Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.
Barbatos tapped his claws together as he stood before the front doors of Moraboshi elementary. Arrayed behind him were his three "Noble King" subordinates – there used to be four, but Phenex had managed to get back into Heaven, the traitor - the strongest demons in his army who had fallen alongside him during the War in Heaven. Behind them were a small group of slightly less powerful demons with the potential to become new Noble Kings, and behind them was a small army of lesser demons, some of whom resembled red-skinned Familiars Imps with bigger horns, wings, clawed feet, and pointed tails, while the others resembled re-colored Goblin Megid with skull masks, horns, wings, pointed tails, and pitchforks.
Near the edge of the Jyamar Area, a group of demons were gleefully torturing a screaming Courtney by branding her and inserting heated rods into several of her orifices. That obnoxious imp finally doing something other than running her mouth or trying to hump his leg brought a smile to Barbatos' face.
"So… Are we doing this, or…" Raum, who totally wasn't a primarily blue and yellow recolored Raum Phantom with red eyes, a feathery cape, and hands resembling bird heads asked.
"Not until time's up," Barbatos grunted. "Shouldn't be much longer now."
Purson, an immense demon bigger than Barbatos himself, with the lower body of a six legged bear with mouths on his knees, a serpent for a tail, a ridiculously muscular torso with a demonic visage on the stomach, scales, fur, four arms ending in massive claws and the head of a lion with a mane made of razor-sharp metal spines, a tripartite mouth, and 17 eyes yawned and stretched his limbs. "Feels like it's taking forever… I'm gonna enjoy killing them all. Been a while since I've gotten to eat human children. Almost forgot what they tasted like…"
"You can have as many as you like. Just remember, Lilim is mine," Barbatos growled hungrily.
Agares, a humanoid crocodile with a thick tail which split apart in a pair of massive jaws, three legs, scales covered in mutilated faces singing the hosannas of the damned, crocodile heads for hands, four Hawk wings with eyes growing out of them, and a head which pointed straight up but was twisted to the side, with two eyes for each jaw chuckled, saliva spattering his gold and jade Aztec jewelry. "But of course. It's about time you got rid of that dead weight anyway, my Lord. And her sister?"
"She's too weak to be much of a threat to us," Barbatos said dismissively. "Whichever demon manages to catch her will receive a sizable reward or become a new Noble King. However, I want her alive… So Lilim can watch as I utterly destroy her before her eyes before finishing her off."
Raum smirked. "Cruel as always, master."
"A reward and the rank of Noble King will also be awarded to whomever kills the weed pretending to be a person and that fat snake," Barbatos continued. "The time traveler promised us a bonus if we make their deaths as excruciating and brutal as possible."
Purson laughed. "Well, if you want brutal, you've come to the right fiend! And of course, I'm looking forward to finding out what that sorry excuse for a demon tastes like…"
"Quiet. Someone's coming," Barbatos said, everyone stiffening at this.
"Already? It's not even time yet… I think?" A confused Raum asked.
The doors opened, and out came…
A human. And not one Barbatos recognized, he hadn't been in the classroom with Lilim and the others.
(At least, he didn't think he had, all humans looked the same to him.)
"Hi! Hello!" The rather sweaty balding man said, dabbing at his forehead with a handkerchief as he looked anxiously at them, the scent of fear rising from him and causing the lesser demons to salivate.
Barbatos, who had far better control, narrowed his eyes. "And you are?"
"My name is Itami. I'm the principal of this school," the worm of a man, whose name Barbatos didn't bother remembering, said tremulously. "I was hoping perhaps we could negotiate a settlement so that you and your very formidable army don't kill us all?"
Barbatos smirked as his subordinates laughed behind him. "Yeah, that's not going to happen."
"Just… Just hear me out!" Itami said quickly. "Look, you're only here for Takayama's class, yes? If we give them up, you have no reason to kill the rest of us, yes?"
Barbatos narrowed his eyes at him. "So… You are attempting to sacrifice an entire class, their teacher, and their parents, just to save your own skin?"
"Not just my skin," Itami insisted quickly. "But the skins of all the other faculty and children and parents in the school – many of whom, might I add, are fairly wealthy in their own right and would be more than willing to compensate you if you spared their lives?"
Everyone stopped laughing.
"Mortal, are you attempting to bribe us?" Raum sneered.
"Well… Yes? I mean, you guys make deals with billionaires all the time, right?" Itami pointed out.
"That we do," Agares agreed. "But here's the thing. We demons don't give a shit about money."
"What? But… Isn't Greed a sin?" Itami asked in confusion.
"Oh, of course it is, but we don't use anything as paltry as money in Hell, we exchange souls for currency," Barbatos said.
"It was actually the idea of the demons of the Greed ring," Purson said. "Though it might be so they didn't have to worry about giving away any of their treasures."
"But… If you don't care about money, why make deals with the wealty?" The confused Itami asked.
"We don't care about money, we care about keeping the system going," Barbatos said with a chuckle. "Capitalism is a self-perpetuating machine which grinds down humanity, forces them into increasingly desperate measures to make ends meet, and overall increases the collective misery and suffering of the planet so that only a few especially nasty people can prosper."
