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.
Episode 21: "Illusions"
Keena and Akuto's fists collide in the air, causing a minor shockwave throughout the battlefield. The Academy doesn't get affected due to a shield implemented in cause of possible attacks. Akuto would first land a fist, but Keena quickly blocks it, responding back with a kick, but he also blocks it. He then grabs it, then tossing her up higher as he flies up, attempting a double-fisted punch attack, but she's then able to dodge it quickly with a quick kick up to his chin. She tries to land a quick punch, but again he blocks it as they then exchange punches and kicks against each other, some of them landing correctly on their faces. They then stop fighting for a bit.
"We seem to fight rather equally, Keena. I'm impressed you've made it this far."
"Well, it's no wonder. I've been fighting some of these dudes down there, so I've been more ready, no doubt."
"But I got more surprises up my sleeve, too!"
He then summons 3 fireballs, launching them at Keena's direction. Keena, however, quickly turns invisible to avoid them, then turning back visible.
Keena chuckles, "Too easy!"
"You're right, that was too easy."
Akuto then snaps his fingers, causing the fireballs to quickly go backwards and hit the back side of Keena's head, back and legs. Akuto takes the opportunity to even breathe fire, but Keena is able to dodge it.
"Damn…remember, Keena, don't lower your guard!" Keena thought.
As their battle continues above, below is whole different kind of battleground as students of the Academy have to battle against not only Eiko's ninja-bots, but also the beasts that Fujiko summoned. Lily and Michie are two of many students trying to fend both evil sides.
"I know this idea doesn't sound right, but should we help Keena?" said Michie.
"I'm pretty sure she can handle it herself. Knowing Keena, it's part of her destiny to defeat him. Even if he was her friend not too long ago, even he knows he has to be defeated." said Lily.
A beast tries to sneak up on Lily, but raises both her big fists to punch it, doing that without even looking.
"If it's also about, well…re-opening old wounds from the time you…"
"Hush…I know…I'm still confident about our romantic relationship, and…well, I think I've already said enough. We'll get through this." said Lily.
Three ninja-bots try to sneak up on Michie, but she quickly notices and summons three knives and quickly bycicle kicks to hit their heads, causing them to explode.
"It's very rude to interrupt a sweet talk between two future wives to each other! Hmph."
Lily chuckles a bit, "You forgot the robot part."
"Made you smile."
Lily then blushes and chuckles, "Let's get through this!"
"Gotcha!"
In the Academy's rooftop, the match between Gavin and Junko continues as she next tries to keep sweeping to try to make him fall, but he continues jumping to avoid them, as he eventually takes the opportunity to try to do an elbow drop on her, but she quickly dodges it, causing Gavin to land on the floor a bit too hard, hurting his elbow a bit. Junko then jumps high.
"Time for your downfall!" yelled Junko as she tries to attempt to double stomp him above in the air, but then Eiko takes the opportunity to come out of hiding, jumping up in the air and spearing her.
"Actually, more like you fall down!" said Eiko.
They both then crashland to the ground, making a crater. Gavin stands up quickly and notices both Junko and Eiko on the ground. He forms up an idea.
"Either I mind their business and let them fight each other, or knock them out even further?"
He then shakes his head as he turns his body around, seeming that he's about to leave…only for him to turn around and jump.
"Screw it, I'm gonna bring the pain to these two! Haaaah!"
He then lands in the crater, but it turns out both Junko's and Eiko's bodies have disappeared.
"Where'd they go?!" he said.
Kanna and Arnoul both then deal with Samantha and Xavier.
"Let me put you on a leach, you stray hound!" said Samantha as she uses her trusty chain, spinning it around to try to hit Kanna, currently in wolf form.
"I ain't no stray hound, I'm a good girl!"
Kanna avoids the chain attacks easily as she then jumps straight at her, doing a spinning attack to hit her in the gut, as it succeeds, causing Samantha to cough a bit of blood.
"W-what the hell…no! I can't lose!" Samantha yelled, then coughing again.
Kanna then transforms back to human form, quickly says, "Here's a new trick for ya!".
