, it was obvious to Kumiko that the search for Reina would be much more painful than what she previously anticipated. With every alarm blaring at full strength, everyone in this building would definitely know that something was up, and HTT would most likely move Reina somewhere else if they knew Kumiko was here. In essence, she was now operating on a time limit.
Looking around, Kumiko saw that aside from leading directly into the lift lobby, the reception area also had two arcing corridors branching out left and right, possibly leading to other parts of the building. Hearing footsteps rumbling down both passages, Kumiko guessed that HTT's goons were approaching her from both sides, and was soon proved correct when a sea of people and Pokémon began swarming out.
Issuing orders to her team non-stop as they began attacking their foes in all directions, Kumiko felt a blood vessel bursting in her nose from the strain of Mega Evolving two Pokémon at once. Casually using one of her hands to wipe away the resulting nosebleed, Kumiko couldn't help but break into a maniacal grin as she threw her arms into the air.
"YOU WANT SOME? THEN COME AND GET SOME!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, fueled by the fervor of rage and bloodlust. These spiteful feelings stemmed from Kumiko's desire to exact revenge on HTT for kidnapping Reina, and they now manifested in their unbridled form as she annihilated wave after wave of goons in front of her. Despite her destructive actions, Kumiko could care less about how their results would affect the world around her.
All she wanted was to get Reina back.
Channeling her feelings of anger and sorrow into the Key Stone on her wrist, Kumiko then directed them towards Sparkle. This extra burst of raw power allowed Sparkle to launch a particularly powerful Thunderbolt, which coursed through several Pokémon before hitting a hidden fuse box.
At that precise moment, the power went out.
"Wait, that outage wasn't caused by Miss Oumae's Ampharos? Then what on earth could have done that?"
As the backup generators whirred to life and restored the building's power, Ui pored over a tablet displaying its electrical grid, trying to determine what caused the temporary blackout. Her eyes scanning the various interfaces to no avail, it wasn't until Ui felt a tap on her shoulder that she found out where it came from.
"It's simple. The reason why nothing's showing up is because the outage wasn't the result of anything in the building." Nodoka explained, having come over to check on Ui. "Rather, the power went out because of something that happened outside the building. If I'd had to guess, it's either due to the nearby power station having problems on their end or someone deliberately cutting our power."
"Oh, that's why." Ui conceded. "But if someone had the ability to cut our power, then wouldn't that mean…"
"Right. That's why I'm here in the first place." Nodoka knew what Ui was thinking, and picked up where she left off. "Sawako-sensei asked us to stall Miss Oumae using the Pokémon available to us, excluding my own ace. Now let's just hope Jun hasn't been slacking off..."
Turning to face yet another flight of stairs, Kumiko's breathing was ragged from how much she was currently exerting herself, but she forced herself to keep going. Rescuing Reina was her number-one priority right now, more than her own well-being.
After Sparkle's amped-up Thunderbolt caused the power to go out, Kumiko took advantage of the ensuing confusion and made her way to a stairwell she spotted earlier next to the lift lobby. Even when the lights came back on, Kumiko was surprised that none of the goons from earlier were on her tail. Hopefully, this meant she could continue to search for Reina in relative peace.
Finally seeing a door adjacent to the next flight of stairs, Kumiko slammed it open once she reached it, only to see a drab replica of the ground floor's lift lobby and corridors greet her. Quickly making her decision, Kumiko decided to head down a corridor and search any rooms she found for Reina. With how she assumed this building was designed, Kumiko was sure going in one direction would result in her eventually looping back to the lift lobby, allowing her to smoothly advance to the next floor.
Surprisingly, most of the rooms Kumiko stumbled upon were unlocked and completely empty, almost as if nobody had even been in them before. The few locked rooms were easily overcome by Orpheus cleaving their door in two, but all they contained were row after row of filing cabinets.
Finding nothing in the last room she searched, Kumiko was relieved when she reached the lift lobby she came from earlier, as this meant her guess had been proved correct. This new discovery would make finding Reina less tedious. Of course, no matter how many rooms Kumiko still needed to search from here on out, it was definitely worth it to see her beloved again.
