Chapter 24: The Mysterious Sphere
A tornado of leaves spiraled upwards as the silhouette of a giant robot landed in the setting sun of the nearby forest. "We are a bit far from your destination, are we not?" CFW Brave asked.
"Don't worry about it. Homura and Hikage are fast. Besides, people aren't used to seeing… well… marvels like you." Mirai replied.
Haruka nodded. "We'd get all of Hebijo coming to greet us if we brought a giant robot to the front gate. And we don't have time for trouble."
"I see. I did not think I was so intimidating." Brave's tone had essence of disappointment.
"Don't feel bad, big guy. People just aren't used to you yet, right Yomi?... Yomi?" Homura then looked over to see Yomi shivering and stuttering.
"Flying... Is… for birds… should… not be flying…" Yomi's dizzy eyes swirled, her face blue and her teeth chattering.
Homura sighed, "Some things never change. Anyways, this shouldn't take long. Even shorter if Miyabi doesn't cooperate. Let's go, Hikage." Brave leaned his arm down to the ground, allowing Hikage and Homura to slide down easy.
"P-p-please. Let me down too!" Yomi pleaded, Mirai and Haruka sighing.
As the two walked through the woods, Homura struck up a conversation. "Something's bugging me, Hikage. It's why that Gokudō grunt's message asked for you specifically. Are you sure you've never heard of Gokudō Academy before?"
Hikage shook her head, "Nuh-uh. I dunno a thing till recently. Even if I did, you know how forgetful I am, Homura." Homura nodded, giving her concurrence, but Hikage changed the subject, "Homura… do you think I'm getting better at these emotion things? Haruka seems to think I am, but I'm not so sure."
"Well if you want my honest opinion, not a whole lot has changed. But it's nice seeing you smile and react more lately. It's no stand-up comedy but it's charming." Homura grinned.
"Ooohh? Is that why you guys randomly bust out laughing? Cause I'm making faces?"
"Yeah, they're great!"
Hikage let a slight, melancholy frown slip. "But… doesn't that mean I'm being laughed at?"
"Eh? Not at all!" Homura laughed, "that just means we're happy that you're showing it more. See? Even now you show it. Let's turn dat fwown upside down." Homura grinned widely, her fingers pushing the end of Hikage's lips upward, to which she squinted her eyes and wiggled her lips.
"Homuraaa…" Hikage whined.
"Hehe. Maybe Haruka's right. Regardless, you'll always be our Hikage." Homura put her arm around Hikage, a slight grin forming on the latter's lips as she felt a minor warmth envelope her.
As the two approached the gate, they were met by four shinobi grunts and a fifth, taller and more toned girl whom spoke to them. "Homura… Hikage. what brings you here?"
"Heya Naori. Been a while." Homura greeted. "Last I remember, you challenged me when you were still just a Genin. The others then thought you'd become a shinobi stripper."
The girl gave a low grunt, "Training here has made me stronger since then. And that was a long time ago, Homura."
"Good to hear you're moving up the ranks." Homura said, "But we're here on business. We need to see Master Suzune."
"Master Suzune is not in today. And due to an incident, Hebijo grounds are closed until further notice, meaning the elites are unavailable too." Naori replied.
"Oh? What happened?" Hikage asked.
"I'm afraid that's highly classified. Even to former Hebijo students."
"Can you at least tell us where Suzune Sensei went?" Homura asked
"Again, that's classified!" Naori raised her voice a tone before looking at the other grunts. "I'll handle this."
Walking forward, Naori put her hands on the girls' shoulders, walking them around the gate before hushing her tone. "Hebijo is in the middle of a controversy. Rumor has it that Murasaki killed some civilians. And since she's gone full hikikomori and the other elites haven't come forward with anything, a rift has been slowly forming amongst the students. As for Master Suzune, she went out yesterday on some kind of reconnaissance mission and hasn't come back. Last I knew, she was headed toward the eastern edge of Orochi Woods." Naori raised her voice enough that some of the on-duty shinobi might hear them, "Now begone with you!"
"Thanks, Naori." Homura replied, the two turning to leave as the higher Hebijo shinobi nodded.
By the time Homura and Hikage returned to the others, the sun had just gone down as a blue evening sky painted the horizon. After relaying the message, they took off across the sky upon Brave's back, to which Yomi began screaming and whimpering. "Come on, Yomi. It's not that bad." Homura tried easing her friend's nerves.
"Just tell me when it's over!" Yomi yelped, keeping her eyes shut.
"Over there!" Mirai pointed to an area of the woods where flashes of light could be seen.