She puts both her feet on her head in a headscissors position, as she then applies the maneuver, causing Samantha to spin around in the air, landing hard in the ground.
"I sure am in a spinny move, aren't I?" Kanna said with a giggle.
Meanwhile, Arnoul is dealing with Xavier, shooting him with as many guns as possible on his body, head, legs, with guns such as handguns, machine guns, shotguns as he just stands there yawning, unfazed.
"Let me guess, your muscles doesn't cause a single faze against my bullets now?"
"Eiko gave me the body I wanted. That's the advantages of being with CIMO8. I got a duplicated brain and a much tougher body to crack!"
Arnoul is then able to snap up an idea. "So you say you have no weaknesses, right?"
"That's what I said, yep!"
Arnoul then pulls up some sort of bronze-colored gun with a rounded muzzle.
"Oh, come on, if the first 10 times wouldn't work, what makes you think that'll work this time?"
"Oh, I know so. Now, tell me one more time, you have any weaknesses?"
"I said no!"
She then fires the gun, which also does nothing to him, but instead causes him to confess something.
"Unless, that is, you step on both my feet, causing my armor to stop working an then punch me until I cry like a baby."
A small pause occurs.
"Thaaaanks~!" says Arnoul joyfully as she then jumps up while Xavier shakes his head, waking up from the effects of the gun, "Wha?" he quickly said before Arnoul steps on both his feet as he screams, then landing a couple of punches on his body and face, finally a roundhouse kick, knocking him next to Samantha.
"Got your ass kicked, too, my Jersey girl?" said Xavier.
"Yeah. It sucks." responded Samantha back.
They then get up, although with a bit of a struggle.
"That was a minor setback. We work better when we're heavily together, anyways!" said Samantha. Xavier replies back with a "Yeah!"
Kanna then sighs, "I know I'm not the kind of girl to say this, but…maybe you two should leave Eiko's group."
"Huh?" replied both Samantha and Xavier.
"You two actually have good potential, and I know you two were spies and all, but you two are a couple, and, maybe in the near future, you two could have a kid and…just from my awkward recommendation…I think maybe you two should stop this, at least."
After a small pause, both Samantha and Xavier laugh off evilly.
"Look who you're talking to, honey. Our lifestyle is not exactly baby-friendly." said Samantha.
"In fact, you could say we just can't have one. We admit it, we're jerks, and we might as well stay that way." said Xavier.
"We're criminals, but at least with common sense."
"So, might as well stick with what we got."
"Huh, isn't that a weird thing to admit."
The last voice comes from Icy Hail, who joins the two.
"But hey, good to admit you're bad through and through.", she continued. "Now, how about we freeze these fools in their tracks?"
"You know it!" said Samantha.
"We're gonna cap them off." said Xavier.
They prepare their fighting stances.
"I think we can beat the three of them…we hope." said Arnoul.
"Stay focused, like everyone else here." said Kanna
Icy chuckles evilly, "I said freeze these fools…but not you two."
She then quickly freezes both Samantha and Xavier's bodies, leaving only their heads unfrozen. Both Kanna and Arnoul act surprised and shocked by this.
"What the—" said Samantha.
"The hell's this about?!" said Xavier.
"Heh heh…well, I'm out of your damn group, that's what this is! Send Eiko my condolences, cause I kinda wanna branch out solo, so…best way to send said message by killing you both."
"Ha, we've cheated death a couple of times, you know, there's no way-" said Samantha before she got interrupted.
"Stay silent, FOREVER!"
Icy then makes an ice shard out of her hand and impales Samantha off-screen as some of the blood splatters on Xavier's face as he looks horrified by seeing his girlfriend's grisly death. "Y-you BITCH! NOOOO!"
"Oh, don't cry, you're gonna join her soon."
"You'll die, damn it! At least we haven't killed anybody!" yelled Xavier.
Icy sighs as she covered his head in ice.
"And I wanted his death to be painful, too. Oh well…"
She then fires off an icy rocket at the frozen body of Xavier, exploding him in icy pieces.