"All of whom are utterly interchangeable," Agares said dismissively. "One billionaire is the same as another. One dies, we collect their soul, and someone else takes their place."
"And quite frankly, very few of the parents in your school right now are worth our time," Raum sniffed.
"And even if that weren't the case, the prize we've been offered for killing all of you far exceeds anything any of you pitiful mortals could offer us," Purson said in amusement.
"There is one thing you can offer us, though," Barbatos said as what sounded an awful lot like church bells rang in the air.
"What? Anything!" Itami pleaded.
Two of Barbatos arms merged together to form a full dog head, which shot out and caught Itami's head in its jaws. "Your life," Barbatos said as the principal shrieked and flailed about, soiling himself in terror. "Those bells signified that your time is up, so you can have the honor of being the first to die."
He began to squeeze, Itami screaming in agony-
"Unhand him, fiend."
Barbatos huffed in irritation as Giff stepped out to face him. "Giff. Let me guess, you're also going to try and negotiate with me for the safety of the class? I regret to inform you that I won't be deceived as easily as Astaroth."
"You're right, I do want to negotiate," Giff agreed. "However, you misunderstand. I don't want to save my great granddaughter's class; I want to save everyone. The other classes, the teachers, the parents, the principal, and especially Courtney."
Barbatos snorted as the other demons laughed. "Really? Do you know what this worm was about to do, Giff? He was trying to convince us to spare him and the rest of the school if we only killed the ragweed's class. He never cared for her or her students, he only gave them carte blanche because of the money. And he is far from the only one who would happily throw them all under the bus to save themselves. Some of the teachers, a great number of the parents and children… They despise them and wouldn't bat an eye if they were all to die. Even if you save them, they'll still cling to their petty hatreds. I know you aren't a hero, Giff, so why save such worthless, ungrateful mortals?"
"You're right," Giff said. "They are ungrateful. They are small, petty, hateful creatures…
"But why does that matter?"
Barbatos blinked. "What?"
"Do you think me blind to the faults of humans? That I don't know of the darkness that lurks within the hearts of so many in this very building, even the children?" Giff said, gesturing behind him. "I know just as well as you the depths of evil they are capable of. However, while you see them as nothing more than a source of sustenance and something to toy with until they break, I see something else… And also a source of sustenance, if we are being honest here.
"Humans are weak. Fragile. Incomplete. Imperfect. Horribly flawed, and possibly broken on some fundamental level. Far too many are consumed with self-destructive urges, and left to their own devices, they have a very good chance of destroying their own planet.
"And yet… Every crisis, every invasion, every attempt to wipe out their species, they have withstood. Despite what seems to be the entire universe arrayed against them, time and time again, they have survived the efforts of beings far greater to annihilate them. You see them as something to be scorned… While I see them as something to be admired.
"Despite being one of the most inconsequential species in this galaxy, vastly inferior to most other worlds I've been to societally, culturally, technologically, and magically… How many great empires have tried to subjugate them only to be broken instead? How many conquerors have tried to wipe them out only to die themselves?"
He pointed at the principal. "Yes, quite a lot of them are disappointing scum… And yet, just look at how many extraordinary individuals they have produced! Heroes all, my own family most prevalent of them, in my completely unbiased opinion. And if humanity can produce so many outstanding protectors despite all their failings and immature bumbling, can you imagine what they might do with proper guidance? What they might become? Is it any wonder so many other superior beings have taken an interest in them? Inferior and underdeveloped they may be, but let's not forget, when you're at the bottom..." He reached his hand up, as if to touch the sun. "There is nowhere to go but up!"
Barbatos stared at him for a moment.
And then he closed his jaws, crushing Itami's skull.
"In my experience," he said as his troops chuckled and the principal's corpse fell to the ground. "There is always another low to sink to. So, if we're done here, I think I'll get around to killing everyone now."
"We have not finished negotiating," Giff said.
Barbatos rolled his eyes. "This again? There is nothing you can offer me that would convince me to spare your great granddaughter's class or the rest of the sorry school-"
"I'm not asking you to spare them."
Barbatos blinked. "What?"
"You misunderstand again. This isn't a negotiation to save the school. This is a negotiation to save you," Giff said. "We currently possess the means and methods to kill you and your entire army. Surrender and return to the pit from whence you came, or we will destroy you all."
There was an incredulous pause, and then the demons started laughing again.
"Yeah, I'm gonna say no," Barbatos sneered.
Giff inclined his head. "And that is your final answer?"
"It is," the Demon Lord said smugly.
"Very well. Just remember that we could've avoided all this," Giff said, raising a hand.
There was the crack of a gunshot, and the left side of Barbatos' face exploded. He howled in agony, clutching his face as he staggered back, as more gunshots rang out, several demons shrieking in pain, while others exploded from head shots.
"The heaven?! Is that a school shooter?!" Rahm shouted in disbelief, transforming his cape into a wing to shield himself, only to cry out in pain as a bullet pierced it.