"A battle, it seems. I hope your friend Suzune is alright." Brave said, proceeding to land.
"Oh, don't underestimate our Master Suzune. She's probably kicking ass as we… speak?!" Haruka's voice heightened, the girls seeing Rin flying back as she barely blocked a powerful attack.
"Huh?! Master Suzune?!" Yomi opened her eyes, the girls jumping off of Brave beside their teacher.
"Stay back, girls! This one's powerful." Rin shouted.
The girls looked ahead, seeing in the moonlight a woman with an odd, gothic witch-like attire and pointy ears, now speaking to Brave. "Look who decided to show up. Just what is going on, CFW Brave?"
"Brave? You know her?" Yomi asked.
Brave turned to the Crimson Squad. "Yomi, Haruka, Mirai, Homura, Hikage. This is my ally in the Sages Syndicate; Arfoire."
"Well aren't you the friendly one under all that armor. Surprised you haven't befriended the whole country by now." Arfoire said dryly.
"If you're a friend then why are you attacking Master Suzune?" Hikage folded her arms, sending a low glare at the purple-toned villain.
"Your 'master' has something that belongs to me. And refuses to give it back." Arfoire replied.
"Your inconsistent words and actions have proven to me that you are nothing but a thief." Rin said.
"Hmph. Look who's talking. I'll give you one last chance. Return the Maker Sphere or my colleague Brave and I will turn you into dust!"
"Maker Sphere… So that's what it really is. I must say, Miss Arfoire, our battle has proven most enlightening. Might you tell me more about this Maker Sphere?" Rin asked.
Arfoire's eyes shot open, a scowl revealing gritted teeth, "How dare you mock me! Brave, let us destroy these insufferable fools!"
"Sir Brave, you can't!" Yomi called out.
"Wait, Lady Arfoire. Let me try and reason with them." Brave then turned to Rin. "Miss Suzune, I presume. Did you or did you not sneakily or forcibly take the Maker Sphere off of Lady Arfoire?"
"In all honesty, no. I found it on the ground and she came along shortly after. She called it a medallion, then a Sphere, and then threatened me when asked a simple question. Isn't that right, ma'am?" Rin's tone drew forth a growl from Arfoire.
"Regardless, CFW Brave owes the Sages Syndicate Alliance his life. So… Let us begin. CFW Brave?" Arfoire looked up at the robot, spinning her lance in hand.
"Sir Brave? Is it true?" Mirai asked, worry sprawling over her face.
"Aye. I owe my loyalty to the Sages Syndicate Alliance." Brave stated.
"So will you be fighting against us now?" Homura folded her arms.
"I do not wish to fight you, Crimson Girls. But I am afraid that I have no choice." Brave replied.
"But why all the conflict over a worn-out gizmo? What does it do?" Haruka asked.
"I… what does it even do, Lady Arfoire?" Brave asked, to which she replied that it was highly classified.
"Seems a lot of things are these days." Homura added.
"So then, why fight for something that you not only is being withheld from you but you don't even know what it does?" Haruka questioned.
"He will find out when the time is right." Arfoire said. But her answer didn't stop Brave from looking away at the ground.
Just then, Mirai's disappointed voice made him look up. "That's disappointing. You seemed like a good fellow, Brave. I wish… that we'd met under different circumstances."
Suddenly something struck in Brave's programming, images of a girl with white, drilled pigtails and a black skin suit, who floated up to him after he'd been shot. "To do something so dishonest. That isn't the Uni I know." Brave responded as his circuits began shutting down.
"I'm sorry, Brave. But it's because I don't wanna fight you that I had to… I hope one day you'll understand." The girl said, running a hand across his large, metallic face. "And one day… I hope we meet under different circumstances."
The images flashing with static, Brave began holding his head. "Sir Brave, are you okay?" Yomi asked.
Errors began going off in Brave's head, his circuitry beginning to heat up. Brave turned to Arfoire, "Lady Arfoire… I owe the Sages Syndicate my loyalty. However, I also owe these girls a favor for helping me out in time of chaos. And assuming Miss Suzune is to be believed, I can help neither side in this confrontation."
"What now?!" Arfoire raised an eyebrow.
"So you're just quitting?!" Homura's voice raised, her eyes widening.
"Choosing one oath to another does not compute. Miss Mirai's words are too reminiscent of Black Sister. I cannot function properly!" Brave then ran off into the woods.
"Get back here!" Arfoire shouted. "Just what did you broads do to CFW Brave?!"
"We didn't do nothing. Just became his friend." Hikage replied.
