"...Sakura." Makoto decided, looking toward Kyouko to see if she had any qualms about his decision. He was thankful to see that she wasn't instantly going against his idea, but rather seemed to be quite thoughtful toward it.
"I see, I believe that I understand the reasoning for your decision, but regardless explain it in your own words." Kyouko was a hard nut to crack so far as her own feelings on any matter before she had all of the information. The kind of person that if given a yes or no question would answer instead with a harsh glare and terrifying silence.
"Right," Makoto got his words in order before continuing in order to avoid tripping over his own tongue. "To Junko this is all a game, and knowing her she wants to make sure the advantage is on her side the whole time. Sakura is our top fighter in terms of just straightforward destruction, if we picked someone else odds are that she would make sure Sakura died no matter how hard we tried otherwise."
"And you don't believe she will kill another one of our friends in retaliation for guessing her move?" Kyouko pondered.
Makoto shook his head, looking over the rest of their friends. "I don't think so, I mean I don't think she will put the odds one way or the other at least. She probably thinks that I would start the game going after our friends without a ton of combat abilities because I would worry. So long as we keep her off balance there is a chance that she won't make any hard pushes."
The law Magi thought over the proposal for a moment before giving a small nod of approval. "Well put, there are certain risk factors but that is why you bargained for me to have the task to protect the one she puts out the hunt for."
"Right," Makoto smiled and reached forward to put his hand over the city Sakura was held in, only to have his arm grabbed by Kyouko and held in place. "What are you-"
"I understand that you want to rescue our friends as soon as possible, but do you honestly believe you are in any condition to go out at the moment?" her gaze was hard as steel, forcing Makoto to admit his condition despite his desire to save their friends.
He looked down for a moment and gave a solemn nod. "You're right, but the idea of them suffering out there when I could save them, its too much."
"We all survived eight months before this game began, Junko won't spoil her fun by going on a killing spree right now." Kyouko stood and helped Makoto to his feet, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and letting herself bear most of his weight.
"I can walk on my own," Makoto tried to argue, but knew that despite his desire to look macho his entire body felt like it was going to collapse. "Okay, yeah, nevermind. I might need a bit of help to get to my room."
Kyouko smiled softly and opened the door into the rather spartan room and helped him lay on his bed. "I am honestly surprised, being able to act as you did directly after being freed from the vortex is impressive," she looked at him for a moment before laughing softly. "Though if we are being honest, you have never exactly known what the word 'quit' means."
Makoto blushed lightly at what he assumed was praise. "Well, it is not like giving up ever got me anywhere," for a moment there was silence between them, before Makoto worked up the nerve to ask the question that had been on the back of his mind since she had arrived. "So were you stuck in Junko's castle for the entire time that I was gone?"
The young woman was quite for a moment before giving a small nod. "Yes, I had no real memory of my time at Hope's Peak, in fact now that I look back it seems like certain other parts of my memory were changed in order to prevent me from discovering the manipulation put in place."
"Y-you weren't hurt were you?" The idea of Kyouko being put through whatever torture Junko's twisted mind could create was almost too horrid a thought to imagine.
Kyouko gave a small shake of her head. "No, I was no more harassed then any of the service staff. The hours were long and the maids outfit was a tad restrictive..."
"Maid outfit?" Makoto blurted out, looking toward Kyouko with a face that was caught between horror and humor. "You were...I mean she dressed you as..."
"A house maid, cooking, cleaning, and keeping the house," she raised an eyebrow toward the young man. "Is that of some special importance?"
"No I mean, not especially I guess..."
A hint of humor came to the Law Magi's eyes as she watched Makoto backpedal from his words. "I see, well its perfectly natural for you to take such interest I suppose."
"I-interest?" Makoto didn't like the way that she had used that word.
Kyouko gave a nod. "Yes, most men find interest in such a thing, honestly through you have done such a good job at hiding such a perverted part of your personality, even from my eye, I might need to reevaluate my opinion of your capability for dishonesty."
"You have that all wrong, I don't, I mean I wouldn't-"
"Oh I see, then perhaps it is not tied to the outfit at all, I must say I am flattered."
