Chapter 3

Relentless

Murakumo is in a panic. She can't find her mask anywhere! She could've sworn she put it right next to her before she went to bed. Did it walk out on its own? No, that's impossible. Someone must have taken it. But as far as she knows, there are a few suspects.

"Shikiiiiii!" the shy brunette whimpers as she bursts into her girlfriend's room, startling the blonde as she is on her laptop so early in the morning.

"Whoa, whoa! Muracchi, what's the matter?" She closes her laptop and walks over to her girlfriend to give her a good morning kiss, making the shy brunette feel a little better, but she is still in a panic.

"M-M-M-My mask is gone!" she whimpers. "I-I-I-I-I c-c-could've sworn I put it n-n-next to me before I went to bed! But when I woke up….it was gone!"

"Oh, dear," Shiki says as she pets her girlfriend like a puppy. "Who could have done this?"

"You mean it wasn't you who took it?" Murakumo asks.

"No. Why do you think I took it?"

The shy brunette thinks for a minute and then it hits her. "I'll, ummm….be right back…" In a flash, with her ninja speed, she is out of the room with Shiki dumbfounded.

"She's, like, in such a hurry. I wonder what's her deal," she says as she munches on a chip.

**Later**

"Where is Yomi?" Murakumo demands when she steps foot into the Crimson Squad base.

"Hm?" Haruka says as she lifts her head from her work. "Oh, she's outside tending to the garden. Although she has this funny mask on…oh, yeah! That's yours wasn't it~?"

"P-p-p-please give it back!" Murakumo begs. "You know how much I need it!"

"If you want to get it back, just ask Yomi yourself," Haruka suggests. "I wasn't the one who took it."

The shy girl groans. She knows how much she hated her mask being stolen, especially when it comes to her childhood friend. If she doesn't get it back, she'll have to get it by force. After all, she has these new powers of hers. She goes out of the cave to look for the blonde outside until she finds her working in the garden, putting in some seeds for new bean sprouts to bloom.

"Y-Yomi!" Murakumo squeaks. "W-we need to talk!"

The blonde turns toward the shy brunette and sure enough, she has the hanya mask on her, making her jump a bit. "Oh, Murakumo-san. Fancy seeing you here."

"N-never mind! Just give back the mask please! I beg you!"

"Not gonna happen." The blonde says, crossing her arms.

"Wh-wh-why not!? You know how much I need it!"

"I saw you, Murakumo-san. With some strange power that I can't comprehend. Now, whatever Haruka-san put in you, this has to stop! Homura-san's injured because of you!"

"I-I'm sorry, okay? I just couldn't control my new powers!"

Yomi sighs. "Why, Murakumo-san? Why would you do this to yourself?"

"It's because I wasn't confident in myself, Yomi! So…so I had to do it! Now, please give my mask back or I'll do it by force!"

"If it's a fight you want, it's what you're going to get." Yomi immediately transforms into her shinobi form and draws out her big sword.

"P-prepare yourself!" Murakumo also transforms into her shinobi form and with ninja speed, they go into an open area and go into their battle stances.

"Murakumo-san…what have you become?" Yomi says.

"I-it's nothing that concerns you!" Murakumo squeaks in response. "Now let's fight!"

They charge at each other and Murakumo drops both of her weapons to throw a few punches at Yomi, only for her to block them. However, when Yomi is about to strike with her big sword, Murakumo closes her eyes and walks away, leaving a big cloud of mist appearing out of nowhere and disappearing. Yomi stops wide eyed as Murakumo reappears on the other side to do a downward punch at her, but Yomi blocks the other three punches. It's shocking for her to have this power, but that never stops Yomi from quitting. She raises her sword to strike again, only for Murakumo t disappear again and then appear behind her to kick her from behind, but her punches and kicks are blocked once again. The blonde then swings her sword downwards to strike her down, but Murakumo jumps in the air to dodge it, throw one punch and then three other punches, followed by an outstretched hand to choke and toss her forward. Kicking her upward, she starts to juggle Yomi with a series of punches, up and down and then three straight punches with a choke toss to top it off. Yomi jumps to her feet and throws a downward punch, followed by a kick, sending her up in the air and Murakumo quickly punching her back and forth repeatedly and then grabbing her feet while in the air and slamming her down on the ground.

