Ragyo clapped in excitement upon hearing the news. "Great work, Kenichi! May I see them?"
"Sure thing!" Kenichi said. He then handed out boxes filled with stacks of clothing. These clothes looked like every other piece of clothing Revocs had sold throughout the years, but with one crucial difference. The fibers that were inside of it had been exposed to Ryuko's boiling monster blood.
"It's perfect! Well done!" Ragyo said as she opened the boxes and took out a shirt. She inspected the fabric and gave a thumbs up to Kenichi for the work.
"Well Nui, where should we give this first batch of berserker clothes?" Ragyo asked.
"How about we start with those losers in the No-Star district!" Nui replied.
"Great idea! Those people could use some touching up..."
As they were about to exit the Kiryuin Manor and head off to the Honnou Town's No-Star district, they were suddenly stopped by Rei.
"What's that, Lady Ragyo?" Rei asked.
"These are the first of REVOC's new and improved line of clothing!" Ragyo lied to Rei. It was best not to tell her the true meaning of the clothes till the time was right. "These clothes are far superior in comfort and quality than our previous garments!"
"Seems interesting..." Rei noted. She became rather curious as to what these clothes were really made for, but she tried not to show it.
"Oh, and Lady Ragyo, what exactly are you planning to do with these new clothes?" Rei asked.
"You'll find out later Hououmaru. Right now, announce to the No-Star district that I'm coming!"
"And what about the Matoi girl?"
"While I'm busy with my generosity, she and Nui will be scaring the pants off of some young children!"
"Um, alright then." Rei said as she watched her boss and the Grand Couturier exit.
It was a quiet night in Honnou Town's no-star district, with the only sounds coming from the occasional wild animal that roamed the streets. Then, all of a sudden, the entire slum was bombarded by the sounds of cheery music and lights.
Back at the Mankanshoku residence and back-alley clinic, Mako and her family were all busy having their daily family dinner. As usual, the main course was Sukuyo's mystery ingredient croquettes. The family was busy eating, with Mako eating slower than the others thanks to her gloomy mood, when they were stunned by the sudden light and noise show outside.
"What the heck is going on?" Barazo said as he continued chowing down on his meal.
"I don't know! Maybe it's a fun carnival!" Sukuyo said as she was serving her husband another helping of croquettes.
"A carnival? In this part of Honnou Town?" Mataro said. "Now I've seen everything..."
Mako then heard that the tone of the music being played was just so joyful and energetic. She just had to know what was going on.
"Come on mom, can we go to whatever that thing is?" Mako asked.
"Well, it's still an hour before bedtime, so, why not?" Sukuyo said.
Mako smiled at her family, agreeing to go to whatever was happening in town. For the first time since Ryuko became a monster and vanished, she felt her trademark joy again.
When the Mankanshoku's got to the source of the music and lights, they were all surrounded by every single one of their fellow No-Star families. They looked on in awe and hints of worry as Ragyo walked onto the large stage that had been set up on a sewer line. She held up a microphone as she prepared to make an announcement, as bright lights shone on her from above, and music continued playing.
"Hello, Honnouji No-Star district!" Ragyo cheered.
Everyone was curious as to why Ragyo came to their part of Honnou Town. None were more curious than the Mankanshokus.
"Who is that woman?" Barazo asked.
"I know her! She's Lady Satsuki's mother and the director of the school!" Mako said.
"Really? She looks incredibly gorgeous for her age!" Sukuyo asked.
"More like incredibly creepy..." Mataro added.
"I've been watching over how poorly my daughter has treated you over the years..." Ragyo said. "So I've got something that'll cheer you all up!"
"Are you gonna give us all a car, like that black lady on TV did?" a No-Star father asked.
"Even better, free clothes!" Ragyo cheered. Two boxes then emerged from under the stage, each of them containing the new "berserker" clothing made by exposing life fibers to Ryuko's boiling blood.
"All you have to do to get these clothes is to trade in your old ones!" Ragyo said as she took out clothes. "Come on, don't be shy!"
"Sounds kind of suspicious...but alright." One of the No Stars whispered as he took off his current clothing and put on one of the new pairs of clothes. Several others followed his lead and gave away their old clothes in favor of the new Revocs ones.
