Hello again, guys. It's been a while, huh? My apologies, went retro with my writing to get some perspective. Good to see all of you, though. As with the every chapter, on to the responses:

Weasel: That's perfectly fine. It always good to laugh for no reason… I think.

Itharax: Thank you, and that is what this little section is for. A small dialogue between reader and writer.

Sabere: I completely understand. I felt off, and was trying to get my head in the write place… Alright, that was bad. I reckon something will happen along that line, but I'm not sure what I will set up, but as always, I'll keep you and the other readers updated every chapter. I do hope I can make it seem much darker than Tsukune's paltry transformations though.

ButterKing: Sadly, I did. I'm much better now, and I hope that life is treating you well. One thing though; your post-script surprised me. I don't really expect any chapter to be good, just because I don't feel like a good writer. I'm definitely a slow writer.

Mastermind: I'm thinking he will, at least in one way or another. It may not happen in this chapter.

Isaac expected to see an overweight man with quite a bit of scruff driving the bus, something that he remembered from his youth. Although the bus he remembered was running on impulse engines, and was capable of prolonged flight. Unfortunately, the driver at this moment was very much like another person that he had met here.

The guy had the same glowing eyes as the Chairman, but this guy had a few differences. Firstly, he smoked, and heavily by what the inside of the bus reeked of. One thing he hoped for was that this guy wasn't as mysterious, but he had the feeling that they were very much alike.

"Nice to see you again, kid. Hope you packed warm, I hear there is a nasty storm on the way." That was his hopes shot to shit, or maybe it was him being paranoid. It was always his good old friend paranoia's job to kill the mood. It was frustrating that no one else got the sense of foreboding, but Isaac spared a moment to overlook the driver again.

"Enjoying your time here, Mr. Clarke? I hear that the cat got your tongue." A few chuckles followed, but he didn't join in.

"Yeah. Great time." He stowed his bag, and sat down next to Shizuka. At the moment, he was more than ready to just take a nap. Seeing how eventful the day already was, it sounded like the only option that left him with a sound mind. In fact, he even went so far as to ball up his jacket as a pillow.

"Would you wake me up when we get there?"

"You really don't have to do that, it'll only take a few minutes. The tunnel is weird that way."

"What do you mean?" This time, the driver spoke up.

"It's a dimensional tunnel, linked to various realms of the world. Mainly for the convenience of shuttling various children to the school. It only takes a few minutes to get anywhere in the world."

Huh, sounds a little like Shockpoint, only a little. The memory of him cracking open the drive that dragged him here popped. Also sounds more stable.

"I'm guessing it is all magic based." A tip of the hat was his response. Bus driver or Chairmen, they were equally as cheeky to Isaac.

"Alright."

"First time through is a sight to behold, Mr. Clarke. Nothing else cuts it."

If this guy isn't the Chairmen in disguise, he has to be his brother. If they aren't related, that'll be surprising. The bus kicked into life, and began coasting towards the tunnel entrance. He couldn't remember the last time he rode in a land-based vehicle, not to mention a land-based combustion engine vehicle.

The ride was bumpy until they entered the tunnel, where it smoothed out. The further in that they went, the more the light drained around him. Yet another concept that continued to increase Isaac's paranoia. For a moment, the only sources of light were on the bus's dashboard and the eyes of the Driver. Before a useful thought crossed his mind, he was bombarded with a cataclysm of lights. He cursed the very thought that he had allowed himself to leave his helmet disassembled.

"So, have you seen anything like, nyah?" He ignored the other implication of what she said, and shook his head.

"Wait. Eyes hurt." Luckily, by the time he opened his eyes again, the lights were far less intense. It was a pleasant surprise to see what looked like Shock space, but a bit more vibrant.

"So?"

"Something like it, yeah. The inside of our faster-than-light travel looked like a blue version of this tunnel. It was a bit more soothing to look at than this."

"Cool." A few minutes passed, and they all spotted the exit to the tunnel coming up. It seemed that they hadn't lied about the travel time, but it still bothered him. The whole concept of magic, that is. He wasn't a physicist, but he at least had a broad understanding of his own world's workings. A unique one though.

