Chapter 147 - Taking off the Mask...

This…

This had got to be…

The most disgusting, wretched, LOATHSOME feeling he had ever, EVER experienced.

Lying there on the cold, hard and absolutely merciless ground, helpless and restrained felt like ingesting large heavy doses of sand and being forced to swallow it without complaint. Being restrained by those Arms from the ground felt so similar to being confined by the possibility of dying, something which filled him with utter revulsion to the point where he wanted to throw up. If his body wasn't so numb, then he likely would have felt the slimy, sickening sensation that bile left behind as it filled his throat, yet even as he never let it, he knew it was there. Only one second away from escaping him and out onto the ground in front of him.

It was only through sheer willpower that he had forced some sense of feeling into his mouth (causing him to become all too aware of that sensation) and restrained it. Even so, the absolutely revolting things that he heard this man say to the ones that he called comrades made him SO want to spit this bile right into that smug looking mug of his.

Those Bone Arms, in addition to restraining him, must have one something else to him as well, for not only did he feel numb all over his body, but he also felt like he was a simple human again, not a trace of his Demonic Power could be let by his senses anymore. It was like the power had just up and left him for dead, seeing that its owner would be unable to withstand it anymore or one of those people who hop from one lover to the next.

In addition, the sounds of all the girls fighting and getting beaten down by this one man, this one man whom his senses could tell possessed Demonic Power just like him, felt more like torture methods and very successful ones too. More often than not he had wanted to scream, to scream, shout and shriek like a Banshee at the man, to break free of these restraints that felt so much like his CHAINS OF HEPHAESTUS and utterly rip his hands into that man's chest and TEAR out his freaking heart. To eat it right before this guy' eyes and watch the life fade from those orbs filled with sinister intent towards his comrades.

Every time he wounded them, gave those girls so much as a scratch made him want to tear that bastard apart more and more. It was like even a mere scratch invoked a nuclear explosion of hatred inside of him towards this man, fueling his murderous desire as the corners of his vision would slowly turn a fierce, bright crimson red. Almost like the life blood of the human race, the smell of heavy iron filling his nostrils. Seeing the way Compa got handled the way she did sparked those emotions, and with every wound on the rest of the girls that followed, well, one could imagine just how utterly PISSED he became.

Yeah… this summed up one Nico's thought and feelings whilst he lay there, restrained by Bone Arms, pretty well.

Though, Nico didn't wallow on those feelings, not the emptiness, nor the confusion and fear for himself. No, instead, Nico could only worry about what would happen to the girls once they inevitably lose. They may not know it, but Nico could tell that this guy was holding back a LOT of his power during this entire scuffle. The way that his power output fluctuated, that was enough of an indication but there were other signs too. For example, since Nico had better control over sensing negative emotions, when looking at this guy with his senses, he could almost throw up at the sheer malice and dark lust that he felt rolling off this man in waves.

More than any other emotion though, Nico could sense immense pride, pride that border lined arrogance within him. An arrogance which could only have come from reaching such a high peak of power that he now constantly looked down on everything. It must have been for a while too, if he was reading the intensity of this pride correctly, which Nico felt was right considering his experience in reading negative emotions.

He hesitated to even call what was happening in front of him a fight at this point, seeing as how he moved with such experience that it gave Nico the impression that he could have easily just ended the fight with the first few moves. Right now, he seemed more like he was just playing with them, and that was something Nico just REFUSED to forgive no matter what.

None of this helped in his current predicament though, and it showed by the look on his face. Just being sprawled out like this, unable to help his comrades and only being able to watch as this unknown adversary beat the stuffing out of them, it well and truly cemented itself in his mind as one of the worst things that Nico had ever experienced. Worse than any of the horrors he'd seen before, worse than any of the psychopaths he had to put away, worse tan any of the treatment he had received from the higher ups in the Guild and the Basilicom.

Perhaps that was due to how personal all this felt to him, but even so it didn't change his stance on the subject, and no matter how hard he tried, no matter how much he struggled the redhead male couldn't do a damn thing to step in to help. These bone arms were doing something to him in addition to keeping him numb, something to do with his Demonic Powers no doubt. That was something he ABSOLUTELY believed without a shadow of a doubt.

I have to help them…

Must help them…

I… I NEED to help them!

Thoughts like those circulated through his mind as he glared hatefully at the battle taking place in front of him. A one-sided battle to be sure, but a battle nonetheless. A battle for survival on the girl's side, whilst to this man Nico could only believe that he saw this as merely a moment to 'stretch his legs' as people say, since he just seemed to be toying with Neptune and the others. Something which he became certain of more and more as the battle played out.

Everything became certain when he saw what the man did to the battleground during the onslaught that knocked out all but IF from the battle. Just before he did so, Nico had seen it in both his eyes and deep within his negative emotions: a simple sense of superiority mixed with dark and sadistic pleasure which could only come from bloodthirsty predators that toyed with their prey. If everything before angered him to the point of nuclear explosions going off, then this rage felt more like the heat burning from a star or two (to the point where Nico swore that he felt some form of heat around him like his Hellfire was subconsciously heating the space around him to a higher degree).

But… without his Demonic Powers, then what could he do? There was literally next to NOTHING that he could do in this situation, a fact that he had become painfully aware of. For one Nico couldn't summon his energy from within to augment his physical attacks enough to break free of these bonds. He couldn't engage DDD and transform into Crimson Soul s that option was out as well, hell he couldn't even use his Devil Arms or Ouranos due to not being able to feel their presence. This situation felt eerily similar to a few times in the past when he had few options, times he'd rather not remember.

Though, that caused him to frown, despair crawling into his psyche. Was… was there really nothing he could do? Was this really the extent of his prowess? At this point, Nico couldn't see anything that could get him out of this. None of his Demonic abilities would work, nor would he be able to feel his body enough to throw away the Bone Arms. Even if he could do that, his movement was impaired by them thanks to them pinning him at key areas for mobility. If he managed to dislocate any of his bones manually, not a single limb would have been useful in escaping.

… Yeah, he could see that he wouldn't be getting out that way.

So, what else was there, Nico absolutely REFUSED to give in to the despair gnawing at his will right now. He refused to, as he kept remembering what happened at the Hellverse, what had nearly happened to his comrades had he let those two Ghouls get their way. The stakes back then… they may not be the same in scale compared to right now, but more or less he couldn't help but see correlations with them. The only difference between them was that the 'enemy' had already set their sights on them whilst the two Ghouls had kept themselves entertained with him.

He… he was unable to keep them out of harms way…

Was… was he going to lose them?

Was he going to lose the rest of the people he gave a damn about as a result of him not being able to help them?

Was that his consequence for his prior actions?

… No.

No, that will NOT be happening!

Nico refused to let that happen. How many times had he managed to pull something out the skin of his teeth to keep his comrades out of harms way? How many times did he pull through? No matter the exact amount, the fact of the matter was that he had already faced situations like this many times before, and a lot of those times he'd broken through with either a pre=planned/ on the fly battle plan or sheer will power. This was no different, he realized. Honestly, Nico felt so disgusted with himself, how could he have even THOUGHT that there was nothing he could do?

He felt so disgusted with himself just now.

It was pathetic,

Pathetic,

PATHETIC!

'HAH, THERE YA GO, KING!'


"!?"

Nico felt a gasp escape his lips when he heard it. He heard the voice of IT resonate through his mind as his surroundings began to distort themselves, becoming the ever so familiar black void that constantly plagued his nightmares. The teen shuddered when he felt the darkness coldness replace the coldness of those Bone Arms, and Nico quickly realized what this was. It was a hallucination, one of Nico's many, but at least it happened inside his mind. He experimentally tried to move his arms but found that he couldn't. Confusion filling his being, Nico looked down to see why that was, and found that his body was bound by these thick, iron-spiky chains. Each of them wrapped around his body: arms, legs, knees, elbows, biceps, hips, abdomen and torso. Only his head wasn't chained down, something which he internally growled at.

If he was here, then by the logic of the Hellverse incident…

Oh no, IT was going to be coming, wasn't it?

"HEHEHEHEHEHEHE…"

Soon enough, his fears got confirmed when Nico heard the distorted, hollow cackling that he had come to associate with IT. A pit of dread formed in his stomach when he saw the white form of IT soon manifest in front of him as if it were a mirage, shimmering into existence with that wild, practically psychotic smile splitting IT's face in two. His eyes, black and red with those damned veins, bore into his own with barely repressed insanity and madness. "You…!" Nico snarled, his eyes flashing although it was brief.

However, the white copy of him didn't care as he looked down on him. He stood tall whilst Nico kneeled in chains after all.

"HOW LONG ARE YA GONNA HOLD BACK, KING?"

"Huh?" Nico blinked when he heard his white copy say that, temporarily doing a spit take on what he just said. Hold back? What the hell was he talking about? What did he mean by stop holding back?

Seeing the confusion in his eyes, the white copy gave a loud howl of frustration, using both hands to scratch his scalp so much that if he were in a human body he would have bled.

"GOD, WHAT THE HELL? WHY THE FUCKING HELL ARE YOU SO FREAKING DIP-SHIT ABOUT EVERYTHING? I MEAN STOP HOLDING YOURSELF AND ALL THAT SHIT! WHAT DO YOU THINK I WAS TALKING ABOUT?! DOES THAT SHIT IN THE HELLVERSE PLACE OR WHATEVER NOT RING A BELL TO YOU?!"

The white copy of him yelled, before pointing a finger at him and not letting Nico respond to him.

"THESE GIRLS, NO ITS NOT JUST THEM ANYMORE. THESE GIRLS, THESE DOUBTS, ANXIETIES AND ALL THIS WEAKNESS! IT HAS TO GO, OR WE'LL ALL DIE! YOU LOSE THIS SHIT, AND YOU'LL GO INSANE AND I'LL DIE WHEN EVENTUALLY BIGGER PREDATORS COME TO EAT US! HELL, THE ONLY REASON WHY YO''RE SO CHAINED IS CAUSE OF YOUR OWN MENTAL PROBLEMS! STOP THINKING ABOUT THAT SHIT AND JUST LET THE BEAST OUT, YA IDIOT KING! WHAT WAS ALL THAT STUFF YA THOUGHT ABOUT IN THE LAST FEW MONTHS ALL FOR? WHO CARES ABOUT THAT OLD GEEZER?! WHO CARES ABOUT WHAT GIRLS'L THINK OF YA?! WHO CARES IF THOSE PEOPLE'LL TRY TO CONTROL YA! DON'T LET EM! TEAR APART THE ENEMY JUST LIKE YOU'RE MEANT TO!"

