A/N: Sorry about the slight delay everyone. I was struggling with what to write for this chapter, but I feel happy with it as it is now. Anyway, hope you all enjoy the latest installment of MON - Squad Bravo.
Edited 27/6/17: Correcting spelling and grammar errors. Also, Linimal should be Liminal, only just realised this after 11 chapters, oops.
Yuuto and Blare had finally arrived at the Sato residence. Thankfully, it only took them five minutes the get to their destination. As the pair parked up and turned off the siren, they found a typical suburban home near the edge of a small woodland, though the home itself looked like it was recently renovated to help accommodate larger liminals. Waiting outside was a young man, who looked no older than sixteen, with black hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a plain green t-shirt with a pair of blue jeans and white trainers. Yuuto and Blare got out of the SUV and made their way to the teen waiting for them.
'Are you guys with MON?' He teenager questioned with a look of worry on his face.
'Yeah, we are.' Yuuto replied calmly as Blare caught up with him. 'Are your parents with you?'
''No, it's just me. They're away on a business trip right now. I'm registered as Scorpia's main host, Hideki Sato.'' The boy explained to the pair with a subdued look on his face.
''Okay, good. Do you know what's happening with Scorpia that would cause her to act out like this?'' Yuuto thought it would be best to get to the bottom of the situation before trying to deal with the agitated girtablilu. He would rather find a way of calming the girl down before she did something to jeopardize her place in the exchange program.
'It might be my fault.' Hideki started to explain as he broke eye contact with the MON agent, feeling ashamed of himself. ''It started a couple weeks back, just a few days before school broke up for summer break. Part of Scorpia's terms for her exchange was to attend school with me. She's only one of a few linimals attending our school right now, so she had trouble fitting in at first.''
''That's bound to get anyone anxious.'' Blare interjected with a sad look on her face, knowing the feeling all too well.
''Anyway, it didn't take too long for people in school to adjust to her, and she made friends pretty quickly. But since just before we broke up, she's been acting nervous around me, and every time I checked to see if she was okay, she'd act coldly towards me and say she was fine. I don't know what's gotten into her.'' The boy continued, feeling depressed that he can't seem to help her.
'Wait, hold up, Sato-kun.' Blare butted in again. 'How did she act around you before?'
'Well, when she first moved in, she was quite reserved, but after a while, she opened up to me. She even started to get protective around me, even clingy sometimes.' Hideki stated, seeming unaware of how the girl felt about him.
''Wow, Kid. You really are slow on the uptake, aren't you?'' Yuuto interrupted, sounding somewhat annoyed.
'Huh?'
''Don't you see? It's plain as day that she likes you, a lot.'' Blare replied matter-of-factly.
'Wait, what?! She likes me?!' Hideki exclaimed, sounding quite surprised that this could be a possibility.
'We can deal with love advise later, what happened earlier?' Yuuto replied, trying to get things back on track.
''Well, she was fine, until I brought up my friend, Miura-chan. We were meant to meet up with her later, but Scorpia got angry with me, saying that I wouldn't stop talking about her. I wasn't sure if I could handle her by myself, so I called the Interspecies Cultural Exchange. Miss Zombina and Miss Tio showed up, but it only made things worse. Scorpia ran off into the woods saying she wanted to be left alone.''
'Sounds like the type of girl that gets jealous easily.' Blare stated with a worried look on her face.
'Alright.' Yuuto replied before returning his attention to Hideki. 'Where did she go?'
'Through the back garden. Follow me.' The boy replied, inviting them into the house though the broken doorway.
As the group walked through the house, Yuuto and Blare saw that the living room had seen better days. Several picture frames, as well as the TV had been knocked over and damaged, and the couch had a large gash along the back rest.
'What happened in here?' Blare asked, though she probably already knew the answer to her question.
