Date A Re:Live
S1 Chapter 02: Tohka Return, Part 1
By : Tohka_Yatogami
...
Summary
Even a similar story can take it's own path. Shido and Mana are amnesiac siblings living with their friend Kotori, however the past catches up to Shido when he nearly runs into a space quake, and his world changes as one girl asks... "Are you here to kill me?" (Stronger Ratatoskr, weaker DEM, games & movie are canon to story) [Shido/Tohka/Harem]
Here we are, the first official chapter of the Tohka arc. Just as a friendly reminder, as I said before in the previous chapter's end notes, this is the one arc in the story where Shido will not have any aid from Ratatoskr. He has to quite literally prove himself to have the power to save Spirits by doing so with Inverse Tohka on his own, using nothing but his own skills to do it.
I have a specific reason for this, I can't fully say what it is, but it relates to why Tohka is the main girl for the harem and it isn't just to give her and Shido some bonding. I mean that's both kinda expected, and a bit boring... plus isn't that technically what canon did minus the lack of Ratatoskr's aid, just without the Inversion?
Eh... ignoring all that, this chapter will also reveal something else that's a surprise, and... like Inverse Tohka at the start, I'm not the first person to do this, in fact I think it's actually required for having Tohka inverse at the start. It's also, for my fanfic at least, the reason why Tohka never drew out Nahemah during her debut scene in the prior chapter. Let's just say this... Inverse Tohka's only one being she considers worth using it against.
It'll foreshadow what'll be in the arc after this one, so I hope it excites you all when you see it. Now prepare for this story to begin its Spirited competition! *blinks* ...Why do I even make obvious puns like that? Those are the ones that are usually never funny. *clears throat* OK, never mind me, let's just start now.
S1 Chapter 02: Tohka Return, Part 1
"Are you here to kill me?" The girl asked, her angry look intensifying as she keeps staring at Shido, ready to blast him with her mana sphere at any moment. Shido's body could only shake at the scene before him, but he was now even more surprised... someone with her power asking if he'd kill her?
"Of course, how would it be any different for you? You came here to kill me just like the rest of them."
Shido's eyes widen as he heard that, his shaking stopped. Someone was trying to kill her? Wait... then all this destruction, all of the attacks aimed at her, was she doing them all out of self-defense and preservation rather than just to create destruction just for the heck of it?
"Wait, just wait a moment!" Shido tried to call out.
"Do not try denying you're here to kill me, I must deal with you and then the others before 'she' arrives." The nameless girl said, refusing to hear his words.
"No, that's not why I came here! I could never kill anyone!" Shido said, suddenly catching the girl's brief attention.
"...I will not fall for your tricks, know your place Human." The girl claimed, soon about to fire the sphere at Shido and kill him right there and then, before she did however, she noticed him cover himself defensively as she noticed something flying in the air.
Shido soon heard the sound of some kind of engine and turned to where the mysterious girl was looking, seeing a bunch of woman and about four men in a group of five dozen fly towards the area they were at. They began firing missiles at her, and suddenly the girl jumps into the air towards them. Shido panics as the missiles got closer and closer, and then sees the girl simply hold up the hand without the charged mana sphere, creating a barrier that captures every missile.
"Deploy all weapons, overwhelm [Sovereign] with everything you have!" A woman in the front screams, blasting out all her missiles. The mysterious girl gives an annoyed look, almost sounding offended.
"You would do well to realize the futility of your attacks."
The girl referred to as 'Sovereign' closes her palm, and soon the barrier contracts and swallows up every missile, compressing them into nothing, without even a single explosion setting off. The five-dozen people firing at her all panic and try to switch their weaponry before she suddenly appears before them, holding out her charged mana sphere before firing it, and making it scatter into tons of smaller ones that hit them, knocking most of them back and into the ground or buildings as Shido stared at it all.
'She isn't just any ordinary girl...' Shido thought, amazed yet terrified by the power this mysterious yet beautiful girl was using. She turned around at some of the people flying behind where Shido was and she turned, causing him to see her face at that moment... to his shock, the angry, cold and stern face she had? It wasn't there, all he saw was one of sadness and despair.
'But if she's that strong, why does she look so sad?'
Soon about 25 of the unknown group gathered and prepared their swords, mere handles that soon glow with mana after being pulled out.
"Rush her all at once, cut her into pieces!" One of the few men screamed.
The mystery girl soon fully turned around and crossed her arms like an X, in an instant she swung them causing an untold number of energy waves to fly out at them. Shido gasped and ducked as they narrowly avoided him, most of the unknown group were hit instantly and struck back, many beginning to bleed slightly form the wounds inflicted before the waves hitting the ground ruptured the earth, causing the remaining group to be smashed by the debris.
"Know your limits Humans, because you are mere insects compared to me." Sovereign sneered, barely even trying to put the effort into fighting them. In fact, she was already getting annoyed that she looked at the down fighters and charged a mana sphere on each hand.
"Or maybe I should show you... permanently."
Shido's eyes widened in horror, she was intended to kill them. Maybe he didn't understand why but even if their reasons where vile, they didn't deserve to die. However, he felt so helpless as if he tried, this girl was likely going to do the same to him... perhaps she still planned to even, just not as soon because he had no weapons on him.
