KIRIKO
My gaze swept around our future battlefield. Not that there was much to see anyway, just a big, enormous open field. A crater one could say, but straight instead of leaning down.
A thought waltzed in my head while Brian and I started trekking towards our enemy.
"Wait, if I can't fight because of this 'Metaverse' bullshit and you don't have any weapons, how are we supposed to…"
I couldn't even finish my sentence that my companion was briefly enveloped by blue flames. When they dissipated, my jaw ended up hitting the floor.
He was… different. Suddenly he had armor almost all over himself, with a color that I guess was supposed to be silver, but was completely charred. His chest was covered by a long piece that reached to below his midriff, his left arm had a gauntlet of the same color as the rest of the metal on his body, including steeled boots and pants. His right arm was without armor, but still covered until below the shoulders with a long leather glove. In between the chest piece and the legs he also had a blue skirt like garment, reaching to his knees. Around his neck, covering his nose and mouth was also a blue scarf, shorter than normal, but added a certain… style to the whole thing. And to finish, over his eyes, he had a mask, shaped like a medieval helmet's visor.
Oh right, I obviously couldn't forget the BIG ASS SWORD HE WAS SUDDENLY CARRYING OVER HIS RIGHT SHOULDER!
Where did that come from?! Hell, where did everything come from?! At that point I was seriously two steps away from just admitting to having gone insane. An alternate world where people just… transformed into knights or shit like that?! How could I NOT think that I was going bonkers?!
Brian's voice brought me back into focus.
"Hey, don't go into lalaland now! I will explain everything once we're done here, but I need you to not get distracted! Okay?!"
I nodded numbly, not even sure what I was supposed to believe anymore. But, once more, I felt compelled to trust him.
And trust him, I did.
Shindo Ōkusa saw us approach with a big, almost demented smile on his face. He raised his arms up, almost as if inviting us to go hug him.
"And finally, here are the villains of the story! I was just wondering when you'd show up! I was starting to get bored, you know? And when I get bored… let's just say that bad things tend to happen".
Villains?! Us?! That bastard's annoying voice was starting to aggravate me once more. After all the shit that he and his group did, he had the balls to call us villains?!
"How dare you…!"
"Don't let him bait you Kiriko. Just keep your cool and support me. He'll have what's coming to him".
Brian stepped ahead of me, readying his greatsword.
Shindo smirked and snapped his fingers, summoning… monsters, for lack of a better term. Floating pumpkin heads with lit lanterns, small fairy-like women and one big horned purple horse.
Jack-o'-Lanterns, Pixies and a Bicorn, as I would learn later on.
I readied my Healing Ofuda, while my companion grasped his mask and, somewhat dramatically, ripped it off his face.
"Slaughter, Mordred!"
Almost as if answering his words, a gigantic figure appeared behind him. A knight, once more, clad head to toe in dark red armor with black streaks scattered around. He was missing the helmet, just like his master, but instead of a scarf, he had a dark hood covering the entirety of his face. Two menacing red eyes seemed to shine from within. In his hands, planted on the ground by the tip, was a massive zweihander, with beautiful and intricate patterns resembling an inferno of flames.
Mordred, as he had been called, raised his sword and swung violently, splitting apart one of the pumpkins and scattering the rest. Afterwards, he disappeared, leaving Brian alone once more, who surged forward to meet his enemies.
In the meantime I was keeping myself busy throwing my Ofudas to him, to make sure he didn't die. What neither of us ended up accounting for, though, was Shindo Ōkusa.
The bastard wasn't fighting, not yet, apparently content to just sit back and watch. But that didn't mean he was just being idle.
"And there she goes, once more avoiding the consequences of her fuck ups. You really are one of them, aren't you?"
"Don't talk to me. Your turn will come once my friend is done with your little minions!"
Shindo laughed mockingly.
"See?! That's exactly what I'm talking about! You preach and rave about 'protecting the people of Kanezaka' and all those nice little words. But the truth is, your meddling has done nothing but make the situation worse for everyone!"
That gave me pause. I didn't want to listen to him. But I couldn't stop.
"What do you mean?! We're fighting back! Or did you expect us to just roll over and…"
"WE EXPECT YOU TO FIGHT, YOU YŌKAI SCUM!"
He takes a deep breath and continues.
