Kira is Kage
Lacus is Hikari
Except when they're together.
NOTE:
"Doryaaaaaaaaaa!": normal talking
"Charge!": special case
'Darn!': thoughts
GWA HA HA HA! : Giant creature speech
DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING!
Please… read and review
This chapter took so long to come out not because the process of writing the especially long content…
It comes to my attention that I'm but a few chapters short from 1 million words. To celebrate this special occasion and in light of the approaching 25th December, I've prepared a special art show as a Christmas Present in my profile. Check it out.
And for the record: I DIDN'T FORGET about Lacus' hairpin. There's a reason. Nuff Said.
000000000000000
Barely an hour past after Karren left the ship, Kage and Canard had already distracted themselves as they dealt with a new influx of merchants wanting to do business with them. The waters beneath the Archangel's central section have been completely swarmed to the brim by traders and merchant alike aboard their rafts and boats. It seems, even after the two had all but bankrupted several dozen merchants yesterday, instead of being discouraged, many more were encouraged to match wits and trading skills with Kage and Canard. Taking on a small boat, Kage, Canard and Prayer meet them up and one by one, and the combinations of Kage's savvy trading skills and Canard's blackmailing was all but invincible, resulting in fresh queues of weeping and moaning merchants completely dejected and ripped off continue to flow out of the Underdock.
Fortunately… not all of them suffered such fate.
Kage carefully examined two sacks of rice that a fidgeting grocer carried with him as a random sample Kage handpicked up from 20 others. The merchant looks tired, sickly, and filthy, and yet, as Kage examined two drops of rice seeds in his hand, he found not only they were completely unblemished, they are of equal size, showing that they are top quality. The test was repeated several times, all resulted in the same conclusion. "How much did you say were these?"
"5 cents per sack. Feel free to bid lower. I don't care how much you pay, I need the money." The merchant stated with a tired weak voice.
"Okay." Kage smirked. "Canard, we'll buy them all. No less than a dollar per sack."
"Roger." Canard easily wrote the record down on his new note.
The old merchant's jaw drop so low he almost sank his boat with it. "B… But… why…?"
"Cause I'm gonna need to order another 30 sack of rice just like these ones to be delivered ASAP. I'm prepared to pay a dollar per sack… a dollar fifty if you can manage it real fast."
The old merchant looked like he was 20 years younger. He looked even more reinvigorated when the captain actually kept his word and Prayer happily handed the old man the payment he deserved. "I… I… I don't know what… How can I thank…"
"Thank your own efforts for growing this fine rice. My next order is 30 sacks. Can you manage old man?"
The merchant bowed down. "I'll do my very best."
Kage chuckled and nodded, sending the man off. The merchant walked out happily fifty feet off the ground, earning him confused look from other less fortunate merchants.
Of course… there are also cases like this…
Screams and howls had been heard incessantly from above the ceilings of the Underdocks. And while the Underdock of the Archangel is currently a very noisy place, one can't help to notice the screams of pain and horror amidst all this commotion. Finally, one rather nervous merchant can't help to ask the captain who was inspecting his pepper. "Captain Kage, sir?"
"Hm?" Kage motioned him to go on without his eye leaving the pepper in his hand.
"May I ask… what is that noise?" The merchant fidgeted as he pointed a finger upward.
"Noise? Oh, that? It's nothing."
"I'm sorry but… call me curious… were you… (gulp) torturing a prisoner… or something?"
"Torture? Oh no, no. We don't have any torture rack; I'm no fan of torture." Kage chuckled. "No. Those were… well, some guys who gave me some bad deal."
"Bad deal?" the merchant gulped.
"Yes. They're spice merchants like you. I think they claim hailing from Spain… Oi, Canard, you still got some of their goods left?"
"Yeah, a few." Canard then tossed Kage a clay pot. Kage uncork the pot and showed its content to the curious merchant. The content was pure white crystal sand.
"This is…?"
"Sugar." Kage smiled. "Go ahead. Try it."
The merchant carefully and slowly poked the sugar sand, and then put that poking finger to his mouth. Indeed. It's sweet. "Mmm! Yes. This is some good sugar!"
"Indeed. It's premium sugar." Kage chuckled. "They tried to sell me 60 jars just like this one. 2 dollars per jar."
"That's a generous price for such premium quality sugar, sir. Why did you call it a bad deal?" Sugar was quite a rare commodity in the eastern continents at that time.
"Hah." Kage laughed. And then, he smashed the clay pot on the ground. When it shattered, the content was revealed: The small upper portion of it is sugar… beneath it… all sand. The merchant jaw dropped. There should be limits to swindling. "Other than this, I also found some guy who tried to sell me a muddy matsutake which has more mud than mushroom, three crates filled with a few layers of grounded beef on top covering layers and layers of expired stuff underneath, and a few others… Anyway, my men need some target practice so…" Kage turned back to yell at one of his soldiers. "Oi! Tell Lockon to drill their arrow reloading speed, I'm still hearing too many screams in-between shots!"
When Kage turned to the spice merchant, there's no color left on his pale face. Kage paid no heed and continues examining the pepper. "Uh-hm. Okay. These are good. 30 jars like this one, 1.5 dollar/jar is worth it. And there aren't anything suspicious in it… is there?"
The merchant answered nervously in a peep. "No… of course not."
Approaching noon, and Kage decided to delegate the tackling of the merchants to Canard and Prayer who, by that time, knew exactly what was expected of them, thus, Kage can leave them so that he can tend to other matters. Namely, Xingke who was waiting on the edge of the dock, his eyes practically screaming his need to speak with him, ASAP.
Kage climbed away from the makeshift floating market area as soon as the raft docked on the edge. "So. Karren. Or should I call her Kallen Stadtfeldt the Red Lotus? One of the Arsenal Five. Anything else you wish to tell me, Xingke-darren?"
"It was not my intention to deceive or to keep things away from you, Kage-darren." Xingke bowed down apologetically. "This decision came as a surprise to me as well. When she first left, I was under the impression nothing would please her more than to cut all ties with her previous division. Based on what I gather, she changed her name, and joined the 7th division for reasons known only to her."
"(Sigh…)" Kage shook his head. "So… what happens now? What do you want me to do?"
"Kage-darren, Imelia-darren ordered me to be her eyes and ears to observe and guide you. She bids you to report to her in person at her stronghold in the Cao Wei Fortress in Beijing as soon as you passed the test."
"Yesterday, you said something about the Land of China will test me." Kage snarled a sarcastic laugh. "And what is the test?"
Xingke bowed down politely. "Kage-daren, you still remembered what I told you about Shanghai, yes?"
"Yeah? About how it's a lawless city with the highest crime rate and yadda-yadda and all that… all a direct result of Rena Imelia's handiwork of doing nothing?"
"Indeed. Your test, Kage-daren, is to bring this city down to its knees."
Kage laughed at the ridiculous test. "Xingke-daren… you haven't told me one thing… the most important thing: Whywould I want to see her?" Kage smirked. "If it's just to sate her curiosity of me, then forget it. I have too many things to do, after which I'll be gone. Gone to continue to fight in this war which she wanted to win so badly. You can tell her that for me that she can be sure that I'm on her side… at least for now."
Xingke frowned. "Kage-daren… I take it you had yet been updated on the current events?"
Kage blinked. "…what?"
A short while later, Kage, Canard, Mwu, Murdoch, Murrue and Natarle gathered together in the briefing room, where Xingke quickly debriefed them on the current events. "Our spies had reported that a massive fleet is being assembled in Boaz. An expeditionary force of unprecedented size and strength."
"How big?" Natarle asked.
"Their last report, two weeks ago, is in the vicinity of 890,000 strong at LEAST." Everyone's eyes widened. "And more are still being gathered from every garrison across the entire breadth of the Zaft empire. At the rate they're going, we may well be seeing a 1 million strong force by the end of this week."
"That's impossible! I've never heard the Empire would launch something that big." Natarle rebuked.
"They have to empty a lot of strategic assets across the globe to come up with that number." Mwu followed. "That would leave a lot of their fronts open for attack."
"In fact, the reason I was able to get this report, is because our scouts can actually see Boaz in the light of the day." Xingke reiterated. "The reports indicate that in order to muster such forces, they had no choice but to momentarily deactivate the Living Island's Defense Mechanism, the Mirage Fog."
Natarle gaped. "That same Mirage Fog is also the same fog that is responsible for rendering the entire Zaft Empire Plant Continents virtually invisible and inaccessible. They turn it off, and they just shut down one of their first and most important line of defense!"
"If we're talking about so huge of an army…" Kage replied as he rubbed his frowning temple. "…Boaz HAD to stop emitting the Mirage Fog. They need a clear line of sight in order to guide such a vast number to gather in one place." Kage explained. "They must be REALLY desperate to win, to take such risks."
"Exactly the point." Xingke replied back. "This is an act born out of desperation. They too are suffering from a series of unprecedented events." Xingke glanced meaningfully at Kage, who quickly took the hint. "You are the first person ever to ACTUALLY kill a Hakutenkun, one on one. And not just any Hakutenkun. Goud Veia the immortal abyss. Before you've proven otherwise, many had thought that as long as Veia stands, the Empire of Zaft will never fall till judgment day. And then that debacle in Japan where you completely outsmarted Raww, resulting in his obvious demotion and forced his condemnation. And finally… this latest event."
Kage tilted his head.
"Barely a few hours since you landed on Shanghai, and it was already shouted in the streets on how, on your way here, you somehow wound up trapped in Junius for a week, all alone." Kage and Mwu winced. This does not escape Xingke's notice. "Not only had you managed to survive unscathed, and ignoring all other irrational hyperbole bits, the next part of the story also told how you managed to gravely wound Andrew Waltfeldt. That's three Hakutenkun within a matter of months since you first showed up. If I'm Zaft, just the death of one Hakutenkun would be more than enough excuse to launch a punitive expedition." Xingke paused for a moment to allow the other captains to absorb the gravity of the situation. "Now we're talking THREE most important pillars of their military. They need to perform a massive push, lest the whole world will think they're weak. And we have no choice but to respond in kind. I think you all should notice by now: Captain Houston is here, Captain La Flagga, Captain Ramias, and now, Kage-darren are all here. With Imelia-darren, nearly half of all the captains of the Alliance forces stationed allover the world are in China right now. We too are consolidating our forces, gathering our strength to face the hammer fall."
"You're quite convinced that they will come here? To China?" Murrue's temple frowned.
"At first, we don't know where they'll be heading. I simply made a prediction. The fact that you reside in a mobile fortress doesn't make the job easier." Xingke looked at Kage. "But now that you have finally landed here, I'm 100% sure of it now." Xingke bent forward to stress his point. "They'll go after you, Kage. You. That's just about how scared they are of you. And with your fortress ship damaged to such degree… you won't be able to go anywhere. Not for a long while at least. It's only a matter of time before someone finds you, report back to Zaft, and their punitive expedition can finally launch in the earnest now that you are a fixed grounded target."
Kage doesn't need Xingke to know the complication of his crash landing into China. "…what did she… what did Rena Imelia want to talk about?"
"Plenty. And I take it… with this new information of the impending battle; you would have a thing or two to say?"
"That depends… how many we have?"
"We've been gathering all troops from many divisions. Currently stationed in China are: 20,000 of the 9th division, 50,000 of the 12th, 380,000 Regulars from the 10th division, half of the 11th division naval fleet is here; that's several thousand ships of varying sizes with 10,000 Battlecruiser flagships at the ready, additional forces from other division amount to roughly 400,000 men." The other captains easily balked at such astronomical number.
But Kage was hardly impressed, judging by the way his brows knitted. "And how many for my division?"
"Last I checked, counting the recruiting lists from outposts in China alone… we accepted 975,000 new recruits." Xingke quickly added. "And more are still pouring in, daily."
"Bloody hell…" Murdoch gawked with a wide grin. "We outnumber those Zafties two to one!"
"And each individual Zaft knights is stronger than an untrained overeager recruit by 5 to 1." Kage's blatant answer instantly erased Murdoch's optimistic smile.
"That doesn't change the fact that the invasion will come. And even with that many recruits… you will need help to survive this, Kage-daren." Xingke repeated. "You will need every help you can get. That's why I believe that you must talk with Imelia-daren."
"975,000." Kage groaned. "You do realize there's no way I can't accept them all? How many percentage of those guys are combat ready and useful for the coming conflict? How many of them really mean it, and how many are just… make things up as it comes along…?" Kage glared at Xingke. "I'm NOT Harlbarton. I can't just… take people in out of some displaced pity and all…"
"I understand."
"But… sorting out 975,000 in so short of a time…"
Xingke sighed. "I do not presume to tell you how to deal with your men. However, may I make a suggestion?"
"Shoot."
"2000 battle capable men are; urgency notwithstanding; inadequate. You need to resupply both men and equipment. And while I did say there are 975,000 men, they are currently spread across China. However, until yesterday, there are about 245,000 recruits in Shanghai alone. May I suggest you start with this group?"
Towards 1 Million Word special
Chapter 44
Bringing Down Shanghai
Part 1: Challenge Game
"And that's how the situation is, in the nutshell." Kage stated. After that meeting with Xingke, Kage decided to do what every captain can do: he delegates his job to his men, the Juppongatana… well… what's left of them.
Canard, Prayer, Neil, Setsuna, and the rest of the Juppongatana responded with a few solemn nods as they stood in the Captain's Office, the Bridge Tower. On the opposite side of the table, Kage was sitting in between Xingke, Mwu, Murrue and Natarle as he continued his briefing of the situation at hand. His Shadowguards were curiously nowhere to be found. "Thusly, I need you guys to spread out to every outpost in Shanghai, find those recruits, select them, sort them, and filter them. See if there are any of them are of use. Any questions?"
And then a hand was raised from Canard at that juncture. "What about the Fuckin' Challenge Game?"
"Challenge what?" Kage blinked.
"The Fucking Challenge Game." Kage seems to be the only person in the meeting room that was unfamiliar with that term. As expected. Canard blared at Xingke while making his point. "Are you holding back on him, you fucking Zombie-man?"
"I was about to tell him later, Lt. Pars." Xingke endure Canard's well known profane verbal beating with the stoicism of a fellow first lieutenant. He turned to Kage, who's looking at him asking for some explanation. The explanation was given. "The Jiāngjūn Yóuxì. Or Challenge Game, as you so eloquently put. Is a-"
"HYA~HAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIII!"
Before Xingke can finish explaining, an ungodly loud roar reverberated from outside, drowning all voice, stopping Xingke's barely started explanation. Everyone also closed their ears to block the loud screech. "Wh… What was that?"
"WHERE'S KAGE! I WANT TO SEE KAGE!" The voice came from right above them.
Kage rushed out of his office and looked up at the source of that roar. A kid, standing right on the roof of the Bridge Tower. He has bright blue spiky hair, with the spikes sticking in out in the manner of a star-shape. He is rather short, not really tall, but has a well-muscled build due to constant training. His eyes are green. His outfit is a sleeveless black shirt with a funnel-like collar, with white trousers that are black from the knee down and just a little short of being full length jeans. On the front of his collar, two short strips of grey material adorned with rivets stretch down fro, the top of the collar. He also has similar strips wrapped around his neck in the form of a scarf, and around his waist in the form of a belt. Over his black clothing he wears a slightly customized Alliance Regulars Flak Jacket. Rivets can also be seen on his pockets and on the ends of his trousers. On his hand, he wears gray fingerless gloves with heavy wrist weights and has a band going across the back of each hand, adorned with a star. His footwear is basic black boots with white tips, with a star shape visible on the toe of each boot. On his right shoulder is a star-shaped tattoo.
"WHERE IS HE? WHERE'S KAGE!?"
"What on earth are you doing up there!?" Kage barked. "Stop screaming and get down here before you trip and break your neck!"
The boy looked at the masked figure. "Ah, you there! I'm looking for Kage! Where is he?"
Kage blinked. "…you're looking at him. What business has you with me? Come down here so we can talk proper!"
"Huh?" The boy looked down at the masked figure. He bent down his knee a bit and then: "ToH!" He jumped off the roof. The idea was to land right in front of Kage perhaps, but he missed a step and instead he jumped over Kage's head, and smashed his face on a pillar upon landing, even leaving a nice crack the shape of his face on the pillar along the way. The boy quickly recovered and stood back up face to face with Kage.
Or at least… he tried. Kage is somewhat taller than him by almost a head. The boy had to bend his head up to look at the masked shinobi in the eye. "…"
"…what?" Kage finally asked.
"…No. No, you're not him! I heard he's 7 feet tall!" the boy barked.
Kage groaned as he rubbed his temple. "Yes, I've heard. Spit fireball from his nostrils and shot lightning bolts from his ass. What else?"
"Kurohoshi-daren?" Xingke joined the conversation.
"Oi, Xingke!" The boy responded.
"Kurohoshi?" Kage blinked.
"Kage-daren, this is Nara Kurohoshi."
"Call me the Great Black Star! I'm the guy who's gonna surpass God one day!" The boy introduced himself and then quickly pulled out a pen. Before anyone can stop him, he wrote his signature on the pillar where his face print can still be seen. "And that's my signature! That one's a lucky pillar! It got my awesome faceprint, and now it got my hundredfold more awesome signature! Be grateful! WAHahahahaha!"
Making a mental note to seal that faceprint and clean up that ridiculous star shaped signature later, Kage slapped his head. Xingke followed. "Kurohoshi-darren if you are here, than that means the Soul Eaters Spartoi is here too, is it not? Where's your Sergeant, Maka?"
"Meh, Maka should be in Tools Toul To right now." Black Star replied calmly, and then he went back to his bombastic roaring. "AND CALL ME BLACK STAR WILL YOU!? ANYWAY! I'm here to CHALLENGE KAGE! BRING HIM BEFORE THIS GREAT ME!"
"Like I said, YOU'RE LOOKING at him!" Kage barked to match the boy's yelling. The boy can't seem to hear voices other than his own. The boy stopped yelling for one second and looked at this masked man. Black Star narrowed his eyes and then finally turned to Xingke. Xingke gave a nod, confirming Kage's identity. And finally, Black Star acknowledged that this guy is the genuine article. And still he narrowed his gaze.
Kage groaned as he finally gets the chance to send some points across. "What are you doing here on my ship? How did you get here in the first place!?"
"There's no place this great me cannot go to! I'm here to challenge you in a Challenge Game!"
"Challenge Game again?" Kage growled. He looked at Xingke. "Look, for one second, would somebody PLEASE explain to me WHAT THE HELL is a Challenge Game?"
Somehow, Xingke can understand the reason for Kage's frustration. And he sympathizes. "Challenge Game is a tradition in China adopted by the regulars. Kage-daren, you… George had told you about how there are two types of army residing in China, did he not? The first are the regulars." Xingke motioned at Black Star not so regular appearance.
"And the other one?"
"The Masters." Xingke answered simply. "Kage-daren, you are well aware that the Chinese Government made martial arts as part of normal school's activity, yes? In truth, this is a tradition that predates even the Alliance itself. We are talking about the days and time of which is already lost beyond count and recall. Dare I say it even predates the Samurais' existence… The birth days of China's Martial Arts: Kung Fu."
Kage narrowed his brows. "Kung Fu…"
"We started with simple movements that make punch and kicks more effective. As time went by, the styles and techniques grew more elaborate, more powerful. During those times, China rives with martial artists. Ranging from amateurish to master levels. However, warriors or not, we are still only human. And humans have their own needs and wants… more often than not they clash one another. If it's just simple brawlers and bouncers trading punches and kicks… it's barely worth noticing… but… if it's two master level warriors having a violent disagreement… You, and Kurohoshi-daren who lived in Japan, a country who once suffered the Sengoku Period… you should understand the chaos that would ensue, right?"
"IT'S BLACK STAR!" Blackstar roared. "AND YES! I GOTCHA!"
"I understand." Kage nodded.
"The same thing nearly happened to China. There was a time when the infighting was at its fiercest, causing untold destruction. It was during such time that the Challenge Game System was created to solve this problem. When two or more parties are in dispute and cannot solve it with discussion, the two may enter into a Challenge Game. They will duke it out, winner takes all, the loser will have to submit to the whims of the victor. Very simple really." Xingke explained. "This is an ironclad rule that has been established not just in Shanghai… but in China as well. No one, not even all the Emperors and Empresses of the Fire Court can redact this tradition."
Kage rubbed his chin. "I'm starting to understand what you're saying… but… I have a few questions… if it's like that, won't it allow someone with enough strength to literally beat his way to the top? He or she can… I don't know, challenge the Emperor for the throne and switched the whole system and all… and one more thing-"
Xingke smiled, edging Kage to go on.
"From one fellow citizen of a warrior nation to another, as you had already known, we are no stranger with fighting to settle dispute. But… this is a system made by human. Humans will try to convenience themselves, making things easier by backdoors and backstab. Even warriors have cheaters, liars and rule benders, Xingke-daren. How do you solve that… or you don't?"
"Aha!" Xingke chuckled. "I was hoping someone of your caliber would catch that quickly. Yes, Kage-daren, the system isn't exactly perfect. And there's also a risk of this system being abused. For that reason, the system also came with rules. First, when two parties are engaging in a Challenge Game, they must first place a wager. The wager of which must compensate the grandness of the challenge. In order to challenge, say, the Emperor for his Throne, it will require a wager that is proportionate in value, like… a throne to your own country. Otherwise, the other party may refuse. Which brings me to the second rule, which is highly correlated to the first: when a challenge game is issued, both parties must agree to it out of their own will."
"Ha! Yeah right." Kage snarled at that last remark, knowing how sometimes human will can be bent by various means. He learnt that harsh lesson in Terminal.
Xingke also smiled bitterly and in understanding of the obvious. "The Third Rule is made to further prevent the abuse of Challenge Game system. Each party engaging in the Challenge Game is allowed to set up a parameter. Rule of Engagements if you wish to call it so. These parties include the parties directly engaging the Challenge Game… and the Judge that presides over it. A Challenge Game MUST have an odd number of judges to avoid a tie should the decision be cast in vote. One, for small scale engagements, or as much as needed, if the scale requires it so. They are allowed to set up certain regulations to the Challenge Game. For example: no weapons allowed; fists only; or kicks only, etc, etc. The catch is, the Judge will determine a number of Rules that must be obeyed by all, and each party participating in the Challenge are allowed to set up only a SINGLE rule. Another catch is, the challenged has the right to set up the rule FIRST before anyone else, followed by the Judge, and finally the challenger. This gave the home party a distinct advantage as they can set up a rule that works in their favor. Of course the Judge can overrule the participants' rule if they feel the rule is too one sided and unfair."
"I get the gist of the system now… but… you said each party can set up a rule… won't that give the home party an even bigger chance to cheat? What if even the Judge was corrupt and get bribed or something and then he allowed an unfair rule?"
"I see you are no strangers to the evils of mankind's heart… I would even say you're too familiar with it." Xingke smiled lightly at Kage.
"Don't condescend, Li Xingke. I've seen the sort of blackhearted humans that would make a shame of devils. Rules made by men are only as convenient to them as men allowed it to be." Kage darkly glared at Xingke. And for a moment, even Black Star was somewhat unnerved.
Xingke nodded apologetically and continues his explanation. "It is as you say. Rules are made by men, and can be bent by men. For that reason, this Tradition is under the watchful eyes of the Masters."
"Masters?"
"The 12 Martial Arts Masters. The mightiest warriors of all China, and Guardians of the Fire Court. They oversee the comings and goings of the Kung Fu Warriors all across the Central Plain, watching and regulating the proceedings of Challenge Games. They're also responsible for the progress and development of Kung Fu in the China, maintaining its traditions and culture, ensuring its perpetuity. The Challenge Game is one of such tradition that has been going on for countless millennia, Kage-daren. Those who dare to blemish it will suffer the wrath of the 12 Masters… of which… by the way… I'm a member."
At this, Kage and Black Star looked at Xingke's smiling face with widened eyes. "You?"
Xingke merely chuckled. "Now, Kurohoshi-darren, I believe you wish to challenge Kage-darren. If Kage accept, I'll be more than happy to preside over this challenge, if only to give Kage-darren the first taste of what's to come."
"YahhOOH! Thankyu, Xingke! And it's Black Star! So! Kage! I wish to challenge you!" Black Star pointed a finger at Kage. "Fight me in a Challenge Game!"
Kage sighed… "Mind if ask… why do you want me to fight you?"
"Your name." Black Star suddenly murmured. "I wish to take your name. Your title: Kage!"
At this, Kage perked. "My… title? Oh… I see… You're from Orb?" After meeting so many parties hailing from Orb, Kira became quite wary of the day an Orb warrior come before him to ask him to relinquish this stolen badge of honor.
"Huh? No. But anyone trained in the Shinobi arts would know that name!" At this, Kage became somewhat puzzled. But Black Star quickly rambled on. "The name Kage is a title reserved for the Strongest Shinobi! And that means, that title belongs to me! I'm the GREAT BLACK STAR! AND I'M GONNA BE THE MAN THAT OVERCOME GOD ONE DAY! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Anoo… if you're not from Orb… how can you be learned in the ways of Shinobi? Who taught you?"