Nico blinked owlishly at his words as his white self (was it just him, or did that sound oddly racist? Why did he only notice it now?) before he shook his head. Soon enough he began to realize what IT wanted from him, what IT needed him to do. In that moment, Nico expected himself to vehemently deny it like he always did, trying to keep the inner beast caged and in check like he always had to. If he didn't, then so many people would die, not to mention his comrades would find out his secret, plus everything else that came with it. But… strange… why did he feel so much less reluctance to actually do it? Why was he feeling so little conflict within himself that it was barely noticeable?

"Looks like you've finally noticed it…"

"?!"

Again, Nico widened his eyes when he heard another voice, one that he hadn't heard in a long while but could ever forget for the life of him. How could he not, when it came to something as complex as how fucked up he truly was? Nico took a large, audible gulp, before he looked to the side, since IT was directly in front of him, and when he did the redhead teen noticed the childish version of himself standing there. His arms were crossed, and he had a small smile on his usually blank, emotionless face.

"You have not got as much hesitation in you, and that is for a number of reasons. You already decided on using your true self back at the Hellverse incident, the power of resolve is already deeply embedded within you. You have been training in your other side, so you can control it enough for when the moment to reveal it finally arrived. Now that this moment has arrived however, you are hesitating due to recent circumstances, which is why you are covered in chains. You feel chained by these recent happenings, tied down by conflict and ideals. Yet even so, you must break these pesky chains if you wish to prevail. You are close, so close to clearing the second of the hurdles: Resolution. You have almost completed this, most of the ground work was accomplished back at the Hellverse dungeon. This will be the final step before the second hurdle is complete. Our Recovery is going very well, oh it is going so well. We cannot wait for everything to return."

"DO YOU RECALL WHAT THAT TOME SAID, STUPID KING?"

When he heard IT speak to him, Nico almost balked as he had almost forgotten that the guy was even there. He had been silent for the duration of the talk, though if he were honest with himself Nico probably forgot he was there due to his remnants of hesitation in throwing his secret out of the open. But when his mind processed those words, Nico recalled what Histoire, the only person that could be described as a 'tome' who could speak, had spoken to him about. At first, it was rather difficult since they had a few conversations over the course of their journey, but then his eyes widened when he had a flashback to a certain moment between the two:

(Flashback)

'You think you are a monster yes? What's wrong with that? If anything, why should you be sorry for being what you are, when nobody apologizes for making you into what you are?'

(Flashback END)

"JUDGING BY YOUR EYES, I'D SAY YOU DO. REMEMBER? WHAT'S SO BAD WITH BEING A MONSTER, SHE ASKED, WHEN IT WAS OTHER FUCKS WHO MADE YOU THAT WAY. DAMN, GOTTA ADMIT, I DID NOT EXPECT HER TO ASK THAT. I WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT SHE WOULD TRY TO SAY YOU'RE NOT A MONSTER AT ALL, WHICH IS SO NOT THE CASE. STOP LETTING THOSE STUPID GIRLS HOLD YA BACK FROM BEING WHAT YA REALLY ARE! IF THEY TRY TO DO ANYTHING JUST RIP OUT THEIR INNARDS AND GORGE ON THEIR DRIPPING FLESH!"

The childish Nico chuckled at the white, taller copy of him's words, amusement dancing in his eyes before he settled back into his previous demeanor when he looked back to the main Nico.

"What your inner beast is trying to say, is that you don't have to be so ashamed of being this way. If anything, the ones who should be ashamed are the ones who made you the way you are. Its their fault that you're like this, not yourself so what is there to be so sad about? Not to mention that with how many powerful monsters there are in this world, you being the way you are is actually a blessing. To fight a monster, you need to be a monster yourself, I think this would be an appropriate saying for this situation. This 'monster' before us is the worst of the worst, daring to have his way with what we consider ours. Can you really allow that to happen? Will you allow that monster to walk all over you?"

Nico's gaze faltered at this, his eyes falling towards where the ground would have been. "I…"

"Looks like you need more convincing. Very well, I will show you a few things…"

Blinking, Nico found himself looking at how the scenery began to bleed into the void, shapes and colours soon taking its place. It felt like he were an artist, watching a computer beginning to automatically make a copy of an elaborate, detailed painting with the quality perfectly matching the original.

When he finally saw how the scene was completed, Nico looked… and he almost flipped his lid when he saw what he did.

All around him were the unconscious bodies of the girls… Neptune, Noire, IF, and Vert. All of them lay their… their clothes stripped and stained with a certain liquid which only came from the neither regions, mixed with the liquid commonly abbreviated as blood. So many injuries, either minor or major from simple scratches to deep lacerations, donned their bodies. Some even had limbs missing.

Neptune had lost her arms, her D clip pads were removed, and her hair looked like it had been gripped harshly. Her scalp bled heavily around the space her head, almost showing her brain matter.

Noire had a similar appearance, but her hair sprawled out wildly around her and her position implied she had been on all fours. She hadn't lost her arms though, but they looked to have been horribly mutilated to prevent her from using them.

IF lay on the ground in the missionary position, but her body looked to have several wounds that imply one's hands had been plunging into her and ripping out pieces of her innards too fast for her to regenerate from, not to mention there were whip like marks adorning her body.

Vert had a similar state to Noire, only her hair looked to be coated in blood and brain matter in a manner similar, if not way worse than Neptune's. Not to mention her torso area looked to have been heavily brutalized… something that would fit.

As for Compa…

The moment he saw her, his blood ignited into a fierce, fiery inferno of hatred. If compared to before, it would be like a star to the sun in both size and intensity. It shone right through his eyes, all the while he didn't even try to stop the furious growl that escaped his lips. There she was… being manhandled in the roughest treatment he had ever seen. Her body covered in brutal looking burn marks and lashes of the horrendous sort. That alone looked sick enough, but she also had a combination of the other girls injuries as well… not to mention…

She currently lay on the ground on her upper back, her eyes dead to the world in terns of size and responsiveness, all the while her lower being hoisted up by two masculine hands whilst their owner pounded relentlessly into her. White and red liquids dripping from their groins whilst massive grunts escaped the lips of the owner. That owner being a certain purple haired fucktard that he would have NO trouble shredding to pieces.

Just that sight alone lasted merely seconds…


(Play Tokyo Ghoul OST - Licht und Schatten)

"…ALRIGHT, FUCK IT!"

… Before Nico's mind snapped.

"Nuh huh! Nope, hell to the fucking no way that's fucking happening! Over my dead body!" he roared as the scene reverted to the void he had been in before, all the while the childish version of himself and IT manifested before him. "If this guy tries to lay one FUCKING FINGER on their heads then I'll FUCKING TEAR OFF HIS BALLS AND SHOVE THEM DOWN HIS SHITTY THROAT WHILST STABBING A CHAINSAW THROUGH HIS DAMNED ABDOMEN! I'LL CARVE OUT HIS FUCKING INNARDS WITH IT AND MY BARE HANDS!" Nico screamed into the void, his eyes ablaze as he saw nothing but read. He didn't even acknowledge the figures beside him, each of them looking mighty pleased with what was happening.

No, no more.

None of that would be happening, not on his watch!

Not ONE of those gorgeous girls will EVER have to experience that if he had any say about it! Fuck that, if his secret being exposed was the price to help them escape that nightmare, then so be it! They're worth it, they're worth more than anything else! He didn't even NEED to see any more of that shit to finally make a decision, screw secrecy if that man even DARED to do that shit, then Nico would show him why the fuck he is known as the Black Reaper!

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! YES, YES-YES-YES! THAT'S THE WAY, KING! I STILL WANNA TEAR THOSE GIRLS TO PIECES, BUT IF YOU USE YOUR TRUE SELF, I'LL NOT BE PICKY! KILL, DESTROY, SLAUGHTER, MAKE SURE THAT NOBODY WOULD DARE TO MESS WITH YA! SHOW THEM WHY YOU'RE THE ALPHA PREDATOR AND THEY AIN'T NOTHING! I WON'T BE ALL COMPLEX AND SHIT, JUST DO ONE THING AGAINST THAT FUCK! KILL HIM HOWEVER YOU WISH, RUN FREAKING WILD TO YOUR HEART'S CONTENT!"

The words of IT reverberated within his mind, but Nico didn't care, nor did he feel inclined to disagree. He could sense it deep within him now, the beast that he kept in shackles… the beast growled and groaned, hunger seeping from its being and filling his gut inside. Nico felt it rise up from its slumber as the chains he restricted it with., chains from his mind, broke… just like the ones that broke one by one from his form. Deep grumbling of satisfaction, eagerness and anticipation filled his being, the promise of being able to sink its fangs into the thick, juicy warmth of flesh and bone almost making it… and by extension himself, drool at the prospect.

But to Nico, none of that was irrelevant, all Nico cared about was simply to get out of this mess and rip apart the man who DARED to touch his comrades.

All doubts, anxieties and problems he faced? Nico no longer cared. The faces of Yvoire, the various higher ups in the Guild and Basilicom, all of them blurred together into an unidentifiable mess within his thought process, becoming completely irrelevant to the task at hand. None of them remained important or even recognizable to him anymore, not one of them. No, there would only be one thing on his mind right now… and that would be to FUCKING MURDER THE SCUMBAG WHO DARED TRY TO DEFILE THOSE ANGELS!

"… Yes… this is it. The second hurdle has been cleared. We are one step closer to recovery. We will soon be whole once more… and when we are, our true self will be reborn into this world, ready to show it why one should ALWAYS watch their backs if they are on our 'to kill' list. Do not forget these lessons again, our main self, as they will always be crucial to who you really are. Now… raise your voice, and HOWL into the night!"

Oh, he didn't need to be told twice…

Soon enough, Nico found himself back in the physical world, and when he looked to the arms restraining him, he found that they were no longer there. Not really thinking about it, not even caring about how he felt something recede into him, Nico looked towards where the man was and saw him approaching a restrained Neptune. Just from looking into his eyes, Nico remembered what he hallucinated, only this time he imagined Neptune being there instead of Compa. No matter though, the effects remained the same for him, if this explosion of hatred was to be believed.