"Do tell me. What do you think you're accomplishing with your… little rebellion? That you're making a difference? That you're making these people's lives better? That you're giving them hope?! Don't make me laugh! You Yōkais are nothing more than mosquitoes. You are a mild nuisance at your best and the subject of laughter at your worst. And just like insects, we would just love to squash you, but it's not a necessity. Do you know what you're actually doing? You and your merry little group are just making us angry. And since all of you refuse to face the consequences of your actions… guess who's paying in your stead?"
I took a step back, as each and every individual word stabbed me right in the heart. I didn't want to admit it, I refused to give that man any kind of satisfaction…
But he was right. I noticed that things were escalating for the worse. Of course I did. But I refused to admit that all of it was for naught. That our fight… our crusade…
Was making people's lives more difficult.
"And on top of that, now that one of you is finally out, guess what happens? The ones that you swore to protect are in danger of being killed. And in comes a complete stranger to mop up your sloppiness! Aren't you even a tiny bit ashamed?! Wouldn't it be better if you just disappeared and never come back?! That just sounds like a villain to me, through and through!"
His words almost got me, back then. Everything that I did… everything that I believed in… was being thrown back into my face. I was close… so close to giving up. My resolve had been severely shaken. Looking back on it now, I knew that, eventually, I would have bounced back. I would have realized that not doing anything wouldn't have been the right answer either, that fighting was the only thing I could have done. But still, at that exact moment, I only wished that the earth would just swallow me whole. Brian though...
Brian disagreed.
"Villain?! Don't make me laugh! If you think that she's a villain, you never saw true evil in the face. Her methods might suck ass, I will admit, but she IS making a difference. And people do admire her efforts! They cheer for her and the rest of the Yōkai, even if they can't do it out loud! And all of it, because of you Hashimoto! How is an organization willing to kill children supposed to be anything else but a bunch of monsters! Kiriko will stop you! And I will be there to help her do it!"
I remembered then. I remembered Yoshida-san's gratitude. I remembered Akari's smile as she stared at me like I was her heroine. I remembered my mother, doing everything in her power to keep as many people safe as she could, even when being watched at all times and forced to act as an enforcer. And I remembered… why I couldn't afford to give up. Not that day. Not the day after. Nor ever.
I always knew that, deep within my heart. I wasn't going to throw in the towel, regardless of all. Brian simply helped me take one more step forward. The one step that changed it all.
I couldn't do it as I was back then. I needed the power to fight and protect everyone. I needed the power to fight back on even ground against the Hashimoto. I needed… what my friend had. In a moment of desperation, I called upon the strength to finally make that Shindo son of a bitch eat his words.
"My my… look who finally decided to stop moping around…"
And the power I was looking for… answered my call.
A soft female voice resounded in my head, eerily resembling mine, proud and confident. My head started to hurt… but not the usual pain one would go through. It wasn't the agony of receiving a hit from the outside…
But the pain of something from the inside that wanted to crawl out.
"Are you really going to let this… sniveling bastard talk down on everything that you stood for? Are you willing to stay back and let your new friend fight your own battles for you? Tell me… who promised to protect these people? Who promised to fix the fatal mistake that she did not even fifteen minutes ago? Answer me, child".
"I… I did. And… I will not let this shadow war continue any longer!"
The voice chuckled, pleased.
"Very well then. If your resolve is this strong, then let us proceed with our contract. I shall grant you the power to fight back against your oppressors and obtain the justice you yearn so much.
I am thou. Thou art I.
Kanezaka is our home! Our territory!
And wretched parasites like the Hashimoto, are not welcome!"
I felt something form on my face. A mask. My mask. At the time, I couldn't tell you the shape of it, I was too taken by the heat of the moment. But I grasped it, and after a bit of struggling, I managed to rip it off.
It hurt. It hurt so bad… I felt the blood trickling down my cheeks while I looked up into the sky. And so, the thing that wanted to finally be free, found an opening.
My world erupted in bright blue.
And I screamed.
BRIAN
A lot of shit already went haywire during that contract of mine. Four days of nothing, one day spent babysitting and chasing around low level grunts for the name of ONE bar, meeting Kiriko, having my cover blown basically instantly after starting some proper investigations AND having the before mentioned young woman discover the Metaverse, were all part of a series of sloppy and dumb decisions on my part. Maybe my constant irritation was the issue at the base of it all, but after engaging with Ōkusa's minions I believed that I had scraped the bottom.
Of course, there is only one possible consequence to daring to tempt fate. At a certain point, Kiriko and our enemy started talking. Her Ofudas stopped coming. I shouted at the two, trying to get her back on track… and I achieved the exact opposite of what I was meaning to do.
