AN: Welcome back to a new chapter! We have arrived at the final battle chapters! 28 will be a three parter, 29 most likely a two parter! The journey is coming to it's end. Nui is dead, Mikisugi and Tsumugu hopefully alright, but what will Nudist Beach do now? Let's find out what will happen. Enjoy this part! I want to drop the next part as soon as possible, it's the moment I've been waiting for ever since we got the chapter with Ryuko fighting Nui... and I bet it will blow your mind. ;) Alright, have fun! Btw, OneRandomFiber: What track did you listened to, you said something about NieR:Automata! :D I need to play that game again. :D If you have Discord, feel free to add me there: DanieD00#2576. Goes for the other readers too, of course, if you want to get notified about progress!
All sounds have vanished. All fires, all catastrophes... have vanished. Everything has vanished.
Everything, but Ryuko and Nui inside Satsuki's mind. For a brief minute, everything is gone. Everything but those two.
Satsuki sits on the zeppelin's roof and looks down to Japan. Soon, they will reach Ôsaka. Ryuko is somewhere else in the zeppelin at the moment.
Nonon's status is unclear. The medics are doing their best. Iori and Houka examine the countless wounded people.
Satsuki closes her eyes and exhales. She considers herself a big sister - and as a protector of her little ones. And yet, she failed and lost one. Ryuko is left. She can't lose her either. The sheer thought... the gaze enough...
And she can't lose Nonon, or any of her friends.
All sounds have vanished. All fires, all catastrophes... have vanished. Everything has vanished.
Everything, but Satsuki's anxiety of losing the ones she loves. Time to wake up.
"Child." she can hear Ragyo next to her. Satsuki doesn't move her head to her.
"You mourn, even though you should joy up. Joy up - more blood, more casualties, they all feed on your wrath... until it is the only thing that will truly nurture you. And when that happens, you will learn why I took the path I once took when I was a young woman, just like you, and that made me so powerful... even beyond death."
The large Naniwa Kinman High School is visible in the distance. The zeppelin can land on the roof. It would certainly not please Takarada, then again, this would be a minor problem.
"Mhm. Your need of speaking to someone seems to have vanished. How disappointing." Ragyo mentions smiling and walks two steps down inside the small turret room they are in. The hallucination looks up Ôsaka and then back Satsuki - a little chuckle leaves her mouth.
"Well... soon, this desire will reappear. You and me will be reunited after all - one or another way..." Ragyo smiles and touches her hair carefully, and eventually, she disappears. Sanageyama climbs up the turret room and looks up to Satsuki.
"Yo, Satsuki?"
"..."
"Been told that you should visit the bridge in five. Takarada messages us already."
"... soon."
"Aight." he answers and leaves Satsuki again as she sighs.
Back in the throne room, the copies of the High Entity as well as the original watch Ôsaka. Right now, the Entity is still above Okishima. The lord of the Life Fibers does not move at all, it simply watches the progress of it's underlings. One of those copies is HInata, who's seemingly... uncalm. It's visible, if only hardly. When looking into his empty eyes, a few Life Fibers move through them, quick and erratic.
"Highness." one of the copies says.
"Observe... the world of a species whose downfall is close... and soon, it shall be ours..."
"You did well on removing the Doppelgänger..."
"And with this deed... we will be closer to Kiryuin..."
"The blood of the Kiryuin is holy... it is to be yours..."
"... yes... ever since..." the Entity answers. It's obsession for the Kiryuin family must have a reason. Is it because the family supported the Life Fibers for decades? After Ragyo, Satsuki must be the next logical step. Does the Entity attempt to corrupt Satsuki, just like it corrupted Ragyo?
In the meantime, the Life Fibers march towards Ôsaka. Ichiro seems to be at the very front of the army. His lost eye seems to cause a certain displeasure among the aliens - do they doubt his powers? His once human henchmen are loyal towards him but then again, they don't have a choice, most likely.
Aside from the regular Life Fiber units that share the same body typus, there are several specimen with them that are much more surreal. Large, clump like Life Fibers with many heads on them, needle thin, up to 20 meter long monsters with equally thin arms that move extremely fast and with a movement that reminds heavily of insects, or little dog like Life Fibers that consist only of heads and legs. All of these things must have been inspired by real specimen the Life Fibers feasted on a long time ago.
"What do we do now, master?" one of the Couturiers ask the wounded psychopath.
"Take down Ôsaka and everyone who lives in it. We deliver Kiryuin, Matoi will be killed, then we deal with the Life Fibers at Honnouji while the Entity is busy with it's two treasures." he answers.
...
As the zeppelin arrives on the roof, the gates of the large airship open up. Several groups of Nudist Beach soldiers move out to fortify positions on the roof while Takaradas men and women are rather confused. Suddenly, the roof doors are kicked open and the boss of Ôsaka approaches the zeppelin with fists and an annoyed face expression.
"WOULD ANYONE CARE TO TELL ME WHY THE HELL THERE IS A ZEPPELIN ON THE ROOF OF MY SCHOOL?!" Takarada screams angry. Houka and Sanageyama catch him.
"Yo dude save your screams for another time, we got a big ass problem coming over here slowly but steady and it's angry as fuck."
"We!? No, no no no no no no, I wanna know..."
"Alright man, we have like one or two hours until an army full of badly mooded Life Fibers arrive at the gates of Ôsaka and until then we should have a plan." Sanageyama reacts and claps on Takaradas shoulder.
"... army full of Life Fibers?" he asks confused.
"You might want to take a look at the zeppelin." Houka mentions and moves on with Sanageyama. Inside the zeppelin, Takarada finds several wounded and especially badly equipped Nudist Beach soldiers, all trying to make the best out of the situation. The strange lover of money enters the bridge of the zeppelin and finds Satsuki and a quiet Ryuko there. Both watch out of one of the windows. Senketsu has closed his eye partially. Satsuki on the other hand stands near a wall and watches Takarada careful, who approaches her quickly.
"Care to tell me what is going on here?"
"Life Fibers. They came to finish what they started years ago."
"... for real now...?"
"For. Real."