Isaac came back to the moment as the tunnel grew closer. Naturally, voices started to rise, but they were all silenced as soon as they cleared the tunnel. It was Tau Volantis all over again, even so far as the unexpected ejection.

"Hope you all like the snow!" In the blink of an eye, everyone on board found themselves standing out in a horrendous blizzard with their stuff, and the bus already heading back into the tunnel. Where the majority of them just gawked, Isaac kicked into gear with the assembling of his helmet.

"What the hell was that for? Everyone grab your coats, throw on whatever is warm! Huddle up, but no smothering, Kurumu!" As he expected, the girls flocked to Tsukune. Shizuka clutched onto his arm, her teeth already chattering. The only person to be separate was the one who was at home in the frozen fracas.

"Mizore, where the hell are we going?"

"Just over here. I thought all of you would like to see this." Mizore took the lead up a hill, while Isaac kept checking on everyone else. The majority of them were caught off guard, but they had prepared well, marginally. Their enthusiasm had been the only thing to really freeze over.

"Can't you do something about this?" Obviously, Kurumu was getting more agitated than the others. She was even adopting her usual combative stance, and had started to encroach on the snow girl.

"I don't need to." They all hit the top of the hill, and then the sky suddenly cleared to reveal a winter world. Spires of ice blanketed with snow, and glistening in the suddenly clear sky. The one thing that he noticed the most were the trees. Living trees in comparison to the skeletons that litter the grounds of the academy. Isaac didn't have much to say, except that it looked a lot more pleasant than the last freezer he visited.

"Well, this is definitely a better sight than Tau Volantis." The group started moving down the hill towards the city, but Isaac and Shizuka were left in the snow as the others took off.

"This place is beautiful, don't nyah think?"

"It definitely is." Their tread was a tad slower than the others', but the kids had been stopped by a woman with light blue hair. If he had to guess, it would likely be Mizore's mother. Unless Yuki-onna looked like each other, which he was sure was likely racism. Definitely not something he would be repeating.

It seemed that the woman had already messed with Tsukune, seeing as he was on the floor with his nose bleeding. That kid always broke out with those whenever something lewd happened, which happened a bit too much for Isaac's liking due to who it usually came from. He had seen a few things that were not meant for a 50 year old man's eyes.

I think he needs to see the Chairman about that, or Ruby. On the other hand, Ruby was probably not the best option, if past run-ins were an indication. With a shiver, they quietly joined the others.

Well, the resemblance is there. The blue-haired woman glided her way over to them, and offered them a subdued smile. Another thing Isaac pegged as a shared trait.

"Hello again, Shizuka. Finally nabbed a decent man?" To Isaac's surprise, instead of getting bashful, Shizuka was absolutely beaming. A pleasant warmth took residence in his chest, which was needed because his suit wasn't the greatest for the cold.

"Hey there, Tsu. This is Isaac, he's from another universe," she jumped a little, "And the future… Can't forget that." Isaac received an elbow to the gut. The warmth in his chest sputtered as he glanced to his side.

"Helmet." His manners weren't the sharpest, but an elbow to the side wasn't needed.

"Sorry." Instead of taking it off, he allowed it to stow in the RIG.

"Hello, Mr. Clarke. I'm Tsurara Shirayuki, Mizore's mother. Pleasure to meet you." The feeling that she was staring at him was probably a bit too strong for his liking.

"Pleasure to meet you too, Ma'am. And thanks for allowing us to come along." She smiled, and then started directing everyone to one of the houses farther along the "street".

"Thank Mizore. She was the one who convinced me to do so."

That is surprising.

"Oh."

"We have a guest house next door to us. I'm sure you and Shizuka will be fine with sharing it, but I'll show you to there after dinner." They fell into step with everyone into a rather large two story home, where Isaac met a rather unlikely problem. Luckily, he was the last one in line.

"Are you okay, Isaac?" Shizuka had already made her way up to the second floor for food. A quick survey of his boots told him all he needed, which was one of the many things that the suits made for the snow didn't have to deal with, frozen servos.

"I'm fine, just need to let the servos warm up. I'll be up there soon." He grabbed a small electronic screwdriver, and began to chip away at the ice. It was unnaturally resilient, and he even prepped his small blowtorch to melt it.

