Ch.9 Dark Justice Part 3
Near the DEM prison section of the police station, Shido and Saori are walking passed various empty cells and Shido feels uneasy since this place is intended for DEM wizards only. Saori, however, has a grin on her face as she tells Shido.
"You know this place has housed fifty-six DEM wizards in total and all of them dead. I wonder how they do it, lethal injection, hanging, electrocution, ooh maybe the guillotine, or maybe…"
Shido gets upset with Saori, stops moving, and shouts.
"Stop it!"
Saori reacts with little to no emotion.
"My my no need to get testy."
Shido has great concern in his voice just from thinking about Saori's sick way of thinking.
"How can you talk like that? I mean don't you realize that they are human just like us. It doesn't matter who they work for; they have the right to live."
Saori continues to walk and with happiness in her voice she explains.
"Shido, you really don't get it do you?"
"Get what?"
""Sigh" I don't see any reason to tell you yet. Besides we're here."
Shido and Saori stop in front of a pair of wizards wearing standard equipment guardian a door, and Shido tells Saori in a worried tone.
"Please don't kill them."
Saori, still having her mischievous air, responds.
"Don't worry, I can be a good girl every once in a while."
Saori assumes a stance with her two swords and prepares to fight the two wizards. Back outside, Kurumi and Ellen are trying to figure out what Odin is up to since she hasn't moved since she started her Sleipnir Stance and Aki can only sit and watch the fight since his power is drained from using Rending Saber. Kurumi sends one of her past selves to see what will happen if they get too close, and as soon as she gets about three feet away from Odin, Odin unleashes her six whips with blinding speed and impales the past Kurumi with all her whips making neat holes with each stab and she shouts.
"Gungnir!"
The Kurumi falls dead instantly and then Ellen notices from above that Odin only aimed for vital spots. Odin explains to Kurumi and Ellen how her Sleipnir Stance works.
"I use the motion of my whips to create a barrier around my body to deflect projectiles, and using my all seeing eye of Odin (her glowing yellow orb on her face where her eye should be) I detect when my enemies get within the range of my Gungnir; then I unleash my whips and aim for eight vital areas. this attack is designed to kill or cripple my enemies instantly."
Despite hearing eight spots, both Ellen and Kurumi notice that only six holes on the dead Kurumi implying that Odin needs all eight whips to fully use Gungnir. Ellen has an idea and nods to Kurumi who seems to understand what she's suggesting, and sends her other four past selves at Odin, who uses her whips on them immediately and Ellen uses her small opportunity to attack and sever four more of Odin's whips with her sword leaving Odin with only two whips left. Odin doesn't lose her composure and ends her stance to fight with Ellen and Kurumi with only two whips. Kurumi dashes up to Odin and starts attacking her by swinging her flintlock pistol and musket as bludgeoning weapons instead of firing bullets, and Ellen attacks with her sword. Impressively, Odin manages to keep up with the two of them by using her two remaining whips to deflect their attacks and Ellen can't sever them while they're moving so fast, but no one can actually land an attack.
On the other side of the station, Akane and Hiro's fight has reached close to the end with the both of them at their limits due to the injuries they've already sustained. Akane's power has greatly increased with her guardian awakened and Hiro is still convinced that she is working for DEM. Akane gathers flames into her legs and makes them intense as she charges them up. She has a serious smile as she tells Hiro.
"You know, when you take a girl on a date you should really bring her candies and flowers. Good thing I brought my own!…Phoenix Dance…"
Akane then slightly leaps into the air and does a double spin kick unleashing the flames from her two legs as two streaks of fire and shouts.
"Twin Lotus!"
The two streaks of fire darts at Hiro but he manages to dodge one by backflipping out of the way and is knocked backwards by the second streak of flame, shooting him into a nearby building that had been evacuated due to the fight being so close to the station. Akane follows him through the hole of the building which is a café and tells him off for attacking Shido.
"Even if we were with DEM, why did attack an unarmed man!? Shido was defenseless."
Hiro emerges from a pile of rubble and attacks again with his dual blades while Akane dodges since she put her sword down a little bit ago and can't block. Hiro tries to justify his actions by saying with a serious tone.
"DEM needs to be eradicated from this world at all costs. Honor has no place when the people of this city are in danger again!"
