Love Hina - Nijuuhachi Hi Ato
Chapter 07
The Final Battle
"Let's go!"
Haruka and Sara ran to the left, Mitsune and Naru to the right, and Suu ordered the Mecha Tama to go up, ploughing through the ceiling to the floor above and extending an arm down for Suu to grab hold of. This left the entrance caved in and for the arena to be set for the ensuing skirmishes.
With Motoko and Keitaro
Motoko and Keitaro advanced slowly to their enemy, who likewise did the same.
Approaching closer, they stopped a mere five metres from each other.
"You have some guts, facing the two of us alone." Motoko commended. "I have to ask, will you surrender?"
"I refuse. The wellbeing of my squad members overrides everything."
"Very well then..." She posed in an attack stance. Keitaro held his blade with both hands, the few victories he had compared to the hundreds of Motoko meant he knew he must be careful.
Nakata with his five bladed glove on the right and metallic arm guard on his left meant that he could repel their blades. He waited longer, having the blades cover the front of his body, ready for a counter attack.
I think we need to see why he is so confident... Why does it seem so familiar to me? Motoko knew that he was baiting them, but without a first move, there'd be no conclusion. She glanced at Keitaro and he sensed it, running forwards to cover her as Motoko closed behind him.
"Hiken, Soutou Ryu!" Two dragon apparitions flew out of both Motoko's swords and intertwined into one large white one.
Meanwhile
Keitaro saw this new attack and was in wonder. I wish I could do something like that... He then saw that the dragons stopped moving, along with Motoko, Nakata and indeed everything else. Even he couldn't move his body. Wh... What's going on?
"Do you want power?"
"What?" Thankfully, he could move his eyes, and he looked down to see that the sword had a large ki, greater than he'd ever seen before, and that it was hovering over his hands.
"I can pass on the techniques that I have been used for, the ones I have learned from experience in blocking them, and the ones I have stolen.
Keitaro had only seen this deal in movies since it was so unbelievable, but knew he had to ask a question first.
"What's the catch?"
The voice chuckled. "I may 'help you out' every now and then..."
Keitaro thought about it. It's already helped me before, I guess I'll need to do this in order to fight as an equal.
"Okay then, give me the knowledge..."
At that moment
Nakata had parried the double dragon technique, and smirked when he saw Keitaro clutch his head. "Is he afraid of me already?"
Motoko was worried about Keitaro backing away to get closer to him. "Urashima, what's...?"
"Gaaaah!" He screamed as every synapse in his brain fired up at once, the electrical feed enough to convulse his body.
"URASHIMA!" Motoko jumped forwards and held Nakata's blades back as he failed to take advantage of the situation. Shit, he's really strong... She sniffed the air, and shuddered, remembering where she recognised that smell of burning wood.
"You... Where did you get this weapon from?"
Nakata smiled. "What does it matter? I'm using it now!" He slashed forwards, and pushed Motoko away, making her slide back, her sandals leaving dust clouds in the old hallway.
"Could you have met another woman...?"
He grinned fully now. "You mean a feisty one? Maybe I did..."
"If so... then..."
To illustrate, he held the glove in front of him, blades pointing at Motoko. A lick of flame and they ignited, five pyres of hot steel. He moved the glove closer to him. "Unfortunately, she died a while ago, most saddening... As did our beloved 'Captain'." He held his other hand closer. "It's amazing, these are cool to the touch, for the owner, all the others it was used on suffered quite painfully." He started walking towards her. "Are you ready for yours?"
A sound alerted the two of them, Keitaro had stood up, a little wobbly at first, but he stood firm thereafter.
"Well, it seems Keitaro is back with us, but still a wimp..."
He looked up, a small trickle of blood leaked from his nose. Wiping it away he advanced towards them. The look in his eye changed, they were now much sharper and cold. He stuck the sword in the ground.
"I forgot to mention, you might become more violent when you start to fight."
"Urashima, are you...?"
"URASHIMA KEN! NAPALM DEATH!"
Motoko had to leap out of the way as he yanked the blade upwards and outwards, opening up the floorboards and sending out flames that spread their way to Nakata.
"Shit!" He deftly rolled to his left as he flung his blades right, dispersing the flame, but not without the getting some fire on his leg. "Aaaah!" Patting out of the flames, he stepped back to re-evaluate his foe.
Keitaro shook his head once, stalking forwards to his prey.
With Haruka and Sara
"How are we going to get out?" Sara asked curiously, not in the least bit scared which mildly surprised Haruka.
Turning her head to get her bearings correct, Haruka replied. "I think the best way would be to go up towards the roof, there must be some balcony we can climb out onto..." A shuffling sound came from the room next to them. "Wait..."
Haruka placed both hands on her weapon and kicked in the door, seeing one of the soldiers trying to sneak in after breaking the window. Unloading one round into his body, the sickening crunch satisfied Haruka as the bullet punctured past his body armour and smashed into a bone in his rib cage. She then proceeded to shoot him everywhere, his arms, legs, joints, groin and finally straight between the eyes. Forgetting that her Eagle didn't possess unlimited ammo, she continued to click on an empty round time after time, well after her victim hit the ground, until Sara rested her hand on the pistol, lowering it gently.
"Haruka-san... It's okay... He's dead now... You don't need to keep firing."
Droplets tapped on Sara's hand as her new guardian expressed her sorrow finally. "Seta..." She dropped the gun on the floor, making it clatter loudly. "My Seta...!" Falling on her knees, she covered her guilty tears with her slender hands, and bawled loudly.
Sara, not quite used to seeing 'the Iron Maiden', as Seta used to refer to her rarely, crying so much. Moving closer she could see the tears seeping through her fingers, and Sara, having reluctantly accepted his loss by now, hugged Haruka close and began to console her, relieving her pain slightly.
With Mitsune and Naru
"Shit, we're in a dead end!" Mitsune snapped.
They had just passed several rooms which would have faced the front, and as such were dangerous due to the soldiers possibly keeping watch there. Naru was frightened for once, worried that these people might do much to her than a simple peeping pervert would. Mitsune kicked one of the doors on her right to no avail, it didn't budge.
"Where do we go now?" Naru asked, fearfully fleeting her eyes over the way they came.
Mitsune opened her eyes. She struggled to find a way out, as she heard windows breaking on the left next to them, along with lots of shouts.
"Damn, sounds like they all came down here, maybe it was easier to get in...?"
She was about to light her sake cocktail before she noticed a strange indentation in the wall at the end of the corridor, behind a plant. Peering closer with the lighter, she could see that this was a tiny handle, but there were no seams or anything resembling a way out.
"Naru, gimme a hand with this..."
They both began to pull to the side, and they were rewarded with a dark passage leading further into the complex. Getting in, they turned rapidly.
"Let's close it quick and get moving!"
Straining and heaving against the large knob on the inside they managed to lock the passage off, just as the soldiers burst into the now dark and quiet corridor. Puzzled, they paid no heed to the wall, as the lack of light made it difficult to see the way in. They continued to barge their way into the rooms opposite thinking that they may have gone that way.
Mitsune and Naru stood silently, breathing out slowly once they heard the troop pass them by. Sighing once, Naru wiped her forehead. "Kitsune... That was too close." She stared off into the dark tunnel. "Where do you think this goes?"
