Hey everyone, its been a while. Was busy during the end of last year so I just couldn't find it in me to do...anything. But now that its the new year, I've gotten some of the feel back, so yeah. Here is the latest chapter. Hope you enjoy.
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Jun sighed as she looked out the window. It had been a little under a month since the incident with Kurosaki, and so far she's been under psychiatric evaluation. According to Asuka, she was fine physically but her mental state, while apparently having lost the aggressive side that represented her Beast, still seemed somewhat unstable. Either way, for now they would continue keeping her under observation.
Even so, it wasn't as if Jun had the time to worry about her old rival. Devil Beasts weren't resting, and already she'd had to deal with several more incidents during the time. Sometimes Azure helped them out whenever he picked up the trail of a Devil Beast incident, and more or less insisted on helping…something he proved to be quite effective in considering he wasn't part of the HA. Oh sure, he was basically useless in a direct confrontation with a Devil Beast, but he was a good shot, and quick on his feet, which made him good support…something that was still a mixed feeling for her. A part of her, especially her Beast, felt…happy when he was there, doing his best to support her. It was an encouraging and even empowering feeling to know that he was there, doing what he could to help her and generally showing he cared. And yet…the fact that he was throwing himself into harm's way made her worry, another part of her preferring if he could just stay out of this to remain safe.
But aside from her currently complicated relationship, another worrying thing was how dealing with Devil Beasts was becoming almost…normal. After several battles with various Devil Beasts, those that could be saved and those that needed to be put down…she was apparently hitting the point where being called out at a moment's notice to fight and possibly kill…it was becoming like a sudden assignment or request. And that…worried her…
Sighing again, she looked to the tablet sitting on the table in her room before picking it up and patching a call. Due to her involvement with the HA and her parents' positions, they'd given her a special line that she could use to try and contact them at any time…provided they weren't doing something that required their full attention. The call loaded for a bit, before a few moments later, the screen came on, revealing her parents. "Hi Mom, Dad," Jun smiled a bit.
"Hello, Jun," both her parents smiled. "How are you?"
"I imagine Asuka has been keeping you updated on that front," Jun said with a weak chuckle at an attempt to joke.
That caused the two of them to frown a bit. "We are aware of recent events, but…we want to hear it from you," Masato said with a slight frown.
Jun sighed…before she started to talk to her parents, telling them of the recent events…and her own feelings on this matter. "I'm scared…" she admitted after a while. "I chose to do this, but even then I'm afraid that someday I'll come to enjoy the battles…the bloodshed…" she said, a tired expression on her face.
"Jun…" Maria said sympathetically. "We really wish we could say that those fears are…unfounded…" she said after a moment, something that made Jun's expression fall further.
"So am I going to become little better than the Beasts?" Jun asked.
"That's not true," her father said sternly. "Yes, we won't sugar coat things. It hurts us to say it too, but we want you to understand as well. Jun, you are more than human now, and while it's true there are similarities between the Devil Beasts and Devilmen…the differences are very important," he said.
"A desire for battle is something of a near fundamental part of the Beast Factor, the desire to prove your strength and grow stronger. But…in the end it's still just a desire," her mother said with a soft smile. "That's why above all we wanted to save your heart as a human. Because as long as you have that, whether you choose to follow those desires or rise above them…that will be your choice."
"But whatever choice you make, know that no matter what you will always be our daughter," Masato said with a gentle smile, one she returned.
"Thank you…" Jun smiled a bit. Knowing her parents supported her meant a lot to her.
"Besides…from what you've told us, you're not alone in your battles," Maria smiled.
"Well…Asuka has been a great help, and I feel like I can trust her," Jun smiled a bit.
"I wasn't talking about Asuka," Maria chuckled a little mischievously. "You don't find a man willing to stand by you like that every day," she said teasingly, clearly referring to Azure. "Should we be expecting grandchildren soon?"
At that Jun blushed furiously. "Mom!" she said.
Maria just laughed at her reaction, while Masato shot his wife a wry smile. "Dear, I don't think you should tease Jun about that. She's clearly conflicted enough as is," he said.
"Sorry, I couldn't resist," Maria chuckled a bit. "But I think he's already made his choice from what you've told us," she said. "A little bit of relationship advice, don't push away the people who care for you. You might regret it far more than just losing them…"
Jun's expression became solemn at that. "But I can't ask him to…" she trailed off.
"I think he might have already made his own choice," Masato said after a moment, a small smile on his face. He felt happy to know that despite everything, his daughter found someone who seemed willing to accept her for who she was, even wanting to be by her side despite knowing the truth. "Though if you do choose to be with him, we'd appreciate it if we could talk to him first. I'd quite like to be able to meet our future son-in-law," he added with an amused expression.
"Not you too…" Jun groaned, but despite herself she smiled a bit, feeling some of the anxiety from before lifting. Not completely, but her parents' support…and the admittedly awkward shift to her love life, helped to take away some of her worries.
