Author's Note: I'm literally putting this here to make sure the title of the chapter does not get misaligned.
Enjoy!
Chapter 9:
Shinigami vs. Shinobi
It was cold in Tokyo, but not so cold as to ensure that snow was gracing every neon sign and shop door in the city. To Catherine, it was a welcome chill, and nothing compared to the icy, biting winds of Moscow in the winter. She stood on the edge of the sidewalk as she waited for her meister to return, looking at all of the cars on the main roads as they shuffled along in perfectly even rows like ants on a branch.
"Madam Pushka," she heard him say, "I am here."
She turned to find him holding two ice cream mochi desserts, one in each of his rough, calloused hands.
"Thank you, Ivan," she said as she took one of them, her hands the same frosty ivory as his, marking them as children of the north, their hometowns separated only by a border.
He nodded. "Of course," he said, his Russian perfect.
She regarded the mochi ball, soft and green and cold, with small lines of dark bean paste on one side that made it look like it had a face. It was smiling at her, its eyes wide and happy, almost as if it didn't know it was about to be eaten. She smiled back at it, delighting in the irony.
"To your health," Ivan said, raising his pink mochi ball.
"To your health," she repeated, her rendition of the Russian phrase pristine and icy, like her.
She bit into the mochi ball, taking out one of its eyes. The green tea flavor was delightful, if a little overpowering. A grin came to her face as she realized that the dessert was winking at her now.
"These are cute," she said. She looked back to find that her meister had practically swallowed his mochi ball, and she chuckled. He was rail thin and she definitely wasn't, but, ironically, he ate far more than she ever could, obsessed with his calorie counts.
"Would you like anything else?" he said, brushing his nut-brown curls out of his turquoise eyes as he talked around the mochi in his mouth.
"No," she said, pausing to chew through the rest of her dessert. "We should get to the task at hand."
He swallowed, then nodded sternly. "Matoi Gumi, AKA Killer Lady."
"Precisely. We need to find and end her quickly. Our flight leaves in sixteen hours."
Ivan grinned. "Then, let's hit the streets, as they say."
It took a few hours to grill enough street thugs and wannabe Yakuza to figure out where Killer Lady was hiding. Or, rather, where she wasn't hiding. Evidently, she was hard at work illegally collecting souls, skulking around a certain high school to lure students to their deaths with cheap electronics and pilfered luxury items from overseas.
The two rounded a corner into an alleyway just three miles from Ohkubo High School, knowing that their target was somewhere nearby.
Water pooled in the cracked cobblestone, harsh neon lights from dilapidated vending machines and run-down stores painting everything with a strange palette of violets and greens. Color in the space flickered with the lights, occasionally casting darkness across the alley before brightening it up again. The two DWMA students stood out from their surroundings, both of them wearing white and gray, Catherine's furs and hat clearly marking her as a foreigner.
Near the end of the alley, they spied their target, a thin, harsh-eyed Japanese woman with bright green hair that spilled around her shoulders, most of her head covered by a large, cushy black cap that marked her as part of the Yakuza. She was bracing her leg against a brick wall, pinning a young, raven-haired boy in a black and blue school uniform to it with one of her stilettos. He briefly squirmed to escape, but ultimately gave up, slacking his shoulders and accepting his fate.
"You're going to make me a lot of money, kid," she said, her English sharply accented.
The two Yakuza enforcers she had brought with her snickered, knowing what was coming.
She pulled a balisong out of the confines of her black jacket, the leather flecked with bright colors of paint. The blade was razor sharp, and she flipped it into position with the precision of a master. Her target turned his nose away from the tip, as if trying to prolong his life by increasing the distance between her and him.
"Let him go," Catherine said, her voice as regal and commanding as a bullet fired from a pistol plated in platinum.
Killer Lady stopped, her blade inches from her hostage's throat, her stiletto still buried in his stomach. "How strange," she mused. "Russian Mafia, on my turf. I thought I made it clear last time we met why coming here is a bad idea."
Her henchmen chuckled.
"And yet here you are, white as snow and all alone. You are just begging me to paint that coat of yours red."
"Let him go," the weapon said again. "I will not ask you a third time."
"You are so cute, trying to steal my score. But, I have a reputation to uphold." She snapped her fingers, and her goons made their move, running at Catherine and revealing their own balisong knives.
They got about halfway to her before Ivan, who had been hiding high above them by using his legs to brace himself between an apartment balcony and a broken love hotel sign, dropped down to intercept. Using gravity to his advantage, he slammed one of the Yakuza henchmen into the cobblestone with enough force to crack it, killing him instantly. The other man stopped and tried to slice at Ivan's throat, but Ivan interrupted his attack, disarmed him, and snapped his neck in just a few swift movements.
Both of the evil souls turned to black, then faded away, their life essences left hanging in the air, casting red light like crimson torches in the night. Ivan turned, and the coldness in his expression was enough to make Killer Lady forget about her hostage, allowing the boy in question to duck behind some nearby crates. The Yakuza queen grit her teeth, but grinned at the same time, something like madness taking over her.
"You really think I'm scared of you because you can kill pissants like them!?" she cried. "I will make sure you bleed together!"
The Yakuza queen dashed forward, frenzied, her eyes wide with madness, licking her lips as if she were imagining what Catherine and Ivan's blood tasted like.
"Kill her, Ivan," Catherine said coldly, her body becoming a bright beacon of icy white light.
She latched onto Ivan's right hand, transforming into a cannon with a barrel shorter than his forearm, the metal bearing the beautiful patina of aged copper despite belonging to a young weapon. Killer Lady rushed in recklessly, trying to stab Ivan in the chest, but before she could fully extend her arm, he used his leg to kill the attack's momentum and push her arm aside. She stumbled, and he knelt down, braced for the recoil, and fired before she could recover.
A sharp crack echoed through the alleyway, followed by a gasp as Lady's chest cavity was perforated, leaving behind a hole the size of a basketball. The breath in her lungs was forcefully removed, and though she was mortally wounded, she managed to stay upright, holding on by a thread. Her former hostage, the high school student, watched from his hiding place as the evil soul uttered her last.
"You…can't…kill…me," she whispered, unable to put any weight behind the words. "I'm…a…prodigy…"
She reached out for Ivan, her blade trembling, then expired, her body being torn into black ribbons and destroyed, leaving behind a wispy crimson orb.
"Killer Lady…the Melancholy Prodigy," Catherine said, a metallic echo around her voice as her Russian verbiage spilled into the air like the notes of a cello. "That has a nice ring to it."
She shifted into her human form in a blink of light, her hand on Ivan's sculpted shoulder.
