Battle of Magic
Tsurugi tapped his foot on the floor as he hummed a song.
"Are you nervous?" Nishiki asked him and then stretched his legs in the cramped space of the van.
"Aw! Stop it, Ryouma!" Kurama growled at him after getting hit by Nishiki's outstretched legs.
Amemiya, the driver of their van, only chuckled at the conversation. He asked, "Are you sure those guys would let us in?"
"Maybe," was Tsurugi's short reply.
"Maybe?!" the other three boys in the car exclaimed.
Tsurugi shrugged and replied, "Well, it all depends on Yuzuki's concentration on making us look like we're on their side."
"I can't do this if you don't shut up." Yuu shouted at the back of the van.
"Act normal!" Tsurugi said with a sharp voice.
Everyone turned silent and zipped their mouths. Some of the boys were on top of the van along with Natsumi who was keeping the peace and making sure they were acting accordingly.
"Okay, this is it, Yuu." Sana whispered to her, "Do it."
Yuu closed her eyes and concentrated. The van's image became blurred, and the image cleared with no changes to the van. However, on the inside, everyone was now turned into bags of plants and flower pots. Only Amemiya and Tsurugi, who were at the driver and passenger seats respectively, were turned into old middle-aged men.
"Amazing." Kei whispered as she looked around, only seeing plants and flowers.
"Sh." Yuu snapped and concentrated in keeping the image up.
They were at a provincial place far away from their town. It looked like a simple town, but no one would ever come here because of the rocky roads and since it is high up in the mountains. Natsumi saved their time by opening a portal just near the town. Everyone seemed genuinely normal, so you would never be suspicious of this place.
Soon enough, they were stopping in front of a tall and large gate. A guard came up to Amemiya while the other one was checking the back of the van, but only seeing what looked like the entire forest.
"What's all this for?" the guard asked.
"We're giving all these to the Jinomji Family. It's a gift for them, I think. I'm just a delivery guy," Amemiya shrugged.
"Who asked you?" the guard interrogated.
"Amaterasu." Tsurugi replied for Amemiya, "I believe that's her name."
"Okay. Get in."
And the gates opened. Amemiya drove inside and grinned at Tsurugi, "Thanks."
Tsurugi merely grunted back in reply. He turned to the others and explained, "Okay. Everyone remember the battle plan? My group will search the whole building until we find the girls. I'll call you guys if we found them. Amemiya's group will distract the guards so they won't find us. Saru's group will go inside first and plant the bombs just in case we need to blow the building up. They will also provide support to Amemiya's group. So, is everyone ready?"
"Yeah!" everyone said in chorus.
"Gah!" Yuu exclaimed silently as her illusion faded.
"What happened?" Tsurugi hissed.
Yuu frowned and replied, "I think... someone just messed with my magic."
A booming voice laughed, "Of course someone did! Let me tell you something, visitors, Amaterasu never tells anyone her name. So, why do you know her name? It's weird, right? Naturally, we had to find out who the hell you guys were."
Tsurugi cussed, "Fuck. This isn't part of the plan."
Amemiya gritted his teeth because he felt something bad was going to happen.
And happen it did. The van was thrown off the ground and rolled until it stopped thanks to the fences. Everyone looked queasy and the guys who were up the van were scattered everywhere.
Kurama was the first one to get a hold of himself. He shouted, "Get straight to the plan! Tsurugi, get your group and get to the inside of the building. I'll try to distract him while Yuzuki disguises you."
Tsurugi nodded and grabbed the people who were supposed to come with him: Yuzuki, Shuu, Hakuryuu, Shindou, Natsumi and Nishiki. They sneaked behind a large tree as they waited for the guy to appear and get distracted.
"Show yourself, you asshole!" Kurama bellowed.
A boy with messy black hair and an angular face came flying down at the center of the field, the building just behind his back. He smirked, "Well, hello, everyone. My name's Hideki, just so you can know who will be the one to end your life."