Now…

The time had FINALLY come, just as he had always knew it would…

But it was of no regard in his mind, not when his comrades took priority for him right now.

WHOOSH!

It happened so fast that by the end of it, Nico would struggle to process it all later.

He didn't even notice that his feet had moved without his brain telling him to, all he focused on was how his opponent was nearing somehow, so he quickly raised his right hand… and took something from his left eye. The feeling of something being lifted from him, something that he had associated for so long with a mask being raised, accompanied this movement. The familiar blur of motion came from his movement whenever his secret got used, the sounds of something fleshy being released from his being whilst being used to slash through bone filling his ears. The familiar flash of red, crimson blood filled his gaze, all the while his arms plucked IF into their embrace before he moved away…

All that, and Nico felt SURE more had happened.

But that to him, wasn't as important as the absolutely stupefied look on the man's face which he saw when he reached about 30 meters before twisting on one foot to face him, holding Neptune bridal style in his arms. Not to mention that the rest had also been freed, along with IF who now sat on the ground behind him with the rest of the girls. The object in his hand, IT took away swiftly, pocketing it in his Trench Coat. He didn't need it right now, instead all Nico needed right now was both in his arms, IT now facing towards his soon-to-be opponent. His eyes remained shadowed by his hair, but Nico wouldn't let that be so for much longer.

To be frank, by the time Nico realized what happened, he couldn't even begin to imagine how he would explain this one to the girls when this was all over, not to mention the pure ELATION Nico felt blossoming in his chest. There was none of the anxiety inside him anymore, not even at the possibility of the girls not even accepting him anymore. All he thought off right now were the things he absolutely needed to do.

Killing or forcing this guy to stay away from his comrades was one of them.

'HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!'

The loud, psychotic laughter of his white copy filled his mind, and for the first time in a long while, Nico would happily welcome it. Even as he felt his connection with his Demonic Powers returning, alongside the safety of his links with his Devil Arms and Ouranos. Right now, all he could think about…

Was that it was finally time, to do something he had never thought he'd do…

To take off the Mask.

(OST END)


Slowly, IF blinked as she tried to come to terms with what had just happened. It had happened so fast, with so little time for her to process it all. Something which she found herself struggling to do regardless as she blinked owlishly, head shaking visibly as she held it in one hand. 'Ugh… what the heck…?' She thought, and the next thing she noticed was that she had been freed from her restraints… not to mention that she was also back in human form, and she sat on the ground backside first, sitting alongside the rest of the group. That honestly calmed her, it was better to be close to trusted allies than a hated enemy in her book. Once she got her bearings though, the brunette looked upwards and her gaze fell onto the back of a certain redhead Agent…

Although, something quickly caught her attention.

"Um… anyone…?" Slowly, and all the while breaking IF from her thoughts, she and the girls all looked towards the source of the voice she just heard to find Compa to be sitting there, staring just as slack-jawed as IF felt inside… probably the same outside too now that she thought about it. What they just witnessed… whatever it had been, had THAT much impact on them. The Nurse-In-Training could only sit there, eyes trembling as she saw what she did, before she looked to be forcing the next words out of her mouth just to try and sate the confusion growing within. "Um… What did we just see…?"

Vert, who lay on her front as she saw the events transpire, looked just as wide eyed whilst she did keep a better composure than the two girls. Some of her bangs fell onto her face, but she didn't even bother with them. That just went to show just how much the sigh before her had gripped her attention. "Yes… I would like to know as well, Neptune…" she stated, shaking her head soon afterwards to try ad clear her mind in order to process these events better. "it seems I must apologize, but it appears my emotions are close to running out of control…"

For once, Noire actually agreed with the other two CPUs wholeheartedly. Looking towards where the redhead male was right now, Noire couldn't help but release an anxious gulp from her throats' confines. She honestly had little clue on what was happening, but she did have a gut feeling. This feeling came to her when she had sensed Nico's aura just a split second before he had burst into motion and saved IF from whatever fate that this man had in mind for her. Before that moment, it had been erratic, chaotic just like the Demonic Power that he had commanded through all this time. It had also been fairly weak, considerably suppressed by something that the Bone Arms did, she figured.

Now? It now had the complete opposite feeling.

'Why is it… that Nico's aura has completely pulled a 180? Instead of what it was before…. now it feels like he's completely morphed into something else… Something… would, crazy and unpredictable… it feels like it would try to gut me the moment I look at it the wrong way.'

Those were her thoughts as a visible shudder traveled down her spine like a bunch of athletes doing the 100-meter dash, though fortunately none of them noticed thanks to being too drawn by the sight of the situation before them.


Back towards the two…

Slowly, Neptune began to open her eyes, having reflexively closed them when she suddenly began moving in a manner that she SURELY shouldn't have been able to. "Huh? What gives? Did someone carry me into the stars for good behavior?" She questioned with the most random thing she could think of. It helped calm her nerves when she acted all random like this, that was for certain. Soon enough though, she managed to calm herself to a level where she noticed that she had found herself in someone's embrace, much to her surprise as she began to squirm to free herself. "Hey, what gives, buster? Unhand this delicate maiden, only Nicky can have his way with my Nep flesh, buddy!" she bellowed, bonking her holder on the chest with her tiny fists.

A chuckle however, was the holder's response, and as she heard it Neptune suddenly tensed up. "Heh, well I'm glad I'm me then, Neptune." A familiar voice spoke up, causing Neptune to lean back and get a good look at the person carrying her right now.

The moment she saw the smirking lips of Nico, his eyes shadowed by his hair (something she didn't really give a damn about) Neptune's own eyes practically bathed themselves in light when she perked up. "Nickyyyyyy!" she cheered, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him into a hug, burying her face into he crook of his neck. "What took ya so long, hubby? Your wifey's been waiting overtime, and that's not cool!"

Once again, Nico chuckled at the hyperactive preteen in his arms. He didn't show it, but it didn't take reading negative emotions for him to sense the hidden distress building up inside of her right now, so he pulled her a bit closer to snuggle her back. As long as he would be able to assure her, then he'd be fine before everything went to shit. "Heh, sorry Neptune, just got a little caught up there." He responded sheepishly, before glancing behind him at the rest of the girls. "You guys too, you all ok? Apologies for not getting out sooner."

"Uh, its ok Nico, but um… what are you doing?" IF questioned, tilting her head when she saw him turn around and, still without actually looking at them, gently laying Neptune on the ground before them (though he took a moment to pry the preteen off him). Something about him just didn't seem like the guy that they had all come to get used to, and that something definitely didn't sit well with her. Not only did he not feel like his usual composed self, but he also felt like one of those mental asylum patients that were about to go on a crazy rampage. That wasn't even beginning to count how many feelings of dreaded anticipation she felt while looking at him, she couldn't even feel his usual confident composure from him anymore. Every instinct in her body told her that something bad had happened, or rather it would be about to happen in the near future, and Nico had a crucial role to play in it.

Meanwhile, Nico stood tall as he turned away from them, refusing to look the concerned girls in the eyes for the time being. He could tell that IF's instincts were warning her of the imminent danger, and in his mind the redhead male hoped that she listened to them. To be frank, Nico didn't know if he would be able to maintain what little composure he had left if he saw their faces, deep inside he could feel an entire maelstrom of different conflicting emotions. Right now, all he COULD feel for certain was the nervousness and anxiety for what he would be about to do. "Don't worry guys, I plan on making this asshole pay QUITE dearly." He spoke with an assuring tone, a small smile forming on his lips, though if they could see his eyes, then they would have seen how his smile didn't exactly reach it. Though, that was what his long hair shadowing them was for.

Afterwards, he let out a small chuckle, putting his hand over his mouth whilst his aura started to sway. Oh, he would DEFINITELY be doing what he said, nothing would change that. Even if he had so many mixed feelings regarding it, there would be no turning back for him at this point. At least if he used this, this guy might have an urge to be somewhere else and leave, or he could drive him away, since outright defeat felt utterly impossible for him. But first, there was something that he had to do… "But first, I need you guys to do something for me."

"What is it?"

"Could you guys move backwards by at least about 200 meters? If what's going to happen is any indication, then I'd rather you all not be caught in the crossfire." Nico replied to Vert's question. Though, the other reason he stated this was so that they wouldn't be in the range of what would happen when IT finally came out. He could feel his inner beast straining, roaring and howling against the last of the slowly crumbling restraints. He didn't know how much longer he had before it finally came out, but he didn't want them to be near him when it did. He'd only barely used it to get them all away from this man before whom seemed quite content to just stand there for whatever reason, though he wouldn't complain.

"Hey, you know we can-"

SWOOOOSH!

Before IF could finish her sentence, a certain group of people appeared behind them in a swirl of green, unleashing the smell of every scent that could be found within nature itself. Nico didn't even need to look behind him to know who it was that came just now, not to mention that he could sense the other three members of Team RAIL behind the Spring Goddess known as Lucy. He knew she would be the first one to speak when she put her hands over his eyes through his bangs, her melodious voice filing the air and, unbeknownst to her, calm both himself and the beast inside. "Heya Nicky-Dear! Been a while, we just came from demolishing some Demon bases!" she proclaimed happily, before she looked around the area and grimaced when she saw the girls behind them. "Wow, geez you guys got wrecked huh?" she remarked, a pang of guilt exploding within her chest. "Sorry for not getting here sooner."

Vert spoke for them all when she shook her head in response, having adjusted into a Japanese sitting position as she looked up towards the redhead female Spec Ops Agent. "Please, it is of no problem. Our state is only due to the enemy being so much more powerful than us. I'm just thankful we have lasted this long without losing each other..." her lips then twisted into a depressed frown, her eyes darkening in sadness when she thought of the previous events that had happened. "Although I cannot say that we haven't had casualties..."

Lucy the others noticed this, and frowned as well. It looked like things had gotten real bad by the time that Helen had called them to tell them to get their butts over here. Whatever had happened, they didn't know, but it obviously had a major impact on everyone here. "Its okay, Lady Vert, its alright..." the redhead woman soothed, kneeling before her with utter sincerity on her features as she made to comfort the blonde CPU.