"Hmm?"
Sovereign suddenly dispelled her attack as the sight of another Spacequake occurred, a darkened white signifying it as another Class-S level, but this one was so high up in the air that it failed to do anything... however a silhouette glowing that same color was seen after it vanished away.
Soon the silhouette lowered itself to reveal who it was as the glow uncovered the being within it. She was seen wearing a black veil similar to that of a wedding dress that was currently covering her entire head and face, so Shido couldn't see anything, a spiked black crown or halo floating above it. Her outfit was similar to Sovereign's, but where hers was more like a princess gown, this girl's kinda felt more like a wedding dress. (A/N: Think Tohka's Limited Astral Dress in Season 2's first episode for a reference, but with shoes more like Inverse Tohka's, Inverse Origami's stockings and butterfly bow, and no gloves)
Her outfit's color scheme was a very deep dark-white blue with silver plated areas, the dark color of her outfit even seeming like it was unable to fully become black yet had tried to, especially as the sight of white was seen on place like the ends of her veil and 'skirt' area, the butterfly shaped bow at the chest area of her outfit, the ends of the sleeves of her 'arm warmers' and the tops of her stockings. She floated color, looking at Sovereign through her veil.
"..." The new girl stayed silent as she got closer.
"Oh no... all personal retreat, [Devil] has appeared alongside [Sovereign]! All called reinforce, desist and fall back!" The leader of the group said, terrified as the second girl came into view. Soon they all took off, grabbing the injured and heavily wounded members of their group.
"So... you've finally come again, fine then. I'll finally finish our fight here for good." Sovereign suddenly said, her look being one that said she had known this being was going to show up at one point.
Suddenly the girl raised up her hand and a swirl of dust forms, then a small pulse of mana as a silver colored throne drops into view. Shido was surprised however when the throne reversed itself and lowered to her reach, she grabbed something embedded at the top of it.
"NAHEMAH!"
Soon the object in question was revealed as a handle as she ripped what was embedded into the throne out, making it drop as Sovereign was now seen holding a black two handed sword with glowing red lines, but she was able to hold it with just her one hand. Shido was surprised why she hadn't used it until now, was it because this second mystery girl was the only one she would use it again? Sovereign soon gave her enemy a fierce look, challenging her to attack. Soon 'Devil' raised out her arms.
"Satan"
From the ground, multiple feather black pillars suddenly rose, soon coming close to Devil and looking almost like wings that lacked connecting limbs as a result. She soon rushed forward at Sovereign, a piece of two of the pillars break off and attack to her hands, becoming like two swords while the pillars including the two with detached pieces turning to aim and fire beams of dark light.
Sovereign formed a mana sphere and shot it at the blasts, cancelling out as both dark purple and white energy rained over the battlefield. Soon she swung her sword as Devil neared her, both collided with powerful force, causing many shockwaves from the recoil of the striking force. Shido was knocked back by this, rolling behind some sturdy debris, and right in time as soon their slashes got faster and much more fierce.
"Grr..." Sovereign grunted, getting annoyed.
"Mmm..." Devil hummed, feeling she needed to get more serious now.
Soon the speed and striking power became so fierce that the mana they both held began leaking out and bursting through the entire battlefield, becoming so violent and forceful that it felt like an earthquake was happening. The city nearby getting ripped asunder and quickly looking like, in Shido's eyes at least, that it would soon encompass the whole city, maybe enough that the shelters could be breached open and put everyone inside in danger... his sisters included
Shido, who wasn't even sure how he wasn't dead by this point, finally felt like he had to stop this battle. Gathering his courage, he stood up out of hiding and did something no sane or at least cowardly man ever would.
"STOP THIS! PLEASE, THIS BATTLE HAS TO STOP!" Shido shouted at the top of his lungs, causing the two to stop mid-collision with each other. Sovereign stopped because it had astounded her that a human had the guts and foolishness to stop their battle, while Devil suddenly felt her body shaking.
"Shi...do?" Devil whispered, so quietly even she almost didn't hear it.
Devil suddenly jumped away, and screamed loudly as she held her head, surprising Sovereign who had never heard her mortal enemy shriek, much less use such a loud volume when she had almost always been quiet or outright silent. Soon Devil began charging all of Satan's feather pillars to their maximum power, while Sovereign held up Nahemah and charged all the power she could into it.
Shido stared at soon both unleashed their full power onto each other, the destructive force of their dark purple and dark white mana colliding so intensely that Shido soon saw the entire area flash, making him scream before he was suddenly flung away far.
"STOOOOOOOP!" Shido screamed before he landed, and the blacked out.
Inside some strange realm, or something of sorts that Shido was sure he might have been in, Shido could only see a large psychedelic flow of pink before him. He looked around and saw nothing else, not even a change of the flow with his movement... heck he couldn't see his own body!
"W-where am I?"
[That voice, could it be? Is that... is that really you Shido? No, it has to be you, I know it. Finally, we meet again.]
Shido was surprised, trying to find the voice he had heard. It sounded... well oddly he wasn't sure, it was like it was everything and nothing, so no clue to it being a man or woman's voice. Soon enough a mouth appears before him.
