"Alright, we have to split up," Issei said, feeling his gut twist after they spent the last hour searching for Asia, "so we can cover more ground quickly."
Akeno, Aika, Katase and Murayma all nodded before running in four different directions to start their solo searches for Asia.
Issei looked around before heading towards the older section of Aiichi academy, where the male students of the school were close by in their apartments.
As he rushed over, he noticed how everything seemed to get colder. It wasn't a pleasant feeling as he shivered from the temperature drop. The foreboding sensation left him wondering if he should have been looking over there at all.
Issei rounded a corner and walked past the concrete path that would lead him to the boys dorms, walking down the more cracked pathway before reaching his first building.
It was a rather small one, single level with only a few windows. He looked into the doorway, the door hanging off its rusted hinges. He couldn't see Asia in there, so stepping inside didn't help either. The distinct smelled of rotting wood, the repulsive aroma of rusting metal filling his nostrils before he left, grimacing at the lingering scent in his nose.
Issei pressed on, looking through every building before finding himself underneath an old bridge. It was clearly in disrepair, but hidden from view by magic, as no one seemed to notice this place. Well, except for himself. Issei had been pulled here and didn't know why. He was clearly worried for Asia, no question, but he knew something else was here.
"Oh," A voice said behind him, making Issei jump in shock as she spun around to spot Mary Kikakujou looking at him with a cold glare, "it seems I found a student where he doesn't belong."
Aiichi's Steel Beauty, the French-Japanese transfer student, was giving Issei the coldest of looks. In one hand was a French to Japanese translator book and her free hand was resting on the handle of her sword.
Issei looked around and realized he was actually trapped, stuck under a bridge with the Supreme Sword as she glowered daggers at him. He was about to move when he felt a sharp pain in his arm, grabbing it before feeling blood pool between his fingers.
"I see," Mary said in a cold tone, her fencer style sword's tip covered in Issei's blood, "you do feel pain. Rin said you easily pulled her sword from your gut without any real reaction to it, so it seems you do feel something."
A thread of patience snapped, Issei's eyes narrowing with ire that felt almost alien, even to himself. He hissed, "Like a bitch like you would know anything about feeling."
Stepping away from her, Issei felt his right arm turn into that cursed gauntlet as he gritted his teeth at Mary. Her sword stayed in front of her before she was gone, moving faster than Issei could see.
He felt something bite into his chest before another pain dug itself into his shoulder, cursing him to jump away as more of these biting sensations covered his body. Issei dropped into a crouch, causing Mary to misstep and allowing him to get his first hit in.
His first slammed into her gut, sending her flying. Mary seemed to regain her senses after a brief second of anguish, twisting her body so it started flipping through the air and landing on her feet. She flicked her sword to the side as she glowered at Issei before attacking him once more.
Mary Kikakujou brought her sword down, slamming into the largest of the nerve bundles that the human body had. Her blade tip easily cutting through skin and muscle, stabbing into the nerves in the upper back, near the spine.
Issei growled before she pulled her blade free, leaping out of his reach as she brought her weapon back in front of her. Issei glowered darkly before trying to slash at her with the gauntlet, like he was some bear.
She sidestepped, slashing his cheek open with a spray of blood hitting the ground. Mary then dodged again, using her speed to her advantage to stay out of reach of Issei's assault. As she continued to slash and stab at Issei, she took note of how he was barely slowing down. Her strategy wasn't fully working like it had done on that Nomura boy, as he had the pain slowing him down.
Issei Hyoudou was different and also showing signs that he was only getting a little faster with each wound.
In fact, all the wounds she inflicted were healed as if they never were given by her blade. She would slice open his cheek then it would heal up when she stabbed him. She needed to put him down quickly.
She rushed him, drawing Issei into a feint as she made it look like she was going for a thrust. He fell for it and she flicked her blade around, sinking her blade right into his back, knocking him onto his front.
Mary grinned to herself before something went wrong, her blade started sparking like she had put it to a live wire. Her arm then started to tingle before she was blasted back by a powerful force as she crashed and rolled across the ground, her hand having pulled the sword free.
Looking up, Mary saw that the boy's body was sparking with electrical current. She had just been shocked. Somehow, the blockhead was able to generate electricity in his body. No, it must be from his nerves.
The nerves must be sending much more powerful signals to defend against something cutting into them. Mary tightened her grip on her sword's handle and slowly got up, wincing as her body twitched from the remaining electrical energy coursing through her.
"I see that you have something to stop me," She snarled, her teeth becoming like that of a shark's, eyes glinting red with predatory violence. "no matter, I'll have to deal with you the old fashion way. Slice-n-Dice!"
Issei pushed himself up, blood oozing from his mouth as he twitched from the electricity dancing across his skin.
He gritted his teeth as Mary brought her blade up and stabbed at his throat. She was rather impressed when his arm deflected the thrust, the blade bending as it hit the golden scales. She tried for a flick, but Issei got in under her guard and slammed another fist into her gut, knocking the wind out of her.