"U..uhm... how about we uh, well, show them what we are made of? I financed a battleship and a zeppelin and I want to see how well they work!"
"Will a zeppelin be enough to destroy this thing in the air?" Satsuki asks with annoyed eyes and points with her finger towards the window, where in the distance, the Layer of the High Entity is visible. Takarada looks out and when he sees it, he raises his eye brows.
"I should have spent more money on shares, I really should have..." he mumbles to himself and turns to Satsuki - Mikisugi, Tsumugu and Nui aren't here.
"And where are the others?" he asks curious, yet Satsuki only shakes her head.
"Great, really wonderful. So we lost two bosses, we lost an entire base, I guess that weird psychopath that always was around you dipped too, and my money's gone as well. Bad day for the conglomerate but eh... alright, doe the weapons deal damage on that big Life Fiber monster in the air?"
"Doubt it. I've been thinking of something but... I have to speak with Ryuko first. She... just needs some time right now." Satsuki answers. Takarada nods.
"Well uh... alright then, I'll be waiting." he answers and leaves the room. Satsuki sighs...
...
A stone falls into the water. Plap.
In the distance, white Life Fibers gently move through the snowy plains, and the sea, and the forests.
Nui sits next to Hoomaru near the cliff. They both just watch the sea. Hoomaru wears a white winter coat.
"Been a little while, hm?" Hoomaru asks with a warm and calming voice. Nui doesn't answer, she just nods slowly.
"You know... this entire area is just a memory. Your memory, might I add. Ever since I'm gone and you inserted that Fiber into my head, I'm here. This orange Fiber... must have somehow connected me with your memory. Now I'm here - in the park. In the nature, where I always wanted to be. The last few years I spent on researching everything." Hoomaru smiles. Nui looks towards her with a confused face - years? But she hasn't aged at all.
"Years?"
"It seems as if time and everything that comes with it doesn't play a role here... or maybe it does? After six years, I stopped counting. There are so many things about the Life Fibers I do not understand."
"What do you mean?"
"Well... everything, I suppose. I think Life Fibers are things can hardly be understood at all. At one point, you just go with it. The only things I think I do understand are two: you, and some of the others are capable of emotions and empathy... and communication.
Interestingly enough, the Entities understand as well. Hinata visited me. You know him, yes?"
"Yes."
"Mhm, figured. Most Entities I met, including the original one, left me alone. Every once in a while, one visited me out of curiosity - maybe three or four. One of them was Hinata, and he also was the first one who spoke to me. He wanted to learn more about humanity, sacrifices and so on. It was fascinating to see what kind of Being he was."
"... and what is so fascinating about them?"
"... well... to be honest, I still don't know. No one really knows, I guess. I think it's the act of self sacrifice? Or the understanding of empathy. Heh, maybe it's trivial stuff like cooking food." Hoomaru chuckles and Nui does the same.
"Right."
"Hinata showed me all sorts of things. The past of other people for example. It was horrifying but somewhat beautiful. I saw my own too. I don't know how this works. Those white Life Fibers... save memories... but how are they saved and how do they get here in the first place?
You see, I've spent a large part of my life here walking through the forests and thinking about the Life Fibers. I was with them after all.
No one really knew how complex they were. How complex you and your alike are. So complex that no one really can understand them. I've analysed so many memories, wrote down so many notes... have a look." she says and gives Nui a note book, which she opens. All pages are full of questions that bring up even more questions, but there are barely any proper answers - and those that are there are rather unsatisfying. It confuses Nui.
"I've heard a few things about you too."
"... oh... did you?" she asks shy. It appears that she lost her memory about how she used to be. It's no surprise, it's been a very long time.
"I've heard you were one of the most powerful Beings the Life Fibers had, maybe the most powerful... whatever that means. Hinata said your inner structure consisted of Entity Fibers. Blood was nearly unnecessary to you. You were simply there. Many others were afraid due to your presence, and it's why at one point, they made a Doppelgänger out of you... well... after Shinra Koketsu, that is."
"... I can't really remember. I don't even know how this "power" would have looked like. Or what I could have started with it. There isn't much to see normally. Dark halls... the Layer... primordial Life Fibers... but nothing more. And yet, I know there was more." she answers and sighs.
"But that is all over now. Everything is over." Nui continues and looks back at the lake.
"Even though I hated all these humans... either because I found them worthless, or because they hurt me... or because mama told me they are evil..." she mentions and briefly looks back to Hoomaru with heavy eyes. "... when I saw them die all around me... it felt like I am doing a mistake. Nonon was nearly dead. Mikisugi... treated me fairly, without much prejudice. And I never stopped being mean to them. But I didn't wanted them to die. Not like this. It wouldn't have been fair.
Have I gotten crazy? What if mama would have found out about this? Do you think she hates me... maybe she saw me somewhere...
... maybe it's better the Entity got me."
"You say things I wouldn't expect from you."
"What you see here is how I am. How I really am. Or what I was supposed to be. I never wanted much. Just a family." Nui sighs and watches the sky. Some snow falls. She moves her thick boots around on the ground.
"... but I guess that's nothing someone wants. I came because I was supposed to serve the Kiryuins... but I ended up just wanting a home.
I miss mama and my sisters." she says with a heavy heart. Hoomaru notices the contrary in Nui's words though. Right here, and right now, there isn't that evil psychopath, but simply her little girl she had to protect and raise, with a broken heart.
"But it wasn't your fault. It never was. All the hatred on humanity and the evil things you did are all to account to Miss Kiryuin."
"... I... just want to hug mama... or Ryuko... or Satsuki. Maybe I could talk with her... she likes me much more than my sisters. Mama would listen to me. She never hurted me... at least not because she wanted to be mean to me..."
Hoomaru observes Nui. The blonde woman looks to the ground and stays quiet. The difficulty Hoomaru sees is that Nui, despite knowing Ragyo hurt her, she still hangs on her. She still loves her. But did Ragyo ever love her? Likely not. Ragyo only saw a tool in her children - and children is a word you need to take with a grain of salt, as they were most likely not children to her, but creations, or tools, simple weapons.
...
...
...
"Why were you always so kind to me, Hoomaru?"