Mako looked on as she saw her brother and parents take Ragyo's free clothing and trade in their old ones. This whole experience suddenly brought back painful memories of her brief time as president of the Honnouji Fight Club. Mako and her family were so blindsided by the fact they were getting more money and bigger houses with her fight club, that they started disowning Ryuko and treating her like dirt. But thankfully, Ryuko was able to snap them out of their greedy ways and get them back to being no-stars. Mako was worried that the clothing Ragyo was giving them would end up beginning a repeat of the same incident.
"Gee, thanks!" Barazo said as he and the rest of the family put on their new clothes.
"For a creepy looking lady, you don't seem too bad!" Mataro said, with Guts barking in agreement, even though there were no dog versions yet available.
"Wait a minute! What are you all doing?" Mako said in shock.
"We're getting new clothes from that lady! What does it look like?" Mataro said.
"We can't give into the Director's trick! Remember our all-too-brief time as two-stars?" Mako said.
"I told you not to remind us about it, Mako!" Barazo said as she showed off his new clothes to his wife. "And besides, what's a silly pair of new clothes gonna do to us anyway?"
"But don't you all remember how we all treated Ryuko badly when we had our stupid fight club? I think she's trying to change our minds with these clothes, just like the fight club did!" Mako yelled.
The other Mankanshoku's shuddered at that memory, and it consumed the family with guilt upon remembering that time when they were rich Two-Stars, begging for Mako to beat Ryuko so they could stay that way permanently. And then they became afraid that those Revocs clothes will start the whole thing over again, and return them to those dark times.
"You know what, you're right! Screw these new clothes!" Barazo said. He then proceeded to take off the Revocs outfit, with his wife and son soon following suit.
As Ragyo was busy giving away more and more of the new Revocs clothes, she saw the Mankanshoku family, buck naked, and holding their new clothes in Ragyo's face.
"We don't want these new clothes!" Barazo yelled, slamming the bunch of clothes on a table.
"What? Why are you giving these back?" Ragyo asked. Every single other No-Star she gave clothing to took the new ones without hesitation and never looked back.
"After talking it over with our daughter Mako, we decided that we'd rather keep our old clothing!" Sukuyo declared.
"Too bad. You already gave your old clothes to me!" Ragyo said with a smile.
"That's alright! We'll just wear rags and blankets instead!" Barazo said.
Guts barked in agreement, then awkwardly looked away from his naked owners. Mako then smiled and gave her thumbs up at them.
"We aren't really gonna be wearing rags and blankets forever, are we Dad?" Mataro asked.
"Don't worry! If we end up winning our latest medical malpractice suit, we can buy back our own clothes!" Barazo said, hoping that the family's latest "get rich by suing a patient for malpractice" scheme would work.
As Mako and her family walked back to their house, her eyes spotted something unusual. She could've sworn for just a second, she saw Ryuko dashing away with Nui.
"What is it, Mako?" Sukuyo asked.
"I think I just saw Ryuko!" Mako said in shock.
"You're probably just seeing things, sis!" Mataro said, not wanting to get involved in Mako's Ryuko obsession.
"No! I saw Ryuko pass by in the distance! Which means she hasn't died of blood loss yet!" Mako yelled.
"I know how much you wanna see Ryuko again, but it's well past your bedtime!" Sukuyo said.
Mako gave a groan of disappointment, but at the same time, she was thankful that her friend was alright.
Meanwhile, Nui and Ryuko were causing chaos and destruction in the No-Star area. Everywhere they went caused destruction to the already in shambles slums.
"Isn't this much more fun than watching Lady Ragyo give clothes away, Ryuko?" Nui said as the beast she helped make continued to wreck dilapidated no-star houses.
Ryuko gave a growling croon of agreement, and she saw through a window, a family of no-stars having a regular dinner. Nui also saw the inside of the house and got a brilliant idea.
"Hey Ryuko! I know what we should do with this family..."
Nui leaned close and whispered a plan into her ear, and Ryuko's right eye grew wide at her idea.
"It was so nice for Director Ragyo to give us these new clothes!" the son said.