Going to the next floor, Kumiko repeated the same process again with similar results, most of the rooms she went into being devoid of anything notable. As this futile routine continued floor after floor with little deviation, Kumiko briefly wondered if this was all a ruse just to trick her before remembering Orpheus had sensed Reina's presence. There was still hope yet.
As she went back into that familiar stairwell once more, Kumiko noticed the lights between this floor and the next flickering, even when there was no trace of the recent blackout elsewhere. About to set her foot on a flight of stairs, a voice stopped Kumiko from immediately doing so.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Oumae. I'm afraid this is the end of the line for you."
Looking up, Kumiko saw two young women towering above her from the top of the staircase. The lights shining at their brightest for a split second before dimming again, that moment was enough for Kumiko to get a glimpse of their appearances, and she did not like what she saw.
Despite both women wearing kunoichi outfits, it was easy to differentiate between them. The woman wearing the red outfit also had glasses with the same rim color, which were framing dark magenta eyes and short chestnut-coloured hair. However, it was the woman wearing the yellow kunoichi outfit who interested Kumiko the most. Her short light-brown hair tied up into a ponytail and with eyes of the same colour, Kumiko had definitely seen her before.
"You…" Kumiko snarled, remembering the first time they met. It had been back in Edian City, when she and Reina first arrived there. That woman had been in charge of a raffle stall where Kumiko and Reina won passes to a Double Battle invitational, which they got first place in. As one of their prizes had been tickets to an HTT concert, it wasn't a stretch to say that woman had inadvertently kick-started all of this.
To make matters worse, Kumiko had previously learned she had some connection to HTT, which meant everything could have very well been a set-up right from the beginning. With that missing link now confirmed, Kumiko was now furious beyond words. It was all because of that woman that Reina was now gone in the first place.
"Oh, we meet again, Ms. Oumae. I assume you remember me from how you reacted." Ponytail cheerily replied, infuriating Kumiko even further. "Since I'm sure you don't know who I am outside of my 'job' at the raffle stall, I'll give you a brief run-down. My name's Ui Hirasawa, and I'm Yui's younger sister, while my friend over here is Nodoka Manabe, Houkago Records' chief administrator. It's a pleasure to meet you!"
As soon as her introduction was finished, Ui swiftly drew a Pokéball as Nodoka did the same. Throwing them out, the two women revealed a Crustle and a Barbaracle as their first Pokémon. Though they were clearly here to obstruct her path, Kumiko didn't want to deal with them. She had more important things to do right now.
"Psycho Cut!" Sending Orpheus out and quickly Mega Evolving him, Kumiko watched as his arm-blades slashed out twin beams of pink light below Ui, Nodoka, and their Pokémon. Their gashes appearing one after the other on the stairwell, the true extent of how deep they were only became apparent when the ground began caving in under Ui and Nodoka, causing them and their Pokémon to fall down below.
"Heh. You wanted a fair fight? It's too late for that now, especially after all that you've done." Kumiko smirked as she saw the two young women disappear below. About to depart for the next floor she had to search, Kumiko then stopped in her tracks when she heard a voice echo from the miniature chasm Orpheus created.
"The next time we meet, we'll be suing you for wanton destruction of property, Miss Oumae!" Nodoka called out as she clung to dear life on a Minior slowly floating out of the hole, with Ui hanging on to her foot in pure desperation. Flipping her middle finger at the two of them in response, Kumiko quickly left the scene, leaving HTT's support staff hanging both figuratively and literally.
"Sigh… kids these days. When will they ever learn?" Nodoka shook her head in exasperation, much to Ui's amusement. Taking out a walkie-talkie, Nodoka radioed the rest of her friends as she ignored Ui's rampant sniggers. "Uh… hi, Mio. Looks like Miss Oumae took us out of the fight faster than we anticipated. If she continues at this rate, then we may have to pull out all the stops after all…"
"What?! Kumiko defeated Nodoka-chan and Ui-chan that quickly?! Wow, she's really gotten a lot stronger ever since we fought! And Nodoka-chan and Ui-chan aren't pushovers when fighting either!"