"I ... know how it's like to be alone. There are so many humans that find themselves back in a similar situation like you. No one wants them. They feel lonely, they don't have anyone to talk with, or maybe they do but they are too shy, or they think they would annoy them."
"... really?"
"Yes."
"..."
"..."
"Do you still hate them?" Hoomaru asks.
"... I do."
"..."
"... but... I... think they aren't as bad as Life Fibers. They gave me something no one ever really granted me."
"That would be?"
"A home."
Hoomaru smiles hearing that.
"Then they can't be too bad, right?"
Nui nods.
"... I think so." Nui answers careful. Hoomaru chuckles.
"You Life Fibers really are strange friends. Sometimes you contradict each other, sometimes everything makes sense, other times nothing should work and it still does... but I'm not complaining. All of you are so complex in their own way. Billions of Life Fibers, single threads that unite into one single Being that can think and feel. You guys even have an own version of heaven - and I had the luck to land in the heaven of the coolest Life Fiber Being I ever met." she winks.
"I'm not cool."
"But you are tough."
"... why?"
"Well... you stood up to face your biggest fear and... okay, okay, you didn't survive it but... you get what I mean, you faced it nonetheless."
"... I did."
Nui sighs and leans back a little on the log both women sit on. Hoomaru pats her shoulder.
...
...
...
(AN: You could listen to "Hirata Estate" from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice on YouTube for this part, if you want to. ^^)
In the meantime, Ryuko and Satsuki watch the Life Fibers from the tall walls of the Naniwa Kinman High School. The city can't fight off such large amounts of monsters, and even if, there would still be a literal flying fortress that sends out additional monsters until the last human is dead. All they know is that they want Satsuki alive, and likely Ryuko. She still doesn't say much.
"We can't defeat all of these monsters. Neither Ôsaka, nor Nudist Beach. Not even the Japanese Army could... if we had one, that is." Satsuki comments the situation and keeps her hand under her chin.
"..."
"But we can't sit here and do nothing, unless we want thousands of people to die. We can't let that happen."
"... I guess not."
"Do you have ideas? Anything we could do?"
"No."
"We... could... no. Nevermind." she reacts and sighs. If you look closely, you can see some people running on the streets. They panickly try to flee from the monsters that will soon arrive here. A large number of cars leave the city via highways, more trains frequent to the city and in the distance, planes and helicopters fly away.
"Ryuko?" Senketsu asks.
"Hm?"
"I have an idea."
Satsuki listens up as well.
"When we were in Neo-REVOCS... Ichiro spoke about terraforming, you remember?"
"Yeah?"
"If I remember correctly, he and his Couturiers kidnapped thousands of humans to process them into Life Fibers and bring those Life Fibers to Honnouji Academy. If this High Entity is here... it probably wants those Life Fibers for itself to create a weapon? I can't think of anything else he could do with them."
"... could be."
"The arrival of this thing is no coincidence and he spoke about it many times already."
"So what do you want us to do? Go to Honnouji?" Ryuko asks.
"Us? No, we stay."
Satsuki starts thinking - he seems to have a point.
"But the others." she realizes and looks up to her sister.
"We both could distract the Life Fibers and the High Entity. We are the most dangerous opponents it has, and it wants us, not the others. While we defend Ôsaka, Takarada, Sanageyama and the rest could escape with the zeppelin and with vehicles and try to take down the Life Fibers at Honnouji."
"And then what? We'd still have that huge ass Entity thingy above us."
"Yes. But then we would have stopped their plans. Even if we fail, we would make sure the others could weaken the Life Fibers immensely."
"So... you want us to basically kill ourselves?" Ryuko asks.
"... I... don't know. It's not like we have many options. Blades and bullets won't harm this thing. Without scissor blades, you can't cut this thing in half, if that works at all. And I doubt rockets will damage it. If we get captured, we could try to escape and destroy the thing from the inside."
Ryuko thinks briefly and then nods.
"... I guess you are right." she answers.
"Honestly - I don't know if I am or not. Maybe Senketsu and me are totally wrong and we will simply get killed in the process."
"..."
"Ryuko?"
"... why us?" Ryuko asks unsure. The apparent death of Mikisugi, Tsumugu and Nui makes everything harder for her.
"Why does it always come down to us? I'm so sick of it. Sick of Life Fibers and fighting."
"I understand. I feel the same. But we can't give up now. We didn't gave up during the darkest of nights, five years ago, didn't we?
Did we gave up back then?"
"We didn't."
"Exactly. We need to move on. We both will survive. And I hope the others have survived too. Mikisugi and Tsumugu are tough, and Nui? Well... I think at this point, the only person that can kill her is herself. I know she isn't dead. Please, Ryuko. Stay strong."
"... I... I'll try."
"I know." Satsuki answers and hugs Ryuko briefly. Her younger sister stands up and looks back at the Life Fibers once more with her.
"Now come, Ryuko. What is it you always say?
We should kick some Life Fiber asses?" she asks smiling. Ryuko chuckles very briefly.
"After what they did to the others they'll wish it would come down to only that, trust me."
...
...
...
The first Life Fibers reached Ôsaka. Large, spider like creatures crawl up the rooftops of the outskirts, the tower tall, needle thin Life Fibers walk graceful, yet strange through the streets, other Life Fibers hunt down humans in the various buildings they can find. Orbs fall from the sky and corrupt Ôsaka's streets. A weird, monotonous hum can be heard from the Layer - it could be that the Layer tries to cause discomfort under the civilians. On the roofs, Takaradas soldiers watch the situation. It may take about an hour until the army reaches the High School.
Alarm sounds ring out in the distance, screams can be heard. Sanageyama and Houka watch how the Life Fibers try to surround large buildings, such as a museum - they then apparently melt into each other and cover the building like clothing the skin of a human. A slow, painful process for everyone inside the building.
...
Ryuko and Satsuki arrive back on the bridge of the zeppelin, where Iori, Takarada and Gamagoori speak with each other. The zeppelin has been fueled up and equipped with weapons and ammo, as the sisters can see via the monitors.
"Satsuki." Iori greets, if uncalm. Takarada waits with closed arms, Gamagoori sits at the side and waits.