"Whether Eiko will know about this or not, let this be clear: I'm now a free agent and follow my own rules! See ya."
She then flies away from the Academy as she laugh evilly doing so. Kanna and Arnoul remain shocked.
"Should we…feel sorry for them?" said Kanna.
"The better question is…did they really deserve that? They may have been bad people, but…was death really the answer?" said Arnoul.
Hiding nearby, the Blood Sisters look shocked as well, as the quickly sneak away.
Meanwhile, Fujiko's beasts continue hurting and causing panic on the students as she ponders on while on top of the roof of the Academy.
"They've never done anything bad to me, so it does make me wonder…does this make me some sort of terrorist? Am I just that overwhelmed at how I failed at being evil just because I fell "in love" with Akuto? I think I'll stay loveless from now on. It'll only just cause dumb mistakes on the long road once more. But still…should I stop and indeed hide away from the Academy or really push my seriousness. Considering I own a win over Keena and her pals once, I think I've done enough. Hm, decisions, decisions…"
Back up in the air, Keena and Akuto continue their battle with Akuto continuing to send off many punches, while Keena mostly dodges them, going as far as then kicking his arms to lower his defenses, giving her a free shot to successfully punch his face. Akuto, now slightly frustrated, summons another fireball, slightly bigger than the other times he summoned a fireball. Keena, however, this time doesn't dodge. Instead she swings her arm like a windmill and attempts to punch it as she also yells, but Akuto cleverly then tricks her as he closes his fist, causing the fireball to explode right in front of Keena.
"H-he outsmarted me…this…can't be…"
She then falls down and crash lands her body to the ground. Akuto then lands on the ground on his two feet, shaking his head.
"I'll give you credit; it took almost half of my strength in knocking you to the ground like that. So I guess you can be out of my way now and give up hope." said Akuto, feeling evilly confident.
After a few seconds of Keena remaining motionless, she slowly stands up. Akuto then growls in frustration.
"What?!" he yelled.
"That may have hurt me…but it'll never crush MY BRAVERY!" yelled Keena as she attempts to quickly launch a haymaker to his face, however, Akuto then tries to defend his head, only for Keena outsmart him this time by quickly initiating a backflip kick, as both feet were able to hit him hard on the chin, causing him to even pop a tooth, falling to the ground, but then quickly backflipping back up to stand.
Keena pants for a bit, but then returns to fighting stance quickly. "I can keep going, even if this takes a year!"
"So, you really finally putted your good natured stamina to good use. I would say I'm pressed, but I don't want to compliment you."
"Best not to. I feel like I trained just fine. All the help that my friends gave me, as well as how I helped them motivated felt more than just a accomplishment."
"We'll keep seeing about that!"
He then rushes up to try to punch Keena, but Keena returns the punch as well as their punches cause a big gust of wind throughout the battlefield. They then proceed to exchange punches and kicks again, blocking, as well as dodging, every which way they go.
Meanwhile, Eiko, hiding in a forest-heavy section outside of the Academy, feels the gust of the duel even from slightly far away.
"Keena and Akuto dueling, Fujiko having beasts come out from her forbidden magic, me, my allies and my robot ninjas…it's like no matter which side you're on, there's no clear sign of ending anytime soon."
The Blood Sisters are able to appear near her.
"'ey, Eiko, uh…we got some bad bizness here, boss. We better skedaddle outta here." said Minnie.
"The hell…? We can't, I'm oh, so close to possibly kill Junko once and for all!" said Eiko.
"Save it. Half of our teammates, well…" said Annie, as she's seen carrying the unconscious body of Yumi.
"So? One's down, we still have three more trusty people to serve up carnage over there."
"About that…"
Eiko then quickly notices something more major is going down due to Annie and Minnie's dour-looking expressions.
"Tell me what the hell happened. NOW!"
"Icy Hail betrayed us…and even killed Samantha and Xavier without flinching." said Annie.
"She even said she didn't want to associate with the "losing team". She's flying solo now." said Minnie.