"Who are you, and... how do you know me?" Shido asked, curious to who this being was. The mouth before him didn't move, but he definitely heard it speak again.
[I'm sorry, but... right now, I'm so broken that I can't even tell you. I want to... but it's as if the information's absent and unknown, despite being fully only barely out of my reach.]
"So... you can't tell me anything?" Shido asked, somewhat saddened. The way this voice spoke... he felt it knew everything about him, a key to his past, and yet that key was too broken to unlock anything.
[I didn't say that, I can tell you some things. It's just what I truly want you to know most that I've lost the strength to tell you... I'm sorry, I truly am. However, that doesn't mean it's been lost forever. I simply need help gathering it again.]
"Wait, are you saying that I might be able to help you?" Shido asked, suddenly feeling really hopeful.
[Yes. Now, I need you to listen carefully, the small bit I can remember is this... I was someone familiar to both you and Mana. How I cannot recall, but that's not the important part. I only know one way to begin the process that will lead to my recovery, and the answers you seek. You must remember... remember the person most dear to you.]
"Huh, but isn't that Mana and Kotori?" Shido asked confused, who could be more important? He knew he had amnesia but he was pretty sure if anyone else like that existed, they would have tried to find him and Mana long ago.
[No. There's someone you held even more dear, after all... even though you had only been mere children, you told that you loved her, just like she loved you. Come on Shido, please remember... remember the one who completed your heart.]
"My... heart... GUAH!" Shido gasped, suddenly feeling an intense pain in his head as the entire pink field faded.
[...Remember...]
Devil was seen flying through part of Tenguu City as she neared a forest area, soon crashing into a forest. She panted heavily for a bit before holding her still veil covered voice and screaming loudly. A flash of white burning off of her body before it changes into the Raizen High uniform, the girl known as Devil lifts up her head to reveal... Origami Tobiichi!
"Shido... that was really you, but how?"
Origami continued panting, holding her head more as her eyes, currently with whitened pupils, slowly went back to normal ones as she blinked a few times. She soon managed to regulate her breaths and calm down. She soon hugged herself and curled onto the ground.
"Not again... please, I can't go through that again." Origami said as she teared up, the screams of a man and woman ringing across her head. "Mom... dad..."
A 7 year old Shido stood before a girl of the same age who had most of her facial features and hair shadowed from view, what could be seen though was that the girl smiling brightly and full of cheer.
"I got you a present, come on and open it." Shido said, holding out a box towards her.
"Really? OK, I'll open it!" The girl smiled, fully of energy as she takes the box and opens it, inside it was something she held in her hands, though Shido couldn't make out what he had been looking at.
"You actually bought it for me? I love it Shido! Thank you so much, you're the best!" The girl shouted cheerfully, hugging Shido close to her. Shido smiled as her pet her head, making her blush happily.
"Hey, Shido?"
"What is it?" Shido asked, curious what she wanted to ask him.
"What I want most in life is to protect you, so I can always hold you close like right now." The girl smiled sweetly, making Shido blush a bit.
"Your welcome, it only felt right. Consider it a promise from me too, cause I'm gonna make sure to protect you too! We'll always be together, and when we get older, then we'll get married." Shido said, holding out his pinkie to her. "Promise?"
"Yeah!" The girl smiled as she nodded, wrapping her pinkie around his. "I'm happy, very happy Shido. I love you... let's always be together."
"Of course, we'll always be together..." Shido said, his voice disappearing as he attempted to say her name. Suddenly a white flash filled the area and blinded the sight entirely.
Shido soon woke up a short while later, and gasped as a result as he opened his eyes, holding a hand to his chest as he felt his heart beat like crazy.
"Wait, am I still alive? What happened here!?" Shido asked himself, soon looking around.
He saw that the destruction was still present... but neither of the supernaturally powerful girls that he had seen fighting each other earlier were still there. Both of them had disappeared as if they had never existed. Shido could only stare at the mayhem they left behind, and soon decided he should probably leave the area while he was with his thoughts.
'That person I talked to, who was it... and how do they know me?' Shido wondered, recalling the being he saw only by their mouth, and how they wanted to talk with him about his past but seemed like they lost the ability to do so, like the words themselves were stolen.
That wasn't what had shaken him most though... right before her voice had faded away, there was that sudden flash of memory he had. A girl he recalled from a time when they were both 7, not too long after the time he and Mana had their memories disappear.
"...I was in love with her, I remember now." Shido said, finally realizing what that voice had meant. Long ago there was a girl he had been really close to, a childhood friend. Even though he was young he was already sure how he felt, like any mother feels to a father, he a bond that was meant to be.
"But... who is she?"
That's what probably shook Shido most, and made him feel so horrible. This girl, the friend he had fallen in love with, he didn't even remember her. Not her face, how she looked, or even her name... she was gone from his memories except for the fact she existed. He unconsciously cried as that thought lingered in his mind.
"I'm so sorry... please, where are you? Because I swear I'll find you again." Shido stated to himself, soon walking far enough he was out of the quake zone. After walking for a long time, Shido finally found himself at the barely touched Danny's and hoped to see Mana and Kotori there, but to his surprise however they were completely absent. What he did find on the other hand?