"Well it was free, and we had been wearing our old outfits for quite some time..." The dad said.
Just then, the doorbell suddenly rang multiple times. "I'll get it!" the mom said as she approached the door.
The moment the door opened, the mom was suddenly greeted by Ryuko, her eyes glowing and staring at the No-Star family. The mother let out a scream upon seeing Ryuko, and collapsed to the ground. The rest of the family watched on as the mom fainted in shock from Ryuko's sight. They then hid in the kitchen, with Ryuko dashing towards them.
The father figure picked up a butcher's knife near the sink and started hitting Ryuko's scissor blade arm with it.
Ryuko wasn't amused, after a while, she dodged the striking, and raised her massive arm at the father figure, slamming him through the wooden walls and onto the dirt road.
Once the rest of the family left, Ryuko snarled and punched a hole through the house with her giant left arm, causing the entire structure to collapse, and sending dust and debris flying into the air.
Some of that dust wafted by Ryuko's face, and a soft snuffle was heard. She craned her head back, and unleashed a sneeze, only the snot was goo made of her boiling blood.
"Eww!" Nui exclaimed. "Do you need a tissue?"
Ryuko nodded in disagreement and continued walking towards more homes to destroy.
A lone female no-star was looking at herself and the new clothing she just got from Ragyo in the mirror. She then noticed something odd at the corner of her window and decided to go take a closer look at it. But then the woman let out an ear-piercing terrified scream upon seeing Ryuko's multi-fnaged form.
As she kept screaming, Ryuko stabbed apart the window with her blade arm and broke into the No-Star's home. The No-Star panicked and attempted to escape out the door, only to be grabbed and 'shushed' by Ryuko's massive left arm. Once she was quieted down, Ryuko then got out and demolished the rest of the small house with her right arm.
Ryuko and Nui's fun time eventually led them to a few homeless No-Stars standing near a trashcan on fire.
One of whom was telling a story about a monster movie he saw once. "And then, the monster leapt out of the bushes with a blood-curdling roar!" he said, raising his arms for dramatic effect.
"Wow, I remember that scene! It was awesome!" another said.
As if on cue, Ryuko suddenly leapt through the bushes behind the No-Stars, unleashing a loud bellowing roar at them. And like in the movie, both of the No-Stars screamed at the sight of Ryuko's mutated body. Nui couldn't help but burst into laughter over their reaction.
"Who are you? And what is that?" one homeless man asked Nui.
"I have no reason to tell you all that! Just carry on screaming!" Nui cheered.
One of the No-Stars backed away in fear, only to get startled by the faint sound of an animal howling.
Ryuko's right eye twitched as she also heard that sound, and something in her feral mindset told her to respond to that.
Ryuko craned her head back as she took in a deep breath, she let out a few monstrous barks and a long loud beastly howl.
Thinking that she was too distracted, the homeless guys then saw this as an opportunity to escape. One of the group lifted the flaming can and threw it at Ryuko, thinking that it would make her go up in flames.
But somehow, it didn't work, only making her rage come back. With a snarl, Ryuko used her large left arm to throw the flaming can back at them, and the two homeless men were quickly set on fire.
Nui sadistically laughed at the two homeless folks screaming in agony as they were burned alive, only managing to save themselves from death by splashing into a river.
With a chuckle, Nui gestured for Ryuko to follow her, and they headed off down the street to cause more mayhem.
As Nui and Ryuko continued trekking along the no-star district, they saw two lone kids in the distance playing ball. Then, a clever idea soon popped into Nui's mind. She reached into one of her pockets, and pulled out a laser pointer, and shone it on the ground beside them. The two kids then stopped playing ball and looked on at the laser in awe.
"What's that?" the girl asked.
"I don't know, but it's so...pretty." the boy said, being mesmerized by the laser being shot by Nui.
"It seems rather suspicious looking. Should we go follow it?" the girl asked.
"Oh come on! You worry too much!" the boy added.
And so, the boy and girl started following the laser throughout the streets, each of them trying to catch the red dot like they were kittens.
"I'm gonna getcha...I'm gonna getcha!" the boy whispered, trying to grab the red dot.
