Date A Re:Live
S1 Chapter 20: Kurumi Fallacy, Part 7
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]
Aw man... *sniffles* I ended up crying while writing 70% of this chapter, that's how strong the sad emotions I was typing felt, as the few heartwarming ones. I will say that this is because we'll be learned the story behind the despair of Reine Murasame, bringing up one of the biggest reveals this entire season has hinted since day one, and even Kurumi herself.
Most of all... Material A and Material B's identities will be confirmed, and it's quite possible that most of you already realized who Material A is. Either way, this chapter... its nearly everyone in Ratatoskr vs Kurumi at Raizen High School as she finally decides enough is enough in this little game she's played with Shido and his harem. Even then, we're not anywhere near done with the reveals, and this is just revelations I've planned for this season too! :3
Now for the biggest part before we begin, a data sheet. This is the real reason I gave you Kurumi's last chapter. By now you've seen this pattern with Yoshino and Kotori, so... *drum roll* ta da!
A/N: The Calibers were named after a form of translations for Japanese numbers, while the first ten use their actual numbers in a translated form, the 11th and 12th calibers don't as I wanted each one to have a name that didn't reuse part of another's.
-Inverse Kurumi, Code Name: [Paradox]-
Demon King: Lucifuge - Zafkiel's Demon King counterpart, and one of the most dangerous Demon Kings. Lucifuge evolves into a long and short rapid fire guns that allows both rifles to fire multiple shots at once rather than one at time each, allowing multiple targets to be struck at once. The most dangerous new ability is that if Kurumi normally needed to fire at herself in order to activate a bullet, her calibers will automatically activate without the need to shoot. Kurumi still needs to shoot others if she needs them to affect her enemies instead.
- Alternate Form: First Caliber, Hitotsume - The Inverse counterpart of Aleph. Like its original, it accelerates time on a target object or subject, but the acceleration is double that of Aleph's. A one-shot use ability.
- Alternate Form: Second Caliber , Futatsume - The Inverse counterpart of Bet. Like it's original, it s lows down time on a target object or subject, but now they're slowed to half of the speed reduction of Bet's. A one-shot use ability.
- Alternate Form: Third Caliber , Sanbanme - The Inverse counterpart of Gimmel . Like it's original, it c auses a target object or subject to age, but now Kurumi can control it and can age them backwards. A temporary ability.
- Alternate Form: Fourth Caliber , Y ottsume - The Inverse counterpart of Dalet . Like it's original, it r ewinds time on a target object or subject, but can rewind much faster than Zayin can. A one-shot use ability. It doesn't work on the deceased, with Kurumi proving this when she failed to revive Saya using it.
- Alternate Form: Fifth Caliber , G obanme - The Inverse counterpart of Hei . Like it's original, it a llows Kurumi to see a glimpse of a future event, but now she can see the same event again, even if she already saw it once prior. A one-shot use ability.
- Alternate Form: Six Caliber , Rokubanme - The Inverse counterpart of Vav . Like it's original, it s ends the consciousness of its target into the past , ironically this ability is weaker as it only can go back an entire minute so it uses less power. A permanent ability. This ability doesn't work if in the presence of another Spirit.
- Alternate Form: Seventh Caliber , Shichibanme - The Inverse counterpart of Zayin . Like it's original, it t emporarily freezes time on a target object or subject, but can last for an entire minute rather than a few seconds like Zayin's. A temporary ability.
- Alternate Form: Eight Caliber , Hachibanme - The Inverse counterpart of Het . Like it's original, it c reates one or more clones of a target object or subject, but these clones while unable to use Lucifuge's abilities now can have the real Kurumi transfer herself, making her impossible to kill unless every clone is killed. A one-shot use ability.
- Alternate Form: Ninth Caliber , Kokonotsume - The Inverse counterpart of Tet . Like it's original, it a llows Kurumi to share her senses with someone, but it's now no longer limited to working on those in a different time or dimension. A temporary ability.
- Alternate Form: Tenth Caliber , Jubanme - The Inverse counterpart of Yud . Like it's original, it allows Kurumi to p eek into the past of a target object or subject, but unlike Yud allows her to get the information she specifically needs and exclude what she doesn't need or doesn't care about. A one-shot use ability.