"No idea..." Mitsune smirked, hefting her bag of sake with her. "But it's better than going back out there..." She thumbed the doorway over her shoulder. "Let's find out..." Her lighter was getting hot, so she took the liberty of using a torch they had 'liberated' from the supermarket. Leading the way, she spoke, as if to herself. "Why do I get the feeling that I'm back in Hinata-sou?"
With Shinobu and Suu
The Mecha Tama burst through another ceiling, again extending its arm to carry Suu upwards.
"Shinobu! Are you okay?" They had just landed on the second floor.
The microphone was working both ways, and the loudspeaker from the machine's mouth began transmitting. "I... I'm fine Kaorra, just a little bumpy, that's all..." Her nervousness couldn't fail to be heard.
"Don't be scared! My creation will save you, that's for sure!" Suu replied cheerily, jumping off the hand. Shinobu could see everything and more from the monitors inside, so she was for once able to see the pained expression on her companions face.
"Kaorra... What about you?"
The Molmol princess ran on ahead down one of the corridors, not looking back at her friend, nor saying anything.
"Kaorra?" She pressed.
Suu looked back, tear globules on her eyelids as a small streak of blood passed by her lips. "I'm not that important, I have to protect you first." She blinked once. "I like you, you're my best friend. I'm going to let anything happen to you Shinobu!" She ran on ahead.
Suu, what's wrong with you? That blood... Shinobu began to sniffle, tears of her own billowing over her eyelids. The admission that she was Suu's best friend meant the world to her. Suu, I like you too... I want you to live... However, knowing that she was basically locked inside the contraption, there was no way for her to actively try to help, except by trying to figure out the controls and hundred of buttons inside. Checking to see that the red light for the microphone to the outside was off, she contemplated Suu's previous inventions, and tried something.
"Umm, Computer?" No answer. "Erm, Tama?" Again, no reply. "Mecha Tama X?"
"Welcome, Maehara Shinobu. How may I help?"
Startled by the voice she gasped and felt her heart flutter. "Umm, what are your orders?"
"Primary Objective: To ensure the survival of designated VIP, Maehara Shinobu. Secondary Objective: To transport creator Kaorra Suu to the Kingdom of Molmol within two weeks."
Again she jumped, but this time from the horrifying details. Suu doesn't even want to protect herself? And why does she have to be at that place by then? Shinobu thought a bit more, and knew that there was only one more thing she could do to protect one of the few friends in her life.
Her next message to the robot was succinct. Complying according to Suu's wishes, as Shinobu had the same access rights as her; Mecha Tama X began its long reply.
Meanwhile
Heading towards the large pyre in front of the vehicle, one final cog in the puzzle was finally settling into place to join the other gears.
Kanako could see the smoking remains of Kyoto in front of her. It won't be long now; I' m already at barricade 10. Her lorry was weaving slowly through a bare camp, corpses and smouldering vehicles were nearby. It looks like these soldiers were already killed a while ago... Their torn bodies made her reach the obvious conclusion that the Infected had reached this far towards Kyoto.
That city... It must have been burning for a long time... She had never been to Kyoto, not even for a school trip. Now I'll never see it again, only in pictures. No personal memories, only those of others.
She breathed out as her own emotions came back. Will I see oniichan? Is he waiting there for me? She smiled and cried scarlet blood. I hope so...
At that moment
Keitaro swung his blade.
"Shinmeiryu Ougi, Zan Kuu Sen!"
An aerial ball of compressed air landed in front of Nakata, making a large crater in the ground and sending him flying back to which he remained on his feet.
"You seem to have found some guts young man." He ignited his swords. "Take this!"
He slashed downwards to create several lances of fire that meandered around until they were parried by both Keitaro and Motoko. However they both fell for the trap as the lances exploded to shower them with more flames. Nakata took this chance and sped in, hoping to catch them off guard. Motoko had fallen back as the flames hit her bandaged arms, which were also subject to being flammable.
Keitaro on the other hand, saw his attempt, and when Nakata was five metres away and closing, his thoughts mingled with that of the sword.
You're mine!
Swinging his sword around to a taught elbow he powered it forwards.
"Gatotsu Zero Shiki!"
A giant explosion of kinetic energy landed directly against Nakata, who appeared terrified. Quivering with excitement, he held up his five blades, the Hina Blade tucked in neatly between them, the only damage being a cut on his cheek.
"Hi Ken, Jigoku No Ho!" Fire plumed around each blade, then spiralled inwards, making each one white hot. Plunging it forwards, each one seared Keitaro's flesh, his screams echoing throughout the building.
Twisting his hand, he jerked it upwards, flinging the steaming blades away from his body. Doing a back flip to safe ground he landed and coughed up blood, his wounds still on fire from that attack.
"URASHIMA!" Motoko readied her weapon. "Hi Ken, Zan Gan Ken!"
The compressed air created a thin, long but immensely powerful extension to her slash, sending it down the corridor and forcing Nakata to hold it back above his head using the whole glove. The pressure led to him being forced into the ground as he stood firm.
Motoko ran to Keitaro. "You can't continue like this, your body isn't strong enough to perform those attacks..." How did he do them though? The Gatotsu is one of the lost and legendary techniques back in the days of the Meiji Revolution...
"I'll be fine Motoko-chan..." He got to his feet. "The Blade is helping me…" The ki malevolently swirled around the metal and then his whole body. "I just just about stand up though…"
Motoko sighed, knowing that it was a losing battle. She smiled at him. "You're as stubborn as ever, you'll never give up no matter how hard things can get..." She stood up too and faced Nakata, who had just recovered from the air attack. "Do your best, Keitaro." She smiled again, this time with a renewed pride for the ronin next to her. Finally, the boy becomes a man...
"Nakata..." She began. "For the sake of the Shinmeiryu, I shall avenge the death of one of the Five, the Fire goddess, Hinoko"
"Heh, so you knew that woman?" He licked the blades suggestively. "She didn't agree to our plans for her, so we had to eliminate her, swords don't hold up to bullets, though she did fire off a few attacks at us." He laughed mockingly. "She cried miserably before we killed her, we took great pleasure in that."
Motoko merely smirked. "Hinoko-sama would never bow down to you. She was an arrogant one, the most volatile of all the Five. However, one thing she possessed above all the others was the sense to never give up. She went down fighting, I can feel it here." She held a hand over her heart. "Am I right?"
Nakata was silent, and formed another battle pose, the hand above and behind his head, ready to cleave its way forwards. Flames erupted from the tips, creating longer blades of fire. He jumped forwards and sliced downwards and across, despite Motoko positioning her blades to parry the attacks. Yet, Keitaro ran in too late, the flames weren't solid objects, and they passed through hers, searing her arms and front.
"AAAAGH!" She fell backwards as the flames once more hit her vulnerable arms, which were burned in the same place. He's going for my weak spots... He must've trained in some martial arts before...
Keitaro stared down at Motoko, who was now looking much worse for wear, her arms trembled with pain as the battle scars seethed with embers from the hits, she eventually slipping away into the nether regions between reality and dreams.
