UNITY FORCE MISSIONS: GIRLS' LAST TOUR
CHAPTER 9: Discordant Reunion
DISCLAIMER: All characters in the story are not owned by me, save for my OCs.
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[Grave Markers, Earth-8751]
Within the area with the mysterious black slabs around them, as well as a lone statue like the ones they saw, we see Zoro Roronoa, Maya Tendo, Kanta Mizuno, Nagi Sanzenin, Laala Manaka, Shuka Hanazono, Ako Udagawa, Rinko Shirokane, Usopp, Brook, Ichika Takatsuki, Rinon, Aloy, Erend, Sorao Kamikoshi, Toriko Nishina, Ben Tennyson, Ash, Renge Miyauchi, and Tony Tony Chopper later encountering familiar faces that they have been looking for days and weeks to come within this mission: Chito and Yuuri.
However, most of them are far from impressed after seeing them again through a fated reunion. The particular person who is more displeased, however, is none other than Zoro. At first, he tried to put his composure in favour of reason, when his close companion Maya attempted to help him. But after experiencing Kozakura's nigh chicanery and lack of self-awareness that led them to be thrown into such uncountable troubles, he is more inclined to confront the survivors as to what they are hiding.
Snow slowly starts to fall down, and so as the tensions conversely slowly rising.
"Ah... ah... ah..." Chito stuttered. "I can explain this, Zoro-san!" She added.
"Me, as well!" Yuuri added.
"It's best if you explain it to us what really is going on." Zoro said calmly, albeit frustrated. "Chito and Yuuri." He ended straightly.
"Do you have any idea what goes on around here?" Kanta questioned. "Do you have any idea how much trouble and suffering we went through to look for both of YOU?!" He added angrily, as if his temper snaps completely. "You already put us into such a pickle for multiple times!" He ended in exclamation.
"I know what you're talking about, Mizuno-san and Zoro-san, but please hear us out first!" Chito said, unable to hold her composure.
"Then tell us what goes on, instead of putting all of us into a grave worry." Zoro said rather indecorously.
"It's just that I can't tell it to all of you... It's a personal one." Yuuri said in a rather defeating manner.
"But I can tell you the gist of it..." Chito added.
Before that, however, Aloy, Erend, and Shuka introduce themselves to Chito and Yuuri being the newest members of Unity Force, after locating them at a munitions factory a few days ago.
Later, Chito and Yuuri begin to retell the reasoning behind their sudden disappearance in Unity Force Academy, as well as their motivation behind their so-called "personal journey" into this world. As mentioned earlier, because of Yuuri revealing that their journey is completely personal, they later go straight into the heart of the matter instead of revealing the actual truth behind it. Chito then proceeds to tell the rest about the trip, as well as them encountering the minions of the Burning Legion, much like what the Unity Force have been enduring for the last few weeks to come. However, they are much more fortunate that they didn't encounter Archimonde yet, but that will change, since he is now at the doorstep of this world.
"And that's exactly why we have to leave the academy..." Chito said, as she slightly tears up. "Not only we have to finish our journey..." She trailed.
"We also have to defend this dead world from those monsters, as well!" Yuuri added. "I appreciate your efforts in looking for us within the last few days..." She continued.
"But why you people don't understand what WE ARE GOING THROUGH FOR DAYS AND YEARS TO COME?!" Chito, from out of nowhere, suddenly bellowed in front of the Unity Force group, as she loses it, but not before Maya later takes the initiative to comfort the clearly distraught girl.
"C-calm down, Chito-nee-sama!" Shuka reassured.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa..." Kanta said. "We didn't mean to act like insensitive jerks..." He added, before Maya whacks him in a rather vicious manner, causing a lump to grow from his head.
"Can you kindly word what you're saying, Kanta-san?" Maya warned.
"My bad..." Kanta said.
"But regardless..." Maya said, as she looks at Chito and Yuuri. "Why you didn't tell us about this in the first place?" She questioned.
"I don't want to worry all of you..." Chito said earnestly, as she looks at Maya with some tears coming from her eyes.
"Plus, we're sorry for not telling this to all of you in the first place." Yuuri said, before Ichika approaches the blondette.
