Disclaimer:
The following is a non-profit fan-written story. Demon King Daimao and its characters are not owned by me, it's owned by Shotaro Mizuki, Artland, and Sentai Filmworks. Support the official release.
Author's Note:
Yes, a new arc is approaching. Also, this chapter's gonna be a bit different than usual by the fact that it might be pretty sad. I indeed planned one of the characters to at least have some sort of tragic backstory as it was slightly hinted in chapter 3.
It is now snowing in the Academy on a Friday, as Lily and Michie are seen in their room. Lily wakes up early, as usual. Noticing the weather outside, she sighs.
"Well, it's here…", she said.
Michie slowly wakes up. "You don't look pleased, Lily? Something the matter?"
"Maybe it's time…to finally tell everyone… Michi…"
"You're going to tell us what?"
"I trust in you all, so…perhaps I should tell how I got these powers of mine."
"I only know some fuzzy details from our childhood, true. I'm with you here."
"No more hiding secrets…later on, you'll tell our friends that we're going to have a really important meeting. The gloves are coming off.", said Lily, then giving off a deep breath.
(theme song)
My mother told me
"Poor girl, be strong"
Some say I won't last
I say they're wrong
And we won't back down this time!
We are unstoppable
No, we can't be defeated
We are unstoppable
No, we don't need a reason
We are unstoppable
Yo, yo yo, yeah, oh
Yo, yo yo, yeah, oh
No, we won't back down this time!
We are unstoppable
No, we can't be defeated
We are unstoppable
No, we don't need reason
We are unstoppable…!
Episode 8: Make Yourself
Keena, Gavin, Kanna and Arnoul are at the cafeteria, just finishing their lunch.
"Say, don't you guys think Lily's feeling a bit off lately?" said Kanna.
"Off? No, don't think so. Maybe it's because it's might be her busy face." said Keena.
"If I know Lily, is that she's concentrating ridiculously hard, so no need to worry." said Gavin.
"Maybe it's because she wants to play in the snow outside." joked Arnoul.
They all then have a though bubble of Lily skipping like a little girl outside, only of a red X to appear.
"Okay…did anybody else think of that and had a really off feeling?" said Keena as everyone raises their hands, including hers. "Let's never think of her as a child then." She continued…only to giggle softly…which causes Gavin to chuckle…which then causes Kanna to laugh a little, while Arnoul tries to hold her laugh.
"Okay, maybe it is indeed a little funny." said Gavin.
Kanna then slowly stops laughing, "But still, what could be the real reason why she seems not as energetic?", she said.
"Regardless, maybe she might need a little help from some good 'ol rice!", said Keena, while Gavin blushes and chuckles, hugs her and says, "That's my girl!"
"Well, maybe we could go to her office for a bit." said Arnoul.
"That won't be necessary, guys." said Michie, who has overhead them and is now approaching them. "She actually wants all of you to join to the council room right away."
"Maybe Kanna was right after all…let's see what's going on, Michie." said Keena.
They all then go to the student council room, where Lily is seated on her desk.
"You are…gonna tell us something, right?" said Keena.
"Correct…" said Lily. "Since you guys have been true friends to me lately, I figured I might want to tell a story to you."
"Wait a minute, you're not gonna pull out some sort of magic book, are you?", said Gavin.
"No, nothing like that. It's a story about how…" said Lily, but then held her words back.
"Need a little more breathing room, Lily?" said Michie.
"No…I can do it." said Lily.
"C'mon, you can spit it out!" said Kanna.
Lily takes a deep breath, then stands up to face the rest of the group. "These arms aren't magic made…they're filled with a combination of substances and chemicals…so…basically I'm a walking experiment."
Everyone else except Michie gasps.
"S-so…you're not human?" said Keena.
"I am. My DNA is also different from all of you, as well. It's considered superior, which equals more power. I honestly never think it's anything special because I dislike superiority. I want to stand out, but never like this."
"So…how did you get to be an experiment, anyways?" said Gavin.