"It is a shame you are not in a poetry class," he said with a grin. "You would make a killing, so to speak."
A chuckle escaped her lips as she and her meister approached the stack of radish crates the schoolboy they had saved was still hiding behind. He jumped when he saw the two of them, but quickly bowed in apology. Catherine just smiled and waved her hand in a way that said he didn't need to worry.
He stammered a bit, but ultimately settled on "Arigatou gozaimasu," still bowing deeply out of respect.
"Ie, ie," Catherine said, switching to Japanese briefly before going to English. "It was nothing."
The boy nodded, still nervous, but relieved.
"Run home," Ivan said sternly, startling the boy again. "Nothing the Yakuza offers is worth your life, understand?"
The boy nodded again, more frantic this time.
"Good, now go."
He complied immediately, bolting out of the alley and almost clocking an older woman carrying some groceries.
Catherine let out a chuckle. "You didn't have to scare him, Ivan," she said, defaulting to Russian again.
"All I did was give him advice."
"It was not what you said, it was how you said it!" she pointed out, her laugh like tinkling glass.
"Of course, Madam. I shall watch my tone in the future."
She scoffed. "You will do no such thing! Seeing folks react to your…shall we say, lack of discretion, is most entertaining. I wouldn't have you change your tone for the world."
He smiled. "I understand, Madam."
Catherine ran her fingers through her umber hair, laughter in her steel-colored eyes. "Let us go, Ivan. Our home away from home awaits."
Death City was cooling down day by day, Autumn settling into the desert with an entourage of biting winds and welcome shade provided by rolling clouds. The sun, for once, was actually crowded by his fluffy gray neighbors, only able to poke his nose through the morning cloud cover. Monday's social media feeds made all kinds of memes out of the image, which Nina was quick to show her brother as they walked up the Academy steps.
"Look, look, this one makes the sun's nose look like a dick!" she cried, howling with laughter.
Specter grinned. "Nice."
"Fuckin' A, that's funny. I'm saving that one."
"Send that one to me, would ya?"
"No way, find your own memes."
He rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
A chilly breeze rushed by, playing with Nina's hair and almost relieving Specter of his jacket. He reached out and caught it just as it was about to slip from his shoulders and float down into the city below. Nina let out a snicker.
"Good job, idiot."
"I caught it, didn't I?"
"Maybe if you didn't wear it like a cape, it wouldn't fall off all the time."
"I told you, I wear it like this so it's easier to take off," he said as he whipped it back over his shoulders, slipping his right arm through its sleeve, but not the left.
"That is the laziest thing I have ever heard you say," she deadpanned.
"Yeah, well, no one asked you."
She punched him in the arm. "Whatever," she said with a grin. "I'm still right."
As they walked, they looked up to see Kid and the twins ahead of them. Grinning, Nina hopped up the steps to catch up, with Specter only slightly increasing his speed in response. Nina got there first, appearing on Kid's right.
"'Sup, bitch?" she said, happily clapping a hand on Kid's shoulder.
"Hey," Kid said sourly. "What's up?"
Nina sensed the difference in her tone immediately. "Woah, what's with you?" she said, taken aback. "Normally you'd be clapping back with a "'sup, bitch?" of your own. Something wrong?"
The shinigami narrowed her eyes. "Nah, it's nothing. I just feel…off. It's not a big deal.."
"That's not like you at all," Specter noted. "You normally ditch if you don't feel like coming to class."
Nina nodded. "Yeah, like that time you woke up late and decided to just get ice cream with the twins."
"Or that time you came back from a mission in the middle of the day and just went home to take a nap."
"Or that other time you—"
"Alright, I get it!" Kid snapped, cutting them off. She sighed, her expression softening. "Look, I appreciate you guys looking out for me, but I'm good, I swear. I probably just need a Reaper Energy or something."
Nina and Specter exchanged raised eyebrows, but decided not to push the issue and continued walking. At one point, Specter glanced over at the twins, hoping that an answer would be written on their faces, but they just shrugged at him, apparently not willing to give anything away. The group continued their walk in relative silence, clearing the final steps just as the first bells rang.
They entered the Academy just as the sun's nose was overtaken by the clouds, his light swallowed up by the gray.
"Incoming call," Tezca said, appearing in the Death Room's mirror in a flash of light.
"Finally," Shinigami-sama said, relieved. "It's about time Stein got back to me."
Tezca shook his head. "It's not Stein. It's Excalibur."
"Excalibur, hm? I wonder what he wants."
"One way to find out. Patching him through now."
The demon mirror's image faded, replaced by a large rectangular view into what appeared to be a coffee shop. There, sitting in a chair facing Shinigami-sama, was Excalibur, cradling a tall foam cup as his meister slept on the table across from him. Steam spilled from the hole in the cup's lid as the ancient sword regarded his old friend.
"Good morning to you, sir," Excalibur said as he took a sip of what Shinigami-sama could only imagine was tea.
"A fine good morning to you as well, Excalibur. To what do I owe the unexpected pleasure?"
"No occasion. I simply requested the aid of your diviner in order to inform you that Reika and I have safely arrived in Death City."
Shinigami-sama grinned. Old English had a habit of spilling into the legendary weapon's speech. Calling Tezca a diviner was just the tip of the iceberg. "Ah, I see," he said. "Still at the airport?"
Exalibur nodded. "Indeed, we are, if only for a moment. We should be back to the Academy before the clock strikes my favorite number."
"I see. Very good. I'll expect you and Reika here in the Death Room around lunchtime, then."
"Indubitably."
They both turned their attention to Reika, whose head was buried in the crook of her arm as she snored the morning away.
"Jet lag?" Shinigami-sama asked.
"Yes." Excalibur took another sip of tea. "We've been quite busy, traveling abroad. Unfortunately, very little time has been dedicated to Reika's….book learning, shall we say."
"Ah, so that's why you've returned."
"But of course. Reika's pure heart has never been called into question, and she's proven time and time again to be a skilled warrior. The only thing she lacks is the rigors and structure of a formal education, the strategy that must accompany her swordsmanship."
"I understand. Hopefully we can sharpen her mind as well as her steel, so to speak."
"That is what I am hoping for, good sir."
Shinigami-sama smiled. "I think we can manage that. Please notify me when you return to the Academy proper, and I'll debrief you over lunch."
"Very good. We shall be there with bells on," the sword said as he tipped his hat. "Farewell."
With that, the connection was severed and Excalibur's image winked out.
"I still don't get how you tamed that guy," Tezca said as he reappeared.
Shinigami-sama let out a sigh. "It took a lot of work. But ultimately, it was worth it. Excalibur is more or less the honorable Holy Sword he was in his prime, give or take a few eccentricities and strange rituals."