Her groans of pain were the first clue. Then the bright golden eyes. Then the self muttering. Finally her mask, and at the end the blue flames. It could only mean one thing.
Kiriko had awakened her Persona.
And what a fucking Persona it was.
When the fire burned out, both Ōkusa and I were treated to a vision of the new Kiriko. An already powerful woman, suddenly much, MUCH stronger than before.
Her usual kimono was gone, replaced with a bright yellow one, the tips of it coming down to below her calves resembling sun rays, held tight by a black sash around her stomach. She had long, black leggings hugging all the way from her feet to her thighs with sandals, all held together by red ribbons. She also had long gloves adorning her arms from her biceps, the hands glowing a dull golden. Her face was ashen, like she had makeup, her green hair freed from the elastic and flowing down her back. She still had her headband though.
She still had her Ofudas on one hand, while the other held tightly a short sword, also known as a wakizashi. Floating behind her was her newly acquired Persona.
She was a kitsune, of course, her black fox ears standing proudly stop her head. She wore a dark red kimono held by a black sash, reaching down to her calves. Brown sandals and white socks adorned her feet. She held two folding fans, the left one open in front of her face and the other one closed underneath the opposite arm. Behind her back were nine tails, lazily swinging around.
The Persona looked teasing and playful… while Kiriko was somewhere between angry and very fucking angry. I was very, VERY glad that I wasn't her enemy at that point.
"Shindo Ōkusa. You and your pals in the Hashimoto have brought nothing but pain and misery to the people of both Kanezaka and Hanamura. You have robbed, pillaged and killed to your heart's content, not a single thought to those that suffered beneath your tyranny. No more. Your misdeeds will not go unpunished anymore! I will personally make sure that all of you are brought to justice, no matter what!"
The Persona held her folding fans high and swung them both diagonally. The Shadows that had surrounded us in the meantime were annihilated in a second, with only the Bicorn miraculously surviving the devastating attack. I finished it off quickly, before it could get back up.
It was a wind type attack.
Shindo covered his face, grunting, before shouting.
"Don't think that this will change anything! You are still the villain of this story! And as a villain, your fate is but one! It's time to perish like you deserve!"
He was enveloped by dark waves, transforming into his Shadow self. An Agathion, a little demon inside a jar.
Kiriko grinned at me.
"Can I fight now or am I still relegated to support only?"
I gestured her forward.
"Do your thing, it's not like I can stop you at this point".
"Hm, I see you learn quickly! Good, very good! Just watch, this will be but the first step towards freedom! Together, we will weed out these parasites once and for all, right Tamamo?!"
The newly named Persona grinned behind one of her fans, disappearing back into Kiriko's mask, which revealed itself to be a seemingly opera-like mask, white and golden with the tips, once again, resembling sun rays.
Ōkusa screeched, throwing himself towards us quicker than his appearance would suggest. Neither of us panicked though, dodging to the side gracefully.
Her grin did nothing but grow and grow.
"Just you watch! This battle will be over quickly!"
She swung her wakizashi dealing neglectable damage, before jumping backwards and ripping her mask off her face.
"Hunt them down, Tamamo!"
The kitsune reappeared, throwing a Garu attack towards the Agathion, who this time heavily accused the blow.
Kiriko bounded to me and slapped my hand.
"Your turn! Make it hurt!"
I grin somewhat involuntarily as well. How long had it been since I had a proper fighting partner? Way too long probably.
"Slaughter, Mordred!"
My own Persona made his reappearance, raising his zweihander for a moment and then violently slamming it back on the ground, using his Eiha attack.
Against the double attack, our opponent was barely left standing.
I look back to my companion.
"Let's finish it!"
"Right behind you!"
We ran forward as fast as we could, my greatsword and her wakizashi poised to strike. Our attacks synchronized, hitting at the same time. And just like that, it was over.
The Agathion turned back into Shindo Ōkusa.
"So, this is how it ends…? Defeated by two ignorant kids?! I… I will kill you both one day! Mark my…!"
I raised my blade to his neck.
"Who is the head of the Hashimoto Clan? Answer me right this instant if you care about your pathetic life".
I was more than ready to follow up on my threat. He must have seen it on my face, because he gulped.
"I… I don't know their name. But one of us four takes orders directly from them: Joichiro-san".
"Can you at least tell me this guy's full name?"
Shindo shook his head.
