Chapter 9
Meiko's Escape from Hell

"To you weak pathetic fools, including that Avery urchin,
I have captured your precious friend, the girl in the blond hair; says the kipper's name is Eri, I think. In any case, meet me outside the mountainside at 9PM tonight, or you'll never see her again. Oh, and in case you're wondering: Eri dies, one hour before I leave this world forever; so you BETTER show up. I only wish to battle Miranda Maynard alone; the others are optional, but they are of no concern for me.

Come by 6PM, OR ELSE!
Meiko the Sorceress (a.k.a. Mikoto Suo, in case you ninnies get any ideas)"

Erika read the note aloud, which she received the next morning, to Harima and Miranda.

"Rich Girl's kidnapped?" He gasped.

"I knew it…" Miranda growled, "She knows my weakness… if I had one; I'd say we wait until midnight and wait and see."

"Mira, I know this is very bad, but she's got us backed in a corner," Erika retorted, "Remember, she has about 15 hours left and she has Eri. In my point of view, she wants us to not come, so she could kill her, if we don't."

Miranda started to snicker. Harima was confused; he noticed that Meiko could kill Eri, if she refused to accept.

"Well, I say, we have ourselves a huge strategy," she stated, "Meiko has not much time left. And if we stay here and watch, she'll kill a girl. But if we come…"

"Miranda, what are you saying?" Erika yelled.

"I know," Harima said, "If we battle her and not kill her for three hours, we'll save Rich Girl."

"Exactly! Uh… who is "Rich Girl" again?"

"Focus, Maynard descendant! We have some blond hair to rescue; namely Eri! I take it what Harima said. If we fight her and buy ourselves until midnight, Mikoto will be back to normal."

She left to the bedroom and called out, "I'll inform Yakumo and Hanai. All three of us will leave at 5PM. With just us three, we'll have very less casualties."

"Right," Harima added, "Tenma's Sister is a liability."

Miranda then asked, "Wait, shouldn't we go later than 9?"

"No. We leave early and attack the right time."

Hours later, Erika and Miranda left to go to the countryside. Harima followed.

"Rich Girl, I hope you'll survive. Even if you'd die, I still wouldn't forgive myself."

Later that night, at 6:00PM, Hanai arrived at Yakumo's house. He rang the doorbell and waited for her to come.

"Hanai? What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Harima and Erika called me. Did you get the message?" He said.

"Um, yes… but, I just couldn't believe Suo-Senpai would be this evil."

"All I can tell you is this: That's NOT the Mikoto Suo I know!" He shouted.

He grabbed Yakumo's hand and cried, "Harima is gonna need ALL the back-up he needs! I'll never be sitting in the sidelines, not after Suo is possessed!"

"Uh, Hanai," Yakumo asked.

Hanai didn't listen to her. He dragged Yakumo with her to find Miranda and Harima. They left to the countryside, belaying Erika's direct orders.

Then, at 8:35PM, Mikoto, in full body black v-neck tights with a dark violet skirt, waited with Eri, who was tied up by a tree. She looked up at the night sky and grumbled.

"She's late…" she muttered.

Eri spoke, "I'll have you know that Whiskers can make it on time! Tenma, on the other hand-."

"SILENCE!" Mikoto shouted, "I don't need your bleeding remarks! Have you forgotten that I have three hours left? If they don't show by then…"

Eri gulped and whimpered as Mikoto finger-gestured her neck, knowing that she'll die if late.

She whimpered, "Mikoto… I mean, Meiko… I'll do as you say, but can you tell me why you want Miranda Maynard?"

Mikoto told the story of how Meiko was killed by Miranda, but later returned to life after being in hell:

In Hell, Meiko was visited by the devil, who was a dark black shadow silhouette of Queen Isabella.

"Meiko Hildenhauser III," she bellowed, "You have proven to me that you were a very demonic woman."

Meiko pleaded, "Miss Lord of Darkness, I beg of you to give me another chance!"

The dark under-lord preached to her that she gets just ONE chance. In an instant, she began to train, destroying fire demons in a swift manner. She battled many demons in one blow each; sadly, they all sucked her power source away. When Meiko realized that, she was crying that she lost all her powers.

"Meiko, I promise you… YOU will get your powers back," the dark one shouted, "But ONLY if you defeat our Champion."

The fire surrounded the walls and began to present a lost soul, who was killed in battle, also.

"Meiko, I believe you met her before," she called out, "I think she was responsible for something YOU did."