"A far cry from the asshole he was just a few years back."
"Quite."
"I think you did the world a huge favor, doing that."
"Oh, it wasn't my doing. Not entirely. I have the sorcerer Eibon to thank for what ultimately led to Excalibur's reformation."
Tezca tilted his head, clearly not understanding, but didn't press any further.
"At any rate, please let me know if Stein calls," Shinigami-sama said as he sat down at his desk and grabbed a pen. "I'll be doing paperwork if anyone needs me.
"Actually, Stein called while you were on the line with Excalibur," Tezca informed him.
Shinigami-sama raised an eyebrow, putting his pen down. "Oh?" he prodded.
"He said he has something for you. Something about your green soul problem."
"Tell him to meet me here in the Death Room after classes."
"Already did."
Soul Studies was proving to be exhausting, and not just because Professor Ford was an annoying blowhard who was way too nerdy for his own good.
Kid eyed the man warily from her seat in the amphitheater classroom as he wandered the floor, spouting some nonsense about the ancient Greeks. Her mind was a storm of emotion, darkness clouding every thought as her fingers twitched anxiously, begging for a trigger. She wanted to leave, to jump out the window like she had done before, to just walk away and do better things.
Because she didn't need any of this crap. She didn't need a history lesson, and she didn't need to know the particulars of souls or whatever else the Academy deemed important. All she needed was a target.
The one she had in mind would do.
Today…I kill a god , she reminded herself.
She grimaced, remembering what her father had said to her just a few days before. About how he thought she should be more like Gray Star, more obedient, more… submissive . Gray Star was her friend, a good friend, but at that moment, in Kid's mind, she was an enemy, an obstacle on her path to greatness.
Since when was Gray Star even in her ballpark?
Kid was a shinigami, and had a soul wavelength that made most people piss their pants. No one at the Academy ever challenged her to a duel because they knew they would lose. Because they knew that she was strong, and ruthless in battle.
…and because…of something else. Something she did a long time ago…
A memory surged into her thought process. An unwelcome one. Flashes of her life as a young girl, and the incident that marked her as a god at the cost of a broken body and the end of a normal life.
She shook her head angrily, removing any doubt from her mind.
There was no time to dwell on the past. She needed to focus on the future. The only way to get her father to see that she and Gray Star were in different leagues, that she didn't need to study or be a good student to be a great shinigami, was to settle it her way.
Through battle.
It took ages, but eventually, lunch period came around. Kid exited the dojo ahead of the rest of Class Half Moon, and when Sage and Gray Star began making their way to the cafeteria, she followed them, albeit at a safe distance. The twins walked on opposite sides of her, silent, fully aware of what she was asking them to do.
What they were about to do.
When Sage and Gray Star entered the lunchroom, Kid stopped and held out her hands, one to each twin.
"Weapon forms," Kid said. "Now."
The Thompsons exchanged concerned glances.
"Are you sure about this?" Lenny said, hesitant.
"Yeah, we could get in serious trouble for this," Jenny added.
"I don't care. Dad wants to talk, but I say actions speak louder than words. We do this, and I'll be top dog until the day we graduate, I fuckin' guarantee it." She put her hands out again, expectantly. "So, come on. Let's make some history."
Still uncertain, but not willing to abandon their meister, the twins simultaneously shifted into their firearm forms. Kid caught them, twirled them between her fingers, then put them down at her sides. Feeling their weight in her hands gave her a welcome confidence.
Not that she wasn't confident.
No…she knew she was going to win.
She had to.
Gray Star sat down across from Sage at the table they had selected, Sage bringing out some onigiri his mother had made for him while Gray Star settled for an Academy-made teriyaki bowl she was ready to attack with some chopsticks. She stabbed in and scooped up a nice portion of rice and meat, regarding her weapon partner with a smile. Before she could lift it to her mouth, though, she was interrupted.
Two gunshots rang out out of nowhere, sending waves of confusion and panic through the other students in the room.
In the blink of an eye, Gray Star's chopsticks were gone, shot out of her hands. They clattered to the floor, her rice and beef landing next to them with a splat. Sage immediately moved to protect his meister, almost sliding across the table in order to get between her and the shooter, but she stopped him with a dismissive wave of her hand.
He stopped and sat back on his side of the table, but still eyed their attacker warily.
Gray Star turned to see Kid walking towards them, the Thompson twins in her hands, the right gun's barrel, Lenny's, spouting curls of acrid smoke. She quickly looked away, putting her eyes back on her teriyaki. Part of her hoped that Kid was just trying to show off and would leave her alone.
Then Kid got to their table and put her leg up on it.
So much for that…
"Is there something you want to talk about?" Gray Star asked, not making eye contact.
"Oh, you're so cool," Kid said with a grin, a hint of mockery in her tone. "Completely unfazed. I like that. Your homeboy knows what's up, though," she pointed out, gesturing towards Sage. "He knows I want to fight, and he's ready for it. You should be, too."
She leaned in super close, so only Gray Star could hear.
"Why don't we take this outside?"
"I have no quarrel with you," she said coldly.
Suddenly, faster than even Kid could see, Gray Star moved, retrieved her chopsticks, and came back, wiping them with one of her turtleneck sleeves as if she had simply dropped them.
"I don't know what this is about, but just drop it."
Kid scoffed. "Really? You're just going to ignore me?" She let out a laugh, her leg dropping to the floor as she stood up. "God, you're annoying. Why can't you just take the bait and make my life easier? I've got a point to prove, and you're in my way, so cut the shit and fight me!"
Sage looked to Gray Star, an urgent warning in his eyes, but she shook her head, her way of saying that they couldn't afford to make the first move.
She turned to Kid. "I don't want to do this. I'd much rather eat my lunch. Is there any way we could settle this another time?"
"Oh, oh, I get it. I get it. I interrupted you, I'm sorry," Kid said, no authenticity behind the words. "Here, maybe this'll free you up."
With a grunt of effort, the shinigami lifted her leg up high above her head, signaling that she was about to use an axe kick. In a flash, Sage transformed into his ninjato mode and flung himself into Gray Star's hand just before Kid brought her heel down and cracked the table in half. Gray Star curled into a backflip, landing in a crouch next to the bench she had been sitting on.
Kid immediately fired off a few pot shots with Jenny, but Gray managed to dodge them all. When Kid started using both of the twins and started actually aiming, the shinobi lifted the bench, then kicked it as hard as she could. With a grin, Kid stopped the bench with her foot, but when she looked back to reacquire her target, Gray Star was gone.