Sensing the ki growing in his sword it urged him to Keitaro crouch down and over her two katanas facing Nakata, who was now firing up another ki based weapon on his blades. With his left hand he grabbed Motoko's katana, and kneeling further he chomped down of the handle of Tsuruko's odachi, making the blade stick out of the right hand side, and stood up. Stepping forwards, he held both blades vertically behind the horizontal odachi. Pouncing forwards, he met Nakata halfway as he also ran forwards, this time with flames being spouted out of all the blades at once.
Twisting his head to the left and arcing his arms forwards, two high powered downward slices were created, and a decapitating horizontal strike. "San Ken Jutsu. Tiger Hunting Prey!"
The wind from the blades managed to fan away the balls of fire, much to Nakata's shock, who tried in vain to parry Keitaro's odd manoeuvre. Though he tried somewhat luckily ducked the horizontal move, he couldn't help but take two deep hits on his torso from the two vertical ones.
"GAAAH!" He flew back several metres, blood streaming out in the air from the cuts in his chest and abdomen., landing badly on the floor creating a pool of blood around him.
Keitaro meanwhile cried out in anguish too, as his muscles and bones began to strain harder to keep him alive. A few which were well over their natural usage, such as the arm muscles, had begun to sting greatly and ached constantly, some tiny sinews had even snapped from overexertion. His tibia were also displaying similar signs of superhuman movement and strength, by the subtle hairline fractures and creaking sounds.
Falling to his knees, Keitaro gripped the handle of the Hina Blade tightly. He dropped Motoko's katana and loosened his jaw to release the odachi. He vomited blood, not a copious amount, but enough to make him worry that he wouldn't get out of there alive. This was quickly replaced by another thought, one that only gave him strength. I have to protect everyone... I have to live... Sticking the blade into the tiles, his hefted himself up and quivered as his arms burned from inside with their own new flames, tendrils shooting through his body quicker than his brain could register.
At this point, Nakata, breathing heavily, used all his self-determination and sat up. He leaned back a bit to prevent further opening his wounds, and placed his hands on the ground. Shifting his legs closer to his body, he wavered to his feet and stood again, slouched forwards and staring down Keitaro, whose arms seemed to give up holding the blade any higher than his legs.
Nakata smiled, this time it was genuine. "You're quite something else you know that? No one has ever pushed me this far before... You surprise me every time we cross swords."
Keitaro didn't say anything, just panting and straining to keep his eyes open. He was running out of time. A small cut on Keitaro's scalp opened up, sending a thin flow of blood over his left eye. "Shall we finish this?" He shut away the Hina Blade in the sheath and attached it on his left hip.
"Yes, it is time to end this once and for all..." Nakata did an overarm palm down slam on the ground, and began to fuel the blades with his ki beyond his usual levels.
Motoko, still incapable of moving too much just yet, opened one eyelid to see the styles that the two were taking. But, it's not possible... That's...
Fifteen minutes ago
Two floors above
Shinobu managed to absorb the information garnered from the Mecha Tama X, though she sometimes asked for it to repeat itself. Suu was slowing down now and let the machine walk for the both of them, sitting in one of its cupped hands. Shinobu zoomed into her friends back and pressed a button on the cockpit to X-ray her. What she saw made her queasy. Switching off that mode quickly, she focussed on her plan, when a small puff of smoke appeared in the distance.
"What's that?" She asked on the loudspeaker, Suu shook her head in reply.
Using the infrared lens, she could see a small warm object on the floor along with other humanoid figures.
"Analysis complete." The Mecha Tama barked. "Outdoor fire exit blown inwards. Smoke grenade clouding human vision 50 metres away. Three non-Infected humans detected."
"The soldiers!" Shinobu cried. "They must be trying to get in the building this way!" She looked around, nervous. "Umm, can you kill them quickly please?"
There was no reply, as the first of the three broke the grey barrier. Shinobu saw his look of surprise and his hand signals to the other two.
"Suu! Get behind me!" The princess jumped out and skipped behind the leg of the robot as the men let hail a barrage of bullets, each one deflected and pinging off the ionised shielding. "Please Mecha Tama X, help us, kill them."
"Unable to comply..." It replied simply, not moving at all.
"Shinobu..." Suu spoke up knowingly. "It won't work..."
"But... why?"
"Mecha Tama X is a robot, and is programmed to obey the three laws of robotics."
Shinobu had no idea what this meant, but asked a pointed question. "Wh.. What about the Infected?"
Suu sighed sadly. "They weren't human any more, they were Infected, and classified as a new species. That's why it could kill them..."
There was silence for a few minutes as the enemy ahead of them stopped to reload. The enhanced telescopic microphone in the mecha picked up their voices. Shinobu paled and cried out. "Quick, get us into the next room!"
Obeying the command the Mecha Tama smashed the nearby wall and powered its way in, taking Suu with it, as a rocket propelled grenade whizzed by in the corridor behind, exploding at the other end where they came from.
They were now in one of the royal suites, a lavish four poster bed with a more traditional sliding door connected to the outside window, onto a balcony parallel to the corridor.
Looking out, Suu couldn't see far. "It's really misty outside..." She looked at the head of the mecha, straight into the hidden camera. "We can't leave the others behind..."
"I know Suu..." Shinobu began to imagine what had happened to them, especially one. Sempai, I wonder how he is... I hope Motoko is protecting him.
"I know!" Suu beamed. "Let's go that way!" She pointed through the wall looking down the suite, around the place where the soldiers were. One missile fired from the back of the robot and impacted with the ceiling, creating rubble in front of a door there. "They can't get in now!"
She started to run as her creation followed close behind. Doing a back flip she landed on its right shoulder. "There! Faster!"
A thin paper like wall lay ahead of them, with classical sliding doors. Crashing through it, they tumbled out onto another balcony, on front of which was in fact the slanted red tiled roof for the lower floor.
"Down!" Stamping its foot, the Mecha Tama crumbled the terracotta tile and stone ceiling easily and using the jets in its feet, lowered itself slowly to land on the soft red carpet. Suu smiled as if she were her former self. "Only way to go but forwards now! Find the others!"
A confident voice seemed to energise both the Mecha Tama X and Shinobu, as they both uplifted, and the machine used its jets to fly down the corridor.
Meanwhile
Location Unknown
A cobweb plastered on her face, and Naru squealed, again.
"Why am I the one who gets them all the time?" Her two antennae were now white and silky with web, even a complete spiral with resident spider was there under the overhang.
"You're not behind me, that's why." Holding back a grin Mitsune could see the webs but managed to steer Naru into each of them. Seeing something odd ahead she aimed her torch.
"Looks like we're going up this time." She tilted her head to the side so that her friend could see the stone steps leading up into the dark.
"We've been walking for a while now, do we even know where we're going?" She was getting frustrated, anger cross flaring up on her forehead. The spider crawled out of the web and dangled itself in front of her face. Grinding her teeth, she scrunched up the web and held the spider by the web, glaring at it. She threw it away over her shoulder, where it happily floated away and landed on another ceiling web.
"Let's go up." Mitsune led the way as the two of them walked up the steps carefully, there was a banister on both sides which helped them walk. Upon reaching the top, they arrived at a dead end, though more stairs continued nearby. Naru was about to go up further before Mitsune pulled her arm back. "Hang on, look over here..." The wall had a similar handle to the one the used to shut the door. "We'll open this and find out where we are..."
Heaving again, they struggled as the metallic scraping sound echoed down the stairs. Soon, they had it open and were staring down into another dark corridor, this time much more reminiscent of the royal palace.
