"Oh man," Kuririn stopped to leave a contrail flash.
"It's armageddon! Yōgo arumagedon!" Mako hung on, restless, her hands pinching his shoulders. "The end of days!"
"Let's hope not," Kuririn said for the danger. "Son!"
He received nothing from the first one wondering why he bothered. The innocent somewhat naive he knew his friend to be was gone, replaced with feral, feet planted through what of the ground wasn't torn up to suspend around the heat he gave off.
"He's really going for it," he tried not to quiver.
He turned a little to see Mako, how she noticed, feeling her cheek pressing into his ear.
"Son! Snap out of it! You can't take Ryuko on a date if you blow up her favorite ramen shop!" she chirped. "We have to help him!"
"Dammit," Kuririn's fist shook. "If I try...Turles might blow us away on the spot."
Mako poked her head over his shoulder to look him in the face.
"What's going on in that chrome dome?" she asked, ignoring the sky's tearing to join the dark mass collecting between it.
"... A way to pitch in. Maybe," Kuririn said. "Just gotta wait for the right moment."
"Yeah. We'll give the jerk a nice surprise!" Mako nodded.
He waited to hear her continue, expecting her to. Hearing everything else they watched in awe of a spectacle they hoped they would never see again.
x.x.x
{Penetrate where you can!}
"All right!"
Ryuko evaded the tendrils getting bigger, not able to touch her without singing at their tips. The shine of her new armor worried her; how it felt like a second skin and its tingle keeping her muscles lax. The purple half of her scissor transformed to match the red she attached it to. Its rounded handles merged, straightened, into something she could grip with two hands. Leaning left she turned her right spin to flit above the fibers shooting at her, slashed faster than she blinked. Its appendages pointed yet her hands moved without her thinking she should. She grabbed the handle of her new blade conjuring hot at its heads and darting straight for the front of her target. The Primordial Life Fiber's whispers couldn't slow how swiftly. It formed a towering wall of bunched together strands hoping to stop her dead. She met it, the sizzle as it seared through making her sweat again. She was wide eyed at seeing her weapon push past to sink into how large it was. She heard it howl until it gave her pause as she didn't think it could feel pain.
{Push Ryuko! You can do this!}
"Nnnhyaaa!" she strained clenching her eyes as if she didn't want to see the result.
She opened them, red fire circling both to run from the shape of her tiny body and along the Primordial Life Fiber's dwarfing her. Tensing her arms moved her with its rapid shaking. They were going up.
"W-What the hell are you doing?!" she said noticing what was left of Senketsu leaving her.
{Ensuring your success! Push!}
Granted a way through his eye disappeared within the mass, and she didn't argue, shoving with one hand, keeping her blade positioned as it plunged to melt away the resistance.
x.x.x
Satsuki found a place to set her feet. She didn't look at the water drops rising to circle her armored, three inch heels. Sparks jumped against her eyes closing. She didn't watch her mother's chest heaving up and down. Ragyo, missing legs, her evening gown torn, bloodied, she used makeshift limbs tapering off as long talons, lingering over the remains of Honno City, trying desperately to gut her daughter.
"Stubborn! Idealistic! Ingrate!" she lunged to hit at Satsuki's sword. "You will SERVE YOUR PURPOSE!"
"Will I?" Satsuki replied calmly.
Ragyo appeared a slug, something she could see, then react to, well before the water they splashed touched back to its source. A white shimmer trapped her puffing as feathers when she swung her blade twice. Ragyo stopped to let it sink in. Her arms burst into several red lines fading with the current. Dropped to her back she lifted her head to see Satsuki's levitating over detached rubble. The sheathe for her Bakuzan appeared, as she willed it, she carefully slipped her blade in until the bolts on its guard secured it. Coughing blood Ragyo could say nothing for it vanishing as Satsuki lowered.
"You never thought it would be me. Did you?" she said.
Ragyo smiled. "On the contrary. I expect nothing less of my flesh and blood. There is still time, Satsuki. Think of what we will become. What is meant for our bloodline only."
Satsuki listened for the ocean. She glanced for dark waves crashing against the lowest level of a city she once called hers. Everything it was reminded her of one thing. She thought of the cool breeze pushing at her hair. Then the lost.
"They will be free of your treachery!" she stared off. "My sister will."
There was satisfaction in standing over her tormentor as she bled out. Ragyo's grinning like she still held sway over her ran its course.
"For now," she hissed.