"What the fuck!?" she cried, snapping her head this way and that.
It took her a moment to figure it out, her eyes gravitating towards the cafeteria doors, where Gray Star stood silently, Sage in hand.
"If you want me so bad, come and get me," the shinobi said darkly.
Just as quickly as the words left her lips, she was gone, the doors left swinging on their hinges.
"Hey!" Kid roared. "Don't you fuckin' run away from me, goddammit! Get back here!"
She immediately took off to give chase, pushing a few unfortunate students out of her way before bursting through the lunchroom doors in a frenzy. Most everyone in the room were too shocked to do anything but whisper to each other about what had happened. A few E.A.T. students present had instinctually gotten ready for a fight, but stood down when Kid left.
Moments later, several adult meisters wearing crisp black suits and bearing a variety of weapons burst into the cafeteria to secure the area. In a matter of minutes, they ascertained what had happened. Some stayed behind, with the rest running out the doors in the direction the students pointed.
One in particular, a silver-haired man in his late thirties carrying a small matte black revolver with silver filigree on the barrel, his wife, put a message through his demon tool earpiece.
"Sir, this is Agent Wyatt. We have a situation."
"Thanks, Hiro-san!" The girls said as they walked away, bounty board tag in hand.
Hiro just smiled and waved. He had just given them a mission to take down an evil soul in Georgia, and their flight was set for later that night. Before doing so, he had given them the speech he gave every student who took on an assignment, as required of him by the Academy and Shinigami-sama.
He told them everything he was required to, everything the Academy needed them to know. That the Academy couldn't be sued if they died, that they needed to be careful while on mission, that they were responsible for their own safety. So on and so forth.
He was so used to doing it, he had the whole spiel memorized.
When someone rang his bell, he turned and expected to have to give that spiel again only to find a familiar demon shadow weapon meister standing before him, his aura radiating power and shadow.
"Been a while, eh, Hiro?"
"Oh, hi, Black Star," he said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Just stopping by for old times' sake."
Hiro let out a chuckle. "That's a relief. I thought for a second you were going to use me as practice. You know, for your holds and takedowns, like back in the good old days."
"No offense, Hiro, but if I tried to do that to you now…I'd probably snap you in half," he said with a grin.
"Oh, good point. It's not like I have Excalibur to protect me anymore."
They exchanged knowing grins, remembering Hiro's time with the holy sword and how it had changed the Academy…for all of a week.
"How's your kid doing? Still kicking ass?" Black Star asked.
Hiro nodded. "Yup. Like her old man never could," he said with a laugh.
"Nice."
"Yeah, she's been doing pretty well. Grades aren't great, but that's nothing new."
"My grades were shit, too. Doesn't mean a damn thing at this school."
"Tell that to Maka," Hiro said with a laugh. "Though, speaking of Maka, I heard her kids got into a brawl with one of your daughters."
"Yeah, they did."
"Did you see it?"
"No. I was out on mission. But Soul gave me the details."
"That sucks. I didn't get to see it, either, but I heard it was pretty epic."
"It was," the warrior god said with a grin. "Maka's kids ain't slouches, but neither are mine."
"You must be proud."
"I am."
"Was it Allie, or Gray Star?"
"Allie. Gray doesn't get into duels unless she has to."
Hiro shot him a curious look. "That's a shame. She'd probably be an ace at it."
Black Star was about to respond when something caught his very sensitive ear, the stark ringing of a shot, the subtle clanging of a slide of a gun, the crisp cracking of a bullet getting deflected by sharpened steel. When he didn't say anything, Hiro made to ask him what was wrong, but he silenced him with a raised hand. A few more sounds reached his ears. Blows, yells, crashes, and the lightest of steps followed by the stomping of a pursuer. The sounds of a battle.
He smiled as he realized what was happening.
"She is," he said.
"Wait, what? What do you mean?" was all Hiro could ask before a loud sound finally reached his ears, the sound of glass being shattered. "What was that!?" he cried, turning in its general direction.
"Another test of my progeny's might," Black Star said cryptically. "Sorry to cut our conversation short, but I gotta see this."
With that, he held his hand up, forming one of his ninja hand seals, and disappeared in a burst of shadow.
"Hey, wait!" Hiro said, a second too late. "Aw, man…I always miss out on the fun stuff."
"What!?" Shinigami-sama cried.
"It's true, sir," he heard from his phone. "Death the Kid is engaged with one Gray Star in an unsupervised and unsanctioned duel that began in the cafeteria."
The speaker was Agent Ethan Wyatt, a trusted member of the DWMA Security Force and a skilled three-star meister. He and his wife had served the Academy dutifully for years, and he worked alongside Sid Barrett and the rest of the faculty to protect it from external and internal threats. In addition to having direct access to the Death Room's mirror, he also was one of the few meisters trusted with the DWMA's emergency number, which was a direct line to Shinigami-sama.
"Unsanctioned?" the Grim Reaper repeated. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, sir. The students and faculty that were present all agree: Kid attacked Gray Star unprovoked."
Shinigami-sama silently mouthed several words, most of them curses.
"Would you like us to intercept, sir?" Wyatt said, sensing his trepidation.
He thought about it for a moment. While stopping the duel was ideal, Angel was a shinigami, capable of injuring even the best the Security Force had to offer. If she resisted, no one would emerge unscathed.
"No," he decided. "Secure a perimeter and keep any students and faculty from getting caught in the crossfire. I'll observe from here and move in myself if things get out of hand."
"Copy that."
He brought the phone down from his ear, the screen telling him that Agent Wyatt had hung up.
"Sir, I have a visual," Tezca said, the image in his mirror changing from a reflection to a glimpse of an Academy hallway.
Shinigami-sama watched as his daughter chased after Gray Star, firing shot after shot, none of them landing. There were some students in the halls, but most were able to get out of the way, with some of them being brave enough to stand their ground and witness the spectacle up close. Gray was on the defensive, using Sage's ninjato form to block Angel's bullets, the bright pink rounds ricocheting randomly only to fizzle and fade.
"Are you sure about this, boss?" Tezca asked, concern in his tone. "Kid could kill somebody if she's not careful."
"That won't happen," he said sharply. "I'll make sure of it."
"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Kid cried, firing a volley in Gray Star's general direction only for her to artfully dodge out of the way.
She had yet to land a single shot, and it was starting to piss her off. Gray hadn't said anything since the start of the fight, either. All she did was stare at her, silent, that stupid turtleneck of hers pulled up to look like a ninja mask.
It was pathetic, her trying to be cool in the face of a badass like her.
Sprinting, she surged around yet another corner to find Gray Star standing in front of a window that looked out at the training forest, the only thing visible through it being the trunks of the trees.