"It feels like deja vu. Are we..." Mitsune held a hand up to stop Naru from speaking. A loud sound was coming from the other end of the corridor.
"We've got to get ba..." Two large lights illuminated them from the corridor. Mitsune cursed to herself, lit a sake cocktail and threw it in the centre of the lights. The ball of fire covered them for a few seconds before the lights were once again seen, unharmed.
"Shit!" Preparing three more, she was about to detonate them before a voice sounded out.
"Kitsune-san, Naru-sempai! It's us, please don't throw them!"
"Huh?" Mitsune lowered her guard as the Mecha Tama X slowed to a halt in front of them. Suu was covered in a pulsating purple shield, presumably to stop the flames from reaching her.
The shield deactivated almost immediately as it took a lot of energy to produce it. Suu beamed at them, holding out a hand. "We've found you! You're the first!"
Mitsune took her hand and joined Suu on the shoulder of the robot as Suu settled into the cupped hand. Naru meanwhile stood stunned, though Shinobu woke her out of her shock. "Naru-sempai, please sit here!" The left hand opened up and was comfortable enough for Naru to rest her feet.
"What now?" Mitsune asked. "Haruka and Sara went the other way, and Keitaro and Motoko were about to fight Nakata."
"My guess is to get outside..." Shinobu shyly answered. "I... I know that sempai will be okay, and Haruka is strong enough to protect the Sara-chan."
"You really think that pervert is that good with a sword?" Naru retorted, angry that they were talking about him again.
"You should know better than most of us, Naru..." Mitsune cut back, unpleasant memories flooding back to all of them.
Suu turned to her left. "To get out, we need to -" A rumbling distracted her, and a large noise, akin to that of particle cannon was heard. Everyone struggled to hold on to the Mecha Tama as Shinobu tried to find out the source, unsuccessfully one might add.
Naru became delirious. "Wh... What is th -" The light in the neighbouring rooms grew to a brilliant white, streaming through the door frames, while the building shook tremulously, cracks in the ceiling forming and becoming large holes as pieces of masonry began to collapse. Beams of light then began to break through floor, up past them into the ceiling. Shinobu could see that several support pillars and even the foundations had been affected. Mitsune was covering her head with her arm in case anything hit her.
"What the hell is going on!"
Shinobu replied while typing out instructions in the control panel. "I don't know, but we have to get outside!" The left arm cannon opened up beneath Naru, and then blew away a massive hole in the wall. "GO!" She cried, and the Mecha Tama X, with its passengers started to run as the corridor behind them crumbled to the level below.
More lasers from below destroyed the back part of the room, engulfing them in blue fire just as they tore through the final wall using the plasma shield and into the open air outside the palace.
Ten minutes ago
Two people stalked quietly down the corridor, one armed with two pistols, the other with stern eyes. Haruka was now on the move again, after her emotional outburst, one that she had been holding back for nearly ten years. I never told him... She knew that, deep in her heart, he knew her true feelings for him. However, given his nature, he never wanted to force her to reveal them until she was ready. She gave a smirk. Ironic. When I am ready to tell him, I kill him before I can... She looked down at her weapons and Sara. She reminded me that I wasn't the only person to have lost someone special... That I still have a purpose to live. I promised myself that I would be a mother to Sara, so I must protect her... She clenched her fists tighter around the hand grips.
The sounds of a door being unlocked, or attempted to, around twenty metres away, raised their nerves. Kicking it out, two soldiers burst out and started to aim their rifles. Not wasting any time, Haruka nailed both of them in the head, before either of them could fire a single shot. Running down towards the prone bodies, Sara stepped on their bodies hard. Sensing something else behind her, she grabbed the nearest statues to her, and threw the three of them at a third soldier that appeared from the room.
The first knocked him in his stomach, winding him bending him over to hold his lungs and stomach in agony. The second crushed into his back to a nightmarishly loud crack, resulting in him falling to the ground under that weight. The final, and heaviest one, slammed impossibly hard on his head, the sound of bones crunching and squelching emphasised by the red lake leaking out from beneath the clay plinth, along with other softer bits of grey matter.
Her face was level, but her eyes were angled downwards at his body, her eyes the definition of pure, undiluted hatred. She spat maliciously on his corpse.
"That was for papa..." She looked around to see a grimly amused Haruka, with a smirk on her face. "I'm done here, let's get out of here Haruka-san."
"Okay Sara-chan." She patted her head as they jogged side by side. Sara looked up with an annoyed expression, but grinned sneakily, one that was commonplace around Hinata-sou when she terrorised the tenants and was partnered up with Suu.
A rumbling from behind them gave them chills down their spines. "Wh... What's that?"
Spinning quickly, they could see a growing red white light from the junction at the entrance. "That's Keitaro fighting..." The amount of ki... I still can't believe that he can produce so much... "Let's keep moving, we shouldn't go back, we'd only get in the way.
Running forwards even faster, they turned the corner to face another corridor in the square complex. Haruka sighed. More again?
Yet, her thoughts were stopped short by the appearance of Mito from one of the inner doors. Getting a lucky shot off, he wounded the tea shop owner in the arm. She was about to fire back when two massive explosions ruptured the building. One came from the direction of the light, but Haruka wasn't concerned with that one, as the other was further along the passage, past Mito.
He turned with his rifle at the ready, and quite confused, there were no planned incursions near him. Stepping towards the cloud of dust and broken brickwork, he pointed his rifle at roughly the height of someone's mid-section. A black-grey lance with a red tip sliced through his gun, making the front half of it fall apart, clattering on the floor. Mito whimpered out loud, then started screaming for his life, throwing the remains of his defunct weapon in the smoke, which again was chopped into several pieces. He ran at Haruka and Sara, who just stood there fixed by seeing the terror in his eyes.
It was too late. Another lance pierced straight through his body, closely connected to a small, thin hand. Blood poured from the wound and his mouth, his eyes wide with fear moved down to see the hand move slowly then instantly out of his side, penetrating his lungs and emerging from his right body. Now fully dead, and nearly broken in two, Mito fell, leaving a figure completely in shadow. All that could be seen were a pair of eyes and sharp white teeth. It continued to lash out and tear the flesh from the body, coating the hands with maroon and crimson. The clothing also followed suit, splotches in every conceivable place. Breathing out over the hot fresh bloody body, the air was cool enough to be visible to the two who watched this macabre display.
Haruka began to shake, not having experienced much of it in the past, she realised that fear can catch you and ensnare your whole being when you least expected it. As the being stood up straight, leaving no doubt with the single strand of hair that popped up, Haruka muttered one word, before aiming both her pistols.
"Kanako..."
Suddenly, beams of light from the left showered the area without a second for Haruka to click the trigger. Breaking through the walls, they began to destroy walls and ceilings, Haruka pulled Sara close and ran back to one of the rooms, kicked the door open and smashed through the window as Kanako was still, the destruction not affecting her self in any way. She walked away, deeper into the darkness.
Five minutes ago
Keitaro tried to contain his agony by clenching his teeth tighter. Just one more attack left in me… One false step... He looked up at Nakata.
The man in question was still crouched down, generating more ki and pumping it into the blades. His arm had the veins and arteries in full view, they were even showing through his uniform. Sweating profusely, he smiled. "You'll be the first to see me use this technique, you should be proud to have made me use it."