She panted, stumbling back as Issei tried to capitalize on this momentary distraction. The boy ran, leaving Mary behind in his dust as she snarled. He was going to die, by her hand.
Issei ran, his nerves burning as they repaired themselves. He needed to get as far away from Mary as possible, he was out of his depth with her style of combat.
As he sprinted, he rushed up a flight of concrete steps. He looked around for something, anything, to hide for a bit so he could plan something. He needed to get Mary away from her sword and fast, she was much too swift with that blade.
"Oh, Issei~" Issei heard Mary almost purr, causing him to shudder, "Come and play with me."
Skin crawling at that oh-so seductive voice, Issei ran up to a building. He had spotted a ladder running up the side of it, allowing him to climb up it. If he got tetanus from it, oh well, as he grabbed the rusted rungs of the metal ladder.
Reaching the top, Issei peeked over the edge of the building. He spotted Mary, looking like a shark on the prowl.
He couldn't believe it, but Mary was quite literally a shark in a supermodel's body.
That actually terrified him to the core, Issei couldn't believe it, but here was the evidence. The Supernatural World was clearly trying to kill him with temptation, death by shark toothed hot blonde. Not how he wanted to go in this world, he'd rather grow old with Asia, Akeno, Aika, Katase and Murayma.
He watched how Mary stalked before ducking his head back so she wouldn't see him if she looked up.
"I know you're here, Issei~," Mary called out, drawing out the words in a voice that sounded like singing, "Come out and play with me, don't you want someone with a body like this~?"
Issei grimaced before waiting for Mary's back to be turned, as she looked down at the side alley. He ran and jumped, grimacing as he collided with Mary. Both went tumbling as Mary cried out, as Issei felt her cold steel blade go through his heart. Why was the universe so cruel?
At least she didn't have her weapon anymore.
He looked over at Mary and growled, slowly getting up as his leg repaired itself. It had snapped upon connecting with the ground and was now rebuilding. He was about to pull the sword out of his chest when he saw Mary getting onto her knees, hunched over like something had happened.
"You ok?" He started to ask before Mary sat up.
"I'm fine, Issei~" She purred before turning, "can't you see that?"
Issei felt his mind go blank, his breath getting taken away. Mary had opened up her uniform to reveal her impressive breasts, held back by only a lacy bra that looked a size or two smaller than what she had.
Issei's heart started beating harder, blood rushing through his ears and down to his lower half. He was also standing there like an idiot as he stared at those precious orbs of perfection, until pain slammed him back into reality.
Mary had just punted him between the legs and connected with his family jewels.
As Issei dropped, agony rushed through his body as Mary grabbed the handle of her sword and pulled it free of Issei's chest, giving him a look of superiority.
"So," Mary hissed, flicking her weapon to the side, "predictable."
Issei slowly got his feet under him as he got up, glowering hatefully at Mary. Mary only smirked back as she stepped towards him.
"All boys, like yourself, easily fall under the sway of a pair of boobs. It's so easy to catch you with them, I wonder: Why even bother? I could strip naked and the effect would be the same anyway," She said before slashing at him with her sword, which Issei parried away with his gauntlet, "No one can resist me, nor any hot piece of meat you dogs salivate over in your horny minds constantly."
Mary slashed her sword in a blur of motion before Issei could move, then he felt his own blood running down his throat. His hands reached up, feeling his lifeblood cascading down the wound Mary had just inflicted on him.
More than half of his neck had been sliced open and he was beginning to drown in his own blood. Gagging, choking, Issei tried to stem the flow of his blood so his healing factor could kick in.
Mary didn't allow that to happen, as her blade thrusted forward and severed his spine.
Issei went limp as he gagged, unable to feel his body as Mary pulled her weapon free. His body fell, blood pooling under him as he tried to stay awake. He couldn't fall asleep, nor could he move.
"So pathetic," Mary said, pushing a foot onto his chest and forcing the air out of his lungs, "a boy like you will never beat me."
Issei felt sick before half of his vision went red, energy gathering into the black palm of his gauntleted hand.
As Mary leaned over him with that sickening look of superiority, Issei fired the gathered energy. Mary got caught point blank, hurled through the right side wall with a scream of shock. Issei felt his throat close up as he slowly flipped over, gagging as he regurgitated more of his blood onto the ground.
Slowly getting up, Issei limped away from Mary as fast as he could.
Mary got up out of the rubble that Issei had blasted her into, grimacing as her bra was torched.
She was fine, only a faint burn on her breasts. She'll soothe it with a nice bath later. Right now, she had a boy to kill.
Climbing out of the hole, Mary looked around before spotting Issei as he ran limping out of sight around a corner. She quickly followed after him, noticing how dilapidated the buildings were getting.
These were older than the ones closer to the school, Mary realized as she spotted Issei entering what would have been the main school building. She stepped through the doorway before noticing how bad the floorboards looked. One kick would easily send them tumbling, which made her smirk.