It didn't seem possible but Makoto's face turned an even deeper shade of red at the implication she had presented him. At this point it was all the young Magi could do but to sputter hopelessly while trying to grasp onto words that didn't seem to have any meaning to his mixed up brain.
"Mission accomplished," she suddenly stated, looking down at him. "During situations where you were teased like this before you would often seem drained of energy, I believe that after such an assault on your senses you will be unable to try anything foolish like racing off on your own."
It took a moment for her words to reach the boys mind, but once he understood what she was saying he let out a small laugh and rested his head back against the pillows. "As thoughtful and thoughtless as ever."
After that both simply sat in silence, Makoto too tired to start up a conversation and Kyouko caught deep in thought. The silence was finally broken by Kyouko. "Before you fall asleep, would you mind handing me your Focus?"
"H-huh?" he looked at the girl for a moment with a look of shock, that she would request such a thing from him. A person's Focus was tied directly to their soul, if something happened to it the loss of that chunk would be irreplaceable, and the creation of another would be painful. And that was even if they could split their soul again in order to create it.
"Trust me Makoto, just for a moment." she didn't offer a single explanation, but she wouldn't be Kyouko is she did.
With a small sigh Makoto closed his eyes and summoned the pistol into his hand, offering it to Kyouko with a small amount of reservation, only held back by the fact that he trusted her with his life.
Kyouko gave a nod and accepted the weapon before focusing her mana onto the tip of her finger and pressing it against the gun, marking it with a 実 symbol that glowed gently for a moment before fading into the weapon.
"What was that?" Makoto asked, accepting back his Focus and looking over it.
"Its called a Soul Infusion, it allows one Magi to implant a part of themselves onto anothers Focus, allowing them to have some small access to their abilities even when they aren't around," she smiled softly. "It would be irresponsible not to send you with some advantage. I imagine that you should be able to make a new kind of bullet out of it, and if the theory holds it will carry my ability to nullify others power."
"Kyouko..." Makoto looked down at his Focus, trying to wrap his mind around the responsibility she had handed him by doing what she did. A piece of her was now attached to his Focus, and if anything ever happened to it then he wouldn't be the only one to suffer something horrid. "I promise to use this gift, I am going to save all of our friends." His voice had lost its tired quality, now sounding quite a bit more determined then before.
"When you speak like that it is almost impossible to argue," she stood up and brushed down her skirt. "Rest easy Makoto, tomorrow we begin our counter attack."
"Right!" he put his Focus against his chest and the gun disappeared, refusing with his soul until it would be needed again. With that done he rested back against the bed and slowly closed his eyes, allowing himself to finally drift off to sleep.
Bottled Despair
Makoto awoke the next day with a sense of purpose and a horrible case of bed head. A quick examination of the bathroom revealed the magic that kept Hope's Peak running was still working enough that the showers could produce hot water, and it only took a simply cleaning spell to bring his clothing to their best condition.
Once finished he walked out to find a rather humble meal waiting on top of the table in the center of the main room, and Kyouko already eargerly eating her own. She paused for a moment and turned to him. "It seems the food stores that we assembled here didn't go to waste during our trip through the time vortex, I would suggest eating before we begin our mission to rescue Sakura."
It wasn't difficult to get the boy to agree, his own stomach was ravenous and odds were that until he could take down whatever Despair Magi ruled over the location Sakura was being held at there wouldn't be the chance for such a good meal again. He took a seat and took the first bite of the food, only to discover something horrifying.
"K-Kyouko you didn't make this yourself did you?" he asked, looking down and finally seeing the food. Each dish seemed to have been unique in the way that it was made unappetizing, to the point where even the bread was caught in a limbo of not being toasted enough on one half and being burned on the other. Makoto's face turned green as he quickly drank down a glass of orange juice that was possibly the only thing that hadn't been ruined.
"I did actually, I have cooked for myself since a very young age in fact, through you are the first to actually sample my cooking for yourself." she took another bite and if it was possible Makoto's face turned a deeper shade of green.
She really must be strong if she can eat this with a straight face. Not wishing to hurt her feelings Makoto quickly devoured the rest of the food, making sure to use the orange juice to get rid of the awful flavor that the food came with before letting out a sigh. At the very least he was full.