"I spoke with Ryuko."
"And?" Takarada asks.
"We have two points to explain:
First of all: the Life Fibers have, according to Senketsu the plan to sacrifice the Life Fibers at Honnouji-Academy to the High Entity. It's why they used the Fiber Factories and their target seems to be to feed the Entity with them - by doing so, it will increase it's power and allow it to likely terraform the planet, and right now we stand in it's way.
Secondly: the High Entity's goal seems to not be the people of Ôsaka, but to capture me and my sisters. The rest of Ôsaka is not interesting to it and I assume it will try to kill everyone that stands in it's way until it got us. The people who die here will die an unnecessary death.
This is why Ryuko and me decided to defend Ôsaka and the school alone as long as possible, while the rest retreats. Unarmed and unexperienced will hide in the nearby cities and forests - those who can fight will enter the zeppelin, arm and prepare themselves to attack the Academy and destroy the stored Life Fibers there, no matter how.
We are both aware that this is a battle we cannot win, but we don't have to. All we have to do is to try and make sure that you all can flee. No one needs to die here because we refuse to leave the school." Satsuki explains calm and resolve. Iori and Gamagoori stay quiet. Especially the latter seems to feel a certain discomfort, but since Satsuki revoked his oath, he is not bound to protect her at all costs - and right now it's possibly Nonon who needs more assistance... Satsuki can defend herself. She knows the Entity wants her - the worst that could happen is that she's getting wounded, but killed? Likely not.
Takarada nods slowly.
"So you seriously want to defend my school alone?"
"Any suggestions to our plan, Takarada?"
"... I do, yes." he grins and starts rubbing his hands evil. One of his teeth shines golden.
...
Humans evacuate from the city. Nudist Beach soldiers enter houses and get civilians out of the city with transporters, or bring them to the zeppelin at the school. Takarada's soldiers in the meantime begin to place bombs and build up traps.
"If you seriously want to defend my school alone, all right, not my problem, BUT IF I HAVE TO GIVE UP EVERYTHING HERE, then I want the Life Fibers to pay for that! Hehehehe!"
Traps with little money bags and explosives are placed all around the city and on the streets, as well as in little alleys that will, on hit, kill Life Fibers for a short moment. This would cause them to regenerate and for that, they need a moment, which will grant Nudist Beach more time.
"If it's about slamming Life Fiber noses then I'm all in for an well placed investment and my men will make sure everything goes according to plan. The moment they enter the inner city, they'll experience bad surprises that will make the way to the school much harder for them."
Some of the city districts are surrounded by walls - automatic turrets move out of them that are loaded with coins, ready to shoot incoming Life Fibers.
"Turrets, traps, bombs, fire... they'll be surprised. And you will be able to endure against them longer. However - once we left the city with the zeppelin, you should escape as well, if you ask me. Don't put your life at stake for us longer than necessary."
Barricades are placed on the streets, and below them in the canalisation, Takarada's men and Nudist Beach soldiers place additional explosive devices that will destroy the streets and cause the Life Fibers to fall into the ground. After about 20 minutes, a considerable part of Ôsaka is mined with all sorts of evil constructions, ready to greet the Life Fibers.
"Good luck, ladies." Takarada grins...
...
More time has passed. Ôsaka has been surrounded by the Life Fibers, for the most part. The west side of the city is still free and from there on, most refugees leave the city. Here and there, the Entity throws out more Orbs that ravage Ôsaka and spawn new monstrosities. Sanageyama, Houka and Iori help organizing groups that save the citizens. Gamagoori in the meantime stays with Nonon - medics still treat her. The scythe has cut open her entire body, but at least the bleeding has stopped. Nonon herself is awake but can only move her head carefully up or down or to the left and right, while the medics give her medical assistance.
"... where... is... Satsuki...?" she asks painful.
"She stays here. She wants to fight the Life Fibers."
"... but we have to..."
"Satsuki ordered me to protect you. She revoked my oath. Only her and Ryuko will protect the school. We on the other hand have to travel to Honnouji Academy to destroy the Life Fibers there... or at least destroy what they came for."
"... no, I can't leave... her alone, Satsuki, I..."
"Jakuzure - Satsuki will survive. I don't know this night will end but I know she will survive this battle. Just like you."
"... Sats...uki..."
...
With the evacuation going on, Ryuko and Satsuki await the Life Fibers on the walls of the school, near to the gate that would allow entrance to it. Ryuko appears to be unarmed, but her black Fiber Arms can be used as weapons, and they can kill Life Fibers, if not as effective as the scissor blades could. Satsuki keeps her spear ready.
"Look at these monsters."
"They're not all monsters, probably. But most are. Let's make sure we'll catch those who deserve it." Ryuko answers. Satsuki nods.
"This will be a difficult fight, and the Director must be somewhere." Senketsu mentions.
"Probably. This asshole... if he hurt Nui or the others..." Ryuko bites her teeth together and forms needles out of her arms uncontrollably.
"... then he will go to hell for this, Ryuko." Satsuki answers.
"Yeah."
A brief moment of silence appears. The tall tower like Life Fibers climb up roofs and look around.
Ichiro and his Couturiers approach the school from the main street. His units and those behind him need to pass three more districts: the market place which they will arrive at very shortly, the theatre district and finally the financial district - of course the banks are near the school. From there on, they can get access to the school.
When the director reaches the market place with his Couturiers, Ryuko and Satsuki watch him in the far distance. Life Fibers scream or sing horrifying melodies while they march through the city - but when an explosion from the right blows up a large building near Ichiro, one of the larger Life Fiber monsters, a thing with three leg like limbs and heads on the left and right, which is about 6 meter tall, is shred into several little parts. Those parts land, including the debris, on it's allies, burying them.
"Pfft. They prepared Ôsaka with traps..." he mumbles annoyed as he watches one of his tower tall Life Fibers being shred into thousands of parts by a large automatic cannon on a bank. It's needle like arms fidget around, as if an insect would have lost it's limbs and the nerve system is still intact for a few more seconds. The gaze is uncomfortable for most, not for Ichiro however.