"You cocky bastard." Kurama gritted.
Saru, along with Kei, Yukimura, Ibuki, and Kishibe, hid themselves in another giant tree.
Kurama, Sana, Kirino, Kariya, Amemiya and Kurumada all stood straight in front of Hideki. They were ready to take down this dude, whoever the fuck he is. Kurama said simply, "Well, time to test out Kariya's little spell. Okay... handgun!"
Immediately, a gun appeared right in front of Kurama. He grinned maniacally and called out every gun he knew.
Amemiya struck a punch on Hideki's face, but the latter dodged him. They soon were battling hand-to-hand combat with Amemiya clearly losing the battle. Hideki moved so flawlessly and perfectly, how can he do that?
"Amemiya! Duck!" Kurama shouted.
Amemiya did what he was told and the guns Kurama summoned started pulling their own triggers to hit Hideki. Hideki tried to dodge every bullet, but some managed to graze his skin.
Sana brought out her samurai sword and used the ground to build a large fist, and crushed Hideki with that. Hideki, however, also managed to dodge that and appeared right next to the giant fist. However, Sana was expecting that and headed straight to Hideki, expecting to slash him right across his chest.
Hideki coughed out, "Well, six against one? That's unfair."
They simply gave no reply. So, Hideki decided to use his powers and called out, "Okay, my little fucking minions! Get them!"
The ground cracked beneath them, and out came hundreds of zombies and skeletons. This meant that Yuu can use those as a distraction and disguised the members of her group into mindless zombies. Saru also used this as a distraction and used his super speed to bring all of them across the field and into the building.
Unbeknownst to them, Noriko and Amaterasu are watching this from a room filled with televisions.
"Well, Hideki is an idiot for not seeing those things. Come on, Amaterasu, let's kill all those weaklings and move on with our lives," Noriko snobbishly said and gestured for Amaterasu to come with her.
Amaterasu bit her lip as she hesitated only in the slightest. After a knowing look from Noriko, she followed her order and they walked outside the room to hunt the others.
"This is going to be fun, eh? I'll handle the one who uses illusions. You go handle the other group, okay? And also, Amaterasu, everyone can see you in these halls. Don't mess it up." Noriko warned and walked away.
Amaterasu stared at the door of the room they just walked out of. After much deliberation, Amaterasu turned herself and walked to find Saru.
Tsurugi and his group managed to go inside the building. They started trying to look through doors and closets, turning here and there.
"They seem to have no guards, huh?" Shuu mused.
"I think I have an idea." Natsumi spoke up, "Maybe it's because they know no one will ever find this place. Now, aren't you glad that I helped you? Besides, the guards will probably be in front of the most important room in the place. If there are guards there, we can be sure that that's where they're keeping the girls."
"Well, if you found that out earlier, then maybe everyone won't be separated," Hakuryuu commented.
"It's just an idea, okay? Besides, I thought they go overboard with their security because this is a top-secret place." Natsumi replied.
Tsurugi held a hand up as they near a corner. He peeked at the next hallway, sure enough, there was no one there. They continued walking down the hallway, until they were stopped by a girl.
Natsumi widened her eyes and realized that it was Noriko.
She had her pink hair tied up in a ponytail and a murderous look on her face.
"Who the hell are you?" Nishiki growled.
"Can we please not provoke her?" Yuu drawled.
"Yuzuki is right. She... she can be dangerous." Natsumi spoke up.
"Well, if it isn't Natsumi. You are disobeying the orders of Jinomji Family if you are here. You can not enter unless you have been personally invited to be here. Do you have a letter from the Head?" Noriko asked.
Hakuryuu replied calmly, "We have none."
"Then you're dead." Noriko snarled and summoned large gusts of wind.
Everyone flew and their bodies were now strapped against the wall.
Shuu forced himself to stop the winds of Noriko. He seemed to be succesful in doing this, but Noriko summoned more wind. Shuu gasped out, "She's really strong, huh?"