"It's not exactly…a happy story…but I will tell all of you." said Lily.
"It was only 3 days before Christmas. I was 5 years old, and I was with my parents, returning home from a visit from a birthday party that one of my Mom's friends had. My Dad worked as a doctor at Maine Medical Center in that time ; his name was Greg. My Mom is a scientist. She wanted to be like her foremothers before her. Her name was Mia. They both were childhood friends and when they got into college, my Dad was falling for her and while she wanted them to remain friends, she then crushed on him a bit and they then fell in love. After my birth, Mom was supposedly creating what is supposedly her biggest research to date; a way to cure paralysis from the body. It was inane, but she seemed to still believe it, and my Dad was also pushing forward, but it didn't mean he was obsessed with it.
My parents took care of me really well…to the point that if I saw either of them leave work, I'd cry almost nonstop. I loved them very much…it was probably at the point I might be inspired to either be a nurse or a scientist…however…that night…it was snowing profusely, and we had to leave early to see if we were able to reach home before the snow could pile up. It got awful quick. Up ahead, a driver looked like he was in a rush slipped in high speed as Dad tried to turn away, but the slippery road made it difficult to turn and spun. The driver hit our car on the driver's side…"
"Your Dad didn't make it, did he?" said Gavin.
Lily shakes her head, sniffing a little as she wipes her tears off her face. "He died instantly, and my Mom only got a mild bruise on her ribs."
"And you? You don't seem to have any scars." said Keena.
"Body scars? No. Mental scars? Unfortunately yes...I would be in a coma for about a week and half. Due to me being behind Dad's seat, it was a miracle that I didn't die along with him. Then when I came to. My Mom was looking at me with bloodshot eyes. The first thing she told me was that she's thankful that at least I'm alive. However…I couldn't react, nor speak, and while I have my memory, all I could remember was before the car crash happened. I was barely conscious. Worse of all…I was paralyzed from the neck down.
My Mom was devastated, saying that she couldn't stand to see me suffer not moving my own body, so she felt that maybe her experiment could work here. It was all or nothing. A few days later, she finished up the remains while the doctors were continuing to inspect me closely. It was late at night, and I was asleep, and my Mom then filled a syringe with the fluids from her experiment and injected it in my brain.
When I woke up the next day, suddenly, I can speak, hear and even move again, but I was still confused...and I saw my Mom sleep. I woke her up. I was expecting she'd be happy, and she was…but then she looked sad…and told me Dad was dead…for a while, I couldn't get over it, but she then told me that he would've wanted us to move on."
Keena sheds a tear, with everyone also showing concerned faces. "Can't…believe you got through all that, Lily…" said Keena
"Then it got complicated. The hospital quickly noticed how I was able to recover so fast. My Mom thought that the whole nation would be against her, thinking that we used it for selfish reasons, to the point that she herself got slightly ill from even wondering about that. Lucky for us, that didn't happen. Everyone noticed that I was simply the first one to be cured from it, and suddenly, my Mom was considered to be a huge influence and icon to many people as she then shared her cure worldwide.
It was still bittersweet, though…she had to bring me along for trips around the world…I remember one time my Dad said that should my Mom be successful, we would be around the world…but since he isn't here…it just wasn't worth it. My Mom continued to try her best to make me happy, but I just simply couldn't accept it. Despite all this, when I got to school, I actually wasn't a bad student, and the rest of the classmates seem to stray far away from me due to how quiet I am. It was like that all until I was in fifth grade…that's where I met Michie."
Michie then steps in, "I actually took one look from her and knew that she had many depths inside. She was pretty calm, but…it's hard to believe everyone took odd glances at her. I was actually pretty curious. Since then, we actually played together a lot, talked plenty a lot to each other and for a while, Lily was smiling, happy and full of confidence."
"Wow! So Michie really saved you big time!" said Kanna.