In the other districts, more tormented screams of Life Fibers can be heard. When Ichiro and his Couturiers move on to the theatre district, more Life Fibers that act as vanguard are shot by shotguns inside walls that fire coin pellets - scissors and needles are launched out of the ground and cut open or pierce through additional Life Fibers, and one of the needles hit Ichiro's left hand and is stuck inside it. He raises his hand and looks at the needle.
The Life Fibers proceed with more caution as they realize the city is not as safe to approach as they thought, but when the zeppelin starts firing at them as well, the Life Fibers are put in a bad spot. Either they approach fast and uncautious - this would likely cause them to run into more traps - or they stay careful, but then they will be hit by the zeppelin and the turrets all around the city and the bank district.
Ryuko and Satsuki watch how more civilians reach the school behind them and get access to the roof - as well as Samurai of Neo-REVOCS that have been captured. They're brought into safety by Takaradas men. They're humans too, after all, and maybe, some might help in the upcoming battle. Sanageyama escorts them.
The continous singing of the Life Fibers reveals that they start communicating to develop a plan on how to get access to the bank district as they slowly reach the theatres. Monitors turn on everywhere in the city and the banner of the Takarada conglomerate hoists up on the rooftops of certain large public buildings.
"HAH! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" Takarada laughs into the monitor. In the background, additional Nudist Beach soldiers, Takarada's soldiers as well as imprisoned Samurai and escaping citizens can be seen.
"Oh no..." Satsuki mumbles annoyed by his voice. Ichiro watches the monitors as his Couturiers move forward. He notices the Samurai with his eye.
"YOU THINK YOU COULD WALK THROUGH MY CITY AND TAKE DOWN EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE THAT STANDS IN YOUR PATH WITHOUT SUMMONING THE FURY OF KANEO TAKARADA!? WRONG, YOU IDIOTS, WRONG! OH YOU'LL WISH YOU NEVER ENTERED THIS CITY WITH YOUR... are those feets? Can anyone tell me that?" Takarada asks around. A soldier walks into the camera.
"Yeah could be, some of them have feets from the looks of it." the man answers, Takarada nods understanding.
"Some?"
"Yeah, others don't have any at all."
"Ah, I see." Takarada understands and turns back to the monitor.
"ANYWAY, YOU GET MY POINT! WHAT CAN A BIG, REGENERATIVE BODY DO COMPARED TO THE POWER OF GREEN CASH AND HARD COINS, HUH!?" he yells into the monitor evil. Ichiro sighs and raises his arm while watching the Samurai.
"YOU'LL NEVER GET US AND THE ZEPPELIN IN TIME! NEEEEEVER!"
The Director forms his hand into a fist, it glows up in red, then, Threads of Fate leave it and all of a sudden, flesh explodes behind Takarada as he screams - he stops immediately and turns around.
"Oh man, what kinda sick crap is that?" he asks worried with the back directed at the camera. One blink of an eye later, the armor of the Samurai implodes, as if the human bodies have disappeared - the armor then breaks apart and reveal embryo like Life Fibers that transform in a matter of seconds into undefinable monsters - some appear more humanoid than others, however. Their red and orange-ish skin lights up, Fibers hang on them, and as they see humans, they slowly try to crawl to them. Briefly after, the connection crashes.
A minute later, shots from the zeppelin are heard, and this causes the Life Fibers to gain more speed again. They conquer the theatre district. Ryuko and Satsuki stay on their positions and wait for a good moment to attack - and that moment seems to come sooner than later when they see how the tower like Life Fibers quickly crawl over the rooftops. And without much time to think, two or three of them start climbing up the walls of the school. For comparison: the walls are about 75 meters tall, with the school having a size of around 175 meters up to the rooftop, as it is one of the larger buildings in Japan. Ryuko jumps down from one of the towers while Satsuki waits on the walls.
The young woman and her Kamui reaches one of those living towers and rams her black arms into it's upper body. It doesn't have any head whatsoever, but when she hits the monster, it seems to be able to control it for a moment by moving her arm into the direction she wants the monster to move to. Although it tries to defend itself, it can't reach her, since Ryuko hangs on it's back. And so, the monster travels back in the direction of it's comrades and starts walking onto them. More Life Fibers appear and try to take down Ryuko. Ichiro notices how Ryuko comes closer to him.
"Kill her." he orders and points with his hand at Ryuko. The Life Fibers watch her - via the rooftops they may catch her, which is why Senketsu keeps looking around to warn Ryuko just in case. When the Life Fibers take more temporary casualties, they attack their own ally instead of Ryuko, to force her to retreat. Briefly before she is able to jump, the monster's legs are cut off by it's friends. Eagerly, they tear apart it's legs until it starts screaming hellish and with an ear deafening bright voice. With that, the 20 meter tall monster slowly falls back onto the ground, destroying several buildings and burying additional Life Fibers. It's arms still fidget around intense. If you hear very closely, it sounds like the living tower screams a painful, sad "Nooooo." as it dies.
Now on the battlefield, Ryuko is hunted by the Life Fibers. They transform into liquid masses as she does and start hunting her on the rooftops. The turrets aim on the Life Fibers, not on Ryuko however, since Senketsu causes Ryuko's Life Fiber mass to appear black.
The distraction did help keeping the Life Fibers away for a few more moments, however, Ichiro himself and a few of his Couturiers reach the bank district. Satsuki watches how the Layer of the High Entity begins to throw Orbs beyond the school walls, so that the first enemies spawn in the courtyard. On the rooftop of the school, she can see how Sanageyama fights off the former Samurai with Gamagoori and Houka - even though Ichiro had the moment of surprise on his side, the three men do a solid job with additional Nudist Beach soldiers, even though this move from the Director caused casualties under her allies.
While Satsuki climbs down to fight off the incoming Life Fibers in the courtyard, Ryuko moves up the walls and arrives back on one of the towers where she takes a look at the situation. Strange monstrosities that consist only of heads and liquid Life Fiber mass slowly crawl up the walls. A considerable amount of Life Fibers conquer the bank district and it can't be long until they arrived at the school.
However, Nudist Beach still has one more trick left.