"Mr. Clarke. You won't get anywhere with that." Looking up, he was greeted by cleavage. Just to be safe, he continued to move his eyes up without stopping

"Yes?" It was Tsurara. She was smiling, but he could feel that she was going to be less than friendly with whatever she was planning to do.

"I'd recommend putting that out." The blowtorch had been fully sparked, and lightly hissed. It wasn't necessarily dark outside, but the torch was bright enough to illuminate them in an azure glow. It wasn't doing anything to ease the unwelcome paranoia that he felt. Nonetheless, he shut off the valve

"You hurt her, and I end you." He had faced hordes of Necromorphs, nearly invincible monsters, and creatures the size of planets. Yet, the deadpan delivery and unchanged smile made his innards flip.

"I have the feeling you aren't joking." The smile only widened.

"I'm taking precautions, so that doesn't happen."

She made a motion with her hand, and the ice blocking up his boot broke up. Without another word, the woman gracefully ascended the stairs.

He didn't need to know her to tell that she didn't joke, knowing Mizore told him that. The boots' servos kicked in, and he stepped out of them. Arriving at the top of the stairs, he saw that everyone was eating and joking around with others, and he heard a few snippets about a festival as he entered the room. He picked up on Shizuka whispering something.

"Maybe I should join in." Funnily enough, the small banquet held both adult and minor friendly drinks. Which finally allowed him to get a taste of modern beer. A can of brew and a steaming bowl of Miso soup were set down at the empty spot next to the lovely woman.

"I bet that would help." Whatever she was talking about caught her attention.

"What's up?" She nearly spat out a chunk of fish, but quickly swallowed it.

"Nothing! Just worried about the snowman on the loose." She was holding something back, but he was more than willing to trust her. It was everyone else that he didn't put much stock into, even the kids.

Doesn't mean I won't look after them.

"Well, alright." Everyone finished their dinner a little bit later after a few exaggerated stories, and were lead to their rooms. On his way down to the front door with the lady of the house and his lady, Isaac heard that the ghoul would be sharing a room with the girls, and took him aside before lights out. The girls would probably have a field day with him, if they didn't kill each other first.

"I'm sure I don't have to tell you to be wary, but watch what the girls are doing. You know how far they can go to get some alone time with you."

"I'll be careful, but I'm sure nothing is going to happen." It almost made him envious of the kid, how he could be so naïve and positive on a daily basis. He gave the kid a pat on the shoulder, and let him head into the room. He could already here the girls fighting over where he would sleep.

I hope you are right, kid, but that isn't the only thing I'm worried about here. The ladies were patiently waiting at the bottom of the stairs, and he quickly followed suit.

"I'm sorry that we couldn't offer better accommodations." Shizuka and Isaac shared a glance, and quietly followed. As long as they can stay warm, they could care less.

The sun had gone down fairly quickly, considering that they must've only been eating for an hour or so. Unfortunately, the sky was cloudy, which left the landscape a far more familiar desolate place. A far more nostalgic place for Isaac, in all the wrong ways. Every few steps were followed by a glance, looking for the telltale trail of a submerged corpse following them.

"As long as there is a way to keep warm, I don't mind." Shizuka raised a brow at him, which Isaac failed to see.

"I'm excited. We haven't really shared a room, have we, nyah?" Tsurara looked back at them, looking almost surprised to hear that.

"Nope."

"Really? I was expecting to hear that she roped you into bed the first night, in a literal sense of course."

"HEY! We're taking it slow."

"Ooookay." Naturally, he would've left it at that, but a thought crossed his mind.

"Does that explain the box in the closet that you didn't want me looking into?"

"HEY!" The poor blonde was glaring at both of her accusers with a healthy red glow to her, and quickly slipped into the shack out of embarrassment. The jesters shared a healthy chuckle.

"Now, you two have a restful night. There is wood for the fireplace, and sleeping bags in the closet."

"Thank you, and you have a good night too." She sauntered off to the house, and left him with a sarcastic remark about how she doubted that she would. The little paranoiac itch in his head had him feeling the same, but he would risk sleep over the cold for tonight. Plus, he'll probably have to apologize to Shizuka for the joke.