...Their phones, they were on the ground, and Shido checked his GPS again to see the location was the same as when he had first checked. Kotori and Mana had never stayed here, they had simply lost their phones. Now that however made him more worried, where were they?
"KOTORI! MANA! PLEASE, IF YOU CAN HERE ME SAY SOMETHING!"
Shido shouted as loud as he could, hoping for them to respond... but nothing. Shido's eyes shook with horror and worry, he needed to find them. He had to... or he'd never forgive himself. He soon began running around the city, and soon after he reached a viewpoint, he panted and stopped as he ran out of breath.
"Kotori... Mana... please, please be OK. I beg you." Shido said, crying over the viewpoint fence.
"...What strangeness are you doing Human?"
Suddenly Shido gasped as he recognized the sound of that voice, slowly turning to see who said it to him.
[And that was the moment where everything in my life changed... just one question, and it's a question I don't regret being asked.]
Flying unseen through the land above England, a red ship that had somehow made itself invisible was traveling through the night sky. Inside the ship was a man with whitened hair and lifeless looking eyes wearing a black business suit with a pale-yellow tie, he had some wrinkles showing despite looking young, he wasn't actually as young as he appeared.
Soon behind him, a woman who looked to be around her mid-twenties with pale blonde hair and purple suddenly walked into view behind him, she wore a woman's business suit and had her hair neatly tied up in a bun. She stopped in place and the man soon turned to face her.
"Tell me, how did they all do against the Spirits? Just what did they see when they encountered [Sovereign] and [Devil]?" The man asked, quite curious.
Spirits... extraordinary beings that are supposedly from a different dimension, that's what the mysterious girl and Origami were. Every time they come through to our world, the resulting jump between the two dimensions create the phenomenon known as the Spacequakes. In fact, for the longest time, this man before us knew exactly what caused the Spacequakes but didn't say anything to the world. Would it have stopped suffering, yes it would, is that what he wanted? ...Absolutely not.
"[Sovereign] completely decimated them, by the time [Devil] appeared they were forced to retreat completely. However, I believe we've finally gathered data on how they fight to finally begin their capture Ike." The woman answered, barely moving or changing her tone.
Ike, or rather Sir Isaac Ray Pelham Westcott, was the name of the man standing before her. He was the founder of the DEM corporation, short for Deus-Ex-Machine Industries, one of the few companies in the world that create one of the many inventions that used Spirit mana to create the technology that helped repair Spacequake damage and make the shelters that saved Humanity, the Realizer.
However, what the world didn't know was Westcott was not a kind or noble being, he was a monster, a man so cruel that the tortures he had managed to think up in his life required someone to have one of the most twisted, sickest and cruelest minds in existence. Why does he want the Spirits exactly? He essentially wants it to turn the world on its head, in the form of causing chaos, in other words... he wants the power to equal God but become the Devil against the world itself.
"Very good Ellen, while we've still failed to replicate it with our [Material A] project, both of them are perfect Inverse Forms. I'm still shocked how they were forced into such excellent inversions beyond our notice. Their powers have developed to their peak, ripe and fully ready for the taking." Westcott smirked.
He still remembered the day, the Spirit known as [Angel] inverted 5 years ago, he had never seen any Spirit go through such an incredible power up. She had only just appeared yet was ranked as a AAA-Rank Spirit, then somehow her power changed into something more and became [Devil], and while she gained a more erratic rate of appearances her power became even higher, still yet to be measured, but he was sure it was an S-Rank.
Then only sometime after that, [Devil] encounter another Spirit known as [Princess], another AAA-Rank who had been confused and constantly attacked by his company's Wizards, forces meant to fight the Spirits and take their powers. He wasn't aware of the situation and the cause behind it at the moment, but apparently as a result of their meeting, Devil had succeeded in transforming her into [Sovereign] in the process.
"Now we simply need to wait for when their next Spacequakes arrive, then we can-" Ellen began, only for a beeping to distract them. Westcott taps the table before them before the hologram of a girl appeared. She had black to white gradient hair and a pair of golden eyes, wore a black colored outfit similar to a western nun's with a gold, cross-like symbol on the hip area.
"(Forgive me for the intrusion father, I have urgent news.)" The girl said, catching Westcott's attention.
This girl wasn't a real person, but a synthetic AI that ran the entire ship the two were currently on, the "Arbitel". Her name was Marina, and she was an AI that had been based on a Spirit that the DEM had captured and studied on, leading to her creation as a AI that was also a Spirit.
"What is it Marina? Sounds like news I'll enjoy." Westcott said, smirking heavily at the revelation that would await him.
"We made an error, it seems that the only Spirit that went Lost was [Devil]..." Marina said before smirking the same as he creator did. "...[Sovereign] is still in Tenguu City as we speak. I believe this chance is too perfect, no?"
Suddenly Westcott gave an extremely dark chuckle, how fortunate favor had turned for him. He was prepared to wait like he usually did, but it seems this time that wouldn't be the case. He turns to Ellen still smirking.
"Well do you hear that Ellen Mira Mathers, mankind's greatest Wizard? It seems you'll finally get to fight someone worthy for you to defeat. Plus, you've done little as of recent, I wouldn't want my most capable asset getting rusty."