"Wait… Are those… Blessed bullets?!" An incredulous Agares cried.
"And there's a lot more where that came from!" Goro, perched on the roof and wearing a suit of Muscle Armor he'd received on a generous loan from Parasoleil, quipped as he reloaded. "Boys? (And girls and non-binaries, I guess) Show em' what you've got!"
The windows on the front face of the building shattered as numerous Giff Juniors, True Gifftarians, and even a Deadman or two leapt out, rolling as they hit the ground before charging at the startled demons.
"An army of your own? But where could you get it from?! You shouldn't be able to summon reinforcements!" A shocked Purson exclaimed, wincing as some of the devils managed to penetrate his hide with their swords, the wounds failing to heal for some reason.
Gift chuckled and produced his personal stamp and some Vistamps. "You might be surprised by just how many demons children can possess."
What had to be a half dozen Hell Gifftarians rushed past and started ganging up on the frightened Raum, who had to take to the air to avoid them. "Perhaps too many. I believe that Worm girl could use a good therapist, a child her age shouldn't be able to produce that many demons of that level."
"It's not just the bullets," Agares revealed as he caught three devils in his jaws, only to hiss as a True Gifftarian slashed at his side, the wounds not healing. "They've all got blessed weapons or claws! How is this possible?! That little angel couldn't possibly have done all this!"
"Who said she's the only one with divine power?"
Izu, Misora, and Slavi appeared on the rooftop alongside Goro.
"Zea is with me, always," Izu declared.
"The Queen of Mars is on my side," Misora bragged.
"And the love of Ouroboros is infinite and unending," Slavi said fondly.
"Allow us to demonstrate," Izu said as the three of them all strapped on belts, Izu the Hiden Zea-Ro One Driver, Misora the Vernal Driver, and Slavi the Hiden Boros Buckle, a retool of the Zero-One Driver but in pink with gold circuitry and the Authoriser resembling a stylized snake head and the Rise Liberator looking like a coiled snake tail with a ring around the central reactor resembleing Ouroboros biting her tail and a zoetrope function so the requisite Progrisekey, Loving Cobra, would look like it was also a snake biting its own tail. Both the Driver and Progrisekey, a perfect synthesis of Hiden and Pythonian technology and mysticism, had been a gift from the Hidens so she would be able to protect herself, since being Azu's girlfriend naturally made her a target for quite a lot of people.
HIDEN ZEA-RO ONE DRIVER!
VERNAL DRIVER!
HIDEN BOROS BUCKLE!
Izu and Slavi primed their Progrisekeys while Misora shook her Fullbottles, complex Martian script swirling around them and protecting them from projectile attacks from the fiends below.
PARADISE!
TRANSCEND!
EMBRACE!
"HENSHIN!"
All three of them jumped off the building as manifestations of Zea, Mars, and Ouroboros appeared behind them.
HOLYRISE! A RIDER KICK TO THE SKY TURNS TO WAKE UP TO A DREAM OF THE PROMISED UTOPIA! KAMEN RIDER ZEA-RO! THE DREAM IS NEVER ENDING! IT'S JUST BEGINNING.
As Misora fell, the light of Mars shone on her, a series of red and gold rings made of insanely complicated machinery surrounded by glowing holographic constellations with a piece of armor suspended in each ring forming so that with each one she passed through, it locked onto her body, assembling her suit bit by bit as she rapidly turned the crank on her Driver.
CD! MARS! VERNAL MATCH! ARE YOU READY? THE BEAUTIFUL MARTIAN IDOL, PRINCESS OF THE COSMOS! VERNAL! VERNAL! VERNAL!
Zea and Ouroboros generated a Rider Model of a snake which circled around Slavi as a black undersuit and blank mask and armor formed on her body. The snake broke apart, its segments disintegrating as they printed themselves onto her body, forming pink armor with gold circuit patterns and scale-like edges on her shoulders, knees, and elbows, with a vaguely snake-head shaped plate on her chest with protrusions resembling fangs growing downward. Gold fangs grew from her knuckles, which were covered by pink gloves. Her mask resembled a cobra face with hood-like protrusions growing from the side and snake fangs framing the mouthplate and golden eyes.
HEARTRISE! HEARTFUL VENOM! LOVING COBRA! COILS WHICH SQUEEZE THE HEART IN A NEVER-ENDING EMBRACE.
The three Riders, Zea-Road, Vernal, and Zero-Boros landed with an impact that cracked the ground, the trio releasing a blast of brilliant light as they stood up which caused the demons to flinch back and disintegrated some of the weaker ones which had been standing too close.
"Hey, what do you know, your powers do work on demons!" Slavi observed.
"So it would seem," Izu concurred. "How foolish of me to believe otherwise. Malice is malice, no matter what the source, meaning it will still fall before me."
"Speaking of falling," Misora said, cracking her knuckles. "What do you say we send these guys back to hell?"
"Agreed."
"Sure thing!"
And with that, the three women charged towards the Noble Kings.
"Hello everyone-Evo!" Evolto-Chan sang as she danced and spun in front of a group of bewildered demons, trailing stars and hearts and other girlish things. "I'm here to kill you today-Evo!"