Kyouko finished her own meal and snapped her fingers, causing their used plates and cups to vanish into nothingness as they looked over the board once more. "So then, shall we?"
"Right," Makoto summoned the map with each of their friends and reached forward toward Sakura's image. "Wish me luck."
Kyouko responded with a nod, watching as Makoto touched the image and vanished. The moment he did another of the images turned a violent red, most likely denoting which of their friends the bounty would be put after. "Hm, our suspicions were correct." If there was one person that could handle themselves, memory or no, it would be Mondo. She too reached forward and disappeared, leaving Hope's Peak empty once more.
Makoto hadn't quite known what to expect of the kingdoms that the Despair Magi had taken over, but if he had been forced to hazard a guess he would have thought they would look something like the place he was currently standing in. Stone structures with gashes and broken bricks upon the ground, with the destruction looking like it had been kept in that state since the first days of the invasion. It was still day out, but instead of natural sunlight the world was instead kept lit by the Monokuma moon which prevented any view of the sun. Too add to the creepy atmosphere was the cloud of purple mist that seemed to roll through the streets.
"Man, talk about depressing," he summoned his Focus and created a new clip of six Truth bullets before continuing forward onto the streets. Most of the kingdoms were built circularly, with each section of the kingdom split into different rings for different purposes and protected by walls meant to keep enemies and the random monster out. A quick look around revealed that he was close to the center of the ring, with the massive castle that had once belonged to the noble family that had ruled the kingdom now in a heavy state of disrepair, and covered more thickly in the purple fog then the streets. In fact it seemed to Makoto that the castle was actually spewing forth the fog.
Before he could continue his thought however a familiar 'Upupupup' was heard through the streets, causing him to duck for cover behind a particularly large bit of debris, just before a small squad of Monokuma could round the corner while leading a large group of prisoners. The Monokuma were rather odd, dressed in a mixture of nurse and doctor outfits with some carrying large syringes filled with a bright blue liquid inside of them. The people were even stranger, half of them looking healthy despite their captivity and the other half seemingly deathly ill, only able to walk due to the assistance of others.
And among the crowd was none other then the Magi of Martial Arts herself, Sakura Oogami. However the normally stoic and powerful young woman looked different, and it was most apparent in how she carried herself. Normally Sakura carried herself with purpose and a burning passion, a sort of underlining power that was almost strong enough to feel. Now she seemed to nervously glance around her as if the shadow she cast terrified her.
A loud bell rang throughout the streets and the Monokuma and their captives came to a screeching halt. "Well lookie what time it is," one of the Monokuma dressed as a doctor turned toward the crowd. "Time for one of you to get your dose of medicine, or was it poison today. Eh whatever too hard to keep track." Despite its words the syringe was clearly marked 'poison'. "Now I think we should pick ourselves a patient, enny meeny minny," the Monokuma pointed toward a young boy who was desperately clinging to his sister. "You."
The boy cried and Sakura stepped forward. "P-please just allow me to take the injection, sir." her voice was small and fragile, nothing like the strong warrior that had lived and breathed honor and strength.
"No can do Ogre, we have a method," two of the Monokuma grabbed the child and dragged him forward. "Now then, take your poison kiddo."
For his part Makoto had seen enough, stepping out from his hidding place and lifting his Focus in front of him. "Hey Monokuma!" the entire group turned to look at him, their eyes all flashing a dark red. "Sakura now while their distracted!" his plan was rather simple, turn the Monokuma's attention to him to create an opening for the Magi of Martial Arts to crush them. However instead of the instant reaction he had expected a flash of alarm came across her face.
"Well looks like the prey came to us boys," the Monokuma extended their razor sharp claws and moved toward him, ignoring the children now that their target was in sight. "Rip him open and find out what his guts look like!"
With no other options Makoto dipped back into the alleyway and slapped his hand on one of the walls, transfusing some of his power into it and disappearing around the corner. The second the group of Monokuma passed by the marked wall a massive explosion sprang forth and devoured most of the group, leaving the remaining summons weak enough for Makoto to pick off with four Truth bullets. Of course that little stunt left him well and drained. The talentless Magi created another four Truth bullets due to necessity, but at this rate he would only be able to make one more clip, maybe a barrier, and two of the new ammo that Kyouko had provided.