"Oh, Issei~" She said, her voice a shade deeper, "Looking for me?"
She slammed her foot into the weakest board, causing it to crack. Unlike normal human legs, her Siren Ancestors had powerful leg muscles that helped them swim.
The floor creaked before giving way as Issei Hyoudou vanished into the darkness below, wood splinters and dust falling in after him. Mary, smugly, turned away and sheathed her sword. Her work here was done and she wanted to get a change of clothes before showing up to any classes.
Akeno was not in a very wonderful mood as she returned to the others, having discovered nothing. She was nervous and a bit upset with herself at finding nothing on Asia, it was like she vanished into thin air.
The reincarnated Devil was going to try to look for her again when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. Turning, Akeno wasn't sure if she saw what she was seeing correctly at first.
Mary Kikakujou was walking away from the direction Issei had come from, the front of her shirt was a mess. Wrinkled, covered in dirt, dust and what looked like blood, Mary still looked like a sinful beauty. Akeno gritted her teeth, feeling the lightning storm building within her heart.
If Mary had done anything to Issei, Akeno swore to herself, she would turn that girl into a pile of smoking ash.
Akeno walked up to Mary, making sure she couldn't see the lightning crackling in her palms as she got closer. Mary looked over and sneered.
"I see that Issei's girl toy is here," She sneered, looking rather disgusted by Akeno, "Looking for your master's little cock?"
Akeno hissed, forcing herself to stay calm as she looked at Mary. She refused to dance to the tune of petty talk.
"You do know that if you harm Issei in any way, I will come after you, correct?" the Queen of Rias stated, voice even and edged with subtle threat. A single warning before things could escalate any further.
Mary laughed, making Akeno frown. Mary Kikiakujou had never been this cruel before and never once did she have this personality before at all.
Akeno made a split second decision, bringing her hands up and blasting Mary away with a mild blast of lighting. Mary was sent flying backwards, hitting the pavement with a fleshy thud.
"Now," Mary growled, her legs twisting unnaturally as she planted them onto the ground and forced her body to stand up, "That wasn't nice of you to do."
Akeno glowered at the ruined face as it morphed back into Mary's sinful one, lightning crackling across her arms as she glowered at the imposter. Mary went for her sword, Akeno was faster. Lightning flew from her fingers and cut the imposter's arm off, cauterizing the wound instantly as the limb hit the ground.
"Now," Akeno said softly, smiling as her sadistic side kicked in, causing the false Mary to take a step back, "how about you tell me where Issei is and I promise not to hurt you too badly, alright?"
Issei woke up, groaning as he couldn't feel his heart or lungs again. Opening his eyes, he slowly lifted his head and saw why he couldn't feel them.
He had been impaled through the chest once more, this time on the sharp end of a huge wooden piece. He tasted blood in his mouth, the bitter taste something he wished he wasn't so familiar with at all.
Issei tried to push himself off the sharp spike of wood he was impaled on, but he couldn't really get a good enough grip on the blood soaked wood to get free. So, he came up with a different plan of action.
Taking careful aim with his gauntlet, Issei started to gather energy into his palm. Once he had enough, he let the energy go, causing the wood to explode.
The wood groaned before he started to fall, gravity winning out as he fell towards the earth. He cried out as the wood in his chest was shoved out of him when he slammed onto another piece of wood.
"O-ow…" He gasped, feeling his chest close painfully.
He felt his lungs pull in air before hearing his heart beating in his ears, as he took in a gasp of damp air. Looking up, Issei couldn't see the top of where he fell into. He was alone, without any help and in some sort of tunnel.
Looking around, he spotted another tunnel that was softly glowing in the distance. Issei got to his feet and started walking in that direction, trying his best to keep his footsteps quiet. He felt unnerved by the silence around him, every little sound echoing loudly in the tunnels.
The light took on a more greenish glow, an eerie light that made his bones itch and muscles squirm. It wasn't a natural green color, more like a green that was from another realm.
As the unnatural green mist started curling around his feet, Issei's eyes finally adjusted to the gloom of the dim darkness and nearly choked. The tunnels were choked with the green mist as green liquids oozed across the floor, coating his shoes in their slimes.
"What died down here?" He gagged to himself, eyes watering a bit as he continued further into the tunnels.
The further he went, the more Issei started to feel sick. His body adjusted slowly as he stepped deeper into the depths, as he tried to figure out what was going on down here. He couldn't understand how anyone at Aiichi missed these tunnels unless they were made to forget or didn't even know.
Magic could have made them forget these even existed at all, Issei knew that. The deeper he stepped, the more he saw the walls changing from stone to polished steel, to pipes and other paraphernalia.
He then stepped out of a side entrance and gaped at the massive room he had found himself in, devices of every size hung, clung or were built into the walls.
He saw tubes nearly twenty feet tall, all of them were green in color as he walked down an aisle of them. Inside them were bodies, humans from the looks of it. Issei wasn't sure as the green liquid inside obscured any details from being seen.