-A short while later-

Isaac and Shizuka were sleeping rather peacefully, separately that is. To them, this probably wasn't the best place to do any funny business, seeing as everyone else was just next door. They would have remained that way, had the sudden cacophony of slamming doors not rumbled the very shack they were in.

"What the hell?" Drowsy and fumbling, Isaac got up, and quickly nabbed his RIG for a Stim boost. Something he had relied on for a time, which almost became an addiction after the events on Titan.

"What was that nyoise?" Shizuka didn't even flinch, no less lift her head to ask her question.

"Don't know, but I'm going to find out." His suit had been thrown into a corner, along with the armor plates and boots. Those were thrown on, and Isaac dragged his bag out to grab another tool that he brought. A full sized flamethrower. He wouldn't trust any bit of flesh or blood that come from him, it would probably turn.

"Just come back to bed. It's already getting cold." Isaac glanced back at her as she flipped over to look at him. Tempting as it was to jump back and snuggle up, paranoia won out. As it always did.

"If anyone gets hurt, because I decided to ignore this. I won't be sleeping well for a while."

"You already don't sleep well." He couldn't argue with that, but there was a problem at hand, and that meant he could do something. Plus, what else did he have to do? Sleep could wait till he was ready.

"I know, but the more I help people, the better I can put up with my own shit." Shizuka just nodded, and popped up out of the sleeping bag. She stumbled around a bit in her pajamas, apparently reeling from getting up too fast. She slipped into a few layers of thermals and waterproof clothing, and both of them gathered at the doorway.

"Uh, Isaac, do you remember what Tsurara said? About the abominable snowman?"

"Yeeeup. That's why I have my cutter."

"You always have that thing." Another point he couldn't or wouldn't argue about.

"Are you ready to go? Because the quicker we do this, the quicker we can get back to bed." With a hesitant nod, they both stormed into the awaiting blizzard. If it could have gotten any colder, they swore their limbs would snap off like dry twigs.

Instead of heading to the house to see what had happened, they started following what looked like a stampede of boot prints heading away from the house. No abnormally large foot prints were present though, so they came up with the same idea.

"I THINK ONE OF THE GIRLS TOOK TSUKUNE FOR A MIDNIGHT RENDEVOU, AND THEN THE OTHERS STORMED AFTER THEM!"

"WHO DO YOU THINK DID IT THOUGH, NYAH?" Isaac shifted the flamethrower on his back, and looked around. It didn't really help at all, but he still liked to do so. He did have an idea of who absconded with the ghoul, and it had to be the only one comfortable with the cold. The one who had looked worried back at the bus stop.

"I'M PRETTY SURE IT WAS MIZORE, SHE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO WOULD GO OUT IN A BLIZZARD! PLUS, WE SHOULD PICK UP OUR PACE, THE SNOW IS COMING IN HARDER, AND THE TRACKS WON'T LAST LONG IN THIS WEATHER!" In the end, it didn't take them long to find their charges. What clued them in was the occasional odd whump, which suddenly picked up in tempo. They began sprinting over a ridge, and Isaac passed the flamethrower to Shizuka, knowing full well that she wasn't particularly good with firearms.

"WHATEVER IS OVER THERE, JUST AIM THE NOZZLE AT IT, AND PULL THE TRIGGER. THE FLAME SHOULD DO THE REST OF THE WORK!" She nodded, and they passed over the crest. All the girls were armed with what looked like small cannons, which shot condensed snow. If it wasn't such a drastic situation, he would have laughed at the irony of those firearms. Not that he would laugh, now that he saw what they were fighting against.

Their assailant appeared to be an extremely large humanoid, complete with white fur and red eyes. Pretty much the exact image of an abominable snowman that Isaac had. It wasn't faring too well, seeing as the girls were hitting it at every angle. He almost felt sorry for it, but that didn't last for the span of a few heartbeats. Strangely, the creature began to break down into snow. Probably an attempt to become a part of the blizzard. Whether it was a means of escape, or another way to attack, Isaac didn't want to find out. It began to give him the impression of the Cheshire cat as the body became translucent, shining red eyes and toothy grin remaining solid. It was definitely planning something, which would put far more fear in him than a rabid beast.