"Search the buildings and take down more humans if possible. This city shall burn and be an..." and suddenly, the streets under Ichiro and his Couturiers explode. Debris fall into the iar, water pipes leak, fire appears and several dozens of Life Fibers, both small and big, are shredded away. Coins fall on the ground after shredding apart more of the parasitarian Beings. Buildings break apart, and several groups of Life Fibers fall deep into the ground. Even Ichiro needs to take a few steps away - he didn't expected this to happen.
This must have caused the High Entity to rage up, as the Layer starts screaming an horrifying sound while glowing up. Ryuko looks up to the Entity.
"... Kiryyyy...uuuuuuuiiiiiinnnn..." she can hear the apparent living monster the Layer is screaming. Furiously, it seeks to take down Satsuki's bloodline - or maybe worse. Sanageyama calls Ryuko via radio.
"Dude, you sure you wanna do this?! This fucking thing just yelled Satsuki's family name! You really should back out as soon as possible!" Sanageyama yells into the radio and Ryuko does hear that - but she doesn't react to that. More orbs land in the courtyard, others land in the walls and slowly break them apart - in the school, people run for their lives as more Samurai's explode and transform.
Satsuki is forced to slowly retreat - her sister Ryuko jumps down to her and supports her. The turrets on the walls do their part as well, but not for long, as the living towers begin to attack the walls and rip out the turrets. Orbs are launched towards the zeppelin that shoots back at them - it takes several rounds to damage one of them, and this causes the zeppelin to slowly start moving.
Quick, small but flexible Life Fibers that are just as tall as a dog jump on roofs and walls and try to catch the zeppelin, but the attempt fails. More and more Life Fibers reach the school now, and after a few minutes, Ryuko and Satsuki seem to be surrounded and nearly out of chances.
"The roof?!" Ryuko asks.
"The roof!" Satsuki answers and uses the grappling hook on her uniform to retreat to the roof. Ryuko transforms into liquid matter, and again, some of the other Life Fibers do the same. While Satsuki climbs up the walls of the school itself, she watches how the Life Fibers conquered all of the northern and eastern parts of Ôsaka. A red ocean in the streets and alleys ravage everything.
Now on the rooftop, Satsuki rams her spear on the ground when Life Fibers try to grab her. The regalia unloads the energy gathered by Satsuki hitting and damaging the monsters, or by taking hits herself, and like this, the spear causes a small shockwave that slams the Life Fibers away from the roof. Ryuko catches up with Satsuki and both start to protect each other.
"They really want to kick our asses, huh?" Ryuko notices.
"Yeah, your's more than mine and I don't like that."
"I mean I kinda f'd up on them!"
"Didn't we all?!"
Living towers climb up the roof of the school - Satsuki notices that and tries to cut off the tips temporary. She is able to cut off one of their arm tips, causing it to struggle and eventually fall down, back on the courtyard where several dozens of it's allies are buried. Still, it's not enough to defeat them all.
The rooftop doors are barricaded, so unless the Life Fibers try to slam them open, they need to approach via the the walls. As Satsuki deals with more Life Fibers, Ryuko is hit in the back... but not by any ordinary Life Fiber, but by Ichiro, who got to sneak up to the roof! Seeing that, Satsuki gets worried and tries to support her sister, but the Life Fibers keep Satsuki away from Ryuko. They don't even actively try to hurt her, all they try is to disarm her and wound her slightly, whileas Ryuko is forced to fight as best as possible, since with her, the Life Fibers really seem to try to kill her.
Without Satsuki's support, Ryuko is soon overwhelmed by Ichiro and his underlings, and with his scythe, he hits her torso slightly. She bleeds and lands into a small wall, but at least the wound seems worse than it actually is. It's just very painful. More Life Fibers attack Ryuko, Satsuki's arms are grabbed and the Life Fibers try to force her to go onto her knees. The Director on the other hand rams his scythe repeatedly on Ryuko who tries her very best to fend off his attacks with her black arms, but this is of course much more dangerous, since she doesn't have a proper weapon. Her hands could be cut off, after all. It only takes one bad move.
Ryuko tries to kick away Ichiro, and yet, he was expecting her to act like that, it seems as if he tries to adapt to her style of fighting. Again, Ryuko is hit, Ichiro rips open her arm - black Life Fibers are severed and try to look for a connection. There isn't much blood inside her arm however, but this hit lets Ryuko struggle and fall down onto the ground. Life Fibers keep her down there. Ichiro approaches her and raises his scythe in order to execute her - and suddenly, Satsuki, with fury, rips away the Life Fibers from her and runs towards Ryuko.
"RYUKO!" she screams and tries to sprint towards Ichiro - but the Life Fibers block her way. They want her alive. Satsuki grabs the spear, jumps past the Life Fibers and next to Ryuko. The tip of the scythe is only three centimeters away from Satsuki's face as she looks up protective to Ichiro. The Life Fibers don't move, rather do they watch what the Director does next.
"If you... want to kill her... you'll have to kill me as well." Satsuki threatens, if intimidated. Ichiro looks down to Satsuki - she really kneels in front of him and capitulates. Something she never does. That's how far he got to her now.
There is a certain fear visible in Satsuki's eyes. That gaze bring up a smile in Ichiro's face, while Satsuki looks up into Ichiro's wounded face, noticing his lost eye. Nui must have got him real hard. Ryuko is unable to stand up. The Life Fibers mumble quietly. They want Satsuki alive - they all want that. Ichiro wants to kill them both though, but if he does that, he's probably destroyed by the Entity, and of course, he doesn't want that to happen.
"What are you waiting for?!" Satsuki yells angry. The Director stays calm, but a feeling of annoyance can't be ignored.
Slowly, he moves up the scythe and dematerializes it. When a Life Fiber tries to take Satsuki's weapon, she pushes him away from her.
"I'll keep my weapon!" she orders angry. Ichiro musters Satsuki, both of them watch each other without exchanging any words. There is a deep hate towards each other. Ryuko and Satsuki slowly stand up. Life Fibers surround them and force them to leave the roof with them. Ichiro waits on the rooftop as his Life Fiber allies leave, until only his Couturiers are left. One of them crawls to him.