''Scorpia and I were in here when she got angry with me, and she took it out on the room itself. Miss Zombina and Miss Tio must've presumed that I was in danger, so they broke down the front door and rushed in. That was when Scorpia ran out into the back garden, and into the woods right after, and they chased after her about five minutes ago. I really hope that they're all okay…'' Hideki trailed off, possibly thinking about the worst-case scenario.
''They'll be fine.'' Yuuto replied confidently. ''Zombina and Tio are professionals. They'll make sure not to hurt Scorpia if it can be avoided.''
'Right…' Hideki replied, now looking more visibly worried.
The group made their way to the back garden as quickly as they could. The garden itself had a wooden patio that lead from the house, while the rest was a long stretch of grass with shrubbery and flowers lining either side. At the farthest end on the garden, the fence had been broken through, presumably by Scorpia.
'Alright, Hideki. You stay here just in case Scorpia comes back. Blare and I will go and rendezvous with Zombina and Tio.' Yuuto was quick to make a plan-of-action, but he could only plan for so much seeing that he hasn't dealt with a girtablilu before.
'What about me, Stud?' Blare asked as her tail stood on end and her flame lashes lit up.
'Stick with me until we know more.'
'Roger.'
With that, the pair started making their way towards the woods, though they hardly made any distance when they heard a scream in the distance.
'AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!'
Suddenly flying out of the tree line, was Zombina soaring mid-air towards them, wearing her yellow and black body suit. Blare was able to dodge to the side quickly, but Yuuto was not as fortunate. The zombie landed smack bang on top of the poor human with a loud thud. Zombina quickly regained consciousness as she found herself laying on top of her friend, with his face buried between her breasts.
'Thanks for the catch, Beesh.' She said with a massive grin on her face.
'Mmmmppphhh…' Yuuto groaned, still dazed by the impact and struggling to breath.
'Holy crap! Are you guys okay?!' Blare exclaimed with worry.
Yuuto raised his right arm up and gave her a thumps-up in response as Zombina rolled off of him.
''I wouldn't worry, Blare.'' The red-head replied as she got up onto her feet, brushing herself off. ''He's pretty tough for a human.''
Yuuto sat himself up as he rubbed the back of his head. 'Zee, do you always have to make such a big entrance?' As he said that, Zombina had stretched out her hand to him to help him up, which he took.
'Would you expect anything else from me?' She replied as she pulled Yuuto to his feet and winked at him.
'Probably not. Anyway, what happened to you?'
''Scorpia. Her stinger definitely packs a punch, think she might've broke a few ribs.'' Zombina explained, not looking forward to the lecture she'll be getting from Suzu later. She then turned to the still worried Blare. 'Blare, you go on ahead and help Tio out, and try not to hurt Scorpia if you can.'
'Sure thing, Zombina.'
With that, Blare raced off into the woods as fast as she could to help Tio deal with Scorpia. Yuuto was surprised that the hellhound could move so fast.
'You got a tranquiliser gun on you, Beesh?'
'Never leave home without it.' Yuuto replied as he pulled the weapon from its holster.
'Awesome.' Zombina said with a smirk. She then turned to Hideki. 'Kid, I know you wanna help, but for the love of God, stay here. Things are gonna get hairy.' She told the teenager with a stern look on her face.
'Okay…' The boy replied dejectedly. He knew that all of this happened because of him, and he hated the fact that he couldn't do anything right now, but he didn't have a choice.
'Good.' The zombie replied as she readied her own tranquiliser gun. ''Let's go, Beesh.''
'Roger.'
The two MON agents left Hideki as the made their way into the woods. They hoped that they could resolve this situation without any major injuries, for Scorpia's sake.