"Of course, I've been waiting for a while now to truly cut loose. Now's finally the time." Ellen said, her stoic expression disappearing as she gave a bloodthirsty and battle hungry looking smirk. The true Ellen having a chance to finally show after so long without anything to do. "Marina, talk to the Arbitel's Captain and get everything prepared for us."
"As you wish." Marina said, holding her dress and bowing before she blinked out of view.
Marina soon appeared in the main console of the Arbitel's control room.
"Captain Paddington, request all nearby Wizard personal and Bandersnatch units to dock onto the Arbitel. We're going for a worthy hunt in Tenguu City soon." Marina said, giving an excited smirk before giggling.
"...What strangeness are you doing Human?" A familiar deep voice said.
Shido gasped at the sound of that voice and turned to see none other than the Spirit known as Sovereign, and she was staring right at him with Nahemah still in hand. Was she here to finish what she had started with him earlier? Did she still see him as an enemy? Hoping maybe he was wrong, he decided to talk.
"It's you, you're that girl-"
Shido quickly shifted to the side as she raised Nahemah and slashed at him, cutting part of the fence and some of the rock beneath it apart. Shido coughed as dust covered the area, and soon looked at the Inverse Spirit that was trying to apparently kill him.
"Wait just a minute, I don't wanna fight with you!" Shido shouted, hoping to make her stop as she threw another slash wave as he said that. "Please just listen to me!"
"...What's your name, and why are you following me?" Sovereign asked him, Shido stared in shock at that claim. Following her... no way, did his search end up having him unknowingly get close to her?
"No more time for games. If you do not answer me, then I will assume you as my enemy."
"Uh... m-my name is Shido Takamiya! I seriously don't have any reason to fight you!" Shido panicked as he flailed his arms around, Sovereign had no idea what he was doing with that. However, if it was meant to harm her, then something would have happened. With that, she tossed Nahemah aside and it vanished into mana.
'Oh good, looks like she's not seeing me as a-' Shido began to think, but soon felt his head grabbed by her hand tightly. 'Crap, too soon!'
"You claimed that you didn't come to kill me and that you couldn't kill anyone. The fact you're here now proves that it was nothing but a lie. There's no other reason you'd be here you mongrel." Sovereign stated, giving the same stern look, but to Shido? It was the sad one she had given being hidden under it.
"...Your face, how come you always look so sad?" Shido asked.
Sovereign suddenly flinched at that comment, she knew that wasn't the face she was making... and yet it was the one she always hid. How did this lowly human before her see right through her?
Standing in a destroyed section of a city in Tokyo, the Spirit known as [Princess] began slashing her blade against the DEM Wizards attacking her. Unlike her current appearance as [Sovereign], she had very long, dark-purple hair usually tied back with a ribbon of sorts, and matching dark purple eyes with white irises. She wore a black, cream, and pink colored armored ballgown outfit with a set of purple-and-cream plated armor which adorned her shoulders and waist.
The Dress was open at the back and made up into a black corset that exposed part of her cleavage. A two-layered, knee-length skirt which has a pink-to-white gradient. Her hair was tied back using a more gentle and accurate looking butterfly shaped ribbon. She also wore a pair of gauntlets which had petal-like cuffs, both sharing the same color scheme as her attire, as well as a pair of armored boots.
"[Princess] is weak, get her!" The leader Wizard shouted, and 'Princess' readies herself as they came. She was on the ground and panting weakly, bracing herself as the last few wizards began to rush her.
Suddenly from the sky, beams of light rained down and smashed into all of the Wizards, making them scream as it ate and ripped through their CR-Units and knocked them out, causing the Spirit before them to stare in shock at what had happened. She looked up as Origami flew down into view, and while Princess couldn't see her face, she noticed her eyes glowing. This girl, she was just like her.
"I don't believe it, there's someone else like me." Princess said in a much higher pitched voice, suddenly feeling happy for the first time. Ever since she appeared, she's had no memories of who she was, or what she was, but every time she appeared on this world she was attacked by the Humans that appeared.
"Please, can you help me? I don't know who I am."
Princess kept her happy and hopefully appearance up initially... but then noticed Origami turn towards her and aim Satan's pillars at her, confusing her before they suddenly shot at her. She screamed in pain as her Astral Dress was torn heavily and she tumbled across the field and through a nearby building that collapsed over her.
"W-what are you doing... why are you attacking me?" Princess weakly asked in fear, she didn't understand what just happened. Origami was the same being as her, why was she attacking her, why was... why was she acting no differently from the humans? Origami slowly walked closer, Princess kept screaming in pain as Satan kept firing at her, each blast ripping parts of her Astral Dress off, soon two of the feather pillars detached a piece to become like swords on Origami's arm.
"No... please stop, please don't do this. Please!"
Origami ignored her and began raising her arm, preparing to kill the Spirit begging for her life before her.
'Please stop, don't kill me! I'll do whatever you want me to! I don't care what... just promise me... swear to me you'll spare my life... please... don't do this... I beg of you! I... I don't wanna die!' Princess thought as the fear of death overwhelmed her.
