As Satsuki continued to walk, some of the students noticed her sorrowful mood.
Has anyone noticed something wrong with Lady Satsuki since the Naturals Election ended? She seems rather distant. one female student said as she was walking by.
She wasn't the only one, other students looked up at Satsuki, as they also noticed that she was looking as some would describe as 'down in the dumps'.
"Yeah, you're right. Normally she's out there calling us Pigs in Human Clothing, but now she's just all wooden and weird..."
"And it all started after the first Naturals Election ended..."
Who won that election anyway? I know the scissor blade girl wanted to win because Lady Satsuki promised to reveal her fathers killer .
"Speaking of the scissor blade girl, she's been absent for the past few days!"
"There is a possibility that her disappearance is connected to the monster that's been attacking the no stars." one of the more nerdy students said. That response resulted in an outpouring of laughs among his classmates. "Wait... Could it be that the monster is actually? No, It couldn't be."
Satsuki thought that the nerdy boy was about to assume that Ryuko was really that monster, but that thought was dismissed as quickly as it came.
"What's wrong, Lady Satsuki?" one student asked as she walked by him. "Are you feeling alright?"
"I'm fine," Satsuki said, shaking her head. "I just haven't been sleeping as well as I normally do."
"Is there something bothering you?" the same student asked.
"I'm sorry," Satsuki said. "It's just been hard for me to get a good night's sleep recently."
"Eh, what's the matter?" one male student asked.
The two students in front of her were looking at her in concern. Satsuki quickly shook her head and said, "No, nothing. It's nothing."
She had tried to make herself look better, but it was too hard. The more she tried to make herself look better, the worse it got. She couldn't make herself feel better even if she tried.
Back at the student council office, Satsuki's elites had noticed the serious and frustrated look in her eyes. As Satsuki sat down on her throne and took a much needed sip of her tea, the student council approached her.
"What's wrong my lady?" Houka asked.
After she finished a rather long sip, Satsuki put the tea glass down and spoke with a more frustrated than usual tone. "Mother and Nui Harime are currently holding Ryuko Matoi hostage in their manor. And they've been using her to wreak havoc on Honnou Town."
"What? Matoi is still alive and in her monster form?" Ira said in astonishment.
"This is unbelievable! All of my data said that she should have died minutes after being consumed by her kamui!" Houka said, his eyes darting back and forth towards the now obsolete data on his laptop.
"I guess there's a first time for everything..." Nonon replied.
"How on earth did Matoi survive for this long in that form without kicking the bucket?!" Uzu said. He was just as shocked as his fellow council members, but that shock slowly began to shift into a feeling of determination. Even though Ryuko was still a monster, the important thing was that she was alive. That meant Uzu could finally finish what they started during the final round of the Naturals Election.
How do you even think she's not alive? Lady Satsuki said she saw Matoi herself! Ira said to Houka.
"He's right, maybe her kamui is the thing that's keeping her alive!" Nonon added.
"Perhaps, but I think being in this form would still put a huge strain on her limbs and organs, maybe even her own skeleton!" Houka said. "Did you even see when she twisted her neck like that?"
As the other elites continued arguing, Nonon spotted Uzu standing up and heading for the door. "And just where do you think you re going, you monkey?"
"I'm going to ask Director Ragyo if I can fight Matoi." Uzu declared.
Are you crazy?! You're basically asking to be killed! Why not fry yourself up now and serve yourself with chips?!" Nonon shouted.
"You seriously still want to take on Matoi? Especially since she's not even human anymore?" Ira asked.
"They have a point. If you tried fighting her alone, you would probably A: Get burned because of her blood being so hot, or B: Get crushed like a bug by her left arm." Houka said.
While his fellow elites kept telling Uzu to back out of fighting the monstrous Ryuko, Satsuki got an idea.
"Maybe he could face Matoi as a distraction." Satsuki said.
"What are you saying my lady?" Houka said.
"Just hear me out. Sanageyama has been wanting to have a complete and uninterrupted duel with Matoi for a while now. If we let him fight her while she's a monster, we may have a chance to uncover what Mother and Nui Harime are really using her for." Satsuki said. "And we have to be careful, as there's a chance that she's already caught onto us."
With that in mind, the other elites quickly opened up to Satsuki's encouragement to have Uzu fight Ryuko again. Houka also thought it would be a perfect opportunity to collect more data on Ryuko's monster form.