Keitaro just stood there silently, and placed his right foot ahead of his left, half leaning over with his right hand ready to pull out his blade. He was shifting his feet ever so slightly forwards to get him closer to Nakata.
"HaaaaAAAAH!" The power was now at its maximum in Nakata's blades, as several faces of fire floated above the glove, collecting in one spot to create a large ball.
"Shinmeiryu Ougi, Ho No Ryu!" The image of a cycloptic dragon appeared from the ground. Clamping its mouth over the ball, it unleashed the blast at Keitaro. The speed of a laser cannot compare with that of a human, however the Hina Blade knew this, and its ki pulled Keitaro to the other side.
Thankfully it only clipped the left leg, but the part that was hit, just below the knee, was seriously burnt, and the pain was momentarily forgotten as Nakata spoke again.
"Impressive, you dodged that one..." He took in a deep breath as he was panting, and low on energy. "This is the final attack..." This time several balls were surrounding him. He lifted the glove up to reveal the largest of all balls in the palm of his hand.
"Shinmeiryu Ougi, Hyaku Ho No Ryu!"
Countless dragons appeared from the glove and started to fire each ball at Keitaro, more being created each time. Taking control of the ronin, the blade forced him to dodge each one meticulously, first to the left, a duck, then jumping others. Nakata fired the giant blast from his glove, but again Keitaro got hit, his arms were burnt once more. The blade used this moment to fling Keitaro over the rest of the beam, and twisted underneath it to lie crouched only two metres away from Nakata.
Time slowed to allow for each millisecond of the move. Nakata urged more beams at Keitaro, but they were too late, as he had already pulled out his blade with his right hand.
"HAAAAAH!" Stepping once with his right foot to get closer, he finally pulled out the blade, and this time stamped forwards with his left foot, creating a distinct impression of his foot in the stone flooring. The power behind the strike shattered the steel of Nakata's glove, and the resulting wind and vacuum created a tiny negative vortex, dragging the dragon heads inwards, and thus the blasts outwards in all directions.
Nakata screamed as Keitaro's katana plunged into his chest, already raw from the earlier attacks. He flew directly up in the air. As his conduit and control mechanism in the form of the glove was destroyed, the ki in his arm dissipated quickly through the fire lasers, making them more volatile involuntarily, they exploded on impact with walls. Soon, he was expended, no energy left to prevent his slamming into the floor, a large crater forming around him, with his new diagonal wound across the chest to join the other two. Eyes rolled up into his head and mouth open, he spoke no more.
Keitaro smiled sincerely. "I did it..." Fainting, his head plonked against the ground, the Hina Blade also coming to a rest, its soul pinging out of existence for a short time to regenerate energy.
Motoko had seen all that had transpired, and got to her feet, unstable. Picking up her two swords, she sheathed her sister's odachi, and used her own as a walking stick. Edging her way towards Keitaro, she could see that thankfully he was still breathing, but that soon, the amount of blood he had lost would become terminal.
I have to get him out of here... Sheathing her blade, she grabbed the Hina Blade. This sword is quiet... She put it away in its ebony covering, and started to drag Keitaro off the ground. He's done so much for us... He put himself in danger to save Shinobu, then Naru and even Kentaro... He's learned so many new techniques too... She gave his left leg a look. Not a mark... I've never seen this before, nor was it mentioned anywhere in history. She smiled. Yet it was the most powerful, even more so than Nakata's copy of the Shinmeiryu fire dragon summoning. She had pulled him away from the battle, as the building started to implode behind them.
Still, I wonder... Is this the end for us...? Large chunks of stone smashed nearby as the three of them were shrouded in dust and debris. Motoko continued to plough further to the exit, her strength ebbing with each faltering step.
Meanwhile
Outside
"Look! It's Haruka and Sara!" Suu pointed at the shards of glass billowing out from the mansion, along with the two people, the blonde cradled by the elder.
Everyone jogged to them as more walls crumbled to the ground, fires lighting up all over the complex. Each one had suffered from slight concussion and burns from these same explosions, but the shield had protected them from the worst.
Haruka looked up to see the rest of the girls and gave a one-sided smile. "Glad to see you're all fine..." She pushed herself up, still holding Sara in her arms. "The place just started to explode..."
She looked behind them and could see something they hadn't noticed. A trail of burned grass straight from the entrance which they all first went into, the large wall where the fortifications began was destroyed, leaving the open plain behind it in full view.
"What... happened?" She jerked her head to indicate what she saw, and they stood there shocked upon surveying the area.
"Analysis complete:" The Mecha Tama X was already on the case. "Concentrated fire projectile, internal temperatures exceeding that of 1000 Celsius. Origin: Emanated 50 metres from here inside building."
"Th... Then that means..." Shinobu whispered from inside the machine.
Mitsune nodded. "Keitaro... He was fighting that Nakata... He must've done this." She turned to see the top floor catch fire now, more window panes shattering from the intense heat and warping frames. Her eyes noticed some movement between the haze at the broken pillars of the entrance. "Hey guys... Someone's there..."
Haruka spun quickly and had a hand to her available gun, but couldn't sense any evil presence. "Where is it Kitsune?"
The girl in question opened her eyes fully, taking in all the details, and smiled. "I'd know those bandaged arms anywhere..." She started running. "It's Motoko!"
Cheers went up as they all followed her close behind, Haruka placed Sara on the ground as they joined them. The samurai's arm was feeling through the rubble, unable to escape except to try to draw attention to herself. Mitsune was first there, clutching her hand tightly.
Motoko's hand tensed up, not expecting the contact and tried to pull back. "We're here now, don't worry..." Mitsune soothed. Motoko's hand visibly relaxed and didn't retreat. "Is Keitaro with you?" A second of silence passed, heart's slowing as they awaited her response. One quick squeeze confirmed the good news. "He's alive everyone!" Mitsune beamed back, to a delighted group.
Bizarrely, the grip grew fainter, until it was only Mitsune keeping hold of her hand. Smoke was seeping through the gaps in the rocks, and she realised what was going on. "We need to get them out of there!" She tried to pull out a rock, but it was stuck hard.
"Let me try..." Shinobu in the Mecha Tama X moved forwards and grabbed one of the top rocks, pulling it out and threw it behind her. The others egged her on until she finally could see more of Motoko. "I'll need your help now, please, pull them out!"
Standing on its tiptoes, the robot held away a tonne of brick, stone and marble as Haruka, Mitsune and Naru dragged Motoko and Keitaro out, the former keeping a vice-like grip on his arm. Once everyone was free, Shinobu released the wreckage and it created a new wall of rock as more of the ceiling fell through.
Carrying them a safe distance away from the blaze, they lay them on the ground. Motoko's arms were still covered with her bandages, but now were mostly blackened, in some cases burnt off. Her brow was drenched in sweat, the heat inside must've been too much for her. There were some cuts and bruises on her body, but nothing too serious apart from the burns.
"Keitaro..." Motoko wheezed, her eyes half-open. "He protected us all..."
Her head slumped to one side, but everyone could see that she was still breathing gently. She called him Keitaro? Mitsune took note of that, shocked by the change in Motoko. They then turned their attention to their manager.