"There you are," Kid said darkly. "Tired of running, huh? That's fine. I was getting sick of chasing you." She walked up to her, adrenaline pulsing through her veins, not bothering to put her guns up, not noticing that the shinobi was mysteriously unarmed.
When she got within spitting distance, she brought Lenny up to bear, pointing the barrel at Gray Star's forehead.
"Let's put this issue to bed, shall we?" she said as she pulled his hammer back.
Kid grinned as she fired what she believed would be the final shot of the duel only to cry out in shock when she saw that the round she had expected to simply incapacitate Gray Star had bored a hole in her head. In a panic, she made to call her name, to reach out and catch her, suddenly worried that she had killed one of her friends. Then she saw the darkness inside of her, the emptiness.
The edges of the illusion.
The Gray Star in front of her, the Dummy Star, then shattered, replaced by Sage, who was standing off to one side, safe from the bullet she had fired.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but Gray Star isn't here," he said, a hint of satisfaction in his voice. "Seems as though you fell for the oldest trick in the book. How unfortunate."
"Gah, fuck," Kid said, only barely turning around in time to see Gray Star, the real one, rushing toward her from behind.
Sage stepped out of the way as Gray Star closed in, tensed her arm, then shot it out, her soul wavelength crackling through her palm like the charge on a tesla coil.
"Soul Menace."
But Kid was too fast. She managed to dodge out of the way in the nick of time, Gray Star's strike only managing to graze her jacket, though it fluttered as though a bullet train had blown past it. Suddenly, Kid had the advantage.
"Missed me," she said with a nervous smile.
Then Gray Star turned, ducked, and sent her leg screaming towards Kid's solar plexus, faster than she could react and at too close a range to do anything about it.
"Alternative Soul Menace."
Kid coughed up a gout of blood as the kick connected, Gray Star's soul wavelength surging through it and detonating like a bomb. The force of the impact sent the shinigami flying through the window behind her. A string of obscenities spilled out of Kid's mouth as she smashed through tree after tree after tree, the volume growing softer as she got further and further away.
"Well played, mistress," Sage said as his meister collected herself.
Gray Star chuckled, holding her hand out to him. "What did I say last time?" she said, half joking and half chastising. "None of this 'mistress' crap."
"My apologies." He shifted into a beam of light, landing in her hand as a ninjato once again. "Shall we finish what we started?"
Gray Star nodded, adjusting her turtleneck before silently leaping out of the window and into the training forest after Kid.
"Look, I'm sorry I made us late, Exie," Reika said flatly, holding up a crimson summer dress she had found at a store they had stopped in along the way. "But this was too cute and at too good a price to pass up!"
"Hmph," Excalibur snorted as he ascended the stairs in front of him, one of her steps amounting to three of his. "If you believe that to be good enough an excuse for Shinigami-sama, I wish you the best of luck in explaining it to him."
"Whatever," she said, slinging the dress over her shoulder. "I'm still pissed we had to come back here. I want to hunt monsters, not sit around and read those stupid chess books of yours."
"Hunt monsters you shall, my dear Reika, but only after you have made an effort to master the last of the Three Provisions. Or have you become so hungry for battle that you have forgotten?"
"No, no, I know," she said, rolling her eyes. "We don't need to go over it again."
"I disagree," he said sharply. "Recite the Three Provisions."
"Ugh, fine! Stupid sword…" She took a deep breath, then took on her approximation of a knightly air, squaring her shoulders, straightening her posture, and bringing her right arm to her chest, though it was draped with the dress she had bought.
To wield the holy sword, Excalibur, thou shalt know and live by the Three Provisions, which are as follows:
To wield Excalibur, one must be pure of heart. Protect the innocent, and slay the wicked.
To wield Excalibur, one must be courageous. Be fearless in battle, and hesitate to retreat.
To wield Excalibur, one must be intelligent. Master strategy, and sharpen your mind.
Master the Three Provisions, and thou shalt wield the full might of the holy sword, and bring ruin to thine enemies.
Excalibur nodded approvingly. "Very good. I had my doubts, but you have not forgotten your fealty."
"Hey, you said it yourself, right? The person who wields Excalibur owes fealty to no one. They are the master of their own destiny."
"Wise words, young one," he said with a laugh. "Perhaps there is hope for you yet."
"Oh, screw off. I'm gonna top King Arthur, and you know it."
"The way things are now, the poor chap is undoubtedly turning in his grave," he deadpanned. "We have an obligation to uphold, don't forget that."
"Hey," she said as she leaned down to get to his eye level. "I made a promise to you and Shinigami-sama that I would master you, and I'm gonna keep it, dammit."
"So you say. But true knights live not by their words alone, but by their actions as well."
"Whatever," she said, a grin on her face despite everything. "I can walk the walk."
The unlikely duo crested the Academy steps just as a window somewhere within the Academy shattered with a loud crash. They watched as a dust cloud churned its way through the training forest, visible from where they were in the courtyard, someone screaming all manner of curses at the top of their lungs. Seconds later, shots began to ring out, pink light shooting through the leaves of the trees.
"Aha!" Excalibur said suddenly. "This may yet be the foundation of a perfect lesson, one that shall impart unto you the importance of the Third Provision!"
He grabbed Reika's hand and pulled her towards the Academy doors, his strength surprising given his size and stature.
"Woah, hey, Exie! Slow down! What do you mean? Hey, wait!"
Ignoring her confused exclamations, he dragged her into the building, pushing past the large double doors that led into the main entryway.
The sun, still shrouded from view by the clouds that hung over Death City, tried his best to peek through the veil to see what was happening, but found himself unable to do so.
Black Star stood at the DWMA's highest point, one of the three black spheres that hovered above the red-tiled tower tops. His sharp eyes gave him a perfect view of the training forest, of Kid firing at shadows in the trees, of Gray Star darting out to sweep her legs out from under her. A grin came to his face.
"Get 'er, Gray," he said. "Show them what happens when you fuck with a warrior god."
The gray clouds above him parted slightly, seemingly remembering that, sky above or sky below, he alone stood almighty.
Hiro was slumped over his desk at the bounty board counter, lightly tapping his forehead against the smooth white granite. "Dammit…why can't I go see what's happening? I need entertainment too! Oh, but if Shinigami-sama knew I was ditching my post, I'd be fired for sure!" He let out a mournful sigh. "I can't catch a break…"
As he wallowed in his self-pity, he heard someone come down the hall, two distinct sets of footsteps. One set was light, almost inaudible, while the other was loud, occasionally marked by the characteristic squeaks of sneakers on linoleum. Looking up, he barely managed to see a flash of blonde hair and a blur of a blue jacket and a red dress go by, closely followed by the top of a very tall white silk hat.