Further and further they went following the dot, eventually leading to the back of a no-star house that had clearly been abandoned for several years, as its wood had become rotted and dilapidated.
"I just wanna be your best friend..." the boy said as she kept walking towards the dot.
The two kids crept towards the red dot, but then it suddenly disappeared before their eyes. Afterwards, the kids heard the sound of giggling on one end, and growling and groaning on the other.
"What the?! where did the-!" The sound of groaning and growling sent chills down the children's spines.
The glow of three yellow eyes pierced through the darkness, and they were all staring at the two children.
"Good feeling's gone!" the boy gasped in shock.
Ryuko then took a step forward out of the shadows and revealed the rest of her mutated body for the two kids to see in horror.
The two kids both screamed in terror and started running away from the beast, as a snarling hiss reached their ears, while the aging No-star house they hid behind was destroyed with just one punch of Ryuko's left arm.
"What is that thing?!" the boy yelled while running from Ryuko.
"And where's my mommy?" the girl yelled while following the boy.
The terrified children attempted to lose their beastly pursuer, and they ducked and hid inside a closed market, the door of which was accidentally left unlocked.
To keep their energy up, they quickly bit into some apples and pushed one of the stands onto the entrance, blocking Ryuko from getting in.
But suddenly, they heard a loud crashing sound as Ryuko smashed through a window with her right blade arm.
"Oh no! We're done for!" The girl yelled.
Ryuko uttered a growl as she crawled through the window's remains, and Nui followed after with a cheerful giggle..
Nui then joviently walked her way to the two children, while holding her scissor blade in one hand and the laser pointer in the other.
"Kids like you shouldn't be wandering around this time of night!" Nui said.
"Who are you? And why is that monster chasing us?" the boy cried in fear.
"You two didn't trade away your clothing for Lady Ragyo's new ones!" Nui said, while Ryuko continued growling at the two of them.
"Yeah, because we like our old ones!" One of the kids said.
After hearing that comment, Ryuko then stuck her blade arm in front of the boy's face, while Nui stuck her purple blade in front of the girl's.
"Well...I guess the only way for Ryuko to not haunt you for the rest of your lives would be to choose Ragyo's outfits!"
The kids tried to not give in, but they both knew that Ryuko would hunt them down and possibly kill them if they didn't listen. They then let out a sigh of disappointment, since this was the only way for Ryuko to remain out of their hair.
"Alright, you win..." The girl said.
"Yipee!" Nui cheered as she handed them both pairs of the new Revocs clothes. The two then took off their old clothes and put on the pairs of Revoc's berserker clothes.
"See, now Ryuko isn't gonna scare you anymore!"
And on cue, Ryuko and Nui then left the market, looking for more holdouts in the no-star district to force them to wear the new clothes.
As they went further and further into the distance, the boy looked at his friend with a worried look in his eyes.
"The girl said that the monster's name was Ryuko. Doesn't that sound familiar to you?"
"Wait.. the monster's name is Ryuko?" The girl thought out loud to himself.
"Yep. Do you know someone with her name?" the boy said.
"I've heard that there was this girl with the same name.. but it might be a coincidence."
"Oh." The two kids then walked back to their houses, while trying their best not to tell their parents about what they just went through.
As Nui continued to use the monstrous Ryuko to scare the lone holdouts of the No-Star district into taking the berserker clothing, Satsuki had watched on their expeditions from the distance.
She felt a mix of both shock and disgust at this sight, and her fears that Ragyo was keeping Ryuko in her destructive urges was confirmed.
So that's what they're doing to Matoi…. Satsuki thought.
Satsuki quickly headed off, and Nui paused for a moment and glanced around, as she thought she heard someone nearby, Ryuko also stopped upon hearing that noise.
"Did you hear that Ryuko?" Nui asked.
Ryuko glanced around, and uttered a confused growl, she was mentally too feral to understand what she heard, and began to wander off.
"Must have been a stray dog..." Nui said as she followed her back home.
Notes:
Sorry about the delay, I was busy with other projects. But in the next chapter, things will really pick up with a member of the Elite 4 fighting Ryuko, and Ragyo discovering that Ryuko is more than she seems!