Deeper in the forest, Tio was holding her ground against the teen girtablilu. Thankfully she hadn't suffered any injuries thanks to her body armour, but she was without her trusty riot shields, as they would've weighed her down further, and she was struggling to keep up with Scorpia already. The girl in question was standing opposite the ogress in a defensive stance, breathing heavily. Scorpia had the upper body of a human girl with lightly tanned skin, and scarlet hair with long bangs reaching her shoulder line, and a long-braided ponytail that reached her lower back. Her forearms ended in large pincers that were covered in pail-red carapace. Her lower body was that of a pail-red scorpion, which was made of six arachnid-like legs, a large, think body, and a long, segmented stinger. She was wearing a white tank top, and a blue skirt with a black studded belt. She stood tall on her legs with her pincers spread wide, and her stinger ready to strike as a furious look crossed her face.
''Why can't you just leave me alone?!'' The young girl yelled in frustration.
Tio took off her helmet to reveal her face full of concern. She then dropped the helmet and held her hands up to show she meant no harm.
'Scorpia-chan, I want to help you.' She said in a calming voice. ''There's no need for anyone to get hurt. We just want to talk.''
'You say that, but why wear body armour if you just want to talk?!' Scorpia exclaimed, not sure what to think.
'Please, Scorpia-chan. Trust me.' Tio replied as she slowly moved towards the girl, he hands still raised.
Scorpia slowly lowered her stinger and pincers as she started to feel more at ease with the ogress. 'But I messed up.' She said as tears rolled down her cheeks. 'The exchange program will deport me for this.'
''That won't happen. Nobody's been hurAAAAAHHHH!''
Tio yelped in surprise as she suddenly found her raised hands bound by a bolas. Before she could react, another bolas had struck her legs and tied them together, sending the ogress toppling to the ground hard.
'Tio!' Scorpia yelled as the ogress toppled over.
'Owwie…' Tio winced in pain from her awkward landing, unable to break free of her bonds.
Suddenly, they heard rustling from the trees above, and it continued until it stopped just over the pair. Scorpia raised her stinger and pincers again to defend herself if need be.
''Show yourself! I don't want to hurt you!'' The young girtablilu yelled as she backed herself up against a nearby tree.
After a moment, a figure leapt down from the canopy and landed several feet in front of the girl. As the figure rose to its feet, Scorpia could see that the stranger was a woman, wearing a tight-fitting dark purple sleeveless body suit, a pair of rounded wooden sandals, a black belt with many pouches attached, as well as pouches on her thighs that held several kunai, and a red silk scarf that obscured her face from the nose down. What made the woman stand out was the two sets of arms at her side, the top pair ending in large sickles, and the bottom pair ending in five-fingered hands, both covered in a dark brown carapace. She also had short, dark brown hair tied in a ponytail and short bangs that reached down to her chin, and a pair of green compound eyes. This woman was obviously a liminal, and though Scorpia hadn't met one in person before, she knew that the woman was an empusa, or mantis-folk as they were more commonly known.
'It seems you are safe now.' The empusa spoke in a monotoned voice, staring at Scorpia with her sickled arms folded against her chest and her bottom arms resting at her sides.
''But I wasn't in danger, I was just,''
''It's okay.'' The woman interrupted Scorpia. ''I'll take you somewhere safe.'' She stated as she sauntered over towards the teen.
''Stop! Don't go near her!'' Tio exclaimed, still on the ground trying to break free.
''Tio!''
The empusa suddenly stopped upon hearing a voice from the distance. She turned to face where the voice was coming from, her legs spread wide as she raised her sickled arms in a defensive manner, and her bottom arms reaching for a pair of kunai, one in each hand. From the shrubbery, Blare rushed out, her skirt now torn on one side. She skidded to a halt as she saw the group, her clawed hands raised from her sides and her flame lashes burning furiously. She noticed that Tio was lying on the ground, bound and unable to get up, and Scorpia backed up against a tree in a panicked state. Blare then laid her eyes on the empusa in front of her, ready to attack.
'Who the hell are you, and what are you doing here?!' The hellhound yelled as her flame lashes burnt brighter.