"Taught!? BWAHAHAHAHA! WHAT NOTION IS THAT!? I DON'T NEED A MASTER! MY GREAT SELF IS ALL I NEED TO ACHIEVE GREATNESS! MWAHAHAHAHAHA! OH HALO OF GODNESS! YOU CAN APPEAR BEFORE ME NOW! WAHAHAHAHAHAA!" Black Star laughed out loud to the sky while Kage merely sweatdrop while he turned to Xingke, as if asking: 'Is this guy for real?'
Xingke responded. "I believe he's self taught… and the results are not half bad, mind you."
"Black Star!" This time, a female voice calling out from another direction.
A tall, attractive and rather well-endowed young woman of Japanese descent of around sixteen or seventeen years old came running towards them across the stairs towards the Bridge Tower. She wears a pale yellow, sleeveless outfit with a skirt end that has a slit down the side with a bright yellow star emblazoned on the right side of the chest. She also wears a dark brown scarf and a tight dark brown stocking on her right leg starting just above the knee and white boots. She wears a sash that looks similar to Black Star's grey riveted straps that wraps around her waist twice and hangs down diagonally from right to left. She has long black hair tied up in a ponytail and large indigo eyes. "Black Star! There you are!"
"Oh! Tsubaki! I'm here!" Blackstar cheered.
"Mou! And here I was wondering where you went! First thing you do when we arrived at Shanghai this morning, you ran off to God Knows where! Then people told me you went here! What are you doing?" the girl, Tsubaki, moaned.
"Maa! Don't worry about it! Anyway, I'm taking this guy on a Challenge Game! Get ready will you!"
"This guy?" Tsubaki turned to Kage and unlike Blackstar, she can easily recognize a Black List Captain standing before him in the flesh. "KYAAAA! Black Star! Tell me you're not challenging this man!? This is… this is Kage you know!? Kage the Black Devil! A Black List Captain!"
"I know! AND BEATING THE BLACK DEVIL WILL MAKE ME ONE STEP CLOSER TO GODNESS! SAA! BLACK DEVIL! PREPARE YOURSELF!"
And while Blackstar obnoxiously roaring, Tsubaki was as freaked out as she can get. "F-f-f-forgive us, B-b-b-black D-d-d-d-d-devil-sama… I-i-i-i-I'm Tsubaki… p-p-p-please go easy on us…" And then her sight landed on Shiki, and she gaped in recognition. Regrettably, neither Kage nor Blackstar notice it.
"Chotto mate, Xingke-darren said I had to agree to the Challenge Game and I haven't agreed to anything." Kage moaned.
BlackStar twitched. "Ja, then are you saying you're just gonna give up your title like that without a fight!?"
"I'm not giving it up either. But I refuse to agree to your challenge."
Xingke quickly cleared his throat. "Umm… Kage-darren. I have to further warn you. Once a Challenge has been issued, if you unilaterally refuse the Challenge, it's the same as you lose by default. And that means you have to give up the matter in dispute."
"WHAT!?" Kage roared. "I thought you said the challenge is only valid when both parties agreed to it!"
"Yes. But the decision to disagree with the Challenge Game must also come from BOTH parties. If one agrees and the other does not, and the disagreeing party cannot give a good reason… then the disagreeing party is as good as losing the game and must abide by the winner." Xingke explained. "And remember, as the one being challenged, you possess a distinct advantage of being able to set up the rule first."
"In other words, you're saying I have to convince Black Star to drop his challenge?" When Xingke nodded, Kage gave a direct demonstration… by showing how he had to walk limp using Shiki as a cane. The unknowing spectators blinked in surprise.
"Captain Kage… your… leg…" Tsubaki clasped her mouth.
Having made his point, Kage explained: "I have two reasons to reject your request, Blackstar. One: your dispute is that I'm using a title that I have stolen. By all rights, I'm not even supposed to wield this name. But… what has been done is done. One day, I'm prepared to answer for the misuse of this name to its true wielder. At the moment though… I'm but a pretender to the throne. A faker. No worth whatsoever." And then Kage rubbed his injured thigh. "Secondly, as you have seen yourself, currently, I'm crippled. Even if you beat my crippled self, people will not see you as the slayer of the Black Devil. History will only see a kid who beat down a crippled and injured opponent. They won't respect you for that; no, quite the opposite, they will be disgusted at you. If you say you wish to achieve the path Godhood… a dishonorable conduct such as that will only blemish it… don't you agree?"
Xingke also nodded. "As the presiding Judge, I'm afraid I must agree with Kage-darren. He made a very compelling case. Compelling and honorable, for he not only considers the honor and fairness of the Challenge Game, which I support, he also considers your honor, Kurohoshi-darren. History will not look favorably upon you if you beat down an injured man in cold blood." In his heart, Xingke also marveled at Kage's skill of diplomacy. Instead of making it as if trying to shield himself with his injury, Kage use his injury to protect that which Blackstar value: his honor.
And while Tsubaki was taken aback by Kage's calm and polite demeanor which is a far cry different with the terrifying image that she had been led to believe, it got Blackstar into thinking very, very hard. "Then…" Blackstar snapped his finger. "Then I have a solution! Tsubaki!"
Suddenly, much to Kage's shock, the girl transformed into a short katana. "What!?" As the katana neatly landed on Blackstar's hand, Shiki buckled violently in her sheath. 'Shiki?'
'That girl… I've been feeling it a bit… but she's… the same as me…!? No… she's more… ancient…'
'Ancient?' Kage turned to the small kodachi in Blackstar's hand. "Blackstar?" Suddenly he had a bad feeling on what he's up to.
Blackstar lifted the Kodachi and suddenly plunged it to his own thigh. Fortunately, Kage and Xingke quickly reacted and grab hold of Blackstar's arm before the blade reach the thigh. "Oi! Are you crazy!?"
"No! But this is the only way to be fair! If I tore my leg up, then our fight would be fair!" Said Blackstar with a wide grin on his face.
Kage made a mental note to not too seriously try to understand the nutty logic this kid goes by. "No! No! You will not do it! Not for the sake of a god damn fight! You don't heal this sort of injury in a day, and we got an invasion force coming to us soon!"
"Invasion? What invasion!?"
"Listen to him BlackStar." Xingke followed. "A large fierce battle is coming, and we need every able body we can get. Yours included."
Blackstar stopped his attempt for a moment to digest the new information and finally he stopped and sit down. Tsubaki transformed back to her human form during the process, also sighing in relief. Kage watched her transformation with further astonishment. And finally, he made a conclusion that dared him to ask: "Tsubaki-san… you're not human… are you?"
Tsubaki blinked and then nodded. "Hai. I'm a Shikigami of the Dark Kodachi, Tsubaki." She looked at Shiki and nodded. "Forgive me for asking… but is that my little sister you're carrying?"
"Little sister…?" Kage looked at Shiki, and then it hit him. "Wait a minute… you were also made by Hattori Hanzou?"
"Hai. Our father made many sentient blades in his time. I'm one of the oldest of his creation, and thus how I can materialize myself as a shikigami." Tsubaki humbly bowed.
"Shikigami… Shiki, you can do that?" Kage didn't remember Shiki ever materialize her physical being in such a manner.
"Umm… I don't think she can… at least, not yet." Tsubaki pointed. "She's not old enough. Her spirit is… well, haven't matured fully."
'Is that so?' Shiki replied.
'It takes time. Shiki-chan, right? I'm Tsubaki. Nice to meet you!' Tsubaki smiled.
'Nice to meet you too…' Shiki awkwardly replied. 'Tsubaki… nee-san… eh?' Shiki somewhat flabbergasted. She never even heard anything of weapon like her having the concept of family.
'Ah-hahaha. Tsubaki is just fine. Nee, nee, Shiki-chan; How old are you?'
Meanwhile, while Tsubaki and Shiki were having a nice family mental chat, the other people had no idea what's going on as Tsubaki kept staring at the silent Shiki on Kage's hilt, letting out only a few chuckles every now and then. This makes a rather awkward soundless situation, with only gulls cawing in the distance to fill the silence.
It is BlackStar who once again broke the silence. "KreAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHH! What are the odds!? We're both ninjas, and we're both having weapon forged by the same swordsmith! NuoooHHHH! I can't stand it anymore! Kage! Fight me!"
"I told you already. If it's the title Kage-"
Blackstar interrupt before Kage can finish. "It doesn't matter whose title you're using. I want to fight you, YOU! The man before me right now!"
"Why?" Kage asked.
"Why? Because 3 Hakutenkun you have beaten me to the punch." Blackstar explained. "Because in a few short weeks, your name was roared even louder than any other name ever roared."
Kage frowned darkly. "So this is all about fame?"
"Why would a man as great as me care about fame!? I'm as famous as it gets!" Blackstar roared proudly. "Didn't I tell you already? I'm the guy whose gonna surpass the Gods one day! To achieve that, I just know it'll be extraordinarily hard. It has to be. Otherwise a man of my stature wouldn't even bother to walk it! And to do that, I had to become strong! And to become strong, I had to surpass even stronger people! The Hakutenkuns were on the list of such people, and you have defeated 3 of them! I'd say if that doesn't shot you right to the very top of the most powerful being on the planet, I don't know what is."
Kage blinked upon hearing Blackstar's answer and began to see the boy in a whole new light. Sure he's got an ego, but, at least he backed it up well with no pain no gain attitude that Kage find easy to respect. Now, they'll just have to tamper this unhealthy dose of ambition to the right direction with some patience. "Look. First, I only killed one Hakutenkun, outsmarted the other one, and, truth be told, I seriously had no idea how I managed to survive the third one without an insane amount of luck."
"And even if that's not the case, it's still a billion millenniums too early for you to challenge our Captain, fucking starhead." And came the coarse and profane words of Canard who suddenly appeared out of the Captain's office.
"Gah! Canard!" Black Star glared at the dark haired lieutenant's wide grin.
"You can't even beat me, how do you expect to beat the captain?" Canard grinned as he tackled and put his captain's head on an arm lock. "And you, a Captain shouldn't answer all Challenge Game left and right! Not when you can send your men to the fight!"
"Ergh…!? What…!?" Kage grunted under the headlock.
"Oi, Zombie-Man! You haven't told him about the proxy rule!" Canard snarled at Xingke.
"I am about to." Xingke cleared his throat. "In the event when you are unable to participate in a challenge game for any reason, you can ask someone else to be your proxy. Which in this case… it could be your first lieutenant, Pars-darren."
"I can do that?"
"You sure fucking can." Canard grinned as he let the captain go before eying the deviant Black Star sinisterly. "You wanna get to the captain; you had to beat me first!"
"Wait a minute, wait a minute! I didn't sanction this!" Kage growled. "We have a battle right in front of us and we CAN'T afford two top fighters injure one another in a fistfight like this! I can't agree to this!"
"Then, Kage-darren, how bout if you set up a rule that will limit that?" Xingke finally propose a solution. "By not fighting, you are entitled to have the right to become a judge for this Challenge Game. That being said, you also have the right to impose regulations to this Challenge. Perhaps you can set up some?"
"But if that's the case, there will be even number of judges! We need odd number of judges!" Blackstar blurted.
"In that case, either Xingke or Kage withdraw from judgment-" once again, another voice came from right behind them, this time from the roof of the Bridge Tower. Everyone turned and saw a girl with ash gray hair carrying a scythe standing on the tiles. "-or, I can join in on the Judge Panel to make an odd number of Judges."
"Maka(-darren)!" Black Star and Xingke echoed.
Maka, still brandishing her larger than life scythe jumped down. And yet, she landed gently, as if instead of free falling to the mercy of gravity, she glides down from her perching spot earlier to land soundlessly on the floor.
Kage's gaze widened. Matching the girl's physical attribute and weapons with the ones he heard from George; this must be another one of the Arsenal Five: "Maka Albarn the Deathscythe, I presume?"
Unlike the bombastic and loud Black Star, Maka turned out far more mature and calm. Upon seeing Kage, she politely bowed down. "Pleased to meet you, Captain Kage. I'm sorry for my subordinate's misconduct."
"Think nothing of it." Kage shook his head as he chuckled.
"Anyway I heard enough to get the whole idea out of it. Black Star, if you really need to fight, why don't you try to fight Lieutenant Canard first? Last I recalled, he beat you down to the inch of your life… and you could barely even touch him."
Blackstar went into some deep thinking and concluded… "CANARD! I CHALLENGE YOU!"
"Sure, sure…" Canard gave a meaningful triumphant glance at Kage, who caught the meaning and nodded. "I only got one rule. Just let me go all out. I'll make sure I won't hurt him… much."
"Now then, Kage-darren, as the judge, you have the right to set up the rules regarding this match." Xingke explained.
"The rules? Okay… the rules." Kage looked at the overeager Blackstar and the confident Canard. "First rule… no killing. This is not a fight to the death. You're not allowed to kill your opponent."
"Got it." Canard snarled.
"WORKS for me!" Blackstar yelled. "My rule: we're using REAL weapons!"
Kage frowned. And for a moment, he thought he should use his rights as a judge to belay these dangerous rules. But on second thought, he resolves to simply… circumvent it. "Then, second rule: first three strikes marks the winner." Kage turned to Xingke, just to make sure. "I can do that right?" Xingke simply nodded to confirm it. And seeing no one protested, the rule is passed on.
And so, the two fighters were brought into the dojo. This fight also brought many audiences. Chief among them, the other members of the Juppongatana.
Canard and Black Star stood on the dojo, face to face, with Tsubaki at Black Star's side.
Kage, Xingke and Maka stand at the center as the presiding Judge.
"Heh! This time it will be different, Canard! Be honored that I'll be using you to be the stepping stone of my path on becoming BIG!" Blackstar pointed confidently at his opponent.
"Back those barks with some bite, Fucking Star-head!" Canard snarled. He's carrying only Glamm, while his signature seven swords were absent. But Kage quickly noticed that he's carrying two bags, filled with… swords. Katanas, bastard swords, rapier, saber, the lot.
Xingke took a few steps forward. "Challenge Game…" He lifted his hand, pausing for a briefest moment before he brought it down. "BEGIN!"
On cue, Blackstar charged. "Tsubaki! Kusarigama-mode!"
"Hai!" Tsubaki obeyed and transformed into a pair of chain linked scythes.
Kage's eyes widened. 'I remember she transformed into a kodachi earlier… She can transform into different forms too? Is this a trait of a Hanzou blade?'
'I don't know, master. Other than the latest generation (AN: she meant the other Sacred Super Weapons wielded by Athrun and Co.), this is the first time I met another Hanzou blade like myself.' Shiki replied.
'This… this is disturbing: another Hanzou blade in the employ of the Alliance?'
Blackstar caught the sickle and rushed towards the waiting Canard. Canard smirked and grasped the bags containing swords: "Mugen, Ittouryuu: Armure Lumiere Formation!" Canard lifted the bags and suddenly slammed it hard to the ground. The sheathed blades inside the bags were shot up to the sky and spread around, stabbed everywhere all over the room: on the floor, the ceiling, even the walls. However, it is not just some random chaotic discharge. As proof, while the blades seem flying around at random, no one was killed by a stray blade, though some blades did went straight to Blackstar. The boy managed to block the attack with Tsubaki, but that was enough to give him pause and stopped him on his tracks. Suddenly, the battlefield was filled with countless blades. 'Tsubaki… this is…?'
'Yes… there is more than 5 times the number of swords he used as compared to our previous match. His Armure Lumiere Formation technique has become stronger…'
"You remember, fucking Starhead? When we fought the last time, we stopped because my fucking sword broke, otherwise I would've turned into mincemeat." Canard grinned viciously as he pulled out his new sword: Glamm, Halrbarton's inheritance. "Now, there will be no excuses!"
Spinning the Tsubaki sickle, Blackstar grinned. "My thoughts exactly!" He went into his battle stance. His mouth began mumbling: 'Assassin Law no 1: Conceal yourself in the darkness, still your breath, find a path to your target…'
Canard merely smirked and took the initiative as he swung the giant blade in a wide arc, sweeping several dozen swords and sent it zooming towards the ceiling above him. "Mugen Ittouryuu, Ran Shigure! (Riot Rain)" Said sky was littered with blades as well, and the rising floor swords hit the ceiling swords in a series of loud clashes before being reflected back down to the ground in a cascading chaotic rain of swords.
"TSUBAKI! SHIELD STAR!" Blackstar stretched the chain linked sickles and the chains extended to incredible length. His hands blurred as they weaved the long chains at blinding speed. Moments before the blades reached him, the chains had formed a dense steel chain web in the shape of a giant star that moments later caught and trapped the raining blades amongst its nets. Blackstar momentarily turned and gave a smile at Canard jut to see the look on his face… only to find he's no longer there.
"Not bad." Blackstar looked up and saw Canard is right above him, his feet sticking to the ceiling with chakra. As he did, Canard swiped two swords stuck on the ceiling towards Blackstar's Chain Web defense in a particular formation: the two swords flew ahead of Canard forming the shape of a cross.
Blackstar tried to think of a counter, but before he can do so, Canard had finished his move: "Mugen Ittouryuu: Onigiri – Kanadzuchi! (Demon Cutter Hammer)" Swinging Glamm in a massive vertical chop, the zweihander struck the two swords right on the point where the two blades crossed, increasing its destructive power on that exact point. Worse for Blackstar; that concentrated force was used by Canard to hammer a single blade currently stuck on Tsubaki's chain web defense net. The blade was propelled forward with the force of a cannon and shot through Tsubaki's Star shaped defense. Blackstar almost couldn't dodge, but his cheek was nicked while the sword cratered the floor behind him upon landing, scaring the wits out of nearby spectators.
Blackstar quickly backed down and made some distance between him and Canard. He glared angrily at a snarling Canard.
Kage saw the scar and stated: "1-0." He also began to regret his decision not to ban the use of real weapons. "I thought Canard can only use 7 swords…"
"An easy misunderstanding, considering his title, Seven Sword." Xingke nodded. "He was nicknamed 7 swords because, for the sake of practicality, he prefers to carry only 7 at a time. But… give him enough resources… he can use a hundred, if not a thousand all at once using his Armure Lumiere Formation Style."
"Armure Lumiere… French… Lightbringer Armor." Kage rubbed his chin as he narrowed his eyes.
"It was named as such due to the gleams generated by the surface of the blades that were scattered allover the area at the beginning. And make no mistake, they may seem haphazard, but Canard had strategically position each and every sword accurately down to a millimeter, allowing him to have access to the right swords at the right time and at the right place. Even the Masters once tested the Armure Lumiere Formation defensive capabilities and recognized it to be a formidable defensive and offensive technique, potently blended into one lethal combination. It was nearly impervious to all known defense breaking technique; very few people can actually break through it, even fewer are those who can do so without sacrificing a limb or two."
Blackstar swiped the blood trickling down his injured cheek and growled. He concentrated once again and recited the second law of Assassination under his breath. 'Assassin Law no 2: Know your target, be able to guess his thoughts, predetermine his movements…'
Canard merely snarled as he flicked his finger several times, challenging Blackstar. The ninja gritted his teeth and roared: "Tsubaki: Shuriken Mode!" Tsubaki transformed into a five pointed star shaped shuriken which Blackstar quickly throw at Canard. The long haired First Officer merely grinned and grasped his giant sword tight. "Mugen, Ittouryuu…" Veins popped out of his arms. "Sanzen Tatsuryuumaki! (Three Thousand Dragon Wind Spiral)" One roundhouse swipe and a small but powerful tornado spun out, plucking out nearby blades, forming a bladestorm that buzzed forward towards the spinning Shuriken. The Shuriken and the Bladestorm collided, and shards of broken blade from Canard's technique flew away to every direction, showing the obvious that weapon quality-wise, Tsubaki won, hands down. The spectators had to run here and there to avoid those shards, as they're flying at dangerous and lethal speed. However, Canard's technique was much more powerful, and the Tsubaki Shuriken was smashed back. Blackstar, fully knowing that will happen, caught the Shuriken which he quickly spins around, adding to the momentum and once again, he threw Tsubaki a tad harder. However, this time, Blackstar took advantage of his surroundings and aimed Tsubaki at the swords. Upon collision, Tsubaki bounced back and directed herself at the bladestorm, using the force of the recoil to strengthen the attack.
"Hoo…" Kage nodded. "That Black Star ain't half bad either…"
Xingke smiled… nervously. "Yes. He's a talented combat genius… but… he has a… slight problem."
Maka, who knew exact well what that problem is, also laughed.
Tsubaki clashed once again with the Bladestorm, and as before, she was pushed back, though the Bladestorm significantly weakened. But instead of returning to Blackstar''s hand, she aimed her collision with another sword and once again bounced herself towards the Bladestorm, stronger than before. Upon the second clash, the Bladestorm was almost spent, and Tsubaki bounced one last time and flew straight to Blackstar, who caught her, and then, using the momentum to maximum effect, spin furiously before he sent her back towards the bladestorm, her power exponentially greater than before. 'Assassin Law No 3: Before the enemy became aware of your existence, you must defeat him!'
"What's the problem?"
"Well… it's a fatal flaw for those who walk the path of the Assassin…" Xingke twitched.
Canard whistled in awe as he watched Tsubaki easily broke through his wasted Bladestorm. He grasped Glamm tight and at the last moment, Canard jumped. Midair, he waited and see until he caught a glimpse of Tsubaki's Shuriken Hole. "Weapon Lock!" Canard stabbed the Glamm right through the hole, HARD. All the blades in close proximity were sprung out of their crevices due to the shockwave, and the rising blade hit and locked Tsubaki's Shuriken mode in place.
"NOW TSUBAKI!"
Tsubaki partially transformed into her human form, her hand only to be specific, and with it, she threw a smoke bomb at the caught off guard Canard. The First Lieutenant was momentarily blinded by the smoke, and if only just a moment, Canard lost his cool as he glanced left and right to check his surroundings, waiting for any sign of silent sneak attack.
"…fatal flaw?" Kage now grew more curious. Luckily he didn't have to wait long to find out:
"YAAAHOOOO!" And Blackstar, carrying a katana he plucked out of the floor, used his brand of sneak attack…
…which includes screaming his presence at the top of his lungs as he charged through the smoke towards Canard, effectively announcing his location to the whole room.
"IDIOT! CONCEAL YOUR PRESENCE!" Tsubaki screeched.
CRUNCH!
Blackstar's sneak attack was cut short as soon as a flat faced Canard easily dodged his attack and kicked him on the groin.
Blackstar rolled on the floor in sheer agony, holding his nearly pulverized manhood while Tsubaki quickly transformed to her human form and helped her partner, whereas Canard merely shook his head. And to think he wasn't aiming at that spot, but Black Star keep moving like that and… well… it sort of happened.
Kage's jaw dropped to the floor as his eyes widened to the size of a teacup. "!?0-0;!"
"He's… an overbearing showoff." Xingke slapped his temple.
"2… -0… I guess?" Maka sweat dropped as she announced the standing score.
"Still the idiotic loudmouth, I see." Canard scratched his long hair. "You still rely too much on your Super Weapon, Tsubaki. Like this, you only show how much you are a small fry. I feel sorry for Tsubaki."
"B-Blackstar isn't like that! Sure, he's a bit of an idiot, but… but he can do it when he tries!" Tsubaki quickly defended her master. Not so well, unfortunately.
But then, Blackstar caught it differently. "Oi… Canard… just now… why did you use your kick?"
"Hm?"
Blackstar shot an angry glare at Canard. "You can easily grab a sword and strike me with it! But you use kicks instead!? Are you insulting me!?"
"…a small fry is barely worth the use of swords." And Canard added a mocking smile to push the button deeper and truer.
"What did you JUST CALL ME!?"
Canard smirked. "I called you small fry."
"Oooh.. okay… I get it now…" Blackstar hissed in a barely contained fury. "You're trying to HOG ALL ATTENTION BY CALLING ME A SMALL FRY, AREN'T YOU!?"
"…huh?" Kage and Canard blinked in confusion in their vain attempt to understand the logic of BlackStar's ego.
"UNFORGIVABLE!" Blackstar roared in fury as the background exploded. "IN HEAVEN AND EARTH, THERE'S ONLY ONE STAR! ME! GOT THAT!?" Blackstar pointed at Canard.
Canard frowned and smiled as he grabbed his Glamm. Ridiculous announcement aside, one can easily sense Blackstar's aura had changed. He's finally getting serious. "Heh. Alright. This time, I'll get serious too."
Kage sensed danger afoot. He quickly reminded them. "Canard! Black Star! Control yourself! Remember, no KILLING!" And for a moment there, Kage wasn't sure his warning was heard.
"Tsubaki, NinjaTo mode!" Tsubaki transformed into a short sword and flew to Blackstar's hand, who gripped her in reverse as he get into his combat stance. Canard, likewise, readied his giant zweihander in anticipation. The atmosphere density grew by a notch as the audience held their breath. The auras of these two warriors are clashing one another, it was so dense one can probably cut it with a knife. The only voice came from Blackstar, who once again recite the three laws of the Assassin's Way. "Assassin Law no 1: Conceal yourself in the darkness, still your breath, find a path to your target…" Canard blinked in amazement. 'What's this? Since when that Fucking Starhead can do this?' Blackstar continued to mumble. "Assassin Law no 2: Know your target, be able to guess his thoughts, predetermine his movements…" Canard actually gulped. 'I can't… sense his presence at all… he suppressed it? No…' Blackstar remain still… "Assassin Law No 3-"
Canard's eyes widened in realization. "Wait… you're not him… You're-!"
"Before the enemy became aware of your existence-" in a flutter of leafs, Blackstar turned into Tsubaki. "-you must defeat him! Demon Knife: Dummy Star Mode."