However, before they could talk more, there was a small beeping, before the secret passage that led to Asuka's apartment opened up, to which Asuka soon came in…and saw that Jun was talking to her parents. "Ah…sorry to interrupt," Asuka said apologetically. "But I'm afraid there's work to be done."
At that, Jun's expression became serious. "Another one?" she frowned.
"Yes, by sheer luck some of our Field Agents found one. This one seems to have just Awakened, but already it's taken several lives. The HA's forces are working to try and drive it away from populated areas. So far they've managed to corner it in a local park, ironically the same one you fought Kurosaki not long ago," Asuka said. "We'll need Lady's help soon."
Jun frowned, but nodded all the same. "I understand," she sighed, before turning to her parents. "I'm sorry, I wish I could talk more, but…"
"We understand," her parents smiled. "Jun, just know that we're very proud of you, and that no matter what choices you make we'll support you as best as we can. We love you."
"I love you both too," Jun smiled, before she ended the call and soon put the tablet aside then looked at Asuka. "I'll meet you downstairs," she said, earning a nod from Asuka, who soon went back into her apartment.
With that said, Jun soon exited her room, and went for the door. But as she reached the door…
"Jun? Are you going out?" Hikaru asked, much to Jun's surprise at seeing her brother up so late.
"Hikaru? I thought you went to bed," Jun said in surprise.
"I got up for some water," Hikaru said, as true enough he was carrying a glass of water. "Are you okay, sis? You've been going out a lot more at night lately…"
Jun felt a small stab of guilt at having to lie to her brother, but much like with Azure…she felt it was better this way for now. At least that way he'd hopefully not be involved. "Everything's alright. A friend asked for a favor. I'll be back before morning," she reassured, earning a small nod from Hikaru, before she soon left their apartment.
XXXX
It was a rare foggy night outside, not that Jun could really appreciate it as currently she and Asuka were riding inside a car sent by the HA to pick them up, rushing towards the park where the HA had managed to corner the Devil Beast for now. "I imagine it's a bit soon to ask, but any idea what I'm up against?" Jun asked after a moment.
"Unfortunately you'd be right," Asuka sighed, giving her an apologetic look. "Because of how quickly we found this Beast, there isn't much information I've been given. All I know is that it seems to use bladed arms as weapons. Despite that, it seems to be cautious around those with firearms, though it seems a few soldiers that got cocky…ended up picked off," Asuka said, relaying what she knew so far. "If it really is picking off targets one by one, you shouldn't have a hard time getting a chance to face it, but…"
"But to ensure that it won't try to escape, I may have to face it alone," Jun frowned, earning a small nod from Asuka.
"We'll try to monitor the situation as best as we can, but yes, I'm afraid you're essentially on your own. We'll do what we can to support you, but as things are this Beast is either crafty or cowardly," Asuka frowned.
Jun nodded a bit in understanding. "Alright," she said, right as they pulled up at the entrance to the park. Quickly exiting, Jun felt a slight chill from the cold of the fog, but she quickly shrugged it off as she followed Asuka as they made contact with the HA team that were keeping control of the situation.
"How's the situation?" Asuka asked.
"So far we've been able to contain it in the park. It picks off anyone who strays from the group so we haven't been able to actively keep track of it, but we've set up cameras around the perimeter, and so far we haven't found anything to suggest that the Beast has escaped the park," the squad captain explained. "Of course, we DO have smaller teams standing by near likely exits just in case," he quickly added.
Asuka nodded at that. "Alright, the fact that the Beast is in the park is plenty of help," she said before turning to Jun who nodded with a slight frown.
"So I'm up then," Jun said, her expression neutral, even if within her she felt Lady stir, her Beast quite eager for battle once again. Without another word, she stepped into the park, going past the soldiers present, a few of them giving her way, knowing full well who she was at this point. Jun herself didn't think much of it. There was a more important task at hand, and she was going to do what she came here to do. She continued to walk further into the park, and when she was sure she was well out of view of any of the soldiers, she started to drop her clothes till she was completely naked, a small shiver going through her as the chill of the night made itself known. Fortunately she didn't have long to worry about that, as the sound of rustling was heard. Something was moving around in the surrounding vegetation, and considering how much was moving, it was pretty big.
Immediately tensing, her eyes started to glow a feral yellow as she felt Lady come to the forefront, right as whatever was in the vegetation emerged. It was very clearly a Devil Beast, a large one at that which at first glance had a head that made her think of a weasel, what with the fur and tail…but that's where the similarities ended. It had several…blades…for lack of better words growing out of its body, two on its shoulders, three 'toes' that may as well have been bladed claws on each foot, even a few growths that seemed like small blades on its chest, and a few insect-like aspects but the weasel part was the main theme. Of course what was most notable of all was its two arms which had turned into a pair of massive sickle like blades, a small part of her wondering if this was basically the Beast Factor trying to make a Kamaitachi.