"... what do we do now...?"
"We'll use them to distract the Entity - while we follow our own plans."
...
...
...
The High Entitity in the meantime continues to watch the battles from the throne room. Ôsaka is filled with Life Fibers everywhere. Houses break apart and the corruption from the orbs spreads, covering the once concrete and wooden parts of the city into horrible Life Fiber masses. It's underlings look like small ants from this height. Hinata and several other copies watch the ruler of the Life Fibers. Here, in the throne room, they stopped singing entirely. Hinata watches how some of the Entity's Life Fibers fall apart and vanish.
It seems as if the High Entity loses it's life power... or at least, it's power starts to vanish. Hinata notices how two of the copies next to him start dissolving slowly. They don't make any noises or anything. They just look at each other. No mourning, no pain, nothing. It's simple acceptance as their bodies fall apart. When will Hinata be the next? His time is certainly running out. He disappears...
...
...
...
At the place where Nui and Hoomaru are, it's gotten evening and snow falls from the sky. The white Life Fibers still move in the distance, and both continue to sit at the cliffs.
"... nights like these aren't unusual here. They all are quiet. Always. I always just sat here and drank a warm cup of chocolate while the chimney was on. But I think that time is over."
"... over? What... do you mean?"
"Well. I think you should go now, Nui."
"But where?" she asks.
"Well, back to where you belong to. To Earth, with your sisters." Hoomaru smiles. Nui seems to be confused and shakes her head.
"That doesn't make any sense, Hoomaru."
"Do Life Fibers make any sense? The surface does... but when you look into them more, they are far too complex to properly understand.
"What?"
"I know the answer to all my questions now, Nui: nothing makes sense. And it all makes sense. The memories, the feelings, the thoughts, the nature of Life Fibers - it all works, even though it should not."
"Maybe. But Hoomaru, I can't go back. And... I think I don't want to go back anymore..." she sighs.
"I understand. You don't want to deal with the pain anymore. You walk on Earth and live with humans and you need to smile and stay friendly when in reality, you just want time for yourself, maybe a few friends, your family and a comfortable home. Instead, you fear, or think that everyone hates you and because of that, you hate back. You kill because you think they will kill you, or hurt you. Isn't it so?"
"..."
"This isn't you." Hoomaru says and stands up to hold Nui's shoulders.
"This is what Ragyo wanted. But the longer you walk with the humans and with Ryuko and Satsuki, the more I got to see after I disappeared, that there still is more in you. Not just a killing machine."
"Stop it, Hoomaru. You know exactly who I am. I can't come back. Not the way I want to. If I go back, I'll be this heartless monster again.
I don't want to be a monster anymore. I just want someone who likes me. But here, I know you like me, and maybe, Ryuko and Satsuki will come sooner or later... I hope later, but... then we could be all together." she smiles naive. Hoomaru shakes her head.
"Life is too short to hope that, Nui. I lived a good part of my life, it wasn't always great, for the most part... but I saw beautiful things. But you didn't yet. There is a reason why you are here..."
"... and that is?" Nui asks.
"Him. He's the reason." Hoomaru smiles and walks a few steps back, then she points with her head towards Nui's back. Nui turns around.
There is a man, and Hinata in the distance. A snow storm comes up. Both of them come closer.
"Who... is that...?"
Hoomaru chuckles.
"That's the man you killed a long time ago. Your father." she smiles. Nui walks a few steps forward and truly sees Soichiro coming closer with Hinata.
Her heart stops working for a moment as she sees her young father approach Nui. No word leaves her mouth as he comes close enough to her.
Soichiro stands in front of her and looks into her face. Nui doesn't dare to look up. She dares nothing. She just looks to the ground, intimidated. He must hate her. He must! Hinata in the meantime approaches Hoomaru - she seems melancholic.
"... I..." Nui mumbles. Soichiro carefully grabs Nui and hugs her warmly.
"... it's okay." he says calm into her ear and pats her hair. Nui whimpers slightly.
"... I'm sorry."
"I know. You didn't knew it."
"Mama... she... she forced me to, she..."
"You only... wanted to make Lady Ragyo happy. It's okay. I understand." Soichiro says and kneels down to Nui. The little kid in her head wants to stick to her father who however gently pushes her back.
"Papa, I..."
"Yes?"
"... do... you... think I'm a monster...?" she asks cautious. Soichiro chuckles.
"You know... we all are monsters, somewhere. I'm not an exactly good person either." he answers smiling.
"... wh-why..."
"Would you believe me if I say I killed humans too?"
"... you... did?"
"Yes. More than you, if I'm being honest. Although you had the better plan on killing them, that I admit." he says, joking about Nui's and Ragyo's Shinra Koketsu plan years ago to try to lighten up her mood. It might be a dark joke, but dark jokes are what Nui lighten up her mood, and that works indeed.
"... I did my best." she says and kneels onto the ground.
"I know. You always do."
"... can... I stay here... please?" she whimpers more, like a little, sad child that misses it's parents.
"Your time hasn't come yet. I've seen you die two times now... and both times it was too soon. I'm not angry at you... in fact, I'm proud of you... just like I am proud of Ryuko and Satsuki. I promise, little child." he says and kisses her forehead.
"... I... can't go... I'm... well..."
"You're dead, yes. But Life Fibers often find a way back. And Rei knows how. You have a really good friend, you know? And besides..." he says and stands up again.
"Do you really want to leave your sisters alone now for a father you barely know anyway?" he asks smiling.
"... I..."
"You'll know me one day. I'm sure of it. Maybe by reading books... or listening to what your big sister Satsuki says.
I'm sorry for leaving you to Ragyo."
"... papa, please..."
"I promise you, I'll be here whenever you need me. If you need to talk... just start talking. I will always listen. Now... little Nui... you gotta go. Your sisters need you." he smiles and pats her head once more, very gently, kind and caring.
Hinata walks towards Soichiro and carefully moves him away. He then summons a large Life Fiber with several colors behind the cliff - red, orange, black and white. The scissor blades are visible... and the sky above Okishima. When Nui sees that, she starts to feel uncomfortable, and even more so, when Hoomaru approaches her as Hinata and Soichiro walk a few steps back.