"Ugh. Whatever. But why don't we make this interesting?" Arfoire pointed to Rin, "You're their master, yes? So why not send two of your strongest students to face me? If they win, I'll let you keep that stupid sphere."
"You expect me to subject my students to a monster?" Rin replied.
"Hmph. Where's all that confidence you had earlier?" Arfoire smirked.
"S-Suzune Sensei!?" Homura's mouth gaped, seemingly offended.
"She's too dangerous, Homura! She even gave me some trouble. I can't put you through what I put Kiriya through because unlike me, you might not come back from it!" Rin placed a hand on Homura's shoulder, her face strewn with concern.
"Come on, Sensei. We've grown stronger since then. Even beat you once, remember?" Homura smiled.
"H-hey! Don't let that go to your head. I was just distracted that day!" A flustered, light blush rose to Suzune's cheeks.
"Thinking of Kiriya, no doubt." Haruka added in a teasing tone.
"Aw, you never told us how your date went, Master Suzune." Yomi grinned.
"It was great. We finally got caught up on so much." Rin began blissfully going off to them about her time with Kiriya.
"Um… hello?" Arfoire gave off a confused look, but Rin took no notice as she continued her story.
"The moment our hands touched, it took everything I could not to scream like a high schooler…" Rin stuck her hands on her face.
"Hey! We're not finished here." Arfoire folded her arms, growing increasingly aggravated.
"And then what happened, Master Suzune?" Hikage smiled.
"I finally got him to let me feed him fried unagi while he fed me Takoyaki!" Rin squealed.
"ENOUGH OF THIS!" Arfoire shouted, much to the Crimson Squad and Suzune's surprise.
"Yikes! The old lady's about to pop a vein!" Mirai commented.
"Why so angry?" Hikage asked, "You know, a nice dip in an onsen will ease your nerves and keep your skin from getting too many wrinkles."
"You continue to mock me!? And how DARE you call me an 'old lady'! I will not be ignored!" Arfoire's pupils shrunk in rage.
"Hm. I almost pity you. I know the feeling all too well." Mirai folded her arms.
Rin sighed, "if you really insist, then alright Homura. But know that if I think it's beginning to go south, I will interfere."
"Heh. Won't need to. Now, let's take a vote!" Homura exclaimed. Ultimately Rin and the rest of the Crimson Squad chose Homura and Haruka to represent them.
"Are… you sure about this?" Haruka was taken aback, "Hikage's much faster and Mirai's a deadly shot."
"Now's not the time to doubt yourself, Haruka. Many shinobi fear your fighting style and tenacity! You'll be fine." Yomi called out.
"Well… yes, but this is no shinobi." Haruka replied.
"Come on, girl. That's not the Haruka I know. We're gonna knock this crazy down together." Homura reassured. "Can't wait to see what kinda concoctions you pull on this hag."
Haruka let a slight grin slip through her worry. "I suppose we all haven't been ourselves with all that's been happening lately. But I try my best to keep it together." Reassuring her once more, Homura patted Haruka on the shoulder before the two walked forward. Yomi and Mirai would then leave momentarily to go find Brave.
"So, you are this woman's strongest students, then. I do hope you don't make this too easy." Arfoire smirked. The moment Rin said 'begin', Homura let loose of flurry of blazing slashes as she forced Arfoire on the defensive with Haruka backing her up. Arfoire swung her lance like helicopter blades, blocking and parrying every strike with surprisingly athletic grace. As one set of blades got knocked away, a robotic chainsaw met the lance, but would soon get bashed backward only to then focus on the crimson claws again.
After a while, she knocked Homura backwards, the two Crimson girls spreading out a little bit around Arfoire, who smirked. "Are we finished with warm-ups yet? I'm beginning to get impatient."
Homura nodded over towards a tree before grunting to Haruka. Homura charged in again at Arfoire who parried for a moment before managing to grab ahold of Homura's arms as her blades were locked against the lance awkwardly. Arfoire backflipped Homura, throwing her off before seeing some colorful liquid vials flying her way. Clouds of red, green, and purple erupted where Arfoire once stood. But no sooner had she jumped back when Haruka leapt through the clouds where her robot's chainsaw once more met Arfoire's blade.
Homura, now rushing towards Arfoire, noticed a sinister black pool forming on the ground just beside the witch. Making a reverse jump just in time, dark, aethereal, spikes shot up from the pool of darkness, Homura just barely escaped impalement as she was knocked onto her butt.
Hikage thought she heard a gasp come from Rin, looking over to see a fisted palm resting over her old teacher's mouth. "Suzune Sensei? Are you… worried?"