"… Are you… A magical girl?" One of the goons asked in befuddlement.
"If she is, she's the ugliest one I've ever seen," another said derisively.
Evolto-Chan paused, glaring at him. "Rude."
She started cranking the EV-Lever on her Driver.
READY, GO! BLACKHOLE BREAK! CIAO!
The demons tensed as Evolto-Chan extended a hand, dark energies crackling around it…
And an incredibly tiny pinhole appeared in the air before her, space and light distorting around it.
The demons stared, and then burst into laughter.
Evolto-Chan started laughing as well, much longer, louder, and eviler than them, until the soldiers stopped laughing, feeling incredibly unnerved. "What's so funny?" One demanded.
"Oh, you sillies!" Evolto-Chan giggled. "t's not the size of the hole… But how you use it-Evo!"
She flicked a finger, and the micro blackhole shot through the air and buried itself in the chest of one of the demons. He blinked, and then started shrieking in agony as he slowly and agonizingly imploded on himself, his body spaghettifying as it was forcefully dragged into the blackhole.
One of the demons threw up in horror. "What the heaven?!" Another screamed.
Evolto-Chan started laughing again, and this time it was much darker and unhinged. "You guys think because you're demons you're all that? Please. Let me show you what real evil looks like-Evo."
She advanced, and the demons soon understood the true meaning of terror.
"Hi!" Jinx chirped, popping out of a crack in the ground dressed like a much sluttier Usakawa Daiyu. "Want to say hello to my little friend?"
All the demons leaned in with interest as she reached into her cleavage, opened her safe…
And pulled out a huge and extremely dopey looking fish. "This is Carl the cod!"
"I am a swordfish!" Said the fish that very much was not a swordfish.
"What-" one of the baffled demons started, just before Jinx slapped him across the face with Carl while singing the classic DuckTales theme.
"I am a swordfish!" The fish that very much was not a swordfish said again as Jinx continued using him to beat up her enemies.
"Well, it seems I'm in luck," Nushi observed, stepping in front of a group of demons. "This gives me an excuse to try out my latest modifications in a combat situation. Thank you in advance for the sacrifice you'll be making for the pursuit of knowledge."
She tossed off her labcoat, which fell surprisingly fast and hit the ground hard enough to crate it, exposing the rest of her leotard. She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her headphones with opposing index fingers, causing her visor to light up. "Insectize! Tentonushi!"
The circuit patterns on her leotard lit up, energy coursing through her body. Scalloped edges formed on her forearms and legs. Her arms blurred, splitting to create two sets. Hard light hexagons crawled over her hands, causing them to morph into black claws. Her hair grew longer, breaking out of its pigtails, while some of the spots on her back lit up and extended outwards to form metal cylinders with a shell resembling ladybug elytra between them. Similar cylinders emerged from her shoulders and hips. Her visor shimmered, and hard light hexagons were emitted from it and from her headphones, causing her head to be enveloped in a red and black-spotted helmet with a faceplate resembling insect mouthparts and her visor taking on a compound eye sheen.
"Now," she said confidently, folding two arms across her chest to push up her sizable bust while the others were placed on her hips. "Shall we begin experimenting?" She chuckled as the demons exchanged nervous looks. "My wife always looks forward to it."
"Demon scum!" Bishop declared, rapping his cane against the ground. "You will not harm my daughter or her friends!"
"Who are you calling scum? Don't you Fangires call yourselves the mightiest of the 13 Demon Races?" A demon pointed out.
"Hey, do you guys sparkle?" Another demon, clearly thinking himself the height of wit, jeered.
"Oh my, I've never heard that before," Bishop said sarcastically. "And the answer is yes… SPECTACULARLY!"
He spread his arms, light catching on his stained glass facets and refracting to cause him to dazzle blindingly. Several of the demons shrieked and covered their eyes, but one, driven into a blind frenzy, threw his trident at the Fangire, causing him to completely shatter.
Everyone stared at the heap of broken glass in surprise. "Ha! So much for that!" The demon laughed, retrieving his trident from the pile of shards. "How you guys ever managed to wipe out the other Demon Races I can't possibly imagine-"
And that's when the broken glass started trembling. The demons stared, eyes wide, as the shards started to rise into the air, unfolding to form a swarm of stained glass insects.
Specifically, mosquitoes.
"Would you care to see a demonstration of how we did it?" Bishop's voice rang from each and every mosquito.
The demon swallowed as the swarm descended, thirsting for his blood. "Oh heaven-"
Barbatos, after frantically clawing at his face, eventually managed to rip out the blessed bullet and tossed it away. His face, even more ravaged thanks to his efforts to remove the source of his pain, did not heal. "How… How is this possible?!" He demanded. "That little brat… Shouldn't have been able to bless so many weapons, nor make them so effective against a Duke of Hell like myself!"
"That's because she didn't. Or at least, not alone."
Barbatos' remaining eyes widened as Lilim approached, a bloodsoaked blindfold across her eyes, clutching something in one hand. "You… What did you do?!"