"No… it couldn't be…" she gasped.

A girl, with long black hair and a giant stitch and scar on her body, appeared from the flames. It was General Magna, who was killed by Miranda Maynard.

"M- M- Magna?" She cried, "You're in hell, too?"

"You HAD to let me go through your scheme, huh?" Magna shouted, "How the hell you tried to kill off Miranda Maynard, I'll never know! But now… I get my revenge on the evil sorceress-slash-con artist!"

She summoned a Naginata from the ground, surrounded in flames.

"Magna, I know I never had the chance to kill you, even though you blabbed about my TRUE nature, but I long to end you once and for all."

"Shut the hell up! You'll NEVER get the chance to kill me, even though you and I are already dead! Though, if I win, I get my chance to return to Earth and make up everything, including being a pawn to you."

Meiko began to fight in a stance and shouted, "Well, my beef is with the Maynard famly; Sara is dead, but NOT Miranda. Even with my powers weakened, I can still defeat you and get out of this hell hole!"

Magna held her weapon high and shouted, "Then bring it… BITCH!"

She shouted and charged at Meiko. They began to clash. Magna swiped her weapon upward and downward, but Meiko kept dodging. She then struck Magna with a fierce palm strike. She then proceeded to kick her stomach with her knee. Magna fell, but was unscathed.

"Are you finished?" She snickered, "Have you forgotten that I am the champion in HELL? Every match I participate in, my powers increase tenfold."

Meiko gasped, "Maynard killed you and you became an evil spirit?"

"Exactly!" Magna cried as she continued to swipe at Meiko, "You're a lying, wretched woman! I hate you! I never liked you, when you threatened me to die! You NEVER liked me!"

She jabbed Meiko in the gut, causing her to bleed momentarily. She began to hold her chest and growl. She charged at Magna and delivered a barrage of punches with her right arm; her left arm was preoccupied on her punctured waist. Magna started to feel badly bruised; she began to bleed as well. She started to deliver a knee to her chest and delivered an elbow to the back of the head. She fell to the ground, in pain.

"Why? Why the devil did I waste my entire powers?" She sobbed.

Magna raised her weapon and cried, "Why the devil, indeed! Now I'LL show you what we do to people who not only are murderers, but are also liars!"

Meiko then pleaded to spare her.

"Oh, you don't get it!" She added, "Once I am free from Hell, I can live my live again, to its fullest. And first I didn't want to be a demonic hell-spawn, but after learning from Miranda, it seems that YOU should be the one burning in the depths of hell. I forgave every sin I did, including the sin of lying."

"That's not a sin, Magna…"

"Shut up! It's because of you that I'll have to spend an eternity to become living again! I could care less about Dark Argos OR Miranda Maynard! I only wanted to see the look on your pitiful face, the SAME woman who was killed by a great hero!"

She raised her weapon high and was about to lunge it.

"SO, this comes to this…" Meiko thought, "I think it's time we pull all stops."

"Goodbye!" Magna shouted.

She lunge her sword and jabbed Meiko. Or so she thought… She jabbed a charred up skeleton, replacing Meiko. Magna realized that Meiko has died. She started to laugh evilly.

"Poor pitiful Meiko," she jeered at the skeleton, "Even as a powerful wizard, you have no luck at winning. You've grown to be such a weakling, even for a five hundred year old demoness."

Meiko appeared from behind and grasped the back of her head with her bare hand. Magna began to shudder in fear.

"Meiko? How?"

"Foolish Magna, I may have failed to defeat Miranda Maynard, but even for a 500-year old witch, I can be very intimidating."

She grasped her head very tightly. Magna pleaded for mercy.

"Wait… Meiko. I'm sorry I ever trusted you. If you couldn't have killed Sara Maynard long ago, this would've never happen now!"

Meiko sneered, "I understand how you feel. But I'll finally get the chance to kill you."

"You cannot! You'll NEVER get the chance anyway, because we're BOTH dead." She struggled.

"Magna, why would you care? Miranda Maynard and her bottom-feeding sister have caused me hell because of that damned King Hildenhauser, my descendant!"

"It makes no difference! How about we make a deal? If we give the dark lord her consent, we'll BOTH go back! YOU'LL get your revenge on Miranda Maynard and I'll get my chance at a normal life!"

Meiko then grasped her very hard and made a scowl.