"B-but...h-how..." Yomi is hurt, but she does not want to give up this fight.

Murakumo herself is amazed at her newfound power. At first, she had super strength and the ability to recover from the brink of defeat, but now she can teleport! Haruka's potion is actually evolving... new powers are developing! If she can learn new stuff... maybe there's no limit to how strong she can get!

Yomi gives one last desperate battle cry as she lunges forward with her giant sword raised, preparing a mighty overhead swing to smash Murakumo once and for all. But Murakumo is still fresher, and still faster. She slides a foot underneath her meat cleaver and kicks it into the air, catching it in her hand. Turning it so the blunt end hits its mark, she throws her meat cleaver with perfect accuracy and strikes Yomi in the shoulder.

"Nnngh!" she cries out, immediately dropping her sword.

Since the blade didn't hit her, it doesn't bleed. But it did hurt like heck, and Yomi was in too much pain now to have enough strength to hold her blade. She tris to lift it, but her muscles are screaming with pain. She is defenseless now...Murakumo approaches... a smile of bloodlust on her face. Once again, her power is getting out of control. She can't even remember what she's fighting for. Her eyes turn bloodshot. Her grin widens, so creepy and unsettling that Yomi backs up nervously.

"W-why are you looking at me like that... s-stay away!"

Suddenly, Murakumo does something COMPLETELY scary; she twists her head, producing a sickening cracking noise.

"AHHHHHHH!" Yomi squeals.

Yomi tries to run... but her legs don't work. The atmosphere around her turns blood-red... everything feels out of whack. She tries to move her legs, but they don't work. She tries to put her arms up, but it's like they don't even respond. She can't get away... and Murakumo is still approaching with an insane smile.

Yomi can't run away, no matter how hard she tries. She just falls to her knees and starts crying.

"JUST TAKE YOUR MASK AND GO! PLEASE DON'T HURT ME! I'M SORRY! I JUST TOOK IT BECAUSE I WAS MAD AT YOU! Y-YOU'RE NOT THE SAME ANYMORE! I... I DON'T LIKE THIS SIDE OF YOU! IT'S CREEPY! E-EVERYONE'S SCARED OF YOU, MURAKUMO-SAN!"

Suddenly, Murakumo stops. It's like... something broke through. What was she doing right now? She can feel her eyes... tearing up? She didn't mean to scare anyone. She just wanted more power…

She blinks a few times and her power fades. She looks at Yomi: her face is streaming with fearful tears. She caused this... her new power caused this...

Yomi realizes that she can get back up and run, so she immediately gets to her feet and flees. She throws Murakumo's mask at her and runs away, not looking back.

Murakumo takes the mask and looks at it. Tears stream as she takes in Yomi's words. A creep like her deserves to wear this mask... she deserves to hide her face, so that she can no longer hurt her friends.

She grits her teeth as she chokes a sob and then immediately puts on her mask and then walks off without a word. She should go somewhere far...far from where she can't hurt anyone anymore. She can just lock herself in her room, hoping that her new power doesn't awaken and doesn't destroy the place. Or go somewhere far away.

"I'm...I'm so sorry...everyone..." she whispers.

With that, she makes her way toward the dorms, so she can be inside her room...alone with no one to talk to, nor make contact with them since she fears that her new powers might awaken.

A/N: Oh, man…I feel so bad right now. Jojo-san and I worked on this once again. Last chapter to go. Expect more drama ahead. Oh, this comes from the Relentless Jason Variation, if any of you did not realize. Long and detailed reviews.

Have a nice day.