Either way, she didn't dwell on it as the Devil Beast charged forward, aiming to cut her in half, to which she quickly evaded as she transformed and before long Devilman Lady was on the hunt. Growling, Lady charged forward, ducking under a wide swing, and brought up her arm, landing a powerful uppercut to the chin of the Beast, sending it reeling back. She didn't let up though, and charged forward, clawing at the reeling Beast, causing it to growl in pain as her claws drew blood, but the hide on this Devil Beast seemed a bit tougher than the ones she'd fought before, as she couldn't score any major blows this time before she was forced to back off when another scythe blade came for her.
The Beast despite its earlier daze, was quick to recover, and it did NOT appreciate her actions. Redoubling its efforts to cut her apart, it managed to push Lady on the defensive for now, her instincts (and common sense) telling her she did NOT want to try and take one of those on directly. Said intuition proved true when in the Beast's seemingly frenzied strike, one of its blades managed to graze her shoulder, but even just that cut right through her skin easily, causing her to growl in pain as she leaped back to get some range between them.
Lady glared at the Beast as she held the wound. Fortunately it was shallow so it would heal fast enough. She wanted to pay it back for what it had just done, but she also knew that doing so recklessly would only put her at a disadvantage. She couldn't fight this thing too directly, not while it had those scythes. Hm…there's a thought.
Her eyes immediately went to the joints of the Beast's arms, noting that while they wouldn't be easy to get to, they were not bladed in any way. However, the Beast seemed to realize to some degree what she was thinking, and soon started to retreat. "You're not getting away," Lady growled, as she gave chase.
The Beast ran through the park for a while as if trying to use the fog to cover its tracks, but Lady was hot on its heels and before long she had enough and leaped forward, managing to land on its back, causing it to struggle and try to shake her off, but she held firm while starting to claw at its back, the thick hide proving difficult for her claws, but bit by bit she was breaking through, causing her to smirk a little as she redoubled her efforts.
Naturally the Beast didn't care much for that and tried its best to shake her off as it continued running in a near mad dash. So focused it was on trying to get her off, that it didn't notice that when it broke through some shrubbery, it had run right towards a pond, sending them both into the water. Fortunately for Lady, like with her battle with Kurosaki, her time as a swimmer kicked in and she managed to take a deep breath before they'd plunged into the water, allowing her to still maintain some control as she took advantage of being in the water to grab the Beast's shoulders, careful to avoid the blades and start pulling, aiming to rip the arms off. A crude strategy, but her best bet to win.
The Beast roared in pain, even as it ended up taking in water, but despite the pain and the fact it had inadvertently started to drown itself, it struggled, trying to shake her off, before in a stroke of luck, it managed to swing its claw in a way that managed to catch her right in the arm, causing her to shout in pain as the blade pierced her arm just shy of her shoulder. Blood started flowing into the water, both now struggling to get out of the water, and after a few moments, the two emerged, the Beast landing on the ground, with Lady still impaled on its blade. She coughed up some water, but quickly regained her wits, and with a growl, tried to free herself from the sickle blade, but found it was lodged in quite deep. Even so she pushed and struggled, doing her best to ignore the pain.
The Beast however didn't just let her do as she pleased, and lifted its arm, taking her with it. For a moment she swore she saw a smirk on its features before it lifted its other arm and aimed to stab her, but at the last minute she managed to use her tail to strike at the blade, knocking it off course just enough to avoid getting impaled, before she grabbed hold of the arm, and started kicking against its chest, aiming to both free herself and probably take the arm with her. The Beast growled in a mix of anger and pain, before it seemed to inhale, and from its mouth a thick white gas was released, hitting Lady right in the face. Lady gasped and coughed, breathing in some of it, causing her to lose her hold on its arm right as she kicked it strongly in the chest, pulling herself free from the sickle and causing her to land a short distance away.
Coughing a little, she immediately got to her feet, her right hand clutching the wound on her left arm as she glared at the Beast. Snarling, she clenched her left fist, wincing a bit at the pain, but her arm was still usable and that's all that mattered right now. With that she dashed forward, keeping a keen eye on the Beast's movements. The Beast responded in kind, slashing at her with its blades, but she managed to avoid the strikes, and counter with her own. However, when she evaded a wide strike, something went wrong. The moment she landed after leaping back, the view around her was suddenly becoming distorted somehow.
Eyes widening, she momentarily shook her head, hoping to clear it, but when she focused again, the Beast before her suddenly looked much larger than it had been before, not to mention the view around her was as distorted as before. The Beast seemed to realize her disorientation, and charged forward. However, despite the disorienting view around her, she was still able to sense to a degree the attacks coming, but with the distorted view before her, she instinctively reacted based on what she could still somewhat see. However, in her current state, she couldn't evade as effectively as before, and slowly but surely, more attacks were getting closer and closer, Lady growling in pain as she felt the blades bite into her skin, one slash catching her just barely in the other shoulder, drawing more blood, while another strike narrowly missed her abdomen, but left her side with a gash, and so on.
The Beast seemed to realize this and pressed the advantage, yet despite her weakened state, somehow it seemed to only land shallow strikes, just enough to add to her injuries, but never one that would have ended the fight.