Her eyes widened as Satsuki was suddenly there. Feeling the sharp stabbing her chest she lost her breath. All she could muster as she choked and her vision blurred was the sight of a weapon, piercing. How she took her boot from her neck. She twisted it. But she could move even faster to tear out Ragyo's heart knowing why it sparkled. Squeezing it in her hand she wanted it gone. It was too light to feel whether she needed more effort. When she opened her eyes her mother was a bad memory. Uncurling her gloved fingers she watched the last of her float away. She didn't move. Her mind was going a mile a minute. She knew to stay there. The only hope was that loved ones, like her, survived to discover what Ragyo meant.
x.x.x
The world she left meant the air was at its thinnest. She breathed, realizing she didn't need to breath, yet force of habit was as real as the giant she had a time with. All around was dark. Eerily silent. A cold she never felt before.
{... When I tell you to let go ...}
She said something but no sound left her lips. Her eyes watered, unable to freeze as they burned. Life Fibers stabbed at her in droves, not penetrating. The heaviness behind her chest was the burden. She felt it thicken. Ripping her double-edged sword from its place it disappeared. She used two hands to push as the Primordial Life Fiber wrapped her wrists, her ankles, and her neck, squeezing her until color left her face.
{It means to absorb you Ryuko! Concentrate!}
("I...can't!")
She could only see the glimmer of a sweltering heat that wasn't hers. It took everything to keep her enemy still as it began to cook well before they were anywhere near it.
{Now!}
("HnnnnyyaaaAAAAAA!)
Her bindings snapped loose from her flex vaporized to drift as bits of ash. She drew her flaming fist nearly turning over when she closed it. Swinging it forward the impact rippled away from where she struck, blowing her back. Thinking of her error she couldn't catch herself, staring aimlessly with her mouth open, struggling to sob as she listened for any sign of his voice.
{... Take care of them.}
("No! Please don't leave me! I-I don't...I don't want to be ALONE!")
{You are never alone, Ryuko. Goodbye ...}
("SENKETSSUUUUUUU!")
She couldn't watch the sun blinding her. The Primordial Life Fiber let out a shriek no one could hear. A death howl that forced her off further. She thought if it died, she died. She screamed as loud as she could, her face a glistened mess. No one could hear her. Her frustration vented as a light on par with what ended her will to continue. Falling unconscious...it stopped when she stopped.
x.x.x
"Ka ..."
Son couldn't see himself eager to burn deeper into the ground he stood on. The hole made around it caved wearing away at the field the longer it took.
"Me ..."
His biceps tightened. Slowly drawing his hands back further he was aware that he didn't let the unstable shine between his palms go anywhere, no matter how much it crackled to widen.
"Ha ..."
Above him Turles shook for the strain, taken by what he took in, distracted by what he couldn't. His muscles stiffened. His knees locked. The pounding in his head heightened to thumps he could hear.
"I-I...can't move!" he grunted. "Y-you die NOW KAKAROT!"
He glanced for his effort, easily bigger than the city they weren't so far away from, a trickle running from his brow to his cheek for his sweating his own blood.
"Me ...," Son's patient shouting echoed.
A lasting flex were his muscles tensing further, his worth keeping the dust swirling with it away from his wide eyed leering, the folds of his two tops snatched from his swelling torso.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" his hands shot up.
Almost pushing himself from his feet he leaned from it. The blackness lumbering his way dropped but the brightness leaving him was faster. The forces meeting opened the sky. Turles kept his hands down with his gaze. The discomfort in his body peaked. He miscalculated where it felt the most awkward. Nearly biting his tongue off he felt it; flattened energy slicing into him trailed for the wrong direction as his jaw dropped. He trembled, finding it a chore to turn his attention to two figures suddenly freezing.
"Oh no. That thing must've changed the trajectory!" Kuririn griped. "We're dead!"
"... Little VERMIN!" Turles barked for the loss of his tail.
He wanted to move. He couldn't so much as think to. Kuririn stayed where he was, terrified to do anything else, hoping he could at least shield Mako from whatever happened next. The veins in Turles' eyes reached as close to his glowing pupils as they could. Enraged he managed to focus on a new problem. The worth he conjured was inching closer to him. Below it all Son held his arms steady.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAA!" he cried a second time.
His effort pulsed, doubling, folding the enormous black in, not yet able to pierce. Kuririn touched down several yards away as to give him plenty of space. It was near deafening. Mako covered her ears, worry written all over her usually cutesy expression. Kuririn stood a barrier, his arms crossed as they raised to block the dust rushing their way.