Akane and Hiro continue their attack and dodge duet as Akane continues to tell him off.
"I agree that DEM needs to be stopped, but the ends don't justify the means. Attacking defenseless people isn't the way to do it."
"DEM trash is DEM trash and doesn't deserve mercy from anyone especially the AST."
"Funny, I thought the AST stood for the Anti-Spirit Team, not Anti-DEM Team. Then again I've never really been too fond of the AST either. I care for spirits and two dead is something that I can't forgive."
"At least the AST wants to save people!"
"Even if you kill innocent people!? How would your dad react to that? Didn't he teach that killing is beyond wrong and that he hates hearing people say they're used to it."
Hiro charges energy into his dual blades and fires them at Akane but this time she puts up a defense in the form of a giant bellflower made of flames and shouts.
"Phoenix Dance Aegis Campanula!"
Behind her shield, Akane gathers lesser flames into her fists and feet as she readies to attack once the shield disappears. The two blasts are successfully blocked by the shield, and Akane immediately dashes through the embers and attacks with a fast combo of punch and kicks and announces the name of this attack."
"Phoenix Dance Blaze Bloom!"
Once again, Hiro sent flying backwards from Akane's attack but this time he recovers quickly and gets in Akane's face and he says with a stern tone.
"I hate killing people, but I have no choice, and now…."
The blue orb on Hiro's chest begins to glow blue and Akane realizes whatever he's planning she can't dodge from this close range and her eyes widen from fear of what's about to come. Back to Ellen and Kurumi's fight, Ellen finally manages to cut through one of the last two of Odin's whips leaving her with a lose-lose situation, either block Ellen or Kurumi. Odin then swings her last whip Kurumi's direction to at least injure or cripple her but Kurumi dodges and smiles and she says.
"Too bad."
Kurumi then points her pistol point blank at Odin's side and pulls the trigger putting a small hole in the right side of her stomach, and Ellen follows by putting a territory that shocks her since the injury to her stomach prevents her from reacting fast enough, and she passes out from the pain. After a moment of gathering their breath and exiting their combat forms, Ellen walks over to Odin and examines her body to see how serious her injuries are. Kurumi is a little confused by this and asks.
"What's the point of that? I didn't aim to kill, but even she did it wouldn't matter."
Ellen, keeping the serious look she's had this whole time, explains with a normal tone.
"Because Kurumi, I have to keep my standards."
"Oh, I see, for your husband am I right?"
"Yes, I find it more effective to teach morals by example, and I swore that I would never kill another person. I was tempted by that dog last night, but I'd rather keep my hands clean at this point."
Ellen finishes her examination and picks Odin up to get her some medical attention. Aki pounds the ground with his fist since he couldn't fight after draining his power.
"Damn it damn it! I couldn't do anything again. Am I that weak!?"
In the lower area of the police station, Saori has just finished defeating the two wizards without using her guardian and Shido is relieved that she didn't kill them but just knocked them out. Immediately after, Shido runs over to the door and opens it revealing another section of the prison meant for powerful DEM wizards which have hardly ever been used. Inside the area, Shido immediately starts looking inside each of the cells for Mana and calls her name.
"Mana!...Mana!"
Inside her cell, Mana immediately notices her brother's sounds and calls out for him.
"Big brother!"
Shido hears her voice and runs to her cell and they meet face to face which Shido is happy about since again she is from his time. Mana is crying a little but is also smiling.
"Big brother I thought I'd never see you again."
Shido is also smiling.
"Don't worry I'll get you out of there."
Saori walks over Shido with her swords ready as she tells him.
"Move over Shido, let me handle this."
Saori slices the bars off the cell and Mana's face turns serious since she thinks Saori is Kurumi, but then her face turns to surprise since she notices the differences.
"You're not Nightmare, are you?"
Shido's face, while still serious, has a little more casualty in it as he tells Mana.
"I'll explain when we get out of here."
Saori then walks behind Mana and notices a small mark on the back of her neck and picks at it which stung like crazy. Mana, despite being used to pain, gets a little mad.
"Ow, that hurt!"
Saori puts on her usual smile and flat out picks off the mark which actually a thin piece of metal attached to Mana's skin. This sent a shock of pain through her body and Saori chuckled from seeing Mana's pained expression. The moment the mark is removed, Mana becomes equipped with her realizer and she stands up with a pained look on her face from the shock. Mana then points her weapon at Saori and her face turns serious.