I guess we can let him take on . Houka said.
"Okay, but you die I sure as heck ain't paying for your funeral!" Nonon quipped.
I hope you know what you re going up against, Sangeyama. Satsuki said as she patted Uzu on the back.
"Of course I do. I don't care if she's more monster than human. I still gotta settle what we started before that blonde bitch interfered!" Uzu said while clenching his swords.
Shiro then came out of the shadows and handed Uzu a new Goku uniform made following the fallout of the Naturals Election.
Since you are going against Matoi right now, I should make sure you re well prepared. Shiro said as he presented it to him. Use it well Sanageyama .
Hey! When do we get ours? Nonon said to him.
Sorry everyone. Your new uniforms are still being sewed together as we speak .
Thank you Iori. Uzu said. Just before he was about to head out, Houka handed him an earpiece communicator.
"Take this with you, so we can relay to you potential moves on Matoi and I can get full data on her mutation."
"Mark my words. This time, I'm gonna win!" Uzu said as he dashed out of the student council office, while the other Elites and Satsuki all gave him a salute.
As Uzu walked out of the student council office, the other Elites and Satsuki all gave him a salute. 20,000 yen says he won't come back alive . Nonon quipped.
Meanwhile, back in the courtyard of the Kiryuin Manor, Satsuki was busy fighting Ryuko in an attempt to get her back to normal. Because she had not brought Bakuzan with her, she had to borrow the blades of Ragyo, which resembled a pair of sewing needles, and were also made of hardened life fibers like Bakuzan and the scissor blades. With each powerful clash of their blades, bright flashes were seen and dust spread throughout the yard. The sparks from the metal cutting into one another was a sight to behold.
Then, Ryuko started growling and giving Satsuki multiple punches with her massive left arm, but with quick speed, Satsuki managed to evade most of the blows. Then, she took a quick jump and hopped behind Ryuko. She thought she was about to catch Ryuko in the back with a quick slash, but then Ryuko s body contorted and she caught it with the hole of her blade arm. Satsuki dodged another slash and kicked Ryuko's leg, forcing her down.
Ha! Do you seriously expect to beat me? Your attacks feel only half baked! Satsuki yelled as she approached the fallen beast.
Ryuko snarled, her yellow eyes staring directly into Satsuki s soul. Then, all of a sudden, her fiber filled maw opened, and a horrific gurgling sound was heard as she blasted forth a stream of her boiling blood at Satsuki s direction.
While Satsuki was surprised by that sudden regurgitation, she managed to miss being splashed by the splattering of blood. She then dashed towards Ryuko, blades ready, only for her to slip on Ryuko's coughed up blood and fall to the ground.
Once she got up, Satsuki lifted up her arms and revealed herself to actually be Nui Harime, disguising herself as Satsuki in order to test the limits of Ryuko s power in her monster form. Nui s Satsuki disguise looked exactly like the Student Council president herself, although it still retained Nui s eyepatch from her normal form. Thankfully, Nui was able to cover that up with some of Satsuki s hair.
You did beautifully, Nui! Ragyo said as she applauded her Grand Couturier s performance. I had no idea that Ryuko could regurgitate blood like that!
I didn t either! By the way, it was a great idea to convince Ryuko that it was really Lady Satsuki who killed Isshin Matoi instead of me! Nui said.
I agree. It s amazing what even a tiny bit of the Primordial Life Fiber can do to one's brain...
Well, now that I ve had my fill of fun, I guess I better get working on more clothes! Tah-tah! Nui said, as she then began to head back into the manor.
Hold it right there! a voice declared. Nui then turned around and saw Uzu behind her, wielding his shinai in her direction.
Who are you? Nui asked, even though she knew exactly who Uzu was.
"You're the one who tore apart my Goku Uniform right before Ryuko Matoi became that monster!" Uzu said.
"Was that really me? Because I think I would remember doing something like that..." Nui said in phony curiosity. She enjoyed drawing out things like that on her potential opponents.
Uzu then growled in disgust. "It was back during Lady Satsuki's King of The Hill final battle!"
Nui just stood there in amusement and stopped her charade. "Oh right, you're that naked monkey from Lady Satsuki's not-really-an-election election!"
"Uh-huh! I m Uzu Sanageyama of the Elite 4, and I would like to battle Ryuko!"