Keitaro was in a much worse state. He had numerous wounds on his body. The cut on his head left half his face soaked in blood, his arms and legs were badly burned, clothing in these instances were incinerated. His left leg had a portion of black skin from extremely hot flames. There were five deep wounds in his chest, but the gaps in the flesh were cauterised from more heat. His arms and legs also shook constantly, everyone assumed it was due to the pain, but after Haruka knelt down to feel his arm, she realised what it was.
"His bones are fracturing, and his muscles are close to tearing apart..." She was grim as she placed a hand on his cringing forehead. "He needs time to rest and heal, or else he'll die..."
"Keitaro..." Naru whispered, unable to take her eyes off his horrific injuries.
"Sempai!" The front of the Mecha Tama opened up and Shinobu jumped out. She walked over to him, tears welling up in her eyes. "Sempai... will die?"
He opened up the bloodied eye, beneath some of his sopping red hair. He coughed once and smiled at her. "It's okay Shinobu-chan, everyone, I won't die..." He flinched as his arms throbbed once. "Nakata's dead..." He breathed in slowly. "Treat Motoko-chan first... She was burned worse than me…" He passed his gaze over everyone. "I'm glad you all made it out..." He too fell asleep, though his rasps seemed to need more effort than Motoko's.
Haruka softened visibly, the love for her only nephew shining past her passive exterior. She took a hold of his head and beneath his knees. "Naru, Mitsune, take Motoko with me to the van..."
They did as told, and helped each other carry the passed out girl to Seta's van, where they started to treat their wounds.
Ten minutes later
Elsewhere on the complex
The ruined palace would burn for as long as Kyoto would, forever extinguishing in one part, but starting up in another. Kanako studied this nature for a short time before venturing into the untouched parts. Walking by some great Japanese masterpieces, indispersed with a few Western artists, she thundered on, until her eyes prickled. Her vision turned red, and she could see perfectly in the dark corridor. Hearing a distant metallic chink, she went off in that direction.
Arriving on the second floor, she moved to the edge and went out onto the balcony. Beneath her, she saw the visage of the Infected Uramura. He heard her step on the wood, and glared up at her, spitting and growling. Kanako's red vision saw him as a white creature amongst the red of its surroundings. Fading naturally into human vision, she bared her teeth as her ki grew. Holding her arm high in the air, she cut it downwards. A thin shadow blade flung out from her fingertips slicing through the balcony edge, aiming at the ground. It broke the chain restraining the Infected to the wall. Seeing this, the tiniest look of surprise from the monster made it tug at the non-existent lead. Now free, he screeched and powered its way into the building. Kanako kept smiling, as she backed away into the black corridor, on to her next task.
Meanwhile
Ground floor
"Did you hear that?" One of the surviving soldiers remarked.
"Forget it..." Jiro wove it off. "This place is falling apart, we need to get out of here first."
The slight whisper of the high pitched yell reached them. "Now I hear it... What is it?" Another soldier asked.
Jiro could tell what it was immediately, but chose to ignore it. "Keep moving forwards!"
He charged ahead of the other three privates away from the flames and the caving in. One of the nearby doors burst open, and Uramura lunged through, biting into one of the lagging privates.
"AAAAAGH! Help me-" His voice replaced itself with screeching.
"SHIT!" Jiro swore and opened the nearby room, locking himself in alone. Hearing the two screeches against the human screams of the two he abandoned, he moved silently towards the only window. Now that the screams gargled and mutated into screeches, he quietly unlatched the window and climbed outside, shutting it behind him.
Meanwhile
Outside
A 'boom' was heard, this time not from inside the building.
"Oh no..." Shinobu muttered. "Infected..."
Across the field outside, Infected were running out of the woods and towards the large source of sound and heat, the palace. Some were tripping the mines, but others had managed to avoid most of them.
Suu went into action, pressing the button on her remote. "Mecha Tama X! Protect us!"
It sprung into action straightaway, closing the entrance to its cockpit and running forwards to the gap in the wall. Releasing the two machine guns in the arms, it started to rain death upon all the creatures that threatened them.
Haruka, Naru and Mitsune were observant to this, but stayed to apply more bandages and lotions to the two warriors, still unconscious. Once finished, they walked to the front and saw that the Mecha Tama X was doing good against the horde. Haruka looked at the guns and suddenly recalled a question that she had been pondering for a while.
"Suu..." The tanned girl turned to her. "Where does it get its ammo from?"
She grinned back. "It builds it inside with a structure conversion tower."
She raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't that take a huge amount of energy?"
Suu shrugged. "I suppose..." She tweaked her palmtop to get readings from it. "According to this we have -" Her eyes widened and she turned to Haruka. "We've only got fifteen minutes left!"
"What!" The cigarette she was about to smoke fell from her mouth. "Why so soon? Isn't it supposed to warn us!"
"No..." Suu began typing in a frenzy, "There's been too much fighting, that plasma shield drained too much power, and the reactor has nearly been depleted..." She pressed the 'Enter' key. "There! It'll save bullets and aim for fatal shots, but it'll take more time for the locking mechanisms. It'll only give us another fifteen minutes..." She looked to the turrets. "We'll need to help it out though."
Haruka looked back to the van. We need to give Keitaro and Motoko some time to heal, moving them now could be disastrous... She waved at the turrets and numerous guns, "Everyone, get ready to -"
Screeches from behind the lines scared them witless. "What? They're inside already?" Suu cried.
Uramura smashed through one of the windows and stared down the girls. Haruka clenched her teeth. "Everyone! Kill them all!" She spoke as the other three Infected plunged out the other windows.
2 minutes ago
Second floor
"Did Major Nakata do this?" One of the three soldiers asked. He glanced around them, the cracked floor and gaping holes in the floor.
"Yeah, he did 'that' move..." The second shuddered. When that woman performed it , we lost a lot of good men...
The third held up his rifle with built in light. "Who's there?" He angled it down the corridor.
"What's up?" The other two did the same. "You see something?" The first enquired.
"Yeah, I think s-"
Two white spots started to glow. "There!" They moved their lights onto them, but instead were faced with a petite girl.
"Huh?" The second was confused. "She wasn't part of that group..." He took aim and shouted down at her. "Stop right there!"
Instead of surrendering she opened her mouth and let out an almighty screech.
"SHIT! SHE'S INFECTED!" The first cried. "FIRE!"
The drumbeats of their rifles echoed as the first bullets reached Kanako, but she lithely avoided each one of them, speeding up and getting closer.
"She... She's too fast... How can she dodge bullets if - GAAGH."
His throat had been punctured by a swift hand piercing his neck. Kanako pulled out her left hand and threw the soldier over her shoulder, having already broken both the remaining guns. Sneering at the last two surviving members, she answered the dead man's question with one of her own.
"What if... I wasn't Infected?"
She raised her left arm and her inhuman vision became clouded with white, hot blood.
Meanwhile
Outside
Mitsune flared up three sake cocktails, one with a shorter fuse. Throwing that one first, it exploded before it reached one of the Infected, spreading the liquid fire on him. Chucking the other two, the impact on his body created a pyre by which he was unable to stand, still holding out his arms in a vain attempt to grab her. Soon, the heat got too much, and he died again, the body slumping to the ground as it reduced itself to ashes.