"I don't know who you are, but you have the same presence as Nightmare."
Shido immediately puts himself between Mana and Saori with his arms outwards.
"Mana stop it; she helped me save you."
Shido doesn't notice Saori's expression which has gone from mischievous to angry serious. Mana then puts her weapon down but still doesn't trust Saori. Shido turns to face Saori with a smile of gratitude and thanks her and immediately she puts her smile back on.
"Thanks for your help Saori. Does this mean you'll be coming with us? Please, Saori."
Mana is against the idea and expresses her feelings.
"Big brother I don't think that's a good idea she might kill somebody."
"Mana you wouldn't think like that if you knew who she is."
"Really and why's that."
"I'll tell you when we get back to the others."
Saori is tempted to leave, but thinks it's in Shinra's best interest to stay with Shido for the time being and make sure Ellen doesn't do anything stupid to ruin Shinra's plans or at least have a little more fun.
"Better stay with him for a while and maybe I can have more fun with that so-called world's strongest wizard."
Saori puts on a more innocent smile and nods her head. This made Shido happier since he finds it is a chance to get to know Saori and hopefully help her. Saori exits her spirit form and reveals a new outfit which Shido hasn't seen before; it is a short-sleeved black dress with a split in the middle of the skirt with zippers that don't connect but is held together by a pair of belts that form an X shape, and she has a pair of black ribbons tied around her hands and forearms, black boots with green ribbons, a simple pair of black pants which can be seen through the split in her skirt, and a green rose choker. Now as a trio Shido, Mana, and Saori leave the prison area to join the others outside.
Back to the final battle between Akane and Hiro, Hiro is charging his ultimate attack. The blue orb on his chest begins to glow brighter as Hiro raises his arm to the sky unleashing a tower of energy and catches Akane in it as Hiro shouts.
"Burn this life to punish my enemy!"
Akane gets caught in the tower of energy, lifted into the sky, and sharp rending pain surges through her body, and as the tower fades, Akane begins falling back to the ground, Hiro clutches his chest, and shouts the name of his attack.
"Blast Heart!"
Hiro reveals his blue orb which unleashes an explosion of energy that rips through the air and hits Akane many times seemingly killing her. Hiro puts his hand to his shoulder and begins walking towards the police station to check on the other fight on the other side and he thinks about his fight.
"For DEM trash, that girl was too much trouble and I was left with no choice. She really injured me."
As Akane continues to fall she manages to avoid passing out since that attack wasn't enough to finish her. She gets herself ready and lands back on her feet, but has trouble standing up and even coughs up a little blood as she struggles to stand up straight. Once she gets up straight, Akane lets out a loud yell that Hiro clearly hears and he turns around growling beneath his faceplate, and when he gets a look at Akane, she has a fierce look on her face as flames begin to flow into her body making it glow brightly like a nova. Once her body has finished gather flames, Akane gets ready to charge at Hiro and he puts up his guard. Akane starts to say the name of her attack.
"Phoenix Dance…"
Hiro's guarding doesn't do him much good as Akane dashes towards him with blinding speed and begins an assault of punches and kicks so fast that Hiro can't keep up with her and she shouts the name of the attack.
"Birds Of Paradise!"
Each punch and kick have the silhouette of a small phoenix. Akane keeps this blinding assault and the sounds of multiple phoenixes crying echoes through the area. Hiro can't move since Akane's blows have him stuck in her attack burning through his armor. Finally after more punching and kicking Akane's last blow comes in the form of a final punch taking the silhouette of a larger phoenix and it hits Hiro in the face sending him crashing through the walls of the station, his office, the hall, and finally out the front door of the station. Shido and his team see Hiro fly through the hall; Ellen, Kurumi, and Aki see him fly through the front door since he lands close to them. Akane falls over and turns so she lands on her back, and her astral dress disappears along with her guardian who proudly smiles at her as she falls to the ground.
Shido runs to Akane to check on her first while Mana follows him to see what he's so worried about. When he gets to her, she's already passed out from exhaustion and with a peaceful smile on her face mumbling something.
"Daddy..I want a…deluxe kid's plate, please."
