-Ayako's POV-
"Alright Ayako, I'll be back late tonight so enjoy your day off. Make sure you take a break from your work in the basement to have lunch. It'd be bad if you didn't eat anything just because I wasn't around." Tsubasa says as she walks through the living room making for the front door.
I scoff loudly and look up from my tablet as she stops behind the couch. "Come on Onee-sama I'm not some little kid. Of course I'll have lunch when I get hungry." I grumble back to her. "Besides I'm taking a break from work for today, I'm almost ready for a test run so I decided that a break for my brain would be good. I'm going to give drawing a try for once, something more artistic than technical." I tell her, spinning the drawing pen between my fingers skillfully with a grin on my face.
"Dawww aren't you cute today." Wrapping her arms around my neck Tsubasa hugs me tightly and nuzzles her face into my hair. "Well considering it's you I bet it will turn out great, and probably be something very lewd." She giggles softly in my ear.
"Come on, cut it out Onee-sama. I'm not some horny teenager. Go on, I'll just be relaxing at home today. I'll see you tonight when you get home." I turn my head and kiss Tsubasa softly. She holds me there for several moments before pulling away with a soft smile.
"Alright, be a good girl for me Ayako." She winks. I flash her a smile and give her a small wave as she leaves, closing and locking the door behind her, not that she has to lock the door. Being a little overprotective today. I snort softly and return to my sketch. Hmm, if this turns out well maybe I can make a manga and see if it sells at all. Who knows, if I can write and I can program, who says I can't draw?
I quickly finish the base sketch and start finalizing the lines of my picture, getting fully engrossed in my work that I almost didn't notice a familiar figure rising out of the shadows on the floor. "Hey Kurumi, if you're looking for Onee-sama you just missed her. She has meetings all day today so she doesn't have time to hang out with either of us." I tell her, glancing up from my tablet momentarily before returning my gaze to my work.
Kurumi doesn't say anything for several moments, chewing on her lip silently before moving a few steps closer. "Ayako… If I asked you for help would you be willing to listen to my request?" She asks, surprisingly out of character for her.
I pause my work and look over at her curiously. "Well, that depends on what you need but I'd be willing to help of course. Unless you need help killing people." I add, quickly drawing the line of where I'm willing to help and not.
"Of course I wouldn't ask you to help with that. I'm not so incompetent that I can't hunt down my own prey and take care of them. Besides if I did that Tsubasa would kill me. No way I can subject her precious little sister to something like that." Kurumi chuckles loudly. She pauses for a moment, hesitating.
"Come on, spit it out Kurumi. We are DATING after all, you me, Miku, and Tsubasa." I stand up, setting my tablet down on the coffee table. I make my way over to her and give her a tight hug. "Now come on, what do you need?"
Kurumi seems a bit taken aback by the sudden display of affection and how warmly I was treating her, causing her to get a bit flustered. "I want your help saving a Spirit that DEM has held prisoner." She finally tells me.
I step back, looking up at her in surprise. "Wait, DEM has a Spirit in custody? How did that happen?" I ask instantly, both shocked and confused about how this could happen. "Onee-sama would never let that happen, not to mention Ratatoskr."
"Tsubasa couldn't do anything. This happened years ago while you were still in a coma. I don't know if she knew where they hid her or not, but she never did anything to try to find her even after you woke up. As for Ratatoskr, they couldn't really do anything now could they? They had no way to recover or seal her until recently, but during the attack on DEM to save Tohka, I managed to figure out where they might be hiding her." Kurumi explains, quickly summarizing things for me.
"If you know then why are you here talking to me? You already know where you need to go, it's not like you to hesitate or ask for help." I comment, looking at her curiously. "Is there something you aren't telling me?"
"It's a secret facility in the middle of the ocean, and it's heavily guarded. They have powerful Wizards there on standby in case of an attack. I can handle it on my own, but I want you there to be my backup, and locating her exact position will be easier with you there."
"So you just want me to make your job easier huh? Alright how would we get there? They'd see us coming from a mile away if we flew at them."