"Yui, it looks like you misunderstood her here." Mio corrected her friend. "What Nodoka meant was that she and Ui can't fight anymore, not that all their Pokémon were knocked out. If that was the case, we'd be in a lot more trouble right now. Still, this happened ahead of schedule, so let's hope that everything doesn't derail after-"
The tone of a klaxon rang throughout the room, interrupting Mio's sentence. Looking up, Yui and Mio saw a green dot appearing on the central overhead display, which was currently showing a detailed schematic of the entire building. Their eyes widening at what this meant, Yui couldn't help but break into a wide grin at the news.
"Mio-chan! It worked! It really worked! Sawa-chan-sensei really is a genius for thinking this up!" As she glomped Mio, Yui's eyes were currently filled with tears after this confirmation. While she would have been mildly annoyed by Yui's antics under normal circumstances, Mio hugged Yui back in response, also overjoyed at how everything had gone to plan.
"Yes, Yui. This certainly is good news." she replied. "Now, all that's left to do for now is to seize our destiny. If this final step is a success, that only leaves the last phase of our plan. Once that's also done, then nothing will remain in HTT's way for complete musical domination. Are your Pokémon all rested up and ready to go?"
"You bet they are! I followed Sawa-chan-sensei's orders to the letter!" Yui cheerfully answered as she went over to where the other members of HTT and Sawako were gearing up. With a nod, everyone prepared to head up to the roof when Mugi noticed something on one of the surveillance monitors. Pointing at it, everyone else soon became noticeably alarmed.
"Um, Miss Oumae has almost reached the floor where Miss Kousaka is being kept." Mugi informed the rest of HTT. "If she rescues Miss Kousaka before we finish this step of our plan, then there will be a chance everything could fall apart. We need to stall her for some time before we succeed. Since everybody else who could do that is currently tied up, I volunteer to stay behind and fight her."
"But Mugi-chan, why?" Yui questioned her friend. "What we're going to do next is what we've been aiming for all this time, both as bandmates and as friends! Don't you want to complete this last step as well? It won't be the same without you up there! We can have someone else do this in your place!"
"Don't worry, Yui." Mugi nodded as she began to head in the other direction. "As long as I can prevent Miss Oumae from reaching Miss Kousaka too soon, then everything can continue as planned. Once I'm done with her, I'll be back by your side in no time at all. Even if I'm defeated by her, then at least that should buy everyone here enough time to succeed."
"Mugi-chan… so you were planning to do this for us all along?" Yui almost seemed touched by Mugi's words, but quickly regained her composure. "Thank you! Thank you so much! Alright, since you're so determined to give it your all, then I'd better do my best too! C'mon, everyone! Let's go!"
As her friends departed for the roof, Mugi fondly looked on at them before dashing down the corridor leading to where she would intercept Kumiko. Having complete faith that her friends would succeed at this critical juncture, Mugi only hoped she would also do her job well enough to give them the time they needed.
With every room she broke into, Kumiko was starting to hope she would find one of those psychic jammers Orpheus had told her about. They were starting to become a real pain in her ass. If she could just Teleport around the building, then finding Reina would definitely be less of a hassle.
After the last floor she searched, Kumiko realized she was slowly approaching the building's final level. If Reina was here, then that meant she was definitely on one of the few remaining floors. Otherwise, HTT may have moved her while Kumiko wasn't looking, which would force her to…
Shaking those disturbing thoughts out of her head, Kumiko sent out Orpheus again to reaffirm that Reina was still in this building. After getting a quick nod from him, Kumiko then continued on with renewed determination, dead-set on rescuing Reina. If she was here, then Kumiko's relentless searching hadn't been for naught.
Overcoming the next set of stairs in front of her, Kumiko blitzed through all the rooms she came across in record speed, then proceeded to do the same again as she combed what little floors were left. Eventually reaching the penultimate floor, Kumiko was ready to plough everything down in one fell swoop when she heard someone familiar speaking as she walked down the corridor.