Shido rubs her head with a smile and says.
"Sure, when you wake up."
Mana looks at Akane and notices her resemblance to Kotori and becomes incredibly confused by this since she believes this is no coincidence.
"Brother what's going and why are there two girls who look like Kurumi and Kotori."
"Just wait a little longer Mana because there is two more you need to see before I explain."
On the other side of the station, Hiro lies unconscious on the ground defeated by Akane and Aki is asked by Ellen to pick him up and carry him. Aki only felt worse since Akane, who is the same as him, defeated her opponent single-handedly. They waited for Shido and the others to arrive before moving to a hospital to get Hiro and Odin treatment since Ellen knew that's what Shido wants. Shido carriers Akane on his back and makes his to the others while explaining to Mana not to flip out when she sees his other friends. Upon seeing Ellen and Kurumi, Mana is beyond words but she remains calm because she doesn't understand the situation. As Shido tries to explain to Mana the situation Ellen interrupts saying they need to get Hiro, Odin, and Akane to a hospital since they have the worst injuries. Saori is only really noticed by Kurumi, who decides to not talk to her until later when the situation has cooled down.
The group's way to the hospital goes rather smoothly since its close by and most of the wizards are still on that call for some reason. This made Ellen ask the obvious question to Aki and Kurumi.
"What happened to those we were originally fighting?"
Near the forbidden zone, the younger Ellen has managed to get to the group of bandersnatches that are on standby waiting for her command. There are about fifty in total, and they are all waiting for Ellen's command. Despite her injury which has only gotten worse without treatment but she is determined to complete her mission. She holds her injury with one hand as she raises the other to command the bandersnatches. But before she can give the order, the wizards and more arrive on the scene and decimate all the bandersnatches in a flash. Ellen is surprised beyond words and has a look of absolute surprise and thinks.
"Are you kidding me!?"
A female wizard with red hair floats down towards her thinking she's an injured civilian.
"It's okay miss the AST is here and we'll make sure you get that wound treated immediately."
The younger Ellen needed to get her injury treated and she has to acknowledge it. So she accepts the AST's help and is escorted to a hospital but fortunately for Shido's groups it's a different hospital. Hours later inside the hospital, everyone is admitted into the hospital. Ellen needs to get her three slash wounds patched, Akane is bedridden from exhaustion and has slight internal bleeding, Hiro is being treated for second-degree burns, Odin is getting her bullet wound treated, but the good news is that no one is in critical danger but needs rest for a couple days. Mana did some bruises but can't be admitted into the hospital and Shido still hasn't told her about the situation since he wants to wait for Akane and Hiro to wake up so they can all talk with him one more time.
While everyone else is waiting in a waiting room, Mana has to use the bathroom and she doesn't notice Saori following her to the bathroom. When Mana finishes using the bathroom and washes her hands, Saori whispers into her ear with a menacing tone.
"I didn't like the way you pointed that toy at me earlier."
Mana is startled by this and turns around but puts a serious look.
"Who are you exactly, and what's your relation to Nightmare?"
Saori has her usual smile on and answers Mana's question.
"Me? Well let's see I grew inside of her body for nine months with two others, she nursed for I don't know how long, and she used to bathe me, and list of other things."
Mana is starting to understand but still asks with a serious tone.
"What are you getting at?"
Saori chuckles and leans in closer to Mana with a more uneasy smile on her face.
"Shido will tell you the whole story not in juicy I would though, and one more thing."
Saori summons her shadow which grabs Mana around her arms and legs and pins her to the wall, and Saori gets closer with a sadistic smile on her face.
"If you ever point a weapon at me again, I'll break your arms and legs and subject you scaphism."
Mana is disturbed by that last word.
"Scaphism?"
Saori snickers and leans her head towards Mana's ear and whispers something to her and Mana's puts on a disturbed look on her face and nearly throws up from the image that goes through her head.
"You're sick."
Saori puts Mana down and heads towards the bathroom door and looks back at her with a couple more words.
"Oh and if you tell anyone about this encounter…well, maybe you've heard enough. Just remember I'm not as soft as Nightmare."
Saori leaves the room and Mana is actually scared of her and she actually thinks Kurumi is soft. The only thing she can do is wait with the others for Akane and Hiro to recover.