Before long, Lady found herself on less than stable footing, her body covered in wounds, and had she not been a Devilman she'd probably have collapsed by now. However, even as she felt her injuries, she also noticed her vision seemed to start to clear. Whatever the Devil Beast did, its effects seemed to be wearing off slowly but surely. Enough so she knew that if she played this right, she might be able to counter attack.
The Beast lunged forward again, its sickle blades raised, aiming to strike at her again, but at the very last minute, she moved quickly, and dodged to the side. Smirking a bit, Lady readied her claws, aiming to give it all she had left…before its tail suddenly came up from behind and struck her, knocking her off balance. The moment she was knocked off balance, the Beast moved quickly and got behind her. The moment it did, the growths on its chest revealed themselves to be claws/extra limbs, which suddenly extended forward, and before she could react, they grabbed her arms and legs, and pulled her back.
Lady shouted in pain as she was soon pinned against the Beast's chest, small spikes on its front digging into her back, while the arms holding her pulled back, spreading her limbs and pinning her firmly as she struggled to get free, but the arms held firm, followed by the Beast using its arms and scratching her repeatedly, leaving new gashes all over her body. Lady tried to resist, but the pain mixed with the Beast opting to gas her again, left her gasping and growling, which on top of her own growing exhaustion soon caused her struggles to stop as she soon hung limply in her bonds, barely conscious.
The Beast seemed pleased at her not struggling, before it set its sights in a particular direction and charged forward, heading straight for an exit of the park. The moment the Beast came into sight, the soldiers posted immediately aimed their weapons, but the moment they saw the badly injured Lady, there was a moment's hesitation from the surprise. That single moment was all the Beast needed to break through the defense, cutting down a few of them, and even the snipers in place couldn't take out the Beast, its hide proving to be too thick for the bullets to break through and before long it had managed to escape the park.
"Sir, we have a problem!" one of the Snipers quickly reported the situation.
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Several minutes earlier…
"Something's wrong," Asuka frowned.
"What do you sense?" the squad leader asked, having heard about Asuka's apparent abilities.
"I think this Beast might have some tricks we weren't aware of. Not just any Beast can put Lady on the ropes…" Asuka frowned. "Get your men ready. We're going to back Lady up," she said quickly.
The squad leader frowned, not caring much for being ordered around, but nodded all the same. This was no time to argue after all. However, right as he was about to do as instructed, his radio came on. "Yes?" he asked, before hearing the news from the other side. "It what?!" the squad leader gasped, before gripping the radio hard enough that Asuka worried he might crush it in his hand. "Alright, all troops converge!" the squad leader ordered before ending the communication.
"It escaped, didn't it?" Asuka frowned.
"It did, and it apparently managed to capture Lady, used her like a damn meat shield too. This thing is smarter than we thought," he growled at the news, while Asuka's eyes widened in alarm. Neither of them said anything else, as they immediately got on the move to gather their forces and pursue. A Devil Beast was dangerous enough, but one that was intelligent (and to a degree cowardly) enough to do something like this…they had to take it down as fast as possible. Additional details could wait till later.
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By now the Beast had reached the closest building and was climbing it with its blades to maintain a grip on the wall, mixed with the occasional wall jumping, Lady still firmly trapped in its grasp. However, while it was busy moving around, Lady had enough time to start to shake off the effects of the gas, and properly regain her senses. By that point the Beast had managed to reach the roof of the building it was scaling.
Thinking as quickly as she could in her still slightly addled state, Lady looked around, and noticed a nearby water tower, just close enough for what she needed. Acting quickly, she willed her tail to move, to which it lashed out and cut an opening in the water tower, causing the water stored inside to gush out, spraying them both, and causing the Beast to recoil in surprise, its grip to loosen, just enough that she managed to break free and kick off of it, sending it stumbling back while she got some distance…even if she stumbled on the landing, her injuries flaring up.
Pushing past the pain, she charged forward, slamming into the Beast, causing it to smash into the wall behind it, creating a visible crater in the wall which shook the area a little, before she started raining blow after blow on it near frantically, but not once landing a decisive blow, which allowed it to recover enough to hit her with its tail, sending her flying back, and ironically slamming into the water tower she used to escape, stunning her as her entire body was wracked with pain from her injuries which hadn't had time to fully heal, the impact opening them up again.
The Beast charged forward, sickles raised as this time it really intended to cut her in half, but she managed to regain her wits and evade at the last minute, the Beast's sickles cleaving the water tower in half, just barely missing her. She growled and took advantage of the opening to plunge her claw into the unprotected joint, finally drawing some blood. The Beast roared in pain and in a blind pain stabbed its blade forward, stabbing her through her leg, causing her to shout in pain as she was forced to back away, now stumbling back, barely stabilizing herself against a different side of the roof exit that she previously slammed it against.