Banishing the worry from his mind for the moment the young man came back to the road and walked toward the group. "Is there a place we can hold up for a bit, I doubt that was the sum total of the Monokuma around and I would rather not be caught out here when they arrive."
A sickly old man gave a nod and told Makoto the directions to a still fairly intact church to one of the lesser deities that the people had worshiped. The door was solid oak but opened easily enough for them. The Monokuma summons would have a bit more difficulty if they tried however, due to special enchantments weaved into the building that harmed summons. Once they were there some of the people began to scatter to look for supplies, or to allow the sick to rest. Makoto for his part simply leaned against the wall and focused on regaining some of his mana. Normally just a small breather would allow him to regain some of his energy, but the heavy weight of the despair and pain around him made access to any part of the ether difficult.
The young man gave a sigh and opened his eyes, only to notice Sakura standing in front of him with a nervous expression. "Oh, hi there."
"Hello," Sakura looked at him for a moment, as if trying to figure something out about him through his appearance. "Back then, you called out my name."
"Yeah, I did." Makoto closed his eyes and tried to comb over his memories of the time he had spent with Sakura, hunting for anything that could possibly act as the trigger for her memories. "We were friends."
The larger woman closed her eyes and gave a solemn nod. "Yes, I have a certain feeling of kinship when I look at you, but beyond that I am unable to quite place you in my memories."
"Do you remember anything?" Makoto asked, looking at her with almost pleading eyes. He didn't think this would be as difficult as it was. He was being forced to see one of his friends, one who had been a pillar of strength and will, reduced to a frightened rabbit. "Kyouko, Byakuya...Aoi?"
That last name sent a flash of an unreadable emotion through her eyes, but it quickly dulled out. "I am sorry, I cannot summon a memory attached to those names either."
It seemed that whatever Junko had done to their memories was specifically made so only a memory tied to Makoto would actually be able to shatter the wall, the exact kind of insane rule that she would add to make life more difficult. "I guess that makes sense, but what happened?" he looked at her. "Even before you came to Hope's Peak you were one of the strongest Magi in the world, heck when you got really into it just standing near you felt like I was going to be crushed."
Sakura looked away, as if his words had been a physical slap. "My strength doesn't matter within the walls of this city, the creatures and the ruler of this place have made it clear that any attempt to fight back would end with the punishment of others..." her hair fell in front of her face, but did little to hide a tear sliding down her face. "The first time I made any attempt to fight back they...experimented on multiple children within the group I was attached too. Their deaths are on my hands...and I cannot fight with hands stained in the blood of children."
The reveal of just how far the world had fallen struck Makoto like a ton of bricks, rendering him utterly speechless for a moment as he tried to imagine just how dark a world Junko had created that the death of children could be seen as a passing event. Could any one person be so strong that the world couldn't stand up to them? "I didn't know, I am..." sorry didn't seem like the right word to use, in all of the words that Makoto knew none of them could properly reach out toward the level of pain she must have been experiencing.
Before their conversation could continue a massive booming voice rang throughout the city, a mad cackle followed by a voice that seemed on the verge of orgasmic pleasure. "Well seems we have a few rouge test subjects and a fun visitor from out of town, how exciting," a mad and girlish giggle came from the voice. "Allow me to properly welcome you and show how glad I am that you were able to visit us today," a scream of agony rang out over the streets. "That was one of over a thousand people I have stored here at this little castle, waiting to be tested with all sorts of little poisons. If you don't show up in front of my castle within the next five hours I will kill them all, and release a new potent fog upon the town to kill every single living person remaining. Think of it as a testament to how badly I want you on my operating table."
Makoto grit his teeth and pulled his hand into a fist to prevent himself from exploding in rage. The people that Junko had twisted were beyond any sort of human rationality so the murder of thousands of people just to get what they want wasn't utterly surprising, but the unfettered joy in her voice as she talked about it was chilling. "Damn." he had hoped that once he had arrived that maybe he would have more time to get Sakura's memories back, but it seemed fate had different ideas. Makoto stood and looked back to the crowd. "Everyone should stay here, no matter what happens the enchantments in this place should keep you safe." at least for awhile, but Makoto didn't want to burden them with that knowledge. With that said he moved toward the door, reaching out a hand only to have his arm grabbed by a familiar strong arm.