"I finally opened my eyes," Lilim said, opening her hand to reveal a pair of eyeballs.
Barbatos recoiled. "You took out your eyes?! But… But that means…!"
"It's funny," the fallen angel said dispassionately. "How I was blinder with eyes than I am now that I've lost them. Now I see the truth. The truth of what you really are. All those millennia wasted, far from my family and home, doing horrible things to try and earn your approval and love, which you were never going to give me in the first place…"
She squeezed her hand shut, crushing her discarded eyes. "I'm not going to waste one second more of my life on you, Barbatos. I don't care what rank of demon you are or what kind of Angel you used to be. I am my mother's daughter, and I will finish what my sister started!"
"But you can't! You Fell, just like me!" Barbatos insisted, a hint of desperation in his voice.
"Yes, I did fall," Lilim agreed as motes of light began to form around her. "But the thing is, Barbatos…"
Her wings spread, growing immense, before completely enveloping her. One after the other, her black feathers began to turn a beautiful, shining white, before spreading out once again in a radiant blast of holy light, white feathers flying everywhere as Barbatos howled and took a step back, shielding his face.
"That which falls… Can rise again!"
Lilim now had four white wings, two big and two small. Her tail was gone, along with her demon punk outfit. Instead, she wore flowing floorlength white robes with a golden girdle with a vaguely demonic face resembling Courtney and a golden breastplate (with emphasis on breast) studded with jewels and holy iconography. The upper half of her face was covered by an eyeless Golden Eagle mask with wings spreading from the sides, and her hair had turned red and was now flowing past her waist.
"Very impressive, Lilim," Giff complemented the risen Angel. "I know I may not be your Lord, but I hope you do not object to my joining this rather personal fight?"
Lilim smiled as Barbatos trembled in rage. "Why Lord Giff… I would like nothing more."
Meanwhile, Mugu, Nom-Nom, Neycombe, Kaseihime, Cherubi, Hazu, Shitsuki, and Jinx were approaching the edge of the Jyamar Area, where Courtney was being tortured. "So, I'm all for rescuing Courtney and all, but why are we doing this instead of the adults?" Mugu couldn't help asking.
"I'm here!" Jinx pointed out.
"Mrs. Jinx, no offense is intended, but you do not really count as an adult," Hazu pointed out.
"Yeah, that checks out," the Gangler admitted.
"Nom-Nom!"
"Don't worry children, I shall do everything in my power to protect you," Mugensai, perched on top of Mugu's head, promised.
"Yeah, that… Doesn't actually make me feel any better," the young Amazon complained.
"Do not worry. Shitsuki will kill all," Shitsuki promised, raising their axe.
"And I should be strong enough to smite them," Cherubi said, although she sounded uncertain. "I think…"
"We have nothing to worry about," Kaseihime said calmly. "Everything will be fine."
"Let me guess, because you're going to make sure it is with your freaky Martian powers?" Neycombe asked skeptically.
"Yes," Kaseihime said bluntly.
"Now Neycombe, you shouldn't be calling anyone a freak," Jinx scolded the Fangire, balancing on top of a rather large boulder painted in polka dots while wearing a World War I era German officer's uniform complete with a ridiculous mustache, a Stetson, a tutu, googly eyes, and juggling inflatable butts. "It's not like any of us are exactly normal either."
"… Fair enough. My… Apologies, Kaseihime," Neycombe very reluctantly apologized.
"No need to apologize. And we're here," Kaseihime said, and indeed they were. The demons blinked in surprise, confused as to where the children (and children at heart) had come from.
Cherubi gasped, eyes watering as she gazed upon poor Courtney. "Oh, Courtney…"
"Ch… Cherubi?" The imp rasped, barely able to see. "Don't… Don't look at me… You don't… Deserve to see me… Like this…"
"I will look at you in any way I choose!" Cherubi said angrily. "I care for you deeply, Courtney, and my heart breaks to see you like this!"
One of the demons chuckled, the torturers forgetting about their victim as they approached the group. "Don't worry, little angel, we'll be breaking a lot more of you than just your heart."
"Hello," Kaseihime said, suddenly standing in front of the demon.
The demon blinked. "What-"
"That's our friend back there. We would very much appreciate it if you gave her back without a fuss," Kaseihime said.
The demon stared at her and narrowed his eyes. "And why should we?"
"Because if you don't, you'll regret it."
This should have sounded like a harmless, empty threat, spoken by a foolish child. And yet somehow, everyone present couldn't help feeling like this wasn't a threat but an inviolable laws of the universe.
Unfortunately, demons weren't always the best at following rules.
"Nah," the demon said, driving a sword through her heart.
Everyone gasped. Kaseihime glanced down with mild interest. "Oh," she said. "So that's what dying feels like. How novel."
And then she died.
While all this was going on, Lovekov, Philia, Mei, Jun, Veila, Rayco, Hislava, and Masaki were left in the classroom, along with Ms. Takayama, Parasoleil, Asagi, Jinx, and a few True Gifftarians and Giff Juniors to help protect them. While most of the class were watching the fight going on outside and cheering on their parents or relatives, Jun and Veila had both checked out completely and were hiding under a blanket in one corner, Lovekov was meditating to try to reach her mother, and Philia was attempting to do the same.