The Beast saw an opening and charged forward once more, sickle raised to impale her through the chest, but once again Lady managed to muster up the strength to evade, causing the Beast to stab into the wall…and as it so happened, it cut into the electric wiring of the building, causing the electricity to run into it, drawing a painful roar as the volts of electricity ran through its body. It was about to try and pull out when Lady managed to get behind it, and mustering what little strength she had left, she shoulder checked it, pushing it forward and embedding its blade deeper into the wall, but at the cost of the electricity surging into her as well. She shouted in pain as she struggled to push herself off of the Beast, something she was making some progress on.
Fortunately, the worst of the electricity was going through the Beast first, causing it to roar in agony from the electricity yet unable to escape. In the midst of the pain, it involuntarily released more of its gas in a wild spread, but not in a way that it could hit Lady. Instead however, when the gas came close to where the blade was embedded into the electric wires, a spark traveled into the gas which became brighter for a split second.
That split second was all Lady needed to see to immediately try to get away, managing to break away from the Beast somewhat…before the mass of gas was ignited, causing a chain reaction which creating an explosion that launched both the Beast and Lady away from the roof, the Beast losing an arm in the explosion as both were propelled far away from the roof in different directions.
Despite not being at a point blank range, Lady still felt a great deal of the force of the explosion, sending her flying through the air, dazed and unable to do anything as gravity eventually asserted itself and she crashed back first into the ground, creating a small crater where she landed.
Lady groaned as she fought to stay conscious, her breathing shallow from all the punishment she'd taken. She tried to get up, but eventually a mixture of her exhaustion and the punishment she'd taken became too much and she fell back, reverting to human form as her vision faded, leaving her naked and unconscious on the ground…
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Azure pulled his coat up a bit as he was on his way home. It was cold this evening, not surprising with how much fog there was. "Maybe I should adjust my times a bit more," he mused as he had left the gym not long ago. After the incident with Kurosaki, and what with him more or less butting his way into the HA, something that he admitted he wasn't fully sure if it was for the best or not…but he didn't regret his decision.
Maybe it was selfish, but he wanted to be there for Jun. He loved her, and he could tell that this change in her life was weighing heavily on her and who could blame her? Even after all this time, it was STILL surreal, and he was just more or less on the sidelines. Still, if he wanted to help, he was determined to not be deadweight. That was why he'd started seriously working on his training again. He'd always kept in shape, but now he was redoubling on that training so that if nothing else, he could be of help in any way.
Another thing was that as he walked, he couldn't help but feel like this whole thing was unfolding like something out of a comic. It definitely wasn't a good thing considering people were turning into monsters, but at the same time a small part of him, the little kid in his heart that grew up idolizing the heroes in the stories, found the idea exciting (a fact he couldn't help but feel some shame at because dammit, people were dying!). It was that way of thinking that also made him think that Jun kind of reminded him of some of the heroines in the stories right now. It was the love of her parents and her strength of will that allowed her to use her new power wisely, to use it for the sake of others. He…honestly admired that, which was probably part of why he was so…hell bent on being there for her. Even the strongest and most noble of heroes were still people, and like them Jun had her own limits…and he refused to let her shoulder the weight by herself. He wanted to help her bear the burden even if just a little, lest it crush her under its weight…
His musings were cut short though when he heard a loud explosion. "What the hell?!" he gasped, turning to see the source, what he saw was a plume of smoke coming from one of the apartments that was honestly within driving distance from his apartment, so that wasn't a comforting thought. However, as he looked at the explosion, against the light from the explosion he saw something flying, before he momentarily lost sight of it…and then he heard a loud crash as something crashed into the ground further up ahead.
Now very alarmed, Azure ran forward, looking for the source of the crash, and soon finding the source, or rather the crater it created in a small park nearby. However, when he saw what made the crater…he felt his heart stop for a moment. There, lying on the ground was Jun, completely naked and severely injured, her body covered in gashes and bruises, and more than a few spots leaking and/or stained red with her own blood, and generally looking like she'd been in a fight and lost…which considering her state, was very likely what had happened.
His mind quickly snapping into high gear, he ran closer to her, and took off his coat, ignoring the chill of the cold night, he gathered Jun into his arms, gently lifting her out of the crater she'd created as Devilman Lady, and wrapped her up in the coat. Once she was wrapped up, he lifted her up, carrying her bridal style and quickly went for the only place he could think of right now. His home. He didn't care how superhuman Jun's body was, nobody can just walk off a fall like that, and he did NOT want to take her to a hospital. They'd ask way too many questions. He just hoped Jun's own abilities and whatever supplies he had at home would be enough...
XXXX
Meanwhile, the HA was in a bit of an uproar. After the explosion happened, they'd completely lost track of both Lady and the Devil Beast, not to mention having to quickly start planning the cover story in light of the blackout and fire that had started, which the fire department was already working on. Well…they found a PIECE of the Devil Beast, namely a severed arm, which had quickly reverted back to a human arm shortly after they found it. That was encouraging, since it means Lady managed to deal a near crippling injury on the Devil Beast, but with these things…that didn't guarantee anything.