Naru and Shinobu faced one other Infected. Not having any weapons of their own, they picked up the automatic rifles and pointed them at it. "I'll shoot, I swear!" Naru cried. It just screeched and jerked forwards, making them backtrack.
The blue-haired girl had more tears in her eyes. "I... I'm sorry!" Shinobu pressed the trigger, and peppered his body with bullet holes. Her whole body shook from the persistent recoil so her aim swayed a bit too near her allies. Naru held her gun steady.
"Shinobu-chan, you did good..." Naru held the girl as she threw the gun on the ground, shock and sadness racking her body due to her first ever kill.
Meanwhile, Suu and Sara seemed to be back to their old tricks. While Suu didn't do any flying kicks, she pulled out an odd laser beam which only had two shots. Using them to her advantage, she proceeded to chop off both arms of the Infected. Sara then stepped in, taking some of the rocks from the mansion. She threw some large debris at the head of the enemy and ended with a sole boulder crushing the rest of his body, Satisfied with their victory, they did a high five.
Haruka was having a hard time of it, the leap through the window left her arms exposed to the blood from the shards of glass that cut her. The cuts also made her aim a little looser, and less able to focus. Uramura was adept at dodging, whizzing past her bullets. Maybe Nakata used him for target practice... One of her bullets hit home, embedding itself in his right shoulder. I need to immobilise him... She fired one at the legs but only one landed. He started to limp. That's all I need. Refilling her clips, she emptied them directly into his torso, though some of them missed, the two bullets in the head helped to kill it, and Uramura screeched his last, stumbling to the gravel clumsily.
Everyone was panting, the exertion of the half an hour getting to them. "We... We need to get moving..." Mitsune said breathlessly. "There's too many... We can't stop all of the Infected in Kyoto!" She looked to the see the Mecha Tama was doing okay, but that the number in the distance were growing. "Let's go... Quick!"
Haruka sighed. We have to go now, or else things will get much worse... "Okay then... Everyone! We're leaving!"
Ushering Naru, Shinobu and Sara to the van she followed. Mitsune jogged to her motorbike, putting on her helmet once more. Suu clambered on to the Mecha Tama and made it pause shooting for two seconds as she slid into the cockpit.
Shinobu stopped upon reaching the van. "Wh... Where's sempai?"
Naru looked around. "Motoko's gone too!"
Sara scratched her head. "Where'd that dork go now!"
Ten minutes ago
"Mecha Tama X! Protect us!"
Jiro watched the large invention make short work of the Infected outside. If only we had that on our side... He was hiding in some bushes besides the main building, behind the van. He saw Motoko and Keitaro being taken care of by Haruka. That runt killed Nakata... How did he do it? Soon they moved away to watch the carnage.
He narrowed his eyes. I'm not leaving this place without getting some... He spied the kendo garb and started to salivate. It's always the troublesome ones that turn me on... He stealthily made his way over to the van with its open side door. Motoko's head was nearest to him, and he felt her silky black hair billow between his fingers. I must have her...
Pulling her out of the van, he started running from the scene, taking a side path around the buildings and into one of the royal gardens.
Meanwhile
Hinata-sou
This act did not go unnoticed by the ancient spell, its keeper currently residing in the very foundations of the old building behind Hinata-sou. Wooden gears started to churn away the age old rot, mildew and plant life that had grown around them, linking up with one another.
The sound attracted the local Infected, whom had started to flock around the building. A herd of five tried to get in, but three massive gears minced them up in the doorway. To prevent any more disturbances, the doors automatically shut and were reinforced by two gears rolling behind them.
Having lost some time, the gears sped up and produced the necessary electricity needed to initiate the enforcement of the spell. The clock tower glowed purple, adding that colour to the lightning that surrounded the building. As the two destined were many miles away, it sent a message to the one who made the promise, and granted him power to save the one he vowed to protect.
One second later
The Royal Palace
Keitaro grit his teeth as several purple bolts harrowed his body, making him convulse in the form of a fit. He opened his eyes, the jolt ignited his soul and fervour. He held his arms up; they no longer shook. My bones... They've healed? He tried clenching his fist, and again was surprised. Even my muscles have repaired themselves! Sitting up and trying to make sense of what was going on, he noticed a tiny red string attached to the little finger of his right hand.
"Eh?" He tugged on it but felt nothing in return. However he did have a vision upon touching it, along with a sense of foreboding, and the image of a leering Jiro came to mind.
"Motoko-chan..."
Grabbing the Hina Blade, he made his way out of the van and followed the string, as it magically shrunk and wound up the closer he got. He ignored the sounds of windows breaking and loud screeches behind him and instead ran faster.
Meanwhile
The Royal Gardens
Motoko groaned, her head was pounding rhythmically. I'm still healing... I should be fine in -
She opened her eyes when the warm hand of some stranger was placed on her bare thigh. Jiro had the look of a wolf about to devour its prey. "You -!" A slap rang through her ears, a hand print reddening on her face.
"Shut up bitch..." He spat. "My friends are all dead! Killed by you lot!" He held a small knife close to her throat in his right hand. "I'm not dying just yet, I've wanted to have you since I first laid eyes on you." He pressed his hand harder into her leg. "At least I'm going out with a bang!"
Motoko tried to struggle, but he was too strong and held her down with his body weight. "Don't move or I'll make you feel what it's like to have knife slice your artery." He smirked. "It's not a pleasant way to die."
Motoko paled at the thought, and also from her medication. Please don't make me drowsy... Her eyes were lulling about as the sleep filtered into her vision, making Jiro appear blurrier as he felt up her bare leg.
NO!
She bit her lip hard, drawing the coppery taste into her mouth and using the renewed strength to try to move again.
"I warned you girl..." He raised the blade. "I'm going to savour this..."
At that moment
Keitaro felt the shocks tingle inside, and he again started to jerk and move erratically. Motoko-chan's in trouble... He ran as fast as possible, the red string leading him on into the gardens.
A little past a large series of hedges, which turned out to be a maze, he saw Jiro lick the metal. His glasses turning opaque, he ran in silently and chopped the offending hand off.
"GAAAAAH!" Jiro used the other hand to stem the flow, but still it pumped out. His dismembered hand, which was still clutching the knife, fell beside Motoko's head, not without depositing some red droplets on her face.
The blade fall from the ronin's fingers, but not without transferring some of its inherent anger that it held. Roaring with madness, he leaped at Jiro, who backed away poorly. Keitaro wrenched his left hand away and twisted quickly, snapping the joint. Another scream from his victim, and he jerked his newly reformed muscles to pummel away at Jiro. He scraped his face into the branches of the hedge, leaving harsh thorny slashes across his face.
"Please... don't - AAAGH!" He pressed down on his foot and broke the heel bone, then jammed it forwards to snap the tendon. Jiro buckled and fell on the red grass. In between his dying breaths, he managed to speak desperately, pleading for understanding. "We can't get out... Japan's an island... Why is no one coming to save us?" He looked up imploringly, quite literally a broken man. "They've quarantined us... They left us to die!"
Keitaro looked down at the miserable person below him, his lenses still not letting any light in. Having collected the Hina Blade, he plunged the it into the grass in front of him.
"AAAAAAAAH!" Jiro continued to scream as Keitaro picked him up by the head, a certain portion of his anatomy severed and lying near the blade.