Canard still had yet to realize that Blackstar had suddenly materialized right behind him, fists at the ready. Obviously he intends to smash through Canard with his punch. But taking a wild guess of Blackstar's location, the Lieutenant respond in kind: "Armure Lumiere: Zastave Stigmate!" (Slovenian - Flag Stigmata – AN: I had no idea what this means)" Canard sweeps the Glamm at low altitude and carried several dozen blades trailing behind Glamm like a flag of swords, clothing him in an armor of razor sharp whirring blades that will slice and dice all who touch him, but Blackstar pay no heed.
"HISSATSU!" Blackstar slammed his left fist and right elbow against the wall of swords, earning horrendous damage to himself, but Blackstar can still grin. Balls of pure Chakra splashed out from the point of impact. "KOKUSEI BIG WAVE! (Black Star Big Wave)" Canard gaped as even through the cloth of blades, he can actually still feel the attack coming through… and it's going to hurt, a LOT! "I'm… a GOD!" Blackstar announced proudly.
Canard gritted his teeth as blood trickled out of the corner of his grinning lips. "Fuck off."
And Blakcstar finished his technique. The chakra spheres gathered to his fist, just as Blackstar sent his bloodied punch forward, creating star shaped explosion that smash through the blade cloth. The Zastave Stigmate defense was shattered and its wielder was sent flying across the dojo, only stopping after his back crashed against the wooden wall.
Kage did nothing but tightened his hold on Shiki.
"Heh." A snarl can be heard from across the dojo. A perfectly fine Canard walked out of the crater, brushing the wooden rubbles off his shoulder, wiping the blood from his lips. "If that's all you got, then you'll make one hell of a shitty God."
Seeing Canard seem barely wounded, Blackstar seemingly snapped as he tightly gritted his teeth. Gripping Tsubaki tightly, Blackstar began marching forward. A dark aura began to sip out of his being. "Fine. Let's continue!"
"That's enough."
And suddenly, a cold, murderous whisper reached the nape of his ears, and Blackstar stopped on his tracks. The cold steel blade of Shiki was pressed against his throat as Kage suddenly appeared right on his back, holding his shoulder with one hand and the threatening Shiki with the other.
And no one saw it coming, not even BlackStar. 'Wha… how did he slip past my guard like that?'
Tsubaki gawked in shock. 'His presence… come to think of it, I just noticed that all this time, I could barely feel Captain Kage's presence… no… I couldn't feel it at all! This man… he also walks the path of the Assassin!'
Maka also gaped. She didn't even see the Captain getting up from his seat; he just… disappeared from her sight, without a sound and without a single warning. Being a Sniper, Maka prided herself of never let anything disappeared from her sight so easily… and she just lost sight of a man sitting barely 3 feet away from her.
"What's the meaning of this, Kage!? Are you going to fight me now!?" Blackstar growled.
"BlackStar! No!" An alarmed Tsubaki shrieked.
"No. The battle is over. You lose, Blackstar." Kage declared.
"ME!? LOST!?" Blackstar roared in disbelief. "HOW SO?"
"Have you forgotten the second rule? Three strikes marks the win."
"And I've only hit him once!" Blackstar balked as he pointed at Canard's messy attire, the direct result of his one attack.
"And Canard had already hit you thrice." Kage nodded as he pointed Blackstar's Canard inflicted injuries one by one with Shiki. "First, your cheek." Then his blade moved to his groin. "Your manhood…" Finally, Kage dropped Shiki and lifted Blackstar's ruined and bloodied left fist with his other arm. "And this."
Blackstar scoffed. "It's nothing but a flesh wound."
"Flesh wound or not, it's still an injury. And while it is self inflicted, it was also caused by Canard's defenses, thus it also count as a hit from him." Kage tucked. "Of course, the hit you landed on Canard still counts… but, as it stands, the two of you hit one another at the exact same time, so you both got the point, but Canard won because he was leading in points. That's all." Kage nodded. "I guess it was my mistake for setting up the three strikes rule."
"And that's a wrap, Fucking Star." Canard snarled as he ruffled BlackStar's hair.
BlackStar growled before he barked. "STOP PRESSING MY HEAD! ARE YOU TRYING TO DIMINISH MY BIG-NESS!?"
Canard merely laughed and turned to leave. "Whatever you say, Fucking Star."
That's when Blackstar noticed something. 'Hm? Just now… there's something different with the way he called me?'
Tsubaki smiled kindly. 'He called you Fucking 'Star'. Not Starhead.' Starhead was a way for Canard to make fun of BlackStar's Star shaped hairdo. Now he removed the '-head', that means Canard had began taking him seriously, in his own way.
Of course, it's easy for BlackStar to get it over his head. "OF COURSE! HE FINALLY RECOGNIZE MY BIG GODHOOD! OH HALO! APPEAR OVER ME NOW! WAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Canard slapped his face. 'Someone teach that kid some humility and a measure of common fucking sense please.'
"YOSH! NOW! TO CHALLENGE KAGE!" Blackstar turned to Kage. "KAGE! I CHALLENGE YOU!"
The Captain groaned. "This again!?"
But before Kage can protest, a screech from outside the dojo echoed:
"KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~EEEEE!"
Canard ducked just in time as a medicinal box flew through the hole in the wall and bashed Kage's head silly. Tsubaki and Blackstar gasped as they saw the Captain's head crushed to a stain beneath the box. Then they heard foot stomping and raspy elaborate breathing that grew steadily louder and closer.
Canard quickly move aside to make way for one pissed off armored Doctor by the name of Hikari. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU: NO FIGHTING! (KOFF)" Hikari roared. Her distorted voice magnified to terrifying levels, scaring the begeesus out of everyone, as usual.
"Kage-Honeeey! Are you there~?" Followed swiftly by Simca tailing behind her.
Hikari growled. "STOP CALLING HIM KAGE-HONEY! (KOFF) HE'S NOT YOUR BOYFRIEND! (KOFF)"
"Well, it's okay, isn't it? Hikari-Onee-sama!" Simca quickly glued herself to Hikari's hand. "When he marries you, Kage-honey might want some mistress too, right Setona-chan?" Simca turned to another girl, timidly tailing the other two from behind. Like Hikari and Simca, she too had a pink hair, albeit darker in color. Also, she's the youngest of the three at 13 years old.
"SHUT UU~UUPP! (KOFF)" God. Hikari couldn't believe she prefers Simca when she was still her rival (of love?).
"Hikari-Onee-sama?" Xingke blinked.
"Ah! Xingke! Just the one I'm looking for!" Simca let go of Hikari's hand and approached her First Lieutenant. "Xingke! I just made a decision!"
"Decision…?" Xingke calmly await whatever news Simca wish to break out.
"My Squad, the Genesis Tools Toul To, as well as myself will integrate into the 7th Division, under Hikari's Leadership, effective immediately."
And for the first in a very long time, Xingke found his stoic demeanor actually cracked into a gasp and his jaw hung open. And if even the calm and composed First officer of the 10th Division was THAT shocked, only Heaven can describe the shock of everyone else who heard that announcement.
"…WHAAAAAAAAAAAA~T!?"
000000000000000
Uh, let's go back to the beginning.
Part 2: Pink, Pink, Pink
Morning…
Back to when Kage, Canard and Prayer were dealing with the merchants… somewhere in the other part of the ship…
Hikari now face a grave… GRAVE dilemma as she remembered the matters pertaining to her near empty Atelier. Kage's intensive rehabilitation process is a demanding mistress, and Lily had warned her that she's in dire need to restock. As luck would have it, they landed on Shanghai. THE Shanghai, whose famed market was known as far as Zaft as one of the busiest market in the world to deal trade with, well, everyone, especially consumable item such as food. In here, they say, one can find even the most unexpected items. The saying: the only thing with legs that a Chinese cannot eat are tables and chairs, are in part owed to the many unimaginable ingredients and other consumable goods that came from this particular city.
Yesterday was a fine example to that claim. When she was first invited to Simca's Genesis Workshop, she highly doubted that she can find even half of the list of things she needed in her so called 'advanced medical facility'. She stood corrected. Simca even had access to the rarest and most bizarre things she listed; which, as it stands, bring her to this… dilemma.
A little earlier, Hikari had spent several hours of her morning trudging the streets of Shanghai, ignoring gawking onlookers who saw her bizarre armored appearance, visiting every medicine shop she can find, and they all gave out more or less the same answer:
"Sorry. We're out of stock."
Her suspicion was quickly aroused when one shop practically had plenty of the ingredients she needs right in front of her nose, and yet the owner slammed the door to her face and said Out of Stock. Something, or someone, made these merchants refused to sell her anything, and they refused to explain the reason. Hikari speculated a certain pair of blackmailing Captain Lieutenant was responsible for these negative sentiments she's receiving. But then, that speculation was erased when she found out that there are other customers, complete strangers, were also rejected under the same unclear circumstances.
She also noted that all these medicinal stores are large and, bluntly speaking, high end medicine shops all owned by one particular company, the Djibril Pharmaceutical Co. Is there something about the way this company works that their shop rejects certain customers? And so her thoughts also flew to the Genesis Shop, and her dilemma. That place is a complete Medicinal Heaven. She can find anything and everything there, in good supply and superior quality. Maybe if she uses the badge of Captain of the 7th Division's personal physician, they'll be happy to give her whatever she wanted for free.
But the very thought of having to visit that… that fat breasted bitch's lair… and even ask for a favor from her…
She prefers to be offered Bird Droppings, thank you very much.
Hikari kept wandering around, and gradually, she went further and further away from the glamorous part of the town into a steadily darker and impoverished part of the city. But as she delved deeper, shops are getting harder to find. And finally, she was somewhat lost. It was then, in the midst of this confusion, her sharp ears caught a surprisingly beautiful sound:
"Shizukana, ano yoru ni…"
Lacus Clyne would know the lyrics of her own song anywhere. Instinctively, she followed the sound, using her sensory abilities. And then she caught the song is passing right at her and she caught sight of the singer. 'Oh… my…' A young girl with dark pink hair is running around, carrying some groceries in her small bag while murmuring Lacus' song to herself. Her hair was arranged to form into a pair of hair loopy, cutely tied to a white bow, with two strands sticking out to the side like an antenna that move up and down in a cute way. The girl is 13 years old, and wears a simple white dress, with white dirty gloves and purple boots. Even though it's just a murmur, Hikari noted she has a lovely voice. She spontaneously called her. "Excuse me! (koff)"
The girl heard her and turned around to see who called her. To her horror, the person who called her wears a set of bizarre and horrid bone white armor, laden with tubes and canisters here and there. Any normal people would turn around and bolted. And yet, while the girl was obviously scared, she felt it would be grossly impolite to just run without responding properly. And so she dared herself to ask: "…y-yes?"
Hikari quickly noted the fear in her voice, and her hair antenna also lower down a bit, to further show how she was afraid. Lacus actually finds it cute. She slowly approached her and tried to calm her down. "Don't worry. (koff) I'm not going to hurt you. (koff) I'm… I'm a doctor! (koff) I just… (koff) uhh… I need to ask for some directions? (koff)"
The girl's fear was slightly alleviated, (her hair antenna rises up again) particularly after she noticed that, armor and horrendous voice aside, the 'doctor' is a woman. "…what are you looking for?"
"Do you know of any medicine shop around here? (koff)"
Instead of giving her some long winded verbal directions, the girl opted to walk her there. That's just well for Hikari, now she got a chance to talk some more with this curious little girl. Starting with her name.
"Setona Winters. (koff) Can I call you Setona-chan? (koff)"
Setona nodded. "And… Hikari-Sensei, yes? You… You're a doctor?"
"Hai." Hikari nodded kindly. "And thank you for helping me. (koff) I've been trying to buy up some medicine, but… I've been having trouble finding stores who wish to sell to me. (koff) Do they have a problem with selling items to strangers? (koff)"
Setona gloomily shook her head. "It wasn't always like this." She tucked her head down. "Until a moment ago, there were plenty for all of us. And while sometimes the price is more than what we can afford, we can buy a bit of a few. But… until recently there's been this… talk about… mobilization and all that… and everything change." Setona frowned. "I don't understand complicated stuff. But apparently the army needed the medicines for something. So they've been stockpiling, buying all the medicine they can find… and we were left with almost nothing."
Behind her mask, Lacus frowned in sorrow and sympathy for Setona. War. Most people tend to forget that, while warriors died first at the front line, the civilians left behind were also subjected to a slow and painful suffering in equal measure. The gloom expression on Setona's face was obvious. But, not wanting to make her helper engulfed in sorrow, Hikari quickly switched topic. "Nee-nee, Setona-chan, where did you learn that song? (koff)"
"Song?" Setona picked her head up and one of her antenna twitched upon hearing the word song.
"You know, that song you sang just now. (koff)"
Upon entering that topic, Setona's cheer returned in full a~and her hair antenna flap up and down in excitement, which Lacus found to be both funny and cute. "I well… I listen to it once before… when I was younger… 5 years ago, give or take a few months. There was this… visiting doctor… who is also a singer… she ran a charity solo concert in an orphanage… I was one of the children who listen to her song." Setona closed her eyes dreamily and her cheek blushed, remembering every moment of that concert.
'5 years ago, eh?' Lacus frowned in deep thinking. Until recent events, she hadn't sung in public for a long time… especially in front of children. And then she remembered. 5 years 4 months ago, she was sneaking into an orphanage to heal a certain girl with a tumor on her cheek… the girl was a complete mess when she finished fixing her up, bandages and all the blood. Then, as a final gift to cheer the other children who were still terrified of her appearance, she performed a solo concert, as well as to gather up some charity fund to keep the orphanage going… with splendid success. And then, as her memory jogged up further, she remembered many details of that patient. And her eyes widened in realization.
Setona, that very same girl, is walking right next to her now. All healed up as if nothing ever happened. Setona had yet to realize this though. "She only sang one song… but, by the Gods… it's the most beautiful voice I've ever heard!"
Lacus chuckled. "You have a beautiful voice yourself Setona-chan! (koff)"
"No. Not like hers. Compared to Princess Lacus Clyne… mine are just laughable." Lacus winced upon the mentioning of her name while Setona continued. "Her voice is like… how do I put this… it was soft yet strong. Kind, gentle, and… and… it's an indescribable voice." Setona clasped her chest. "Her voice was born out of kindness and boundless love coming from her heart. It calms the soul, reinvigorate the body, banishing all ill will, leaving only the good and pleasant memories behind… It was… that incomparably beautiful." Setona continued: "And Lacus Clyne wasn't just a singer, she's also a doctor! A splendid one too." Setona rubbed the cheek where the tumor once set. "I wasn't always like this. A long time ago, I had some evil sets in the flesh of my face. Distorting it, bloating it… Many doctors had given up on me… but not her. No."
True. Hikari remembered Setona's previous condition only too well. The tumor had sets in her cheek and spread all the way down her neck. A mass of flesh practically bloated her face to ugly proportions. And now look at her: the very epitome of the word cute.
"I still remember she barged in through the window at the dead of a night. I tried to scream, but she told me she's a doctor and she's going to heal me." Setona grinned at one of her oldest memories. "And she did. I won't be standing here today if it wasn't for her. And then when she sang… she wasn't just singing with her voice, she's also sings with her soul! She healed not just me, but everyone. Their body, their spirit… all can feel her kindness and love. Everyone was reinvigorated by the sheer beauty of her voice… it was amazing…" Setona hummed a tone of the Shizukana song.
'Even her humming was lovely.' Lacus marveled. "What happened afterwards? (koff) After she sang for you, that is? (koff)"
"She disappeared as swift as she appeared. And then the people of the Church came. I don't understand what they're saying… but they're shouting words like… heretic, reaper, harlot…" As Setona listed the horrid names the Church labeled to her idol, she grew visibly angry, and her antenna rise up in anger (again, Lacus thought, very cute – in a manner of speaking). "They took all the charity money she gathered, calling it blood money."
"(KOFF) HOW DARE THEY!? (KOFF)" Lacus accidentally burst out in anger upon hearing that last bit, startling Setona, and a few other people. In her anger, Lacus tend to forget that her distorted voice is as horrid as ever. It wasn't until she saw a surprised and slightly terrified Setona looking at her with widened eyes did Lacus realize her folly. "Oh. (koff) Sorry. (koff) I didn't mean to scare you. (koff) W… What happened to the Orphanage afterwards?"
Setona recovered remarkably quickly. "It's still there… but… a year later I aged out. They just don't have the money to handle older kids."
"Aged out? (koff) You're hardly 13 years old! (koff) 4 years ago that would be… 9!? (koff)"
"Okay… no… I didn't exactly age out… it's just…" Setona smiled happily to herself as her blush grew. "I developed a hobby of singing. And that song… that wonderful song Lacus Clyne sang for us was my favorite. A little this and that… and I decided I want to be a singer, just like Lacus-sama. I've been trying my very best to try and sing just like her… to little success." At the last part, she became dejected, her antenna lowered down. "But here's the thing, the Church said her song is the song of the devils and they forbid anyone from singing it. I didn't listen and kept singing that song. So I walk out."
"Setona-chan…"
Setona frowned in anger. "I don't care what the church says about her. Lacus Clyne saved my life. Even if other people call her the Devil… To me… she's truly an angel from Heaven."
Lacus felt humbled and happy at the same time. Happy because she just rediscovered another one of her patient back in the day, and she's doing well. Humbled because she doesn't feel she deserved to be called as such. She also made a mental note to give those damned Priest of the Church an earful if she ever come back to Zaft. "Would you like to see her again someday? (koff)"
Setona smiled kindly. "I would love to… but… I'm fine as is." Hikari looked at Setona. "I don't think she'll remember me. I mean… who am I? I'm just another nobody's face in the millions of other she must've saved. Lacus-sama had more important things to do than to worry one silly me."
And Lacus was stumped at that innocent comment. Setona clearly didn't mean it, but that was like a hard jab at her own conscience. And to think, there's one patient in this world who believed in her so much… and she failed her expectation, wasting her later years after in self wallowing and pity. Her mind heavy with regret, Hikari thoughtlessly followed Setona to a small downtrodden medicine store.
"Well, this is it." Hikari lifted her head and looked at the story: it's in shambles, dirty, and the goods are few and in-between. Obviously they are of inferior quality. But beggars can't be choosers; Hikari will simply have to make do.
Hikari turned to Setona. "Thank you, Setona-chan. (koff) For everything. (koff)"
"Don't mention it. It's nothing." Setona then looked at the sky, the sun is right above her. "Oh my! The time sure flies! Umm… Hikari-sensei…! Umm… I don't want to be rude but…"
"Go." Hikari understand. She did interrupt her when she was in the middle of something. She wouldn't want to impose on her any longer than necessary. "I'll be fine here. (Koff) And… Setona-chan? (koff)"
"Hm?"
"Think better of yourself. (koff) You're not just a nobody. (koff) No one is. (koff)" Hikari pointed out. "You helped me, didn't you? (koff) That makes you somebody for me. (koff) And that matters. (koff) Don't you think? (koff)"
Setona was somewhat startled at first, but she smiled happily, glad she can help someone. "Thank you!" She quickly ran off, only pausing to turn around and gave a polite bow, and then off she went. Lacus saw the kind and innocent girl… and suddenly she remembered what she used to be. "No… Thank you… Setona-Chan." She whispered before taking a deep breath and then entered the store.
Luckily for Hikari, the store was willing to sell her something. Trouble arises as soon as she made her payment. She has no currency, so she picked something out of her personal purse as payment. A small seed sized yellow shiny stone. At first, the shop owner didn't understand. "Oi, what's this!?"
"Payment. (koff) For your goods. (koff)"
"You're paying me with yellow stone!?" the shop owner barked a tad harder.
Hikari felt a bit of an impasse. If she told him what it REALLY is, she fear the Shop Owner will announce it to everyone and then she'll become a target for every robber, mugger, and all sorts of never do well. "It's… (koff) uh… (koff)"
"I don't want your yellow stone! I want some money!" Hikari's flabbergasting answer further shortened the Shop Owner's temper.
"If you don't want that stone, you can give it to me." Suddenly, a feminine and seductive voice interrupted the heating up argument. Hikari turned around and saw, to her anger, the second person she hated the most (the first was Kira, hands down): Simca, the Migratory Bird. The Shop Owner gawked when he saw a prominent officer of the Alliance Military is at his doorstep, whereas Simca smiled cheerfully. "But mind you, it'll be your loss. A big loss."
The Shop Owner blinked in confusion.
"That's not a stone." Simca stated as she approached the counter. "That's Gold." She plucked the yellow stone from the jawhung Shop owner. She bit the gold to test its purity. "Pure, solid 24 carat gold. She can buy your whole store with this and then some." Simca grinned wide at the Doctor, whose expression is all but undeterminable.
Hikari growled and took her goods before she stormed out of the store in annoyance. Simca chuckled and throw the gold back at the flabbergasting Shop owner. "Better keep that hidden." And then she too ran off and chased after the angry doctor. "Wait! Hikari-chaan!" Hikari didn't stop and she kept walking. But she slowed her pace slightly, allowing Simca to catch up with her and walk at the same pace right next to her. "Are you mad at me?"
"Yes. (Koff)"
"Why? I just helped you!"
"You exposed me. (koff)" Hikari growled. "And I just don't like you. (koff)"
Simca laughed. "Oh, Hikari-sensei… you obviously haven't been in Shanghai for long." She closed her head to Hikari, much to her discomfort and whispered. "There are four guys, armed to the teeth right behind us, waiting for a chance to mug us. They've been eying you ever since you parted with that little girl."
"Yeah, tell me something I don't know? (koff)" She's a Sensor Logia for cryin' out loud. She can hear their evil intent from the way they breathe even before she entered the store!
"Ahaha! As expected of my rival in love." Simca chortled. "And now, they saw that gold… you just waved a red flag in front of a bull. And another 4 are waiting right in front, just around the corner, ready to pounce."
Hikari finally stopped. "Yes. (koff) I know. (koff) I hate resorting to violence. (koff)"
"And… what are you going to do? Talked them out of it?" Simca smirked.
And then, the muggers finally showed up, and the muggers behind them finally catch up. Hikari and SImca simply stand there, waiting. Then again, it was obvious what they're going to do.
"We saw what you gave to the Shop Owner. Give us the rest! And everything else you got. Now!" One of the muggers carrying a wooden bat in a threatening manner growled with drooling lips. The others are just as twitchy. Hikari easily recognize the symptoms.
"Children… (koff) why don't you put down those dangerous things, and go home. (koff)" Hikari gently smiled as she quickly added in a motherly tone: "And stop wasting your life on drugs. (koff) Can you not see those things are ruining your body? (koff)"
The Junkie Addicts blinked in surprise.
"You can't stand up straight… (koff) You twitched unnaturally, your pupils dilated… (koff) You're using. (koff) And now you're starting to suffer from the Withdrawal. (koff)" Hikari shook her head. "Enough is enough! (koff) You don't need money, you need doctors! (koff)"
"How the fuck should we go to doctors if we don't have money!?" The addict barked. "You skyrocketed the price of medicines, you hog in all the doctors for the war, you Alliance Bitches had all but taken everything from us! Now give us your money and DON'T FUCK WITH US!"
Hikari frowned. Just then, she heard cocking sound. Simca prepared her Arsenal gauntlets and greaves for the sake of intimidation. "Believe me boys. It's not worth it. Even if we give you all our money, you'll end up using it on drugs again."
And still they won't listen.
Hikari sighed, realizing violence is inevitable. "…just don't kill them. (koff) Please? (koff)"
"I won't." Simca opened up the magazine of the gun to check the cartridges. "These are all Rubber Bullets."
The muggers at the front attack first, one person charged first. Simca aimed the derringer at her heel and suddenly, the gun blasted-hitting one behind them, and an eye-blink later, the first attacker at the front was sent flying with a punch from Simca's augmented strike. Before the other mugger realized what happened, Simca sent an outstretched open palm strike at the assailants' side stomachs. The open palm strike was hard enough to send them flying, but at the exact moment of impact, the derringer finger nails on both of her hands fired a blast, sending one skyrocketing through a wall, the other one smashed the other attacker, and both were sent tumbling and splattered into the other wall on the opposite side, forming a crater.
The brutal force shocked Hikari. "Goodness gracious! (koff) I said don't kill them! (koff)"
Simca cocked her gauntlet, ejecting a few spent casings. "They'll be fine. Just a few broken bones and all!"
"A few broken bones!? (koff)" Hikari balked.
"Anyway, watch out behind you." Simca motioned the remaining three stragglers right at Hikari's back. But Hikari didn't seem to care.
"It's okay. (koff) They won't be an issue. (koff)" Hikari was playing with a yellow Haro, Barbara, which has diminished herself to the size of a small marble in Hikari's fingers.
As for the remaining three stragglers, they were raising their bats and bludgeons over their head… and suddenly they just stopped moving. Simca squint her eyes and that's when she realized that the reason they can't move was because… Hikari, using surgery strings from her yellow haro, had thoroughly sutured every inch of their bodies until they can't move even a single muscle. Even their feet were stitched shut to the ground.
"Wow… okay…" and while Simca marveled at Hikari's weaponized surgery stitching skill, the armored Doctor approached one of the downed attackers strapped to the wall before slapping him awake.