As much as they would have liked to think the Beast was dead, they risked making a wrong assumption, so they continued to search. "Any word?" Asuka frowned.
"Nothing so far. No sign of Lady or the Devil Beast," the Squad leader frowned.
"Then keep looking," Asuka sighed. "There's just no way something like that could have done them both in…and if it did…we need to at least find the bodies…" Asuka frowned, not liking the idea at all. She didn't THINK it would happen…but there was no guarantee.
The Squad leader nodded and signaled for the search teams to continue while Asuka tried to find Jun. She'd sensed Jun after the explosion, but Jun's mind was growing hazy before she felt Jun lose consciousness. If Jun was still alive that meant she was out here somewhere, completely vulnerable.
The search continued and for nearly an hour, they found nothing, though they DID find an empty crater which suggested that either Jun or the Beast had landed there and pulled themselves out of it, but still no sign of either at first…until mid-way of the search, Asuka's phone chimed in, revealing a text, the sender revealing to be Azure.
Asuka blinked a bit, but checked to see what he wanted to say, seeing as she HAD given him her number after it was clear that he was going to try and stand by Jun's side come hell or high water. And as she read the message…she was very glad she did. "Call off the search for Lady. She's safe," Asuka said, relief very visible in her voice. "But continue the search for the Beast. We're not stopping until we find proof that it's dead. Failing so we'll assume it's still alive," she said with a frown.
XXXX
Jun groaned as she slowly came to, the light from a nearby window rousing her from her sleep. Slowly opening her eyes, she found herself looking up at the ceiling. Slowly turning her head she noticed she was in an unfamiliar room, one that was simple yet had a comfortable feel to it. Groaning a little, she lay her head back down on the comfortable pillow. She felt exhausted, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep. However, even as her body wanted rest, her mind was playing back what had happened, and when it finally fully registered what had happened and where she'd been. Gasping in alarm, she sat up...and noticed she had been dressed in a bathrobe with bandages covering her body, the same places as her injuries from the night before. "What...happened?" she blinked in surprise. "Where am I?"
The last thing she remembered was fighting the Devil Beast, ending in that explosion and falling unconscious not long after, but then…where was she? This didn't feel like an HA facility (she'd been in some a few times every now and then), it was too bright, too open. Eventually she decided sitting around wouldn't answer anything and she got out of bed, her body no longer feeling any pain before she took off the bathrobe and undid her bandages. She inwardly marveled at the fact her injuries had already fully healed, the physiology of Devilmen incredible in that regard, as she knew she'd been stabbed through some of her limbs the night before and now she didn't have so much as a scratch on her.
However, she didn't let herself think of that too much though as she had to figure out where she was first. With that in mind, she put the bathrobe on again and went to the door and slowly opened it. The door opened to show a modest but comfortable looking apartment, but so far she didn't see the owner. However, the next thing that caught her attention was the sound coming from another room, namely the sound of water running. Attention now focused on that, she slowly moved through the apartment, along the way noticing a broom which she grabbed to use as a weapon.
…okay, maybe she didn't actually need the broom, but she wasn't about to turn into Lady to take down a potential kidnapper. That was overkill. Either way she kept focus and moved toward the source of the sound, slowly opening the door to find a bathroom that was rather sizable, enough so that it had both a shower and a tub, and noticed that someone was using the shower which was hidden behind the shower curtain, the silhouette she was pretty sure was male. Taking a moment to breathe (and squash down the feeling of invading someone's privacy), she inched closer to the shower curtain and finally steeling herself, grabbed the curtain, and pulled it aside, ready to use her improvised weapon if it came to that.
The curtain was pulled aside, the person in the shower turned in surprise…revealing to be Azure, and for the second time Jun was able to see…everything he had to offer. The moment she registered her boyfriend…and saw his naked form…Jun felt her mind…short circuit for lack of better words. At the same time Lady was purring quite happily, giving off the very clear urge of wanting to join Azure in the shower…and probably do more than that too.
At the same time, Azure finally got his bearings from the surprise of suddenly having the shower curtain pulled open while he was in the middle of the shower…and his face reddened a bit in embarrassment, before quickly moving to cover himself up a bit with his hands (after he quickly turned off the shower).
"Uh… I… see you're awake…" he said awkwardly. "Are you… doing ok?"
Jun finally seemed to have found her voice. "I…I'm terribly sorry," she squeaked, quickly turning away, face red as well. "I wasn't sure where I was and…"
"I…understand," Azure said, still looking a bit awkward. "I don't exactly put up much proof that this is my apartment outside of my own room. Not really a fan of putting up personal or family pictures all over…"
"Y-yeah, though…I guess a kidnapper wouldn't have bothered treating my injuries and everything," Jun said, clearly quite flustered…not helped by her own instincts shouting at her to take advantage of this situation. "I…guess I should leave you be," she said.