'That is none of your concern, Fleabag.' The empusa said flatly. ''I suggest that you go back where you came from. I don't wish to hurt you.''
'You must be Blare, right?' Tio asked as she was barely able to sit herself upright. Even sitting she was nearly as tall as the empusa.
''Yeah. Don't worry, I'll deal with Four Arms here, no problem.'' Blare stated, keeping eye contact with the empusa.
''Don't underestimate me. I've been trained in the art of ninjutsu since I was a child.'' The woman said flatly, furrowing her brow.
''Like I'll let some random ninja chick get the better of me!'' Blare snapped back in anger, before charging headlong at the empusa woman.
'Fool.'
The empusa threw the kunai from her right hand at the charging hellhound, but Blare quickly stepped to the side to avoid it. Blare went to swipe her left claw at the ninja, but she skilfully ducked under it. The woman was poised to strike her sickles at her foe, but Blare recovered quickly, spinning herself around and landing a reverse roundhouse kick with her right leg. The empusa was sent flying into one of the nearby trees. She was able to get up quickly and ready a defensive stance as Blare charged at her again.
While the pair were fighting, Scorpia took the chance to get to Tio to try and cut her bonds.
'Are you okay, Tio?' She asked with worry as she cut through the cords that bound her hands together.
''Yeah, just a small headache, but nothing I can't shake off'' Tio replied, trying to reassure the girl.
'This is all my fault.' Scorpia said as tears ran down her face again. ''If I didn't act out like this, then none of this would've happened.''
''Hey, it's okay.'' The ogress replied as she placed a hand on her shoulder. ''We'll get this sorted out.''
As the empusa flipped over Blare's swipe, she noticed that Scorpia had almost freed Tio from her restraints. As she landed, she readied herself for another attack.
'Blare! Where are you?!' The voice of a young man could be heard not too far from where they were fighting.
'Over here!' Blare yelled in response. ''We've got trouble!''
''It seems I've lost my advantage.'' The empusa stated as she pulled a small black orb from one of her pouches.
Without another word, she threw the orb to the ground, and the immediate area was blasted by a puff of smoke.
''Oh, no you don't!'' Blare exclaimed as she rushed forward.
As she swiped with her claw again, the smoke cleared and the ninja had disappeared from sight. Luckily, Blare was able to pick up the woman's scent, and could tell that the escaped through the canopy, moving deeper into the woods.
''Tio, I'm going after her. Tell Yuuto and Zombina what happened.''
'Got it, just be careful.' Tio replied as she got to her feet with Scorpia's help.
Blare merely nodded in response before quickly climbing one of the trees and giving chase to the empusa. Moments later, Yuuto and Zombina made their way into the small clearing to find Tio and Scorpia alone.
'Tio, Scorpia. Are you guys okay?' Zombina asked with concern.
''Yeah, we're fine.'' Tio replied cheerily while rubbing the back of her head.
''Where's Blare?'' Yuuto asked as he scanned the area.
''She's chasing some ninja woman.'' Scorpia replied, not quite believing the situation herself.
'What?!' Yuuto replied in surprise.
''She's right.'' Tio replied in a more serious manner. 'We need to stop them before they get any further into the forest.'
'Right.' Zombina replied with a sense of urgency. 'Tio, go take Scorpia back home for now and wait on standby.'
''Got it. Let's go, Scorpia.'' Tio responded as she made her way past the other MON agents.
'Alright.' The girtablilu girl replied as she followed the ogress.
''Yuuto, you're with me.'' Zombina ordered the human as she raised her tranquilizer gun.
''Alright, but we don't know where Blare is right now.''
Suddenly, in the distance, they her a young woman shouting at the top of her lungs. They couldn't make out what she was saying, but they knew it was Blare.
''Well, that's a start.'' Yuuto said as he started running in the direction of Blare's yelling, with Zombina close on his heels.
