Okay, time for the next installment of the final conflict! Um… That's all I really had to say….
Kouji Tamino
Back at the Hidaka Mansion, Arcia and Ami helped themselves to the champagne in cabinets. "To us, to the destruction of those who hurt us and our people, and to our fallen fellow psychics…" He smiled, raising his glass. "Cheers!"
Ami smiled back, giggling. "Cheers!" She raised her own glass and clicked it against his. "Mmm…" she said joyfully, after taking a sip. "So, what's next?"
The man chuckled, downing his drink in one gulp. "Ahhh… Well, all we have to do is kill Shin Suichi…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded-up piece of paper. "And right here is a list of all the people involved in the massacre."
Ami grinned evilly. "Perfect… Any idea where we can find Shin?"
Meanwhile, under the rubble of the Suichi Mansion, there was a secret underground hideout…
"Um, dear?…" Shinji asked, sweat dropping. "How come you never told us about this place?"
Mimi giggled, knocking on his forehead. "Because then it wouldn't be a secret, silly!"
Saeko sighed, putting a hand to her forehead. "I have to admit, Mimi… Rushing us down here at the last minute was pretty clever…"
Jin nodded. "What I don't get though, is how Arcia didn't read your mind and destroy the underground shelter…"
"Because it would be futile!" the woman said cheerfully. "He either thinks we didn't make it to the shelter and are dead, or he is letting us live another day!"
"Well that's comforting…" Megumi muttered. She looked around the room. "Is everyone all right? Did we all make it down here?"
"Waaaah!" Naoko cried, holding up the two hermit crabs. "Ken-kun lost a leg!"
Kairi patted her on the head. "It's all right, Naoko… Crabs can grow their limbs and claws back!"
Naoko blinked, staring down at the aggressive crab. She smiled snuggling both of her pets. "Oh, that's so wonderful! I thought Ken-kun was gonna die or something!"
"What do we do now?" Shinji said sadly. "My home is gone, all of mine and my families possessions are gone… Sure I can always buy a new home and items, but… This place had memories…"
Mimi sniffled sadly. "Yes, yes… My entire Liddo-kun collection is gone…"
Junko gasped. "Oh no! The giant Liddo-kun plushie that Shinichi gave me!"
Shinichi grunted, holding up the rather large doll. "Don't worry, it's one of the few things we managed to save!"
"Yay!" Junko squealed cutely, grabbing the doll and hugging it tightly. Everyone except Shinichi stared at her. "…What?"
"I know where we can all live for the time being, though…" Saki said softly. She looked to Shinichi and smiled a bit. "Shinichi-chan… We're still welcome at your sensei's place, right? Hinata House, I think it was called?"
Love Hina Next: Second Phase
Chapter 59: The Beginning of the End (Part 2)
And so, gathering all of their surviving possessions, they headed to Hinata House to stay for a while. They were all welcomed, and moved right in. Several days passed…
"Shinji, what do you want to eat for breakfast this morning?" Shinobu asked cheerfully.
"Um, just a simple bowl of rice for me, thanks…" He said softly, staring at the table sadly.
Mimi patted her husband on the back. "It's all right, dear… It's not your fault… You only killed them because you did what you thought was right."
He nodded. "Yes, but after seeing what Ami is normally like, and meeting Meiruuna… I've realized that they are just like us… How could I have helped kill so many of them like that? I'm a monster!" Grabbing a chopstick, he stood up and pointed it at his right eye. "In repentance, I offer one of my eyes!"
"Father, no!" Shinichi screamed. "Don't do it!"
"Here we go again..." Kenta muttered, smacking his forehead.
"Idiot…" Rikina muttered, rolling her eyes. "What the hell would that accomplish? Besides resulting in you having one less eye, nothing…" She sighed, nodding her thanks to Shinobu as her plate of food was put in front of her. "Look… You cannot change the past. Sometimes, you can't even make up for what you did in the past…" Her look of annoyance turned into a look of comfort. "But you can use what you learned in the past to make a better future…"
The man looked to her and smiled. "Y-you're right…" He sat down, dropping the chopstick back on the table. "I'm sorry, everyone… But you're right! I can make a better future if I put my mind to it!" At that moment, the doorbell rang. Shinichi sat up to answer it. "Maybe I can talk things over with Arcia! He seemed to be pretty leveled headed!"