"You could," Azure nodded…before a thought crossed his mind. One that was rather bold…but he had to admit…he quite liked it even if he wasn't fully sure how wise it was…but screw it if he wasn't going to at least give it a shot. "Or…you could…join me if you'd like."
Jun's eyes widened in surprise as she gulped thickly. "Are…are you sure?" she asked.
"Being fully honest…not really," Azure said awkwardly. "But I'm not gonna pretend it isn't appealing…and you probably could use a shower after whatever happened last night," he said, to which Jun noted that while her injuries had healed…a few remnants of bloodstains and the like did remain on her skin.
Jun gulped a bit again at that, before slowly turning to face him again, both of them looking pretty awkward and nervous. "If…if you're alright with it, then…" she said, feeling Lady all but roar in triumph before she finally decided 'screw it', and undid the bathrobe, letting it fall off of her shoulders, revealing her body for Azure to see.
Azure's blush brightened a bit as he could see her body again, and unlike the last times…there wasn't anything stopping him from actually appreciating it, which also made him marvel at her apparent healing capabilities considering how bad she looked when he found her. However, he DID offer her a shower, so he quickly turned the water back on again, making sure it was a comfortable temperature before beckoning for her to come in, to which she slowly stepped into the shower, before they drew the curtains once again.
To say it was awkward at first would be…quite an understatement. The last time they'd been like this, they couldn't really appreciate the moment on account of the Devil Beast that had been chasing after them. Now though…it was a very different story. No life or death situation, no rampaging monster, just the two of them inside this small room with quite literally nothing between them.
With the water running, Jun decided to start with actually bathing a bit, getting some of the leftover bits of blood off her skin. Azure continued his own shower, before finally he started talking. "I was really worried when I found you last night," he admitted. "What happened? Besides the obvious."
"I guess you could say a 'Hunt' that didn't go so well," Jun sighed, taking a moment to enjoy the feel of the warm water, while she was trying to reach a spot that was a bit hard to reach…until Azure got behind her and helped her.
"Here, let me help," he said, to which she blushed a bit but nodded. He washed her back for a bit before she spoke up.
"Azure…you're really serious about this, aren't you?" she sighed. "About being part of this even when you don't have to…"
"Pretty much, yeah," Azure sighed. "I know I could walk away…but I don't plan to. And before you ask why, you already know the answer."
Jun looked down at that. "But I'm not-" she started but he stopped her.
"Not what? Not worth it?" he asked, to which she felt his grip tighten, and before she could react, she felt him pull her into an embrace from behind. "Don't you dare say you're not worth it. Because to me…I don't know anyone more worth it than you," he said, arms wrapped around her.
"Azure, you…!" Jun gasped, while inwardly she felt Lady pur in approval.
"I'll say it once, I'll say it a hundred times. I'm staying," Azure said firmly, shifting his head a bit till their cheeks touched, and Jun soon returned the nuzzle, finding the feeling of being in his strong arms.
"You…really mean that, don't you?" Jun said, turning towards him and for the first time this morning she felt herself smile.
Azure let go of her, for a moment, letting her turn till they were facing each other. "Every last word. I love you, Jun. And its going to take a lot more than some monsters to chase me away."
"You're way too stubborn, you know that?" Jun couldn't help but say with a chuckle.
"So hard headed my parents swore a rock would lose to my head," Azure joked, causing her to laugh, before their faces inched closer and their lips met, the two sharing a deep and passionate kiss as they held each other close, the couple enjoying the feel of their bodies pressed together, Azure enjoying the feeling of her ample breasts pressing against his bare chest, while Jun was enjoying the feel of his muscled body against hers, Lady purring in joy at the feeling of having their man all to themselves as the warm water cascading down their bodies, and for a moment there was only the two of them. Nothing else mattered. And as they continued to make out, hands starting to wander, they both felt a strong desire start to stir within them and it wouldn't be long before-
And the moment was promptly ruined when the sound of a phone ringing was heard, breaking them both out of their moment, and causing them to groan in annoyance. "I so want to ignore that…but it might be important," Azure sighed.
"Yeah…I guess it might…" Jun sighed as they reluctantly pulled away from each other, while Lady was growling in annoyance within her. They took a moment to be able to appreciate each other fully again, before Azure stepped out of the shower and grabbed his towel and started to dry himself and then wrapped it around his waist. But before he left the bathroom he turned to her.
"So…does this mean we're officially back together?" he couldn't help but ask.
Jun giggled despite herself. "Technically we were never apart…but yes…I think this does make us officially back together," she smiled.
"Glad to hear that," Azure said with a grin of true happiness before he went to pick up the still ringing phone.
After he left, Jun soon finished up her own shower, though a part of her wondered if they couldn't…continue where they left off. However, right as she was thinking that, Azure suddenly came back, looking half frantic.
"It's from Asuka," Azure immediately said, expression dead serious.