Then, she stood up and allowed Raven to take her place, as Leanbox's ruler looked towards her when she kneeled beside her. Her Mask hid her eyes well, but even so Vert couldn't help but sense the resolve behind her words through her deepened voice. "Do not worry green Goddess, we will bring you and your comrades far enough from this battlefield and cloak their scents with VERONICA's powers." She stated, glancing over to Nico with a minor head tilting, proving that she had indeed heard of what he had requested of the girls.

Even so, Ivan and Aiden stepped towards the redhead male, their eyes shining with seriousness and a grimness that just... didn't really fit them, behind their Goggles. If he were frank, Nico would gladly admit that seeing those two would be counted as a welcome sight, especially with the history between the three of them. One could say that they weren't just brothers-in-arms, but bros in other ways as well... none of the homo's however (those images tried to resurface, but he pushed them right the fuck back down). Still, he didn't bother looking at them directly in their eyes, and Nico had a feeling that the two males knew why he was doing that.

It was Aiden who spoke first, and when he did, his tone conveyed those emotions and more. "You doing it then?" he questioned, cautiously. If Nico planned to do what he thought he was doing, and Aiden felt SURE he was due to the faint crackling sounds he heard, then things would be getting dicey for all parties involved. Though, he would not lie and say that he hadn't been waiting for the time when this beast finally came out, it had been a LONG time since he had seen the looks on other people's faces when it happened. 'Hopefully, things will turn out alright in the future, though... and not like in the past.

"If you do this, you know the risks right? Me and Aiden here have experience with it, but the rest of the girls on the other hand..." Ivan stated further, his tone just as grave as his colleague's. Of course, in his opinion if he were an optimist then he would hope that they would accept Nico's 'nature' without much complaint. However, he had seen several instances when that had proven to not be the case, to the point where this would be classed as one of the few things he couldn't even be joyful about. Like previously mentioned throughout their introduction to this story, he indeed knew what Nico's secret was, not to mention the conspiracy surrounding him, therefore he knew the bigger picture surrounding him. Ivan didn't want this guy, whom he considered a trusted friend, not to mention a brother in arms, to have to suffer any more of these people's bullshit.

Nico merely nodded his head, not letting them see his eyes as he stayed facing away from them. When he responded a moment later, it took all his concentration to keep his voice level and steady. "I'm aware." he stated simply, and those words served to assure the other males. The resolve in those two words alone had been enough, enough for them to see that Nico wouldn't be persuaded otherwise. This was his choice, and he would be sticking to it. Even if they could see the undertones of chaotic conflict within.

"Alright, we managed to convince Lucy and Raven not to ask any questions till this was over, but you have a LOT of things to explain to them when this is all over."

(Play Bleach OST - Stand up be strong here)

The redhead male simply nodded as he heard Ivan say this, before the two boys regrouped with the mentioned girls. Nico clearly felt the gazes of the other two members of Team RAIL, before Lucy clicked her fingers and everyone got teleported at a far enough distance away from them, he could tell thanks to the surges of sweet wilderness smells that reached his nostrils, and when he smelled them the male let loose a sigh of relief. "Alright, now that they're safe from this..." he muttered, before turning to face off against the man, his leather covered fists clenching tightly. "Now to deal with you..."

"Hmph." The man remarked, crossing his arms below his chest as he gave an arrogant huff. "You could have had more of a chance to at least entertain me by attacking with those ants earlier, but you send them away? No idea what your game is, but its your funeral. You must really want to court DEATH, don't you?" he remarked, before he uncrossed his arms and made the 'come here' motion. "Alright then, lets get this over..."

No longer could the man finish what he said, when his eyes widened in surprise as he quickly hopped to the sides, seeing the ground where he once stood become a large crater. 'Huh? What the hell...?' he wondered, surprise etching across his features whilst he flew through the air thanks to his jump. Not to mention how. thanks to his instincts he crossed his arms in time to block several lashing attacks from this unseen force. 'Was that an attack just now? It had to be, i'm being attacked right now by this worthless mongrel. But... what...?'

Quickly, he forced his thoughts to a halt and hopped about several times, avoiding the same fate that befell the ground in all those times (plus the about 2000 times he had to swing his arms to deflect an equal number of lashes from this 'something') until he slid across the ground to a halt. Out of reflex, quickly swung his right hand, which was enveloped by his technique, towards the space in front of him. However, it indeed hit nothing and Nico ducked under the wave so that it couldn't hit him. It vanished halfway between the distance between him and the onlookers though, so none of them would get hurt, though.

About 5 minutes later, after having dodged hundreds of these invisible attacks, the man couldn't help the irritated snort that escaped his lips. It had only been though his instincts that he had avoided those attacks so far, and none of his senses had been able to help him perceive them. By senses, he meant sound, smell, touch, sight and taste, so by that point, he couldn't help but be... more than a little pissed off at what this kid was doing. "Alright you brat, what the hell?" he exclaimed furiously as he glared towards Nico, who all this time hadn't lifted his head and kept his eyes shadowed. "What kind of trickery is this?!"

'Looks like he finally has asked...' the male thought to himself, taking a deep breath to quell the nervous clenching within his gut. Now was the time... he wanted the others to see what he really was, to show them just what he had been hiding all this time. The time for secrets was over, and to start it off would be this. With these thoughts in mind, Nico slowly lifted his head, showing that his eyes had remained closed. "Well, if you want to know what's going on, you fuck..." he began as cracks slowly spread across the left side of his face. The moment that the man saw those cracks, comprehension began to shine in his eyes as Nico opened his eyes wide. His right eye, well, nothing looked that ordinary about it. Noting but a normal eye...

But when one looked to his LEFT eye... they'd see that it wasn't ANYTHING normal.

After all, a 'normal' eye wouldn't have a black sclera and a crimson, madly trembling iris now would it?

"You're gonna have to ask REAL nicely, though I guess for someone as fucked in the head as your sorry pale ass, that's a bit too much for your simple brain to handle, isn't it?"

(OST end)


"And WHAT, is your goal here?"

Back in MICROSOFT, Helen sat in her room on a chair next to a desk where her Phone lay, calmly sipping her tea whilst she heard the ringing her phone made. On it, there lay an 'ALERT' message accompanied by a loud buzzing. She mentally chuckled to herself, more than a little eager and also a little nervous deep inside behind her composed demeanor. 'So... Nicky-Nick has finally done it... Its about damn time...' she thought to herself before swerving on her chair to face the ones who had rudely asked her that question:

Several men in these fancy-looking robes, ones which even the most petty of Nobles would be green with envy for, with colors which could only indicate them being from the upper ranks of the Basilicom's governing party. Behind them, there stood over dozens of armed Leanbox knights, 40 of them she would have guessed with a further 20 having hidden themselves through their own means throughout her room. She wouldn't be able to escape them without at least losing a limb or two, since each of these soldiers were handpicked to be bodyguards for these Leanbox officials, even if their individual power levels would be at about just below Spec Ops classification. That is, if her goal was to escape this place anyways. "My, i'm afraid I don't know what you mean, gentlemen..." she replied evenly, calmly sipping her tea with no small amount of hidden mirth at their furious expressions. "What do YOU think is going on here?"

"Enough of your rudeness, woman! We know what you are up to!" she heard one of the officials, a balding man in his mid fifties, yell out at her. His face looked like a living tomato with how flushed with anger it was. His fists couldn't stop trembling as Helen noted a layer of fear beneath this man's fiery anger. "Among all of us Basilicom workmen, only we of the higher ups know what that FREAK is truly like! IT is nothing but a monster, a dog that only lives by our grace! If it were up too us, that filth would have been put down like the rest of his trashy kind!" he spat, hatred and disgust laced within every word. "It was only because of its 'worth' that those that you represent allowed it to live! You should be thanking us by keeping it more in check! Not letting it just releasing that 'thing' whenever it so desires!"

Just then, one of his colleagues stepped forwards, looking considerably calmer but no less furious than the first official. This one appeared to be in his early fifties, and had a set of hair around the sides and back of his head. His eyes, though, they remained as sharp and knife-like as ever, like he had once been in the military. Though in all fairness, Helen recalled that this one indeed had been in the military, as he had been one of the children of Leanbox's Nobility. "What my colleague should have conveyed to you, Mrs Dawson..." he began, his eyes narrowing like they were two lasers meant to burst through Helen's skull. "Is that you have been keeping secrets, and not completing your duties as his 'handler' as you should have. Fabricated reports, missed and unexplained checkups, we have ample evidence of your cause, of you not keeping it on a tighter leash. You do well to remember the 'conditions' behind that thing being kept alive instead of being thrown to the 'waste' like the rest of its kind should have."

"That's right! And DON'T bother lying to us, we have your very life in our hands! One word from either of us, and these men will open fire on you and everyone else in this hotel! We aren't afraid of covering up the truth, you know! One wrong move and you will be dooming everyone in this pathetic trash heap!" the first official declared, a sense of smugness entering his words as the sounds of blades being drawn out filled the air. These sounds came from the soldiers whom the officials had brought over, children of noble families under their employ that were easily manipulated by thoughts of being promoted and giving their families extra glory. In essence, the darkness that corrupted the Nobility... as well as some of the military families.

However, if they thought Helen would be intimidated enough to conform into their demands...

"Ufufufufufu..."

They would be wrong, dead wrong.

"What is funny, pray tell?" the second official questioned sternly, crossing his arms under his chest whilst giving her a confused look, though it was also a look mixed with annoyance and frustration. "Be aware that we have all the power here, not yourself. Therefore, you better comply with us and detain that creature, or else-"

"Oh, I don't think so. You all seem to think that you have all the power now, but in actually you couldn't be any further from the truth."

Helen's words, which she spoke to interject into the official's own, sent them into surprised silence. Even as the soldiers all bristled at the insult to their 'betters', as Helen simply placed her elbow on the armrest of her leather chair, uncrossing her legs and recrossing them. "Do you know why that is? Because you all..." the way her eyes gleamed right then, tossing aside the look of civility and replaced with the look of a predator, a predator about to pounce on their prey which was a look not unlike that of her adoptive son. "... Fucking stupid."

