Chapter 17 – Mission Accomplished?

Pre-Chapter Author's Note: It's time for the last few chapters, buds!
Hakumen: THE END HAS COME!
….Thank you, Hakumen….

Jacky and Terumi were fighting fiercely. Upon switching to Terumi mode (lol), the two were evenly matched and rarely any blows would connect to its intended target. Jin was having better luck fighting against Tsubaki. "Sorry Tsubaki, but I need to end this soon."

Ice Fang

Jin unleashed a giant wave of ice at Tsubaki. She raised her book to block the strike, but the blow was too fast and slammed into her dead on. The attack cut into her right shoulder and knocked her off her feet. "I held back, so it won't kill you," Jin said. He walked away from her and unleashed Ice Fang on Terumi while he was battling Jacky.
Terumi blocked with Ouroboros, but Jacky dropkicked him two feet into the floor. "Well, I don't normally approve of sneak attacks, but today's different," Jacky commented before dropkicking Terumi again, digging him an additional two feet into the ground. "Let's go," he said. Jin followed Jacky and they headed to the prison cells.
After running through the prison section of the building, they managed to find Violet and Scarlet sleeping in the last cell on the left of the hallway. "Jin, if you would?" Jacky said, stepping back. "With pleasure!" He replied. He stepped forward and cut through the security Ars Magus seal protecting the prison cell, then he froze the lock, broke it and opened the cell.
Jacky ran in and shook Violet and Scarlet awake. "Bwah…?" Violet and Scarlet rubbed their eyes and looked up at Jin and Jacky. "We came here to get you. We're getting out of here!"
"I don't fucking think so!"
Terumi was right behind them, perfectly fine, as if nothing happened. "That was a fun scuffle, kiddies, but you should've finished me off when you had the chance!"

Gravity Seed

Terumi fell to his knees. "God damn it, not again!" He growled. "That's for locking me up, jackass," Violet yelled. Scarlet got up on her feet with Jacky's help. "Thanks for the help," she muttered, "I'm sorry for…you know…trying to kill you and everything." Jacky dusted himself off and replied, "Don't apologize to me, Scarlet. I don't care that you tried to kill me. You need to apologize to Violet." He offered her a smile and turned to Terumi. "You really want me to finish you off, Terumi? Well, you're about to get what you wished for."
He raised his sword, ready to end the object of his hatred until he suddenly vanished. "Next time, lizard boy, don't delay! See ya next time!" Jacky calmed himself and sat down. "That was exhausting," he moaned. Violet sat down next to him and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Thank you for coming for us," she said. Jin turned to leave. "Going away so soon, Jin?"
"I'm going back for Tsubaki," he said. As Jin left, Scarlet sat down on next to Jacky, opposite of where Violet sat. "Sister, I'm sorry I tried to kill you. I was just so scared of what would happen to mom, I didn't know what else to do." Violet smiled. "It's alright, Scarlet, I understand."
"Thanks for that, Violet. So Jacky, even though you're a wanted criminal, you're not a bad guy?" He laughed. "I don't consider myself a bad guy."
"Alright, I'll approve of you dating my sister, then," she said. Both Violet and Jacky turned to look at her, giving her odd glances. "What? The sister gets a say in this too, right?" They bust out laughing, making Scarlet blush from embarrassment. Suddenly the building started to rumble. "What's going on?"
"I don't know, but I don't plan to stick around and find…" Jacky was interrupted by a transmission from Kokonoe.

You guys need to get out of there right now! That building is about to be blown to bits!

Jacky acted as quickly as possible.

Restraint Levels Ten to Thirteen,
Released!
Eternal Fire,
Deployed!
Dragon Revival Summoning,
Activated!

A large circle of fire ignited in the room and huge scaly claws burst from the fire. Soon, a dragon came climbing out of the circle. It roared furiously. "Where is Terumi!" Everyone was surprised to see it speak English. "He ran off again. We'll deal with him when the time comes, but for now, we need a ride out; preferably through the roof." The dragon seemed to grin with sharp fangs. "Climb on then!"
Jacky hopped onto the dragon's back and everyone else reluctantly followed suit. As soon as everyone was seated onto the dragon's back, Jacky launched a violet fire at the ceiling, exploding on impact and breaking a hole into it. The dragon took off through the hole and with every ceiling that came after, Jacky would blow a hole into it to give the dragon a place to fly through. Soon after the dragon burst through the roof of the building, the branch office exploded into a huge ball of fire. "We certainly dodged a bullet," Ragna stated. Everyone relaxed for a moment before the dragon flew in for a landing.
Everyone climbed off of the dragon's back and Jacky pet the dragon. "Thanks for the help, Wicker," he said. "You're welcome. I'll see you later," it replied as it faded away.
"What did you do, Jacky? How did you do that?" Ragna demanded. "One second, Ragna," he said.

Restraint Levels One to Thirteen,
Reengage!

The power he had before was suddenly gone. He shifted back to his normal appearance and fell to the ground with a moan of exhaustion. "That was exhausting. So you wanted to know what that was, right? I summoned a dragon. The Drakos has thirteen restraints and the final restraint allows you to reconstruct a dragon's body with seithr and then integrate one of the many souls within the sword into the reconstructed body. It takes a lot of seithr to do it and it's very exhausting. Anyways, Kokonoe, is there any chance you could get us out of here?"