Jun's eyes widened before she turned off the water and immediately started drying herself. This was important. Of course, before they could handle this she had another issue. "Before I take that call…got any clothes you don't mind lending me? Preferably ones you won't miss if they're ever lost…"
XXXX
"Glad to see the Beast Factor's healing ability is as strong as research says," Asuka said, trying to maintain a light tone, probably to give some levity to the situation. "Though, shall I assume something nice happened?" she teased a bit as Jun and Azure met her at the meeting spot they'd agreed on.
"You could say that," Azure said as he and Jun blushed a bit.
"Well then I'm happy for both of you," Asuka chuckled a bit. "Before we begin, just to put some worries at ease, we've already informed your Brother the previous night that you wouldn't be home. As far as he knows, I'm an associate of your parents, and I came asking a favor. Not exactly a lie, but not the full truth either," she said, earning a small nod from Jun.
"Thank you. I was worried about what Hikaru would think if I didn't come back," Jun sighed as they sat down. "So, I imagine you wanted to talk about that Devil Beast," she frowned.
Asuka nodded. "Yes, unfortunately despite our efforts, we couldn't find any proof that it had actually been killed in the explosion," she explained. "The only thing we've confirmed so far is that it lost an arm in the explosion, and while we're working on seeing if we can't identify the identity of the Beast in the event that they changed back, we are also operating under the assumption that we will need to confront it again in the future," she said.
"I see…" Jun frowned. "So what do we plan to do?"
"For now? Continue searching and find out more information," Asuka sighed. "But at the same time, we should consider a way of countering the Beast if/when we encounter it again."
Jun nodded at that, seeing the logic. "And seeing as I'm the only one who fought it…"
"Yes, we'll be relying on you to fill in the blanks combat wise," Asuka said, looking apologetic.
"It's alright," Jun sighed. "Ability wise, at first glance it seems straight forward, and yes, those sickles are as effective as they look," she said, wincing a bit as she idly rubbed where it had stabbed right through her arm. "It also has additional arms on its chest, though how it uses it in battle, I can't say for sure. But the biggest problem is that gas," Jun frowned.
"Gas?" Azure blinked.
Jun nodded. "It can release a gas that is flammable, hence the explosion last night. But what's really dangerous is that when it used it on me, I started seeing things. Like the world became warped."
"So a gas that causes visual hallucinations…or at least causes a warped effect," Asuka frowned. "That COULD be a problem…"
"Well, you could try taking it out from a distance maybe?" Azure suggested.
"Not a good idea," Asuka shook her head. "Aside from the force a weapon would theoretically need to achieve that effect, it risks causing too much collateral damage if it were to miss, and this Beast isn't exactly slow moving either."
"Ah…right…that'd be bad," Azure winced, already seeing the danger.
"So confronting it head on seems to be the only option," Jun frowned.
"Still, there's no need to get too worked up about it right now. We are still searching for the Devil Beast," Asuka sighed. "I recommend formulating a means to fight against it in the meantime."
Jun frowned but nodded all the same. She knew full well that if that Beast was still out there, she'd have to face it again. And she could feel that Lady was quite intent on making that Beast pay.
"You'll win next time," Azure encouraged. "I know you will," he smiled.
"Thanks, Azure," Jun smiled a bit. Having his support really was something she appreciated.
"You're really serious about this, aren't you?" Asuka said half rhetorically. "You're really serious about being by her side no matter what."
"Serious as a heart attack," Azure confirmed with a firm nod.
Asuka chuckled a bit at that. "Alright, then I hope you're ready."
"Ready for what?" Azure blinked, while Jun looked confused as well.
"For training and testing of course," Asuka said. "If you're that serious about helping us out, we might as well make you a member of the Human Alliance. Of course, seeing as you're not a special case like with Lady, we can't just let ANYONE in at this point," she chuckled.
Azure paused for a moment, before his expression hardened. "Bring it."
"Oh trust me, we will," Asuka said cheerfully.
And now Jun felt like she had a new thing to worry about… It seemed her new life wasn't done throwing worries for her. Still…the level Azure was willing to go for her…she felt really touched by that, and the advice her parents gave her came back to her, and despite it all…she couldn't help but smile a little.
XXXX
Meanwhile, outside of the city, in a forested area…
The Devil Beast growled as it trudged through the woodlands, its missing arm occasionally dropping blood as its body tried its best to heal the injury, but only could manage to close up most of the wound, and would probably completely close up the wound within a few more hours.
It didn't have an actual goal in mind, though a part of its mind snarled at the memory of the one that did this to it, but it was smart enough to know that it couldn't do anything right now. As it trudged along, hoping to find some safety till it could recover, it stopped short when it sensed a presence. Immediately on alert, it looked around.
At first it seemed like nothing was there, before it heard a rustling in the greenery and immediately focused on that and as something came into view, it immediately charged forward, intending to cut it down. However, it only got a few steps before it skidded to a halt, its body suddenly quaking in fear as the figure started to change and shift, growing larger and soon towered over the Beast that was seemingly rooted to the ground as the figure loomed over it…
XXXX
And with that, Jun and Azure are together again. However, even with that passed, it seems there are other things looming in the shadows. More to come as the story continues to progress.