Rin took a step closer, gently grabbing Hikage by the arm while still keeping her eyes on the fight. "Yes, Hikage. Very much so."
"Homura!" Haruka called out when Arfoire gave her a hard kick to the gut. A short cry escaped Haruka's mouth as she was knocked down.
Arfoire laughed in a dramatic, near witch-like manner. "Maybe you should worry about yourself more instead of gawking like some kind of heroic protagoni-…" before Arfoire could finish, Haruka threw a green vial at her face, but ended up shattering onto her arm. Arfoire roared in pain, gripping her arm as smoke rose from where she'd been burned. "Not bad."
"Give up! You're no match!" Homura said, now back on her feet, pointing three blades at Arfoire.
"Heh. Like I said, I'm only getting warmed up. Now, how about we make things interesting?" Lifting one arm, a red aura alit from Arfoire's shaking hand, Haruka's robot suddenly rotating it's arms and smacking it's owner in the face.
Homura's concerned voice cried out her friend's name, asking what was going on. Haruka recoiled from the strike with a grunt, "I… I don't know. I've lost control of my puppet!" looking forward at Arfoire's hand, a chilling fear crawled up Haruka's back. "Th-that energy! I've… felt it before."
Arfoire let out a cackle, "Well, this is an interesting turn of events, now isn't it? Let's see how you like a taste of your own medicine!?"
The robot proceeded to grab Haruka by the coat, yanking at it and dropping some of her vials to the ground. "H-hey now! Come on! Don't… don't be such a bad boy. Listen to your mistress, damn it!" Haruka held out her hands, trying to regain control of the robot with swaying hand motions, but to no avail. The robot gave off an eerie, red aura as it attempted to batter it's master. Homura attempted to lunge at Arfoire with a spinning drill rush, but the villain sidestepped, sending dark energy bolts, which proceeded to home in on her.
But as Homura put her all into evasive action, Haruka felt an uneasy dread creep over her as her continued attempts to regain control failed, the robot's aura giving off a familiar sinister air. "C-come on! Why won't you… listen?!" Haruka's voice trembled. Looking to the side where her coat was, she attempted to make a dive for some of her vials. But as she did, her robot swung around, delivering a swift hook to the face, and sending her flying back into a mud puddle, Rin's fist clenching as she watched.
Grunting, Haruka attempted to pick herself up, "Who… who are you? How do you… know such techniques?"
Arfoire cackled once more, "Familiar with it, are you? Perhaps my Dogey has had a run-in with you before."
Haruka's eyes widened, trembling. "Dogey?! N-no, it couldn't." Haruka found herself unable to move, a trembling fear freezing her muscles as flashbacks of dark puppet arts that once had her under spell and unable to move just as now.
"How happy he will be to know that I have finished one of his former foes. Now, die." Arfoire made Haruka's robot raise its chainsaw. An intense sense of helplessness came over Haruka, her breath heightening as the blades of the chainsaw shadowed in the moonlight, her lips barely able to mutter a broken 'no… stop…'
A sudden clang and Homura's blades came in, blocking Haruka's robot from dealing the killing blow. Haruka gasped, as though broken from her trance at her friend's voice, "Haruka! Get up! What the hell were you doing just sitting there!?" Homura shouted, struggling to keep the robot back. Haruka stuttered out a few noises, but the only thing revealed was a shameful frown. "Dammit, Haruka! Say something! Are you okay!?" As Homura held back Haruka's puppet, Arfoire smirked, slowly walking toward Homura from an angle, gripping her lance.
"She's not gonna make it." Rin uttered the words in a hushed, frantic tone. Haruka tried to call out to Homura, but choked on her words, Arfoire getting closer, ready to impale Homura. "NOO!" Rin rushed forward in a dashing black cloud, spinning her Fuuma Shuriken and parrying Arfoire, Haruka's robot falling limply to the ground.
"You! How DARE YOU INTERFERE AND BREAK OUR DEAL!" Arfoire shouted angrily when Rin then held out the Spherical object to her.
"Take it." Rin said, surprising everyone around her. "I cannot risk their lives. So, you may have your sphere."
"Huh. About time you came around." Arfoire took the sphere from Rin's hand. "Since you decided to hand it over, I'll let you off easy. But if I run into you again, I'll remember the headache you gave me over this… and next time I will not be so merciful."
As if on cue, CFW Brave then returned, walking with Yomi and Mirai. "As for you, Sir Oath-a-lot, we still have much to talk about. Just whose side are you on?" Arfoire groaned.
"Lady Arfoire, I still owe my allegiance to the Sages Syndicate. However, I must fulfill the promise I made to these girls. Afterwards, I shall seek you out and rejoin permanently. I give you my word." Brave gave a bow.