"You don't have to, Yuuri-san." Ichika said. "Sorry if we didn't realise what you two were actually doing this for rather personal reasons... But we just got too worried for both of you." She ended, with Rinon and the rest nodding.
"I guess it deeply worried you all." Chito remarked, before wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Non~!" Renge said. "Don't worry about it, because we are here!" She added.
Chito and Yuuri later apologised to the rest of the group completely, before they all nodded in understanding. Afterwards, as tensions calmed down, the eeriness then begins to take over.
"Regardless of that..." Zoro said. "Do you know what this place is, Chito-san?" He asked Chito.
"From the looks of it..." Chito said, as she and the rest of the Unity Force group looking at the labels of the drawers within the mysterious slab. "The names within these drawers must represent the owner." She continued.
"Owners?" Maya asked.
"Everything we just saw were just items that were forgotten by the people of the past?" Yuuri asked.
"I don't think they were forgotten." Chito said. "But they were here so they won't be forgotten." She added.
"And the junk we just get from those drawers?" Kanta asked. "They're just trash, and yet they were mementos of the people of the past?" He added. "What the fuck is going on in this world?" He commented.
"But this is funny..." Chopper said. "Why would they dedicate a building to store such things like that in these drawers?" He continued.
"Beats me why would they do it." Brook added.
"I think these are all graves." Chito said tacitly.
"A what?!" Toriko exclaimed.
"You mean this place is a graveyard?" Zoro asked.
"But that's impossible!" Ako exclaimed.
[PLAY MUSIC: Girls' Last Tour OST - Shirogane]
Chito then begins to explain the existence of such place in the best of her efforts, where she tells them that the people of the past left the names within the drawers, as well as the respective items or mementos stored inside. Several of the U.F. members cannot believe what they are hearing, long before the noirnette survivor adds that whoever found these drawers would remember them. But because the people of this world have been long dead for a very long time, the rest of the Unity Force know that the names from those drawers will be mostly forgotten, when they later leave this place.
"Yet... Why built such bizarre structures that serve no purpose, yet they will mostly be forgotten after we just leave this place?" Sorao questioned.
"Not to mention, it's just too strange." Ben added.
"They don't have to be forgotten!" Yuuri exclaimed. "They have someone here!" She pointed at the statue.
"Yuu, is this what the statue is for?" Chito asked.
"Chito-san, what are these statues?" Zoro asked. "We have been seeing these things for days." She continued.
"I don't know..." Chito added.
"These statues are rather weird to begin with." Kanta said. "Not to mention, we encountered so many of these along the way and through that bizarre temple." He ended.
But before anyone can explain further, they later realise that the temperature gets colder, as well as the snow getting heavier, which later blends with the rather quiet and eerie atmosphere of the grave site.
"Speaking of cold, it's starting to snow a bit harder..." Rinko said, as they look at the snow falling much harder.
"As expected of such an empty place like this." Usopp commented.
"Also, you need to put those things you guys took." Chito said, referring to Yuuri, Kanta, and Laala.
"Put what back?" Yuuri asked.
"The items you guys took." Chito repeated.
"Because?" Kanta said. "Heck these things might cost a fortune, even if they're trash to begin, if we sell it! Especially with that century-old coin!" He added.
"They lose all their meaning if they leave this place." Chito said normally.
"Seriously?" Kanta asked. "Do you even believe in that spiritual stuff?" He asked.
"But I guess we have no choice but to follow Chito-nee-chan." Laala admitted.
"Fine..." Kanta said.
A few minutes later...
"Oi, Yuuri-san. Do you know where those items you took go in these drawers?" Kanta called out, as he is seen holding the book and the century-old coin, where he places it in the respective drawers.
"Why are you asking me?" Yuuri inquired. "Well, they are within the same spot, in the end." She added.
"No, they're not!" Chito exclaimed.
Yuuri, meanwhile, places all the items from the drawers she took, albeit in a rather random manner, while Kanta places the two items at the exact same drawers from where they took it earlier. The only item that remained, however, is a rather odd radio that Yuuri currently holds.
"But this thing will be mine, however!" Yuuri exclaimed.