Origami prepared to slash down, and at that moment her eyes widened as she screams louder than she ever had in her entire life. Right as Origami was about to hit her, Princess' purple colored mana suddenly changed into a dark purple. She rose into the air, her Astral Dress vanishes and her eyes turn into two purple pools of darkness, an empty look on her face before some kind of dark spirit power forms a hand that soon grabbed her.
"This is..." Origami muttered, feeling something familiar from this.
Soon the power flooded out everywhere across the city, like a cloud of smog slowly spreading out from a containment area. When it cleared up, Origami saw Princess had changed, she was now the Inverse Spirit known today as Sovereign.
"You tried to kill me... now I'll be paying you in full." Sovereign claimed in the voice Shido was more familiar with, giving a stern face... only the darkness of her power blinding out the light hiding the tears her eyes had been shedding.
"...You bastard, are you trying to trick me? If that's the case I'll destroy you so not even dust or memory remain!" Sovereign stated, this human was pushing her to the point she felt that for once, using her Demon King to kill a human would not be a waste. Shido grunts and makes a serious face.
"I'm not trying to do anything, and it's true! I have no reason to kill you or even just hurt you!" Shido shouted.
"Quit lying!" Sovereign shouted angrily. "Every human has tried to kill me, even one of my own kind tried to murder me even when I begged her to not to! I'm like this now because of her! This whole world just wants me dead, and I won't lose to it!"
"I swear that's not true!" Shido replied with an equal shout.
"Why else would you come here then!?" Sovereign yelled, now trying to just prove she was right in her rage.
"I was looking for my little sisters, I have no idea where they are or if they're OK!" Shido shouted, hoping that convinced her. She simply swiped her hand, destroying the fence and anything that could now keep Shido from falling from a long and possibly near-fatal drop.
"I'm in no mood to joke around." Sovereign spoke venomously, and Shido grunted more before he finally had it with her inability to trust him. So, he was gonna make her see it and not even give her a chance to respond.
"Neither am I! If you want proof then I'll talk to you, I don't even care what it's about! Hell, you can just ignore me if you wanted to!" Shido shouted, Sovereign tried to reply but was stopped as he kept going without any fear. Because of one thought in his mind.
-I won't let you make that face again!-
"But know this, I'm not like every other human!" Shido continued...
-I won't let you make that face again!-
"Because... because even if the entire world rejects, that won't change the fact that I accept you!"
Sovereign's eyes suddenly widen, for the first time since Shido had met this girl, she had actually been surprised and gone completely speechless. Her eyes slightly shake, and he waits a bit for her reaction... she suddenly turned around for a bit.
'What is this feeling, why... why do I not feel angry? Or any hate, or even sorrow? Why do I... believe him?' Sovereign though as she turned back to him, Shido noticing her face no longer looking calm like before.
"You said your name was 'Shido' right, and you're being serious?" Sovereign asked, Shido's face widened a bit. He had gotten through to her... or at least he was making progress, he wasn't completely sure.
"I am." Shido replied, making Sovereign scratch her head. Turning and blushing a bit like a tsundere she faced him up close.
"Fine, I'll acknowledged you. Be grateful for that servant." Sovereign replied haughtily.
"My name is Shi-"
Shido was quickly shut up by Sovereign holding up a mana sphere charging on her finger to his face.
"...Did I give you permission to talk back to me servant?" Sovereign asked, Shido raised his hands and she dispelled it. Definitely only making progress if she kept calling him servant despite knowing his name.
"Oh yeah, what is your name? I only known you by that Sovereign title they keep using." Shido asked.
Sovereign suddenly went wide eyed, going completely quiet in response to that. Since she had appeared she was only called either [Princess] by humans in her prior form, and [Sovereign] in this one. Plus, with her lack of memories...
"I... have no such thing. I don't even know who I am."
Shido gasped at that, she didn't even have a name? That was awful. Worse, it wasn't even right for someone to lack a name, lack an identity. He knew how close to that he felt when he and Mana lost their memories and their names were the only thing that they really had left.
"...Then how about I give you a name?" Shido said, surprising Sovereign a bit. He would give her a name? She didn't want to show it, but... that made her happy. "How about... Mio?"
"Mio? Meh, but... I guess it'll do." Mio replied, as much as she felt the particular name was bland, at least she had a name now and she'd be nice enough to use it till she remembered her real one. That's when Shido noticed something he had never seen on her, a smile. "What, something on my face?"
"...You smiled."
Mio gasped at that, she had done what? She had never smiled since she had come to this world. Why was it that this human had changed her so much? He said he'd accept her, talked to her, didn't attack her, and then he gave her a name.
Shido Takamiya... just who was this boy?
"So, Mio... what can you tell me about yourself?" Shido asked.
"Well... I know I'm not a Human, at least I think I'm not. The noisy flying people, or Mecha Mecha squad as I call them, once referred to me as a 'Spirit'. I believe it was about only three month ago when I appeared out of nowhere in this world. I do think I have more memories, but they've become fuzzy, distorted. Regardless I was constantly attacked for one of those months." Mio began, recalling what she could.
The sight of Origami's Inverse Form staring at her entered her mind.