"Hi dad! Bye, dad!" his daughter said, sprinting by at breakneck speed.
"Salutations, naive!" a pompous, all too familiar voice added, quickly disappearing down the hall after her.
The whole thing happened so fast, Hiro had to shake himself out of his stupor and do a double take.
"Wait, Reika!" he cried. But it was too little too late. She was already gone. "Damn, she's quick," he muttered.
Then a grin came to his face, because he knew where she was headed.
"Guess she'll have to tell me what happens."
"What the hell is happening around here!?" Nina cried.
"I don't know," Specter said as they ran. "But everybody's on fuckin' high alert, that's for sure."
Some Security Force members had told the Evans kids to move to the second floor of the Academy for their own safety. Said something about an altercation. Now they were barring entry to the training forest, leaving Specter and Nina at a loss.
Specter had texted Max to figure out what was going on, and when he had proved to be just as clueless as he was, had turned to Honey Lang for an answer. She had told him what she heard, and that everyone was meeting up on the second floor hallway closest to the Dispensary. There was a window there that looked out into the training forest, and it apparently had the best view of the action.
"You'll see it when you get here," the pot meister's text had read.
The youngest of the Evans clan rounded the corner to find Max, Valor, Honey Lang and the Pots, Allie, Flint, as well as a duo he hadn't seen in a while.
Shorter than most everyone in the group by a head was Max's sister, Rose, easily identified for the pale red hair she was named for. Her bright white blouse and green jeans made her look like a flower, albeit one with a variety of bracelets and bands on her arms. Next to her was the quiet and clinical Stanley F. Éclair, though most people called him Stanford, combining his first and middle names. He was tall, far taller than his meister, his long jet-black hair tied in a ponytail. The fire spear was seemingly devoid of the energy coursing through the others around him, and greeted Specter and Nina with all the excitement of a funeral director.
"Come to see the show?" he asked, his tone dull and disinterested.
"The Suits told us to clear out," Specter said. "Didn't have much of a choice."
"Would someone care to explain what the fuck is happening here?" Nina said.
Honey Lang chuckled. "Just take a look outside, see for yourself."
The Evans kids pushed past their friends and looked through the glass to see Kid, twins in hand, firing at something darting between the trees of the training forest, a shadow. It didn't take long for them to realize what was happening. They watched as Kid fired off several shots only for Gray Star to leap out and sweep her legs out from under her, sending her sprawling into the dirt.
"What the hell?" Specter said, an expression of awe rather than a question seeking an answer.
"This is so cool!" Nina grinned. "Never thought I'd see the day."
"Neither did I," Allie said, arms crossed. "Gray's not the type to pick fights."
Rose let out her version of a chuckle, almost chipmunk-like in its pitch and tone. "Maybe not, but Kid is. I guarantee you this was her idea."
Max looked on through one of the windows, a worried expression on his face. "Is anyone supervising this duel? Kid doesn't seem to be pulling any punches…"
Stanford shook his head. "I seriously doubt it. That might be why the Suits are securing the lower floor of the Academy and the training forest."
"You'd be right about that," a voice said from the group's immediate right.
Everyone turned to see a blue-skinned man with haunting blank eyes and a surrogate arm walking towards them, followed closely by a dark-skinned woman with long braided hair and wrappings covering much of her body, including one of her eyes.
"Howdy, Mr. Sid. Miss Naigus," Flint said, tipping his hat to them.
Sid just smiled, though it was somewhat hard to tell, given that he didn't have the lips needed to convey a smile. "Hey, kids. I should have guessed you guys would end up here. Taking a peek at the action, I see?"
"You betcha," Rose said with a wink.
"I don't think anyone would turn down ringside seats to a fight like this," Valor pointed out.
"Everything alright, Uncle Sid?" Specter asked. "They wouldn't call you in unless it was serious," he added, remembering all the stories his parents had told him of the legendary operative Sid Barrett.
"Well, the situation isn't ideal, that's for sure," the zombie admitted. "The Security Force has been mobilized to secure the grounds. Kid and Gray Star's duel is unsanctioned and being fought with close to lethal force, which means if anyone were to get caught in the crossfire, things could get ugly."
"If the duel is unsanctioned, shouldn't someone put a stop to it?" Max asked.
His sister let out a snort. "They would, if Kid wasn't a shinigami and Gray wasn't a freaking warrior goddess in training."
"Therein lies the problem," Naigus said, putting her hand on her hip. "Shinigami-sama is worried about what would happen if anyone got between them."
"For the sake of our agents' safety, and the safety of the students, Shinigami-sama has requested that no one intervene unless absolutely necessary," Sid added.
Max was about to ask another question when Sid put his hand up and turned his head to the side, clearly hearing something in the earpiece he was wearing.
"This is Sid," he said. "Go ahead."
The zombie listened for a minute before responding with, "Of course, sir. My agents have already secured the training forest. I'll continue to watch the duel from my current vantage point and notify you of any changes."
He paused again to listen.
"Yes, sir. Will do. Over and out." He turned back to the kids, whose attention was divided between him and the furious exchange of blows taking place outside.
"Was that Shinigami-sama?" Rose said, eyes wide.
Sid nodded. "Who else would it be?"
"I'm surprised he's not down here trying to talk Kid down," Max noted as he watched Kid get yet another taste of Gray Star's soul wavelength, the light glinting off his glasses. "Surely he knows that Kid is breaking Academy policy."
"It is not merely a matter of policy," yet another voice said, this time from the group's left. "It is a matter of honor, and a lesson that the young shinigami must learn for herself."
Everyone turned to find the holy sword Excalibur's top hat-wearing avatar trotting alongside his current meister, Reika.
"Hey, Rei!" Nina said happily, putting her arm up for a fist bump. "Aw, you bitch! You should have told us you were back in town!"
Reika gave Nina's fist a lovetap, but frowned at her nickname. "Hey, I told you to stop calling me that. Rei is a guy's name."
"Interesting to see you here, Excalibur," Sid said, arms crossed. "What brings you back to the Academy?"
"Training," the sword answered. "Reika is returning to her studies, and to that end, I have invited her here to witness this duel."
Reika's hair shook wildly as she nodded her head. "When I heard Kid and Gray Star were fighting, I just had to see it for myself!"
"I admire your enthusiasm, but I didn't bring you here to simply watch this battle," Excalibur said, his cane clacking on the tiles. "No, I brought you here to teach you by way of example."