Keitaro grew more violent, and started to squeeze his thumbs into Jiro's eyes.
"GAAA- GH"
Motoko shivered. Keitaro... Why... The way he moved, and his insanity could only mean one thing in her mind. He's... Infected? Turning to her side as he pushed deeper into Jiro's skull, she held the Hina Blade and stood up. Keitaro turned around, his fingers drenched in blood and aqueous fluid. The sun was behind his back, so she couldn't see his expression.
He started to step to her, and Motoko shed tears as she raised the sword. Powering it downwards, she stopped just as he reached her, staring at her tears with his chocolate brown eyes.
Brown eyes?
Putting the katana aside, she quivered as he spoke. "Are you okay Motoko-chan?" He seemed his normal cheery self.
"Urashima... You were..." She swallowed once. "You were like the Infected..."
He furrowed his brow and looked to Jiro, then turned several shades greener, more so after seeing his hands. "I... did that?"
Motoko nodded. She didn't expect that movement to make her knees weak however, and started to fall. Keitaro was there to catch her, but not wanting to spread whatever now lay on his fingers on her, he used his arms under her armpits. Naturally, this led to a very close quarters encounter, one which they both blushed at.
"Sorry Motoko-chan, I -"
"It's okay..." Motoko smiled up at him. "I know..." Leaning in a bit she felt his accelerating heartbeat and overwhelming warmth flow through her. She whispered something incoherent.
"Wh... What was that Motoko-chan?" He fought to keep his hormones to himself, and prayed that he wouldn't do anything perverted now.
She pulled back. "Thank you, Keitaro..." The truth in this statement was emphasised by the genuine gleam in her dark eyes. She leaned in and hugged him politely. "You saved me from..." Her voice caught, and she changed the subject. "Let's get out of here..." She avoided looking at Jiro again, and gave Keitaro a chance to rinse his hands in the stagnant water of the miniature fountain nearby, letting go of each other for the first time in a few minutes. She also washed the specks of blood off her face
"Ready?" Motoko asked, holding out her hand.
"Let's get out of Japan, Motoko-chan." He took her hand and smiled back. Looping her arm over his neck, he started to help walk out the weaker girl, out of the gardens to the side of the palace.
Meanwhile
"Where'd that dork go now!"
Haruka spun around after hearing some leaves rustling. "There you are!"
They both seemed shaken, yet Keitaro appeared to be more vibrant and less strained. He's healed so quick? How? She saw the way he acted as Motoko's crutch, and also how everyone else flocked around him, pleased, happy, curious, and even annoyed at being gone for a while. Nodding with finality and the truth, Haruka knew. The power of love is greater than any other force on Earth...
"Hey everyone! I'm running out of power here!" Suu cried from the Mecha Tama X, sure enough, the firing had become less intense.
Immediately, everyone went into action, Mitsune jumped on the bike, the rest in the van, Keitaro sticking close to Motoko, Shinobu next to her, and Naru and Sara rode shotgun.
Starting their engines, they were about to move before the Mecha Tama spoke.
"Warning. Unknown species detected."
Suu elaborated. "There's something weird in that window!"
Everyone craned their necks to look, and saw the dark outline of someone with the fire raging behind. The glass was pulverised and the figure walked out onto the small balcony, staring down at their surprised faces.
"But that's..." Keitaro began.
Naru was also in shock. "Isn't she your...?" She heard the story of their last meeting from Mitsune.
"Yes." Haruka stated. "That's Kanako, Keitaro's sister. I saw her kill Mito inside. She isn't human..." Revving her engine, she bade farewell to the palace. "We're going now, she's too dangerous..."
Spinning the wheels manically, the van careered off to the exit as Kanako jumped high in the air, landing behind them. Using its bulk and armour to bear the brunt of the impact, it forced the gate open. Mitsune was second to follow, and Suu brought up the rear, shooting at anyone that tried to get near, not touching Kanako as she wasn't registered by the system.
Gazing sadly at the departing vehicles, her red tears again streamed down her face. Wincing, she clutched her head as her left arm went more out of control, jerking, tensing, and contorting at random. Her visage grew darker as she stormed into the blaze.
Meanwhile
Inside
The battlefield where Nakata and Keitaro fought still bore plenty of scars. The walls were still holding themselves up despite the bombardment from the fire lasers.
Nakata stirred, his hand twitched, and eventually moved slowly to his side. Rolling onto his front, he pushed his hands down to lift himself up. It took a painful minute to do this. Leaning against the wall, he struggled to find any breath, his wounds still throbbing and bleeding with excruciating pain. He stared off determinedly into space.
"I will protect my squad..."
"You were too late. They're all dead."
Nakata widened his eyes and turned to face Kanako. "They had no chance... I enjoyed killing a few of them..." She licked her lips as he saw her red and glistening hand.
"Y... You bitch..." He picked up a piece of metal support that fell from the ceiling above, and held it as a bludgeoning tool, still using his other hand to hold onto the wall. "You'll pay for that... All we wanted was to get out of Japan..." He cried some silent tears.
Her grin only grew broader. "A shame you won't be doing that either..." She clutched her head again, the bloody hand cracking loudly, spreading some more red tint to the rest of the arm. Screeching at the top of her voice, she lurched forwards and lunged.
Nakata smiled and raised the pipe.
Five minutes later
South of Kyoto
The radio in the van buzzed into life. "The power is near zero! I need to get out now!"
Haruka picked up the receiver. "Okay Suu, we'll stop here now..."
Slowing the van down on a deserted bit of road, but with two bits of forest on opposite sides meant that they had to be careful for any Infected. Each person who could fight was ready. Suu stopped her invention and jumped out running into the van.
"Okay everyone, move!" Haruka cried.
Everybody obeyed at once and in an instant they managed to be on the road in ten seconds. Suu looked back with happy memories of her machine.
"I'll miss that Mecha Tama..."
Shinobu smiled. "It's okay Kaorra, you can always build another..."
"I know... I need to destroy this one though..." She pulled out her remote control. "I need all of you to look forwards... You don't want to go blind..."
Doing as they were told no one looked back as she pressed the button.
The Mecha Tama X closed the cockpit, and firing up its jetpack for the last time, it shot into the air. Continuing for another kilometre, the reactor cracked and ignited. The airborne mushroom cloud expanded upwards, sending shockwaves down to the ground below. While not a full nuclear or atomic blast, the air increased in temperature rapidly, vaporising the road behind them, along with a few acres of forest.
This new rising sun could be seen all around Japan and the surrounding islands, sharing its light over what would hopefully be a new dawn…
Author's notes
To clear up some things:
Soutou Ryu – Double headed dragon.
Napalm Death – Imagine Sol's Gun Flame.
Jigoku No Ho – Fire of Hell.
San Ken Jutsu – Three Sword Style
Ho No Ryu – Dragon of Fire.
Hyaku Ho No Ryu – 100 Fire of Hell
Three Laws of Robotics, read up on them if you don't know them. The structure conversion tower is something mentioned in BLAME, one of the most detailed art you'll ever find in a manga.
Finally, the Five is a group within the Shinmeiryu that I created from my other story (in case you haven't read it), and Hinoko was one of them.
I'll bet this chapter was worth the wait, please feel free to send any reviews my way, and I'll hurry up and finish the final chapter, currently longer that this one already.
- Jason