"I will not allow you to walk this path on your own," Sakura said, still a line of fear in her voice was holding enough will to make her intentions ironclad. "If the madwoman whose iron fist rules this kingdom will truly unleash a genocide such as this, then holding back my strength will do nothing to prevent it."
"Then I will put my faith in you," he gave her a small smile, a ghost of what used to come to his face when he made the expression. "Just like always."
She gave a stoic nod and turned back to the people, giving a bow to them. "I am truly sorry for my inaction, for the pain you have been forced to suffer while I stood idle, allow me to make this counterattack an apology."
The people for their part simple gave nods or mutters of 'good luck' without any real hope. They had been pushed too far for something like that.
With that done the two of them exited the church and made their way toward the center of the kingdom. "So then, what is our strategy?" Sakura asked as they made their way.
"I stand back and shoot stuff, you punch stuff really hard, and hopefully by the time this is over neither of us is dead." Makoto answered simply and truthfully.
"Very well." she responded.
For the rest of the time the two marched in silence, only broken when Makoto realized it was actually going to take them longer then expected to actually reach the castle. "So uh...whats with all of the purple mist in the air?"
"Its a special poison that enters the body and awaits a certain liquid to activate. Once it has the poison will slowly eat away at your internal organs until you receive the cure."
"Well," Makoto responded. "Now I wish I hadn't asked."
"It is indeed a horrible fate, one that has been inflicted on me quite often, not to such a degree that it becomes unbearable. The monsters seemed intent that I survive no matter how many others fell victim to their cruel actions." the young woman closed her eyes for a moment, haunted by the faces of those that had passed.
After that they fell into another uncomfortable silence before finally arriving at the castle itself, a massive fusion of stone and metal that towered over the other buildings within the kingdom. Surrounding it were hundreds of the doctor and nurse Monokuma, claws or syringes waiting in their palms. And standing above them from a balcony of the castle was the ruler of the twisted kingdom.
By all reports Mikan Tsumiki had been a quiet and kind girl before submitting herself to Junko's despair, always talking calmly and often so nervous that a simple conversation could bring her to tears. Any trace of that person had been erased by the image of the woman before them, who wore a half white and half black nurses uniform covered in dried blood, along with a medical mask to cover her mouth and lower face. "Our test subjects have arrived!" she shouted joyfully, waving her hand to the Monokuma. "Everyone give them a big hand for coming so promptly!"
The Monokuma began to clap in a mocking but unified way before coming to an abrupt halt.
"Now little ones, go forward and hold them down, I want to make sure to run plenty of experiments on them before they die!" Mikan blushed darkly and put a hand to her heart. "Oh all of the things I will do!"
"Sakura!" Makoto shouted out, drawing his weapon and aiming toward the wave of summons that charged toward them.
"Indeed, I will no longer allow this evil to go unchecked," the Magi of Martial Arts slammed her foot into the ground and readied herself into a fighting stance as the army of creatures approached. "Come now, and face me!"
Sakura was happily obliged by the wave of creatures that charged toward her, attacking like a wave of ants whose hive had been disturbed. For her part Sakura fought skillfully, each strike destroyed another of the summons and any who seemed to sneak past were quickly shot down by Makoto, who had already swapped out ammo cases. However the number of enemies was simply too great, and without knowledge of her training at Hope's Peak the Martial Arts Magi had already began to take strikes to her body. "My strength...it isn't enough."
Makoto looked fearfully toward the girl before a sudden flash of insight came to him, a memory of a simple conversation. "You got that wrong!" he leapt toward a Monokuma and struck it with his shoulder, driving it away before it could rain down another blow on Sakura. "Your strength isn't just tied to how powerful you are!"
Those words struck a cord with Sakura, pulling her away from the battle and into a memory, a memory that had been locked away.
"Hey Sakura, everyone is getting ready to go on the class picnic are you going to..." Makoto paused as he entered into the training room at Hope's Peak, caught by the sight of the carnage around him. The room had been designed to summon up creatures of ether in order to test the limits of the students combat abilities, and at most the students had faced maybe a handful of creatures at a time. Now however he saw the telltale signs of a massive battle, as if hundreds of creatures had been summoned only to be defeated, and standing in the center was a wounded by unflinching Sakura, hands still smoking from having used her abilities. "Wow."