Neither of them was getting anywhere.
"Mommy… Please, mommy… I know you're there… I can feel you… I can feel your heart…" Lovekov murmured, rubbing her temples as she tried to concentrate. "Call upon me, mommy. I need you. We all need you, love…"
"Mother… Are you there?" Philia whispered, trembling. "Mr. Lord Giff said I could reach you. That the Buzzing was still here. But… I don't hear anything. It's just me up here… It's so… So quiet…"
Heart aching, Hislava curled herself around the two of them, squeezing them tight in her coils. "Does love help?"
"Love always helps, love!" Lovekov cheered.
"Not really," Philia said bluntly. She paused, then relaxed somewhat. "You're so warm, though…"
"Don't worry, kids! You'll figure it out eventually!" Jinx chirped happily. "Just not right now. Lovekov will probably get it next chapter, while Philia…Oof, tough luck, you're gonna have to wait a bit longer."
She was very confused when Philia started crying for some reason.
"Mrs. Desmodia? How are you here with us while also fighting demons out there and chaperoning the other kids?" A confused Rayco asked.
"There is a very simple explanation for that!" Jinx announced. "Have you ever heard of Schrödinger's Bat?"
"You mean cat?" Mei asked.
"No. Anyway, this has nothing to do with that," Jinx went on, further confusing them. "Do you know how Wolverine manages to simultaneously be on every version of the X-Men and practically every other superhero team in the Marvel Universe, even ones it doesn't really make sense for him to be on? It's like that."
"You exist in multiple places at the same time because the editors know you're a popular character and encourage the writers to use him all over the place, even when it makes no sense, to try and make more people read their stories?" Masaki asked hesitantly.
Jinx shook her head. "Yes, but also no. The secret is lots of running. Gotta get my steps in!"
Nana looked at Lovekov and Philia sympathetically as Hislava nuzzled them both. "Poor dears. I wish there were something we could do to help them."
"Mamataros, can't you just wave your magic wand and help them?" Masaki pleaded.
"Shut up, brat! It doesn't work like that!" Asagi snapped, then paused to regard her wand. "At least… I don't think it does?"
"Might be worth a try," Parasoleil suggested.
The Imagin sighed. "Oh, fine." She waved her wand around, causing blue fairy dust to sprinkle the room, but nothing else happened. "There. See? Nothing I can do."
"You didn't say the words!" Masaki insisted.
"Oh for… Do I have to?" Asagi complained.
"Yes! Say the words!" Her not-child insisted.
Asagi groaned. "Oh, fine." She waved her wand again, but this time quickly muttered "Bibbity-bobbity-boo" under her breath.
At that instant, a group of demons smashed through the windows, causing the children to scream in terror.
"What are you doing?! You're supposed to be HELPING!" Parasoleil shrieked.
"That wasn't me! I didn't do that!" Asagi yelled, then glanced hesitantly at her wand. "Did I?"
As their own demons quickly rushed forward to engage the invaders, Nana narrowed her eyes and strapped on her belt.
DESIRE DRIVER!
"I will not allow you to harm my students… I will not allow my life to be dictated by the whims of fickle patrons from the future anymore!" Nana declared.
SET!
She inserted her strange Buckle into the Driver and slammed her fist on it.
JYAMATO!
Vines burst out from her Driver, wrapping around her to form a cocoon which became shredded to pieces, revealing that she had become a Jyamato Rider, not that anyone in the class recognized her as such.
"Whoa! Ms. Takayama, you look awesome!" Mei cried.
"I am certain there are many who would dispute that statement, but thank you for saying as much, Mei," Nana said as she strode towards the demons. "Now, listen up, all of you!" She barked, causing the intruders to glance up at her in surprise. "Class is already in session, and I have little tolerance for late students! Don't worry, though… Because I'm going to teach you a lesson you will never forget!"
JYA-JYA-JYA STRIKE!
The Giff devils quickly dodged out of the way as vines erupted from the ground, wrapped themselves around the evil demons, crushed them, and flung them out the window. The students cheered…
And then more demons flew through the open windows.
Frustrated but unsurprised, Nana turned her head towards her student. "Lovekov! I will keep them occupied! Get through to your mother! Remember, we are all counting on you! I know it sounds like a lot of pressure-"
"It really is," Rayco commented.
"But your great-grandfather believes in you, and so do I! ALL of us do! And if there's one thing I have learned today… It's that belief can sometimes be all you need to make a difference, and what kind of teacher doesn't have faith in her students?" Nana said.
"… Ms. Takayama. You're the COOLEST, love!" Lovekov squealed.
"Lovekov?" Sakura whispered, startled.
"Lovekov? Where?" Hani asked, looking around desperately.
"She's not here, she's back at school," Astarte said, trying very hard to pretend she hadn't been looking around just a second ago herself. "Safe… I presume."
"Sweetie?" Hani asked in concern.