"WHAT?!" Shrieked the first official before he made to raise a hand and click his fingers. "DON'T YOU DARE TRY AND BELITTLE YOUR BETTERS, YOU WRETCHED WHORE! ONE WORD AND I'LL-"

Before he could finish however, the sudden smell of nature and wilderness filled the air. Something which caught the man by surprise before he looked down... and his face lost all color when he saw what looked like grass growing across the floor with vines quickly circling up the man's legs in a manner not unlike that of Tendrils. He tried to scream out a command, but as if they had sensed his intentions the vines quickly shot upwards and restrained him, wrapping around his limbs, torso, abdomen, and mouth so he couldn't speak. This wasn't just the official's fate however, for the other official as well as the soldiers: both the visible and hidden ones, all got restrained by these vines as the room literally transformed into a natural paradise.

A Paradise that... didn't even touch her, or the floor and desk near her within a full 20 feet radius.

Helen couldn't help but grin behind her hand as she gave a ladylike giggle. 'My, it looks like VERONICA strikes again, doesn't it?' she thought to herself, remembering a time when she had met with the Spring Goddess in private. After disclosing the fact that she had figured out her true identity, of which she had vowed not to tell anyone, she had requested that Lucy infuse her entire room with natural energy: essentially a trap which would spring the moment that any aggression was raised against her by these officials. Lucy HATED nobles, and she would DEFINITELY hate those in the governing roles once she would eventually learn of their role in Nico's life. There were specifics that Lucy hadn't divulged to her, but what she had described sounded perfect to her.

Of course, she would have made a different move if this had been an 'official' visit, but some of her scouts whom she had bought out herself before coming too this hotel for the Gala, some of them had confirmed for her that this visit wasn't, and would never be, known to anyone else. Not even their fellow governing officials. Therefore, everyone here would not be here according to official documents, meaning if they died they would simply be treated as MIA. Something that happened so frequently in this war-torn nation, as well as the others, that it would easily be believed by everyone involved.

Looking upon the struggling men, Helen resisted the urge to gloat towards them as she began to speak. "Gentlemen, you all did many things wrong in your lives, crimes against innocent civilians like theft, bribery, kidnappings and blackmails. Those were SOME of them, not including murder, rape and pedophilia. However, I have not a care on those. Except for the crimes you committed against my beloved adoptive son. You all aided in making his life utter hell, excessively I might add. Now, as a member of the Spec Ops community I can do little in these actions, especially since YOU all PUT me here for this exact reason. However, just like how all life finds a way to grow, I managed to figure out some ways of my own." She told them, all with that blissful smile on her face as she mimicked polishing her nails, as if she found them more interesting than the struggling men before her.

Then, she looked back towards them, her eyes now filling with a fierce firestorm of anger, of anger that looked like it had been simmering for a VERY long time. "So, you can all imagine how... frustrated, I have been with all of you. How VERY much I have wanted to rip you all apart for doing this not just to me, but my beloved son. But, I never could thanks to my forced position, where you could keep an 'eye' on me and keep me enchained by you whims. My beloved son was also not exempted from those rules and regulations, something which must have felt PRETTY good to you fucks. However, you all were fools to think that I wouldn't do something, that I wouldn't find a way to fight back. You all know as well as anyone, that I don't give a CRAP about politics. I wouldn't care if all the Nations in Gamindustri burn to nothingness, the only people I care about are my husband and my beloved son. If he finds anyone worthy of his interest, then i'll see them as worthwhile people too, but you know how many that is? VERY FEW, I assure you. But, I managed to slowly prepare my fangs, sharpening my claws for this day through those things you described and more. Now, now not only does my son finally get a chance to have some people who actually give a damn about him, but I get a chance to... vent my frustrations with you lot."

As she spoke all this, anger, hatred, resentment and sadistic pleasure slowly seeped into her words, gradually filling her gaze into a shine whilst she soaked up the look of utter fear that filled the eyes of the men around her. Right now, this would be only the start of it, but it would be something she'd enjoy more than she probably should. No doubt this would impact a whole lot of people, of families in varying states of being. Not everything was black and white after all, but if you were to ask her, she'd say... she wouldn't care. 80 to 95% of these people had been around when her boy was found once again, changed forever. That percentage of people had not done a THING to help him, heck they had pretty much condemned him too this fate, scorned and shunned him. Therefore, why should she care about them when they had done her boy harm? Nope, no parent would in her situation: a Spec Ops Agent confined to a political 'cage' and forced to stay on the sidelines as she watched the remains of her two friends go through shit nobody deserved.

Thus, one could consider this a form of 'payback, bitch'.

Yeah, Helen wasn't a good woman, hell no. Every Spec Ops Agent had traits about them that would consider them 'monstrous' in the eyes of society, especially religious ones like the ones in Gamindustri. Lack of empathy wasn't an uncommon one.

Having had enough of seeing their ugly faces for over 10 lifetimes (no, she was NOT exaggerating people), Helen turned on her chair and tucked herself in at her Desk, placing her Phone in front of her and pressing a few keys. Afterwards, a holographic screen and keyboard appeared above the phone and before her, displayed like a projection. Without looking at them as she typed, Helen spoke. "Now i'm not going into specifics of what'll happen to you, so just enjoy the last few moments of your lives like good little saplings." she sneered at them.

And as their screams began to happen whilst each of the men got dragged 'inside' the floor, as if the whole thing was like one simple plant seed using them as food for growth, Helen began to hope that Nico pulled through his latest trial. She'd view it on a satellite the Spec Ops community had launched into outer space for her so she could view his progress, but still.

'Nicky-Nick, you better get out of this alive, you hear me? Like those girls being your 'links' to your humanity, you, my few friends, and my husband are my last links to mine.'


Back with the mentioned redhead hero...

"Hmmm... wait, I've seen that eye before... Oh!" Sudden realization dawned on him as the man just as suddenly barked into laughter, holding one arm over his gut whilst the other went over his eyes as he leaned backwards. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, this is just BRILLIANT! Who'd have guessed someone like YOU would become HIS champion! That bastard always DID have the hots for Ghouls more than humans, so it makes sense he'd chose one as his Champion! Not to mention it explains how you broke out of your bonds, THAT guy DID have rumors that he had included his own power into the code of the Ghouls, making them more resistant to my power, in addition to the others! Ahahahahahaha!" he exclaimed whilst laughing hysterically. In fact, it almost looked like he had heard something both very amusing and also so typical that he couldn't help himself anymore.

Nico remained silent, his mismatched eyes conveying nothing as the man had his laughing fit. The wind passed him by, ruffling his hair whilst his coat gently flapped in the breeze like a flag would. The teen's belt-covered trousers also flapped, though not to the same extent as his coat whilst IT kept itself around him at the points of a square, ready to defend him if needed. Not to mention how he could sense the other 'fangs' he had trying to break out of his willpower to finally manifest, though he didn't let them yet. They were controlled not just by his instincts to kill which were going haywire right now like error messages on a computer, but also his own chaotic emotions.

Internally however, Nico wondered what the hell this guy was talking about, who this 'bastard' he was describing could be all the while what made him have such a mix of negative emotions towards this person. According to his senses, Nico picked up copious amounts of rage (no surprise there) resentment, frustration, annoyance and many others into this one big mass. However, Nico dared not venture too deep into those emotions, as he couldn't get over the feeling that if he did, he'd spiral out of control and into a level of darkness so deep that what he had experienced of it from his unstable mentality would be like a simple summer day in comparison.

Not to mention, the feeling of DEATH that he got from this guy, this feeling of DEATH which also felt... off, something he kept sensing and he had no clue why. Despite that feeling, he could sense the aura of this man, and if he had not decided to finally embrace IT after hiding it for so long, then Nico wouldn't doubt how he'd likely be shivering in his boots. Whenever he had IT out in the field, Nico always did have this level of calmness, a calmness that washed over him thanks to IT's presence. It was a bit of a paradox, using this power made Nico feel both safe, as well as nervous at the same time... weird.

Even so, he kept these thoughts hidden behind a face of blankness, clenching and loosening his fists whilst his mismatched eyes remained unloving. Hiding the emotional battles he waged within. "If you're done with your little charade, shall we get a move on?" he questioned, flicking his writs with an audible crack sound. This guy gave him the impression that he truly hadn't been going serious for the entire battle's duration, Nico could feel it deep within his essence that this was the case. It was like he was only seeing the smallest fraction of the tip of the iceberg when it came to this guy's power, and thus he wanted to take him down before he could amass more of it. He hadn't struck him during that laughing spree because of how during it, he couldn't shake the feeling that his guard wasn't down. That thought made his palms sweat slightly beneath his gloves, if someone like this guy was around, then he'd be more than bad news.

Plus, he could feel the inner beast within howling and salivating within, the walls protecting his sanity crumbling bit by bit within his psyche. Normally, using one 'fang' would be perfectly fine for him, two is alright, but if he used all three at the same time... chances were, his walls would break within 5 minutes and he'd be forced to undergo a transformation that at best, he could only last about 2 minutes in before he lost himself to the madness and insanity. That was why that, by revealing his true self not only seemed way too risky thanks to blowing his cover in front of his comrades, but he also well and truly felt the pressure in this situation. He couldn't afford to keep this power active for too long, it wasn't like his DPU form where he could control his powers enough to not have to worry about Berserker Mode.

Therefore, this battle...

Would likely be one of attrition.

(Play OST - Power to strive)

Everything started within an instant.

FWOOSH!

One of the two fighters instantly acted, bursting into action before the other could.

Nico refused to let the guy have the first move as he leaned forwards, before breaking into a sprint towards him. The redhead swiftly hopped into the air, at about a full 60 feet, before twisting about and launching his little attack. Just before he launched it though, the male briefly noted how the mans' eyes seemed to gain this odd translucent glow about them, though he didn't think it would be that important. Even so, he took note of it since he knew so little about this guy, and anything that could lead to new information about the enemy would be a blessing, he'd learned this firsthand.

The male's attack came at his opponent from various directions, coming down on him like the hammer of a thunder god and stabbing into the ground around him to limit his movement. Perfect for the last 2 attacks towards his shoulder-blades, where Nico hoped to land two hits to end in ripping the guy's head clean off his body. A clear, clean way to quickly decide the outcome of this fight, that had been his intention so he didn't have to go as far as he feared he'd have to. Though, to Nico's surprise the man actually managed to dodge these attacks as well as take out the 'restraints with a few well-placed palm strikes.