"Aha, mm. Precisely what I was looking for in the first place. I see no problem with this. It should be just the ticket!" Kumiko's heart skipped a beat as she recognized the voice reaching her ears, its owner having always teased yet guided her ever since their first meeting. Anticipating that pair of red-rimmed glasses to soon appear before her, Kumiko nearly went into shock as she realized it wasn't who she expected.
Rather than Asuka Tanaka speaking, it was Tsumugi 'Mugi' Kotobuki, keyboardist of Houkago Tea Time.
But how? Kumiko swore she heard Asuka speaking just now! That voice couldn't belong to anyone else, could it? Though she made the same error when she previously encountered Mugi back in Termezzo Town, Kumiko's mind couldn't help but drift towards more disturbing possibilities. Jun mentioned HTT captured a member of the Elite Four three days ago. Could the person she mentioned be Asuka?
Her heart beating even more quickly as her thoughts went into a downward spiral, Kumiko nonetheless steeled her nerves. If HTT captured Asuka in addition to Reina, then they had genuinely crossed the line. Not only Kumiko's lover, but also her mentor were now in the clutches of madwomen. Forget only rescuing Reina, Kumiko had to make sure HTT paid the price of kidnapping two of her closest companions.
"Everyone, attack her!" Quickly sending out all her Pokémon, Kumiko's nose began gushing out blood again as she Mega Evolved both Orpheus and Sparkle for the second time. Even as it began to drip down her shirt, Kumiko ignored her worsening condition, her mind solely focused on giving Mugi some payback. As Orpheus and Trip raced towards her, Marcato, Sparkle, and Mitsuke charged up their most powerful attacks.
In rapid succession, Trip and Orpheus slammed and slashed right into Mugi's position, while various elemental beams arced towards where she was standing. A massive cloud of dust and smoke obscuring what she was able to see, Kumiko was sure she had swiftly incapacitated Mugi with all that damage. Thinking there was no way Mugi would be left standing after all that, Kumiko was proved wrong when the light of a barrier shone through.
"Don't you think that was an overly extreme way to greet someone, Miss Oumae?" Mugi casually questioned as a Vespiquen hovered next to her, using the Combee hidden underneath its 'dress' as living shields. "Someone should really teach you manners one of these days. Though given how Miss Tanaka took you on as her protege, your uncouthness does certainly match her own."
"You take that back." Kumiko spat, checking to make sure Orpheus and Trip weren't in danger before having them return to her side. "I'm not in the mood to play another one of your little mind games right now. Not when you've stolen my beloved from me. Sparkle, Thunderbolt!"
Before Mugi could react, her Vespiquen's defenses were immediately shattered by the bolt of electricity fired out by Sparkle. Sent flying backwards when her Vespiquen crashed into her, Mugi quickly picked herself up from the ground. "Now! Attack Order!"
Re-summoning the Combee it previously used as shields, Mugi's Vespiquen then commanded them to bombard Kumiko's team using Bug Bites. However, Mitsuke made short work of them by whipping up a Hurricane, the gale-force winds knocking the Combee out along with their queen. Seeing this as an opportunity to make a run for it, Kumiko was about to leave the scene when she heard Mugi shout. "Shadow Ball!"
Despite her being unable to react in time, Kumiko was relieved when she saw Orpheus cleave apart the incoming attack with a Night Slash. Leaping forward, his blades soon met the fine pottery shell of Mugi's Polteageist, which surprisingly managed to remain intact even when struck by such a powerful attack. However, the same could not be said of its inhabitant, and Mugi's Polteageist retreated back into its teapot before fainting.
"Trop Kick!" Kumiko heard Mugi's yell before seeing a Tsareena launch itself foot-first at Marcato, him being its nearest target. Instantly responding without any need for orders from Kumiko, Marcato used a Wood Hammer to block the attack, then used Second Valve to quickly charge up a Solar Beam and blast Mugi's Tsareena away. Even in this chaotic free-for-all, Kumiko's team still had the upper hand.