"Son!" he tried yelling through it.
Turles tensed as his skin began to fade. It wasn't working. He stretched his fingers out. He ignored the atrophy of his immense strength leaving him. A new sensation in the pit of his core. He had only felt something like it once. It took everything to remain afloat but he was beginning to fall into it.
"The Primordial Life Fiber," he understood. "... No. That's i-impossible!"
It took a second for his resolve to shatter. Rupturing the swell of darkness the shine hurtling toward him wasted little time. His surprise wasn't enough to stop it taking him higher. It peeled at his flesh an agonizing slow. He was a warrior. Not able to contest it just letting it happen wounded more than his pride. His twisted sense of honor an afterthought what was left of anything he had in mind was taken from him.
x.x.x
Her dreams weren't pleasant. They were of failure to save a friend. It played in her head, nagged incessantly, over and over. There were so many things left unsaid. So many times she could have told him what he meant to her. The void was unkind. She was simply an object its harsh environment couldn't rid itself of. Whatever directed her back wasn't hers to know. She didn't feel the intensity as she drove through an envelope of gases trying to disintegrate her while she rested. It reeled her in. Her new armor lost nothing about what made it special, not nicked, not scuffed. The clouds were white again, wispy, broken apart at her drop picking up the pace. As if by chance her garb left her skin as a reddish haze. She only thought of a friend. Someone else was quicker to catch her. Flying wasn't so hard anymore. Like her, she was naked, unable to explain how control over her new gift wasn't yet a sure thing.
"Ryuko," Satsuki whispered.
As she didn't respond she cradled her with the utmost care. She noticed fresh tears. Mutters as Ryuko cried in her sleep.
"I've got you," Satsuki held back hers. "I've got you."
Raising her watering gaze she could see chaos and understood the reason. The tribulation of another she loved even if she hadn't told him that she kept it to herself. She thought she would someday. She hoped to.
x.x.x
"Hehhh ... hehh ... hehh," Son took in air but his lungs felt like they were on fire.
Not able to pull his arms back, he didn't. He glared at a clear sky. Any sign of his enemy would be enough to make him act again. He heard his name being called yet he didn't look. The fatigue hitting him all at once...he fell against his face. Though he went limp he could breathe.
"Soonnn!" Kuririn ran to him.
Quickly crouched seeing him wince kept him from touching. He reached anyway.
"You scared the crap out of us man!" Kuririn said.
"R-R...R-Ryu...," Son mumbled.
"Unaccounted for. My guess is Satsuki'll find her," Kuririn glanced for Mako.
Tearful for Son's condition she didn't speak. It perturbed as he wanted her to.
"S-Sat...su...ki," he tried again.
"That's right," Kuririn nodded. "You should've seen it. Weird armor. Crazy new powers. How she just, wrecked those COVERS like they were nothing!"
Son puffed his thanks, attempting to grin, rewarded with a sting. For a moment they all tried a laugh. It was Kuririn's spotting something a ways away that changed the mood. Son couldn't look him in the eye but understood the sudden silence.
"K-aka-roootttt!" they heard a weakened voice moan.
Mako covered her mouth. Kuririn jumped ahead of them. The terror was Turles missing one of his legs, one of his arms, crawling through the dirt, one side of his face charred to a crisp, some of his tail a smeared red bump. One good eye left it stayed open to see double vision. The figment of those he had the chance to kill. He wanted to pulling himself along as a worm drying out in the sun. The irony wasn't lost on him.
"Not...yet!" he flashed broken teeth.
"Don't move any closer!" Kuririn barked, ready to act.
"S-Stop K-Kuririn!" Son managed, sucking his teeth for another jolt of pain, thankful that Mako set his head in her lap.
Kuririn kept his attention on the trouble. "What? He'll kill all of us!"
He glanced for Mako. Son's eyes not opening. When he saw his friend's weak smile, he exhaled, loosening the rough balls that were his fists. He saw Turles trying in vain until he slumped into his heavy breathing. It was getting faint. Kuririn glanced for Son again.
"What do we do?" he asked.
Mako's infectious smile above him, Son relaxed. They all felt the breeze. A moment of peace. Turles stopped moving. They stared in wonder as his ruined shape hardened into stone. It cracked once, but he remained a relic, whatever life in him taken from the unknown. Kuririn wanted to make sure. He didn't need to. The stone crumbled as it was brushed from the earth it couldn't drift against. He turned to Son's passing out.