"Then that other girl, someone like me, attacked the Mecha Mecha Squad the one time. Back then I was called [Princess] before I... well, let's just say I didn't always wear black. I thought she might be someone to trust, but she tried to kill me, and then a dark power swallowed me, like my hope turning to despair reversed my entire being. After that point, I just stopped caring and attacked everyone."
Shido listened closely, and now it began to make sense why she had been so violent before. She had only known the act of defending herself from Humans who kept attacking her and was in a sense betrayed by one of her own kind. Not to mention that she was telling the truth about when she first appeared, originally Class-S quakes were always white in color...
'Wait a second, the colors of the quakes. Before Mio came we didn't have purple colored quakes. If each quake is a different color and that 'Devil' spirit came from white ones then...'
Soon a red demon like silhouette, a blue silhouette with bunny ears, a black Gothic Lolita silhouette with uneven twin tails, two identical orange silhouettes, a light indigo silhouette with an idol dress, a yellow silhouette with a Chinese hair theme, a gray nun silhouette, a green witch like silhouette and finally a pink silhouette with no direct shape all appeared on a background within Shido's mind, soon a white and purple silhouette appear before taking Mio and Origami's shapes.
'No way, does that mean there's someone that causes each color of quake? That means it's not just Mio and that other girl, not to mention if people have realized they know about the quakes... why is that they're being kept a secret?' Shido thought, his eyes shaking. Mio soon flicked his forehead.
"Don't ignore me, what were you doing there?" Mio asked, suddenly annoyed he had been ignoring her.
"Sorry. Mio... do you know about Spacequakes?" Shido asked, but Mio just tilted her head so he took it as a no. It's possible that she knew she damaged the world when she came into it but not how she did. "Well recall the white explosion that other Spirit made?"
"I do, so I'm guessing that's a Spacequake?" Mio asked.
"Yeah, before I saw you the first time, I just avoided a purple one. That was the one you created. Well... across the world there have been others that each have a different color. You've never seen anyone else like you other than the girl who made the white Spacequake?"
Mio blinked at that, she had honestly thought she and Devil were the only two of their kind. Why was it they never met them? Better yet, why was it that she and Devil always seemed to encounter each other in the same locations?
More than that, she was shocked she had been causing all that damage she saw. She had always assumed the world was already so damaged and broken... and yet after the fight she noticed a lot more intact. Was she, no, where her and the other Spirits all the ones behind this devastation?
"...Servant, I want you to show more of this city. I want to see what you humans are like." Mio demanded, catching Shido by surprise. "Come on, we're doing this. NOW!"
"O-OK! OK! Although... you might change into something else. I mean wouldn't you be recognized in that outfit?" Shido replied, pointing to her Astral Dress. Mio thought a bit and soon snapped her fingers as something came to mind.
She raised her hand, and soon she changed into an outfit she noticed someone wearing while she had been avoiding human contact. Shido watched as her Astral Dress glows and becomes a black long sleeved shirt, a purple skirt with a ruffled black trim at the end, purple and black stripped calf high socks and a pair of black shoes.
"W-whoa... you look good in that." Shido said, blushing slightly. That quickly ended when Mio quickly grabbed his wright, very tightly, and he winced in pain from it.
"Good, now come on."
Shido cried out in pure agony as Mio tightly dragged him along somewhere, the latter either ignoring or not caring about his pain.
Meanwhile the Arbitel began flying closer and closer to Tenguu City, still hidden and invisible to the world as it got closer to its target destination. Westcott looked over all the Bandersnatch units they had gathered, all looking to be top of the line and in mint condition.
"Marina, how is the construction of the Jabberwocky going at the moment?" Westcott asked, causing Marina to form from another hologram projector built into part of the wall.
"Forgive me father, but development on the project is still incomplete. We will not be able to deploy them here. Even if we did, the Bandersnatch are a better fit due to [Sovereign]'s higher strength and power, their slower speed would give them a disadvantage." Marina answered, Westcott shrugged playfully.
"Oh? Well, I guess not every bit of coal can become a diamond. What about Artemisia and Jessica? Were they able to come, or are they still on their other assignments right now?" Westcott said before asking another question.
"Unfortunately, both are still returning due to their lack of success with chasing [Nightmare] and [Sister], it's quite likely by the time we finished that Ellen will have already managed to succeed on her own. Besides, isn't it more fun for a single wizard to bring her to her knees?" Marina asked, making the two of them both give their shared dark laugh together.
"Yes, to give no mercy with three just doesn't shine the same was as it would with just one person." Westcott said, smiling as the thought of his dream finally beginning to resume came to his mind. "Finally... after 30 years, I'll begin overcoming that woman's decisions to defy and delay me."
Soon at that moment, Ellen walked in her special Wiring-Suit and CR-Unit, Pendragon. The most powerful Combat Realizer Unit that the DEM had managed to create to date.
"I'm ready, how much longer until we arrive?" Ellen asked, barely able to hold her desire to fight.
"Estimations until our arrival are about another 3 hours once nightfall comes, the perfect timing for us to strike without suspicion to the general public, we just gotta force a quake alarm and it'll be easy pickings." Marina answered, smirking darkly at the thought of what they'd do to Mio after completely overwhelming her.