"My shadows of course. We'll infiltrate the base, swarm them with my clones, and then get the Spirit out of there. Should be a simple in and out job if the two of us work together, what do you say?" She asks, holding her hand out with a wicked grin on her face. I stare at her for a moment before smiling and taking her hand.
"Let's do it." I say firmly.
Kurumi grins widely and steps in, closing the small gap I made a few minutes ago and cups my chin, making me look her straight in the eye. I raise an eyebrow questioningly and she just smirks wickedly. "Let's have a brief moment of entertainment before our ride shall we?" Before I can question her she leans in and kisses me softly, wrapping her arm around my neck to stop me from pulling away. My eyes go wide in surprise as her tongue invades my mouth and we begin to sink into her shadows. She breaks the kiss and her smirk wides to a cheeky grin. "You really do look the cutest when blushing, maybe the guards will be too distracted to fight back now." She teases before darkness envelops us both.
"How long will this take?" I ask, having rarely ever traveled in Kurumi's shadows. It was very different this time, I wasn't having my senses robbed or feel like I was drifting into nothing.
"It shouldn't take us long at all." She looks down and my confused face as I look around. "It's different from last time because we are traveling, not shifting to the Neighboring World. Here, I have full control so you don't have to worry about getting lost." She assures me with a comforting pat on the back.
"It certainly feels different since I can see this time." I say jokingly. "So Kurumi, why did you want to find this Spirit so badly?" I ask her as we travel since I didn't get the chance to earlier. She glances down at me then looks away wordlessly. I gaze up at her for a few more moments then give up and look away. She is allowed her secrets, it's not like Kurumi knows everything about Onee-sama and I either. I reason silently.
"I want to use her powers to find out information about the first Spirit." Kurumi speaks up after several minutes.
"Why do you want information on the first Spirit?" I ask, since I really don't know much about Kurumi's past. "You don't have to tell me, I'm just curious."
"I want revenge on her. That's all you need to know little Ayako." She says, not looking down at me but pats my head slightly.
I stay quiet for several moments then give Kurumi a quick squeeze. "I don't know what she did to you in the past and I won't ask, but don't forget about Onee-sama and myself. We are both here for you now so you don't have to cling to the past so much anymore." I tell her softly. "There's Miku too. Whatever happened back then, just remember you have us now ok?" I smile up at her and she just stares down at me impassively before looking away.
"We're here, get ready for a tough fight Ayako." Kurumi says after the silence stretched on for several minutes. "Also I won't forget that I have you guys, still, I plan to get my revenge however I can, but I won't let it blind me to you guys, that's a promise." Before I can respond the shadows around us start clear. I blink rapidly as we appear on an island. I take a quick look around and instantly spot several Wizards as well as a transport ship getting prepped for take off.
"Locate the Spirit as fast as possible. I'd like to bust them out and get out of here. No doubt they have some strong Wizards defending this place." She orders me, turning without waiting to see if I'm going to comply and her shadow extends itself out. I activate Zuriel and start hacking the base's computers as Kurumi clones erupt from her shadows and start attacking the unprepared Wizards, overwhelming them almost right away.
"Attack! We're under attack!" One of the Wizards screams over his radio, only to receive a static response as I use Dus to dampen the effectiveness of their equipment so they couldn't call for help as I continue to dig through their security files.
"No no no, no calling backup for you." I purr to myself as I shut their communications offline with a smug smirk. Kurumi looks over at me with a wicked grin on her face.
"Not bad Ayako. Now what have you found out so far?" She asks as her clones continue to wreak havoc among the guards.
"It seems that after our attack on DEM got them wanting to move the Spirit they have captured here. They call her Sister, I wonder why that is." I wonder out loud, but a swift look from Kurumi causes me to press on. "Due to our attack they're going to move her to a different facility to continue their experiments."
"What kind of experiments were they doing on her?" Kurumi asks, glad she decided to come investigate now before it was too late.
"It seems they were torturing her… trying to cause her to inverse like Tohka and Origami did, but they haven't had any success." I answer here, shaking my head as I scan through some of the files I had dug up. "They're already bringing her out now, she should be loaded on the transport already."