Ryuko hissed, preparing to charge at Uzu, while Nui just laughed at what Uzu had just declared. You wanna battle Ryuko? A scrawny little human like you wants to take on a powerful monster like Ryuko?
Nui, what's going on here? Ragyo asked as she approached Nui and Ryuko.
"Hey Lady Ragyo! The blind monkey wants to fight Ryuko!" Nui called to Ragyo.
"You should let him. It would be interesting to pit her against a 3-Star student, especially if it s one of my daughter's friends ." Ragyo said with a smile.
Uzu then nodded his head in agreement. "So, are we on for the duel or what?"
"Uh-huh! Meet me and Ryuko out back and she'll fight you!" Nui cheered.
"You've got yourself a challenge!" Uzu said with confidence.
As they went to the backyard of the manor, Uzu detected through his Shingantsu that Ryuko followed Nui around without any rage in her eyes. He remembered that when she first got consumed by her kamui a few days ago and became that green-skinned monster, she was dead set on killing Nui because she was the person who killed Isshin Matoi. Now, it seemed like that sensation had somehow all but disappeared.
Ryuko then went to the other side of the yard and got in a feral battle pose, while Uzu was busy scanning his surroundings with Shingantsu. Twice before, he had not been able to complete his duel with Ryuko. The first time happened when his Blade Regalia overheated, and the second time happened when Nui Harime tore apart it's banshi. This time, Uzu was not going to let that happen again. He quickly lifted the sleeves of his shirt and unveiled his goku uniform, just fixed up and improved greatly by Shiro.
Look out Matoi, I m winning this!
The metal casing of the goku uniform had become more slimmer and form fitting than its previous two forms. And it now had more edges of white, green and golden coloring, looking more like a robed knight in silver armor. Even his Shingantsu bandages changed color to golden yellow.
Three Star Goku Uniform! Blade Regalia Mk III!
As he was preparing for his attacks on the abomination that was formerly Ryuko Matoi, Uzu saw through his Shingantsu the vesage of Nui watching over their duel. He also could tell that she already had her fiber severing finger nails all ready to go.
"Don't even try it! I've made extra precautions to my Blade Regalia. You get so much as one nail in it and you'll be sorry!" Uzu said to Nui.
Don t worry! I m just here to watch the fun happen! Nui said while gobbling down popcorn.
Ryuko charged at him with quite some ferocity, while unleashing a monstrous rage filled scream. Uzu then yelled as he clashed his sword with Ryuko's blade arm, both of them hitting back and forth.
"Men Dou Kote! Men Dou Kote! Men Dou Kote!" Uzu yelled each time he struck Ryuko's arm.
Ryuko roared in surprise at this, and after many futile slashes, she then tried to smash him with her large right arm. Thankfully, her punches couldn't make a dent in the metal casing of Uzu's Blade Regalia. He knew that even if Ryuko had unlimited power as a monster, she was still no match for his Shingantsu and his Blade Regalia.
During one of her strikes, Ryuko saw Uzu suddenly vanish right before her eyes and a burst of green light and smoke. She glanced around, feeling confused at her prey leaving. Uzu then reappeared behind her and began sneaking upon the beast.
"MEN!" he yelled as he smacked Ryuko's head with his shinai. But Uzu didn t know that even in her human form, Ryuko s sword skills were equal to, if not better than, those of Satsuki, the only other person he had lost to in sword fighting. For a moment, Uzu thought that the wood from his swords would break or catch fire from the heat of Ryuko's body, but amazingly, they took every blow just fine.
Drat. They weren't kidding when they said she's become more monster than human... Uzu thought.
Despite the purpose of the fight being to uncover what Ragyo planned to do with Ryuko, Uzu still wanted to be the one to beat her in a duel. He knew it was time to get serious. So he took a step back and focused the energy of his Shingantsu in his blades and uniform.
"Shingan Tensenzuki!"
Ryuko looked on as Uzu's shinai suddenly disappeared from his hands. Thinking that he was wide open, she pounced and aimed her scissor blade arm towards Uzu, only to then be met by the bamboo blade reappearing in front of her and suddenly pummeling her face repeatedly.
"Ya like that Matoi? I trade my sight for the power to move faster than light!" Uzu said to Ryuko.
Oh come on, even I know that s impossible to do! Nui said to herself as scarfed down her popcorn.