Crisscrossing all over the ground were pipes and wires of every kind, making it hard to step anywhere. Most were leading in and coming out of the glowing cylinders as others ran down the aisles. Issei couldn't see the far end of the room either, it was so massive in size. As he was about to move forward, something from behind him made him stop cold.
"₱Ⱨł₦Ɇ₳₴ (PHINEAS)!" A robotic voice shouted, causing Issei to duck behind one of the cylinders, "₩ⱧɆⱤɆ ł₦ ₮ⱧɆ ⱧɆⱠⱠ ₳ⱤɆ ɎุɄ, ɎุɄ ⱧɆⱤɆ₮ł₵₳Ⱡ ฿₳₲ ุ₣ ฿ุⱠ₮ɆĐ ₣ⱠɆ₴Ⱨ (WHERE IN THE HELL ARE YOU, YOU HERETICAL BAG OF BOLTED FLESH)!?"
"𝐈'𝐌 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄, 𝐎𝐂𝐓𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐔𝐒, 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐂𝐎𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐋𝐘 𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐇 𝐇𝐀𝐓!" Phineas, Issei assumed, shouted back.
Octavius floated across the ground where Issei had previously been, a black cloak covering most of his form. But Issei saw his face, gray with a mask bolted around his jaws. Tubes came out of his mask and connected into the darkness of the hood, making Issei feel sick just looking at it. Any legs he had were missing, whatever device that allowed him to hover above the ground was obscured by the black cloak .
As the being of flesh and metal floated past, Issei slowly followed in the shadows as he listened.
"гРɎุɄ ₲Ɇ₮ ₮ⱧɆ ₥Ɇ₴₴₳₲Ɇ ₣Ɽุ₥ ₮ⱧɆ Ⱨł₲ⱧɆⱤ Ʉ₱₴ (Did you get the message from the higher-ups)?" Octavius hissed, his voice a mixture of electronics and human vocals, as Issei got closer to the pair and Octavius stopped moving up beside his partner.
Phineas snorted, his hood pulled back into place by a robotic tentacle that ended in three claws, "𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐞."
Phineas stood taller than his fellow being, actually because he had legs. Issei saw the mechanical limbs as the cloak shifted and moved around as the man moved. One arm was like the head of a squid, tentacles writhing out of the elbow as he turned to look at Octavius. His face was all mechanical, in the shape of a skull as his glowing human eyes glowered at the floating cyborg.
"₮ⱧɆ₦ ɎุɄ Đุ ⱤɆ₳ⱠłⱫɆ ɎุɄⱤ '₱ⱤุJɆ₵₮' Ⱨ₳₴ ₮ุ ฿Ɇ ₮ɆⱤ₥ł₦₳₮ɆĐ (Then you'd realize your project has to be terminated)," Octavius snapped, voice crackling like it was on a bad connection, "₲łVɆ₦ ₮Ⱨ₳₮ ł₮₴ ₮₳₭ł₦₲ Ʉ₱ ⱤɆ₴ุɄⱤ₵Ɇ₴ ₮ⱧɆ Ⱨł₲ⱧɆⱤ Ʉ₱₴ ₦ɆɆĐ ₣ุⱤ ₵ⱤɆ₳₮ł₦₲ ุɄⱤ ₵Ⱡุ₦Ɇ₴ (given that it's taking up resources the higher-ups need for creating your clones)."
"𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬," Phineas snarled, whatever had replaced his voice box made it sound like a real growl had come from him, "𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐛𝐚𝐠𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐑𝐍𝐀 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥."
Octavius snarled in response, "ł₮ ĐุɆ₴₦'₮ ₥₳₮₮ɆⱤ (It doesn't matter)-"
"𝐈𝐓 𝐃𝐎𝐄𝐒 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑, 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐔𝐓𝐀𝐍!" Phineas shouted before jabbing his hand at the three cylinders he was working upon, "𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐊𝐮𝐨𝐡 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐮𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞, 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞."
"₮Ⱨ₳₮ ł₴₦'₮ ₩ⱧɎ ₮ⱧɆɎ ₩₳₦₮ ł₮ ₴ⱧɄ₮ Đุ₩₦ (That isn't why they want it shut down)," Octavius hissed, "₮ⱧɆɎ ₣ุɄ₦Đ ₳ ₲ⱤุɄ₱ ₣Ɽุ₥ ₮Ⱨ₳₮ ₭ɄุⱧ ₴₵ⱧุุⱠ ₳ⱤɆ Ⱡุุ₭ł₦₲ ₣ุⱤ ₮ⱧɆ ₲łⱤⱠ ł₦ QɄɆ₴₮łุ₦. ł₣ ₮ⱧɆɎ ₣ł₦Đ ₮Ⱨł₴ ₱Ⱡ₳₵Ɇ, ₩Ɇ'ⱠⱠ ฿Ɇ ɆӾ₱ุ₴ɆĐ ุⱤ ₩ุⱤ₴Ɇ - ł₦₮ɆⱤⱤุ₲₳₮ɆĐ (they found a group from that Kuoh school are looking for the girl in question. If they find this place, we'll be exposed or worse - interrogated)."
"𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬," Phineas slapped Octavius across the face before stomping off, "𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐄𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬."
Octavius snorted, "ɎɆ₴, ฿Ʉ₮ ₮Ⱨ₳₮ ł₴₦'₮ ₮ⱧɆ ł₴₴ɄɆ. ₮ⱧɆ Ⱨł₲ⱧɆⱤ Ʉ₱₴ ₳ⱤɆ ฿Ɇ₲ł₦₦ł₦₲ ₮ุ ₴Ʉ₣₣ɆⱤ ₣Ɽุ₥ ₮ⱧɆ ุ₮ⱧɆⱤ₴ Ⱡุุ₭ł₦₲ ł₦₮ุ ₮ⱧɆłⱤ ⱤɆ₵ุⱤĐ₴ ₳₦Đ ɆVɆ₦ ₮ⱧɆ₦, ₮ⱧɆɎ ₥₳Ɏ ₣ł₦Đ Ʉ₴. ₮ⱧɆɎ ₳ⱤɆ ₣₳ⱠⱠł₦₲, ₱Ⱨł₦Ɇ₳₴. ₩Ɇ ₦ɆɆĐ ₮ุ ₲Ɇ₮ ุɄ₮ ุ₣ ₴ł₲Ⱨ₮ ₳₦Đ ₥ł₦Đ ุⱤ ₩Ɇ ₩łⱠⱠ ₣₳ⱠⱠ ₳Ⱡุ₦₲ ₩ł₮Ⱨ ₮ⱧɆ₥ (Yes, but that isn't the issue. The higher ups are beginning to suffer from the others looking into their records and even then, they may find us. They are falling, Phineas. We need to get out of sight and mind or we will fall along with them)."
"𝐁𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝, 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐮𝐬, 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐩!" Phineas snarled, "𝐖𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐮𝐩. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐮𝐬."
The two beings moved off, deeper into the laboratorical labyrinth as Issei walked up to the cylinders that were much clearer than the others.
Inside each one was a body, all of them were Asia. Issei couldn't help but notice the left and right tubes held the lifeless forms of Asia as a child and as she was now, a teenager. The middle tube held a very mature female body, Asia as an adult.
The pad that showed her vitals showed them beating strongly as she floated, also showing that she had something inside her that was burning. Issei frowned at that before a hand hit the clear glass, causing him to jump. Looking at it, he saw Asia's green eyes looking mischievously back at him.
"[Opening pod #3112354-4]"
Issei watched as the pod drained of fluids and opened, as the adult Asia flopped out on top of him. Issei got his face planted between her huge boobs, which he was sort of enjoying right now as he was hugged by the older woman. Then he also noticed she was covered in a greenish goo like substance that oozed and dripped off her naked body. That didn't help at all as his face was pulled from her tits, the goo connecting from his face to her huge mammaries.
"Hey Issei~" The clone cooed before getting off him, on her knees as she wrapped her arms around herself, "it's a bit cold down here…"
Issei sat up and wiped his face off, "well, you don't have any clothing on."
She flushed, "W-well, I barely got out of the pod anyway…"
Issei rolled his eyes, feigning annoyance even as his heart fluttered. "Alright, we'll find you something. Though, I'm pretty sure my shirt isn't going to fit you."
She sighed, looking at her melons and then back at him. "You may be right on this."
Asia…well, she wasn't really Asia. She was her clone, born in a vat for whatever purpose given her. Or would have been, given that she was supposed to be dead. Her other selves were dead, in the vats on either side of her. Yet, she lived and breathed. Those two cyborgs, Octavius and Phineas, said she had a Sacred Gear within her soul before giving her a memory treatment.
Memories had filled her head, memories of a mother and father. A real family, meeting Issei and falling in love with him so utterly, it was maddening. Then she grew up, married Issei and had eight kids. Then the memories ended with her death in a violent crush that ripped her in half and caused Issei to go on a rampage.
The memories ended and she was back in the vat before she was forced into another set of visions, her training until her body broke. Then it was burnt away and restored to its full glory, over and over until she had all the combat burned into her memory and she knew all the moves by heart. Then she learned what was living inside her, a Phoenix that took on the shape of a Dragon.
That had been an interesting meeting until she had been pulled from her mind palace and saw Issei before her. The pod opened and she had fallen forward onto him, without anything to block them. But, she was now freezing cold and without any clothing around. She wasn't going to be able to wear Issei's much smaller shirt or her huge bust would stretch it out and ruin it. So, for now, she would go without.
The cold air caused goosebumps to run all over her body as they crept through the eerie place, as Issei looked around.
"Spot anything that looks like it could hold a couple people?" He asked, still looking around.