The empusa continued to make her escape, jumping from branch to branch effortlessly. Normally, she wouldn't have much difficulty shaking off a foe, but it seemed that the hellhound chasing her was just as agile, plus she was probably able to track her scent quite easily.
''Get back here! There's no use running!'' Blare yelled, getting angrier from the prolonged chase.
The hellhound was only twenty feet behind the empusa at this point, easily navigating the forest canopy, jumping from branch to branch, propelling herself from tree trunks, and occasionally swinging from one branch to another. As the empusa darted through the canopy, she pulled a grappling hook from one of her pouches, tied with a long stretch of rope, while keeping herself balanced with her sickled arms. She saw there was a large clearing ahead, and planned to use the hook to swing to the other side without slowing herself down, and possibly slow down her pursuer. As she reached the edge of the clearing, she jumped as far as she could and hurled the grappling hook to one of the larger trees nearby. The hook hit its target and was secured to a large, sturdy branch. The ninja started swinging on the rope attached to it, and thought she evaded her pursuer for now, but she underestimated her foe's leaping abilities, as the hellhound leapt towards the rope as far as she could.
'Got you now!' Blare exclaimed as she raised her claw to swipe at the rope.
She was able to reach the rope, and cut in in twain with her claw. The empusa fell mid swing, and hit the ground hard, as Blare landed into a forward roll, and started making her way to the woman.
The empusa grunted in pain as she got to her feet, as the now tattered scarf fell to the ground, now revealing her face fully. She noticed that Blare was closing the distance between them, so she raised her sickles and charged towards the hellhound.
'This ends here, Mutt.' She stated flatly, charging full speed at her foe.
''You're going down, Bug Eyes.'' Blare yelled in reply with both her claws raised.
Suddenly, from out of nowhere, several vines surged out from the nearby shrubbery, towards the two women. Before they could react, the pair were snared by the vines, and tied up mid-air, unable to break free.
'Holy crap! Why does this shit keep happening to me?!' Blare yelled in protest as the vines continued to tangle around her.
'What is this?!' The empusa exclaimed in a panic, as the vines constricted around her body.
Soon after, a buxom woman emerged from the nearly foliage. Her arms and legs were covered in bark, as well as around her waist, over her groin and around her neck. She also had green leaves for hair, and long vines growing from the back of her head, reaching down to the back of her thighs. Her eyes were a bright blue, and she had red markings sticking from the corners of her eyes. She wore no clothes at all, and the only thing covering her ample breasts were large leaves over each nipple. The woman was obviously a dryad.
'What brings you into my forest?' The woman questioned the pair was she walked over to them. 'Why do you bring harm to my home?'
'Wait! I can explain!' Blare yelled, before the vines tightened around her further, and she yelped in pain.
'I mean you and your home no harm.' The empusa replied. 'I am only here to carry out a mis- '
The ninja was cut off as the vines continued to constrict around her harder, causing her to gasp in pain.
''I'm not interested in your excuses.'' The dryad spoke, her voice full of venom. ''Someone must answer for the damage you've caused here today.''
'Blare!'
The voice of a young man yelled in the distance. Blare looked behind her to see Yuuto running into the clearing with Zombina close behind.
'Stud?! How the hell did you find me?!'
'Are you kidding?!' The blonde agent replied as he and Zombina closed in on the group. 'Your loud mouth can be a godsend sometimes!'
Blare blushed as a smile crossed her face, uncaring about her current circumstance.
'Hey, Kii! Hold up!' Zombina yelled at the dryad.
'Zombina?' Kii replied, shocked by the sudden arrival of her acquaintances. 'What brings you and Agent Kazama here?'
'Trying to get these two back with us is all.' Zombina replied with a massive grin, as she pointed her thumbs up at the currently suspended hellhound and empusa.
'You okay there, Blare?' Yuuto asked his squad mate with concern, as he made his way next to her.
''I've felt better, but at least I'm not covered in webs or slime this time.'' Blare joked as she grinned at the human and gave him a wink.