But little did Uzu know, Ryuko also had improved senses in her monster form. Once she got back up, Ryuko then suddenly pummeled towards Uzu s body as he was doing his light speed movements, and knocked him back with a heavy blow from her left arm, forcing the Shinzo to be removed from his arms.
Impossible .
Meanwhile, Nui kept watching on at the duel, with the only disappointment being that she had eaten up all of her popcorn too fast.
"It's no use Lady Satsuki! Matoi's just too strong and fast for me, even with this new outfit!" Uzu said through his communicator while dodging more of Ryuko's punches.
"The Kiryuin Manor has a hedge maze in its backyard. If you can lead Matoi into it, you might be able to trap in a dead end." Satsuki said on the other line.
Got it!
As Ryuko began to strike down Uzu again with her blade arm, he then ran into the backyard hedge maze, with Ryuko following him. Uzu tried to cancel out the sounds of Ryuko's monstrous shrieks as he dashed through the maze, with Satsuki guiding him through the many twists and turns via his communicator.
Meanwhile, Ryuko's feral mind began to have a sense of confusion as to where her running prey was headed as she went through turn after turn of the maze. Every now and then, she tried to slice him, but thankfully his reflexes managed to keep him out of harm, leading the bloodthirsty monster to strike at the hedge walls in desperation, occasionally cutting down entire portions.
After what seemed like miles of chasing Uzu, Ryuko soon accidentally took a wrong turn without realizing it, and she started glancing around, feeling a bit disoriented. Suddenly, Uzu leapt over one of the hedge walls, and landed right next to Ryuko, causing her to flinch and let out a surprised gurgle.
At last, Uzu had Ryuko cornered. It was time to finish the deed.
"This is for Lady Satsuki! he said as began his final move pose, combining his shinai into the hilt of a massive cannon. Finishing Move! Isshin Zenzanken!"
As Uzu dashed towards Ryuko, with the blade cannon facing her direction, something sparked in her feral mind. Hearing the word Isshin brought visions of the rotting corpse of her dead father into her mind. Ryuko's right eye twitched, as her mutilated body then became surrounded in an eerie red glow and her eyes began brightly glowing red. Then, right before Uzu could deliver the blow, an explosion of light and hot energy expelled around her body as an unearthly shriek escaped her fanged maw and the hedges around her burst into flames. When she finished, Uzu was shocked to notice that the entire hedge maze was burned to a crisp, all of the foliage reduced to nothing more but ashes.
Holy crap! Uzu said in shock over Ryuko s outburst.
"What just happened, Sanageyama?" Satsuki asked through Uzu s communicator.
"I don't know! I was about to finish off Matoi, when she suddenly let out a huge burst of power that burned the entire maze!" Uzu said.
Abort the duel Sanageyama! Shiro said through the communicator.
No! Let me just think of another way . Uzu quickly tried to think of a plan, then he grinned as he thought of an idea. Taking advantage of Ryuko being exhausted from her energy impulse, He snuck up and appeared behind her, only for Ryuko to suddenly respond by punching him with her giant left arm.
The impact ended up knocking Uzu back, and also causing him to again lose his grip on his Shinai in the process.
"Oh crap!" he yelled.
Ryuko then let out a furious roar as she went for the kill, knocking him back with her scissor blade arm before inserting it into the Blade Regalia. With a crushing sound, the blade went further and further into the goku uniform, slicing through the metal like it was a loaf of bread.
Once the blade had gone all the way through, Ryuko opened the goku uniform with her left arm and grabbed Uzu, who was all but stunned at the sudden turn of the tide in his battle. The goku uniform itself dissolved away in a flurry of sparkles once Uzu was removed from it. Ryuko then threw him high into the air, with his body flying past the roof of the manor and landing in a flower bed in the front yard. He weakly, and slowly, sat up, his Shingantsu detecting the smoke from the burnt hedges rising into the sky.
Once again, Uzu had been defeated, his Blade Regalia again reduced to nothing more than fibers. But that wasn't enough for Ryuko. She then approached Uzu, her leaking blood dripping all over Uzu's naked body, and used the tip of her scissor blade arm to tear apart the bandages and the life fiber strand keeping his eyes sealed shut.
When that happened, his enhanced vision and senses faded away, and his duller normal sight returned. The first thing Uzu saw upon his eyesight returning was Ryukos gruesome fang-filled face.