"Captain Paddington, status on the Arbitel's systems, check log #25."
"All systems green, maintenance registered at optimal capacity. All checks are solids. The Arbitel's fully ready to engage or prepare for a worst-case scenario." James Paddington, the ship's captain, answered.
"Good, and who knows... maybe we might just attract [Devil] during the chaos. Regardless of if she appears, we'll be walking away with the powers of an Inverse Spirit as of today." Westcott said, giving his usual expression as he looked towards the window.
'Time for you to see how I make my first move to destroy all you did to hold me back.'
Shido was staring at Mio with an odd look plastered on his face, she suddenly saw a bakery and all the bread inside of it and next thing he knew, she was planting her face on the glass while breathing heavily as she stared at it.
"Servant, I demand you gather me one of everything in this establishment!" Mio shouted as she turned to him, her ribbon somehow moving on its own. Shido paled as she said that. He looked at his wallet and clearly expected that he'd need to give it a funeral when this was all over. He walked inside and soon purchased one of everything before watching Mio devour it all in seconds.
"AMAZING!" Mio screamed to the surprise of everyone, licking her finger clean of the crumbs. Shido embarrassed as everyone stared at them. "Servant, you'll get me one of every edible item that we come across. Is that clear?"
"Y-yeah... crystal." Shido said, chuckling oddly as he swore people were whispering about him being called a servant. 'I wonder what's more likely to kill me? Her anger, or my embarrassment?'
As they walked around, Mio ended up forcing Shido to buy and then quickly devour into her stomach a few meat skewers, a large ice cream cone, steamed pork buns, takoyaki, shaved ice, crepes, yakisoba, rice cakes, spaghetti, pork cutlets, fried shrimp, cake, a sushi roll, pizza, a giant burger, ramen and that's when Shido finally lost track of things. How much could this girl eat!?
"Servant this way!" Mio shouted, and Shido quickly began running. Catching the attention of the Talkative Trio.
"Hey guys, isn't that girl..." Ai began to say, for once the other two simply nodded. The lack of responses was actually kinda creepy, in fact had Shido heard it he might have been suspicious about it.
Soon enough they had reached the arcade area, and Mio stared at the machines.
"Shido, did you somehow take me into the secret base of the Mecha Mecha Squad?" Mio asked, Shido blinked as he swore her whitened pupils went red for a brief moment. Soon he shook his head no.
"No, it's just an arcade. You play games and such here."
Mio blinks before she gets a fierce glint in her eye, and Shido expected it to be normal at first. Mio began with a game where she had to punch nodes and soon her last punch shattered the game machine to everyone's surprise. Shido went white in worry.
'I'm dead if we have to pay for these.' Shido thought. Needless to say, Shido jinxed himself as every game that Mio played afterwards let to her somehow breaking the machine in some manner. First a war machine game, then a motorcycle race, and then a jet fighting game, followed by a bomb squirting game, a racing game and ending with a zombie shooting game which she broke after throwing something at it.
"WILL YOU PLEASE STOP THAT!?" Shido panicked.
"Why? I beat the game servant, so I win." Mio said, neither one realizing someone had replaced the broken machines in advance. Shido sighed and takes her over to a crane game. "A claw grabbing? Hah, no need!"
Shido freaks as she punches the booth with bread shaped pillows inside, luckily, she didn't break it and just knocked a pillow into prize area. Shido sighs in relief as she takes it and then tosses it into his arms, and he sweatdrops as he realizes he had to carry it, he didn't seem to mind that much. Despite the oddities of the... I guess it was a date, Mio was actually having fun.
...And that made what would about to happen next all the more tragic.
TO BE CONTINUED...
So, some of you are probably gonna ask me this, why did I decide to have Shido name Tohka (for the time being that is) as Mio? Before Vol 16, it was a popular theory that Mio might be Tohka's actual name and that she and Shido actually knew each other before he lost his memories. In this story, despite that theory got debunked, I'm gonna reverse and make Tohka Yatogami her real name.
As for Origami's Inverse Astral Dress? I decided for this fanfic, it and her original Astral Dress will have different designs. Mainly because for one, her canon Inverse Astral Dress... I have no idea how to properly describe that outfit, I mean it's barely anything besides the bottom half.
The reason why Tohka ended up undergoing an Inversion because of the fact that she's been fighting ever since she first appeared on Earth based on what she remembers, so seeing Origami who she knew wasn't a Human gave her hope. She thought if they were the same, they would understand each other, but the fact Origami trying to kill her like everyone else and nearly succeeded... she gained hope that reversed into despair in moments.
The AST didn't show up, but I assure you that they will. That's all I can say without spoiling something that will start as of the second arc. As you can see, I also gave Tohka's Inverse form its own code name, I figured that Origami shouldn't be the only Spirit to have one for both her forms. While I can't guarantee that all of the Spirits' Inverse forms will appear in the story, here's what everyone's Inverse code names are in case they do appear:
Origami - Devil
Nia - Prophet
Kurumi - Paradox
Yoshino - Marionette
Kotori - Phoenix
Mukuro - Supernova
Natsumi - Sorceress
Kaguya and Yuzuru - Pandemonium
Miku - Siren
Tohka - Sovereign