Sakura turned her focus to Makoto, still emitting the same terrible presence that she often did while in battle, only calming it for a moment at seeing that he wasn't another enemy. "Ah Makoto, apologies for the state of the room, it seems my test might have gone a bit to far."
"No its cool just...man you really are amazing Sakura, honestly I can't imagine anyone being half this strong." his words were honest and sincere, seeing the sight of such power gave him a rather clear view of just how divided he was from the other members of the school.
A light blush dusted the larger woman's cheeks as she looked over the destruction. "I am flattered by your estimation of my abilities, but you are wrong in your assessment. There is indeed one that is stronger then me, a man who had such strength that even my memory of it forces me to tremble, and despite all my training it seems I cannot reach that level."
"Oh," Makoto was unsure of how to respond, the idea of someone who could match Sakura's abilities was almost a bit scary. "Well anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to come join the rest of us on a class picnic. I know you aren't really interested in the normal class activities outside of combat training but it could be a lot of fun. We are planning a prank on Byakuya that could be pretty funny."
The girl simply gave a shake of her head. "Apologies, but I believe I will stay here. Until I find a method to increase my strength to greater heights such frivolous things must be put aside."
"Oh," disappointment was evident in Makoto's voice, after all the rest of the class had given him the job of trying to invite Sakura with them, saying that since it was his idea that they go for a class picnic he should be the one to ask her. "But didn't you say that it wasn't helping?"
"It simply means I must try harder to increase my power." she answered simply.
Something about the ways she said that struck a cord in Makoto, and before he could stop himself he responded with. "But what if your training is the thing holding you back?"
Her gaze turned to him, and suddenly the young man felt as if death's shadow had passed over him. "Explain."
"Well its just," the boy summoned his Focus and looked at it. "Back when I was first learning to use magic I tried my hardest to get stronger just so I could come to this Academy and train with the best of the best, but no matter what I did nothing got me to be anything more then ordinary," he turned his gaze to lock with hers and smiled. "But then I got here and met everyone, and suddenly I didn't want to be stronger just to be stronger or to get here, I want to be better so that I can stand with all of you with pride."
Sakura closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head. "Your spirit is impressive, but I do not see how..."
"Let me explain, I think that maybe you are so focused on beating this guy that you forgot any other reasons you might have had to be stronger. Like once you do beat him and prove you are the strongest what would you do next?"
"Next?" the idea had never occurred to Sakura, whose strength had become almost an identity to itself for her.
"Yeah, I mean maybe what's holding you back is that you know once you reach that peak there isn't much else to do. Or maybe its just that your power isn't just your strength," he smiled toward her. "I mean when you talk with someone after a match you seem to be a really nice person, and your strength and kindness make you a good person. Maybe your goal of just defeating someone is holding your real strength back."
"My real strength..." Sakura looked down at her fist for a moment, caught in a moment of thought. It was true that her dream to defeat Kenichirou had consumed her mind, but the idea that was holding her back never came to her mind. "And what would you suggest?"
Makoto gave a good natured shrug. "Find a reason to get strong that you feel drives the real you, and then pursue it. Thats what I did and look at how much better I got since I started here."
Sakura had to concede the point that the boy who stood before her was no longer the same weak Magi who had arrived at the gates with the rest of them on that first day. "I see, a reason to get stronger beyond my desires."
"Something like that anyway, heh maybe its nonsense but who knows." Makoto turned around to leave the room.
"Wait," Sakura suddenly called out. "Could you...ask the others to wait while I go to the showers, I think I might join you after all."
"Awesome, just make sure to not open the third basket, that is Byakuya's 'gift'." he gave her a sly wink before leaving the room.
Sakura smiled to herself and shook her head. "Hm, a new reason."
When Sakura awoke from the memory her eyes began to burn with a new passion, and from her body sprang a well of new energy that radiated off her like fire from wood. "I have found it!" she yelled out, her power utterly obliterating a battalion of Monokuma around her.