"Um, maybe not…" Shin muttered, limping in while being supported by Shinichi. He was pretty scratched up and his clothes were tattered. "I already tried… This guy's really pissed off at you…" He frowned. "And anyone wanna explained why Ami was with him?"
Shinichi chuckled nervously. "That's kind of my fault, actually… But hey, I couldn't help it!"
"Speaking of which, what should we do about this problem?" Megumi asked. "We can't stay in hiding forever, you know… They'll eventually find us, and then they'll go on to kill a lot of people."
"Yeah, and besides!" Junko shouted, pointing at the Suichi men. "Aren't you three all Psychic Jammers! Stop being pansies and fight!"
The two older Suichi male family members looked towards each other and smacked their foreheads. "Of course!"
Shinichi raised a hand timidly. "Um, just for the record, my powers haven't really kicked in yet…"
"Still…" Meiruuna chimed in. "The point is, your brother and father are very effective against Psychics, and you have the potential to be a big help."
Shin nodded in agreement. "Yes, now the only thing we need to do is lure them into a trap of some sort. But with Arcia's mind reading abilities, that will be very problematic…"
"We don't need to trick them…" Yamato added, taking a bite of his food, chewing it, and swallowing. "We just need to somehow get them to a certain area where there are no innocent people that could get hurt in the crossfire…"
Arcia grinned from his spot on the couch. "So… They are still alive… All of them…" He laughed heartily. "They must be more clever than I thought!"
"How do you know if they are still alive?" Ami asked, sitting next to him. They were both reading books.
He pointed at his head. "Brain waves, my dear… I did a quick scan of the world's brain waves and found theirs all conveniently in one spot… Let's pay them a little 'visit' later, shall we?"
Ami, still reading her book, yawned. "And where are they?"
"Hmm…" Arcia rubbed his chin, thinking. "It's a place called 'Hinata House'…"
Ami suddenly looked up from her book, eyes widening. She held back a gasp. "W-what?" she stuttered, her mind temporarily going back to normal.
Arcia looked up from his own book, staring at her. "Is there a problem?"
Ami shook her head, reverting back. "N-no… No problem at all…"
"Um, hey guys?" Kai said as he stared out a window, a tinge of fear in his voice.
"Hm?" Meiruuna walked over to her bunny. "What is it?"
"Um, I don't think we have to worry about luring Arcia and Ami here…" he said, his voice a bit shaky.
"Um, why?" Ema asked, walking in with a tray of tea. She frowned. "Um… I don't like the way you said that…" At that moment, there was huge 'booming' noise from outside. Dropping the tea, Ema ducked under a table. "I just knew it didn't mean anything good!"
"Shit!" Junko shouted, clenching her fist. "They already found us!"
"Well then, this is it…" Shinji muttered. "Time to settle this…"
"Um, yeah…" Sarah began, in a monotone voice. "Just try not to destroy the place, okay?"
"Ah, the two 'Psychic-Jammers'…" Arcia said in a mocking tone. "Blessed with the genetic powers to nullify a psychics power… But what if there was a way to nullify the nullifier?" He pointed up to the sky to reveal a huge, floating machine. "The P-Jammer Canceller machine… It's range goes for miles… Your power are useless and there is no escape…"
"W-what!" everyone screamed, looking up to see the cylinder shaped device. It was attached to the fortress that Meiruuna used months ago, rebuilt.
Arcia laughed madly. "Ha ha ha! Did you really think that I would be stupid enough to let you disable my powers!"
"Bastard!" Jin screamed, clenching his sword. "Let Ami go and just leave us alone!"
"Let her go?" Arcia chuckled, brushing a hand against her cheek. "You fool, she came to me willingly… Isn't that right, dear?" He smiled as she nodded. "You see?"
"Damn you! You manipulated her!" Jin screamed, running towards the man. Arcia sent a wave at him and he dodged, slashing towards him with his sword. Ami jumped in the way and blocked it with a mentally created shield. He gasped, jumping back. "Ami…"
"Stay away from him…" she said coldly, blasting him backwards. She grinned, looking towards Junko. "I have an idea, dear… Instead of killing them outright, I'd like to make a few of them suffer first…"
"W-why are you looking at me like that Ami?" Junko stuttered, becoming frightened at what her friend had become. "What do you plan to do?"
Shinichi growled, stepping in front of her. "Please! Ami, stop this! What's happened to you!"
"Shut up! How dare you ask that!" Ami screamed, zooming towards him. She smacked him out of the way and trapped Junko in a black bubble.