- Alternate Form: Eleventh Caliber , H yakuman - The Inverse counterpart of Yud Aleph . Like it's original, it a llows Kurumi to directly devour a Spirit's power , but twice as fast as the original. A permanent ability. Like the original, she must completely drain a spirit for it to work, otherwise all the stolen power will just return to its owner.
- Alternate Form: Twelfth Caliber , Okubanme - The Inverse counterpart of Yud Bet . Like it's original, it s ends its target subject or object through time , but unlike the original the cost is the same regardless of how far in time one is sent. A temporary ability.
- Alternate Form: Artemis - By combining both of Lucifuge's guns, Kurumi can transform it into a large replica of a M134 Minigun. It charges tachyon and shadow energy together for one fearsome and dangerous blast, but as a result leaves Kurumi unable to attack with Lucifuge for a long cool down period or change it back, leaving her temporarily defenseless.
- Powers: In her Inverse form, Kurumi's time powers are incredibly enhanced to the point some could say they're close to if not already completely broken in their strength and power. However, in return, her Shadow abilities which were already barely used reach the point where they're now pretty much non-existent, Kurumi has strong tolerance to pain in this state due to the fact her clones can now be used to transfer the real her and cheat death due to her Eighth Caliber. Just as Kurumi is the most dangerous spirit when none of them are in their Inverse Forms, she's the most dangerous in her Inverse Form when all of them have undergone an Inversion as well. If you run into Inverse Kurumi... you've pretty much been met by the Grim Reaper.
Risk Factors: SSS (X under a certain condition)
Spacequake: B
Spirit's Astral Dress: C
Demon King Rank: S
Strength: 159
Consistency: 124
Spiritual Power: 265
Agility: 167
Intelligence: 200
Watcher soon landed in an enclosed area, Phantom briefly removed the mosaic around her wound and Watcher hared her spirit mana to help it heal. Phantom lifts her head up slightly and looks at Watcher.
"(...Thank you, if you were there I'd have died. I'm glad you chose to walk this road with me.)" Phantom weakly replied as the wound was nearly closed up. Watcher stared at her as she did. "(What is it Watcher? You can tell me.)"
"...Phantom, I trust you, but why would Kurumi say what she did? You haven't lied to me, have you?" Watched asked, and Phantom shook her head no, soon beginning to cry. "Phantom?"
"(Phantom should have seen it, but Phantom didn't. Phantom let this happen!)" Phantom cried, Watcher gasped, she knew Phantom only referred to herself like that when she was truly emotionally distraught and could hold her mask.
"(Phantom should have seen it when Kurumi escaped after being captured! She didn't change after she came back from the experience, she changed because of what she remembered!)"
Watcher was confused, and blinked a bit.
"What do you mean? What did she..."
"(Watcher, remember how I said Saya was killed? What did Kurumi say?)" Phantom asked, and Phantom thought for a bit and then... she gasped.
"Kurumi said she killed her, that's a clear contradiction!" Watched replied, her eyes shaking. "But how can that be the case? If they were together, then shouldn't she have seen who really killed Saya?"
"(You're right Watcher, Kurumi was at the scene and she should have known the truth from that. Yet all this time she's believed I did it, that I lied to her somehow. I was wondering this for a while, now I've figured it out.)" Phantom breathed, her wound finished healing.
"(It's because Kurumi is...)"
At the hospital, Mana opened her mouth as a doctor put a thermometer under her tongue and another on her forehead, soon taking them out and checking.
"Yep, your body heat's been regulated back to normal. As of today, you're officially cleared for discharge Mana, just make sure to drink a lot of fluids for a while." The doctor smiled, and Mana smiled back. "You want assistance or do you think you can get home by yourself."
"Don't worry, it's only been 3 days, I can make it." Mana replied, and the doctor nodded.
"Alright, just make sure you stop by the counter before you leave to let them know your rooms no longer occupied." The doctor answered, and Mana nodded.
The Doctor soon exited the room, and once he did, Mana stood on her feet and checked the reminder note Kotori gave her. Then at the teddy bear Reine had left her by her side. side... the one that had indirectly caused her to need to be in the hospital.