"Son!" he dropped next to Mako.
Together they held him and listened for what felt fresh again. It wasn't noisy save for a flock of birds carrying on with the rest of nature.
x.x.x
. . . THREE DAYS LATER . . .
She forgot about the time. Sleep not something she regarded, it was irrelevant. The Naked Sol kept cozy chambers for relaxation on multiple floors. Nudist agents needing to heal from a mission had one of several they could rely on. He was flat on a slab as black as the steel protecting what it boxed in. He didn't see her playing nurse. She never left his side. The chamber's sterile felt exactly as it looked: frosty and hygienic. Satsuki stopped fretting Son's not waking up to greet her. She wanted so badly to tell him how she faced the woman that made her life a living hell, and won. She wanted to hear one of his corny jokes as they were a treasure she once took for granted. Something to make her forget. Her trenchcoat kept her warm, not that she needed it, and she wouldn't let his hand go for the world.
"Ryuko is safe. Recovering," she said attentive to the bruises on his face.
Touching him was the want. She rose from an uncomfortable chair to gently take a seat next to him. She thought it embarrassing, too girly, tucking some of her hair behind her ear, red faced and bothered like an idiot. She smirked for finally letting it be.
"The Life Fibers are no more. Somehow Ryuko survived in spite of it," she said. "She...we...lost Senketsu. Her mind is fragile. We don't know what to expect. She will need you."
An EKG machine beeped for his heartrate leveling. She looked to it like it could never gauge all he was.
"Sats ...," he whispered.
"Shhh. Save your strength, you fool," she smiled. "I am here."
She dared to brush a few of the locks curling over his brow. It won her the faintest grin.
"Forgive me," she said. "If I am overeager...it doesn't matter. I'm sure we will discuss that too."
Feeling a better brazen she leaned forward to press her lips to his forehead. She took her time. As she finished the back of her fingers slid along his cheek. She stood. Walking for the exit she needed one more second. Knowing that he was there, that her sister was, it was enough. She left pleased at the idea.
x.x.x
Stepping to the deck they were waiting as long as she needed them to. Her Elite Four. Former enemies in Tsumugu and Mikisugi. Mako elbowing Kuririn who could only blush for her always surprising him. Satsuki couldn't help herself as she led Soroi and Iori for the lot.
"What's the word?" Kuririn was the first to step forward.
Satsuki moved closer to an edge. The sun's setting left the sky a purplish orange. A soft, colorful contrast to the black she wore. She felt her hair sway with it, grazing her cheeks. The folds of her coat rustled by a soothing sea breeze she welcomed.
"It will take time," she said confidently. "Mako. Kuririn. It falls to us. Ryuko and Son need us now. More than ever."
The two she singled out swapped a knowing glance. Satsuki turned to Soroi's bowing.
"Soroi. Please see that everyone has a pleasant meal. We owe them that much," she said.
"Of course, Milady," Soroi couldn't help his good mood.
Nonon, Sanageyama, Gamagori, Inumuta, and Iori lined to her back. They said nothing. She nodded for the respect they always offered her, no matter what was asked of them. Tsumugu and Mikisugi were the next to take a hint. They traded admiration. Remorse for those that fell to accomplish what they thought impossible. Left with Kuririn and Mako, Satsuki waited. They took up a spot to her left and her right.
"What's on your mind?" Kuririn asked.
"Mako...is the length of my hair something you would call...chic?" she said.
The odd question left the one she asked taken aback. Mako curiously looked her up and down.
"I don't know. It's real, like, femme fatale," her face contorted with uncertainty. "Not that I'm saying you don't look hot! Long hair works for chicks like you!"
"It's fine," Satsuki chuckled. "Perhaps it is time for a change."
They watched her summon her blade from nothing. She swung it once. What was left of her motive were thick locks of her silky hair trapped between her fists. They looked at her seeing its then shorter length as its ends barely touched her shoulders.
"Out with the old," she opened her hands.
Together they watched the sky take strands of it. The ship they stood on sifting through what was a monument to her strength there to catch what fell. She thought it funny.
A/N
Welp. There goes Arc I! Next post is the Epilogue...but this story's nowhere NEAR finished. I appreciate the views leading up to this finale of sorts. A few of you seem really passionate about it. You have my thanks. I hope you all enjoyed this part of the "ending" and I hope you enjoy what's to come.