"Wake up! (Koff) I need to ask you a few questions! (koff)"
"U… Urgh… Wha…?"
"Before I forcibly rehabilitate you, (koff) what happened to that girl who came with me a little earlier? (koff)"
The mugger spit on Hikari's helmet. Hikari couldn't care less. But Simca glared angrily at the mugger, though she also covered it with a cold smile. "Leave him to me. I'll make him talk." Simca smiled seductively at the downed mugger. And then she sat right on top of his neck. It simultaneously choked the poor man with her sensual thighs, and at the same time, pressing the spot where her womanhood would be right in front of his nose. "Now come on, be a good boy and tell Simca-onee-sama what she wants to hear, oka~ay?"
Hikari shook her head.
And the mugger struggled between the hell of being choked to death by the sheer weight of Simca's voluptuous body, or the heavenly sight of the underpants outlining her bulging womanhood. Either he die a slow and agonizing but happy death by suffocation or lived and get away with the scent of Simca's womanhood. He wisely chose the latter. "We… we sent her… to the narrows!" The mugger gasped.
"The narrows huh?" Simca's eyes sharpened noticeably upon hearing that name.
"What does that mean? (koff)"
"The Narrows is one of the most lawless parts of the city. Specifically, it's a red light district, filled with bordellos and pleasure houses. Most of the 'workers' are kidnapped girls, bought and sold by the Slave Traders." Simca coldly explained. "They drugged the girls, made them an addict, and then work them to death as prostitute."
Even the usually patient Lacus was instantly boiling in anger. "How is it that you find it in yourself…(koff) to do something as inhumane as that!? (koff)"
The mugger choked his unrepentant answer. "She's a virgin… worth a lot of money…"
Simca no longer smiled, as her expression is now cold with silent fury. She even consider firing, but Hikari stopped her. "I told you… (koff) don't kill him. (koff)"
Simca reluctantly back away as Hikari moved in. She began by gently caressing the man's cheek… and then suddenly, she yanked the man off the crater by the neck, and then struck him several times at certain pressure points before demonstrating an impossible strength by tossing the man to the sky like a ragdoll. "Hijutsu-" Grabbing the yellow haro once again, Hikari unleashed countless strands of strings that enveloped the mugger. "Jorougumo no Houyou! (Demon Spider Bride's Embrace)" A moment later, the mugger was hung on the sky, thoroughly stitched head to toe like a butterfly caught in a spider web, except that the strings actually pierced into every part of his being. Soon, Hikari angrily performed the exact same treatment to other muggers, and the alley was soon decorated with 4 bodies brutally sutured and hung several feet off the ground. The other four were strapped and stitched tight to the wall. And they all had their eyelids and mouths sutured shut.
The moans and painful mumbles indicated that the process is extremely painful. At least, that's what a gulping Simca theorized. "Uh… okay… what did you do to them?"
"Didn't I tell you I'm going to rehabilitate them? (koff) They won't be able to move much less abuse any drug or do anything other than mumbling and endure their rehab. (koff) And the more they try to struggle to break free, the tighter the stitches, the more painful it'll be for them. (koff)" Hikari further added: "As they are now in withdrawal (koff) the strings will amplify its effects. (koff) I suppose it'll be like Hell for them right now. (koff)"
True enough, if the Junkie Mugger's mouth weren't stitched shut, they would be screaming non stop at this unbearable agony they're feeling. 'IT HURTS! GOD IT HURTS! SOMEONE! SOMEONE GIVE ME SOMETHING! HEEEELPP!' 'HURRY UP AND KILL ME ALREADY! AAAARRRGGHHHH!' 'MY EYES! MY MOUTHS! MY BRAINS! IT BURNS! AAAAAAAAAAAARGHBHH!'
Simca's gulp was quite audible. "Uh… you're not gonna leave them like that forever now, are you?"
"Don't worry. (koff) the strings will dissipate after a week… (koff) Plenty of time for them to rethink their life a bit. (koff) After that… Simply put… (koff) once it's done, the drugs will no longer give them any pleasure afterwards. (koff) Only pain. Sheer pain. (koff)" Hikari coldly walked away and left the moaning and mumbling muggers to their fate. Simca smiled and quickly followed the doctor.
"So… I suppose it should be obvious what we're going to do next." Simca, reverting back to her cheerful disposition, stated the obvious. "Find her, track her, rescue her. Right?"
"We? (koff)" Hikari glared at Simca. "What do you mean we!? (koff)"
"Hikari-chan… we're on the same team! I'm going with you. After hearing all that, I'll be damned if I let that girl suffer the same fate many other girls have."
Hikari didn't stop or turn to face Simca, but she barked. "Why do you care? (koff) For all I know, you Alliance have started this! (koff)"
"Started this?"
"What that mugger said: you Alliance skyrocketed the price of Medicine, sent all doctors to the front line leaving none behind to care for the civilians? Those addicts aren't the disease, they're the symptoms. Victims of the Alliance War effort!"
Simca paused at Hikari's accusations, took a deep breath and first stated the obvious. "Alright. Let's be frank. You don't like me… and I don't like you either… because you truly are my rival of love for Kage-honey."
Hikari also stopped to listen to what she has to say.
"But you know what? That doesn't mean I don't respect you. Yesterday, when you gave me those list, and the superb way you treated Kage's injuries… wow. I was moved. I was truly moved." Simca gave Hikari a slightest of nods. "Seeing that I respect you, I also knew you're not all that naïve. As bad as things are today… it was way better than it was during the Opium War. THAT… is what naïve ignorant fools would say."
"Opium War."
"Yes." Simca continue walking, followed by Hikari, matching her pace. "Even now, Triads, Mobs, even Yakuzas flooded the streets with drugs, turning desperate people into scumbags and lowlifes like those muggers at day to day basis and by the hundreds. In response to the Opium War, China had long forbidden the plantation of poppy flowers, the main ingredients to Opium under the penalty of death. But the traders get smart: they smuggle them in from the outside. We had no choice but to tighten the reins on drug: we tax them, search through them, some medicines suspected to be used to smuggle opium were burned. You can guess what happened next: demand far exceeds the supplies… and opportunist like that bastard Djibril lifted the price to obscene levels to make themselves astronomically rich."
Lacus frowned. "Why did they reject some of the customers back there?"
"Preparation for the great battle that is to come." Simca frowned. "The Alliance practically bought all existing stock of important medicines critical for their army… but… make no mistake Hikari-chan. As dire as things would've been, the Alliance always find some sense to leave behind barely enough for the populace. But then… the final coffin nail was when we discovered recently, that the Mob smuggled Opium by lacing opium on some of the drugs sold on the stores. We had to close down several shops where we found the tainted goods, burnt tons of medicines suspected to contain the Opium… between that and the embargo, the ongoing limitation to the medicine supply I mentioned earlier… this year's reserve for medicine are especially thin. Those shop owners had no choice but to play hard to get. Dark seasons are coming ahead of them. I can understand their feeling."
Hikari continue to listen to Simca's every word. The timbre of bitterness in her usually cheerful tone, the seething fury and incandescent rage beneath it. She really hates Opium… with passion.
Simca growled. "People talk about the Opium War as if it was history. Well it's not. In fact, I would say things are worse than ever. The Narrows, the Bordellos, the practice of addicting kidnapped girls… they're all legacy of the Opium War, and they're still, to my anger, a great part of this twisted society. For some of us, that war is still very much in progress. A never ending lifetime war."
At this comment, Lacus piece things together. "…you're an addict."
Simca paused at that sentence, and she quickly answered: "WAS an addict." Hikari also stopped and looked at Simca. The Arsenal Girl took a moment and began regaling her story. "I was a country bumpkin when I first arrived here. Naïve and too trusting. Long story short, they lied to me, kidnapped me, put enough muck in me to make me an addict. I willingly sold my body just to get a fix. And then… Captain Imelia found me."
"She put you in a rehab?"
Simca nodded. "I don't know what sort of hellish rehab you put those poor bastards through, but for me, Imelia-sama's brutal rehabilitation regime are hell enough." Simca can easily remember the days she spent in rehabilitation: stark naked, caged and chained as to prevent her from killing herself out of sheer agony, and with barely intact sanity, she screamed until her throat burst, begging for some opium or for the good captain to just kill her if only to end her misery. And Imelia often answered it with a brutal hard splash of ice cold water. When she finally straightened out, it took her some more time to whip herself into shape, and she learnt her lesson, joined the army, spent some time learning about drugs in the 8th Medical Division. Eventually she found her calling with firearms and Arsenal gear, and she became the Master Tuner upon her triumphant return to the 10th. "I don't ski the old alps anymore… but…" Simca caught sight of another addict sitting lifelessly in the corner with blank eyes staring into nothing. "…the feeling never disappear. The temptation to relapse… the memory of the pleasure I gained from just one whiff of that accursed substance… every time I saw one of those poor bastards, I keep imagining it was me in their position, eyes blank and hopelessly addicted. I swore then and there, I will NEVER let anyone to go through that suffering, ever again."
Hikari looked at Simca. There's no lie in every word she said. There's only anger, fury, and seething hatred that Lacus knew all too well.
"When I transferred from the 8th Division, I bring some of the like minded crew with me, and together, we formed the Genesis Tools Toul To Squadron. Officially, it's a place for training new tuners, which doubles as a place to also train field combat medics for the 10th division… regenerating their quickly burnt out roster, hence the name. That's what I told to the officials, if only to leech off some funding from those penny pinching dullards."
"What is the true purpose of Genesis?"
"To battle Opium." Simca resumed her walk as she answered. "You saw my private store-room yesterday, yeah?"
"Yes?" Hikari followed right next to her.
"For years, I've been trying to create a counter drug. The worst part of rehabilitating an Opiate Addict is the violent withdrawal symptoms that came with it. And even when they're healed, there's still a chance for a relapse. I'm trying to create a drug that can substitute the effect Opium… giving them the same effect of pleasure… minus the addiction, thereby easing the reaction. And eventually, I want the drug to slowly and surely quench the junkie's desire to use, causing them to stop taking drugs completely." Simca chuckled. "End goal, I want to create an Opium repellant drug that is so powerful, a former addict will never be able to relapse again."
Suddenly, Lacus began to get where this is going. "Simca… when we met in that store… that wasn't a coincidence, was it?"
Simca chuckled as she was guilty as charged. "Genesis is formed not only by pharmacists I managed to gather from the 8th Division, but also other boys and girls who were once an addict. After a violent rehab, they recovered, and now they're hell bent on combating the grips of Opium both on their soul… and others. That being said… we could use every medical help we can get." Simca looked meaningfully at Hikari with obvious intentions.
Lacus laughed. "I don't know Simca. I got my hands full as is."
"Agreed. Now's not the time. Let's go get that girl first." Simca chuckled as well.
Soon, they reached the Narrows.
One look, and already Hikari felt immensely uncomfortable. It's a long alleyway, a narrow corridor, branching into smaller alleys, hence the name. Some girls were practically parading their barely covered body at the front entrance, laughing madly under the grips of drug. And that's not all, both sides of the street were covered in buildings, each and every one of them are either an opium den, a brothel, or both mixed together into one. All of them are crowded with people. "They brought Setona-chan here? (koff)" Lacus twitched angrily behind her helmet.
"Yes… and this is a bit… problematic…"
"What? (koff) Why? (koff)"
Simca pointed at the rooftop with her chin. "Look there." Hikari looked up and saw a lot of armed guards with guns and snipers on standby in every corner… They are far too heavily armed for some bouncers to deal with out of control drunkard and troublemaking customers. "That's a lot of guns… I suppose after what happened, those drug runners are on edge… what's with Kage-honey showing up…"
"Sorry? (koff) What does Kage had to do with this? (koff)"
Simca noticed that some of the people in the said streets are starting to give them weird looks, and she quickly took precaution. "Not here. Come on." The two made some distance from the entrance and Simca began explaining: "In the last few weeks before Archangel Arrived, a series of raids had been occurring allover Shanghai. Most of the raids, each executed with the effectiveness of a professional army, were concentrated on illegal opium dens and secret narcotic production facility. At first we thought they were just hired thugs of the gang… but we stood corrected. This group hit everyone: The Mob, the Triad, and the Yakuzas. We don't know who did it. We do know they're fast, furious, and left behind MASSIVE damage. The latest one, the biggest, happened just last night, right after Archangel arrives. A whole building owned by the Yakuzas was flattened to the ground. The druglords had been hurting bad, on edge, and they're now out for blood."
"How is it that Kage became linked with it? He wasn't here until yesterday. And aren't you supposed to be happy someone is battling Opium, albeit in a different way?"
"Oh, don't be mistaken, Hikari-chan. I'm VERY happy." Simca clasped her hands together. "So happy in fact, me and my crew has been doing everything we can to stop the army from getting in their way. But things is currently taking a turn for the worse when the mobs start pouring into streets and make them anything but safe. Plus, orders from the top, vigilantes don't get a free pass, and in truth I'm under orders to hunt them down. As for how Kage became involved… well coincidentally, this fad is starting right as soon as Kage showed up on the Blacklist Wanted posters. It's not just copycats that were roused from their slumbers. There are also these kinds of people. People who were inspired by Kage to rise up, and start doing the right thing… though they may not do it the right way." Simca glanced at the docked Archangel. "And then just yesterday, Kage showed so spectacularly with a loud bang: aboard an out of control floating fortress. That was like the coming of the Messiah himself. The mobs and triads are scared shitless. Hence… the added security."
Hikari growled darkly. "So… what? (koff) You're saying we can't just go in there and… (koff) and… how do you soldiers say it, (koff) beat everyone down, (koff) beat them some more, (koff) and then when everybody's bones are broken, (koff) ask questions later? (koff)"
"I can't just waltz in with my entire squad into that gauntlet, guns blazing. The best way is to find the poor girl's exact location, then we can go in, hit them hard and fast. And yes, that will take some time…" Simca bit her lips in frustration. It was obvious that even she herself doesn't like this idea. "Well… lucky thing is… seeing Setona is… as they say… a valuable 'product'… that brought us 48 hours to check each and every one of these houses for clues to her whereabouts. After 48 hours, she's an addict, or dead."
But Lacus, already so worried halfway to death for Setona, has no patience to wait for 48 hours. "I'm so far beyond waiting! (koff) If I have to, I'LL BURN THIS WHOLE STREET down to the ground RIGHT NOW! (koff) I-wait…"
"What?"
Lacus placed her hand behind where her ear would be. Her sharp ears struggled to catch the faint sound of a song amidst the noise. Yes. Song. The song Setona loved the most. Her song. "…" As if possessed, Hikari start running back towards the Narrows, following only her ears. Simca watched in panic as Hikari bolted straight to the red zone. She understands of course, that somehow, someway, Hikari had found a way to track their target. She laughed. "Oh… what the hell!" She decided to follow her anyway, skating just behind her in excitement.
Hikari zoomed across the streets, followed closely by Simca. The pair easily earned gawking looks from hookers and their clients alike. After all, in this red district, girls who did not show at least 4/5 of their naked body are an oddity. Even more so when they are fully armed, head to toe. Hikari ignored their looks and concentrated on the sound of Setona's singing. It grew clearer and louder as she approached a big house at the end of the Narrows.
"Hikari… I don't know what sort of clue you're using… but… are you going to tell me that clue is leading to that house? That big, ugly, and ridiculously glamorous and luxurious house at the end of the streets?"
"Yeah. Why?"
As expected, the pair stopped right in front of the gates of the said house. As Simca said it, the house is just… ridiculous. Yes. It's a big mansion. It's shiny gold… but on closer observation it's really just being painted gold. But the worst part… are the decoration. Faces. Faces. Faces. Everywhere, faces. Which is actually quite common in house architecture… except the fact that the owner went overboard and styled even the tiles of the roof with faces… and the worst part: all faces depict the same ugly pig of a person. "Simca… (koff) is this… (koff)"
Simca easily answered. "Yep. That's the face of the house's owner. A total egomaniacal self absorbed jerk that would shame even Blackstar." Hikari merely shook her head. "But this is great." Simca laughed. "I always wondered how long it'll take for me to personally charge into the house of the Mob's Don, right at the front door."
"Don!? (koff) This is the house of the Mob's Boss? (koff)" Hikari blinked. One more look at the house's ridiculous architecture and Lacus had to fight an urge to vomit. "A guy like this… (koff) a Don of the Mafia? (koff)"
"Yep." Simca chuckled. "Don't judge the book by its cover. If his skills are as bad as his looks and taste, he wouldn't be able to hold control over a portion of Shanghai undisputed for so long. And speaking of which, here comes the welcoming committee."
The welcoming committee in question consists of a bunch of really big guys, all accompanied by other few slightly smaller ones, all armed. But leading them is a tanned man with blonde hair. Unlike his mostly Caucasian entourage, he's of Indian descent. The tanned man stopped before Hikari and Simca. He looked at Simca with recognition. "Nahe Herschel, at your service. Good afternoon, Lieutenant Simca. How may I help you?"
Simca smiled cutely. "Afternoon, Nahe. How's business?"
"Ahaha." Nahe Herschell chuckled. That was just formality speaking though. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?" Unlike the gruff and brash atmosphere of his bodyguard, the man was pretty soft spoken and gentlemanly.
"I'll get straight to the point. You have someone that belongs to us, and we want it back." Simca smiled. "And for every minute she remains in your custody, you might end up getting hurt a little bit too much."
"Simca, knock it off. (koff)" Hikari tapped Simca's shoulder. "We don't want too many bloodshed. (koff)"
"This comes from the girl who said she's ready to burn the whole narrows to the ground?" Simca's chortling comment caused Nahe's bodyguards to flinch.
"If I HAVE to. (koff)" Hikari replied. "Back then I didn't know where she was until now. (koff) However (koff) the fact is you have taken someone that wasn't yours. (koff) Give her back to me, and that would be the end of it. (Koff) Do it not… then I'm afraid I will do so by force, and trust me-(koff)" Hikari added. "You will not like that side of me. (koff)" As she said this, the yellow Haro rolled menacingly next to her boots.
Nahe blinked in interest at the armored lady. Scary appearance, threats, and horrid voice aside, she seems to be the voice of reason. "Indeed? And who is it that you're looking for, my good lady?"
Simca turned to Hikari, who simply answered. "A girl by the name of Setona Winters. (koff)"
The bodyguards were stumped at that request… and then they laughed their brains out, much to Hikari and Simca's confusion. "What so funny?"
Nahe was the only one not laughing, but he's smiling nonetheless. "I hear you right? Setona Winters? Milady Winters?"
"Milady Winters?" Simca blinked in disbelief.
Nahe smiled. "Yes. Daughter of Don Winters, the head of the family."
"Simca, what is he saying? (koff)"
"He just said that your girl is the daughter of one of the major crime lords in Shanghai." Simca reiterated.
"Oh. (koff) I see. (koff)" Even with her distorted voice, it was easy to tell that Lacus was hardly surprised by the revelation. Then she looked at one of the many faces plastered on the house. It's an ugly pig… and then she remembered Setona… and seriously… she saw no family resemblance whatsoever. "If that's true, (koff) why did Setona-chan told me she lived in the Orphanage? (koff) What's more, if she's the boss' daughter, why kidnap her? (koff) The last thing I heard from her was a scream of horror. (koff)"
Nahe smiled and silenced the snickering bodyguards with a look. He then turned to Hikari, and still with that gentlemanly and calm voice, he spoke. "I don't know what you've heard, my good lady… but you're right. Lady Setona was, in her early childhood, lived in an orphanage. She contracted an illness where evil bloated her face. And then some few years later, she was cured, and her father decided to take her back. Very few people know of this… If you know this much… you must be a very good friend of Milady Winters." Nahe politely bowed to Hikari in respect. "Lady Setona had a… disturbing habit. She loves to walk around the city, without escort, without our protection. As the fact that she's the daughter of our Don was not well known, she became target for Kidnapping for forced Prostitution… and I think that's exactly what happened just now. Fortunately, we always post a guard to watch over her, even from a distance. We acted immediately when it occurred. Rest assured, she's safe now. She's with her family now, and amongst the people who loved her and will protect her at all cost."
For a moment, that seem to be good enough for Simca… but not for Hikari. However, she finally nodded and starts to walk away, together with Simca. Before she left, she take one more look at the tower where she knew Setona at. But she turned away and started making her way out of the Narrows, under the wary gaze of everyone.
Hikari kept walking, not sure where she's heading with thoughts on Setona filled her mind. She just… walks. Until finally she just doesn't know where she wants to go anymore and she stopped right above a bridge. And then Hikari noticed that Simca is following her. Simca tried to talk some sense to Lacus. "If you go in there and take her… Don Winters will be well within his rights to call in the army and take her back by force. You'll be known only as a kidnaper."
"I know." Lacus sighed. "…but he's a crime boss. The Mob leader. If the army is the law enforcements here, why didn't you guys do anything about it?"
"You think I don't want to nail that fat ass to the wall!?" Simca spat. "He paid up with the right people. And no matter how many of his goons we arrested, we never been able to tie him to it. The number of times I had to watch his ugly smug as he virtually waltzed out of my grasp right at the scene of a crime…" Simca gritted her teeth as she balled her fists tightly in anger.
Lacus didn't reply and she began to despair "I saved her once. Why is it that I can't save her now?"
"She was your patient?"
"As a doctor… I have one rule: there are only two ways someone can stop being my patient: they walk out of my table smiling and laughing… or they die on it." Lacus tucked her head down. "Setona is doing neither laughing nor smiling back there."
Simca frowned and nodded.
As Lacus continue to mourn, her ears caught another sound…
"Shizukana… ano yoru ni…"
"Heh?" Hikari looked left and right, searching for the source of that song. That voice was not Setona… but… seriously, outside Zaft, how many people knew her song really? Hikari kept searching, much to Simca's confusion, and finally she realized the song was coming from right beneath the bridge.
Hikari and Simca came down and then they saw a series of ramshackle houses, made of maggot eaten cardboards, rotten wood plates, rusty trash cans, broken pipes, garbage bin… and whatever trash its inhabitants can find, all slapped together to create a slipshod piled up multi storied houses to live in that was built into the bridge structure itself. However, even with such effort, it was easy to see this is no place for human to live as it looked like it will collapse at any moment. And yet the singer that sang her song was nothing more but a child clad in some rags. Upon seeing his singing had attracted attention of strangers, both looking particularly scary, the child peeped and ran into the papier mache trash house.
What's more, he's not the only inhabitants. When the first child run into the house, many other heads popped out, curious to see this uninvited guest. Lacus noted that some of them are children, others are the elderly, others… are just people who stare with blank eyes.
"Simca… (koff) WHAT is this?"
"The true face of this city." Simca frowned. "Vagrants and orphans. Sickly Old timers, homeless scarred people, depressed junkies, and parentless children. People that wouldn't be missed… people who are all but been forgotten by the society as a whole, and forgotten the society in turn altogether. These kinds of people fell together, finally creating their own society of the lost, abandoned, and the forgotten, living in slums made of trash such as these."
"But this is… this is an orphanage. (koff) A makeshift one… (koff)" Hikari frowned. "Do you not have a proper orphanage in this city?"
"Plenty. But do you have any idea how fast children can turn into orphan in this city? 10 people were killed on the streets every day, every week. At least 3 of them often left behind children. Between that and rampant child abandonment, all existing orphanage are over capacity as it is. We don't have the resources to find and care for every orphan that sprang out every day while maintaining order in this chaotic city at the same time!"
As soon as Simca had finished explaining, the two suddenly found themselves surrounded. Hikari counted 6 of them, and all of them are in their early teens. One, in particular, seems to be the leader of the gang, the largest of them all, stood up in front of her carrying a steel rusty pipe. "Okay bitches. Cash, jewels, all your god damn stuff, out and then you can get the fuck out of here."
Lacus blinked. She looked at Simca and asked, just to confirm her suspicion: "Are we getting mugged? (koff) Again? (Koff)"
"Yes we are." Simca nodded.
Hikari merely shrugged as she turned to face the head mugger.
The head mugger growled menacingly. "Didn't you fucking hear me, bitch!? I said gimme your fucking cash, you dumb fuck bitch!"
SLAP.
The mugger gasped as something whipped him by the cheek on the right. And yet, Hikari's hands aren't moving… safe for a tiny golden Haro playing on her palm.
"What the fuck-"
SLAP.
Now something whipped him from the left. Hikari sighed. "It's not polite to use so many f-word when you're talking to a lady, young man."
"The fuck is your fucking problem-"
SLAP! SLAP!
The boy was slapped left and right. "NO!" Hikari growled. "NOT 'The Fuck is your problem!' It's 'What's the matter with you!' And it's not 'What the Fuck', but it's 'What is that?' and it's not 'Didn't you fucking hear me' and 'gimme the fucking cash…' it's: 'Can you not hear what I'm saying?' and 'Would you kindly give me all your money!?' Now use proper language!" Hikari's bark was firm and brunt, leaving no room for discussion.
"Suck my d-" the young boy stopped mid sentence. He seem to realize every time he used profanity, he'll get slapped. He choked and tried his best to speak politely. "Would you… kindly… give me… all your money?"
Hikari smirked. "There. Now that wasn't so hard, isn't it? I'm afraid I don't have any money. All I have is some medicinal herbs if you want."