"SHIZUKA, BURN IT!" He had barely finished the sentence when a dense cone of blue flames burst from behind him. Luckily, the creature was only half way dissolved, and bellowed in pain as it was suddenly set upon by an inferno. For whatever reason, the flames forced it to reassemble itself. A damning quality.

It flailed about fruitlessly, managing to waft the rancid smell of burning fur towards everyone. Luckily, he used a particularly viscous fuel that prevented the monster from shaking it off. He could only imagine how painful it was, a creature that has only known the cold, now burning at temperatures around 2000 degrees Celsius.

Realizing the futility of its flailing, it began clambering for a reprieve from the pain. The last thing Isaac saw from the creature was flailing claws, disappearing into the frost. The blizzard began to die down as well, leaving the area fairly tranquil. Isaac glanced around, looking for any other unexpected problems. The area surrounding them seemed to be a small flatland, covered in a field of flowers. It was a strangely romantic place, which didn't sit well with him. It didn't matter at the moment, there was still the problem of finishing off the creature. A necessity, seeing as how this morning turned out.

Shizuka passed the flamethrower before he could even ask for it. She was really starting to understand how he worked, or she just didn't want to hold the thing. Honestly, he hoped for the latter.

Let's make this quick. With reckless abandon, he ran passed fallen and alight trees in pursuit of the fleeing bonfire. The only thing he really did notice is that the farther he went, the less agitated everything became. Less trees were uprooted and scorched, which eventually led Isaac to going by tracks. This also proved to become a pointless endeavor.

The prints were shrinking, not just losing the ash that made it easy to track. They were also getting shallower, eventually just disappearing entirely on top of a hill. That would have been the end of it, if he hadn't searched around a bit more. The tracks had stopped in the middle of a thicket of evergreens, but one last clue remained. A scrap of material, singed at the edges, was snagged onto a low hanging branch. He'd look at it better later, but now, he needed to head back to everyone.

The only one he found back at the field was Shizuka, looking around at the field nervously.

"Where is everyone else?"

"They went back to the house." He nodded, but he had a few choice words for them when he saw them.

"Should we head back?" Another nod, and they started to head back. It was painfully quiet during the walk, but they arrived fairly quickly. The lady of the house awaited them.

"Have fun?" Isaac glanced at her, but didn't answer. Something felt off with this whole ordeal, and Isaac wasn't willing to lie down until he knew what it was.

"Tsurara, I need to have a talk with you and your daughter, right now." Unsurprisingly, the younger girl popped out of the entry door to join her mother. Shizuka stayed by his side, just as interested by Isaac's tone with her friend.

"What the hell is going on here? Somethings haven't made any sense. Mizore's behavior, the snowman, and me and Shizuka being here. Your daughter and Tsukune were almost killed by that snowman, and for what? So she could take him to a field of flowers." Not surprisingly, both of them were straight-faced. He really wished that they would react like normal people.

"The Yuki-onna are dying out, Mr. Clarke. We have a very short window of opportunity to procreate. So, by the age of 17, all young women are forced to find a mate or be matched by the village priestess. The flowers are meant to hasten the process of copulating." That made a few things clear, but there was something else he needed to know.

"So, why invite everyone? Mizore knows the other girls won't approve of this, and there really is no reason to invite me or Shizuka."

"Because we needed people to help protect all the girls in the festival. The majority of them aren't fighters, and would be easy targets for the creature. Mizore said that you are very protective of everyone, and could kill if needed." He couldn't argue about that, but it didn't make it any easier.

"Fine." He pinched the bridge of his nose, and huffed.

Survival of the species, huh? Can't be mad about that, but she risked getting Tsukune and herself killed. That is what I can get mad about.

"Mizore. Next time you try something like that, find a safe place to do that." A nod was the reply he got.

"You should probably tell the others about your predicament, it may make them a bit easier to handle."

"So, if she doesn't get Tsukune, the priestess will find a suitor for her?" The older Yuki-onna nodded, which didn't help Isaac any. The concept of forced unions was pretty obscure by the time he was born, so it all seemed really absurd that they did something like this.

"And you are just going to stand there, if she is married off to someone she doesn't know? Someone she doesn't love?" That frigid mask of indifference cracked a little, a twitch of the eye made it clear that Tsurara didn't want that to happen.