Afterwards, the Unity Force group leave the grave site, as they proceed to head next into another destination in mind, and that is to take a stop within some building in the megacity, as it is slowly bordering to night time. During that trip, with the usual vigilant measures they put in place, they are starting to think that Archimonde and Kil'jaeden's sights are everywhere else, especially that Shuka is involved in this mess.
Maya is far more suspicious of what Shuka is hiding. She begins pondering to herself how she is a suspected priority target for the Eredars, and why Falala・A・Larm and Garara・S・Leep were all a part of this. But she later plans to ascertain what goes on behind the scenes and tries to question the PriPara idol more.
But for now, thanks to the rather meagre Burning Legion encounters along the way, they have later arrived at a giant pillar, before they head into what seems to be a group of buildings embedded beside it. Arriving above the pillar, the Unity Force group later tread carefully into a rather narrow walkway, as well as a snowy floor below them.
"Oi, try not to be reckless!" Zoro called out.
"I know what I'm doing~ YIKES!" Usopp yelled, as he nearly slipped, but was grabbed by Ako and Rinko altogether.
"Are you okay, Usopp-san?" Rinko asked.
"Fine, I guess." Usopp added. "But I'm alright!" He proclaimed.
"Seriously, which place Chito-san and Yuuri-san bring us here?" Ako said.
"Dunno." Kanta said. "It's yet another long list of the most bizarre places that those two will send us here." He ended.
"Hey, Chii-chan." Yuuri called in to her friend. "Are you listening?" She asked.
"No, I'm not..." Chito said, while looking at the wall, who is obviously scared looking at the front.
"Come one, Chii-chan!" Yuuri said. "I thought you're no longer scared of heights!" She added.
"Shut it, Yuu." Chito said nervously.
"I guess old habits die hard." Nagi commented.
Later on, we see some of the Unity Force group heading into another medium-sized room that connects to another pathway on the other side. Chito, Yuuri, and Nagi search for something else that might be considered an item of importance. But to their surprise, there isn't any, aside from Yuuri who has found something "important", which is in the form of a metallic rod.
"Boring." Chito said, as she grabs a box, before pouring all the contents out, which turned out to be nothing. "Take this seriously, Yuu, and search for something important." She added, as she looks at Yuuri.
"This place is rather empty." Nagi said. "Why are we even searching here, anyway?" She inquired.
"Beats me why Chii-chan wants us to do it." Yuuri said with a shrug. "Speaking of which..." She said, as they later leave the room, before Yuuri uses the stick by pointing it into the Moon. "For some reason, I feel a strange power within me." She added.
"What is she talking about?" Nagi asked.
"It's another one of Yuu's rather bizarre mindsets." Chito remarked.
"But fear not!" Yuuri suddenly declared, as she smiled. "This must be the Moon's magic power running through my flowing veins!" She exclaimed.
"Like what?" Ash asked.
Suddenly, in a matter of seconds, some of the Unity Force group including Ash, Usopp, Brook, Ben, and Kanta all burst out in laughter as they heard what Yuuri has just said.
"'Moon's magic power'?" Kanta questioningly mocked.
"What kind of world you're living to behave like that?" Usopp said. "You must be like that chunnibyou-stricken Ako right there." He pointed out.
"Hey!" Ako pouted. "But at least it all becomes a reality, Usopp-san!" She continued.
"Would all of you be quiet for just one second?" Zoro questioned. "Oi, Chito-san." He said to Chito. "Are we getting close to whatever destination you're sending us here?" He asked.
"I guess we are in at this building." Chito ended, as they later arrived into yet another path.
"Man, this place is bonkers." Ben said. "If that grave site we just visited wasn't bad enough, this entire place is slowly making anyone sick, myself included." He added, before vomiting at an open area.
"Ben-san!" Ichika said. "Are you okay?" She added.
"I guess..." Ben replied, as he spits into the ground. "I've seen rather alien worlds in the past, but this is not the one I have known in mind." He continued.
"But we're getting close to the highest point of this pillar." Chito said. "Which happens to be right there, if I can tell." She added, as she points at the terminal building.
Travelling through the last part of the pillar that they are in, they stumbled across a few more empty and abandoned buildings, as well as another narrow path, before they reach the final building.