I guess that s it then. Matoi is just too powerful for me to beat. Uzu thought.
Just then, Nui approached the victorious Ryuko and clapped and cheered. "Bravo! Bravo! You really showed that monkey how life fibers and kamuis should really be used!"
"I agree." Ragyo added. She then looked at Uzu with a look of shame in her ruby red eyes. You honestly thought a monkey like you could beat a monster like her?
At least you kept me and Lady Ragyo entertained, if but for a while! Nui added. "Now hurry back to your friends before Ryuko gets hungry for more!"
"What do you guys plan on doing with Matoi?" Uzu asked in disgust. He then detected Ryuko looking at him, her yellow eyes ablaze with fury, ready to attack again. Without Shingantsu
"On second thought, I'll just be heading out!" Uzu said as he ran away from the manor. Once he thought Ragyo and Nui were gone, he ran back in the other direction and headed back to the manor.
Uzu looked and saw that Ragyo, Nui and Ryuko had already gone back in. "Coast is clear, Lady Satsuki!" he said through his communicator.
"Alright Sanageyama! Sneak in through the basement window and uncover what Mother and Nui Harime are really gonna be using Matoi for!" Satsuki said on the other line.
Uzu then quickly ran back into the manor and slid through the small window of the basement. He saw that he had landed in an old laboratory, with most of its equipment covered in dusty sheets. He then tried to quietly approach the stairs, but then tripped onto the ground. Obviously, he was still getting used to having his normal vision back.
Uzu then got up off the ground and clumsily climbed up the stairs like a drunken sailor. Once he made it up, he still felt disoriented. He had to find some kind of bandage to fix his Shingantsu power, fast.
All of a sudden, Uzu heard the sound of Ryuko's guttural growls, which made Uzu assume that she was trying to find him. Nui was also nearby, watching over Ryuko like she was her pet. "What is it, Ryuko? Do you sense something?" Hearing those words made Uzu gulp in terror. He quickly opened the first unlocked door he could find and dashed in.
After he locked himself inside, Uzu turned on a lightswitch and saw that he had gotten into a bathroom. On the sink, he noticed a roll of duct tape. It wasn't quite the same material as the bandages used for his Shingantsu, but it would have to do if he wanted to sneak up on Ragyo and Nui without being detected.
Uzu then placed the duct-tape on his eyes, and obscured his normal vision, which then led to his Shingantsu vision partially returning.
Ryuko looked around, glancing up. She thought she saw a glimpse of Uzu, she snarled before unleashing a roar of rage, and smashed a door open.
She then saw that she just broke open a broom closet door, obviously not where Uzu was. Nui looked in the closet, checking to see if the intruder was hiding in there, but there was none.
"Sorry Ryuko! You must have just imagined that intruder!" Nui said. Ryuko then let out a sad growl. "Don't worry, why don't we go back out and play some more!"
The bloody red glow in Ryuko's yellow eyes slowly vanished, and she followed Nui.
Once the coast was clear, Uzu then opened the bathroom door and continued trekking through the manor. His makeshift Shingantsu eventually led him to Ragyo's main office, where she was discussing plans on the revamped Revocs clothes with her butler, Takiji Kuroido. He then placed his right ear on the door and listened closely.
By the way, how did the clothes giveaway go, Lady Ragyo? Takiji asked.
It went well Kuroido! Ragyo said. Except for one lone holdout family, every No-Star traded in their old clothes for our new berserker ones!
Congratulations! Looks like another successful venture for you! Takiji said.
It is. Very soon, our little monster will no longer be alone anymore! Thanks to the new Revocs clothes, she'll have millions and millions of other friends just like her!"
Jesus. That's what this whole thing is about? Uzu thought, his mind in shock. Lady Satsuki ain t gonna be happy about that .
Oh, and Lady Ragyo. There s something you should know about your monster .. Takiji said, wanting to tell Ragyo about what he found out about Ryuko when he faced him the day before.
"That will have to wait, I've gotten a message from one of our scientists.." Ragyo said.
But Lady Ragyo! I need to tell you that the monster is really a her- he tried to say, only to stop as soon as Ragyo exited.
'I need to tell the other workers about this discovery!' Takiji thought, and he quickly headed off down the hall.
Later that evening, Ragyo went up to the laboratory in the manor where tests on Ryuko s blood were being made. She had gotten an urgent call from her scientists concerning the tests.