The boy roughly yanked Hikari's grocer and ruffled its insides. True to what Hikari said, there are only medicinal herbs and the lot in there. Not even a cent can be found. "FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK THIS! There's nothing here but garbage!" The boy furiously threw away the grocer bag. At this, Lacus fly into rage and caught the grocer midair in a blur, and then she zoomed towards the boy and hit him multiple times at certain points, and moments later, the boy suddenly found himself involuntarily placed in a sitting seiza position. All of his underlings became terrified.
"You really need a lesson in manners young man." Hikari growled. "These medicinal herbs are needed by a lot of sick people, and you just throw it away like it was trash? You realized you nearly throw away another people's life!?"
"Not my problem." The boy growled. He couldn't move an inch nor change his position. What on earth did she do to him!? "We're trying to live here ourselves!"
"So I noticed." Hikari jabbed the boy again, further locking him in place by making even his joints stiff. "Why don't you stay there for a while and rethink your actions thoroughly."
"Daego? Is there someone there…?" Came another feminine voice from the slum house. Lacus and Simca turned and saw another woman rose up from the building. She's in her late twenties, with flowing black long hair, of Arabic descent, wearing a blue dress. She looked at Hikari and Simca, and then she saw the boy, now identified as Daego, was kneeling on the ground, and she quickly understand something was amiss. She was further alarmed when she recognized Simca as a ranking officer of the Alliance army. "Oh my… Ms. Officer… ma'am… please. We mean you no harm. Put down those dangerous things away children! NOW!"
The woman's order was heard and the youngsters dropped their weapons. "Who are you?" Simca asked.
"My name is Marina Ismail. I manage this place."
"You manage this place?" Lacus tilted her head.
"Yes. Though lately, there have been more occupants day by day, and I'm getting a little bit overwhelmed." Marina looked at the young boy Hikari punished. "Blame me for not sparing enough time to teach him some proper language. I'm truly sorry, ma'am. But can you please let Daego go?"
"Daego, yes?"
"Yes… Daego Lowell." Marina gave Hikari the boy's full name.
"Well, ma'am, (koff) don't worry. (koff) Mr. Lowell is just going to be stuck like this for an hour. (koff)"
"WHAT!?" Daego screeched in protest.
"After which he'll be free to move again. (koff) During that period, I suggest you can start teaching him proper speech. (koff) I guarantee you; he won't be trying to run away. (koff)" Hikari chuckled.
Marina also chuckled, albeit more nervously. Simca took her time observing Marina. "By the way, Marina… you don't look like you've been living on the streets for long."
Marina nodded solemnly. "I worked in a state owned orphanage… well I used too, anyway." Marina tucked her head down. "The government decided to make cutbacks, and they give me the pink slip."
"Cutbacks? The government?" Simca immediately growled, knowing the culprit. "Those damn dick-less Eunuchs…"
"SIMCA! LANGUAGE!" Hikari yelled.
"Ow! Sorry." Simca closed her mouth in reflex.
Marina chuckled.
Hikari looked at the living conditions of the people around here. It's like a small ghetto down here. It'll be too much for Marina to handle all this alone. "You manage this place all by yourself? (koff)"
"Well… not exactly." Marina explained. "Before I got here, this place was being taken care of by a little girl. Her name is… Setona, I believe."
Lacus' heart skipped a beat and Simca stare wide eyed at Marina.
"She was incredible. When I found her, she was trying to build a house out of trash for the homeless orphans. Even more incredible… I noticed her clothes. They were designer's clothes, something only the rich can afford and yet she does not hesitate to tear it off to tie things together if she needs to. Finally, the other vagrants and homeless were moved by her effort… and they help her enlarging the building… until… it became like this." Marina gestured the massive slum buildings beneath the bridge. "It's not much… but at least it put a roof on people's head when they rest."
The boy from earlier once again began muttering the Shizukana song.
"That song…"
Marina chuckled as she kindly pat the boy's head. "Setona sing that song from time to time. She always said her song was not as good as the original singer but… for me… for us… she's our angel." Marina smiled. And then the boy asked an innocent question. "Ne… when will Setona-nee-chan come back?"
Marina smiled. "She'll be back soon."
"I wanna hear her song…" The boy murmured.
Lacus on the other hand, heard enough. She turned around and started walking like a woman on a mission. She paused briefly and turned around. "I'm sorry. (koff) I have to leave now… (koff)… I just remembered… (koff) I had an emergency surgery coming up. (koff)"
"Oh my… you're a doctor?"
"Yes ma'am. (koff) I'll come back here once I'm done and see what I can do. (koff)"
Marina bowed down in gratitude and Hikari quickly bolted off. Simca quickly followed her, knowing full well what she meant as emergency surgery.
Once they're out of the earshot, Simca asked: "You're not gonna do what I think you're definitely going to do right?"
"How did you put it back there? (koff) Oh yeah (koff): Find Her, track Her, Rescue Her. (koff)" Hikari list things with her three fingers: "We did the finding, we did the tracking, now it's the rescuing."
"You don't simply walk into the Narrows like you own the place. There are hundreds of hooligans down there, armed to the teeth-"
"I don't care!" Lacus barked at Simca. "You saw what I saw down there. Setona-chan may think she's insignificant, but she's not. She's needed. Right there! By the people who truly love her, the people who will truly protect her. That's RIGHT there! In that dirty downtrodden slum! Not in that over glorified gold laden manor! The way I am right now, I DARE any mugger, murderer to mess with me! If you're going to stop me-"
"No. I never said I'm going to stop you." Simca grinned as she gave Hikari a wink. "I'm just saying I'm not gonna let you hog all the fun."
000000000000000
In a short order, Hikari and Simca is once again back in the Narrows, back in front of the Winters Manor.
Once again, Nahe and his entourage welcomed them. But this time, Hikari cut the chitchat and went straight to the point. "You told me earlier, that Setona is now amongst the people who loved her, the people who will protect her. (koff) Tell me. (koff) If she's happy… (Koff) if she's loved… (koff) Why is she crying? (Koff)"
"Crying?" Nahe blinked.
Hikari pointed up, to the highest tower of the manor. "When I left earlier, I saw her (koff). She stopped singing, (koff) she saw me (koff), surprised and she ran back in, crying. (koff) Bitterly. (koff)" Hikari glared at Nahe and his bodyguards. "There's a saying, home is where the heart lies (koff). It means home is where people can laugh and smile. (koff) If she really is at home… (koff) She should be laughing. (koff) So why isn't she? (koff)"
Nahe laughed. "My good lady, I think you're exaggerating."
"And you are lying. (koff)" To demonstrate her point, Hikari pointed at a bodyguard at the corner. "That man over there has a scratch on his cheek. (koff) It's relatively fresh and new. (koff) That scar came from her fingernails isn't it? (koff) He's the one who kidnapped Setona-chan. (koff)"
The said Guard flabbergasted. "Uh… no! Of course not! This is a cat's scratch!"
"Humans and cats have different fingernails, (koff) thus different scratch. (koff) For me, the difference is obvious. (koff)" Hikari stretched out her hand, and the yellow Haro bounced up to her welcoming open palm. "That scratch is a proof that Setona resisted when you took her. (koff) She didn't come here willingly. (koff) That's enough reason for me to take her. (koff) Look. (koff) I'm a doctor. (koff) But more than anything else… I'm also a Ninja. These skills of mine (koff) to my great regret, can easily be used for extreme violence's sake. (koff)" Hikari pressed her thumb on Barbara, reducing the yellow haro to the size of a marble. The Haro Marble spun furiously, and out of her friction with Lacus' thumb, generates bundles and bundles of yellow golden strands of strings. Surgery strings. The strings glows unnaturally, and they floated and flowed around Hikari as if alive. "So I'm gonna ask one last time… (koff) Give her back to me… (koff) or I'll make this a very unpleasant afternoon for all of you. (koff)"
Simca smirked as she cocked her gauntlets. "You heard her."
Nahe realized violence is imminent. And yet he glanced at Hikari. As he did, Nahe's retinue reached for their guns and they were getting ready to open fire. But then two things happened all at once. As soon as they aim, Hikari's hand holding the strings blurred and Simca disappeared with a loud bang from her derringer heels. And a moment later, their salvaged dagger rifles were enclosed in bundles and bundles of glowing golden strings, turning the once deadly weapon into useless cocoon in their hands. While the bodyguards were still confused over what happened, Simca, up in the sky, pulled back her right arm, getting ready to slam the ground with a punch. As she did, the Magnum derringers in her fingernails slide back atop a mini track across her fingers and settled on her knuckles as they joined together into a multi-barreled volley gun, concentrating its firepower. The derringers that are Simca's inline skate heels blasted again, propelling her downward before she smashed the ground with an earth shattering force, coupled with a timed knuckle gun blast. The shockwave and the explosion not only blew off the hired guns to the sky like cannon fodder they are, it also smashed the manor's gate off its hinges. Even Nahe was thrown off the ground and landed on top of a surprised Hikari.
Hikari grunted and shook her head in disapproval before she pushed the knocked unconscious Nahe off her and observed all the downed mercenaries littering the floor, moaning something about all their bones are broken. "This is unnecessary, you know? (koff)"
"Trust me. If you don't do at least this much, they'll place their own body as shield to get in your way if they had to. These guys are pros. And they're irredeemable junkies to boot." Simca ejected another series of spent casings. "Now come on. You said she's on the top tower right? Let's go. We've made quite a scene."
Indeed. Ever since they first arrived in front of the Don's Manor, people recognize a brawl in the making when they see one, and had already taken the initiative to evacuate the area and clear the premises, realizing chaos is inbound. Now the gauntlet is officially thrown, and they probably had little time before things get really hectic. Hikari nodded and rushed into the manor.
The guards at the roof saw the incoming enemy and opened fire. Bullets flew towards the two girls, but Hikari merely swiped her strings and the bullets stopped midair as they were instantly sutured in place, as if stopped in time. Simca cocked her other gauntlets, setting it into another volley gun and then she punched towards the incoming fire several times. The volley gun flayed the railings off the balconies, spraying the gunners behind it with splinters of rock and stone, suppressing their attack for the briefest instant.
Enough time for Hikari and Simca to get into the minimal shooting range at blurring speed, straight into the front door. This time Simca cocked her Greaves. "Knock, knock!" With a kick and a loud blast from the gun on her heel, the door was smashed open to smithereens. The two girls walked through the wooden splinters of the door. As soon as they entered the main hall, the sound of foot-stomps came from every nook and cranny of the manor. Before long, the two girls are staring at about a hundred rifles pointing at their heads. And yet the two were not even intimidated by the slightest at the opposition.
Down the middle, there stand a person that, at first glance, seems to be taller than everyone else. But on second observation, in comparison to his multitudes of tough and tall bodyguards, the person is actually diminutive and chubby. The reason he was so tall was because, much to Hikari and Simca's disgust, he was being carried on top of three completely naked girls, gagged and collared like a pet dog, crawling on all fours, while he stood atop them like some king of a rock. Their blank eyes, their drooling gagged mouth, and their crazed expression which shows pleasure despite their predicament, all are indications of severe drug addiction. The man on top of them was further differentiated from the rest as he wears a western suit of a Mafia's don, complete with a white cloth beneath his elongated tuxedo's collar. One would even say it was excessively long, as the cloth reached all the way down to the floor. His pig of a face matched the excessive decoration of his face that was also plastered on every corner of the interior of his own house. This instantly confirms his identity.
"Don Winters, I presume. (koff)" Despite the condition, Hikari still found enough reason for her to show some form of politeness, whereas Simca merely cracked her necks.
BANG!
Hikari dodged in time as the spot where her head was a little earlier now gained a hole. Smoke came out of the end of the Don's cane. A concealed gun. And a high powered one too, Simca surmised, judging by the size of the hole on the ground.
"Hey, what gives!?" Simca shouted.
"Too high." The don simply stated.
BANG! BANG!
Simca and Hikari both dodged the shots, rolling around until the two are on their knees.
"There. That's better." The fat man chuckled. Lacus and Simca glared at the Don. He opened fire at them just because they weren't on their knees? "My future servant girls must learn to keep their heads down."
"Excuse me!?" Both girls roared in anger.
"Girls who entered the great me's manor have only two options: join my harem, or die like a dog they are." The Don smiled smugly. "And the first lesson they have to learn, is they have to bow down on their knees before they can say anything to me." As he said this, one of his fat legs squished another girl's head. Simca fought an urge to vomit and her skin crawled with disgust.
But Hikari swallowed her pride and bowed her head as low as she could, much to Simca's surprise. The Don's grin grew wider. "Forgive our rudeness. But we would like to talk with you about your daughter."
The Crime Lord's smile waned instantly. "Setona? What about her?"
Lacus carefully chose her words. "You are a powerful man, Don Winters. Though your power is a power gained in the most despicable of ways, it is power either way." Lacus kept her head on the ground. "Yet power attracts many things: wealth, woman, friends, loyalty. But at the same time, power also attracts the most dangerous of things: enemy, either born out of jealousy or lust for power. And this enemy will try to get to you in every way. For instance: through your family." Lacus bit her lips, using every bit of her political silver tongue skills to appeal to this crime-lord as she get to the hard part. "Setona is just a little girl. An innocent 13 year old girl who needs a normal childhood. I do not think a crime family is a good environment to raise her into a decent woman. Let me take custody of Setona. I will protect her and ensure her safety." There, she said the hard bit. Now she only need to wait for whatever response from the Don-
"Zzz… Zzz…"
"!?" Hikari looked up and saw to her disbelief, the Don was sleeping. "Eh… how long has he been asleep?"
"I believe that's right after you said power attracts…" Simca crossed her arms in annoyance. "Nice speech though. It was really touching. Really."
Hikari finally got up as she growled in annoyance at the Don. Her growl awoke the Don though. "Zz-frbl! What? What? Oh. You're still clothed!?"
"Excuse me?" Hikari frowned.
"I'm sorry, I'm having trouble listening to girls who are still wearing their clothes. Why don't you run that by me again, naked." The Don chuckled lecherously as he eyed both Lacus and Simca's figure through their clothes. Simca balled her fist tightly in anger, and Lacus… well, much to Simca's surprise, Lacus began undoing her gauntlet.
"Hikari, no!"
But Lacus has no intention of stripping. She simply took off her gauntlet and demonstrated her condition by pointing her open palm to her right. Every plant, every insect that crawls on the floor, every non human but living thing within the reach of her exposed arm shriveled or rolled up, went rigid… and all invariably withered and died. All eyes went wide at that demonstration. Satisfied that she got their undivided attention, Lacus put her gauntlet back on. "When I underwent my training as a doctor, my body developed a mishap. It began emanating a deadly poison that will kill every living thing within 10 feet radius within minutes." She stated plainly. "This armor is the only reason Shanghai still stands. It's the only reason every one of you are still alive." Hikari finished putting her gauntlet back on and continued. "So don't get me wrong. I'm not playing hard to get. If it gets you to listen to reason, I'll gladly strip tease right in front of you if I must. But, in this closed room, you'll die before I even took off my boots."
Hikari also looked meaningfully to Simca, whose widened eyes speak volumes of her curiosity, pity, and above all, shock.
Somehow, this gained Hikari the Don's undivided attention. "Why do you want her?"
"Because you are a drug lord. Violence and death littered the road of your life. I believe Setona deserves better. That and I've taken a liking of her. I'll be happy to take her into my care."
The Don spurted and then laughed raucously. "Oi, officer! You heard that? She's just gonna take my daughter just because she likes her? HAHAHAHAH! Talk about jokes."
Simca and Lacus didn't say anything but wait in silence.
The Don sneered. "The last time I checked, Setona is still my daughter! You want to take her away under the basis of like and don't like? What if I say I like your sister and then I want to take her away just like that!? Where's the justice? Where's the sense? Ms. Officer, doesn't it sound like an abduction attempt!?"
Simca frowned. The Don does make a valid point. She looked at Lacus, hoping she had a good reason to turn this around.
Lacus snickered. "Okay… if we're going to talk about like and don't like… let me ask you… Was she really your daughter?"
"What game is this!?" The Don growled. "Setona is my daughter, flesh and blood!"
"Then why did she spent her childhood in an orphanage-"
The Don roared. "Her bitch of a mother took her away from me! I spent a fortune tracking her down, until I found her in some 6 years ago in the downtrodden garbage orphanage! We even did a blood test and it matched! She's mine! MINE! MINE!" As he said this, he stomped his legs multiple times until one of the supporting girl fell with blood trickling from her forehead.
But upon hearing that particular detail, Lacus had to hold back a shrill laughter of triumph. The Don just dug his own grave. "Let me finish." Lacus interrupted the increasingly hysterical Don this time. "I was going to say: she spent her childhood in an orphanage… and she's still in that orphanage, 5 years ago when I found her."
"Is this true?" Simca glared at Lacus and then to the Don.
"Yes. She had a tumor on her cheek. I know. I operated on her, 5 years, 4 months, 20 days, 3 hours, and 15 minutes ago." Lacus smiled. "Well, Don Winters. If we're going to talk about like or don't like, let me reiterate to you what I think really happened. 6 years ago, you have indeed discovered your daughter in the orphanage. However, you discovered that your daughter was assailed by a severe tumor that distorted her face. Ashamed and disgusted by her horrid appearance, you abandoned her to her fate. That all change when I came along and operated on her, removing her tumor, restoring her beauty. However, you still don't know that. She was kicked out of the orphanage a year later, and then you found her again sometime during the 4 year period, and now that she's changed… you took her in."
Throughout the explanation, Simca noted that the Don's face grew noticeably paler and paler. The fact that Hikari's theoretical story clearly matched with what really happened was as plain as day on his face. "B-b-b-but that doesn't change the fact that she's still my flesh and blood daughter!"
"About that…" Now it's Simca's turn to answer. "First, according to Hikari-chan's own testimony, you never adopted Setona, she was kicked out. That being said, you never had any formal legal claim over her." The Don's pale face is losing what little color it had left, and Simca was barely finished. "The second thing is this." She pulled out a folder of papers from her bag. "On our way here, we stopped by on the Shanghai Civil Registration Office. I checked up on your family registration… I couldn't find the name Setona Winters anywhere." Simca swing the papers up and down in intimidation. "If she really is your daughter… care to explain that?"
The Don was at a complete loss on what to say in retaliation. "It… could be… some error in the administration!?"
Simca chuckled. "We asked that… but after a convincing persuasion (which includes Simca putting a gun on the officer's ass hole from behind and Hikari put a scalpel on his manhood from the front) he told us that you paid top dollar to make sure Setona's name is not on that registry. Care to explain why?"
"I… I…" Sweat poured on his bubbly face.
"Don Winters, depending on your answer, I might treat this as a case of actual kidnapping!" Simca glared at the fretting mob boss in triumph. "-with YOU being the kidnapper of Ms. Setona!"
Lacus sighed. "Look, we don't want any trouble. Give us back Setona, and we will leave you in peace."
But at that point, the Don finally snapped and went into incessant screams and yells. "SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTSUP! SHE'S MY DAUGHTER! PERIOD! SHE'S MINE! MINE! MI~INE!" At that final yell, Hikari and Simca faced hundreds of guns cocked and ready to blast. "NOW! THIS IS THE OFFER! DIE, OR BECOME PART OF MY HAREM!"
"Would you like to know my answer!?" Simca thought of sending a gun blast at that fat bastard's face, but then she noticed Hikari was fiddling with her fingers. She seems to be having some kind of difficulty with it. "Hikari, what are you doing?"
"Umm… (koff) which finger? (koff)"
"Excuse me?" Simca blinked.
"You know… (koff) I often see really ticked off people do that… (koff) with their finger… (koff) which finger again? (koff)"
Simca approached Hikari, suddenly she understand the answer Hikari wishes to convey. "You mean… that?"
"Yes! (koff) That! (koff)"
"Oh." Simca quickly whispered the answer to Hikari's ear. She gasped. "Uh-oh." Hikari showed her dilemma that is her hand: armored by gauntlet, her fingers were fused from 5 to 3 digit hands.
"Well it'll work as long as it's down the middle." Simca shook her head as she chuckled.
"Oh, okay. (koff)"
"HEY!" Out of patience, Don Winters barked. "WHAT'S IT GONNA BE BITCHES!? JOIN MY HAREM, OR DIE!?"
Hikari and Simca turned around and gave their answer: two pair of hands with middle fingers pointed to the sky as they yelled:
"FUCK YOU!"
Seeing and hearing the uniform answer, the Don raged. "So I guess that means you bitches wanna die right here and now!?"
"That means we're gonna make a hell of your day." Simca gently retorted with a smile.
"FIRE!"
Soon, the air above them was covered in white smoke emerging from the muzzles of the rifles. Hikari quickly weaved her strings, forming a near transparent golden spherical Haro shaped barrier of strings which protects them both. Upon impact, the bullet went halfway through the barrier before instantly slowing down to a halt almost instantly, sutured in place. This prevents ricochets and thus prevent death by stray shots. The Gunners kept unloading their bullets, hoping one bullet will get through to no avail.
"Each Dagger rifle can fire 5 times before a 7 second reload. 12 if they're complete amateurs." Simca explained. "If we're lucky, they'll be stupid enough to not arrange a rotating system."
"If we're lucky. (koff)" In fact, they are in no immediate danger. Her string was strong enough to stop anything short of a point blank cannon fire. A few hundred bullets wouldn't be a problem.
Hikari peeked through the near transparent barrier and saw, to her horror, that one of the goons brought a pipe… with a giant steel tipped firecracker rocket put inside it… "Is that a…"
"Is that a Helldart Bazooka!?" Simca gaped. "This thing can handle that right?"
"One or two…" Hikari peeked again.
Oh joy. They brought out a dozen of those. With spares!
"Ready… FIRE!" 12 rockets hissed from their launchers and went straight towards the golden sphere.
Simca cocked her gear, the derringers slide down to her fingernails again. "Hikari, open up!" Hikari risked the rain of bullets and partially open a hole on the barrier for the briefest instance, and Simca used that chance to swing her arms while simultaneously firing all of her derringers in every fingernail, sending a volley of bullets that accurately shoot down all but 1 rocket. Hikari quickly closed the barrier again, and she almost didn't make it as the rocket was but a skinflint away.
The weaponized firecracker exploded in a brilliant multicolored sparks of bright fireworks that momentarily blinded everyone.
For a moment, the lower floor was covered in a multi colored smoke, making visual confirmation difficult. Eventually the smoke cleared out, revealing the golden Haro barrier is still intact. And then there's something else.
"Haroha, Haroha, Roharo…"
A chant can be heard from within the barrier. At the same time, multiple smaller haros of various colors popped out allover the surface of the Golden Barrier, dotting the sphere.
"Haro-haro Blob Rain."
The surface haros opened up their mouths before they simultaneously sent out raining mass of multicolored haro shaped blobs to every direction. The goons were completely overwhelmed as their every limb were splashed with at least a dozen Haro blob every second, each fired with the force of a cannon, and thus they were propelled off the ground and splattered to the wall, and still they're getting continuously hammered before they can fall. Worse, the blob hardened like cement within seconds, fusing the victims to the wall.
The barrage only lasted for 5 seconds, after which, Hikari opened her sphere of protection and the two girls beheld her handiwork: all of the Crime Lord's gun-for-hire are now immobile decorations stoned to the wall in a multi colored cement.
Simca observed all this multi colored phantasmagoria coupled with moaning and grumblings of the entrapped gangsters with approval. True to Hikari's non lethal style, only their dignity was hurt. "I like your toys."
Hikari also smiled at her two friends: Barbara for the golden string barrier and Levi for the immobilizing blob. "Did we get everyone? (koff)"
Simca looked around for a quick recon and nodded. "Yep. I think we do… ~ NOT." Her eyes landed on where that obnoxious Don standing a while ago, and she saw what Hikari saw. He wasn't there anymore. Only his personal slave girls are visible, strapped in a pile of hardened blobs.
Hikari and Simca quickly made their way across the mansion. Their trip was completely undisturbed. It seems they've completely wasted every single guard in that mansion, or at least that floor, in one fell swoop. The two easily go through the ground floor and went straight to the second floor. However, upon reaching the first door to a room in the second floor… Simca's pace stopped when her nose caught the smell she dreaded greatly. "Simca?" Hikari looked at the girl's expression with concern.
"This smell… opium. And… those sound… it's an Opium Gas Brothel." Simca shivered as she fell on her knees. "I… I can't go in there…"
"Come on! (koff) Get up! (koff) I thought you're more strong willed than this! (koff)"
Simca laughed nervously. "Ahaha… I told you right? For us former addicts, it's a lifelong war."
Hikari quickly caught the problem. "You're afraid… (koff) that if you go in there and see what they're smoking, you'll relapse. (koff)"
"They didn't just use pipes to smoke in small amounts of opium… they literally gassed the room with it. You go in there; you're as good as an addicted." Simca trembled. Hikari sympathize with the former junkie, but she knew what needs to be said. "This comes from the same girl who once told me her dream was to combat the grips of Opium on the world? (koff)" Hikari barked harshly. "There's an innocent girl up there who's about to be turned into an addict and you can't even muster the guts needed to enter a room? (koff)"
"I…" Simca gasped.
"Fine. (koff) You just sit tight right there like a scared little bird you are and kiss your childish dreams goodbye. (koff) Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame. On. YOU! (koff) As for me, I'm gonna go in there and give them a piece of my damn mind! (Koff)" Hikari finally put the last coffin nail. "If only your Kage-honey can see you now. (koff)"
At this last gesture, Simca's eyes widened into a shock. She remained so even as Hikari took the initiative and kicked the door open herself.