"You blabbed to Avery and Maynard about my past, you let them kill you, and then me, and you want to be free to live your life for you to see fit… BUT YET, YOU'VE SHOWN COMPASSION! YOU DESERVE TO BURN IN HELL!"

She glow a dark aura and snickered, "My powers… they're back!"

She punched Magna on the back, piercing through her body. She then proceeded to fire a dark energy surrounding Magna's body. Magna let out a scream as her body was engulfed in dark smoke. She was vaporized on the spot.

"Goodbye, Magna. You've proven to be a worthy foe; but even people like you deserve nothing but pain and woe."

The devil appeared and applauded towards Meiko. She then ordered Meiko to give her a second chance.

"Congratulations, Meiko Hildenhauser III," she bellowed, "You have become the new champion of Hell. As your reward, I am sending you back to Earth to give you your second chance; in doing so, you must be able to avenge your death by killing the one person who killed you: Miranda Maynard."

Meiko giggled, and then cackled loudly.

"Oh, sweet Argos! At last I'll have my revenge!" She cried.

XXXXX

"And since then," Mikoto/Meiko continued, "My soul went into a young girl, who was a high school graduate, and vowed to get my hands on Miranda. The only flaw to my plan was that the girl I possessed was from Japan."

"And that's the reason you lured her here, along with Whiskers?" Eri shouted.

"Yes. The dark one told me that I have eight days to do so, but Miranda's arrival cost me almost half of my time. So, I concocted a beautiful plan to lure her here to Japan. I wrote the letter, forging Hildenhauser's signature, and proceeded to send in to Miranda Maynard. Kenji Harima, however, was just a coincidence. He's a prawn, compared to Avery, who decided to show her butt here."

Eri started to growl. Mikoto grabbed Eri's face and snickered.

"But knowing what I'll do to her and him, it'll be the same thing I'll do to Yakumo and you, when I am finished!"

"You'll never win, Mikoto," Eri sobbed, "Miranda may be a freak, but she's a great hero; I don't care what she is. But you don't scare me with your evil powers."

"You still don't believe me?" Mikoto scowled.

She got up and raised her hand towards a window, on a small building from far away. She closed her fist and the window shattered.

Meanwhile, outside the mountainside, Hanai heard the glass shattering.

"What was that?" He asked.

He and Yakumo ran to the scene.

"It came from over there!" Yakumo cried, "Hanai! Hurry!"

"Mikoto, I'll save you!" He thought, "I promise you! I, Haruki Hanai, along with the faire Yakumo Tsukamoto, will finally get to save you, thugs or no thugs; dark magic or no dark magic!"

They ran off, following the sound.

Mikoto turned to Eri and smiled evilly.

"Now… do you understand the powers of darkness?" She said.

All Eri could do was whimper in terror. She then grabbed her neck again and said, "Poor deluded Eri. I promise you… I'll let you see at first hand the death of a fallen hero."

"Meiko! PLEASE!" Eri cried, "I know you were dead for years, but haven't you tried to be good?"

"Good? HAH! I tried that, but I'd never succeeded," Mikoto growled, "Ever since I was fused with the dark powers, I wanted to break free of the badness inside of me. But, no go."

"There must be some good in you, Meiko, and I'm not saying it, since you're in Mikoto!" Eri pleaded.

Mikoto grasped her head and started to pant.

"Mikoto," she pleaded, "I know you're you in there. And as for Meiko, she must be nice, too. Mikoto wouldn't be evil, and neither could you."

"LIES! ALL LIES! I AM NOT GOOD!" She screamed, "I was… but… I… I… NO! I AM NOT! Wait… I need to remember... five hundred years… and I… NO!"

Mikoto let out a cry, as she slapped Eri. She scowled at her, knowing that she was set up.

"YOU TRICKED ME!" She hollered, "Just for that, you'll die anyways!"

"That's what you think, Suo!" Hanai cried from a distance.

He and Yakumo entered the forest and found Mikoto by a tied-up Eri.

"YOU AGAIN?" She cried out.

"Suo, how could you?" He gasped.

He charged at Mikoto/Meiko and they began to fight. But will Miranda and Harima make it in time?

Yakumo watched on in fear.

"Miranda… Harima-Senpai… HURRY!"

To Be Continued…

"And so begins a brand new battle. Rich Girl is kidnapped, Erika, Miranda, and I are getting there, and Four-eyes is stalling for time, just for her to fail. HEY! WAIT A MINUTE! HANAI IS HELPING? THAT IDIOT!"

Next Chapter: The Heroes' Retribution