How are the tests on Matoi's blood going? Ragyo asked.
"We just finished them, Lady Ragyo. one scientist in a gray coat said, with a low look on his face. The other scientists in the room also looked the same.
What's wrong? Why do you all look concerned? Ragyo asked, raising an eyebrow at her scientists.
"Well, Lady Ragyo, we've detected a number of abnormalities in Ms. Matoi's blood."
Ragyo had a look of concern, but she expected it, considering the monstrous form Ryuko currently was in. "What kind of abnormalities?"
"We looked very closely at the blood and saw that it contained trace amounts of alien DNA in them."
"Really? What kind of alien DNA?" Ragyo asked.
"It's actually life fiber DNA. That didn't surprise us, since it likely comes from the kamui Matoi had fused with, but we were surprised to learn of the temperature of the blood."
"And what was it?"
"Very hot . boiling hot in fact. About 300 degrees Fahrenheit." One scientist said.
"It's more than triple that of the average human temperature." another scientist said. We originally thought it would be about 120.
"I'm just shocked that such a creature is able to live with blood this hot!" Ragyo said.
In fact..." the same scientist added. "The only person who could have this kind of blood, let alone stay in this form for an extended period of time without succumbing to blood loss or heart failure, would be a person who is one with life fibers.
Interesting. If Matoi is a life fiber hybrid, then she must have come from space like the Primordial Life Fiber itself... Ragyo said.
Not exactly . a scientist with glasses said, with a tone of worry.
What are you saying?
"Lady Ragyo, out of curiosity's sake, we also ran tests of Matoi's blood alongside yours, and to be honest, we were shocked with the results."
"May I see that?"
Ragyo was then handed a piece of paper containing the blood test results, and nothing could have prepared her for what she saw, her ruby eyes widened in disbelief. It was from that single document that Ragyo discovered Ryuko Matoi was really her second daughter Hanako Kiryuin, who she thought had died hours after her birth following an attempt to infuse her with the life fibers. She must have survived the operation, but the machines used to put the life fibers in her didn't register it.
Then another realization dawned on Ragyo. If Ryuko was indeed her daughter, then her father Isshin Matoi was actually someone completely different. He was in fact actually her ex-husband Souichiro Kiryuin, who she had ordered murdered 13 years earlier after discovering he had started a secret rebellion against her in the wake of Ryuko s assumed death. Apparently, Souichiro faked his death, and changed his name and look in order to destroy all evidence of his survival.
All of this made Ragyo smile, wickedly and curiously. She then opened her lips and coyly said la vie est juste dr le which in English translated to life is so truly amusing . She then dashed out of the lab, still with her smile, as the rest of the scientists watched on.
She must have taken it pretty well! One of them said.
Ragyo then quickly trekked back to the padded cell where Ryuko was being held when she was not in combat or scaring no-star folk. By this point, almost all the padded wall had been torn apart by her right blade arm, leaving the room in a sea of loose cotton and blood. Ragyo then opened the door and popped up near her.
Hello there! Ragyo said with visible amusement on her face.
Ryuko just growled at the sight of an easy kill. She then attempted to punch Ragyo in the head, but she quickly ducked and looked at Ryuko s eyes, both the one on her head and the one that belonged to Senketsu.
Listen to me. You may not totally understand me, but I do. I gave birth to you. The fact that I know now will be what will help you get revenge on your dead father!
Ryuko s head tilted as the realization sank in, and then, addressing Ragyo as an ally, a deep cat-like purr began rumbling in her throat.
Ragyo looked on at Ryuko's purring, which despite its monstrous sound was music to her ears. She then began patting the black armor on Ryuko s huge left arm, not caring that it was like touching a hot stove. She now had a second daughter who could help her with her goals to life fiber ascension.
It's good to have you back home again... Hanako Kiryuin.
NOTES:
This is one chapter I've been wanting to post for awhile, where I feel I really hit my groove! If you felt dissapointed that Uzu didn't get to fully fight Ryuko in canon, I hope this fulfills your wish!
The name Hanako was from another KLK fanfic made by Aguagi, whose Down The Road was the main inspiration to make this fic!
As a bonus, here's a pic my co-writer made of Uzu about to face Ryuko!
post/665587330293317632/request-berserk-ryuko-vs-uzus-blade-regalia-mk