Natsumi replied, "Well, she had a lot of practice."
Tsurugi said, knowing full well that he could control wind as well, "Shuu, do that again. I'll help you this time."
Together, they stopped Noriko's winds. Everyone was free to move while Noriko struggled to summon more gusts of wind. Hakuryuu blasted a white light from his hands, which made Noriko stumble and roll on the floor.
She stood up slowly and snarled, "Oh, you did not do that."
Time seemed to stop as everyone floated up. After, large thunderbolts appeared out of nowhere and tried to strike everyone. They all managed to dodge, but Natsumi was hit and she crumpled and laid down the floor.
"Natsumi!" Shuu exclaimed.
Nishiki growled, turned himself to metal and launched himself at Noriko. Noriko struggled with Nishiki's weight as Hakuryuu summoned white energy and blasted it to Noriko.
She widened her eyes and used her thunderbolts to hit the white energy, which in turn turned the blast into nothing.
"Fuck," Hakuryuu whispered.
Shuu mustered all his power to stop Noriko's thunderbolts and lightning. After all, he was a master of the weather, right? He glanced at Tsurugi and mentally told him to help him stop the winds. Tsurugi nodded and supported Shuu.
"Get the fuck off me!" Noriko was shouting at Nishiki. She had realized that her powers were being blocked. Unfortunately, she had no other powers to help her get away from this... metal man.
Hakuryuu realized that this was a perfect chance to hit her. So, he jumped over them and hit Noriko's chest with a blast of his white energy. Noriko, unfortunately, had a tough body and still remained capable of speaking even when her chest was bleeding uncontrollably. Nishiki got up from his place and turned back into his original form.
He asked, "Where are they keeping the experiments?"
Noriko bit her lip, knowing that this was checkmate. She replied, "Why would I tell you?"
"Because if you don't, we'll kill you." Tsurugi snarled.
"That could be arranged," Noriko said and set off a grenade that was in her pocket.
BOOM!
Saru was getting weirded out by now.
Why? It was because every time they rounded a corner, there were guards and they were forced to tie them up or kill them. I mean, sure, that was part of the plan, but he can't help getting chills throughout his body whenever there was another guard. He felt like there was a reason why there were always a guard whenever they reach another hallway.
"Why do I feel like we're getting closer to our deaths?" Yukimura whispered.
"This is no time for jokes, Yukimura." Ibuki rolled his eyes.
"Hey, it's just a feeling." Yukimura said with a ghost of a smile on his face.
Kishibe shushed the two as he heard footsteps coming. Kei continued on setting bombs underneath the floor. The other boys were ready on killing whoever the guy is. Once a guard appeared, Yukimura froze him with his ice and Ibuki knocked off the head of the person with his bare hands.
"Well, another image I can't possibly unsee," Saru said as he wrinkled his nose.
They continued on the hallway and find themselves in front of a large door which was guarded by two guards.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing here?" one of the guards said.
Saru told them, "I got this."
He transformed into a large gorilla and smashed the two guards on the wall like flies. Saru then ripped the doors from their frame as if it was nothing, maybe so because he was a fucking gorilla. He used the doors to smash the guards and make sure that they were dead.
"And you're complaining that I have horrible methods in killing," Ibuki said as he stared at the guards that were splattered on the wall in disgust.
Saru shrugged as he turned back into his normal self.
They walked inside the room... only to find the girls that they were looking for in tubes full of water. They were all naked with different tubes stuck on their bodies. Kei looked at them in horror as she whispered, "Oh no..."
Just then, tons of guards walked inside the room and grabbed the five teenagers from their back. A single guard then injected the five teenagers something that made their muscles feel all droopy.
"I... can't move." Kei observed as she tried to get out of the guard's grip.
"Oh, that's because the liquid inside there makes your muscles feel tired. It has a side effect that if you get too much of that, your heart will stop and you will die. But you don't want that right?" a voice explained.