Sakura shook her head. "Sorry, I just thought I heard her for a second. Saying something about Ms. Takayama? And…" She frowned. "I think something's going on over there…"
"Yeah, well something's going on here too!" Vice pointed out. "Kagerou is back!"
Chic cackled madly. "Haha, yes! I'd hoped for more, but this is still an acceptable outcome! With Kagerou, the original bad boy of the Igarashi family-"
"Excuse me?" Vail huffed, indignant.
"You were more of a bad man than a bad boy," Genta told him, which seemed to mollify his partner.
"I may still have a chance after all! Kagerou, get them!" Chic commanded.
"No," Kagerou replied.
"What?! But I brought you back! You have to obey me!" Chic protested.
"Why?" Kagerou asked.
"… You make a good argument," Chic admitted.
Georgina facepalmed. "Ook."
"Yes! Kage-Chan is on our side!" Vice cheered.
Kagerou proceeded to deck Daiji, who was staring at him in stunned disbelief.
"Oh, wait, I spoke too soon."
Chic started laughing again. "Yes! Even if he's not on my side, he's still going to destroy you all!"
"No I'm not," an annoyed Kagerou told him.
"You're not?" Chic asked in disappointment.
"You're not?" The rest of the family and Associates asked.
"No! The only one of you I have beef with is Daiji!" Kagerou declared. "Oh, and Ikki too I guess."
"What did I do?" Ikki asked in dismay.
"I was born from your little brother's resentment of you, so I don't really have a choice but to dislike you," Kagerou pointed out.
"Oh right."
"But Kagerou… Why? I thought… I thought we settled things," Daiji stammered, staring up at his demon with confusion, guilt, hurt, and a mess of other feelings.
"You're right, we did," Kagerou said. "Until you fucked it all up!"
"Huh?"
Kagerou gestured angrily. "We had our final battle to decide which of us had the right to exist, you won, and I died because George had this stupid idea to design the Crow Vistamp that way-"
"I'm not sorry," George said firmly.
"And you got a really cool flashy new form as proof that you'd surpassed your own limitations and could maybe even call yourself your brother's equal, while I got to rest in peace inside Holy Wing-"
"So you were inside of it! I thought as much," Vail said triumphantly.
"Wait, you knew he was alive this whole time?" Genta asked in surprise.
"I thought I sensed him during our fight at Hiden Land. I didn't mention it because I figured he would come out when he was good and ready and decided to respect his decision, like a good father should. Also I thought it would be funny," Vail admitted.
Kagerou chuckled. "Classic dad."
"This is the first time you've even met him," Sakura pointed out.
"Yes, but I've been watching him from inside the Vistamp all along, so I feel like I know him pretty well," Kagerou explained. "I was cheering him on when he beat up Ikki, Vice, and Daiji. You not so much."
"Aw, thanks!" Sakura gushed, touched.
"After all, if you die, who will make me curry?" Kagerou asked.
"… Eh, I'll still take it," Sakura decided. "Speaking of, I don't suppose I can convince you to help us and not kill anyone with an offer of curry?"
"Don't worry, I wasn't planning on killing anyone, not even Daiji," Kagerou promised "I just want to rough him up a bit."
"But… Why?" Daiji pleaded. "Is this… Is this because I killed you? I never really wanted to do it, Kagerou, I'm sorry-"
"Daiji, I'm not angry you killed me. I forgave you the minute you did it," Kagerou said, startling him. "It proved that you'd grown enough that you didn't need me holding you back or getting in your way."
"Oh. But… Then why-"
"I'm angry at you because you fucked it all up!" Kagerou snapped. "You undergo this big moment of character development, get an awesome new form, and almost immediately after you get outclassed by Ikki again when he and Vice learned the true power of friendship and strengthened their bond greater than ever before and unlocked their true potential for like the third or fourth time and became Revice. And then you just kept losing fight after fight after fight, and you betrayed everything you stood for and turned your back on your family because you were too chickenshit to fight the good fight and kept sticking with an obviously evil guy who wanted to murder your family and had been very clearly stringing you along the whole time and kept throwing coffee in your face!"
"It was an accident!" Akaishi protested.
"Every time?!"
Akaishi twiddled his claws awkwardly.
"You lost your position as secondary Rider! You became a fucking laughingstock!" Kagerou ranted. "They made fail compilation videos of you! You turned into a meme!"
George chuckled. "Good times."
"You turned into a fucking Japanese dwarf flying squirrel mascot! Children threw up on you! You had to star in horrible cringey commercials!" Kagerou raved. "And I had to watch every Grandpadamn second of it, unable to do anything as you became a total failure… And worse, pissed all over my sacrifice."
Daiji's eyes widened. "Kagerou, I-"
"I died for you, Daiji," Kagerou interrupted, sounding a little broken. "I wanted to live too; you know? But I figured that of the two of us, you deserved it more. That you could finally be a hero.
"But you didn't become a hero, did you?"
Daiji looked down, dejected.
"… Kagerou. While it's true that Daiji made… Many mistakes, he's… He's doing his best to make up for it now," Yukimi pointed out softly.