Everyone else yelped as they were trapped in green bubbles. "Hey! Let us go!" Sakura screamed. "What, are you scared that we'll interfere in your precious plan!"
"Dear girl, I fear no one…" he sneered, sending a quick shock through her bubble. "But I find you all quite annoying…"
"Aaaahhh!" Sakura screamed out in pain as a green bolt of lightning struck her. She winced as the shock stopped and her pain slowly subsided. "You bastard… I swear, when I get out of here…"
"If you get out of there alive…" Arcia taunted. "Now if you'll excuse us, we're heading up to our new home! And we're taking Junko with us! If you want to, you can try and take her from us! Any efforts to beat us will be futile, though…" And with a flash, Arcia, Ami, and Junko were gone. The bubbles that the others were trapped popped.
"JUNKO! Big sister! Noo!" Naoko let out a blood curdling scream, falling to her knees and pulling at her hair. "Why?…"
Shinichi eyes widened in fear. "J-Junko!" he screamed out, looking around to make sure that they were really gone. After realizing that they really were up in that building in the sky, he fell to his knees and cried softly. "Junko, no…"
"Shinichi-chan…" Saki said softly, patting him on the back. "It's going to be okay…"
"Okay?" He stared at her. "How can you say that? It's hopeless… We have no chance against them… Junko is…"
Yamato growled, his eyebrow twitching. He walked over to Shinichi, punching him in the back of the head. "You idiot! I didn't train no wimp! What the hell is wrong with you?" He grinned, giving him a thumbs up. "Now go on! You've got a girlfriend to save!"
Yamato's student stared at the ground for a moment. He closed his eyes and smiled. "You know…" He stood up, a determined look on his face. "Just you wait, Arcia… I'm coming for you and taking back both Junko and Ami…"
"Ha! That's the spirit!" Everyone turned to see Keitaro, Motoko, Kaolla, Kimomo, Rikina, and Meiruuna. The older Urashima male smiled. "Now then, why don't we make up a game plan? We can't just rush in there, y'know…" He somehow pulled out a familiar looking huge gold buster sword. "I believe this belongs to you?" He asked, tossing it to the young man. "Here! As you know, It's no longer enchanted! It's still powerful, though!"
Shinichi caught the Suichi Sword. "You guys…" He began, smiling while tears ran down his face. "Thank you…"
Keitaro nodded, his expression becoming serious. "This will be very dangerous… We'll have to split into two groups: The 'Rescue/Fighting' group, who will rescue our friends and fight Arica and the 'Disable' team. They'll be the ones who will try to disable that P-Jammer Canceller… Be careful, though… It might have some defenses that we don't know about…"
Jin grunted, rubbing his aching arm. "Yeah… Why else leave it so vulnerable like this?"
Rikina gave Shinichi thumbs up while winking. "My sis and I will use all the weapons at our disposal to try and take that thing down… You can count on us!"
"Whoa!" Kenji shouted in excitement, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. "What a piece!" He began to fondle the Su sisters' weapons of mass destruction. "Can I see them? Please!"
"Whoa, whoa!" Rikina screamed, bopping him on the head. "Not for children! Besides, where the hell did you come from?" She picked him up by the collar and stared at him sternly. "In fact, who are you?"
"Rikina neesan, wait!" Naoko shouted, running up to them. "Kenji is my…" she blushed heavily before finishing the sentence. "…'friend'… Please don't hurt him!"
Rikina looked to Naoko, then back to Kenji, and then to Naoko again. "Okay, then…" she put him down, then rubbed her chin as she examined the younger Sagawa sister. "What's with the blush?" She gave her a perverted grin. "Oh, I see…"
"Ack!" Naoko shook her head. "N-no, it's not like that!"
"Are you sure?" Meiruuna taunted, slinking over. "Cuz I could give you a few pointers…"
"Okay guys, enough playing around!" Shinichi yelled. He glared up at the fortress, then turned to the remaining girls that he had been living with. "You guys don't have to come if you don't want…"
"Oh, okay!" the girls shouted, waving picket signs and banners of support. "Good luck, Shinichi-kun/Shin-sama/Shinichi-chan! We'll support you from here on the ground!"
He sweat dropped, turning away. "Well gee, you could have protested a little bit…"
End of Chapter 59.
Hoping to end this storyline in the next 1-2 chapters, then we move on to the final arc, which is also the epilogue. Wish me luck and let's hope I don't screw things up!
Kouji Tamino