'What?' The redhead thought with his mismatched eyes widening momentarily as the remaining composure he had slipped, exposing the shock, read and other emotions he had buried beneath. 'Can he see them...? No, that shouldn't be...'he thought further, shaking his head before he landed and retracted IT to his side, all the while twisting and launching 3 strikes all at the same time, each aimed towards his right thigh, abdomen and left shoulder. Nico didn't know what trick he had just used to avoid his attack earlier, but if he struck repeatedly against him without giving him a chance to counter, maybe Nico could figure it out.

Unfortunately for him, it seemed the man didn't want to give him that chance, as he quickly vanished before Nico's very eyes, soon appearing behind him with a reverse horizontal hand swipe aimed towards his neck. Instincts saved him however, as Nico quickly ducked beneath it, allowing him to see that the technique he had been using had been applied to his hand if the newly formed fissure was any indication.

To avoid another attack, Nico quickly slammed the other 3 forms of IT into the man's stomach, the male mentally and briefly wondering how the man had managed to NOT get impaled right through with that attack and instead be merely sent sliding backwards by 30 meters, before jumping back wards, flipping about in mid air before landing into a sliding to a halt motion in order to get some distance.

"Looks like your little appendages have more of a bite to them."

"?!"

Once he halted himself, Nico looked up as he heard the man speak, each of his 'appendages' almost recoiling to express the shock running through their master's veins. The way that the man looked at him pretty much summed things up in Nico's mind, quickly confirming his previous thoughts about his capabilities. Though, the implications and the 'how' behind his methods remained unknown.

His teeth clenched as he forced himself to inquire about that admittingly VERY alarming statement this man had made. "You... can see them?" he asked cautiously and slowly whilst his appendages each clenched up around him. As if trying to act like some form of barrier between him and any who dared attack him. This would be the case thanks to them not caring who or what it would be that would attack them, it would defend its master regardless.

In response, the man simply waved a hand dismissively, not a care in the world from his posture. "Sure, of course I can. Those things practically WREAK of DEATH, therefore my eyes can see the fog that symbolizes the death surrounding those lanky... appendages of yours." he remarked further, gesturing to Nico's appendages. The way he looked at them showed Nico a mild sense of intrigue, but that was just buried beneath may layers of a superiority complex and an arrogance that came with it.

'Great... and this guy doesn't feel like he's lying either, not to mention his previous actions support his claims...' he thought, doing his damned best not to break out into a cold sweat. This did not bode well for him, not at all in fact. The greatest aspect of these 'appendages' as the man called them was that their invisibility to all 5 senses allowed them to strike an opponent down with a 100% guarantee of success. After all, how can one defend themselves against an attack they could not perceive? Not to mention that it was his most preferred tool due to other powers it possesses. But, if this guy could indeed see them, then a large portion of their effectiveness would vanish into the wind. If the man couldn't perceive them, then Nico would likely have a MUCH easier time since they can't be seen by the normal 5 senses... 'But even so, he only showed that he could see them when he did something to his eyes, probably using that strange 'power' of his to activate their properties. Maybe if I take the eyes out, I can ruin any and all chance of him perceiving these attacks of mine.' Nico thought in an attempt to keep his calm.

Seriously, so many of these revelations struck at his last few walls of composure.

Now that Nico's weapon didn't have the advantage of its imperceptibility anymore, the male saw no more reason to hide them, since he could defend himself regardless of their state. Be it invisible or not, therefore the male mentally commanded the limbs to show themselves, and like mirages they appeared into existence. Nico would not doubt that he'd be able to hear the startled gasps coming from the girls he traveled with as his secret weapon finally revealed its true form to the world.

They took the form of... Tentacles.

Pure black, fleshy Tentacles which would look right at home within an abyss due to the shades of black they sported. They numbered at about 6, and each of them were pointed towards his opponent as if they were the limbs of a spider adjusted into a spider's attack stance. The fact that their blackness created shadows that illuminated Nico's sole red and black eye, made his form look all the more imposing.

Something which Nico didn't think would work on this guy, as he quickly charged forth towards him with the intention of resuming their bout. 2 Tentacles stabbed into the ground to push Nico into the air, the rest of the other 4 each breaking into a wild, ferocious bout of slashes and slamming attacks.. None of them even left a second's worth of breathing time between attacks, reminiscent of thousands of tiny bullets being shot out towards their enemy. Just as Nico expected however, the male noticed how the man's arms moved just as fast as they did, blocking or deflecting each attack without suffering any noticeable damage to his person.

CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE!

Pulling his 4 Tentacles back as he hovered directly parallel to the top of the man's head, Nico quickly launched a triple Tentacle assault, launching 3 of them at the same time. The man responded by swinging those arms of his like whips though, and just as the two attacks collided Nico noticed (and mentally winced at) how his Tentacles got sliced clean through down the middle, at least down by a quarter through their abyssal black forms. It looked like that technique was stronger than his high speed vibrations, something which Nico mentally recorded for further study later whilst he analyzed the way the technique was being used. Though, at this time Nico could hardly make heads or tails of what he had just seen.

No matter, he would keep up the pressure to make an opening.

CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE!

With the retreating of his 3 Tentacles, Nico quickly launched the sole Tentacle he had kept back, he launched it from the man's right flank and judging by the space and time between the attacks, this one seemed to be just as fast as its brethren. Just as the man made to deflect it upwards towards the rest of its brethren and then strike at the ones supporting Nico up there, he noticed something about the one coming at him. Several cracks spread from its tip, about a quarter of the way down the Tentacle itself. Those 'cracks' however, soon revealed themselves for what they really were... The upper and lower sections of jaw filled with massive fangs similar to a pterodactyl, a single crimson eye with a black sclera (although that part remained difficult to see) opening behind the long mouth.

"Whe-hey!"

SNAP!

The man made that exclamation as he quickly hopped to the side, arms raised in a placating motion as the mouthed Tentacle missed its attempt to take a bite out of him. An audible snap sound accompanied it when it did this, and just as the man made to slice through the Tentacle with a well placed downward karate chop, the man noticed several Tentacles coming at him from behind, each of them sporting their own eyes and mouths.

'Hmmm... this manipulation of his weapons... it looks like the kid's no amateur at using this power...'

That was what he had thought just then, in a rather rare for of curiosity as he raised his blade-positioned hands and delivered a series of chopping motions. He quickly carved his way through the sides of the Tentacles' maws, all the while sliding past them with little to no injury on his person. However, his danger senses informed him he was not out of the woods yet, for all around him the 4 Tentacles suddenly emerged from the ground around him to make some form of cage, the 2 supporting Nico mimicking a 'jump' like motion so their master remained in the air, if only for a second, and lunged towards him.

BOOM!

A large explosion of dust and dirt erupted afterwards, creating a smokescreen which quickly expanded to over 10 meters wide. As well as 20 meters in height. Nico himself landed a fair distance away from it, his Tentacles having supported him by stabbing into the ground and safely lowering him so that his feet gently patted against it. 'Phew, that was a close one...' the male thought to himself, exhaling audibly as he placed a hand on his chest. 'I thought he'd try something like those ranged attacks, and i'd have difficulty avoiding them in that state. Regeneration's a nice ability to have but overly relying on it will only make one complacent.' he thought, remembering many times in the past where those who could regenerate, did just that and paid the price. It was why his fighting revolved largely around offence and evasion skills, his defense was his weakest trait and thus, if he got hit by anything major it would DEFINITELY do a lot of damage. His other side's physiology could only help him against so much after all.

Afterwards, the male peered into the smoke, trying to search it for any signs of his opponent. Just from that previous attack, Nico became CERTAIN that he had done something to survive, not to mention that someone with his level of power wouldn't be done in by something like that. His thoughts soon came to fruition though, but not exactly how he thought they would... as evident by how the 2 tentacles he struck with exploded in massive fountains of blood and gore that splattered everywhere, down to half their original lengths. His eyes widened at this, before Nico noticed a blur of motion coming towards him and hastily jumped to the side, avoiding a lance-like thrust which released a huge torrent of air towards the direction his back had been facing.

Good thing he dodged, if Nico had waited a millisecond later, then he would have ended up a part of that destroyed landscape where his back had once faced.

'Geez, this guy's...!' the male thought before he recalled his Tentacles to him (the damaged ones already having fully regenerated) and begun to manipulate them. The thing was, whilst these Tentacles specialized in stealth thanks to their invisibility, Nico's Tentacles also had the ability to shape-shift into any form needed to suit the situation. This was due to Nico's battle experiences teaching him how to think on the fly, yet also be intelligent on the battlefield as well as on his opponents. This had made him hit the books to learn what he could about his foes, increasing his intelligence and versatility with his weapon's shape manipulation.

His training soon paid off however, as each Tentacle morphed their tips into a set of cylindrical-looking canons, each equipped with a series of circular maws on their ends. Each of the 6 then opened fire, their interiors briefly glowing a brighter red than previously before unleashing a set of reddish colored, hardened sinew-like projectiles towards his opponent. 'If they were invisible, these projectiles would be invisible too...' Nico thought to himself bitterly, all the while already morphing his weapon more as each projectile got sliced to pieces by the man's hands. This shapeshifting, Nico partially figured it to be similar to IF's to a degree, although the male felt like the difference between them was that hers came from mutations, his came from his own imagination.

A world of difference there, people.

Even so, none of this would make a damn difference, since this guy just kept using his technique to deal with every attack Nico threw at him. The nagging sensation that he would have to go further into his weapon's power sets felt all the greater every time as he morphed his Tentacles into a mix of weapons: Blades, claws, arms, whips, canons, hammers, fists as well as sickles, even more than a few spear-like appendages to try and fill this man full of holes. However, none of them were able to connect with the guy at all, each of them got blown to bits without being able to do even a LICK of damage. All the while, those thoughts filled his mind more and more, accompanied by a growing cold dread in the pits of his stomach.

After a few short moments, the man landed on the ground after avoiding a wide array of Tentacle attacks, taking a deep breath and inhaling with a hand on his chest. "Phew, this is quite the exercise. At least my body's getting back into the shape it had been in before that final battle back then..." the man mused to himself, before turning to Nico who retracted his Tentacles back to him. Not the most happy look was on his face, either. "Um, I think that you MIGHT want to consider doing something else, as fast as those things are they won't do jack shit against someone like myself." he sneered, though his words had much more impact than they would normally due to him not having a single scratch on him.