Leaving the still shocked Simca behind, Hikari beheld what awaits her: a room chockfull of an army of angry bodyguards armed to the teeth, guarding the entrance to the next room, where the scent of opium is thicker. It does make sense, if one thought about it for a moment. This is the boss' mansion. And if there's an opium brothel inside a boss' mansion, one can bet only VVIP can enter such exclusive funspot. That being said, there will always be checkpoints to kick out uninvited guests.
In this case, she's the uninvited guest.
Personally, though, Lacus had gone tired of this boring routine of them aiming their rifles at her while yelling at her telling her to die and all the profanity that even the writer had grown tired of writing. One sway of Hikari's strings, the goons were left holding useless contoured object that were once their weapon, wrapped by Hikari's strings and then squeezed and twisted down to size like drying a towel. Another swing, and half of the goons inside were sutured to either the wall, the ceiling or the floor. The remaining half was still trying to decide to piss themselves in their pants first then run or the other way around, or both at the same time.
Perhaps, that's what they would've opted, if Hikari didn't caught sight of something that made her stop in full alarm.
She saw at least a hundred of them in Archangel, unarmed and utterly harmless without ammunition… now she's staring at the throat of just one Gottfried cannon being aimed at her, fully armed and ready to blast her to croutons, at POINT BLANK RANGE. Lacus had just started to think on what to do when the trigger pin descended upon the fuse.
BANG!
A loud bang sounded. But not from the cannon. No. It was much less louder than it should be. The pin was sent flying to the end of the room when Simca, finally finished recollecting her wits, shot a bullet straight at the pin, accurately snapping it off.
Simca gritted her teeth and jumped high with a bang from the derringer her boots' heels. Midair, she swung her leg upwards, readying the other 6 derringers planted on the surface of the said boots at the forward side. All six fired simultaneously, propelling her leg, and her whole body, in a descending swing that immediately turned into a furious spinning heel drop. Like buzzsaw, the girl fell down upon the cannon and it was instantly split in two down the middle, her heel cut through the cannon like a hot knife through butter. What's more, the subsequent impact of her landing pulverized what remained of the cannon, generating a shockwave that sent the cannon crew flying to every direction.
Lacus merely shrugged upon seeing the renewed Simca's show of kicking skill.
"Let's get one thing clear…" Simca pointed a smoking finger at Lacus. "Be it Love or War… I REFUSE to LOSE to you for ANY reason!"
Simca looked at Lacus to show her nervous but confident smile… but much to her surprise, Hikari didn't say anything, but she shoved her a gas mask. Quickly throwing the gas mask at the dumbstruck Simca, Hikari muttered. "Found it in the cupboard over there. (koff) One's missing. (koff) I guess even the Mob Boss share your fear of getting severely addicted to his own products. (koff) He went this way for sure, and he's using one gas mask to go through that room you're so scared of. (koff) Let's go. (koff) We don't have much time. (koff)"
And Simca, a 22 years old girl, suddenly felt like a kindergarten child being told what to do. And while she can't see her face, Simca had a feeling her love rival is smiling. Simca chuckled as she gratefully put on the gas mask. 'Well played, Hikari-chan.'
And after sending the remaining un-whacked lackeys running with a pair of gas mask glare, Hikari and Simca pushed the door open. And what they saw made Hikari frowned in disgust.
The whole room was thick with the scent of opium. Said opium came from 9 lit bronze cauldrons placed allover the room with multiple Chinese Incense Sticks planted on top. Normally, said Sticks are used for praying and measure time, and in this case, aromatics. Only, instead of aromatherapy, it spreads opium. And inside that room, there are dozens of intoxicated bare skinned prostitutes, young girls, all of them were either serving up their clients, or just lying around, dazed and laughing madly under the effect of drugs. One in particular, was lying right at Hikari's feet… but judging by the way her wide empty eyes, and the overall deterioration of her being… She had, much to Hikari's great regret, overdosed to her last breaths.
"Simca… this is…" Hikari knelt to caress the girl's face gently.
"Behold. If I had not quit… this is what would become of me." Simca once again saw herself in these girls' stead. "They came from everywhere. Naïve and hoping for a better life. Instead, the Mob get to them, tricked them, drugged them, and forced them into prostitution… now some of them had even forgotten they were human." Gritting her teeth and scoffing in disgust, she quickly replaced the rubber bullet blanks in one of her greaves with life ammo and sent a straight kick at one of the bronze cauldron with it. The derringer at her heel fired real explosive shell, obliterating the malignant opium incense sticks on top of it. Not satisfied, Simca sent a flurry of straight kicks with her right leg, furiously firing her derringer time and again until the cauldron was riddled with holes and the ground beneath her were littered with spent casings ejected from her boots. By the time the first click that signifies she's out of ammo reached her ear, the cauldron was a barely recognizable smoking slag with the ember of its stove fading.
The occupants of the said room merely looked at her with curious empty eyes, but they were too far gone to comprehend what she just did. And so they soon returned to their indecent activities. Simca hopelessly turned her sight away at these poor souls. "I don't care if you don't want to kill anyone, Hikari-chan. But Don Winters will PAY for this! One way or another!"
Hikari can feel the sorrow evident, and she herself had had enough with this foulness. "He will pay." Lacus swing her strings again and the remaining cauldrons were wrapped in golden strings, and with a yank, they were squeezed, pulverized into useless contoured metal. "But I refuse to kill him. Nor will I allow you to kill him."
"WHY!? There's limit on forgiveness, Hikari-chan!"
"I'm not saying my patience is not without limit, Simca-san." Lacus coldly stated. "But… we must also consider the possibility that if you kill him, Setona-chan could be watching."
And Simca's temper tone down immediately. She isn't keen on the idea of killing a father right in front of his own daughter.
Hikari swing her strings again, suturing all of these poor souls in place as she and Simca made her way through them undisturbed until they reached the stairs to the next floor. "I want to protect Setona-chan from this lifestyle, not to make her an orphan."
Simca sighed at Hikari's clearly pacifistic state of mind, and then smiled. "You really are a kind person, Hikari-chan."
Hikari chuckled. "I'm not that kind."
The two went up the stairs and go through several rooms, all filled with guards. The deeper they get, the guards grew progressively fewer but stronger. Some actually show some proficiency in martial arts. But against the combined might of a pair of angry girls: one a Witch and a Ninja Doctor while the other a Master Tuner and 3rd lieutenant of Regulars; every opposition was met with overwhelming non lethal force.
After finishing off the latest room filled with bodybuilders with a kick from Simca to the last bodybuilder's chin, they finally arrived before a regal door. No mistake this time, this is the Don's main office. The door was quickly slammed open. And there he sat right in front of them, all alone but two last burly bodyguards at his side. They looked like they can take on the bodybuilders from earlier en masse and come out smiling. Simca shook her head while Hikari merely sighed.
The first of the last bodyguard was kicked out of the window and the second was sutured to the ceiling.
At this point, the Don was clearly on the verge of pissing himself in his pants. But he still managed to smile. "Wow. Okay. That was… impressive?"
"Any more goons for us to beat up, or do we finally have the pleasure to be at your turn now?" Simca grinned in her usual cheerful expression, belying her suppressed rage. Lacus also frowned.
"Actually… you just beat down two of my best henchmen. So there's actually a job opening at the moment…" The Don chuckled. "How bout this… I won't ask you to be my harem… but I could use new second in commands…"
Hikari rubbed her visor in bewilderment. What does it take to make this oaf understand that all she wanted was for his daughter to be away from all this? Drug trafficking Mafia family is not a place to raise a daughter! "That's enough. (koff) Simca, I'm heading upstairs. (koff) You can do whatever you want with him but don't kill him. (koff)"
"Wi~ith pleasure…!" Simca cracked her knuckles. No she won't kill him… but she WILL make him very UN-Happy.
Seeing his offer fell on deaf ears, the Don muttered nervously. "Actually… I do have one more goon…"
Hikari paused and Simca glared at the Don. "Then by all means. Bring him out. Let's not waste anymore of one's time, shall we?"
"Right." And suddenly the Don's nervous grin turned devious as he suddenly pulled a lever.
The floor beneath Lacus and Simca suddenly opened up and the two plunged into it with a shriek. "KYA~AAA!"
"WAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The fall was long but quick. The box like light of the hole rapidly grew smaller and smaller as they fall further, until finally Hikari and Simca landed with a pair of thuds. "Iteee! (koff) My fanny! (koff)" Hikari moaned she rubbed her behind.
Simca was equally angry. "Mou! When I get my hands on that ugly pig, I'll kick him to the sky for this!"
Hikari and Simca grunted as they quickly get back up on her feet. Hikari looked at the box shaped light above them closed down, along with the faint echo of the Don's laughter cut short. "Wow. This is quite a deep hole. (koff)" Hikari looked around and saw… almost nothing. It was really dark that she can barely make out the shape of Simca right next to her. "Are we underground? (koff) Is this the dungeon? (koff)"
"I suppose your bloodline limit can't help us out of here?" Simca's voice asked.
"Well, my bloodline limit is-" Lacus stopped mid sentence and looked at where Simca's voice came from in shock.
"What?" Simca innocently commented. "Did you really think I wouldn't notice?"
"W… When… When did you…?"
"From the very beginning. Ever since I first saw you crush Kage-honey with that medical box. I noticed he's also an Advanced himself, right?" Simca chuckled as she stated the obvious. "I'm a lieutenant of the Regular army, as well as an army medic. I've fought enough Advanced to notice the difference between Naturals and Advanced. That and… unless you have an inside help or being accompanied by a specially trained hunting dog, there's no way you can track a girl that fast."
"You knew. And you didn't tell anyone?" Lacus became further confused at Simca's whimsy.
"Tee-hee-hee. Do you really think just because I'm a high ranking officer of the Regular than I had to have the 'death to all Advanced beliefs' thingy?" Simca laughed as she observed their surroundings. Aside from the darkness, it's damp, and stinks a combination of excrements and several weeks' worth of rotten garbage. "Besides, if I reported who you really were to the authorities, I might upset Kage-honey… and I would've lost my chance to recruit you now, wouldn't I?"
"You still want to recruit me?" Lacus frowned. "Are you going to blackmail me into joining you?"
"Now, that's insulting." Simca pretend she was offended. "That would be too unsporting. Unfair. You make it sound as if I'm a desperate lowlife."
"Oh… sorry." Lacus tucked her head down. "How can you be so sure I didn't just save people using my bloodline limit? Whatever it is."
"Another thing about me: I can easily differentiate between natural talent, acquired skills, and inherited genes." Simca laughed. "It's not something you can teach I grant you. A crystallization of my own experience: the best way to differentiate between bloodline limit user or acquired skill is by having the suspect taught another person that skill. If he or she can't do it, then he's an immediate suspect. I don't need to tell you how unreliable that method is. The number of people falsely accused as Advanced and then executed under the suspicion of being an Advanced spy just because their students just don't have the necessary skills…" Simca smiled kindly. "This is my way of saying you need to be less conspicuous."
"I'm an armor wearing girl and I can kill people just by breathing near them if I took it off. I can't be less conspicuous than I already have."
"Trust me. Just because Naturals have no special powers doesn't mean we have shortage of strange characters in the army. Give them a day or two, and you'll fit right in." Simca quickly got up. "You know what? Let's talk about this later, and concentrate on finding a way out of here."
"Actually…" Hikari looked to the darkness. "I was gonna ask… did you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"…snorting. (koff) Sniffing… (koff)" Hikari frowned. "And… oinkings? (koff)"
"Oinkings?" Simca looked at the direction where Hikari was staring… and then… she noticed. She can hear it too… coupled with distant stomping of something heavy and large… and it grew louder… and closer. As their eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, they saw it.
They can barely make out the shape in this pitch black darkness, but the creature was as big as a house. The hoof of its short legs cracked the ground with every booming step. Its neckless head, extending forward and compactly fused with its proportionally huge body, is massive to behold, with long snouts, large nostrils and a lot fur… or at least… it used to have a lot of hair. Its head looked as if it has its skin and muscles flayed off. Its skull burst out of the open skin, and it fossilized to a stony like condition. This is topped off by a multiple pairs of massive stony tusks that extended down beneath its upper jaw but it curved upward in a wicked arc, and a few more jagged pairs extending upward haphazardly from its lower jaw. The same can also be said to some parts of its body whereas the parts that weren't fossilized to a stone had fur whose strands stand on end like razor sharp spikes. Its spinal cord seem had enlarged beyond normal proportion until its spines and some part of the cord itself burst out of its back. The creature's one eye burns red on the left side of its head, deep beneath the sunken crevices of his skull like head, whereas the other one was inexistent, covered in the dark.
"(koff) What in Heaven's name is that? (koff)" Hikari gaped.
"Well, bless me. I should've known dropping us into a hole was too simple." Simca readied herself.
The beast stopped sniffing when it caught a scent of new fresh preys or interlopers to its territory. It began to grunt and snort, its hoof scraping the ground, preparing for a charge. It roared as the final declaration.
The giant creature's clarion roar was so loud, the whole room shook violently. Then it bent its head down, making sure the sharp point of its multitude of tusks point forward, quickly followed by a charge as the creature thunder through the room towards them in a red and brown blur. Hikari and Simca were barely able to dodge the attack. For something so big, this thing move surprisingly fast. Its twirling long tail quickly disappeared into the darkness as the stomping grew distant. Simca couldn't see where it went, only the sound of its deafening stomps give any indication that even though it missed its target, the creature maintained its forward course, charging blind and smashed all in its path. The stomping only stops when they heard the beast struck the wall with a roaring whine and an even louder thunderous crash, shaking the room even more violently than before.
The creature realized it had hit a wall and took a few steps back, pulling back its tusks from the rubble. In the darkness, they can hear the sound of cascading rubble. The sound of whatever objects the creature just pulverized with its stony head, falling from its snout.
"How on earth did that Don managed to get his hands on something like that?" Simca gulped.
"How indeed. (koff)" But now this answers the question why the creature's head lack any skin. It had smashed its head on things for so long, the facial skin had all but peeled off, tendons and flesh flayed, until its head had adapted as the skeleton became overdeveloped and transformed into a tough oversized cranial exoskeleton armor. The subsequent fossilization turned these skeletal armor into its current stone like disposition; making it all the more potent weapon for crushing and ramming.
The beasts turned around again, sniffing the air once more in search for its prey.
A moment earlier before the beast charged at them, Hikari had noted its glimmering red eye on one socket and the absence of a matching pair in the pitch black darkness on the other socket… obviously, with such poor eyesight, this darkness and its small ears; the creature had to rely mostly on smell. Simca was lucky to avoid the first charge as she get a head start and some distance. What's more the beast was initially uncertain on the exact whereabouts of its prey, requiring it to get up close and personal before initiating an attack. But now it caught their scent, memorized it, it knows where they are with pinpoint precision, it has perfectly adapted to this dark environment, for its nose is more than enough to compensate its poor sight and hearing. And unfortunately, its two preys had not. Well, at least, one of its preys.
Lacus' ears are like sonar. If she can't rely on sight or smell in this grim darkness, her ears can more than compensate. Lacus followed the creature's path as the sound she received from her ears perfectly translates into the echoed image of the situation in her head. To her, this place is no brighter than daylight hours. The same cannot be said to Simca though. She can only see, and thus dodge the creature, when she gained a line sight. And unfortunately, that was only possible when she's up close and personal, at that point it would've been too late.
The beast turned around quickly and went for a second charge. The sound of the increasingly louder stompings is indication that the beast was coming for them, again. And while Simca is still groping in the dark, Lacus 'saw' the creature is but scant moments away from pulverizing them to a pulp. "SIMCA! DODGE TO YOUR LEFT! NOW!"
A blinded Simca can only instinctively obey Lacus' command and she moved so. Alas, she miscalculated the creature's massive girth and she dodged too close. One of the creature's razor sharp quill-like hair caught her boots, and the poor Lieutenant was violently dragged along by her foot as the beast stomped away. "WAAAAAAAA!"
"SIMCA!" Lacus shrieked.
Simca quickly recollected herself and saw her foot was stuck on the beast' hair. She struggled to get herself unhooked ASAP, but the stupid hair was as tough as an iron cord. She finally took drastic measure and cocked her stuck greaves, putting some life rounds before she start firing at the monster's hide with a flurry of one leg thrust kick, its derringer heels blasting away with every word of her angry growl. "GET. (BANG) OFF. (BANG) ME. (BANG) YOU. (BANG) OVERGROWN. (BANG) HO~OG! (BANG) (BANG)!"
But to her disbelief, even at point blank range, her bullets ricocheted off the beast' diamond hard skin. Growing desperate, Simca did something with her gauntlets. She placed her left forearm atop the right one with her left fingers right above her right elbow. A cackling sound can be heard, and the left gauntlet folded out, merging together with her right gauntlet as her left arm slid out of the merged gauntlet, forming a fist twice as big as usual. Simca retracted her right fist, and the derringer from the left gauntlet which pointed backwards blasted away, propelling her right fist into an accelerated earth shattering punch. Upon impact, her forward pointing Right Gauntlet Derringers also blasted away, causing a small explosion equivalent to a point blank cannon fire.
In normal circumstances, the impact should've been powerful enough to pulverize a tank, but not only the skin was unscathed, Simca's power fist was the one who suffered the damage, much to her disbelief, as it broke and bent upon impact. But while it didn't scratch the monster's skin, the pain registered nonetheless as Simca can hear; with some measure of satisfaction and relief; that the monster squealed in pain and more importantly it stopped. It seems it has finally realized it has an unwanted stowaway. The beast violently shook itself free of this little tick. Simca was thrown to the sky and began landing head first.
But the beast has no intention of leaving her untouched. It readied itself, carving the ground with its hoof before charged head on towards Simca, still floating midair, and thus she can do nothing but wait until the juggernaut crushed her to a paste. But moments before impact, a bundle of glowing golden strands enveloped her being before it yanked her out of harm's way. Simca landed in the arms of the owner of the said glowing strings, Lacus.
"Wow. Okay. Thanksies?" Simca get down and stood next to Hikari.
"The creature has been perfectly adapted to deal with the darkness. You can't see in the dark, but it certainly can see you." After it realized it missed Simca, it just went on and on towards a wall.
Simca noted the ease of which Lacus navigates the darkness. "Can you?"
"In a manner of speaking…" Lacus shrugged. She quickly grabbed Megi, the red Haro. "But a creature adapted to darkness usually can't handle light very well…" She shook Megi several times until she lit up with veins of glowing fire. Lacus momentarily tossed the glowing red ball to the center of the room, and the Haro than exploded into a burst of light that completely reduce the darkness to naught, giving Simca a clear view of her surroundings at last. The whole structure is a massive football field sized room with a rather high ceiling, two stories tall. Dirty, and full of blood stains and craters.
Funny thing is, just when Simca get a clear view of her surroundings and adjusted to the light, she lost sight of their hunter. "Now where is that ugly-…Hikari-chan?" Simca looked at her partner, seeing her head bent upward. "Why are you looking up?"
"…because…" Lacus had seen people do it. "That thing…" She didn't know monsters can do it too. "…is sprinting upside down on the ceiling using Chakra."
It took Simca a few moments to register what Lacus just said. When the realization dawned and she looked up, Lacus had already screeched: "RUN!"
The massive beast literally free fall from the ceiling, descending in a spinning head butt from its initial upside down sprint, and fell like a meteor at the spot where Lacus and Simca were at. The force of the impact generated enough shockwave to knock the two girls away. Both were thrown so far until they finally reached the end of the room, hitting the wall with a loud thud before falling to the mucky and dirty floor, bodies hurting head to toe.
"WHAT ON EARTH IS THAT THING!? (KOFF)" Lacus howled in pain and frustration. "IT CAN USE CHAKRA!? (KOFF)"
"An ancient creature of a bygone age…" Simca choked some blood from her lips. "I'll tell you about it some other time. Here it comes again!"
The beast, now in clear view for everyone, plucked out its massive head from the pulverized crater, leaving the fine powder and dust. It sniffed the air with its massive snout several times before turning around and its one red eye looked straight at them with an accuracy that is clearly unhampered by the ample of light.
"I thought you said that thing hates bright places." Simca gritted her teeth, her joint still hurting from that latest attack.
"It'll be irrelevant if it's already blind from the get go. (koff)" Hikari argued back as she hold on to her pained stomach. Panting and grunting through the pain, Lacus caught another glimpse on the creature's feature. On the other sunken crevice where his other eye should've been, Lacus saw a cauterized flesh. Too small for an incendiary damage, and too focused: an aged gunshot wound, probably by a large caliber bullet. Her intuition as a doctor lit up and suddenly she had a suspicion gnawing at her conscience.
The Beast snorts and squeals, its hoof once again began carving the ground, getting ready for another charge.
Hikari grabbed the yellow Haro and embraced an idea. Can she make it in time though… well… she better stop worrying and start chanting. "Rift of earth, rift of dust, rift of rock… Rift of the Gnomes, bring her whose earthly throne of riches you carry…" Lacus began her chant to summon the greater daemon. As she did, magical runes and circles appeared around her as Simca watched. Meanwhile, the beast had begun its thunderous charge. Apparently, it sensed a danger coming. "Mountains flattened beneath your feet, the earth split asunder under your touch… I pray thee come forth… Barbatos, the Tyrant of the Earth-hoarders!" As Lacus finished chanting the summoning rituals, Barbara, the Yellow Haro transformed into the Viking Lacus with the ram helmet, carrying an Axe, and her voice echoed: "I… am the Tyrant of the Earth-hoarders… by my covenant with this enduring one, I shall endure, as she had, all that will come to harm her. And then we shall test if they can endure in turn…" Before she nearly finished her chant, the monster is already at her nose, but Lacus care not. "I… am Barbatos, the Tyrant of the Earth-hoarders."
A loud crash echoed across the whole house, nay, the whole street, when two massive creatures collided with one another. The people of the narrows were used to occasional earthquakes that signified the Don's pet is on the loose again. But this is probably the first time they ever felt an earthquake that was powerful enough to flip houses upside down, inside out and sent its occupants flying 3 feet off the ground. That was their cue to completely vacate the narrows, leaving it completely empty in an eyeblink.
Down there, Simca gawked as she looked upon the spectacle before her.
In her toy form, she's responsible for providing Lacus with endless supply of spiritual surgery strings whose toughness was beyond questioning. And now Barbara, AKA Barbatos, had reverted back to her original form. As a greater daemon, she easily dwarfed her other gargantuan sister, such as Megido and Chronos, but shorter than Leviathan. Her main body, made of earth and metal, showed some form of female – breasts and all made of black rock steel, but it has a rather excessive girth and profoundly obese (when you compare her to Lacus' other lean and slim summons), and her rather short but thick and sturdy legs ended with metallic stumps. Her head is covered in a massive flat faced, wide chinned Knight helmet with Golden glow and multiple holes on its surface for its approximation of eyes, as well as a pair of diamond ram horns on its sides, one spiraling clockwise, the other counterclockwise. Like a sheep that she is, she also has a massive thick fleece that formed her massive broad shoulders, dwarfing her already elephantine main body. Her fleece however, was not made of wool… Instead, it was made entirely of rocks and stones, each was richly laden with streams of gold that gave her whole being a golden luster, encrusted with other precious stones like diamond, ruby, emerald, and sapphire – one stone alone had enough riches to make merchant prince weep tears of blood. Here lies the source of Lacus' tiny gold stone. The earthly fleece of riches extended down from its massive shoulders to its back, forming some impromptu glittering cape of gold laden stones and jewel encrusted rocks. A three row range of downsized Mountains can even be seen forming across the earthly greater daemons' spine.
The being also possesses a rather otherworldly disposition, as parts of its earthly body and limbs seem to crumble to pieces and floated around haphazardly around its massive girth. Some of the rocks were falling off her fleece, and some others cascading upwards to reform her thigh, and there also others who just float around, forming limbs midair. The creature has no visible arms, presumably it was dispersed into the many other floating rocks surrounding it; but her massive forearms and fists, formed of other multitudes of floating rocks and minerals with thick fingers made of diamond; was disproportionately massive; even taller than the owner, and it floats around her being as if being moved around by an invisible arm. And one of that mighty diamond fists had just smashed the charging beast by its temple until its head sank to the ground in a massive crater.
Simca also looked at Lacus, encircled by magical runes that had engraved itself on her armored being, is mimicking Barbatos movements… no, correction: it was Barbatos who mimicked Lacus movements of punching the Beast' head to the ground. Lacus then began moving and her arm made a motion of grabbing the beast by the back.
In actuality, Barbatos also moved, the same way Lacus had moved and grasped the squealing beast with two hands, lifting it up over her head. Lacus propelled her arms upward, and Barbatos hurled the creature across the room before it landed with a gargantuan crash.
Up above, Don Winters were wondering what's taking his pet so long just to squash two little girls.
Down below, the Don's pet had also begun to wonder the same thing. Never, in its long sightless life, it had encountered a prey that eluded its tusks for so long… the fact it can suddenly punch it back and even toss it across the room like a softball is an even bigger shock. Snorting and sniffing, it caught scent of its two preys… and something else. Suddenly, it caught a scent it was quite familiar to. A long forgotten scent… from the time when it lived with the dignity and the pride it has now lost. Alas, in its current state, maddened after being in an indeterminate amount of time in darkness and misery, its response to it now is a loud animalistic squeal that no one can comprehend…
…except Lacus, who, after hearing this awkward scream, grew more suspicious. "Simca… You… you mind taking over for a minute?"