There, we see the rest of Unity Force heading inside the building, and later upstairs, as Chito comments at the near-rotting state of the entire building, but it is contrasted by the moonlight that shines from the openings of the building's rooftop. We see the rest of the Unity Force checking furthermore about the state of the building, as they find nothing. The strangest thing they have found, however, is one of the devices on the table that bears resemblance to a power bank.
"What is this thing?" Aloy asked, as she holds the said device.
"It looks like some kind of a power bank, judging by the USB cord." Maya said.
"A power bank?" Erend said. "What is that?" He added.
"Some kind of a portable charging device." Maya responded.
"This world has some one-hit wonders, when it comes to the strangest things and discoveries." Kanta said. "And this thing is no exception to the list." He added, as he later finds a broken electronic device: a hard drive.
"What is that?" Nagi asked.
"Some sort of a hard drive, but it looks beaten up and burnt out." Kanta added.
"Business cards, junk, bottles... Boring." Usopp added. "Hey Brook, did you find something there?" He added.
"No, but I found a guitar here!" Brook said as he holds an acoustic guitar, but the guitar's strings are rusted and its neck is so broken to the point it is beyond unusable, before the rest of it completely breaks apart as it falls to the ground. "I think..." He trailed.
"Not..." Usopp ended.
All of a sudden, much to the annoyance of Chito, especially, we see Yuuri running with the metallic rod in her hand, as she puts it onto the table.
"Moonlight powering up... 100 percent!" Yuuri said, as she knocks out some junk from the table, before it hits Brook in the back.
"Are you fucking crazy?!" Brook said, but he is ignored.
"Whoa, calm down!" Chopper said, before he is unfortunately hit by the rod, causing him to be thrown into the wall.
"Non~ Non~ The power of the moonlight~ Is shimmering!" Renge joins in with Yuuri, making things infinitely worse for the rest.
"Have you two lost it?" Zoro questioned.
"Moonlight! Moonlight! Moonlight!" Yuuri exclaimed thrice, as she is seen bashing through objects at some of the tables, while Renge joins in, as well.
"Would you two calm it down?" Chito said.
"KNOCK. IT. OFF. YOU. TWO!" Nagi punctuated in an enraged manner, as she unleashes a powerful straight kick towards Yuuri and Renge, causing them to be slammed towards the wall.
"Jesus!" Kanta said.
"I've never seen Nagi-san having that temper before." Rinon said.
"Kanta-san influenced her, that's why." Zoro said.
"Oi, I have nothing to do with this." Kanta replied.
"But maybe you did." Nagi said.
"Seriously!" Kanta shot back.
Afterwards, Chito then takes the metallic rod away from Yuuri.
"Will you stop picking up these sticks, Yuu?" Chito said, while Yuuri later gains her inner bearings, as she sees a group of opened bottles, as well as unopened ones.
"Look over there." Yuuri ordered.
"Some kind of glass containers." Chito said, before the rest of the Unity Force approach it.
"Most of them are empty, but five of them have liquid on it." Yuuri said, as she checks with the rest of the bottles, before she sees a word. "What does this word mean?" She asked Chito.
Chito and the rest inspect the bottle. "It says 'be-er'." She ended.
"Beer?" Zoro said. "At a place like this?" He questioned.
"Are you kidding me?" Kanta said.
"That sounds interesting!" Usopp said. "Let's have some drink!" He exclaimed.
"I'm joining in with Sorao!" Toriko exclaimed.
"Eh?!" Sorao remarked. "I'm not going to!" She added, but Toriko ignores her.
"Is this like Scrappersap?" Erend asked.
"C-calm down!" Chito exclaimed. "Stop it!" She added futilely.
But in the end, everything became a dishevelled mess for Chito, as they later gather at the rooftop of the building, with the rest of the adult U.F. members sans Aloy including Usopp, Zoro, Brook, Sorao, Toriko, and Erend joining in with Chito and Yuuri. We see Yuuri opening bottles of beer, as well as the rest, as they poured it in.
The rest, on the other hand, are seen watching the moonlight, while Aloy, Ichika, and Rinon are watching at the megacity ruins and its adjacent layers from below. But we also see Maya talking to Shuka about something completely serious inside the building, not far from where the rest of the group is. There, we see the two sitting down alongside each other.
"Shuka-san." Maya said. "I need to talk to you." She added.