Makoto gave a fierce smile and dodged out of the way of the battlefield, knowing that the Sakura before him had regained her memory.
"The drive that pushes me forward is this, I will reclaim this world from despair and make a world where people can be happy once more, that is what my strength is!" she let out a primal roar as her power expanded outward like a wave of fire, obliterating hundreds of Monokuma from her mere presence. "Hear me well follower of Despair, your defeat is here!"
Mikan took a step back from the wave of heat that struck the castle. "Oh that is way too scary for me." she said in a small chuckle, raising her hand into the air. "Trial Field, set!" a dome of energy began to expand around them.
"I will not allow that, Trial Field Takeover!" Sakura roared out as her own field began to manifest, clashing against Mikans and utterly crushing it before it devoured Makoto and Mikan into it.
The location they arrived in was a massive dojo with walls lined with various weapons and scrolls. "Within this Trial Field combat is law, and only the strongest will leave victorious," Sakura cracked her knuckles and looked toward the smaller woman. "Will you surrender or continue this farce?"
Mikan looked at Sakura for a moment before letting out a deep and mad laugh, pulling forth a syringe filled with black liquid from within one of her pockets. "Surrender? No my mission from the one I love is to spread despair," she jammed the needle into her neck and began to laugh slowly. "And your despair will come from the taste of dirt once I smash your head into the ground!" the woman clutched her stomach and bent over as if in pain as her body began to expand, new muscles simply appearing on her form. That was hardly the end to the alternations however, her body grew to tower over even Sakura's, and her nails grew and hardened until they looked like claws, her hair grew long enough to touch the ground, and even her mask ripped away to reveal rows of sharpened teeth and an elongated tongue. "This is my super steroid, using it allows me to draw intense amounts of power from the ether and increase all of my abilities a thousand fold!" her voice was deeper now, befitting her new form.
"A terrible enemy, but your power is only a false one, will you stand with me Makoto?" she asked, turning back to her friend.
"Like you have to ask," Makoto reloaded his weapon with the final normal clip he could create and aimed toward the creature that had once been the greatest Medical Magi.
The beast leapt forward with claws raised, met by Sakura's fist and creating a stalemate between the two, each trying to overpower each other. Their clash was interrupted by Makoto firing three of his shots into the creatures side, distracting it long enough to allow Sakura to step back and deliver a kick so powerful that is pushed Mikan back a few feet and leave an indent in her stomach. However the wound shifted for a moment and disappeared.
"Pathetic, your attacks will simply disappear from my body so long as my medicine flows through my body. No matter what you do it is pointless!" she rushed forward to Makoto but was intercepted by Sakura, striking the creatures side with a powerful blow that simply seemed to annoy it. In a counter attack Mikan swung her clawed hand directly toward Sakura, who attempted to block it with her forearm that she had coated with her fiery aura. But even the creatures claws after only a moments effort managed to cut through and deliver a painful gash to Sakura's arm, forcing her into a retreat.
Seeing something able to so easily toss Sakura aside caused a wave of panic to go through Makoto, but he stood his ground and fired his last three bullet's into Mikan's head in hopes of drawing away its attentions from his wounded friend. "Hey, pick on someone half your size!"
With the creatures attention turned to himself it never saw Sakura come from behind it, bringing her arms up and locking the creatures before leaning back and delivering a powerful powerbomb straight to the floor of the dojo, making the entire room shake from the impact. Sakura disengaged and moved back next to Makoto as Mikan attempted to regain her balance. "She is quite formitable, and her ability to heal prevents any of our attacks from being effective."
"Yeah..." Makoto looked at their enemy for a moment, looking for a crack or chip in her power that would give them an effective opening. A flash of inspiration struck him and a smile played over her face. "Sakura I can give us a small window of opportunity for you to hit her, so I need you to make it the most powerful thing you can do."
"A single move killing technique, I suppose I can provide something akin to that." she took her stance. "How will I know your signal?" she asked.
"Well, if it works then hopefully it will be obvious." with that said Makoto drew the rest of his power into creating a single bullet into his gun and charging forward toward the Mikan while she was still dazed. "Hey!"
Mikan drew her gaze to him, bloodshot eyes filled with murderous intent, roaring at him like a primal beast.