Eiko didn't know how to react to this at first, but after a while, she grits her teeth a bit and grunts in frustration, and punches a tree, knocking it down. "We're gonna retreat." She says calmly, oddly.
"Yes, madam!" confirmed both sisters as Annie then finds a controller on her pocket to let the robo-ninjas know that they're retreating, as back again in the Academy, the remaining bots then leave by jumping out to the direction where Eiko has gone.
"Looks like Eiko decided to withdraw, Lily." said Michie.
While that's also happening, Fujiko's beasts also withdraw by melting down to the ground.
"What the…so are Fujiko's monsters." said Lily.
"Something tells me they didn't just give up…I think that was a slight message."
"Probably so…but now all that's left is…!"
Keena charges straight at Akuto in flying speed, flashing by so fast that Akuto couldn't even catcher, resulting in both colliding with a wall, causing a small explosion as trails of smoke then is seen from the remains of wreckage. Keena is seen standing up, however, there's no trace of Akuto. Her face has a few bruises, as well as blood coming out from her forehead, nose and mouth.
"Where'd you go?!" she yelled.
Akuto quickly then appears behind her, although at a slightly far distance, while also a bit winded, bleeding from the nose and mouth respectfully as well.
"Well, I see your friends were all able to survive all that." said Akuto.
"Keena!" yelled out Gavin, also approaching Keena, as now the whole group is together again. "Jesus, you're bleeding a lot…need any help?" he said.
"It's okay, guys, I still got a lot of fighting in me! Come on, Demon King, let's keep brawling!" said Keena.
Junko jumps from the roof down to the ground to accompany Akuto. "That's enough for now." said Akuto.
"You playing chicken with us?" said Gavin.
"You doubting me again? We went through this literally minutes ago, I don't wanna hear that crap from you again!" said Keena.
"No, just admitting that you semi-won this round, Keena. Did I mention that I was only here for a visit? I didn't want to fight you just yet, but hey, looked like time was of the essence, and I had no choice. Not to mention I think I might know what to do in case we meet again."
"Well, two can play at that game! I've seen your abilities, too, and I just also happen to know that you got some hidden moves in there. I could predict them if I want to!"
"Shut your damn mouth! Akuto will reign victorious!" yelled Junko.
"No, Keena will save the world, just wait and see!" yelled Gavin back.
"That's good enough for now, Junko. We'll surely meet again, but before we go, I like to send the lovebirds over there an unfortunate reminder that you two ever be together." Said Akuto with an evil chuckle.
"You're talking crap!" said Gavin.
"Yeah, what's that mean?!" said Keena.
"Well, as Demon King, I can even go as far as travel to alternate dimensions, and there's actually a dimension you actually end up with me." said Akuto.
"Oh, is that supposed to drop my morale down or something? I don't believe that for any fraction of logic at all!"
Akuto then summons a big bright flash light, engulfing the area it's then next seen with Keena opening her eyes in her point of view as a bed is in front of her.
"What the…" she whispered as she sees a horrifying sight in the bed, which has an alternate universe version of her sleeping alongside Akuto. Then, just as quickly as she reacts to it, the light stops and she's back to present time.
"That might have an awful sight to see, but that's not gonna faze me at all!" said Keena, remaining confident.
"Look behind you then." said Akuto as he points to Gavin.
Keena turns around to see Gavin traumatized by also seeing the vision that Akuto summoned.
"Gavin, Gavin, it's not real! It's not happening! He's only trying to trick you with awful illusions! Don't believe it!"
With deep sadness, Gavin then runs away, with tears in his eyes.
"GAVIN!"
"Oh, such a downer. Well, that might as well scar him for a while. Let's see how it messes up the whole team's equilibrium. Don't forget that either, Lily." said Akuto, putting emphasis on Lily's name, trying to mess her up from the time she kissed him.
Lily growls in frustration, "You really aren't a hero anymore you hear that, you goddamn jerk?!"