Looking around, she spotted nothing but endless cylinders that held bodies in them before spotting a room. She touched his shoulder and pointed at it, as she took the lead over to it. They reached it without incident, peeking inside to find it full of discarded clothing.
"Maybe something is in here I can wear?" She suggested, looking at Issei as he shrugged.
She went inside and started looking around before putting on a leather outfit that clung to her body like a second skin, which she found amusing. She opened the front to show off her cleavage before noticing it didn't have any leggings for it. She sighed before finding some legging that only went up to mid thigh, connected to weaponized high heels. She then put on arm length fingerless gloves before stepping out and showing Issei.
"So, how do I look?" She asked, posing for him in several provocative positions.
Issei folded in on himself, his eyes having rolled up into his head.
"I-Issei?!"
Issei woke up and groaned, rubbing his face as he looked over and saw that he hadn't been dreaming. The adult clone of Asia was indeed wearing an outfit that looked like it belonged to some doujin russian spy, and he now was having a hard time getting that image out of his head. Sitting up slowly, Issei felt the clone help him sit up before he spoke.
"You know…I can't call you Asia without confusing myself with the Asia I know…"
The clone frowned before pondering to herself, speaking only a few moments later, "How about you call me Azula instead?"
Issei frowned before nearly jumping out of his skin as Azula's hair ignited, turning the blonde into a black. The fire vanished as her silver bangs framed her face perfectly, which only added to her alluring beauty.
"There," Azula said before helping Issei onto his feet, pressing her bust into his arm more then once, "will that help you differentiate between me and Asia?"
Isse could only nod, not trusting his voice at this moment before forcing himself to refocus on why he was down here. To find Asia, not get it on with her adult and very hot clone. He moved away from the room containing clothing, pointing at a side tunnel.
"Maybe something is in that direction?" he suggested absent-mindedly.
Azula shrugged, "only one way to find out."
Issei started to slowly make his way down the tunnel, making sure all of his senses were at their fullest extent to hear, smell or see anything. Nothing came at them, at least for a while. The walls were smoothed out, the smell of grim in the air. Issei grmanced at the smell as he continued to push forward, Azula staying close as they went into the dark tunnel depths. The tunnel ended at a corridor that led to two rooms.
"Left or right?" He asked, looking over his shoulder at Azula.
"I'll take the left side," She said, moving down the left side, "you go right, if anything happens, run to the other person."
Issei groaned, "Not that I can say no, but what if something goes wrong?"
Azula sighed. "It'll be fine, don't worry. I know about your powers somewhat, and it's not like I'm defenseless myself." she swayed her hips to one side and winked at him. "Don't think this body's just for show~!"
Issei felt helpless at the alluringly cute retort, so he scratched his head and sighed. "Guess there's no helping it."
Azula chuckled in response. "You be careful now."
She then kissed his cheek before moving off down the left corridor, leaving a slightly stunned Issei in her wake. He reached up to touch his kissed cheek before shaking himself out of his stupor, turning around to head down the right path.
He was soon entering a domed room, the hum of machinery filling his ears as he looked around. He was on a platform that stood over a pit, above on the ceiling was some odd device that glowed with ethereal lights that hurt his head.
The platform was connected to a spiraling staircase that ran along the wall, leading towards the pit down below. He was about to go down to several levels when he noticed something in the air was off, Issei nearly looked over the edge when a wet snarl came from behind him. Turning slowly, Issei spotted what looked like another Mary, but she was in the nude. Something about that didn't seem right in the slightest, as its eyes were dull and lifeless before its chest started to ripple.
That creeped Issei out the most as a red line from the shoulder to the hip opened up and teeth started growing out of the skin. The line became a mouth as multiple spider tongue tentacles came out of it, the growling becoming a snarling roar as it leapt at Issei with animalistic prowess.
Issei reacted by falling over himself, crashing down the stairs as the thing roared. It continued to jump after him, trying to get him into its mouth.
Energy was gathering into his gauntleted palm as Issei panicked, firing off the gathered energy into the things mouth as it leapt at him. The back of the horror exploded outwards, painting the walls in red vicora and gore. Its advance was impeded, groaning as it collapsed onto its front while smoke curled from the freshly killed corpse. Issei felt his heart beating out of his chest as he looked at the horror that lay dead before him before laying on the ground, trying to calm himself down.
He needed a few more minutes to calm his racing heart before he had any more of those things show up.
Slowly sitting up, Issei looked around to make sure he was alone before gaining his feet. Doing his best to ignore the cadaver, Issei turned and looked over the edge. His heart jumped into his throat as he saw kids floating in the air, all of them staring up towards the device that had hurt his head by looking at it. He saw Asia hanging in the air, her green eyes now dull as she stared skywards.
Anger bit into him as he gathered all the energy he could into his gauntleted palm, looking upwards as he took aim.
He hurled the energy skywards, the swirling energies rushing towards the lights above. They struck, but it did nothing, making Issei frown before the energy was hurled right back at him. He didn't even have time to move as both of his arms were blasted off his body, hurling him into the far wall with enough force to knock him unconscious.