"Oh, yeah?" Nina prodded. "About what? How to get your ass kicked?" She winced as Kid was sent flying through yet another tree.
The holy sword pointed his cane at her. "Fool! This is not a lesson in defeat, no. It is a simple lesson, one so simple that it will reveal itself as the duel goes on." He put his cane down. "Watch, and wait. Soon you shall understand."
He then turned to face the window, but found himself looking at the wall beneath it rather than the battle beyond it.
"Um…Reika," he said, his wide eyes blinking slowly.
"Yeah, Exie?"
"Could you please lift me up? I cannot see."
"Oh, yeah!" She quickly reached down and scooped him up, plopping him down on the back of her neck as one would a child. "There you go!"
"Thank you," he said, ignoring the snickers of Reika's companions. "Now, watch, dear children, as my point is proven."
"Alright, fuck this!" Kid screamed in frustration, her body bruised and battered from Gray Star's attacks. "I'm leveling this place!"
Knowing roughly where the shinobi was in relation to her, Kid ran towards the Academy only to skid to a halt and turn around.
"Jen, Len, let's go! Soul resonance, now!"
The twins exchanged worried looks in their shared soul pocket, but ultimately nodded, resolute. They had a duty to their meister, after all. She had always been their shield; they would always be her sword.
Black lightning surged from Kid's body as six black needles shot out of her back, reminiscent of broken wings or massive thorns. Skulls cast in onyx light whirled around her as she rose into the air, the twins transforming into massive cannons worthy of Death's blessing. When Kid came back down, she was ready to end it all.
"Execution Mode: On! Time to die," she said darkly.
With a grunt of effort, she leapt high into the air, aimed both barrels in Gray Star's general direction, and opened fire.
"Death Cannon!"
Both cannons went off at the same time, sending two blinding pink bolts of light shooting down at the training forest. The ensuing blast destroyed a few trees and left a large crater in the earth. Knowing that she likely hadn't hit Gray Star, Kid fired another shot directly beneath her to keep herself airborne before firing again and again.
Chunks of earth were blasted skyward, trees splintered and cast aside only to get disintegrated by yet more incoming projectiles. The explosions were deafening, and marked by large clouds of acrid gray smoke shaped like skulls. Kid didn't stop firing until the ground below her looked like she had taken to it with a missile launcher, a large section of the forest completely decimated.
She landed back on solid ground as the twins reverted to their normal handgun forms, her breath coming out in gasps and sputters. Her nerves were frayed, and she had definitely overexerted herself, but she stood tall despite that. But she had done it, and that was all that mattered to her.
"Ha…haha!" she said finally, throwing her head back, stumbling like a drunk on unsteady feet. "Gotcha…there's…no way…you got out of…of that!" She waved some of the smoke out of her eyes with Lenny. "I win," she declared.
In that moment, there was a gust of wind, focused and forceful. The large bubbling clouds of gray gunsmoke in front of Kid were pierced by something, the air parting to leave an enormous gap in the fallout. Kid never saw what hit her. She only felt the impact as something hit her so hard in the head that she was put into a wicked spin, twirling end over end right where she stood before slamming into the earth with enough force to break bone. Her eyes went blank as her world went black, her mind fading into unconsciousness.
Standing in the clearing amidst the craters and smoke across from Kid stood Gray Star, holding a beautiful Japanese shortbow made of dark wood and strung with something that resembled silver thread, a weapon form her friends had only heard of, but never seen.
"Yumi Mode: Opening Shot."
Gray Star let out a sharp exhale as Sage shifted back into a form he was more comfortable with, his kusarigama mode. Kid wasn't moving, but she knew the battle wasn't quite over yet. The twins were still players in the game.
As she approached, Jenny and Lenny burst into light and became human once more, with the former poking Kid to try and wake her up while the latter kept his eyes on their opponent.
"This battle is over," Gray Star said as the twins instinctively moved between her and their meister. "There's no need to continue this madness."
The twins, her cousins, shared a quick glance before nodding to themselves in affirmation.
"I'm sorry, Gray…" Lenny began.
"But Kid gave us a job to do," Jenny finished.
"And we weren't built to lose," they said in unison.
It almost made Gray want to smile, seeing that her cousins were emulating her sister. But outwardly, all she could do was grimace as Lenny pointed Jenny's barrel at her heart. Holding Sage's kusarigama handles in a reverse grip, she prepared to start deflecting bullets.
What she didn't expect was for the twins to unveil their secret weapon.
Her eyes widened as Lenny pulled the trigger and not one, but three shots surged out at her in rapid succession. She only barely dodged out of the way, but Lenny's aim was true, and he kept the pressure on, forcing her to duck into a crater for cover. When he ran up to the crater's edge to fire into the pit, she kicked him in the stomach, but he shifted to his gun form, being caught by Jenny in midair.
Gray Star dodged her shots, but only barely, using Speed Star to get out of the open and behind the trees, which were a good distance away.
"Since when can they do that?" she asked aloud, thinking back on all the times she had seen her Aunt Liz training them and finding nothing suggesting they had such an ability.
"I don't know," Sage said. "But we need to be tactical about this. Not only are the twins capable of putting out impressive damage now, but their fire is more focused than Kid's was."
"That's strange," Gray mused. "Kid is one of the best sharpshooters at the Academy; it's not like her to let anyone outgun her."
"Either she was underestimating us, or the twins have been practicing."
Her eyes narrowed. "I have a feeling it's both…"
"Woah…I didn't know the twins could fire in three-round bursts," Allie said, eyes wide.
"What do you mean you didn't know?" Specter asked. "They're your cousins. Shouldn't you be aware of stuff like that?"
She pondered the question, watching as pink light blasted from Lenny's barrel. "I guess I never asked, but I know for a fact they never told me. Maybe Aunt Liz told me and I forgot…"
"Alternate firin' modes for demon weapon firearms are incredibly rare," Flint pointed out. "Most people don't know such a thang is even possible."
"It is quite impressive," Max admitted. "But they don't stand a chance against Gray Star, even with the relative increase in damage output their three-round burst firing mode gives them…"
Sid nodded. "Gotta hand it to them, though. Even in the face of overwhelming odds, they aren't giving up."
"Indeed," Excalibur said from on top of Reika's shoulders. "Their loyalty to their meister is to be commended. However, it must be said that their meister has led them to folly."
"What do you mean, Exie?" Reika asked.
"The answer is simple…but I shall spell it out for you, regardless."
Reika rolled her eyes, but did her part to listen, accepting that a lecture now was better than a study session later.
"You know of the Second Provision. To be courageous and hesitate to retreat. However, nowhere in the provision is fearlessness required."