"If that's the case then they are woefully underprepared for an attack if this is the guards they have for defending the transport. Come on Ayako, let's get over there and recover her." Kurumi starts moving toward the transport unmolested, her clones keeping the guards busy.
I start to follow her when a sudden blast happens to Kurumi's left, obliterating several clones as a powerful Wizard steps in front of Kurumi, blocking her path. "Nightmare, I don't know how you found out about this base, but I can't let you reach Sister."
I look up to see a young girl with a custom CR-Unit very similar to Ellen's own personal unit. I start downloading information from the suit as Kurumi squares up with her. "You won't be able to stop me. Now move out of my way before I make you move." Kurumi orders her, readying her guns for a fight.
"Sorry, but I can't allow you to do as you wish." The Wizard says as she rushes Kurumi, only to run straight into one of my shields that I threw up to buy Kurumi a moment.
"Nightmare, be careful, that's Artemisia Bell, she's the new Adeptus 2 now that Mana's no longer working with DEM. Don't underestimate her, even her CR-Unit is custom made for her, based off the unit Ellen has." I warn her, closing the data I collected on her. "According to her combat data she will be a tough opponent too.-" I don't get to finish as Artemisia manages to slip past Kurumi and launch herself directly at me.
"I don't know how you managed to learn all that information, but you must be the one disrupting communication between our forces. If I take you out then reinforcements will arrive and we can wipe out Nightmare with ease!" She slashes with her sword, which Kurumi blocks at the last moment with her gun and pushes Artemisia back.
"Now now, your fight is with me, not Roulette, so how about you leave the little girl alone and entertain me!" Kurumi damands, her eyes glowing with an insane light as she launches herself at her opponent. Swinging her rifle like it's a sword at her opponent while also shooting with her pistol.
Artemisia easily deflects and blocks Kurumi's assault and backs up slowly. "Roulette? I didn't expect The Worst Spirit, and the Protector of Spirits to be working together. Seeing Roulette here trying to save Sister makes sense but I don't know why Nightmare would be here, not that it matters." She readies her beam saber and rushes at Kurumi, only to dip aside at the last minute and come rushing at me again.
I silently activate Kurudo as she rushes and wrap my hand around the grip of my weapon and a wide smile spreads across my face. I whip my weapon up and point the barrels of my new double barrel shotgun now aimed at Artemisia, who is now just a few feet away. Her eyes go wide as I fire, the force of my enhanced shot launching her backwards away from me.
"You didn't think I'm weak and helpless just because I was in the backline, did you Adeptus 2? I would have figured someone with your skill and training would know better then to underestimate someone just because they aren't fighting with everyone else." I chastise her and flash a cocky grin as I reload my weapon. "It's nice to get a fun weapon every once in a while."
"My mistake it seems." Is all she says. She pivots and rushes Kurumi, driving her back with each slash. I throw out a shield, which Artemisia easily cleaves through, but the shield buys Kurumi a moment to shoot herself with Aleph. With her enhanced movement she takes off running, firing at Artemisia as she goes.
"Do you really think you'll be able to defeat two Spirits at the same time?" Kurumi taunts her as she fires a barrage of bullets.
"Yes I do." Kurumi freezes as Artemisia appears behind her suddenly. I throw up several shields between them and rush over. The shields protect Kurumi well enough for her Astral Dress to deflect most of the damage. I summon another shield and slam it into Artemisia like a battering ram, pushing her away from Kurumi. I drop the shield and fire my gun again, but this time she's ready and flips over me as I fire, dodging my attack and slashes at me from behind, which I barely block with my gun as I spin around.
I fire a bolt of electricity at her and quickly retreat as I start summoning my weapon again. Kurumi rushes in and starts fencing with Artemisia swinging her rifle like a sword, her enhanced speed and reflexes from Aleph keeping Artemisia at bay as I regain my composure. "Nightmare, they're starting to take off!" I shout. Both their heads snap to the ship, practically unguarded as most of the Wizards are still occupied with an army of clones.
"Roulette, stop it from taking off, leave Artemisia to me!" She orders quickly and renews her attack on the Wizard, trying to keep her occupied.