'He's right... I can't afford to be cautious anymore. If I don't go all out, then this guy'll get bored, end the fight with my being unable to do anything as he violates the girls.' Nico thought to himself, already mentally loosening what remained of the restraints on his 'inner beast', which howled in pleasure at these actions. It would be risky doing this, as it would make him much more likely to 'freak out' for lack of a better term, but right now Nico had no other choice. He HAD to do this. If not, then... well, one didn't need to say anymore.

'Mom... Uncle Koro... Guys... Give me...!'

CRACK!

'Courage!'

CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE!

The sounds of crackling (plus the crack from his wrist flicking) filled the air as, from Nico's Tailbone and shoulders several streams of flesh and Armour exploded out of him, soon taking on solid shape whilst the man dashed towards him. He easily cleared the distance in a nanosecond, and thus promptly made to thrust his right hand through Nico's face to end this fight prematurely...

Although, what he did NOT expect was for something to catch his arm mid-thrust by coiling around the limb his hand was attached to.

"Oh?"

Despite this, the man showed no signs of fear, only curiosity mixed with boredom as he looked to the cause of his limb not reaching his target on his lazy motion... though, his hand would be just a millisecond away from impaling Nico's inhuman eye. The limb that he was restrained by, and by extension saved Nico's head, looked to be a long, large grey Tail covered in grey Armour plates. This Tail had 6 long, thin blade-like Tips for stabbing and slashing purposes, while arrow-like Talons protruded from their sides. These appearances oddly resemble a Centipede, something which the man didn't think was just a coincidence.

Glancing upwards, the man saw 3 more coming down from above, making the total of Tails about 4. Each of them looked to be aimed towards his shoulders and head whilst the one restraining his arm had quite the amount of force. Essentially, he had been trapped by this new addition to Nico's arsenal, trapped like a rat in a mousetrap.

'Heh, it won't be easy to break out, since these bad boys can catch a Bullet Train without much effort... as in, a bullet train moving at its full, unrestrained speed.' Nico thought to himself, a slight upturning of his lips betraying the surge of smugness that began to envelop his chest. He wasn't lying either, since there had been a recording of him having to stop a bullet train that was hijacked by a group of criminals from ramming into a station full of civilians. Fortunately, whilst it moved at its highest speed for the greatest damage, the male had intervened far enough from the station that it wouldn't be seen and thus, Nico's Tails swiftly caught it without any effort. In battle, raw power was nothing if one couldn't employ it in a number of different ways. This whole world practically revolved around having different powers to catch the opponent by surprise, like how a predator strikes when the prey least expects it.

Looking up at the approaching Tails, the man could only sigh in tiredness, a look of utter contempt and disregard in his face. That didn't settle Nico's nerves at all, now would it? Instantly he felt his previous emotions vanish as cautiousness and nervousness take its place. "Hmmm, I guess expecting your 'power up to actually carry any power was a bit much after all." The man said, making Nico scowl as he felt insulted.

Well, he only felt insulted until the limbs that hit said male felt like they hit a overly sturdy and impossibly hard wall. They could do absolutely nothing against him, and even as they put that absurd strength into play they could only be seen as if they were less than nothing before the man's body.

It was a pure difference in power, like a kid of 5 punching a professional sumo fighter, there was no real difference if it was 2 arms or 10 arms as all resulted in the same thing.

Useless.

The man sighed in disappointment before he vanished in front of Nico, his speed such that Nico could not follow it at all and just saw as he moving instead of teleporting due to the dust that was lifted from the ground.

Nico could only blink and gape at what he just saw, quickly retreating backwards a few steps whilst pulling his Tails and Tentacles into defensive positions. He then looked around, shifting his body whenever he needed to so he could see if there were any signs of a counter attack. Even during this though, his mind raced a million miles an hour. 'That mirage-like movement... Yeah, there's no doubt about it. He's using the same technique he used on his hands, but on his whole body to make it look like he's going intangible. That was how he vanished through the ground like that...' he thought, narrowing his mismatched eyes.

'But... if this guy thinks I'm just going to let him just attack me whenever he so damn well pleases, he's got another thing coming!'

First thing Nico did following these thoughts was to begin morphing his Tentacles, morphing them into 3 pairs of 2 black and red bat-like wings. Their bones were black, whilst they sported crimson pulsating webbing, and with just a single flap from all of them, Nico took to the skies above. He only stopped ascending when he had reached about 30 feet, flaring his wings before spreading his arms outwards. His mismatched eyes glared with bloody murder down towards the ground, his Tails each beginning to move under his command.

THROB!

'Ugh! Tch, looks like its started to happen...!'

BIKI, BIKI, BIKI!

The sounds of flesh being manipulated filled his ears whilst Nico's Tails swished about. Each Tail looked like they were trembling, trembling very violently as if they were trying to push something out of them, something which irritated them to the point where such behavior became the response. In that moment however... Nico's Tails suddenly thrashed around in every direction, and their Talons along their sides each got launched in those directions like the projectiles his Tentacles fired. These launch mechanisms, combined with the Talons themselves, resulted in them possessing a strong enough force and impact to be able to go through large pillars in a highway. In essence, they are an equivalent to a pile of jet liners crashing into someone full force. So... when they met the ground around them, one could imagine how much damage that he did to it. If it weren't for the previous damage done to this place, then Nico's Tails would have done every bit of the same destruction as all of the other attacks, his Tails Specialized in widespread annihilation just that well.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Countless explosions the size of ones made when a car erupted filled the space below him, generating a massive smokescreen which blocked everything from view. As the smoke persisted, Nico did two things: first, he landed in the centre of it whilst his Wings reformed into his Tentacles. The second thing he did, Nico used his Tails and Tentacles to disperse it by swishing them about, destroying the smokescreen entirely and allowing him to see his surroundings. Not much had changed though, since they had already been decimated beforehand by that guy's attacks not to mention his own, Okada Izou's and the girls too. Even so, Nico saw no signs of the man whom he had been fighting just now, which caused his brows to twitch.

'Alright, looks like he's not going to come out. I'll keep my Tails and Tentacles up though, even if it takes a bit of time for the Tails to reset their Talons. I still have some time left before I hit my limit anyways..."

"Well, I guess expecting anything out of you was my mistake anyway."

"Guh!"

The sound of the man's voice directly behind him, almost whispering in his ear, made Nico's mismatched eyes shrink into saucers. Instincts made him react, as he swung his right arm behind him in a reverse upward swing, or at least try as his every instinct that normally was set in destroying everything in sight was now screaming at him to run away and cry in fear, something that should not be possible for him but was happening anyway. Though, this did give said, bored man, some insight as to what Nico had generated from his shoulders: two black shields of similar state to his Tentacles, but with half an eye and half a savage grin on each of them. This also looked like something that when they're combined, they would form a single Shield with a lone red aye and a wide grinning mouth, the man thought to himself. Each of them had pointed, narrowed tips on their chins so that they could be used as smashing or stabbing weapons depending on the situation.

Still, as strong as they may be against trash it still was utter and ultimately trash in this man's eyes.

No, calling ANYTHING that Nico or the others pulled out this entire time during this entire combat as trash is a disservice.

For the trash.

Though, judging by how this kid operated, the man assumed that Nico still had many ways to go and some potential with this thing he had. But, as with everything else, he had not managed to even scratch the surface of what he should be able to do.

It was such waste that the man barely felt like even touching Nico as he feared incompetency might be contagious.

As he saw Nico manage to overpower his instincts with his will alone to stay in place, even though they screamed at him to run away from this man, the man could only shake his head.

"Why is it that something as pathetic and lacking as you was chosen is beyond me. Was Sparda that desperate or did karma finally managed to get him and gave him a weakling successor? No, this looks like something that the destiny fucker would do for shits and giggles, maybe I should ask him next time I see that asshole."

At that, Nico scowled as he gave off minute twitches. The strain of having to keep himself sane whilst using all three of his 'Fangs' had grown faster than he had anticipated. He could hear its growls in the shadows of his mind audibly, he could feel its claws buried deep into what remained of his fractured walls protecting his sanity. If Nico were to calculate how long eh had left before the monster inside took hold, he'd say something between a minute and about 30 seconds. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"I mean, its a bit obvious by now, but honestly you're not deserving of that idiot's powers in the least. Fuck, as far as I can see you barely could qualify as a successor for one of the foot soldiers that we used as sacrifices during our fights." The man replied, stunning Nico when he spoke that last bit and making him wonder WHO was this man exactly. How could he have never heard anything about such man was strange no matter how he saw it. "Well, I would like to play with you some more, see if I can rise any potential out of you or just to get more material to laugh later, but it seems like some annoying guys are coming here and I don't like my chances against them right now. I am still weak and by my estimates the chance of me dying against them is about 40 to 50% as I am now so I will avoid it for now." Nico wondered who exactly it was.

Who was it that could rise such thoughts out of this man?


A few hundred miles away, a group of three people flew like torpedoes towards the place where the fight has been going on. If one wanted to know how fast their movement was, think over supersonic speeds, and one got a general idea of their speed. This group consisted of 2 males and 2 females, each of them radiating a level of extreme calmness despite the surge of power that had been detected in this direction.

Though, if one had the eyesight necessary to look at them clearly, they would be able to see how not all of them seemed to enthusiastic about their current activities. "How annoying...! Just got back from having to deal with several S ranked Abnormals working together to form a pack in Lastation, and now I'm forced onto this recon mission. The boss is really asking for my sword up his pie hole..." The first girl remarked, scowling angrily as her fists violently trembled. This girl looked to be about 13 years of age, with flaming crimson colored hair that constantly released a flurry of embers from within each strand. Her eyes matched the shade of her hair color, oddly enough resembling a Phoenix in some manner. Her stature matched that of her physical age, and her hair had the 'ahoge' hair strand over her head. She wore an all-black attire, which consisted of a shirt, some pants, boots and a Trench Coat. Around her neck, there was a neckless that hung there, sporting a palm sized black gem in the centre. At her waist, there was strapped to it a single Japanese style Katana, one that emitted a strong aura of both heat and dark sinister intent. Almost like it would explode into a supernova-like inferno of flames at any second. From her back, were two massive wings made entire of orange flames, mimicking the shape of a bird's whilst being slightly larger than her own height to allow high-speed flight.