"Aren't courage and fearlessness the same thing?" Reika wondered.
"No. Fearlessness is akin to recklessness and madness. Courage is the strength to fight despite one's fear."
"The twins are definitely walking that line, challenging Gray on their own," Specter muttered.
"Indeed. But recall that it is not the Second Provision I am concerned with, Sir Reika, rather the Third."
Reika sighed. "Not this again. I told you, don't call me sir, it'll give people the wrong idea!"
But he ignored her. "I brought you here to observe what exactly occurs when the Third Provision is not met. Observe how Death the Kid was defeated. What led to her defeat?"
"Shit, I dunno. It looked like she was doing everything she could, blasting the place to high hell like she did."
"It's because she wasn't taking the fight seriously," Sid said.
Nagius chimed in, too. "And because she picked the wrong opponent."
"Precisely," the holy sword said with a nod. "She did not strategize, nor did she consider exactly whom she was challenging. That is why she failed to defeat the Star Clan scion."
Reika gasped in realization. "Is that why she couldn't score a hit?"
"Indeed. Had she anticipated Gray Star's speed, Death the Kid could have won this duel, but she failed to prepare a strategy, and paid the ultimate price."
"Oh, I get it! Being smart isn't just about being a bookworm, it's about battle tactics, too!"
"Yes, Sir Reika, that is exactly right. Perhaps now you understand why games of strategy like chess are important for a knight to know."
"Hey, you heard what I said," she said crossly. "None of that sir crap. And chess is boring!"
Again he ignored her. "There is a reason King Arthur was the only one capable of wielding me back in the twelfth century: he not only knew how to fight, but also how to pick his fights."
"But King Arthur was also forced to deal with overwhelming odds," Max pointed out, "Situations he couldn't simply run away from. You can't always choose your battles."
"True, but there is a difference between those who fight in spite of overwhelming odds and those who challenge them without considering the consequences. Death the Kid is undoubtedly an example of the latter."
"Consequences," Allie muttered to herself.
Looking out at the scarred battlefield, she watched as Jenny and Lenny desperately tried to take Gray Star down, but to no avail. Cousins fighting cousins, family fighting family. It was enough to dig up old bones, memories she didn't want to remember.
Consequences…
She knew a thing or two about those.
Lenny stood statuesque in the space between several large craters, ready to shoot at anything that moved. When Gray Star rushed out from the trees, he thought he could catch her with at least one burst. But he was wrong. She had used Sage's kusarigama mode to launch herself forward, and she had managed to catch him while his back was turned. He felt the rush of air behind him before he heard her move, and by then, it was too late.
"Gah!" was all he could get out as she delivered a devastating kick to his back, causing him to crumple and tumble into one of the craters next to him.
Before he fell unconscious, he reached out for his sister, calling out her name in his mind. She responded, and caught him as a handgun, allowing him to rest. Jenny, now armed with her slumbering brother, grit her teeth and climbed up the crater wall, trying to get the drop on Gray Star.
But she was waiting at the lip of the crater, and executed a backflip kick that caught Jenny in the jaw and sent her flying. While in midair, she counterattacked, firing several bursts in Gray's general direction. Nothing found purchase, however.
"Shiiiiiiiiiiiit!" she cried, crashing through a few branches of one of the trees on the outskirts of the land Kid had blasted apart. "Ow! Ouch! Gah, fuck! Dammit! Stupid tree! Oof!"
Eventually, she found herself on her back, lying against the trunk of the tree that had given her a beating.
"Man, that sucked…" she groaned, weakly pulling a twig out of her hair.
It was then that she saw Gray Star walking towards her, Sage back in his ninjato form. Panicked, she reached for Lenny only to find that he was too far away, lying in the grass between her and Gray. She tried to get up, get back in the fight, but she wasn't like Kid; she couldn't handle the damage she had taken.
"Shit…"
For a moment, Jenny thought Gray was going to hit her, finish what she had started. But that didn't happen. Instead, she tucked Sage away and pulled down her turtleneck, revealing the soft smile hiding underneath.
"Are you okay?" Gray Star asked.
"Heh…I've been better," Jenny said, wincing a bit. "Sorry we tried to blast you earlier…we didn't want to."
"I know you didn't."
"That's…a relief…we wouldn't want you mad at us. You're our cousin, after all…you're family."
Family…
Gray Star's smile warmed up a bit despite the coldness in her heart that came with the mention of that term. "I'm not mad at you. I know you were just trying to help Kid."
"Yeah…that's what we do…she's the boss…" Jenny grinned despite the pain, knowing that it wouldn't be long before she too was unconscious. "No hard feelings?" she asked.
"No hard feelings."
She breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Gray…love you…cous…"
With that, she collapsed into the tree trunk, that grin still on her face as she finally knocked out.
Gray Star brought Sage back out, his visage appearing on the flat of his blade.
"Intriguing," he mused. "Lenny transformed into a pistol before falling unconscious, allowing Jenny to make her last stand before she too fell. Say what you like about delaying the inevitable, but these two are quite resourceful."
"It wasn't enough," Gray Star said sourly. "What I don't get is why Kid did all of this in the first place. What does she have against me?"
"I can't say for sure. Perhaps we can ask her when she wakes."
Gray Star was about to say something about how Kid probably wasn't going to give them a straight answer when she sensed something, something that shouldn't have been possible.
"Sage," she said, pulling up her turtleneck and whirling around.
There, to her and Sage's surprise, she found Kid there behind them, standing not ten feet away.
"How is she conscious?" Sage asked, concerned.
Gray Star's eyes widened as she took in Kid's state. She was indeed back on her feet, but seemingly only barely, taking unsteady, shambling steps as if she were a member of the walking dead. Her breathing was shallow, but her teeth were gritted, her face a storm of anger, as if she were having a horrible, horrible dream.
But the most telling thing was her eyes: white, empty voids of light, searing the air at the sides of her face, devoid of awareness.
"She isn't conscious," Gray realized. "She's moving through sheer force of will alone…"
She took a step back as Kid reached out for her, seemingly aiming for her throat. With a grimace, she gave Sage a silent cue to transform into his Uncanny Sword mode, the black blade appearing in her hands in a flash of light. Before she could move to attack, however, she heard a voice from above her.
"Don't engage!" it called out. "It's too dangerous!"
Gray Star looked up to see Shinigami-sama, her mother and her Aunt Liz in his hands, held aloft by eight separate jets shaped like skulls. Though they weren't connected to him in any way, the jets spit blue flames hot enough to allow him to hover. He looked down on the scorched and pockmarked battlefield with a stern look on his face.
"I'll handle this," he said darkly.