"If I have to." He was done with the interrogation, and slipped into the guest house. Less than a few minutes ago, he was pissed at Mizore and Tsukune, but it was this tradition that spurred Mizore into action. The girls around the ghoul were all tragic in some way. A vampire who lost her mother, a succubus that would die without him, a yuki-onna that would be forced onto another. In the end, the kid had to choose one. Not a situation that Isaac envied.

Hell, Shizuka is… Well, Shizuka is plenty. He glanced over to the other side of the room, just to take in the sight of the woman. She looked absorbed in thought as she slipped into her pajamas, which wasn't much. It did make his heart beat a bit faster though, and that was something that he could be glad about. She quickly slipped into her sleeping bag, and faced him.

Armor components were dropped into a corner, and the base layer with the RIG attached were thrown on top.

"So." Since Shizuka was in her sleeping bag, Isaac decided to lay down even though he was still running on the stims. He wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon.

"You look wide awake, nyah."

"Yeah, the stim I took works for a few hours. I might take a look around to see if I can track… wait." He quickly sat up, and snatched his base layer. He had forgotten about the material he found. The scorched patch had been stuffed into an ammo compartment.

"I found this after the snowman disappeared. Do you know what it could be to?" As far as he himself could tell, it was blue and somewhat thin. Which is why he was asking Shizuka. It didn't take her long, though.

"It's silk, probably from a kimono, nyah." It didn't help much, but he knew what is was from now. He threw the patch back onto his suit, and laid down. Scooting closer to Shizuka, he gave her a quick kiss.

"Thank you." She replied with a content smile, and kissed him right back.

Shizuka is all I need…

-Later that day-

Isaac had drifted to sleep much sooner than he had expected, something he attributed to Shizuka just being in the same room. Even the nightmares were abated.

When he did wake, he could already tell that Shizuka had moved much closer. Or he had scooted over in his sleep, he didn't care which. He cracked his eyes open to see a mess of dirty blond hair, and breathed in the overwhelming scent of sweat and wildflowers.

Shizuka had wiggled her way into his sleeping bag, and passed out on his chest.

"No, Isaac." Isaac instantly froze. He wasn't doing anything, what was she saying no to? He lightly moved her hair out the way, and saw that she was still very much asleep. As much as he wanted to hear what she had to say, the door slammed open. Shizuka popped up, and both adults snapped their eyes to the door, wide eyed at the intrusion. All of the students were peering, all with different shades of red covering their faces. Both Isaac and Shizuka shared a resigned huff.

"We can come back later!"

"There's no need. We a-." He cut himself short, and whispered into his companion's ear.

"You are dressed, right?"

"My shirt was too warm, but I am wearing shorts."

"Well, we are dressed." Isaac unzipped the bag, and quickly moved in front of the kids to bide her some time to nab her shirt.

"What do you guys need?" They all shifted uncomfortably, but Mizore spoke in their stead.

"We wanted to thank you for yesterday, and to tell you breakfast is ready." With that, Mizore and the others quickly left. Isaac quickly shut the door, and turned towards Shizuka. Due to how well he slept, he felt a bit more revitalized than normal. He'd even say he felt playful.

"Good morning, Kitty-cat."

"Morning…uhhh." She paused, looking at the ceiling like it would give her a retort.

"I… Don't have anything." They slipped into some light clothing, and quickly joined everyone else for breakfast. Nobody brought up the incident of earlier, much to Isaac and Shizuka's relief. Everyone finished up, and left to get prepared for the day.

As much as he thought to dress better (Which he admitted was just to look good for his favorite person), he kept with his suit. If he was to be security, he needed to dress the part. Shizuka on the other hand, had dressed herself in a kimono. She was dressed well enough for the both of them.

Her hair had been done up in a bun with a crystal ornament holding the bun in place. She was wearing a subdued orange kimono with silver cherry blossom trees stitched in. It was a really strong dichotomy seeing both of them. The stern-looking human in armor trudging next to the graceful-looking Nekomusume in a kimono. Which was just a surface observation.

Isaac was smiling at Shizuka, who was having a hard time with the snow, which made her look not as graceful. Another small pleasant moment.