Simca had almost forgotten how to breathe when Lacus' called her back to earth. "You can do that?"
"Of course." Lacus weaved her hands, and the magical runes moved and grafted on Simca. She has momentary control of Barbatos now. "Hold it down for… a couple of minutes?"
"No problem." Simca flexed her fingers, and that of Barbatos, before slamming her fists together in a loud clap which generates a massive shockwave as she approached the downed beast, cracking her diamond fingers.
Meanwhile, Lacus pulled out the bronze Haro, which quickly transformed into the bespectacled scholar form of hers, Belphy. "Belphy… I need you to check on that creature for internal injuries… specifically its head."
Belphy fixed her swirling glasses, which gleamed in an eerie purplish glow, and she start jotting a picture of the creature's head, as per requested.
When Barbatos' brute force was combined with Simca's hand to hand martial arts, the combination was overwhelming. She caught the beast' tusk and let the beast slide to her left before she bashed its unprotected girth with an open palm strike. The beast was hurt by the strike and recoiled for the first time. Simca pressed her advantage and moved Barbatos in a spin until the daemon faced the beast's sides. She readied her stance, with her one leg stretched to the back and the other bent its knees to the front. Simca pointed her elbow and pointed her other arm backwards. Both gauntlets opened fire; their recoil propelled the elbow strike to destructive speed, even more so when they were carried out by a pair of giant fists the size of a boulder. The Beast screamed in sheer agony when the stony elbow struck its sides in a sickening crack of its ribs broken and it was sent flying across the room.
Meanwhile, undisturbed by the destructive clash of giants, Belphy continues to sketch that which her mistress ask of her. The first few pages, she only drew, in great detail, of the creature as it appears from the outside from front, back and sides. But subsequent sketches began to depict skeleton, muscle, eyeballs, organs, and other things naked eye cannot see. Lacus studied, in particular, one that depicts its mangled eye… and then its brain… and then it hit her. She looked at the beast struggling to get up in realization…
She gritted her teeth, made her decision, and yelled: "BARBATOS! TERRESTRIAL REVERSAL PRISON!"
Obeying her one true master, Barbatos moved differently than Simca and nailed her fists to the ground. The earth rumbled and cracked towards the still downed beast, and then it split beneath the creature's feet and swallowed its legs whole. Barbatos's earthly Golden Fleece creaked and cracked as the floating rocks buzzed around her in an increasingly furious speed. Finally, the rocks that composed her fleece dislodged completely from her being in its entirety and it zoomed towards the downed beast in a volley of swirling rocks and gold. The creature can do nothing but watch with its one red eye as the stones piled one after another right on top of it, burying it down under the rubble, completely locking it in place.
Soon, the beast was buried under a massive pile of rocks and stones. Simca watched as she whistled in awe. "Phew. Maybe you should start with that next time, eh?"
"It's a one off." Lacus gloomily noted. "And it's slow. Can't risk it to miss. And… I was still hoping I can heal and tame him."
It doesn't take a sensitive ear to know that her love rival is suddenly in a very bad and dark mood. "…Hikari-chan? Is something wrong?"
"This is wrong." Hikari cracked. "This is ALL so wrong and sad. But there's no other choice." And finally, Lacus brought forth her least favorite Haro: the Black One, Abby. She approached the pile of rocks where the beast was entombed.
"That thing is still alive." Simca remarked.
"Thing? That is not a thing." Lacus growled in heavy sorrow. "That being is… as you say… ancient. Old. Sacred. It's a holier creature than either of us, and now… I'm about to kill him." She gripped the black Haro tight as she continued to close her distance with the fallen being.
Simca gasped and she quickly chased and caught Lacus by the shoulder. "Then all the more reason! Hikari-chan, you made it this far, holding fast to your principles as a doctor, never killing anyone… and now you're going to kill a sacred being?"
"Look at that picture." Lacus motioned at the Rontgen sketch that Belphy had made. The scholar Lacus handed a particular picture to Simca, who studied it briefly… and she gasped in shock.
"A bullet. There's a bullet that punctured his eye and made its way to his brain. It's still there, lodged inside his brain, slowly but surely inching towards his cerebral cortex for years, wracking him with constant pain with every millimeter it gained to its brain, driving him mad with agony. Probably a lucky shot from a large caliber gun." Lacus climbed the small golden mountain until she beheld the being's red eye, encapsulated by the lodging rocks, entombing it. "Eventually, the bullet will hit home, and he will die. Painfully, agonizingly, he will die."
Simca gritted her teeth in horror and fury. That cane gun wielding pig… "…you can't get it out?" Simca asked a question she already knew the answer.
At that notion, Lacus looked again at the maddened eye of the beast… and fell on her knees, breaking in tears. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… if only… if only I found you sooner… 5 years… no… 3 years earlier… I might… I'm so sorry…!" Lacus' tears flooded her face behind the mask, and it managed to drip past the seams of her helmet, dropping on the beast's eye.
Perhaps the sincerity of her voice, or the beast finally realized his years of torment had come to an end; a sliver of sanity returned to the beast' mind, and the mad red glint on his tormented eye finally fade and closed, willing Lacus to finish it. Abby, the Black Haro charged for the care of the dead, turned into a toxic black dagger with eerie black ooze sipping from its edge. Lacus closed her teary eyes as she brought the blade down and the deed was done.
When the golden rock fleece crumbled away, the creature is now a lifeless husk, quiet, peaceful, as if entering a motionless deep sleep. A devastated Lacus knelt next to it, mourning, raging.
"You can't help him, Hikari-chan. He's beyond your help… or anyone else."
"He is… if I had found him sooner." Lacus' lips trembled. She banged her fists to the floor and then, uncontrollably, she hysterically shrieked in rage and despair, unleashing the destructive side of her bloodline limit.
DON WINTERS! I AM COMING FOR YOU!
Her scream, hailing from the underground dungeon beneath tons of rocks and stone, penetrated the pavements of the Narrows' streets, reverberating all across the alley, shattering all windows, vases, wine jars, lanterns, cauldrons, and every other fragile object within the range of her voice. Fortunately, by that time, the Narrows had all been completely deserted. That impossibly loud scream was also a sign for Don Winters, the man in question, who suddenly realized that the impossible scenario had happened: his pet monster is dead.
Following that inhuman howl, the ground shakes. The earth cracks and finally split open as a giant ram like creature made of golden rocks just ascended out of the road. The creature stomped its way towards the manor using its two oversized diamond fists like a gorilla, crushing buildings, knocking down gates, but careful as to not squish any human running scared underfoot, namely Nahe and his entourage who had just regained consciousness and they saw this larger than life wrath of nature incarnate pass them overhead. Nahe gulped while his men gawked in fear. "Dear me, Master Winters… you pissed off the wrong girls…"
Sitting atop the rampaging Daemon were Simca and Hikari. Simca looked at the fuming Hikari and easily understand her rage. "…and you're gonna tell me, you still won't kill him? After everything he's done, after everything he put us through?"
"NO!" Lacus spat. "The way I am right now, after everything he put me through… the last thing I'll give him, is the easy road of peaceful death."
Forget the front door, Barbatos completely bypassed the entrance and literally climbed the manor with her diamond hands, causing massive destruction and footprints. Finally, she arrived at the top tower, and Barbatos launched her fist at the tower. Midway, the fist disassembled itself into a multitude of rocks and reassembled into a regal bridge laden with diamonds and gems. The bridge smashed through the wall, creating an instant access to the entrance of Setona's room.
Hikari and Simca jumped towards the instant bridge and rushed towards their goal. "You know… for a second there… I thought you were going to smash straight into Setona-chan's room."
"9 out of 10, destroying the room of the captive tend to defeat the purpose of the rescue by killing the prize outright." Lacus retorted. "I'm angry. Not crazy."
The two quickly reached their destination. Setona's door is steel plated. Truly, it's more like a prison rather than a room. Simca banged the door several times and it won't budge. It's locked. "Stupid Spanish steel door. Now what?"
Hikari then grabbed something from beneath her armor. A steel key whose design and size matched that of the door.
"Where did you get that?"
"Later." Hikari put the key and unlock the door with a twist.
The steel door was opened, and inside they saw Setona, her eyes red from crying… and for a moment, she looked like she'll smile upon seeing a familiar face, but then, her face was once again marred by terror as a fat hand grasped her neck and pressed her head back. Her father seems adamant not to let her go… but then… why did he put that syringe into his own daughter's neck? "I'M WARNING YOU-" The Don blared with maddened blinkered eyes. "-DON'T COME ANY CLOSER… OR THE LITTLE BITCH GETS IT!"
Lacus and Simca went into full alert. The man was clearly not in his right mind anymore. They've pushed him to the point beyond desperation. "What's in that syringe!?" Lacus demanded to know.
"20g of pure opium." The mad Don answered with a foaming insane smile.
"Gods…" Simca gaped. "A dose half that size will kill her! DON'T DO IT!"
"SHE'S YOUR OWN DAUGHTER!" Lacus roared in disbelief. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS!?"
"PRECISELY BECAUSE SHE'S MY DAUGHTER!" The Don grinned madly. "She's my little bitch! And so I can do whatever I want with her! Can't I, my little Setona!?" Setona didn't answer but she just cried.
"Look, lard-head!" Simca ran out of patience. "We just want HER! Not YOU! We'll deal with you later but not today! Just give her to us, and we'll walk away!"
"SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP!" The Don roared. "SHE'S MINE! ALL MINE! EVERY INCH OF HER! AND YOU'RE NOT GETTING EVEN A SINGLE STRAND OF HER HAIR!" He hugged Setona tighter, effectively began to choke her.
"Pa-pa!" Setona choked as she's having difficulty to breathe.
"Sssh! Sssh! Don't be afraid, Setona-baby! Papa will accompany you soon."
Upon hearing that, Simca and Lacus realize they're out of time. This madman of a father is going to kill her and then he's going to kill himself. But then Simca had a plan. "Hikari-chan… on the count of three… you jump for Setona." She whispered.
"What are you going to do?" Lacus gulped.
"You'll know when you see it." Simca readied herself. "One…"
"Two…" Lacus also prepare herself.
"Three!" And Simca acted… by shooting Setona by the leg.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAARGHH!" Setona screamed loudly as she involuntarily fell to the ground with her leg covered in blood, weighing the diminutive Don down, and the needle was finally out of her neck. As planned, Hikari quickly jumped for Setona and put her in her arms. She was about to move away with Setona safe and secure, but then Lacus screeched in pain. "KYAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" She turned around and saw the mad Don had sunk his opium needle into her, injecting all the muck inside her. "Grghh… you…"
"Why YOU-!" Simca roared in fury and kicked the Don by the face, completely smashing him to the wall. Simca thought of doing further harm on that fat bastard until Lacus called him.
"Simca!" Simca stopped and looked at Hikari who fell on her knees. "Grab her. Keep her away from me! NOW!"
Simca nodded and grabbed Setona away from Hikari. Setona cried. "Hikari-sensei!"
Lacus grunted as she plucked the syringe off her back. Even then she can feel that muck is circulating in her being now. She calmed herself, steady her breathing, slow down her heartbeat… and then… slowly, she placed her chakra covered hand into her chest. Slowly, her heartbeat slowed… until finally it nearly stopped. And then, she began messaging herself, and she can feel the opium contamination is being isolated. Her miasma began to act and completely devour the opium, process it, and then annihilate it. Yes. That's the advantage of being a Typhoid Mary of the world's deadliest toxin: it leaves you immune to everything else, even drug addiction. The leftovers of the Opium were compartmentalized and Lacus moved it to her arm. Lacus opened her gauntlet and saw that her right arm now has black vein popping out. The still toxic leftovers from the Opium had been moved here. Hikari called in Krona, and turned her into a knife. She pressed the knife at the vein and, grunting at the pain, dragged and squeezed the poisonous bile across the vein, until it finally reach critical point at the edge of a bulging tendon artery, and Lacus slit her wrist, and the black bile spurt out. The poison leftovers hit the rock, and much to Simca and Setona's horror, the bile melted the rock. Lacus momentarily closed her wound and put back her glove, operation complete.
Simca became more horrified and angry at the Don. "You try to put that into your own daughter!?" Lacus, still panting, got up and face Setona again.
"Hikari-sensei…" Setona cried again.
"Setona-chan… Are you okay?" Lacus chuckled.
"Yes… I'm okay…" Setona forced a smile through the pain of the hole on her thigh.
"No, you're not. You got a hole in your leg. Simca! What on earth are you thinking, shooting the hostage!?" Lacus barked at Simca in disbelief.
"We do not negotiate with hostage takers, and etc, etc and all the yadda-yadda. That was a bad idea. I agree." Simca chuckled. "But we saved her right?"
"You bitches…" The Don growled as he struggled to get up. His face is all mashed up, thanks to Simca's kick. He only gazed helplessly at Setona in Simca's arms. "She's MY daughter! Do you have any fucking idea what you're doing!? You KIDNAP MY daughter! Even though you're a ranking officer of the Alliance, I'll see you burn, bitch! I swear to-"
"Will you just shut up you-" Simca's reply was cut short when she smell something… disgustingly familiar. And it came from Setona's clothing. Simca sniffed the clothes again just to be sure… and she was right. Simca sent a disgusted glare at the Don. "You… you sick FUCK!" in a rare moment, Simca lost her composure.
"Simca?" Lacus noted the fury in Simca's tone.
"Her clothes… it smells of semen." Simca's lips trembled in uncontainable fury. "-are you… jerking off at your own daughter's clothes!? You… you were planning to…" Simca couldn't finish the sentence, so angry she was. Oh, everything makes sense now. Why is the Don was so obsessive of his daughter, why the excessive overprotection, the kidnap… everything makes a perfectly disgusting sense. Her teeth clattered in utter fury, her breathings paced as her bloodlust rise to an all time high. Simca raised her gauntlets to take aim at the deviant Don, but suddenly she find herself unable to move a muscle. A second observation and she saw her body is being wrapped in strings, Lacus' doing. "HIKARI-CHAN! PLEASE! LET ME KILL HIM! PLEASE! I BEG YOU! THIS SICK GOD DAMN ASSHOLE EARNED IT! PLEASE!"
"Simca… Setona-chan… is WATCHING!" Lacus grunted as she struggled to keep Simca in place. My, talk about a strong woman.
Simca halt her anger and looked at the pink haired girl in her arms. Setona looked scared. As it stands, it seems she feared her almost as much as she feared her father. And Simca stopped struggling. "But… after everything…"
"He must pay. He must pay for all the things he's done, all the lives he ruined, everything!" Lacus grunted. "And he can't do that if he's dead. He must live." Lacus looked at the Don like looking a pile of garbage. "But… there's also a punishment that cannot wait. One that you had it coming." Lacus began approaching the Don menacingly. "Simca… close Setona's eyes. I don't want her to see this."
The Don gasped when he saw Hikari menacingly approached him with… are those needles on her hand?
Setona take one last look at her terrifying father and finally realized he had it coming. She buried her head into Simca's breast and Simca also pat her head.
"W… What are you doing…!?" the Don crawl back in fear as Hikari grew closer and closer. "No… NO! NOOO!" He tried to get up and run, but to his fear, his body can't move. Lacus had sutured him to the floor.
"You shot a bullet at a sacred creature's head. And instead of giving him the mercy of death, you let him suffer until the pain drove him mad." Lacus murmured coldly as she planted the first needle. "You kidnapped and ruined the life of hundreds of girls, forcing them into prostitution until they die. How many thousands of girls have you killed?" She planted the second needle. "You throw away your daughter because of her ugly appearance. And then when she's pretty again, you tried to rape her." Lacus planted the third needle right on his forehead. "This… is my punishment for you." And the last needle was planted on the man's nervous stem. "You will suffer… all they had suffered." Lacus poked the last needle on the man's forehead, though only for an instant. Leaving but a prick on his head. But the effect was instantaneous.
All four needles Lacus planted before suddenly shot out. And then the man starts screaming in pain. "AAAAAAAAAAARGHHH! AAAAAAAAAAAARGHHH! AAAAAAAAAA-rgh." And then he fainted. But as soon as he did, he starts moaning, as if having a bad dream.
"Hikari… what did you do to him?"
"He tortured and enslaved a sacred animal, so I erased all his sense of pleasure: good taste, good feeling, and anything else that is pleasant, all of it. I erase it all. He'll feel absolutely nothing, not even if he tasted the most delicious of food or the finest of wines, or the most vagrant of perfumes. All is ash and naught to his senses." Hikari tossed the first needle. "And then he kidnapped and ruined the lives of many maidens… he's a pervert. Every time he became aroused, when his… pheromone level reached to a certain level, all of his sense of pain will lit up… and then his nervous system will send it to his genitalia." Lacus tossed the second needle. "And… for the more permanent damage… for lusting after his own daughter… I permanently neutered him. He can still feel aroused… which will trigger the second punishment… but he'll never be able to get any sort of erection whatsoever. He's impotent, for life." Lacus tossed the third needle more violently.
Simca twitched. "Isn't that… a bit of an… overkill?"
Setona frowned as she looked at her father with nothing but pity. "Please… please forgive him! Hikari-sensei! Please don't punish my father so harshly!"
"Setona-chan…" Lacus was touched at Setona's kindness. "…we may not even know if he's your father."
"But he is my father!" Setona suddenly exclaimed, much to Lacus and Simca's surprise. "I don't know why my father didn't record me in the family registry. But we once did a blood test. Mine and his merged. He IS my father."
Lacus frowned and Simca shook her head. "That won't change anything, Setona. Kidnapping, prostitution, attempted murder of you… even if we can't take him for kidnapping you, there's enough proof of his crimes in this house… enough to put him behind bars for the rest of his natural life without parole."
"Then let him go to prison. Let him languishes in the cage he so deserves… but please… Hikari-sensei… Release him or at least alleviate his torment."
How can a man so rotten like this Don can gave birth to a girl so pure of heart, they'll never know. Hikari shook her head. "No. I cannot. Once it has been done, it cannot be undone." Setona gasped as tears forming on her eyes. "But…" Simca and Setona looked at Lacus. "I did give him a way out." Lacus gestured at the current state he was in. "He's having a bad dream now. The first of many to come. In that dream… every wrongdoing, every murder, every sin he committed by his hand or any hand he commanded are being brought to bear. He's watching it allover again right now over and over, in his dreams."
"How is that a way out?" Simca looked at the Don's moaning figure.
"Even the most evil of person… would have a small sliver of good within him. I'm counting on whatever goodness he had left in his wretched black heart… in order for him to feel the slightest bit… of regret." Setona blinked at Lacus. "If he can feel remorse for all the sins he had committed, the punishments will wear off, in time."
Setona hopefully looked at her wretched father's moaning form. Hoping that, as Hikari had said, as evil as his father can be, there will be some good left in there somewhere.
Lacus looked at Simca and the two nodded. Case closed for now. "I better call this in."
Moments later…
Hikari walked out of the ruined mansion, carrying Setona, who had her bloody leg bandaged, in her arms. Following behind was Simca, who's dragging the catatonic Don Winters across the road. Outside, they were welcomed by a crowd of people… and two squads of troopers. The first squad, Simca easily recognized as her squad, the girls of Genesis. The second squad was her least favorite, the Calamity squad. Led by a young man of Russian descent, with pale blonde hair, wearing a standard teal green colored Regular's Kevlar Vest. He had a shield on his back, and a Bazooka crossed over it. "Simca! What are you doing here?"
Simca snarled. "Ah. Orga Sabnak. Came to check up on your boss?" She smugly shook the Don, earning a groan.
Orga looked at Don Winters' living death state and growled. "What have you done to him?"
"I'm putting him under arrest." To emphasize her point, Simca produced a pair of handcuffs and clapped them on both of the man's hands. Hikari noted the sight of the Catatonic crime boss in cuffs brought some noticeable cheer on the faces of Simca's subordinates.
"On what charges?"
"On what charges?" Simca laughed shrilly. "The usual includes: drug and human trafficking, kidnapping, substance abuse, and over a few dozen murders. The more recent includes child abuse, resisting arrest, attempted murder of an Alliance Ranking officer, and my personal favorite: attempted murder and rape of his own daughter, Setona Winters." Simca motioned at the girl in Hikari's arms as the lieutenant smiled in triumph at the bitter faced Orga. "And don't get me started on illegal hunting and possession of an endangered species as well as illegal possession of military grade armory. I dearly hoped that you are involved in these last two, Orga. I can't wait to see how Rena will burn you for that."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Orga growled dangerously.
"No? In the last 2 years, you've been supplying his goons with guns and weapons from your squad's armory. In return, he pay you top dollar to pay the bill and keep the HQ in the dark about it." Simca grinned viciously at Orga, whose face frowned to an ugly proportion.
He closed in on Simca's smiling face and murmured: "Then why don't you prove it?" and then he spat on Simca's face.
The subordinates of both officers sprang up, ready to act depending upon the officers' reactions. Hikari took Setona into a protective embrace.
But Simca was unfazed. "There's no covering on this one, Orga. A sacred beast was found in his dungeon. Rena will explode when she hears about this and if the law can't get to him now, she'll bury him in a hole forever with her bare hands. So I'll give you one last chance to say goodbye to your benefactor. And pray that what Hikari-chan did to him will be enough to ease the General Captain's wrath."
"Hikari?" Orga looked straight at the armored doctor. And for a moment, he frowned in suspicion of the doctor's appearance. "Is she a civilian?"
Sensing trouble, Simca retorted. "No… she-"
"Hikari-sensei?" The crowd was distracted when they saw three distinct armed warriors appear before in their midst. They were distinct because unlike the squad of troopers, all three are clad in black… and they are all masked. One was heavily armored, carrying a pair of swords, the other, a female, also wears a mask, carrying a bow and the last one wear a bird like black mask, with a mouth guard, a noticeable bright blond hair braided on one side, and he's carrying a three pronged scythe.
Simca blinked. And then she remembered: Kage has three personal bodyguards, one carrying a pair of swords, the other an expert archer, and the last one was nicknamed the Lancer… each with a 100 mil on their heads. "Saber, Archer, and Lancer Shadowguard! Ah! Perfect timing."
The murmur of Shadowguards erupted amongst the crowd, particularly the troopers who had been made all too aware of their bounty… and the exorbitant bounty of their Blacklist master.
Tolle, Milly, and Gino looked at Hikari, the girl in her arms, Simca… and that mess of a mansion behind her. "Uhh… Hikari-sensei… did you do that?" Tolle asked.
Hikari looked at the mansion behind her, it was barely standing, while its former occupants: the now half dead and utterly traumatized gangsters and prostitutes are queuing to get the hell out of there. "Yeah… (koff) I did some of it. (koff)"
As if on cue, all this dust is tickling Setona's nose… "A… Achoo!"
Cra…crakk!
And the ruined mansion suddenly collapsed into total rubble. After everything they went through in that accursed building, Lacus and Simca were not sorry to see it go up in smoke.
Orga suddenly made a move to Lacus. "Miss, would please come with us for a debriefing?"
"OH NO, SHE WILL NOT!" Simca suddenly step forward and stand between Orga and Lacus. The atmosphere became tense once again, and Simca's genesis squad stand ready behind their leader in support.
"She's part of an important investigation-"
"I enlist her as part of my mission: END OF STORY." Simca roared. "And you will leave it at that, Sergeant." Simca tried to remind Orga that, connections or not, she still outrank him.
Orga was still adamant and his hand seems to made motion towards his sidearm…
ZIP! ZIP! Two arrows flew and shot the gun off its holster. Orga's hand snapped away from his gun and he glared angrily at the culprit. "BITCH!"
Milly's face was that of terrible fury and vengeance. "That's for yesterday. And be glad I didn't shoot you in between your legs."
"And for the record, that armored missy over there is our captain's GIRLFRIEND." Tolle pulled out his swords, and Taka wordlessly pulled his scythe. "Touch a single strand of her hair, and our Captain will hunt you down to the very ends of the earth."
In succession, the crowd began shouting, and some even start throwing things at Orga's squadron, coupled with booings. "Yeah!" "Get out of here!" "We don't need you!" "GET LOST!" Orga glared angrily at the girls and the shadowguards before he finally turned tail and leave. The crowd immediately cheered upon seeing the Sergeant and his squadron left. They still cheered even after the Squad was no longer in sight, and Lacus became somewhat annoyed by the noise.
"SILENCE!" She yelled, instantly grounding the cheer to a halt.
Everyone turned to Hikari in confusion. The doctor motioned Setona in her arms, which, upon closer observation, is fast asleep with a smile on her lips. Hikari added in a lower voice: "Sssh. You'll wake her up." And the crowd smiled in understanding and relief. Hikari smiled and start walking away, carrying Setona with her. She stopped momentarily next to Tolle and asked out of curiosity. "Speaking of which… (koff) Tolle, where have you been… (koff) and what are you doing here? (koff)"
"It's a long story. I could ask the same for you Doc. What happened?"
"It's a long story. (koff)" Hikari sighed. "Debrief at Kage's? (koff)"
"No prob." Tolle looked at the girl in Hikari's arms. He felt the need to ask who she is, but he think he'll just wait for the debrief. "Where are you taking her?"