Keena, remaining looking angry and serious, then says, "You've no doubt changed for the worse, Akuto. You were even supposed to be a hero, but now I see you've used your powers for manipulation and causing hurt and sadness to others. I admit, I was a bit concerned in killing you off for the sake of the world being at peace, but now you've gone too far. Traumatizing my love, forbidding love between two girls, and indeed not using your powers for good, either. It's like you actually want to bait me to kill you. No wonder you got the title of Demon King. You were probably even lying and pretending to be friends, weren't you?"
"Hm, quite a mouth. Not like it'll faze me at all or anything. Sure, I just hurt your friends, but believe it or not, I haven't even killed anybody, but I don't mind the world ending, since that just means me and Junko will be fine. Let kids starve, let diseases take innocent people, have despicable people still living instead of good-natures ones! And maybe they'll even die slowly, too! Yes, I crave for a slow, dying pain." Said Akuto as he laughs evilly.
"However, I must leave for now. Bye for now."
"Enjoy misery, everyone." said Junko.
They then quickly disappear out of the Academy.
Keena then turns around, "You guys take care of anyone hurt around here. I'll look for Gavin." she says.
"Right! Let's go, Lily!" said Michie.
Lily sighs to try to calm herself down, "Right!" she said, as she follows the rest of the group to help the students. Keena then flies in the direction Gavin went.
After only a couple of minutes, she then finds him up a cliff near the shore, sitting while hugging his knees. She then flies down and lands on the ground safely. By this point, most of her blood on the face is gone, with slight bruises still on her face.
"Gavin, I'm here."
After a few seconds, Gavin then responds, with a stuffed nose, "I…I know…"
"That is not real and I think even you know it."
"I know…"
"Just don't believe it like it was a bad dream."
"It's just…hard…it can't be affecting me this badly. Why?!"
Keena then sits along with him. "You have to really forget. There's no way in hell I'll go with him"
"He said alternate universe, though…that means, there could be another you that ends up with him, or maybe even more you's…"
"It doesn't matter whether what kind of universe I'm with. What matters now is that you love me in this particular one, and we wouldn't have it any other way. However, if you believe it, that just means it won't go away. You can forget it, but not forgive him at all."
Gavin responds with a sniff, "Ever…ever since you came into my life, I've felt like I've been blessed to even have a friend like you, as well as your other friends…and…no doubt I feel bad for Michie and Lily's situation right now as well, but it's been quite a good rush, actually…"
"Men can cry, Gavin. If you want to cry more, you can let more stress out. Now, let me see your eyes."
Gavin then stops hugging his knees to reveal his face as dried tears can be seen on him, as well as slight bloodshot eyes.
"Do I…do I still look cute?" said Gavin.
"Mm-hmm." said Keena with a smile.
Gavin makes a tiny smile back, "But, yeah, like I was saying…you guys are awesome, especially you. You see…back when I was a kid, I actually did have friends and hung around with them, but then I couldn't locate them anymore and I figured that maybe being in the Academy could have me have friends again. I actually tried my hardest, but I realized that I have to be patient for them…"
"And it paid off. To be fair, it's almost like me. Being raised in Baltimore for most of my life, but I've been here since only the last year. In the way, the Academy is pretty much our second home now."
"Yeah…but still…do you think…we got together really quickly? I just hope that isn't some sort of bad omen…"
"I don't think so. We dated a lot since then, so we've proved our relationship quite well."
"Mm, wow, how is it that you can be so bubbly, yet so calm, cool and collected at the same time?"
"Guess cause…maybe it's also part of the hero's job, too. Yeah, that actually makes total sense now that I say it, huh?"
Gavin blushes, nodding his head, then cuddling Keena's neck, causing her to blush as well. "Keena-kins, please don't leave me~. I wanna try…I wanna try staying together forever~."
"We'll never leave each other, Gavin-gins~. We'll stick together like, um…super-glue, yeah that's it~." she said, giggling nervously. "You see, I was never that good with pickup lines~…"
"It was cute, that's all that matters~."
"You too~."
They both laughed softly.
"Keena-kins, could you~…kiss me~?"
"I'll happily do that~."
They then share a deep kiss, hugging each other tightly.
END OF EPIOSODE