Nui's friend seems to be afraid, but why? Apparently, she holds a large Life Fiber in her hand with the same colors. It seeks to feast on her from the looks of it.
"What... are you doing, Rei?" Nui asks genuinely scared for her friend.
"I know now how your Doppelgänger always comes back when he dies."
Nui shakes her head in disbelief.
"Every time he dies, he comes back into the dark halls and seeks up a Life Fiber Being to feast on it - Hinata can't do that... and your father either... but I can be the Being that you can feast on with this Fiber."
"But that would mean you would vanish entirely! Nothing would be left of you!"
"Vanish? I was never there for anyone, except for Satsuki and for you. Your sisters need you..."
"Hoomaru... if someone has to go, then it's you! Not me! I stay! I don't want to go back! Please! Ryuko and Satsuki... th-they will come here at one point! You..."
"You can't stop me anymore, Nui. When I died, you gave me the biggest gift one could have given me... you fulfilled the wish I always had..." she says and tears up... "... finally in the nature, alone for me, at a beautiful place, where I can do whatever I want to, for years... one week before Christmas... heh, and that week is now. That day is now."
"Hoomaru, stop it!" Nui begs and almost falls from the cliff.
"... you ain't ready to go, I know that you are better than what this bitch Ragyo wanted you to be - I can see it directly in front of me! You prefer to let me go back and it's beautiful to see that because it proves me that you are still my little girl from the forest!" Hoomaru cries sad but full of love and yet aggressive. She keeps the Life Fiber tight in her hand.
"And I want that little girl from the forest to finally have a life with a family that loves her! So please accept my christmas gift, so that you may go back to the world of the living, where there is much, much more than just pure hatred!" Hoomaru continues and tears apart the Life Fiber which starts to corrupt her body.
"Rei..."
"Now go, little troublemaker and make me proud! I love you, little girl..." Hoomaru smiles and pushes Nui into the Life Fiber that starts sucking her up.
"NO!"
Slowly, Nui's body dissolves, first her legs, then her torso, and finally, the arms and the head, and during that, she can see how Hoomaru's body dissolves. The remains of her turn into Life Fibers and enter the Life Fiber with Nui. It disappears.
Inside the Life Fiber, Nui is but a mere little Thread. In front of her, she can see another thread. Hoomaru's remains that are now converted into Life Fibers start to repair both bodies - her human body in front of her, and her Life Fiber form that is her right now. Slowly but steady, flesh and organs build together out of the Life Fibers, simultaneously to her Life Fiber body that slowly gains it's various parts back. The Life Fiber is deeply dark inside, nothing can be seen except herself. While this happens, Nui falls from the sky of the dark hall she is in, and on the ground, there seems to be a window that leads back to Okishima - and back to Earth. Her hair regenerates, her skin gains color, and the limbs are formed. Her eyes... regenerate fully. No wounds... nothing.
"... grrr..."
The closer Nui comes to the portal, the more aggressive she becomes. Briefly before she reaches the window, both bodies regenerate fully... and with that, she can come back to live.
Nui screams furious before flying through the window. As it closes, the Life Fiber Form stays in the dark hall and the human body goes back with Nui into the window - the Life Fiber Form will walk the same steps like Nui, do the same gestures, it will mirror all of her moves, but in the dark halls, and whenever needed, she can call back on it...
...
Nui wakes up on Okishima and catches air! Everything around her is destroyed - dead Life Fibers, dead humans, destroyed buildings...
... and she's naked on top of that. Noticing that, she looks around and sees the Layer of the High Entity in the sky that slowly moves to Honnouji. It's far away but reachable with a fast vehicle. Ôsaka burns - Ryuko and Satsuki must be there, or with the Entity... or worse. In any case, Nui ain't gonna let the Entity escape.
She looks around.
Her yellow bow is gone.
Her. Yellow. Bow. Is. Gone...
This was a gift of Ryuko. A gift of her big sister. Nui bites her teeth together in anger. Her eyes glow up read. Dead Life Fibers on the ground slowly move up - and with her new powers, she combines the Life Fibers and sews a new outfit together.
It's rather shredded, it doesn't look as elegant as other outfits she did, or beautiful.
It looks like a mad person cut it together to spread fear and anxiety on it's enemies. It's a large robe combined with a big skirt that goes until her kneecaps. The robe goes up to the shoulders, reveals them, other than that, everything else is covered. Both parts of her outfit are dark red, several loose belts hang on her taille and torso - red, bloody gloves with open fingertips, a necklace hanging on a choker that has the letters "R/S" written on it, for Ryuko and Satsuki. Undefinied patterns are on the upper part of her outfit. Her hair is ravaged, however, as long as before. A large, yellow streak covers her left eye partially: more importantly however, all wounds are gone, even the one that was on her left eye before. The outfit heavily reminds of the appearance of an 19th century noble woman - but it's not made with love, but with anger and fury. A few Life Fibers see Nui, and when they do, they hiss scared and retreat as she looks around.
(AN: Feel free to type in "Nui Harime Early Concept Art" on Google Image search. Then you get a rough idea of how she looks like now - like that, but covering more skin and with a more aggressive appearance.)
Nui grabs the scissor blades and puts them into a little pocket and grabs her rifle. She can't produce new ammo right now, she needs to save her sisters, every second counts. Opening the weapon reveals three more rounds in the clip. Nui unlocks the weapon, a pling is audible, and then she looks up to the High Entity as the outfit moves with the wind.
"Now I'm really fucking mad..."
...
...
...
AN: Ryuko and Satsuki are captured, Nudist Beach escaped... and Hoomaru gave her existence for Nui. All I'm going to say is this: the next part will be incredibly epic, and moreso the final battle of this chapter. I already got the track for it. ;) I always say I got the best part last, and I dare to say that in the next two parts, you guys will see that best part. I really want to get this done as soon as possible, because I bet you guys want to know how this all continues and if the mad Nui can really save her sisters now. One thing is sure: the High Entity fucked up really hard! As always, leave a review if you like and I'll see you hopefully as soon as possible again!