"She had an appointment, (koff) and we are very, VERY late. (koff) Cheers. (koff)" Hikari bowed her head and then she start walking away.
"Hikari-chan! Wait for me~e!" Simca cheerfully chased the doctor and walked flutteringly next to her new friend.
Tolle, Milly and Gino blinked in confusion at this development. Gino asked everyone's question. "Errhhh… since when they became BFF?"
Lacus and Simca take their time walking to Setona's true home under the bridge. It is a slipshod and crumbling house made of trash and junks, but that's where love is all that she will receive there. As they made their way, they took the chance to debrief on what they had undergone in that mansion.
"The more I think of it, the more it pisses me off." Simca gritted her teeth. "He lusted over his own daughter. That's why he didn't register her. So that when he knocked her up, he can easily say she's not even family. No one will get squeamish if no one knows he raped his own daughter. That son of a pig…"
"Simca. (koff) Language. (koff) We're nearing a place where something like that are not allowed. (koff)" Hikari scolded her fellow pink haired girl.
"I'm sorry. It's that Orga Sabnak… he pissed me off every time I see his… uurgh!" Simca grunted. Her injuries are hurting.
"Be careful. (koff) CougH! CougH! (koff) We didn't come out of that place unscathed, you know? (koff)" Lacus also groaned in pain. Her armor can only protect her against so much.
"Ha, ha…" Simca chuckled.
Not long after, the two finally arrived at their destination. But the first thing they see sent them into a panicked sprint.
The Slum house was being surrounded by armed goons. Probably leftovers from Don Winters' men they didn't whack hard enough. Upon seeing two murderous girls descending upon them, the gangsters went to full alert. But then a voice called.
"Wait! Lower your weapons! There's no need for that." It was Nahe Herschell, Don Winter's mild mannered assistant. He calmly met the two girls.
"Nahe, what are you doing here? If you hurt any of them-"
"Please." Nahe bowed his head. "Peace between us today, Lieutenant Simca… Honorable Doctor Hikari. I did not come here to fight. Even if I am, I know we will lose anyway."
"Why are you ganging up on those kids? (koff)" Hikari glared at the tanned man.
"Nahe?" Setona finally woke up in Hikari's arms. "Nahe, is that you?" Lacus quickly and gently put her back on her feet. Setona still had difficulty standing though, thanks to her gunshot wound.
"Milady Winters…" Nahe knelt down before Setona. "You're alright. Thank God. Thank you, Dr. Hikari. You saved her."
Simca blinked. "What is he talking about?"
Hikari sighed and then she reached her pocket and finally returned the steel key that Nahe gave her in secret when they collided earlier. Nahe took the key with a wide smile of gratitude. Simca looked at the exchange with a mouth forming an "Oh."
"The coming of lady Setona brought great changes to us all, Lady Hikari. Suffice to say, there are also those among us who, after being changed to a better man by her innocence, swear fealty to her. And we helped her endeavors, whatever that maybe, anyway we can." Nahe gave an example by showing that, unlike what Hikari and Simca initially thought, Nahe's entourage were not besieging the slum orphanage… quite the opposite, they were guarding it. Some were even playing with the children. Finally, one children caught sight of Setona, and he squealed in joy.
"SETONA-NEE-CHAN!" the kid left the bodyguard and rushed towards Setona. Setona laughed and welcomed the boy into her arms. The boy was quickly followed by everyone, and just like that, cheer returned into that slum. Daego rushed ahead of the other kids and but a few steps away from Setona, but somewhere he tripped and fell sliding on the ground, right in front of her boots. Marina followed the other children from behind with a wide smile. "Welcome back, Setona."
Setona smiled. "I'm home!" And the laughing children and smiling crowd encircle Setona, laughing and eager to talk with her.
Nahe saw fit to allow a moment for her lady to enjoy her return, but he also quickly brought a certain matter to ahead. "Milady Setona… I hate to interrupt, but there's something I must ask you. What are you going to do now?"
Setona momentarily forget her happiness and looked at Nahe. "What do you mean?"
"With you father incapacitated, there's no one who can take charge of the Mob. Without leadership, the soldados will run wild, causing mayhem."
"You're seriously gonna ask Setona to be a Don of the Mob?" Simca growled.
Marina quickly interjected in protest. "Setona is just a little girl!"
"It's not me, Ma'am." Nahe bowed his head apologetically. "But that is the way things are. Whether she wants it or not, with her father incapacitated, the leadership automatically falls to her."
Setona was clearly more than uncomfortable to even consider the idea. Her frown made the other children saddened as well.
Reading the atmosphere and realized this is not the time for such complicated talk, Nahe bowed back. "Forgive me. I suppose this is a conversation for another time."
With Nahe backing down for now, Setona returned a smile to the children to lighten the atmosphere. Soon, laughter and chatters can be heard again.
Her two miraculous helpers, Hikari and Simca, also decided to give Setona and her children some space and time as they decided to sit some distance away up the slope overlooking the slum orphanage, enjoying their little victory. "Now that we have a moment for ourselves… you want to tell me about that thing you showed there in the manor? About the armor… and you?" Simca started.
Lacus sighed. "What's to tell? I overdid the blessings of my genes, distorting it with unchecked excitement, and now I paid the price. I may never be able to touch another human directly for the rest of my life. Some doctor, huh?"
"And yet you still practice." Simca noted the bandages on Setona's thigh. "And Kage doesn't seem to be troubled by the slightest."
"I can perform rudimentary surgeries; I once even did a c-section on a twin with my arms like this…" Lacus showed her three digit armored fingers. "But I can't do more extreme skills. So far the only person I can practice those skills on are Kage. Don't ask how he managed to remain immune to my miasma. Your guess is as good as mine." Lacus sighed as she gently gazed at Setona. "Not long after saving her, I ended up doing more killing than saving in a span of weeks. I thought my days as a doctor is done and I stopped. I let God knows how many people die due to me doing nothing."
Simca winced.
Lacus smiled sadly. "I got low. I didn't see a way out… so until a while ago, I tried to kill myself. Kage slapped me back on track. Literally. I learnt that… even when your body emits poison, that's not an excuse to stop saving lives. And then a little later, I found out that I've never lost my ability to save people. I found other ways." Lacus looked at Simca. "When I saw what I can really do when I'm not wallowing in despair… I silently swore then and there, that I'll never take another life. I will uphold my oath as a doctor, more than anything." Lacus looked at Simca. "What about you?"
"Excuse me?" Simca looked at Lacus.
"I want to save Setona not only because of my Doctor's oath. She's also my former patient which I can never left behind; a living proof that I was once a lifesaver, always have been, always will be. What about you?" Lacus tilted her head at Simca. "You don't look like a person who can lose her cool so easily. But you literally EXPLODED when you find out about that Don and Setona. And you don't fight a giant monster to gain favors."
Simca laughed. She, losing her cool like that… yep. Hikari definitely asked the right question. "Fun fact. When Opium was first invented, they weren't used to the point of addiction. They were used to lessen the pain that occurred during an operation. It prevents the patient from dying out of shock." Lacus tilted her head. "But then… an unknown poppy farmer said this, during the beginning of the Opium War… 'I don't know what's the fuss is all about. My opium does exactly what it was meant to do.'"
Lacus nodded, as she tried to process the moral of that story.
Simca took a deep breath and exhaled. "We all started with pure intentions. Wide eyed. Innocent. We used our powers, our knowledge under the desire to do good. And then we met crooked path, dead ends, and we compromise. And from the compromise comes the mistakes. Piling one after another… and then we looked at the mirror… and we can't even recognize ourselves. We're a far different from what we wished to become. When that happens, sometimes it is necessary for us to look back and remember what we wanted to do when we first started." Simca looked lovingly at Setona, chatting happily with Daego and Marina. "That's what that girl did for me. She reminded me of who I was, what I used to be… everything I thought I've lost, she brought it back to me." She was once again reminded why she started her path of field medic and master Tuner. It was to save lives. She healed people; maintained the equipment that kept them alive in the fiercest of battles. If she looked back in the mirror, is that wide eyed girl with the will to save lives still there? Simca tucked her head in sorrow. How many times did she consider how easier it is to simply kill everyone in her way, back in the Don's mansion? What happened to her? When did she become this… vicious? "That's why when I found out how that fat pig intends to destroy her life… I went… a bit overzealous, I guess?"
Lacus looked at Simca in a whole new light. "Simca."
Simca looked at Hikari.
"Regarding your offer. I'm sorry. In end, I can't accept your invitation. However, in the last few days, I've been teaching many surgeons aboard Archangel, imparting them with my knowledge and skills. If you really mean it about saving lives again… You, and your girls of Genesis Tools Toul To, are more than welcome to join my class."
Simca's gasp quickly breaks into a smile. "Thank you… Hikari-chan."
And then, they noticed an activity down there. Setona struggled to move to a makeshift podium and the children as well as the slum inhabitants are encircling her, eagerly waiting for something.
"What is she doing?"
Lacus blinked. "She's going to sing. (koff)"
Alas, they saw Setona was having difficulty to stand much less to walk. When she tried to sing, she barely managed the first syllable and then "OUCH!" The pain of her leg caused her to collapse on her knees. "Owowowowow…"
Marina sighed. "Setona-chan, don't force it. You're still hurt. Perhaps some other time?"
"Curse the son of a… urhm… the evil man who shot you in the leg." Daego became somewhat wary of an invisible slap to his face.
Hikari glared accusingly at a remorseful Simca. "Your fault."
Simca tucked her head down. "I'm ashamed."
"You better be. (koff)" Hikari shook her head. "Shoot the hostage. (Sc-koff) Who taught you to negotiate like that? (koff)"
Somewhere in Beijing…
"AH-CHOOO!"
Rena Imelia sneezed right in front of her sergeant during a troop inspection. "?"
Back to Shanghai…
Lacus looked at how Setona struggled to sing only to fail miserably, and the children were clearly disappointed. So she made a decision. "Simca. Can you help me? (koff)"
"Hm?"
"You go down there… and whatever happens… don't let those kids near me. Trust me. Every time I do this, some of them will always try to run towards me. So keep them off me, will you?"
"What are you going to do?"
Lacus closed her eyes and smiled. "To let them listen to my soul."
Simca blinked but she descended towards the slum house. The audience down there had notice her peculiar behavior. Lacus saw Simca talked to Marina and Nahe about keeping watch of the children, and they nodded several times in understanding as they put the children behind them, but still allowing them to see her.
Hikari nodded. And then, thinking that Kira will rail her again for this, Lacus undo her mask. The wind is blowing from her back, blaring her long disheveled pink hair, enclosing her full face. Doesn't matter. Her voice will reach them anyway.
She took a deep breath… and then…
shizukana kono yoru ni anata wo matteru no
Simca's eyes widened in disbelief, her jaw hung.
ano toki wasureta hohoemi wo tori ni kite
The chattering and murmuring children went silent.
are kara sukoshi dake jikan ga sugite
Marina was wondering if she had been deaf up until now.
omoide ga yasashiku natta ne
Nahe closed his eyes, not wanting to use any of his other senses but his ears.
hoshi no furu basho de
The vagrants who were too tired to get up from their beds were suddenly up on their feet.
anata ga waratte irukoto wo
Suddenly, they forgotten all the hardship, all the evil and every cruelty the world had thrown at them.
itsumo negatteta
But their spirits, their emotions that Lacus brought to bear… none of them…
ima tookutemo
…none of them …can compare to the one being felt by one wide eyed Setona Winters.
mata aeru yo ne
With trembling lips, and before anyone can stop her, she run up the slope towards the singer she had been searching all her life. Her savior. Her angel.
itsu kara hohoemi wa konna ni hakanakute
No one can stop her. They were too entranced by Lacus' song. Not that they could even if they wanted to.
hitotsu no machigaide kowarete shimau kara
She climbed the slope with great difficulty as the pain on her leg bites her senses… but she cares not.
taisetsuna mono dake wo hikari ni kaete
Finally, she stand just a little bit more before her… just a few more steps…
tooi sora koete yuku tsuyosade
But then… their eyes meet again after 5 years of separation… and she just collapsed to her knees, eyes bursting into tears.
"La…(Sob) Lacus (sob) sama!?" Setona choked the name as she clasped her mouth with her trembling hands.
Lacus momentarily stopped her song to look at her with a kind smile. The same smile she once gave her, 5 years ago when she sang for everyone, just like today. "You're doing well, Setona-chan."
Setona cried and cried. "No… no… not like this… You… you're in that armor… you… rescued me… I…" She shook her head again and again. Lacus Clyne… THE Lacus Clyne had just endured all that Hell just for her. She, the Princess of all Princesses, risked her life to rescue a filthy daughter of a mob boss… That's just too impossible to be true. If this is a dream, please let her wake up now. But it's not. "My father… hurt you… I… How can I… How can you appear before me like this… No… I'm not… worthy…"
Lacus smiled. "Setona-chan… a wise man once told me. A flower cannot choose where to bloom. Nor can a bird choose where to hatch. Your father's sin was his own. What wrong have you done?"
Setona just kept crying.
Lacus looked at the slumhouse down below. It's not exaggerating to say that it was Setona who built that place with her own hands. "You had lived in such a place… you struggled, and suffered beneath the dark shadow that your father had piled. So much so that you began to think your life is meaningless… And yet you keep caring for others, getting them up on their feet using those small hands of yours, raising up their hopes. The life you had lived…"
Setona looked at Lacus kind motherly eyes, now completely unhampered by the visor, her boundless passion is laid bare for all to bask in it.
Lacus smiled. "…It's not meaningless."
Setona finally cracked and cried. But it was a cry of happiness. Of a burden finally lifted off her shoulders. The shadow that had engulfed her was finally casted off.
Lacus smiled. "Setona-chan."
Setona lifted her teary eyes and looked at Lacus.
"Sing with me."
Setona smiled with teary eyes and quickly get back up on her feet. She stood some distance just below Lacus – being a girl allows her to remain deeper within Lacus' miasma parameter.
She took a deep breath together with Lacus, and then, together, they continued the song:
hoshi no furu basho e
The clarion of their duet uplifted the beauty of their melody to new heights. Shaking hardened hearts and rejuvenate tired soul.
omoi wo anata ni todoketai
Elegance and Mischievousness mix together, Maturity and Childishness in harmony, Loud and quiet, fast and slow, all resonated, an orchestra of two different aspects that invariably bring boundless joy to all who hears it.
itsumo soba ni iru
Marina cries tears of happiness as she can easily feel Setona's happiness in every lyric she sang together with her idol.
sono tsumetasa wo dakishimeru kara
Simca was moved. She was so moved. Never she had heard a sound so beautiful it shook her soul so profoundly down to its very foundations coming out from the lips of mortal human, Advanced or otherwise.
ima toukutemo kitto aerune
The other audience was rendered completely speechless and they closed their eyes. They want their ears to function in full and more.
And together, the two divas finished the song:
shizuka na yoru ni…
Lacus and Setona stopped and looked at their audience. They were still entranced by the beauty of their combined voices. Lacus took that chance to put back her mask, and then she turned to a teary eyed but blissfully happy Setona.
"L… Lacus-sama… I…"
Lacus smiled.
And Setona finally rushed at her and hugged her tight and she cried against Lacus' armored chest. And her joy was increased double fold as Lacus kindly and happily returned the hug. The two quickly went down to join the others. The children quickly swarmed the armored Doctor, sheering and laughing, asking for an encore. Setona looked at Lacus and then Nahe… and then she made a decision. "Nahe!"
"Yes, Milady?"
"About that thing we talked about earlier. I've just decided."
"Milady?" The noise died down for a moment.
"Until my father recovered, I'll take over the Family." She decided, much to everyone's shock, including Nahe's. But Setona looked meaningfully at Lacus, and she continued. "…and I will start… by rebuilding my father's manor in the Narrows. Made it bigger, larger, better." Lacus gaped. After all that trouble they've gone through to destroy it, and she's gonna rebuild that house of horror!? The others were still in disbelief. Until Setona added: "And they will be used for one purpose and one purpose only: the care and welfare of the Orphans and the City's at risk."
And suddenly cheer rushed back in full. "Setona! Nice idea!" Daego grinned. Marina nodded. That clearly is a wonderful idea. Setona timidly asked Nahe. "I… can do that… right?"
Nahe nodded with a smile. "I suppose this will be the first time your father's wealth being put to a worthy cause. Yes." Setona looked at the masked armored Doctor that is Lacus, and she also nodded in approval and Setona smiled even wider. Setona turned to Simca. "I'll see to it that the Winters Mafia's Mob are kept in check. They will not cause any more troubles."
"That might be a little bit hard. Some of them are pretty hotheaded and hard to control, especially by someone like Setona. Perhaps… if she received a backing from people of great power… like yourself, Lady Hikari… After they heard about what happened today, they'll think twice of going against her words with you at her back." Nahe suggested. "And then maybe we can enlist them to the army? That would give them some place to use their excessive strength and temper."
Hikari nodded. "I know someone who can better keep those hotheads in check. (koff)" Her thoughts fly to a certain sadistic masked man. "Mind you, he'll be quite scary. (koff) Or do you have a better idea, Simca? (koff) Simca? (koff)"
And then Lacus turned to Simca… but she found the girl was looking at her with sparkling eyes and blushing cheeks. It kinda… freaks her out. "Simca?" In fact, the Master Tuner hadn't said a word ever since the song ended, and her entranced eyes never left Hikari all the way.
Simca clasped her blushing cheeks like a lovestruck girl and nodded. "That's it. I've decided."
Hikari blinked. Simca grabbed her soldier's knife, and before everyone's shocked eyes, she cut her long hair, greatly shortening it to neck length. Simca looked lovingly at Hikari. "I lost, Hikari-chan. You're definitely the First Lady for Kage."
Lacus blushed awkwardly behind her mask.
"I guess I'll settle on being a mistress." And she quickly added.
And Hikari exploded in fury. "NO! NO WAY! NO FUCKING WAY!"
"Language!" Marina and Daego snapped.
"It's okay isn't it? We'll make a nice little harem, right? Hikari-onee-tama!" Simca hugged a fuming Hikari and purred like a kitten.
"WHA-! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! ABSOLUTELY OUT OF THE QUESTION!" Hikari roared exasperatedly. Did she just make the biggest mistake in her life?
And so… on Archangel's Bridge Tower… some time later at the present…
"So let me get this straight…" Kage paced back and forth in front of the audience consisting of a grumbling and griping Hikari, a cheerful Simca, an awkward Setona and Nahe, and the jaw hung Shadowguards who had also returned some time earlier, and don't forget the still bewildered Xing Ke, while his smoking and hissing head nearly exploded trying to make sense of his so-called-girlfriend's story. "To sum it all up: at the start of the day you went out there to buy some medicine, and by the end of it you virtually took over the Mob?"
"And got me to join in!" The now short haired Simca added with a wide grin.
Hikari simply growled.
Xingke quickly interjected in genuine curiosity. "But… what happened that you decided to put your entire squadron under Kage's command?"
"Well, firstly, because I'm still so~o in love with Kage-honey…" Simca flirtatiously hugged Kage's arm, much to Hikari's fury. "Secondly… I had my eyes opened. I just realized what I was, who I tried to be… I realized I've nearly forgotten all that. So I felt… I'll find it again by being under Kage and Hikari's command." Simca smiled happily. Xingke realized that her decision is final and she's genuinely happy with it. "Rest assured, Genesis Tools Toul To will maintain her functions and duty worldwide. We're just under a different management."
"Excuse me, worldwide?" Kage blinked. "How many are you?"
"Well… we have plenty of branches and sub-squad spread all across the globe… in total we have… 175,000 Squad members."
Tolle spurted and Gino was jawhung. Canard snarled and Milly's eyes widened.
"How many in China?"
"12,500; half are currently on active duty at the front." Simca answered. "675 are currently in Shanghai, in the main shop, directly under my… and now Hikari's and your command."
Kage looked at Xingke, the man looked as shocked and confused as ever; which; as far as Xingke's concerned, isn't that far from the truth. Most of the time, it is other squad that take a portion of the 7th virtually inexhaustible human resources. While transfer from 10th to 7th had occurred before, it never occurred at such scale. Xingke looked at Kage's, who seem to be asking his approval on whether this unprecedented transfer is feasible. And to Xingke's amusement, he found no reason to say no, as there was never any rule that forbade a unit from transferring from one division to another specific division for whatever reason, and there are no limit on size either. He'll just have to endure the storm that would be Rena's reaction when she heard one of her largest most powerful squads is throwing their lot with Kage. "I guess this is what they call the times are changing."
And that would be Xingke's approximation to a 'Yes, it's okay.' And Simca cheered and she hugged both Hikari and Kage together, much to their embarrassment. "Yipee!"
Kage choked under the strains of Simca's hug, but then he looked at Setona and Nahe. Simca's elite troops are okay, but… a mob army? He smelled trouble. "A-And… you two are… Setona Winters and Nahe Herschell right?"
Simca let Kage and Hikari go, though she still clings to an annoyed Hikari as to allow Kage to approach the two. Setona gently bowed down, as do Nahe. Kage looked at Setona's young figure and scoff darkly. "A 13 year old… and what makes you think you can earn the loyalty of your father's men?"
Setona looked a bit unnerved, but a moment later she steeled herself. Nahe wanted to help her, but then he caught a sign from Hikari, telling him not to interfere. Kage asked Setona, not Nahe. Setona took a deep breath… and then she spoke. "I know… that my father had gathered around him all sorts of bad people that do more harm than good if left to their own devices. But… is their bad behavior really is the disease, or just the symptoms? I believe… no, I know… with the right push… they can make a difference."
"You believe?" Kage hissed.
Setona fretted upon hearing the cold hiss. But she still managed to squeak an answer. "Y…Yes."
Kage turned around and looked at Hikari. She seems to be saying: my thoughts exactly, with her glare. Kage chuckled. "She'll make a good leader… if they don't kill her first."
"Which is why we came here." Nahe bowed. "You are right that Setona is still too young. But, she's still the heir of the Family. With support from her, you can… momentarily took over the control of the family on her behalf until she's ready."
Kage looked at Nahe. "If I supported Setona to take over her father's organization, how many men you can muster?"
Nahe answered. "We have 2,300 men in Shanghai alone. 700 of which I can assure their loyalty through various means… the remaining section leaders however… they will be somewhat harder to push to fall in line. But we have resources that will allow us to hire various kinds of mercenaries and hired guns to bolster our current forces that might coerce-"
"Unacceptable." Kage frowned. "We have an incoming battle, and I do not have the time nor tolerance for backstabbing and infighting amongst mob family members. Save those resources for the need ahead, Mr. Herschell." He further added. "You can start by giving me the list of the people whom you can muster, and the list of people that bears watching: names, strength, affiliation, so on and so forth. I want data."
"As you wish. I shall bring them all tomorrow." Nahe bowed down.
Kage turned to Setona. "And you… while I momentarily took control of your family… what are you going to do?"
Hikari now answered. "Setona-chan wanted to create an orphanage in the Narrows." She added. "However, it'll be a while before the place will be ready. And… well…"
And now that they noticed it, Setona and Lacus had brought the whole content of the Orphanage with them. Some of the kids were peeking through the office door. Kage sighed. "And you brought them here? Hikari, this place is about to be a center of a shitstorm! They can't stay here!" Kage looked at Xingke. "Which reminds me: at the moment we also have about 1000 families in need of refuge on board."
Xingke nodded. "We can move them inland. We have plenty of refugee centers in the more civil area of the country. But… they'll need some supplies on the way… and some funding to get them started…"
Kage turned to Nahe again. "How much resources you have?"
Nahe gave the accounting record of the Winters famiglia to Kage. Kage's eyes frowned at the interesting number of zeroes written within. "Give a quarter of it for the refugees as capital."
"Only a quarter? (Koff)" Hikari moaned in protest.
"Any bigger and they'll faint at the numbers." Kage tossed the book back to Nahe. He looked at Hikari. "I want you to supervise them. Kept watch on their welfare, and report back to me if you need anything else."
Hikari nodded. Nahe and Setona also bowed down before they retire together with Simca. With one matter done, Kage turned to Tolle and the other Shadowguards. "And you three…" Kage glanced at Gino. "…what's your story?"
Tolle bit his lips. "Well… where to start?"
TBC
Bringing Down Shanghai
Part 3: The Guard's Tale
000000000000000
Much… much later, nightfall…
Xingke walk across the dark street of Shanghai, pondering on all events that had happened in a single day. He needs to make a quick report… until he sensed a presence. Recognizing that presence, Xingke smiled. "May I remind you to promote those messengers? They did their job well; to think they had reported to you so quickly, considering you were in Beijing."
Standing before Xingke is a person, shrouded in the dark of the night. And yet, said person is mounted atop a gigantic horse, 2 times bigger than the normal horse. Of greater interest is that the horse' skin is dimly glowing ruby red, and its mane is black. Its eyes are blazing green, glowing in the night like a jade encrusted on a ruby. "I just did. Now. I had to bring out my Red Hare out of his stable just to cover the distance between Beijing and Shanghai in a half a day, so you understand how serious I'm taking this?"
"Perfectly, my General." Xingke crossed his palms and bowed.
Rena Imelia's blazing pink eyes shone in the darkness. "Now… what is this I hear about one of my strongest Squadron joining the 7th division!?"
000000000000000
000000000000000
000000000000000