"Hmph. Annoying, but consistent at least. Very well, Brave. But know this; if your 'oaths' interfere with Syndicate plans you shall be branded as a traitor." Arfoire then ran off, leaving Brave with the Crimson Squad.
"Master Suzune! Why did you do that?! I saw her coming around." Homura complained.
"The battle was not going in your favor, Homura. I won't risk your lives over some metallic decoration, even if it provides answers for what's going on around here." Rin said. Homura began to protest, insisting they could have won and that they'd gotten out of tougher situations before. Rin took a step forward, "I always admired your fire, Homura. But you must remember not to let it make you arrogant. You have grown stronger, there is no doubt. But you must remember there is always someone stronger."
Homura grunted before turning to Haruka with a shout, "And Haruka! Just what happened!? You had plenty of opportunities to get away. Cowering in fear is not the Haruka I know!"
Haruka's eyes drooped sadly to the ground for a moment. "She… used some kind of puppetry on me too. I couldn't… couldn't move. She mentioned someone named… Dogey."
Yomi snickered, "Dogey!? What kind of person do you have to be to name your child Dogey?!"
"Sounds more like a nickname to me. For a name like Dogen." Mirai commented.
"That can't be right. Either it's a different full name or it has to be a coincidence!" Homura raised her voice. "Dogen's been confirmed dead for good this time! I should know cause I'm the one who did it!"
"If this Dogey she referred to is in fact Dogen, then we should trail that Arfoire woman. Homura, Dogen is not to be underestimated." Rin said.
"Actually sensei, we sought you out because of a mysterious message we got from a Gokudō Academy. Apparently, someone didn't want us getting ahold of that letter as they ended up killing the messenger." Yomi said.
"Gokudō? The name sounds familiar, but nothing's coming to me." Rin scratched her chin, Mirai handing her the letter. "Gokudō Boys Academy? Yes, I do seem to recall a male shinobi school like that based out in Kobe. Still, what could they want with both Hikage and Ikaruga? You say someone killed the Gokudō messenger, and if Dogen's involved with that woman, then we must get that sphere back and…" Rin let out a long sigh.
"I know how you feel, sensei. It's drivin' us up the wall too." Homura said. "But if you had let us finish that round thingy woulda been in our hands and that's one less thing we could have had to worry abo-…"
"That's enough, Homura!" Rin raised her voice with a slight glare. "Do not let your confidence blind you to danger! Lest it cost you much more than your life!... much more." Rin's tone dropped at her last words, as did her eyes.
"Yes… Master Suzune." Homura looked away. "But still, we can't just stand around here. You said this Gokudō was in Kobe, yes?"
As Rin confirmed, Yomi stepped forward. "Then let us go! We must not waste any longer! Who knows what they've done to her."
"Then you must be off. I'm afraid I can't help you any further. I know little about this Gokudō Academy, other than they're mostly boys and they're based in Kobe. So be careful." Rin replied.
"But Suzune Sensei. What about you?" Mirai asked.
"I will trail miss Arfoire and retrieve that sphere."
"All by yourself?! But she's too dangerous!" Haruka exclaimed.
"You seem like an honorable soul, miss Suzune. I would hate to make you an enemy." CFW Brave added in.
"If Dogen's involved, I must get that sphere. If he's after it, it must have value. Or potentially power."
After some back and forth debate, Mirai and Homura opted to go with Rin, while Yomi wanted to save Ikaruga and Hikage was curious why this Gokudō was asking for her. Haruka, who had been largely quiet the whole time, stepped forward. "Homura. You go with Yomi and Hikage. I'll join Master Suzune."
"Are you sure, Haruka? I wouldn't want to subject you to anymore traumatizing-…" Before Rin could finish, Haruka interjected.
"Of course, I am! I'm not afraid!" Haruka blurted, Mirai mumbling a doubtful 'are we now?'. "Sh-shut it! I just want revenge on that purple hag! The humiliation of being put through such manipulation is something I'll make her rue the day for! Besides, since we don't know much about this Gokudō, our rescue party will need our mighty leader at the helm."
"Yes, that does make sense." Rin said, the rest of them agreeing to the split.
"I only ask one request of you, Lady Rin." CFW Brave said. "That you finish your business with the Sages Syndicate before I return. For if you do not, I am afraid I will be unable to stay neutral any longer."
"Understood, Sir Brave. I will do what I can. Just make sure no harm comes to my girls on the way there." Rin replied.
Brave placed a steel hand over his chest, nodding. "You have my word, Lady Suzune."