"That's not going to happen!" Artemisia shouts and throws her arm out. I take a few steps before suddenly getting stuck in a powerful territory. She turns her attention from me and launches an attack at Kurumi, pushing her back with a flurry of powerful slashes from her saber.
Kurumi fences with Artemisia, keeping her at bay as I start working my way out of the territory. "Roulette, stop the ship from taking off!" Kurumi shouts. I glance over in time to see a portion of Artemisia's CT-Unit rotates, and I cry out a warning a split second to late as an energy blade pierce right through Kurumi, Astral Dress and all.
"That's one down." Artemisia says as she stands over Kurumi triumphantly. She raises her blade to strike the final blow but stops as a powerful forcewave hits her, nearly knocking her over. She turns around to see me facing her, my eyes bright with anger and tears standing in my eyes, her territory destroyed. "It seems you care more about your comrade then your mission, commendable, but foolish."
I start walking towards her as the ship starts taking off behind me. She smirks as the ship starts shrinking in the distance. I keep walking and lift some screens up behind me and hold my hand out. "I'm not stupid enough to fail my mission, I'm just letting them get further away so I don't cause to much damage." I explain then fire out a blast of electricity, the screens refining it until my railgun fires, blasting one of the jets engines. "There we go, no escort and it won't make it super far. That should be enough."
Artemisia lunges, slashing at my neck. I simply raise a shield and her face turns into one of surprise as her blade barely even scratches the surface. I whip my shotgun up and pull both triggers, launching her backwards and making her cough up some blood as the attack blasts through her defenses.
I drop my gun and rush over to Kurumi, who's holding her side and sitting up slowly. "Are you ok Nightmare?" I ask, my concern plain in my voice.
"Don't worry, I'll be alright. Did you get the ship?" I nod my head and she smiles and lets me help her to her feet. "Then we have no reason to be here anymore, so let us take our leave Roulette." She purrs.
We start sinking into the shadows as Artemisia pulls herself to her feet. I level a glare at her as she takes a step towards us. "Next time, I'll pay you back for hurting Nightmare." I say before we fully vanish from the island. As soon as we slip into the shadows I instantly inspect her injury, letting out a sigh of relief as it appears to be only a flesh wound.
"I told you it wasn't anything to worry about Ayako." Kurumi chuckles and pats my head softly as I let out a sigh of relief.
"How was I supposed to know?! You cried out and went down! I was worried that you or the baby could have been hurt!" Kurumi pulls me into a hug, trying to console me gently.
"You're right I'm sorry." She murmurs as she pats my back gently. "Hey Ayako, how did you block that Wizard's sword? Before, she managed to cut through your shield when you tried to protect us both, but right at the end there, you blocked her no problem." She looks down at me, curious about the change in strength.
I give a little shrug. "I don't know honestly, I just knew I'd block her and the sword wouldn't go through. There wasn't anything different than before, I was just so angry and worried about you." Kurumi makes a small understanding noise as I explain then falls silent as we hold onto each other for the rest of the trip back home.
As we appear in the living room Tsubasa looks up from her book, apparently home early from her meetings. She stares intensely, making me squirm slightly. "There was a DEM plane crash that happened not that long ago. Reports say it was an accident, damage to an engine during the flight." She comments offhandedly, still staring.
"From what I saw it was carrying some precious cargo." She adds after a moment's pause. She closes the book and sets it down on the coffee table. "The Spirit has escaped and Ratatoskr is currently keeping tabs on her. Kurumi go dress your injury, I know it's not deep but do it just to be safe, Ayako come here." I walk over to her and she pulls me into her lap and nuzzles my hair. "I don't mind you two going out and doing the things you want to do, but be careful, for your sake, mine, and our children." She says, stroking my stomach lightly.
"Yes Onee-sama, I'm sorry we didn't tell you before, but I didn't have much warning." I try to apologize but Tsubasa shushes me softly.
"It's alright my cute Aya. I just worry about you that's all." She murmurs, cuddling me close as we wait for Kurumi to come back so we can have dinner.