"Hey, Ms. Nekonome! Mr. Clarke!" All of their students were waiting a bit further down the path that they were on, with one notable exception. Both adults shared a worried glance, but continued on nonetheless.

"How are all of you today, nyah?" All of them were dressed for the occasion, leaving Isaac the odd man out. His mind was elsewhere though.

"Where is Mizore?"

"The Priestess called her up to the castle earlier." That was when Isaac's stomach dropped.

This is bad. She's likely getting introduced to her suitor… With a thought, Isaac's helmet unfolded, and he primed his cutter. Everyone gasped a little with the sudden change in the Isaac's mood, but Shizuka understood why.

"All of you, go to Tsurara. Get her guns, and meet us at the castle. Mizore is in trouble." Without getting their response, Isaac started trudging towards the castle with Shizuka in step. Tradition or not, this wasn't the way that Mizore was going to get treated.

The trek would take a little, so as he was walking, he pulled a few stasis packs from a compartment. A back up plan that he tied to the strap holding the flamethrower in place. A small alteration to the converter on the pack would prevent it from venting its internal heat regulator, causing it to burst. A stasis grenade by any measure.

He also felt something really off behind him, but he already knew who it was. Shizuka was nearly snarling at the moment, and her hair was on end. Her claws were elongated, and her stature was bordering on bestial. Shizuka could get terrifying really easy. Which put the odds in their favor.

They had already come up to the massive doors of the castle, where there stood two guards. They were already nervous though, seeing a furious Nekomusume and an armed and armored man marching up to them.

Isaac was about to tell them to leave, when a faint gust of air caught his attention. He snapped his head to the left, but Shizuka wasn't there. Looking back revealed both of the guards unconscious on the ground, and Shizuka pushing the door open.

Christ, she is fast. He stepped over the guys, but decided to wait for everyone else.

"Shizuka, we should wait for the others! I can see them trudging up the stairs!" She had already disappeared into the dark hall.

"ALL OF YOU, HURRY UP!" Following the furious woman, he switched to his flamethrower. Everything he saw inside of the foyer was dark, except for a bright set of eyes high up on a wall. It was safe to assume that Shizuka had cleared out the room, which brought up a point that worried him.

"Shizuka? Everything okay up there?" Each guard he walked over had a pretty good sized welt on the back of their head. Just unconscious, which was a relief. He glanced at Shizuka every other guard, and started seeing a gradual decrease in her fury. By the time the students arrived, she had jumped off the wall.

"Are they dead?"

"No, but they'll be up in a little bit. Let's hurry up and get Mizore." All of them were armed, which would probably make things easier on them. Isaac made the mental note to thank Tsurara. As a small contingent, they stormed up to what must've been an entrance hall. What awaited was a darkly dressed man. His appearance was nonchalant with slicked back hair, along with a severe lack of tension. It wasn't right.

Shit, this was planned.

"You are here to get Mizore, aren't you?" Everyone remained quiet, but Isaac could feel the underlying rage in the people around him.

"My apologies, but you are all too late. Her heart and body have already been stolen by her new husband. It's very likely that you will never see her again." In that moment, Isaac saw most of the students lose some of that fire in them. Some dropped their guns, and others just stared at the man. He was just glad that he wasn't going to believe a damn thing this man says. He was used to far worse mind games.

"I think you all deserve to hear why this happened, don't you think?" The man smirked, and pulled out a small cigarette tin from his coat.

"The Priestess offered up their strongest girl to an organization, in return for the revival of her lands. A pittance to pay for the continued existence of the Yuki-Onna, in my opinion." Out of the corner of his eye, Isaac saw Kurumu twitch. Her rage was getting to her, but a familiar voice rang out through the hall. It was different though, because of the overwhelming sadness oozing out of it.

"Just leave, everyone." Mizore stood at the top of the stairs, frozen streams of tears sliding down her face.

"I…" Her voice hitches, and she directs her eyes towards the darkly dressed man. That's when it clicked for Isaac.

"I've been dirtied… I'm not good enough to love Tsukune now." Isaac snatched Tsukune off the ground, and pushed him towards the stairs.