"Who are you?" Kishibe asked as he dug around the person's mind, but finds himself unable to do so.
"Oh, I'm the scientist. Dr. Jinomji, the Head's brother," the person replied and walked out of the shadows. The scientist was old with gray balding hair, wrinkles and pale skin. He seemed to move slow as he walked towards the intruders.
"Scientist? So, you're the one who would be experimenting on the girls, right?" Ibuki growled.
"Yes. Although, for these seven normal girls, why would you risk your life to save them?" Dr. Jinomji asked, curious of their actions.
Kei spat out, "They're our friends! Of course, we'd do anything to save them!"
"That's stupidly brave." Dr. Jinomji commented. He was now right in front of their faces as he asked, "For them? You are like Amaterasu in a way. The other day, she begged me to release them. Of course, I didn't and I told that to the Head. He seemed frustrated with Amaterasu, but he let this little thing go."
"S-she did?" Yukimura was startled at the news. It seemed everyone else was surprised as he was, too.
"Oh, yes. Anyway, you should know that you have no power to stop this. I don't know why you even tried. Guards, take them to the Grinder. They shall be served justice to what they have done." Dr. Jinomji said.
"Wait!" Kei pleaded she asked, "Can you at least tell us why you need them? Please?"
Dr. Jinomji considered her statement. "Well, I suppose. You will all die anyway... okay!
"See, if you should know, there are such little gifted people in the world like you. We wanted to see if we might pass it on to non-magical people permanently. Because, really, you know how many people out there hates us? Just because we are different? There are also those who are willing to have supernatural powers. Of course, we can sell this for a price to make them have power and we can be rich! If we succeed, we can turn the whole world into a magical realm with everyone having powers!"
"But that could cause world chaos!" Kishibe started.
"Oh, who cares? Now, we need girls mainly because, believe it or not, they have more trust and faith. They believe in fairy tales longer than boys do, so we tested them out to girls first. Boys can be a little bit of rowdy, too, so we decided to experiment on non-magical people." Dr. Jinomji replied.
"Why would you do this? The reason that there are so little gifted people is to keep the world in balance. If you transform everyone into magical beings... the balance of the world can be destroyed and everyone may die!" Yukimura said.
"We don't know for sure. Besides, we can make a profit out of this! Well, now I think that's everything I needed to explain to you. Now, all of you will go to the Grinder!" Dr. Jinomji said rather cheerfully.
Amaterasu sighed as she stared blankly at the wall.
She regretted it, regretted that she didn't try harder to stop them from hurting those girls. As much as Amaterasu would like to admit, all of the people inside the house was important to her. It was the closest thing she got as a family. She missed her brother, but she knows that he can not see her like this... like a murderer.
How many lives has she taken? She does not know.
Amaterasu wanted to be calm once more, but she cannot make herself so. Whenever she closed her eyes, those people will come back to her... those faces that were terrified, afraid, broken and disgusted. She cannot bring out the calm Amaterasu, but she could bring out the powerful Amaterasu who can crush her enemies.
Of course, she wouldn't do that. She might hurt someone, someone innocent. Of course, if she did not, those girls and her subordinates will most likely get killed by the Family.
She just wanted rest.
But she cannot close her eyes.
And so, Amaterasu simply sat down on the floor and stared at the wall. Her heart is heavy because she is choosing this rather than saving the people that mattered to her. Flashes of her past made her become afraid of herself. What a mess... she wished someone would help her decide on what to do.
She remembered her subordinates who were willing to protect her. She remembered Natsumi who was always by her side. She remembered the girls who had smiles on their faces whenever they did something right. She remembered... those four boys who destroyed her house.
With a huff, Amaterasu stood up and walked out of the room.
What a long time to disappear. Sorry to leave you hanging guys.
In unrelated news, I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen next.
Also, I just want to leave a note that there are six chapters left until the story ends, so stay tuned. :D