"Eat this!" Makoto pushed his Focus forward and fired his prepared ammo, a Truth bullet that struck the center of her mouth and caused her to make a few steps back in obvious discomfort. For a moment nothing seemed to happen, but then all at once Mikan's body began to shake and twist as the magic within the injection was destabilized by the effects of Makoto's special ammo.
Before Mikan could focus in on the world around her Sakura was already in front of her, the Martial Arts Magi's aura glowing a brilliant blue. "Shatter," with that said the young woman's fists began to move faster then the human eye could track, striking at hundreds of points along Mikan's body in the span of mere seconds, a loud cry following each strike. Once the assault was finished Sakura jumped back and crossed her arms.
Mikan began to step forward but her body began to at random expand and shrink. "What...did...you...do..." the Despair Acolyte cried out.
"Hm, do you not realize?" Sakura closed her eyes. "You are already dead."
Mikan's eyes grew wide as suddenly her entire body collapsed into itself before exploding outward if a geyser of pink liquid, a final scream accompanying her agony.
With the final blow struck the Trial Field lowered, leaving Mikan human once more, but forcing her to collapse to the floor as the bonds of magic rendered her unable to move. "How, how could I be defeated by some brute!"
Makoto shook his head. "You are wrong, Sakura's power isn't just raw physical strength."
"He is correct, my power is the burning drive I have to see my friends protected, against a selfish desire like yours there wasn't a way for me to lose." Sakura crossed her arms and looked down toward the defeated Magi. "Now what shall we do with her?"
Before Makoto could form an answer a portal was ripped open to her side, out from which stepped Izuru, holding a black and silver scythe in his hands. "Hm, trash." he muttered as he looked down upon Mikan.
"Mistress Junko sent you to save me," Mikan looked up toward Izuru with a child like smile on her face. "I knew that she wou-" before she could finish her statement Izuru put the blade of his scythe against her neck, dragging her away into the portal before Makoto or Sakura could make a move to stop it.
As soon as the two disappeared the massive Monokuma Moon above them projected an image to the entire world, showing Mikan sitting at a small desk in the center of a large room. "M-Mistress Junko I am so sorry for my failure, don't worry I will do better next time!"
Izuru appeared in front of her and dropped three syringes in front of her. "Hm, failure such as yours isn't tolerated within our ranks, prove that you are still worthy."
A green gas began to fill the room, and Mikan's panicked expression gave knowledge to those that watched that the gas was most likely some kind of poison. She quickly began to examine the three syringes, but already a green hint began to play against her skin, showing the poison was working. She quickly injected the first into her arm, which caught fire and caused her to panic. The second was injected into her leg, which instantly rotted off into a puddle of slime. The poison was taking even more effect now, with almost her entire body covered in either it or flares. "Mistress Junko!" she lifted the last syringe and jammed it into her throat, and all of the effects seemed to stop. "I knew you wouldn't ki-" before she found finish her entire body exploded, leaving only scattered limbs and empty syringes.
Makoto looked at the image in a state of shock, while Sakura simply lowered her head in acknowledgement of a strong enemy. Before they could truly process what they had seen people began to flood the streets, cheering and calling out for them. The castle which had been pouring out the purple mixture suddenly stop its production, and despite the Monokuma Moon preventing any real sunlight from bathing the streets the mist that had ruled it dissipated and left the world slightly brighter.
The two looked mostly uncomfortable at the praise they were getting, especially after seeing such a murderous scene. But only after a few moment a portal opened behind them, revealing Hope's Peak to them. "We have to go!" Makoto told the people. "But with the Despair finished this place is yours once more, remember to make something of it, and when Junko falls we will be back to help!"
The people gave a final cheer as the two walked toward the portal. "That was well said, truly befitting a warrior such as yourself." Sakura told him.
"Yeah, now lets make good on it and end this nightmare." Makoto stepped through the portal, knowing that ahead was the only way to go. One down, thirteen to go.
A billion thank yous to my wonderful editor TheAlmightyOneofLegends for beta reading my fic. Its because of him you don't have to suffer through too many typos.
Make sure to follow, favorite, and drop a review if you enjoyed the fic. Also if you are interested in trying to pick who might be the next person Makoto goes after there is a poll on my profile.