"What is it, Maya-nee-sama?" Shuka questioned.
[PLAY MUSIC: Girls' Last Tour OST - Shirogane]
"About Falala-san, Garara-san, and you." Maya added.
"What do you want with them and me?" Shuka asked, sounding rather nervous.
"Answer me this, honestly." Maya said with a serious tone. "What is your relationship with F alala-san and Garara-san?" She added. "Come on, I'm not going to be mad." She added.
"They're Vocal Dolls who work as Spirits of Time, and are in-charge of the Ancient PriPara system. They also happen to be twin sisters." Shuka revealed. "Garara-chan is a mascot who works for me." She ended.
"Is that so?" Maya asked.
"Before I knew about Garara-chan completely, she gave me a special card known as a Coord during my debut performance." Shuka added. "It was after I found out that she was stealing dreams through her Dark Mic, as the only way to make her awake, I felt betrayed, but we finally made up and I managed to convince her to stop stealing people's dreams." She confessed.
"But how do these two get involved in the Burning Legion's affairs, now that Kil'jaeden and Archimonde have both of them?" Maya questioned.
"Because of someone..." Shuka said.
"Who?" Maya questioned.
"Me." Shuka answered straightly, as shock slowly streams through Maya.
"What?" Maya asked. "So you're saying that the Burning Legion knew you for a long time?" She ended.
"I don't want to tell you all of this, and I don't want to worry you all..." Shuka said. "But the truth is... They are after Falala-chan and Garara-chan, because of a rather mysterious power beyond their own." She added. "And I happen to possess it." She ended.
"And what power is that?" Maya asked, now sounding more and more worried.
"This." Shuka said, as her hands suddenly glows brighter, in the form of both light and dark magic in her left and right palm, respectively. "It's light and dark magic, in the form of duality." She ended ruefully. "By all accounts, they are after me, because of my powers that I just suddenly obtained." She ended.
"Why you just hide it in front of us?" Maya said.
"Because... Because I don't want to make things worse for all of you!" Shuka confessed furthermore, as tears stream down from her eyes. "After finding out I have these powers and accidentally hit Onee-sama and several people, right after the event with 'WITH' and 'My Dream' in Pri Fes, I distanced away from everyone else, when they began calling me a monster!" She exclaimed.
Shuka then retells all of it, ranging from accidentally hitting her older sister Mia Hanazono with a powerful beam of holy light from her right palm to suddenly attacking the rest with the dark flames in her left palm within the conclusion of the Pri Fes event.
"Am I a monster, Laala-chan? What is going on with me?"
"What is happening to me...?! I can't control it!"
"Onee-sama! Everyone! I didn't mean to do it!"
"You're a monster, Shuka Hanazono!"
"Look at what you have done!"
"I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to do it! I DIDN'T MEAN TO!"
Suddenly, Shuka loses it completely, before she is slapped by Maya so hard that it can be heard from the outside. But on cue with that, a beer bottle falls down into the ground, with Usopp clumsily dropping it, as he becomes so drunk to the point he no longer acts sensibly.
"Calm down..." Zoro said in an inebriating manner.
"Oh, Zororororororo..." Usopp added, as he dances clumsily. "Are we going nowhere?" He asked.
"What the fuck are you rambling about?" Zoro said.
"Eh?!" Ako and Rinko exclaimed. "They're drunk already?!" The former questioned.
"Why not join with me...?" Erend said. "It's the Oseram way to get heavily drunk!" He added.
"'Oseram way'?" Sorao asked, before everything gets rambunctious, as she suddenly cuddles towards Toriko in a drunk manner. "Toriko-chan!" She exclaimed.
"I don't think I'm going to have a normal life in Hanasakigawa after seeing these friends of ours..." Rinko said with a confused look in her face.
"Too bad that Sayo-san, Yukina-senpai, Lisa-nee, and Hina-chin missed all the fun here, Rin-rin!" Ako exclaimed.
"It's best not to involve them..." Rinko chuckled in front of her best friend.
"Sorao?!" Toriko exclaimed. "You're not like this, when you're drunk!" She attempted to swat her away, but to no avail. "Eeeee! Get away from me!" She added.
"But I am, now!" Sorao smiled.