I'm sending Tager to your location as we speak.

"That's good to hear," he sighed. Jacky slipped a hand into his jacket and pulled out one of Kokonoe's suckers and unwrapped it and stuffed it in his mouth. "Anyone else want a sucker? Kokonoe made it to release tension and I've got just enough for all of us." Noel, Violet, and Scarlet accepted his offer and crouched down next to him as he handed them suckers. Ragna and Jin were more reluctant, though. "Alright, whatever," Ragna said, "I could use a little relaxation." Jacky handed him one as well before pulling out his last sucker and tossing it to Jin. He caught the candy effortlessly and gave a grunt before unwrapping it and inserting it into his mouth.
Three hours passed before Tager finally arrived. Jin had been long gone, but everyone else stayed behind. "Are you all ready?" he asked. "Go for it, big man," Jacky said, lying on the ground. Tager activated the transfer device and sent them all towards Kokonoe's lab. "I think I'm finally getting used to teleporting," Jacky muttered. "You guys are more beat up than I thought. Well, some of you at least. I wasn't able to observe the operation. I'm not sure why though. I was only able to look at the condition of you five and the building you were in. Anyways, you all need your wounds treated, so-." Kokonoe was interrupted by an explosion nearby. "What the hell is going on?" Terumi slammed open the door to the lab, his Ouroboros were already activated. "Man, I can't believe I finally found you!" Terumi called out to Kokonoe, "If there's one thing you're good at, Kokonoe, it's hiding. And as for you, kiddo, I think it's time I got my creation back. Hand over the Drakos!"
Violet attempted to prepared her magic power and called out,

Gravity See-!

However, Jacky blocked her way and a red liquid hit her face and upper torso. Blood. Jacky stood in front of her, the Ouroboros impaling him through the center of his chest. He was shielding Violet. Terumi ripped it out of him as soon as he realized what he had hit. "What? Are you going to die that easily?" Terumi laughed, kicking Jacky away. His fingers loosened around the Drakos and eventually dropped the weapon. "I'll be taking the Drakos now, thank you very much!" Just as he leaned forward to grab the weapon, he fell down onto his belly a great force crushing him.
"You son of a bitch! I'm going to kill you!"

Gravity Seed!

Gravity Seed!

GRAVITY SEED!

"Violet, calm down, you're magic is going berserk!" Kokonoe yelled. She didn't listen though. She just kept hit him with magic over and over again. Suddenly an unknown force broke her spell and Terumi got back on his feet. "I can't believe you tried to kill me, you stupid bitch!" Phantom appeared and froze Violet in place. "Just hold her there, Phantom. I'm going to enjoy this!"

Restriction 666 Released!
Dimensional Interference Field Deployed!
Now engaging the Idea Engine!
Blazblue,

Activate!

Ragna charged forward slammed his fist into Terumi's chest and sent him soaring across the room. "Joining the fight, are we, Rags old boy?" Terumi recovered his composure. "You killed my friend, you damn bastard! I'm going to kill you if it's the last thing I do!" Ragna screamed. Noel ran to Ragna's side and aimed Bolverk at Terumi. "I'll help!" Scarlet rushed to join them. "So will I!"

I, too, shall join this fight!

Rachel appeared next to them with Valkenhayn in tow. The butler turned his gaze to Phantom. "Her magic is powerful, Madam Rachel. I shall fight with the mage with your approval," he said. "That will be greatly appreciated, Valkenhayn. You are permitted to fight Phantom," Rachel replied with a smile, "And what of you, Kokonoe, will you fight as well?"
"Hold on, I've got an idea, so just keep them occupied," Kokonoe replied.
"Go the fuck ahead and be my guest, you little shits! I'll take you all on!" Terumi screamed excitedly, "This is going to be the best fun I've had in years!"
Violet generated a fireball in her hands and tossed it at Terumi, but he negated it with ease. Ragna took this opportunity to rush at him and swing Blood Scythe at him, but he whipped out his butterfly knives and blocked his strike with impressive strength. Scarlet came in from behind and attempted to cut him down with her scythe, but he blocked her attack as well. "Come on, you fucks can do better than this, can't you?"

Optic Barrel

A shot from Bolverk knocked Terumi back, but he managed to recover quickly and counter an attack from Ragna. Violet ran to Kokonoe crying. "You've gotta help Jacky, Professor!"
"I'm working on that, Violet, now calm the hell down!" Kokonoe was typing codes into the computer. "Violet, I need you to get Jacky and the Drakos into Room 405, can you do that? This is our only chance to save him and ourselves!" Violet nodded and ran to Jacky's side and lifted him up and bringing the sword along too. "Damn, Jacky, you're heavy," she groaned.