"The only one who knows is Kobayashi-san. And the one who knows HER name is Norumi-san. It's but another safety measure…"
"Tell me her full name then. And you better make it quick…"
I pressed my weapon more against his neck and he scrambled to answer.
"Norumi Mikoto! Her full name is Norumi Mikoto! Please don't kill me!"
From wolf to sheep the second things go wrong.
How utterly pathetic.
"Go back to your true self. Release Yoshida-san and Akari, then hand yourself over to the police. You will spend the rest of your life mending everything that you've broken. Understood?"
He nodded as quick as he could, before disappearing in a small flash of light.
"So… it's done? They're safe?"
Kiriko's voice sounded so… small and hopeful.
"Yeah. They're safe… for now".
Her smile was almost enormous.
"Thank the gods! I was so worried! So uhhhh… question. How do we get back?"
I chuckled. She still had a lot to learn.
KIRIKO
That had been one hell of a day, no doubts about it. We came back to the flat just in time to catch Shindo Ōkusa being thrown into a police car and brought away. The satisfaction was overwhelming, let me tell you that.
Thankfully, both Yoshida-san and Akari were unharmed. I chatted with the man, while Brian entertained the little girl for a bit. He was good with kids, I could see that much. Probably because of his younger brother.
He and I reconvened in my apartment, since Brian promised that he would explain everything that happened that day.
But we didn't even have the time to settle down that my stomach grumbled loudly, helpfully remaining me that I hadn't eaten anything. And it was a bit too late for takeout. On top of that I couldn't even think about cooking, for I was genuinely exhausted. Not that it would have been good anyway, cooking has never been my forte. But I was so hungry that I could have eaten rocks.
My mood crumbled right then and there. All of that, just to go to bed with no food. I almost cursed at the unfairness of it all.
Brian watched me with a small smile and chuckled.
"Here, I'll cook us something to eat. You must be incredibly hungry right now".
"You would?! Really?!"
"Yeah. Something something, repay you for your hospitality, something something. You got actual food in that kitchen of yours, don't you?"
"Y-Yeah, my mom brought me groceries just the other day! There should be plenty!"
"Go take a seat then. Won't be long".
I did just that. Barely ten minutes later, a very appetizing smell began to grace my nostrils. I was probably drooling I think.
As promised it didn't take long and I was presented with a nice, healthy serving of spicy rice curry.
"Dig in. If you want more, feel free to ask".
"Of course! Thanks for the food!"
I clapped my hands and took a spoonful of curry. My mouth melted. My tongue melted. My taste buds began dancing in sheer delight.
It was the tastiest curry I had ever eaten up until that point. I had chalked it up to just me being THAT ravenous with my appetite. The following times that I sampled his food proved me very damn wrong. He was simply that good.
One spoonful quickly became two. Then three. Then ten. Before I realized, I had downed two full plates of the delicious curry. I would have eaten more, but I was full. It… made for quite a show, especially compared to Brian's barely eaten half plate. Guy never properly appreciated his own dishes, something unforgivable in my eyes that I never fail to remind him.
"I think I'm in heaven. Seriously, I'm about to burst…"
I heard him chuckle again.
"Please don't. Wouldn't want all of that curry to go to waste after all".
I laughed alongside him, even if the joke wasn't that good. My adrenaline was still running. Not enough to allow me to get up, but I was still wide awake. In the end though, we had to get to reason why he was even in my apartment.
"So…"
I leaned forward, deadly serious.
"Tell me everything you know about what happened".
Hello?! Is this thing on?! It is?! Noice.
Welcome back dudes and gentleladies to another episode of UTFW, the show where traumatic events wait for no one!
My friends, it happened! The story's first Awakening! Kiriko and her partner Tamamo, the most famous kitsune in Japanese mythology. The former's Metaverse costume is a slightly modified version of her Mythic skin (Amaterasu), while Tamamo's design is inspired by some art that I found on the internet, with a dash of Ahri from League of Legends, but with my own twist. She's a wind type and will be the designated "healer" of the team.
Brian's costume, instead, is supposed to be almost identical to the armor worn by Knight Artorias, from Dark Souls. You know, except for the helmet, replaced by the blue scarf. Mordred was mostly made up, but I took some inspiration from the Huntik titan Vigilante, especially the hood. He's a curse type and will be the damage dealer/tank hybrid of the team. But there's a twist: Mordred still hasn't shown all his faces.
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gmidnight5: I shall do exactly that! I hope the continuation was to your liking!
That's all folks! Ta-ta for now!