Issei found himself floating, his arms back on his body, but he wasn't able to move anywhere. He looked around, feeling the air around him shift and shake. He then saw the ocean of souls far below, unable to hear their screams from this far up. Then he heard it, a cackling noise that made his skin crawl and body want to run away.
The shadow of the thing that was inside him appeared, its dark shape giving off a golden aura to separate it from the darkness around them. It opened multiple crimson eyes and looked at Issei, all of them hungry, vastly more intelligent than he could ever understand. He glowered right back, shoving his fear away as he looked at the monster that had tortured him all his life.
"I need more power," Issei hissed, making the shadow lean in closer. As it did, Issei felt a rumbling sensation crash into his senses, as though it was dragging the whole dream-space. He didn't let himself flater. He couldn't - not in front of this beast. "I can't do it with only the little power you seem to enjoy allowing me to use. I get that you find some sick amusement in watching me struggle, but this time I'm not losing control of the situation."
The creature snorted, roaring at Issei before blasting him with pain. Issei grit his teeth as he snarled, not going to show the thing he was winning.
"I-I will save Asia," He bit out, tasting the iron in his blood on his tongue, "With or without you. Without me, you would be under someone else's control."
That got the shadows attention, making it hiss like it had been struck. Issei grinned, realizing this thing hated being controlled.
"If I get controlled, so do you." Issei's grin only got wider as the monster leaned in closer, one of its eyes being even bigger than the entirety of Issei himself, "So, how about a little bargain?"
Azula frowned as she looked around the smaller room that she had entered, it was rather cramped due to all the equipment that was around. She also noticed how many of the cylinders were stuffed into this room, which seemed rather stupid to her.
That was until she saw that most were broken in some form or fashion that made them unusable, like cracks in the clear container or the ruined components.
Walking even further down into the room, Azula noticed another passageway that led to a larger room beyond.
She silently moved through it and felt her heart stop, the room before her actually filled her with dread and horrified shock. Young men were inside vats but as she watched, they were undergoing a gender switch that actually made her sick.
Their bodies went from male to female while the many devices attached to them were commencing severe brainwashing, most likely with the intent of turning them into servants for someone else.
It was a rather disturbing sight to behold as she backed out of the room, trying to get the images of the young men out of her head. She felt sparks fly in her palms before she thrusted her arm forward, bathing the room in her fire. Grimacing as she burnt those inside to death, Azula didn't want them to become someone else's puppet like she would have been.
The room burned before the fire went out, nothing was left but ashes and steam from the evaporated liquids. Azula quickly left as she headed out of the broken cylinder room and into the corridor once more. She hurried into the room Issei had entered and spotted him several flights down, laying against the wall as his arms bled onto the ground. Her heart thudded in her chest as she ran to him, praying to anyone that could hear her that Issei wasn't dead.
"I-Issei!"
She was at his side as she tried to focus her Sacred Gear's powers upon him, but no flames came out. She was panicking too much to actually focus, which also didn't help her use her Sacred Gear either. Issei gasped, startling her as he looked around like he had woken up from some hellish nightmare.
"H-hi…" He gasped, looking at her.
Azula glowered and slapped him across the face, to which he chuckled.
"I think I deserved that one-" He started to say before she smashed her lips onto his, stealing his already short-winded breath.
"Don't you ever dare leave me again, Issei Hyoudou." Azula said in a cold whisper that promised hell, "or you will be begging for death once I'm done with your hide."
"Noted and understood," Issei gulped before looking away.
She looked at his stumps and frowned, "What did you do?"
"I picked a fight with a machine that could fight back," Issei winced as new bones shoved themselves out of the wounds and started to grow, "It won by a landslide."
"Do you need me to help?"
"I would like that, but stop at the elbows, please?" Issei said.
"Why?" She asked, focusing a flame ball in each hand.
"Because," Issei said, so quietly that Azula barely heard him say the last part, "I made a deal with my own devil."
Azula hesitated then did what he asked, both balls of flame burned his upper arms back into existence before she snuffed them out. Issei started yelling in pain as both lower arms became gauntlets, like the one had before on his right arm. Issei doubled over, teeth gritted as Azula could only watch in horror as he fought the pain as both limbs regrew and changed into the gauntlets.
"B-both arms…" Issei hissed as he looked at his newly regrown limbs, glowering at the glowing red orbs embedded on top of his hands, "double the agony."
Azula reached over, helping Issei up to a standing position before energy gathered into both palms.
Azula stepped back in shock as Issei shoved both arms into the air, sending golden orbs into the ceiling. The ceiling shook as it was impacted before something exploded, causing the room to shake violently. Issei stumbled as Azula barely kept her footing before Issei looked over the edge and whooped in joy.
"It worked!"
Issei was running down the rest of the way, needing to get to Asia as quickly as he could. Upon hitting the bottom of the stairs, he spotted Asia amongst the crowd of girls from Aiichi. He rushed over and hugged the young woman against himself as she let out a small sound of shock.