"The boss said so, ya dumb broad. Would you kindly stop complaining before you get on my last nerve and I'm forced to rip out your ribcage bones again?" The woman in the group responded with a sickly sweet smile... among several, twitch marks. One look at her, and an average person would tell that she was NOT an ordinary person. She had a child-like stature, about 5 feet tall, yet to the trained eye they'd notice the deception her frame would display instantly. Her entire body was wrapped in bandages, with a tattered maroon cloak with droopy ears attached to the hood, which was currently hung over her head. She also wears a floral scarf around her neck, and as for her eyes, they were hidden by darkness generated by her hood and bandages, giving her a rather creepy appearance. The only reason why the males knew it was a girl flying with them was due to there being a visible set of 'lumps' on her chest, AKA boobs. From her back though, were a pair of grotesque looking crimson wings which flapped occasionally to keep her afloat. They looked like a mass of... fleshy... feathers.

... Remarkably similar to a certain someone's appendages.

Just by looking at her, one can assume that she was pissed, and they'd be right. With how her body literally radiated a black, sinister aura of intense anger and frustration, it was simply put icing on the cake. The first female shuddered and paled, more than a few chills crawling up and down her spine. There had been a time when she had incurred this woman's wrath, and she had practically had to have surgery to restore the limbs and internal injuries this woman caused her. Not to mention that her power far exceeded her own for the time being. Noticing the look and the silence that followed, the woman looked ahead once more. "The surge of power the boss told us about seems to have originated up ahead, not long now. Reports say some of our own have also went there, but the boss wants us to know, and I quote: 'went and started a ruckus without inviting the great me!' Ugh, just remembering him makes me feel foul." she remarked, though still keeping that polite demeanor... ironically making her look ever more menacing.

The first male who looked to be the oldest of the group, had his arms and legs crossed in the Japanese sitting position, eyes closed and remaining silent. Not at all interested in what was happening around him. He looked to be a man in his early 40's, resembling a tall lean man with black hair, a short beard, mustache and sideburns that pointed upwards. He wore black and red ornate clothing with a crucifix pendant that hid a little dagger, which gave him the appearance of a Spanish swordsman. His attire consisted of a wide-brimmed black hat decorated with a large plume, and a long, open black coat with no shirt underneath, with red, flower-patterned sleeves and collar. He wore light purple in the anime pants held up by a decorated belt and tucked inside overly large boots in comparison to his leg size.

As for a weapon, he had attached to his back a weapon of which he'd garnered his rather fearsome reputation for: a curved black blade in the shape of a Latin cross, with a golden cross-guard decorated by blue and green cabochons, and a hilt wrapped in bandages, with a particularly big cabochon at its extremity. Unlike the others, the man didn't exactly have anything coming from him which would help him fly, instead it looked like the man simply rode on top of a thrown tree trunk, much like one of the many assassins in Gamindustri. It had to have been thrown with considerable strength though, since it easily kept up with the others in terms of pure speed.

"Stay focused. We must obey the orders given to us by the boss, this is no time for internal quarreling." Spoke the last male member of the group, whom flew forth beside the first one... by seemingly walking on the air itself. He looked to be in his 20's and had the form of an extremely tall, large, and muscular man with short spiky crimson hair and two symmetric scars on both sides of his face. He has long legs, with his thighs being equally as long as his lower limbs. His mouth, which was covered up, contained extremely pelican eel-like sharp teeth. He had sharp, intense, crimson eyes, highly arched eyebrows, and prominent lower eyelashes under each eye. He wore a massive light ragged scarf that covered his mouth and reached his shoulders. He also wore a torn leather vest with CHARLOTTE on the back that exposed most of his torso, dark gloves and pants, a belt with a skull-shaped buckle, and spiked boots with spurs. His torso looked to be very defined (more so than the average bodybuilder or those muscle-heads in those games Vert plays), having prominent abdominal muscles covered in pink tattoos, and lastly he had spiked bracelets on his arms as well as knee pads with a single spike on them.

Neither of the two dared to question him, knowing that doing so would bring this man;s wrath on them... something neither of them wanted.

With that, all of them stopped conversing as they made their way to the desolate battlefield.


"Yep, definitely bothersome right now. How can it be that with guys like that around the one chosen was you, I cannot believe it one bit. Well, then again I suppose I should give you a little something as a reward for being able to almost tickle me with your tails earlier." The man said, and if Nico's every ghoul instinct was not screaming at him to run away as fast as possible he might have been offended. "First is the right to know my name, I am Mundus, the DPU of DEATH and the one who shall one day rule this dimension and add it to my domain! Second, is giving you the privilege to feel a little taste of my powers, the power of the edict of death!"

Raising his hand, the man aimed his right hand's index finger towards him before gathering up his... something. It was the only way Nico could describe this, it was an energy that he felt he should know but he couldn't say from where at all. It was different from the forms of energy that he knew in a fundamental level, as if it was completely unrelated to demonic, divine, or SP energies, but it was just as if not more potent in comparison.

It just felt like something that he should know, something that he should be able to tell at a glance but for the life of him he couldn't and this power was something dangerous.

And then, he released that something towards Nico.

Every shred of his instincts screamed at him to dodge this attack, screw blocking it, and Nico swiftly reacted. Actually, he reacted so fast that his own brain couldn't keep up with what was happening... which would soon prove to be a costly error on his part as it slowed his body down enough that the attack just barely nicked him on his Shield...

And with that, his entire world suddenly erupted in pain.

A huge cry of pain escaped his lips as Nico fell to the ground, his Shields vanishing as he clutched the section of his shoulder where he had been hit. That area had already become redder than the devil's skin, with several scorch marks spread throughout whilst his Tails and Tentacles vanished back into him. "Arrgh! Urraagh! What the fuck-what the hell is this?!'

'UHHHH, KING? THIS IS BAD, THIS IS BAD RIGHT?!'

'Nico! Hold on!'

His aspects tried to call out to him, forgoing any hostilities between them for the time being in the interest of mutual survival, but Nico hardly heard them over the searing pain that spread through his body from his wound. It felt like his entire body had been put inside an incinerator at maximum output, flames of pain spreading through him like the lifeblood that traveled through his veins, but with the ferocity of wild animals on a rampage. Demonic Power, now rushing through him, desperately tried to defend him against this new threat, but the odds were that it would fail since the energy from that attack simply bypassed the demonic energy as if the two were completely unrelated, as if the invading energy was more of a mirage than anything else. He thought he could feel something trying to attack his soul too, though the devil arms were throwing themselves desperately at this energy that was barely fazed by it while something else shielded it before it could do any major permanent damage. Even so, every collision between these two sides, they each got accompanied by these huge bursts of pain that made Nico's brain feel like it wanted to shut down and his inner world was being damaged with each clash. Each clash brought fourth chasms, ruptures, and destroyed a part of his soul itself simply creating holes in it.

Thankfully the energy used was FAR from everything Mundus could do, it was more of a 'testing the waters' than anything else, but it still was the closest thing that Nico has even been to death. It was as if he could feel parts of himself being destroyed by each impact and the pain of it was felt with each impact as well. By sheer luck his memories and personality were intact, but the damage being done to him was most certainly worse than if he was to be dropped in magma and shot in the head and heart 37 times all at the same time as he had every limb ripped out of him.

And this pain was continuing, even as it got a bit weaker with each clash the pain did not stop.

This felt so similar to that Poison he had from 2 weeks ago, but also many hundreds of times weaker!

What the fucking hell?!

Lowering his hand, the man gave a small smirk when he gazed upon Nico's writhing sate. "Well, I'm glad you at least seems like you will survive that much, I guess even a street dog that should have been put down can learn new tricks occasionally. Though in comparison to HIM and how anything related to that motherfucker should be, you're obviously sorely lacking. If it were anyone else you faced today, sapling, you'd be dead meat for the hounds by now. The world of the DPUs is NOT for the weaklings of this miserable piece of rock, it's filled with all sorts of beings who can and will kill you the moment they get the chance, even those failed products that call themselves demons are still stronger than you for fucks sake. Well, I think I'll leave you now with that message, though be warned, I'll not show this mercy to you should we meet again on the battlefield. Now then, taa-taa!" He ended with a sing-song tone of voice before clicking his fingers. In that instant, the man vanished like a blip on a radar...

Leaving Nico to fall unconscious at last. His mind and soul in a state that even calling him 'alive' might be a stretch.

(OST end)


Chapter end!

Well, now THIS was one big roller-coaster huh?

First, Nico's finally revealed what he really is, the beast which he has kept trapped inside. It's a POWERFUL beast as well, and while some of its powers have been shown, not all of them have. It's power has been hinted at by Biko in the past, plus the way that Nico fears its might during the other chapters of the story is NOT unfounded, for a multitude of reasons. However, as time passed since the Hellverse incident, Nico has become closer and closer to unleashing the beast within, so by the time the white Nico and his child self appeared, he had nearly reached the breaking point then. Hence, why it didn't take all that much to finally break his restraints, so to speak.

It is a dangerous beast sure, but this guy he fought against, he's like the endgame boss, so of course, he'd practically overpower him. Not to mention he only used ONE technique, and not even one that used energy either, truly cementing the fact that this guy was still leagues upon leagues above Nico and the girls in terms of strength. I'll give you a shout out if you can guess what this technique was, and if I don't get any answers... we'll see.

Second, Helen. Now, I know that what she has done is pretty risky, no doubt about it. She knows as well, but unlike Nico she has also the experience one has when they have her position for a long time. Even though she didn't want it, an event in the past (which has been foreshadowed several times if you look carefully) forced her into it. Only now has she finally got the chance to 'vent' and Lucy herself was more tan happy to help her out. What consequences she would have to go through probably won't be much though, since the world will be going to hell real fast so there'll not be any time to investigate the disappearance of a couple dozens soldiers and a few officials. It'll just be treated as an Abnormal case, like a lot of others did actually.

Now I hope you guys get what type of world this is turning into.

To quote Warhammer: in this universe, there is only war.

Other than that...

read, fav, follow, review etc, and hope to see you all in the next chapter! The chapter which will likely be filled with LOTS of exposition so be ready for that.

Peace out!