''At least you're okay.'' He replied before he turned to face the empusa. 'How about you, Miss?' He questioned the ninja with equal concern.
The empusa's face turned red at the human's concern for her. She only nodded nervously in response, not looking him in the eye.
'Good.' Yuuto said with a smile.
''You're such a smooth talker, Stud.'' Blare said in a sultry voice, teasing him.
'Is this any time for you to be joking around?' He replied with an annoyed look on his face.
'Always such the lady killer, Beesh.' Zombina teased with an equally sultry voice as she pressed her breasts against his back.
'Not you too…' Yuuto groaned in frustration at the combined teasing he was receiving.
'Ahem.' Kii cut in sounding very annoyed herself, getting everyone's attention.
Yuuto moved away from Zombina as he faced the dryad. ''I'm sorry about all this, but could you please let my friends go?' He asked before bowing to her. ''I'll make sure they'll receive punishment for what they're done to your home.''
'Hmmm.' The dryad mused at the human's proposition. She was not one to easily trust humans after what happened to her in the past, but her past dealings with the blonde agent have been nothing but positive. He even helped her clear out garbage along with the other MON agents on several occasions.
After a moment, she replied. 'Very well. You have done good by me, so I shall return the gesture.'
With that, the vines around Blare and the ninja unravelled, and the pair dropped to the ground, glad to be free from their restraints.
''Be sure this doesn't happen again, otherwise I will deal with them personally.'' Kii continued as an intimidating aura surrounded her.
Blare and the empusa jumped back in a panic as Yuuto nodded to her.
'You have my word.' He replied in a serious tone.
Kii nodded in satisfaction as a smile crossed her lips. 'Until we meet again, Agent Kazama.' She said as she walked back into the dense woodland, almost immediately vanishing from sight.
'Seeya later, Kii!' Zombina yelled waving her hand at the dryad.
'Well, that takes care of that.' Yuuto muttered to himself before Blare rushed towards him and pulled him into a tight hug.
'You are such a badass, Stud!' She exclaimed happily with a massive grin as her tail wagged frantically.
'Thanks, I guess.' He replied as he returned the gesture.
'Kazama?'
Yuuto and Blare turned their heads to face the empusa standing by them. She had her sickled arms folded to her sided and her lower arms held low in front of her, still too nervous to look him in the eye.
'Thank you for helping me. I owe you a great debt.' She continued as she found the courage to look straight at him, before bowing to him.
'No worries.' He replied as he broke away from the hug with Blare, much to her displeasure. 'You were in trouble, so I wanted to help.'
The empusa stood up straight. 'Even so, I must- '
She was cut off as he pressed his finger against her lips to silence her.
''It's fine, we can talk later. Right now, I'd appreciate it if you'd come with us peacefully, Miss,' Yuuto said as he removed his finger from her lips.
'Hayashi. My name is Kasumi Hayashi.' She replied as she gave him a sincere smile and her cheeks turned red. ''It's a pleasure to meet you.''
'Geez, why is Stud getting so friendly with that ninja chick?' Blare complained to herself, seeing as Yuuto's attention was focused on Kasumi.
''Didn't take you for the jealous type, Blare.'' Zombina teased as she nudged her elbow into the hellhound's side.
'Why would I be jealous of her?!' Blare exclaimed in protest at her comrade's gibing.
''C'mon girls, we should head back before we overstay our welcome.'' Yuuto stated as he made his way back to the Sato residence, with Kasumi close behind.
'Hey! Wait up!' Blare yelled as she caught up with the pair.
''Heh, looks like we'll make a Captain out of you yet, Beesh.'' Zombina muttered to herself as she caught up with the group.
With that, the MON agents, plus the ninja, made their way out of the forest, careful to damage even a single leaf, as to avoid incurring the wrath of the local dryad that called this neck of the woods home. Their day was far from over.