Kagerou sighed and brushed back some hair. "Yeah mom, I know. But even if he has made progress towards becoming the sort of person he should have been all along, even if you guys are willing to forgive him… I don't think I'm quite there yet. He was so Giffdamn stupid for so long."
"… You're right. I dishonored you and your sacrifice," Daiji said, getting into dogeza stance. "I'm sorry, Kagerou. For everything."
"… Well, at least you're apologizing for the right thing this time," Kagerou muttered, though he seemed slightly mollified. "Still. We both know there's only one way we can settle this."
Daiji looked up, alarmed. "Kagerou, I… I don't want to kill you again. Doing that again would… It would destroy me."
Kagerou rolled his eyes. "Oh relax, I don't want to kill you either. Just got a lot of anger to work out."
Daiji nodded, eyes lighting up. "I get it. A fight, then?"
"Until one of us can't stand anymore," Kagerou agreed. "And the winner gets to be crowned alpha twin. For all time!"
Daiji smirked. "I think I can live with that."
"Are you… Are you two serious right now," an incredulous Masumi demanded. "We are literally in the middle of a rescue mission. We do not have time for this. Can't we save Yukimi first?"
George, tears streaming down his cheeks, shook his head and clasped his father on the shoulder. "No, dad… This is something he has to do for himself! A true battle between men!"
"A what."
"A battle between MEN!" George shouted, throttling his father.
"This is so goddamn stupid," Masumi groaned.
"Ikki, I am so glad our relationship is not like that," a disturbed Vice said.
Ikki nodded. "Likewise."
Vail burst into laughter. "That's my boy! Ah, this brings me back to all the times I kept trying to kill you and everyone you love. You ever miss those days, Genta?"
"Not really, no," Genta said flatly.
Vail shrugged. "Well, it was good for me."
"So, uh…we're not gonna have that kind of relationship, are we?" Ryu tentatively asked his demon.
The Giff Junior, focused on his Gundephone50, didn't respond.
Ryu sighed. "Well, could be worse…wait, where'd you get that from? Hang on, is that my phone?!"
"It seems as if you are now completely outmatched," Azuma observed as Daiji and Kagerou squared off. "We'll be taking Yukimi back now."
"Oh, you think so, do you?" Chic sneered. "Just because I can't turn your own demons against you doesn't mean we're out of the game yet, right Georgina?"
"Ook."
"BEHOLD!" Chic declared, throwing a switch and causing several wall panels to slide back, revealing tanks full of Kong, Orangutan, and Mandrill Deadmen. "My army of demon monkeys!"
"But wait, only mandrills are monkeys, the others are apes," Tamaki protested.
"Does it look like I care?!" Chic asked sarcastically as the tanks slid open, the Deadmen lurching forwards, hooting and hollering and growling as they beat their chests and scratched their asses. "But wait, there's more! BEHOLD! My army of regular and mutant demons!"
He threw another switch, and more wall panels slid open, allowing Giff Juniors, True Gifftarians, and several hideous mutated experimental demons into the room.
"And, worst of all… My army of mercenary clowns and assassin mimes!" Chic shrieked, throwing another switch, causing… A single door to open and letting a few dozen heavily armed and armored mercenaries file in. They lowered their masks, revealing they were all clowns and mimes, the former smiling ghoulishly, the latter frowning.
Vice and Tamaki screamed and hid behind Ikki and Ampaz.
"You monster! You truly are a madman," a disgusted Astarte sneered.
"Clowns and mimes? Really?" A horrified Hana demanded.
"Wait, if you had all these guys already, why did you waste your time trying to extract our demons? Why didn't you have all of them waiting for us at the entrance when we got here?" A confused Ryu asked.
"Because I'm insane!" Chic snapped.
"Oh, right."
As everyone prepared to face off against Chic's army of madness, Daiji and Kagerou continued their standoff, ignoring everything around them. "Shall we do this?" Daiji asked.
Kagerou nodded. "I've been looking forward to this for a long time."
He waved a hand across his waist, causing a familiar belt to materialize in a burst of darkness.
TWO SIDRIVER!
He then produced a Vistamp which looked almost identical to Divine Wing, pitch black with red streaks and crystals.
DARKNESS WING!
"Henshin."
DARKNESS UP! CHAOS UP! HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE-HAHA! DARKEST EVIL!
His shadow extended behind him, darkened, and dozens of bats surged out of it, shrieking and flapping around the room, biting any demon or clown who approached before swirling around him, enveloping him in a pitch-black orb. In a blast of darkness, the orb shattered, revealing Kagerou's new form.
He resembled a re-color of True Holy Live in pitch black and red, but with two sets of black bat wings, red rings made of barbed wire circling his wrists and ankles, what looked an awful lot like bloodstains splattered all over his armor, red bat wings growing from his shoulders, wrists, and heels, and harsh red Enochian runes carved in red all over his form. He was now wielding a black and red Livegun and Evilblade in either hand. His head now had three horns, a central spike and two curved like a demon, and his eyes were red splotches vaguely resembling bat wings.
"Now," Kagerou said with a dark chuckle. "Ready for round two?"