Weight Release

Jacky soon became as light as a feather. Violet ran out of the room and searched for the room Kokonoe sent her to. Once she entered, she found a young woman with long brown hair tied up into a pony tail. She offered her a smile, but her happy expression disappeared when she saw Jacky slumped over her shoulder. "Oh no, what happened to Jacky?" She cried.
Violet set Jacky down onto the ground and the woman rushed to his side and pressed her hands against his wound. Before Violet could say anything, her hands began to glow and his wound slowly closed up. "Was that magic?" The woman nodded her head happily. "How do you know magic, but more importantly, how do you know Jacky?"
"It's a long story," she replied. Violet groaned and slapped Jacky in the face and he jolted awake. "What the…? Violet, what'd you slap me for?"
"We need you right now, Terumi's still here!" Jacky got up and grabbed Drakos the moment he laid eyes on it. "Wait, Jacky, you'll reopen your wound!" The woman yelled. Jacky didn't bother to look at her. He simply replied, "I'll make sure we all come home." With that said, Jacky left the room.
Ragna and Noel were knocked back but Scarlet, Rachel and Valkenhayn were still duking it out with Terumi and Phantom. "My god, I knew this would be fun," Terumi cackled.
He turned to find Phantom still fending off Valkenhayn's attacks. "Huh, that old shit's still going at it, huh?" Terumi twisted the Ouroboros at Rachel and Scarlet and flung them back across the room. "What's the matter? You're starting to slip!" He stated in a singsong tone.

Solar Impact

"What the…?" The snake took a blast of fire to the center of his chest from a fist of fire. "What the hell? You should be dead by now," he growled. "Let's just say that Kokonoe's got resources," he replied. If there was one thing Terumi couldn't stand, it was failing to kill. "Alright, this time I'll rip you into pieces until there's nothing left!"

Restraint Levels One through Thirteen,
Released!
Channeling Power!
Dragon Revival Summoning,
Activated!

"Sorry Kokonoe, but I'm going to have to wreck your lab. If you've got anything in this place that you don't want to lose, I suggest you retrieve it before we destroy this place." Kokonoe gave him an angry glare and went to retrieve everything she needed. Jacky summoned the dragon. "Everyone get back!" The dragon opened its jaws and fire came barreling through its pipes at full blast. Terumi dodged the stream of flames and dashed toward Jacky. "How dare you get back up after I put a hole in you!" he growled. Before he could reach Jacky, however, Ragna kicked him from the side, to which Scarlet followed up with a scissor kick to the face.
"You pieces of shit!"

That is enough, Terumi. I demand you return this instant.

Terumi growled, but dismissed Ouroboros. "You kiddies got off lucky today, but the next time we play, I'm gonna win!" Phantom and Terumi vanished from sight. "Well, we'd better be off now," Kokonoe groaned, holding a bunch of tech and data tablets, as well as a duffel bag hanging from her right shoulder. "You have a place in mind that you can retreat to, Kokonoe?" Jacky asked, "Because at this point, leaving this lab is unavoidable. Terumi and Izanami know where you are now." The professor nodded her head as Tager came into the room.
Jacky looked up at him with interest. "When did you get here?" he pondered. "Just now, as a matter of fact." The facility began to rumble and shake. "Damn it, the place is coming apart."
Violet and Jacky groaned. "That's great, just when I thought I could catch a break," Jacky groaned. "But yet another building is coming apart with us in it," Violet added. "Jacky I need you to reengage your restraints right now!" Kokonoe said. Jacky followed her command before she commanded Tager to transport them. As soon as they teleported out of the crumbling lab, they reappeared in the Kagutsuchi NOL Branch building. "Looks like the Imperator still hasn't assigned any soldiers to this place just yet. My hunch was correct," Kokonoe mumbled.
Jacky fell unconscious and Violet rushed to his side. "What happened to him?" The professor laughed loudly. "He's just tired, Violet. He's had to use the Thirteen Restraints twice in one day, has had a huge hole ripped into his chest and was forced to withstand Tager's teleportation device, which he's never really been fond of. Just give him some time to rest and he'll be back at a hundred percent," she replied. Violet breathed a sigh of relief and sat down.
"Today's been a rough one, huh?" Noel moaned. "Yeah, I don't think any day I've had has been so intense," Ragna agreed. "All of you just get some rest. Better yet, go to the infirmary wing in this building and sleep it off," Kokonoe said. After the day's events, no one, not even Ragna, felt like arguing with her.
The next morning, Jacky woke up and stretched his arms. "You seem to be feeling well," Izanami commented. "Well, I didn't die just yet, so I'd have to agree with that," Jacky replied, not even glancing at her. "I don't suppose you intend to change your mind about my offer?"
"My answer remains unchanged, Hades. I'm not joining your side. Your hope is to bring a great massacre upon the world and I don't want any part of that. So all I will do for you is politely decline and thank you for visiting this doomed Beastkin." Hades chuckled a bit, but her laugh was devoid of emotion. She faded away from sight. "Very well, then I suppose we shall have to meet again soon."
Jacky slumped back down into the infirmary bed. "Maybe we will, Saya."

Post-Chapter Author's Note:

The next chapter is going to be a Christmas special that I've been working on as a side project as I was finishing this chapter. As soon as the Christmas special is uploaded, I will begin writing the Epilogue to this story. Reviews are always appreciated.

Reploid7,

Signing Off!