"Get your ass in gear, and get her." Then the sound of fracturing glass caught their attention, and Mizore began to collapse. Spurred into action by the sudden sound, Tsukune bum rushed up the stairs, only to catch a load of fractured ice.

What came nextt started out as a light chuckle, something you'd do after hearing an old joke, but it quickly became the cackle of a madman. The stranger was shaking violently with laughter as everyone glared at him.

"DIRTIED?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" The man nearly buckled over, and Isaac felt bile building up in his throat. He's met some shitty people, but this guy was already one of the worst.

"SHE IS WORTHLESS, JUST A LITTLE GIRL. YOU REALLY THINK I WOULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A LITTLE GIRL?" He had seen it coming already, but nobody else in the room had guessed it. This guy had no concept of subtlety. Nonetheless, Tsukune stood up, radiating absolute hate towards the man.

"What did you do?" The kid's hair started losing its color, becoming silver in tone. The man had stopped his hysteria, apparently interested in the boy's transformation.

"I just toyed with her a little. She is just a kid after all. Plus, it was a major turn off when she began to cry and freak out over a kiss. And to have the gall to say she was dirtied? What a self-righteous bitch." Apparently, the man had a death wish. Provoking the kid like that wasn't to be taken lightly.

Unless… With a small flourish, the man continued.

"But don't you worry, kids. I'll take care good care of her. So when she has matured, she'll be properly broken in." Isaac acted without thinking, running up and slugging the man right in the face. Yet, there was no give, no satisfying crunch.

"I honestly expected worse." Isaac stood there, dumbfounded. The guy didn't even look at him, and shrugged off the hit like it was nothing. Hoisted up like a toy, he was then flung into a nearby wall, and lost consciousness on impact.

-Shizuka-

"ISAAC!" Shizuka sprinted over to the limp man, her heart stuck in her throat. His helmet was cracked and bent, and thin rivers of blood poured from within. Even the blue lights from his helmet were darkening due to the blood.

Oh god! She gingerly removed his helmet, but stopped when even more blood erupted from the broken seal. If he wasn't dead already, then it wouldn't be too long before he did pass.

"Can you hear me?" Isaac didn't even twitch, but something else did. The blood that had begun to pool beneath him started to recede, back into him. Tsukune and Moka were well aware what was coming next, and the vampire quickly dragged Shizuka away from the regenerating monstrosity.

Isaac's body arched violently, the already broken bones breaking again just to reform in a grotesque new form. Nobody could really tell what was happening under the suit, but everyone knew this wasn't something to underestimate. Even the aggressor took notice.

"Isaac." With a bizarre grace, the body righted itself. A shaky hand pushed the unlocked helmet off, revealing what damage that the impact had done. Which appeared to be not much, at all. His face was relatively normal, albeit pale. The biggest difference was in the eyes. A luminescent orange surrounded by burst capillaries.

"Isaac?" It glanced her direction, and Shizuka remembered the night that Isaac had been at the lake. The eyes were the same, but not the emotion they conveyed. All she saw was rage, and something that chilled her to the bone. Hunger.

"Oh. What's this?" The monster that took over Isaac slipped its eyes to the other man, and took a few tentative steps towards him. A disembodied rattling came from Isaac, followed by Isaac's arms shaking. Large blades of bone erupted from the suit's hands, bursting the stasis emitter. In lieu of slowing him down, he began to twitch excitedly, as if he had been put in fast forward. The monster stumbled forward momentarily, and glanced back up at its prey. The rattle returned, but it slowed down and got louder, turning into an awful cackle. It reared its head, and everyone looked in horror as Isaac's cheeks split to reveal rows and rows of needle-like teeth. It almost looked like a garish smile.

"Soooooo hungryyyyyy."

Sorta cut this chapter short. Sorry.

Also, Isaac is the only source of the Necromorph scourge. Meaning he will be at the highest possible strength of a Necromorph if he becomes one. As we know, he won't do so unless things are so far gone that it is his only chance to save everyone, or he loses the Holy Lock.

To be honest with you guys, I dropped Isaac in at a later time than the previous story. It would give me less time for Isaac and Shizuka to vacation, but I added a lot more content this time around. I'm thinking that Isaac and Shizuka will be taking a break when the group travels to somewhere in particular.