"Dazzling Gleam!" No sooner had Kumiko finished dealing with one problem did another one appear on her horizon. Turning around to see who would be the unlucky recipient of that attack, Kumiko discovered to her horror that Trip was going to be hit. As a dual Dragon and Dark-type, he would be seriously injured if not outright knocked out by that Fairy-type move. With none of his teammates being close enough to help him, Kumiko prepared for the worst when something else happened.
Instinctively choosing to protect himself, Trip cloaked his entire body in the aura of Dragon Rush, hoping that it could at least prevent him from being knocked unconscious. For some reason, the glow seemed to be brighter than usual this time around, and soon changed colour from a regal purple into a bluish-white. He was finally evolving at last.
Wings grew out of Trip's back as his body widened, but the most significant changes happened above his neck, which was currently stretching. The spiky tuft of 'hair' on the top of his head split into two, followed by his head and neck doing the same. When the light faded, Trip finished evolving into a Zweilous, complete with two separate heads viciously snapping at each other, still blind to the world around them.
"...Both of you, charge ahead and use a Fire Fang!" Kumiko shouted out loud, interrupting Trip's two heads in the middle of their argument. Agreeing to temporarily work together, both of Trip's mouths were filled with embers as he rushed towards the attacker, which Kumiko now saw was an Alcremie standing by Mugi's side. Brutally sinking his teeth into its creamy flesh, parts of Mugi's Alcremie melted away before it fainted.
"Use Sticky Web and Apple Acid!" Having switched out her fainted Pokémon for a Slurpuff and Appletun, Mugi decided to slow down Kumiko using her last two team members' moves, hoping to stall her before figuring out a new strategy. However, a Signal Beam from Sparkle zapped her two Pokémon unconscious shortly after, leaving the rest of Kumiko's team free to clear up the obstructions.
With all her Pokémon now knocked out, Mugi had no choice but to get away, both to help her friends and to escape any further retribution from Kumiko. Though she had been completely and utterly defeated here, Mugi was confident she had bought her friends enough time to finish their job on the rooftop. To her, making sure their dreams were fulfilled was the most important thing.
Nothing had to go wrong from here on out.
As Marcato evaporated the last of the Apple Acid with Sunny Day, Kumiko watched Orpheus cut up the Sticky Web thread, finally leaving the path ahead clear for walking. Continuing where she left off, Kumiko barged into rooms left and right as she raced down the hallway, searching for Reina until she found a strange room. Tucked in a corner was an unremarkable table, but what was on top of it caught Kumiko's eye.
Five Pokéballs and six Z-Crystals. Those were what Reina had on her when she had been taken away. Her heart being sent into overdrive, Kumiko scooped up everything she found, then threw out a Pokéball to reveal Handel inside. With this confirming her suspicions, Kumiko then sent out the rest of Reina's team and explained the situation to them.
Once she was done talking, Kumiko recalled Reina's Pokémon and was about to leave when she spotted something under the table. Peering down to take a look, Kumiko discovered there were two plastic cases, each containing eighteen Z-Crystals representing all the types. Kumiko internally debated whether or not to take them for a hot second before greedily shoving them both into her bag. Seeing as HTT took Reina from her, Kumiko reasoned taking something of theirs in retribution was only fair.
With increased vigour, Kumiko began storming through the next few rooms. Reina definitely was close. She had to be. Eventually coming across two metal doors next to each other, Kumiko was sure this was where HTT had been keeping Reina. With how important they were making her out to be, HTT would certainly want to keep Reina safely contained.
After having Eurydice sense which door Reina was behind, Kumiko told Orpheus to slash apart its various locks. Kumiko then gently pushed the broken door open, not wanting to alarm Reina more than she already did. Stepping inside, Kumiko felt the soles of her shoes impact the soft carpet and the building around her begin to quake, but paid little attention to those feelings as she laid her eyes on what HTT's machinations had done to Reina.
A/N: What do you think HTT did to Reina? Leave your guesses in the comments below!