"I-Issei?" She asked, confused as she slowly hugged back as Issei tightened his grip.
"Next time," Issei said, "we're putting a tracking collar on you."
Asia only nodded before Issei looked around to see how many there actually were with them. A few dozen were around them that Issei could make out before he spotted the form of Mary Kikakujou curled up on the ground.
He went over to the young woman and noticed that she was shaking and sobbing softly, so doing the only thing he could, he pulled her against him in a hug. She sobbed into his already ruined shirt as the rest of the girls were looked over by both Azula and Asia.
"Ok, everyone," He said loudly, causing everyone to look at him as Mary silently sobbed, "we need to get out of here and fast. Also, Azula, could you carry Mary here?"
Azula came over and picked up Mary, who had cried herself into a sleeping state as the other girls looked at Issei. They were all terrified and the fear was filling his soul a bit as well.
"Come on," He said, taking the lead as he moved up the stairs, "stay behind me and follow my every move ok?"
There were murmurs of agreement before they were rushing through the tunnels, past the vats of glowing green goop and other technological devices. Issei nearly tripped over wires, but kept his balance as he motioned them to the exit tunnel, or at least the tunnel he came through.
"Through here," He started to say before a bolt of energy tore his belly apart, blasting it across the ground and splattering several of the Aiichi students. He winced as most of them shrieked. He turned to look at Azula and Asia, who looked just as shook. "Just go! Get them out of here!"
Issei stood up, slowly, gritting his teeth as he spotted Octavius floating on a platform above. A magic circle was formed in his outstretched hand as he glowered at Issei.
"ł₮ ₴ɆɆ₥₴ (It seems)," he said before the circle started to glow brighter, "ł'ⱠⱠ Ⱨ₳VɆ ₮ุ ĐɆ₳Ⱡ ₩ł₮Ⱨ ɎุɄ (I'll have to deal with you)!"
Issei used his energy first, both gauntlets unleashing a torrent of golden energy orbs at Octavius.
The hooded cyborg moved, pulling himself over the railing on the platform as the metal and stone exploded.
Issei gritted his teeth before spotting a few sparking wires to his right, reaching over and grabbing them. Electricity coursed through his body, torching his nerves and melting his skin. He pointed a finger at Octavius as he was floating midair and snarled aloud.
"Dodge electricity, bastard."
Lightning burst out of the finger, slamming into Octavius as he exploded. Warped metal and burning flesh splattered everywhere as Issei panted heavily before he was sent flying across the room.
Crashing into a vat, which buckled under his weight, Issei slid off it and onto the ground. He looked up, seeing Phineas with an axe the shape of a half gear. His blood dripped off the teeth of the axe blade as the cyborg got closer, his heavy metallic footfalls filling the room.
"𝐒𝐨," Phineas sneered, his tentacles making noises as they were wrapped around the axes long handle, "𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬? 𝐏𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮."
The axe buried itself into Issei's gut as Phineas leaned in, "𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬. 𝐒𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. 𝐏𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮."
Issei's eyes were hooded, obscuring his expression. He tilted it sideways, seemingly avoiding the semi-mechanical being's gaze. This got an amused chuckle out of it, that sounded like the clang of rusty metal.
"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠? 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫?"
"Nah," Issei mouthed with a plain tone, which stunned Phineas. He then shot him a sneering smirk "Just buying some time, Phineas."
"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭?"
"RAAGGGH!" Azula came up behind Phineas before a flaming fist sent him blasting sideways into one of the vats, which exploded and the liquid inside covered him.
Issei grabbed the axe and forced it out of his guts as Azula sent a torrent of flames at Phineas. Phineas howled in electronic fury as he sparked, warped and melted under the heat of the flames.
Issei swore that he saw Azula unfurl draconic phoenix wings as she poured more flames into the cyborg until he was only a puddle of ash and liquified metal.
The adult female let her shoulders relax as she stepped back, her power visibly fading out. She turned, her alluring eyes filled with concern seizing his heart.
"I can't leave you alone, can I?"
Akeno smirked as she looked at the convulsing imposter Mary on the floor, who whimpered as she watched. She had been at this for several hours since Issei had vanished and the imposter hadn't spoken up yet. She sent another round of lightning into the imposter, who couldn't make a sound with her voice as she had lost it a few minutes prior. She writhed and floundered before the energy left her body.
"Now," Akeno said, lifting the girl up by the chin in mock sympathy, "this hurts me more than it does you. Now, tell me where Issei is, then I'll stop."
The girl tried to speak, but couldn't make a sound before she started to cry, making Akeno sigh. Lightning cracked over her fingers as she brought them closer to the imposter.
"Tut, tut," She said, her face looking horrific in the lights of her electrical power, "it seems we'll have to continue this until you tell me where he is. How about this, something simple."
The imposter of Mary tried to speak before a scream tore through her abused throat.