"Correct. My Mom was even proud of me. As long as I'm able to move on proudly, she was relieved that I would be able to smile again. My powers then slowly developed. I was helping a classmate that lost a balloon in the air…I wanted to stretch my arm, so I could try to help, and suddenly, my arm did stretch for as far as I could reach and gave the balloon back to the kid, and everyone then suddenly took notice. Similar to my Mom thinking that they'd hate me, I had a similar feeling.
Turns out the rest of the classmates love it, and even I was impressed at what just happened, but I decided to keep it heavily secret, something that Michie also recommended. I immediately agreed, but then I recall one day that a fire happened in a building nearby. I wanted to run to there to check out what's going on. The firefighters rescued almost everyone, but a girl around my age was on the roof, and with the building potentially damaged, it could fall at any minute, so I extended my arms and grabbed her."
"That was…me. First time I met her… I remember now!" said Kanna. "We didn't immediately become friends, though. It took at least another few years later."
"I remember seeing that on the news!", said Keena.
"So did I! She got interviewed all over New England! She was sort of like a star." said Gavin.
"Well, I sort of got pressured…so me and my Mom requested that I can keep a normal life. Thankfully, it would work, as a we would come to terms. I then heard from Michie of an Academy where you can control, train, and probably gain new abilities. However, I was sort of already a major celebrity as soon as I arrived. So much so, that I got the student council president job without even trying. Luckily, I also made sure they didn't bow to me or anything. They ask me a favor, I'll do my best. And well…here I am now. Mostly bad childhood, and I almost even gave up…but I'm still remaining still today." said Lily.
"W-wow…Lily, no wonder you're heavily respected here…" said Keena.
"What about your Mom?" said Gavin.
"She's healthy and fine back at home. I admit that I do miss her, but luckily, she can call me anytime we would want a conversation. I even told her about my relationship with Michie, and she's also happy about it." said Lily.
"I'm real glad that you're able to tell us everything, Lily! Although…now I sort of feel bad if we pressured you…" said Keena.
"No, don't worry, guys…Michie advised me that I should not keep secrets any longer. I didn't want to bring back any scars back, but I now know that I'm able to move on and my Dad is able to smile upon me." said Lily.
"Couldn't be more proud than to be with this group." said Kanna.
"Know what I think? I say let's have a group hug!" said Keena.
"For our jolly good girl!" said Gavin as everyone but Arnoul approach Lily.
Lily chuckles nervously, "Hey, easy now, guys…don't squish me or anything…"
"Oh, you're not that small, my sweetie." said Michie as she first begins hugging her.
Keena, Gavin and Kanna then also join in the hug, "Hopefully, we'll remain as a group for a long time!" said Keena.
"We'll face any wrath that comes in our way!" said Gavin.
"And take a bit outta them!" said Kanna.
Lily then sheds s few tears, sniffs, then wipes them off, "T-thanks guys…Aaaaaaall right! So it's now settled! Our group doesn't even need leaders! To each of us is our own!" said Lily.
"Right!" everyone else said, then an awkward pause ensures.
"What's up, Lily?" said Kanna.
"I do admit that sounded leader-ish…" said Lily.
"You did say "to each of us is our own", so maybe we can all be leaders." said Keena.
"Oh, r-right. Silly me." said Lily as she laughs.
"It's no surprise that Lily kept her secrets, but after hearing about it…makes me wonder how she almost lost faith after her father's death. I still believe my parents are out there, though. Regardless…Lily's story teached me one thing; is that miracles can happen to regain hope and perhaps more."
Suddenly, the door opens, revealing nurse Mitsuko Torri, panting.
"Ms. Mitsuko!" said Lily as the group approaches her.
"Is there an attack nearby?" said Gavin.
"No…it's Eiko's whereabouts…you're not gonna believe it, but it's going to blow. Your. Mind."
The group has stunned looks on her faces
"On the meantime, though, we're going to get to quite the bottom of this…it's gonna be bizarre."
Suddenly, it's currently in a completely different setting. Taking place in what seems to be futuristic Tokyo. The streets seem quiet, with cars very rarely passing around. One street, though, has fighting sounds heard as multiple figures are seen, with another figure wearing a balaclava mask alongside with a knife, wearing a school uniform with blue vest and a red skirt with brown shoes.