"Chii-chan..." Yuuri said, as she sees Chito on top of her. "You've gone crazy." She ended.
"That escalated rather quickly." Kanta said, as he is seen playing a game of tag with Nagi, Ash, Ben, and Chopper.
Renge, meanwhile, is dancing in front of the moonlight, before she uses her recorder to create her own song about it.
Back in the building, however, we see Maya and Shuka, with the latter getting comforted by the former after a private, heartfelt conversation.
"I'm not ready to confess as to what I have done." Shuka said.
"But maybe a public apology would suffice." Maya added. "I don't know the true extent of your powers yet, but Chito-san went through the same boat as you." She added.
"What do you mean by that?" Shuka asked.
Maya then proceeded to retell the events surrounding Chito's ban from the Unity Force after her newfound powers went completely haywire during the training with Taskmaster in the Thunder Dome, but thanks to the help of some of the Unity Force students, her ban was rescinded.
"No way..." Shuka said. "So she went through the same thing, as me." She added.
"Exactly." Maya added. "Now, shall we go outside?" She asked with a smile.
"Sure, Maya-nee-sama." Shuka said. "I'll tell them for who I truly am, once I'm willing to." She added. "I don't want to cause such an uproar prematurely." She ended, with Maya nodding.
"You know what, you're rather mature for your age." Maya said.
"Onee-sama is rather childish for her age, who is sometimes intolerable, when it comes to money." Shuka said.
Maya and Shuka later leave the building, before they head above the rooftop.
"Oh, Maya-san!" Kanta said.
"Shuka-chan!" Laala exclaimed, as she later goes with Shuka.
"Where were both of you?" Kanta said. "These guys are already drunk to the core!" He added.
"Huh?" Maya said, before she and Shuka looked at the rest of the Unity Force adults who were drunk.
"What the?!" Maya said. "You mean the bottles that they found was actually a beer?" She asked Kanta.
"Isn't that obvious?" Kanta said. "They're already drunk to think straight." He responded, as they later stand away from the rest of the group. "About that, what were you and Hanazono-san doing down below?" He asked.
"We were talking something else." Maya said.
"Like what?" Kanta asked.
"The Burning Legion." Maya added. "Shuka-san told me that Archimonde and Kil'jaeden are after her, is because of her power." She added.
"Eh?! What are you talking about?" Kanta asked.
"It's best if we wait until everyone is ready." Maya said.
~~~0-0-0~~~
From afar, Archimonde and Kil'jaeden are utterly displeased, when they see the two Fel reavers who failed their task of capturing Shuka Hanazono. To add insult to injury, both of the constructs are badly deformed after getting burnt by the incinerator at the food production facility.
"You fools!" Archimonde angrily rebuked. "You have FAILED to capture that girl." He added.
"And you were outsmarted by an incinerator." Kil'jaeden said disappointingly in front of the constructs. "This kind of unbelievable failure is rather insulting to the legacy of the Burning Legion." He added.
"ENOUGH!" Archimonde yelled. "These two are just failures who only stained the name of the Legion!" He later uses his ability known as Finger of Death, as he kills off the Fel reavers.
"Anything else of the matter, Archimonde?" Kil'jaeden asked.
"We only have a trump card left in our sleeve." Archimonde added.
"What is it?" Kil'jaeden questioned.
"Gror'thas." Archimonde later shows an astral projection of a giant Infernal, which is imbued in dark-bluish flames. "While those tiresome gnats have outsmarted every minion we throw at them, they will never expect a surprise attack from it." He continued. "As a way to distract them, you will later steal the girl." He added. "Do not fail me, Kil'jaeden." He ended.
"Understood, Archimonde." Kil'jaeden answered.
"Very well, then." Archimonde ended, before disappearing from the portal.
"One failure too many..." Kil'jaeden said. "You humans will be done for, once I have that girl!" He ended in laughter.
~~~0-0-0~~~
A/N: This story is inspired by the ideas of someoneStupED, XP4Universe, and Tamama900.
On the next chapter of UF Missions: Girls' Last Tour: As they head into the next city layer, the Unity Force later head into another abandoned facility in the megacity, the likes of which they have never seen before. But things later completely turn sour, when Shuka later comes clean.