"Tch…this virus…we're apparently being careless lately." the mysterious person said, with the voice of a girl. The people she's facing against all have demented faces, similar to zombies, but are clearly still more human. They try to attack her as she looks like she's focusing and she then jumps in between the center of 8 of the infected beings, then slicing their necks while twirling, causing them to turn to their backs, then the girl twirls again, now able to slice their heads off again as then then fall.
"Hm, the locals shall handle the clean-up. Well, that's it for the midnight run of them. Better head back to her place quickly.", she said, as she grabs a cigarette, lights it up and smokes, then blowing off a puff of smoke. "Healthy cigarettes; best invention in the world." she said as she then jumps high leaping building after building until she reaches to an apartment-like building.
"Hopefully, she doesn't jutz around with me this time.", she said, as she knocks the door two times. The door opens immediately, revealing a girl, who has blonde hair and brown eyes, also wearing the same uniform.
"You smoked for the sake of being cool, did you?", the blonde said.
"Considering it's the healthy kind, it isn't evil."
"Oh-ho-ho, but somehow it could backfire. You're gonna question me on how I made that joke, right?"
The masked girl sighs, then chuckles, "I'm not like that anymore, but I did just laugh at how you're not taking me seriously."
"Actually, I am, just that you're the brawn and I'm the brains."
"Is that so? Whatevs. Any updates of the virus?"
"Looks stable as of this point. The guys you got swooped in luckily, so we should be pretty okay for a while.. Also, one more favor."
"Name it."
"Take off that mask. It's like looking at a female Wolf Haley."
"It's not always bad to emulate him." said the masked girl as she takes off the mask, revealing to have brown hair and blue eyes. "And personally my name, Hazuki Makino, feels like some sort of action name. It's good enough."
"And Mio Tsuduki isn't? That's remarkably cocky of you." said Mio.
"My uniform didn't get stained…that could be it." said Hazuki.
"Still…I'm wondering…dunno if we can keep joking like this. I know it's to keep our spirits up, but it's kind of bizarre after, well…Myao disappearing and all. No location on Ayumi, either."
"We'll find her…she'd rather be dead than live as an infectee."
"Then there's also the fact that the SVC is somehow still active…something about how a woman is also supposedly now in charge of the company."
"We're going to need a hell of a miracle to survive." said Hazuki before she yawns a bit. "We should probably sleep now, Mio."
"Gimmie another hour…just to be 101% sure."
"Then you'll get this."
Hazuki then quickly pecks Mio's lips.
"W-W-W-WHAT THE HELL?! Why did you kiss me?!" yelled out Mio.
"Well…just a small warning, that's all." said Hazuki.
"That was my first kiss! And yours too, I'm guessing! Why aren't you…?!"
"It's called "teasing", which was something you did to me when we met, as well."
"So, what about Ayumi, huh?"
"Ayumi needed friendship. That's all Ayumi wanted."
"You can't just suddenly move onto me, though…I'm…not really girlfriend material."
"Geniuses need someone close, too. Maybe I'm crushing on you…but if you want to start slow, be my guest. Now, off to bed we go."
"The fact we sleep together doesn't help either."
Hazuki chuckles, "You say that now?"
"I just feel awkward…" said Mio as they both tuck into bed.
"Hormones, maybe."
"Oh, ha ha ha, you're being clever now."
"I'm not even trying to be smooth, honest."
"If that's what you think. 'Night."
Hazuki smiles, "Good night.", she then turns off the lights.
(ending song)
We're all young and naive still
We require certain skill
The motive changes like the wind
Hard to control when it begins
Can't help myself but count the flaws
Claw my way out through these walls
Fall back in love eventually
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Can you whisper
Can you whisper
Can you whisper
Can you whisper
The bittersweet between my teeth
Trying to find the in-between
Fall back in love eventually
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
The bittersweet between my teeth
Trying to find the in-between
Fall back in love eventually
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
END OF EPISODE