"You have a secret to you, but what is it?" Mana asked herself, soon picking it up again. The image of the same man appeared in her mind again. "...Reine Murasame, what do you know, why do you have the gift I received from my father?"
"So that's where it came from? Now I'm curious to what she's hiding."
Mana's eyes widen in surprise as she turns to see Kotori look at her with her Raizen High form on, one of her signature Chupa Chups in her mouth. Kotori takes it out as she finished it to leave the empty stick, twirling it into the trash.
"Kotori? Aren't you supposed to be at school right now, why are you here?" Mana asked.
"Remember what I told you on that note? Reine still isn't off her break as our class' assistant teacher, which means this is the best chance we have to make her talk." Kotori explained, making Mana blink. "Think about it, she's not gonna expect two of her students to catch her at this time of day. Much less one who just left the hospital."
"...The best moment, you really think this is it?" Mana asked.
Kotori nodded.
"You bet I do, plus I managed to trick Kannazuki a little into giving me some of the little information about her that wasn't private. I know how to get her into a trap she can't run from either, so for that reason I called in absent. Now let's do this." Kotori smiled, making Mana nod.
Westcott walked through the DEM base of Arubi Island until he saw Marina in her android body staring through the window of a certain section of the building. She was smirking at the sight before her and laughing.
"Oh, that reaction? Does that mean what I think it does?" Westcott smiled.
"Oh, it does, your greatest masterpiece yet is finally done!" Marina replied, making Westcott look at it and give a laugh as he puts a hand to his face. "That's right, this is the prime monster of Deus-Ex-Machina Industries' work. It won't be long before we use it to cream that boy and the other Spirits."
Westcott cackled loudly.
"Yes, getting 5 Spirits and cutting off the tumor that Shido Takamiya's caused in our plans. Now all that's left is one more thing." Westcott replied, looking at Marina. "Open up the connection to [Material A] for me. I have something I need to do before we reach this point."
Marina giggles a bit.
"Alright, I understand father." Marina replied, preparing to open the connection. "Identifying DEM administration ID, Marina Arusu. Grant access to the main servers."
'Just you wait woman... today I shall show you just how much of a failure to stop my efforts were. Here, your dreams are destined to die alongside the people you entrusted them too.' Westcott thought, walking to a chair and sitting down before electrodes attach to him, and veins appear in his eyes.
'Especially that boy and his sister you seem to have so much faith in.'
Soon at Raizen High, the second and final day of the Visitor's event was currently underway as Shido and the others had finally arrived at school. Shido was currently as his locker while he switched out his shoes for the school's shoes. As he did this...
"Why hello Shido."
Shido stopped as he heard the voice of Kurumi standing next to him, turning his left eye towards her. The way she did so was as if she had completely forgotten what she had tried to do to him the other day.
"How are you today?" Kurumi asked, looking as Shido closed his locker and gave her a serious look.
"I'm fine." Shido replied calmly
Soon enough near the lockers' sides, all the students allied with Ratatoskr were listening from the sidelines and trying to watch the best they could, as were a few others who were using the Visitor's event to be present.
"So... that's Nightmare. She doesn't look as dangerous as she does in person." Leonora noted, seeing the Shadow spirit face to face with Shido. "That's exactly why she is. It's pretty much how an assassin fools everyone into not thinking they're one, they seem so normal."
"Honestly, I'm more surprised that she's a Spirit that escaped the DEM an entire decade ago. No other Spirit has done that before." Cecile sweated a bit, remembering the other day when Shido and the others revealed the truth to them.
-Flashback Start-
"...Kurumi Tokisaki, she's the best friend Saya's been searching from. We got confirmation ourselves after she heard us mention her name." Shido revealed, suddenly getting the attention and shock from most of Ratatoskr's members. The biggest shock came to Mildred who dropped the cookie she was eating.
"What!?" Mildred breathed in shock, realizing the horror of her early judgment and that the person Saya's best friend had been described us had become the Nightmare she knew. "Oh my god... then we really didn't get a new Nightmare. I'm so stupid! I sabotaged ourselves without realizing it!"
Reine put a hand on Mildred's shoulder.
"It isn't your fault Mildred, we just believed what the evidence at the time had shown us. Asking Saya could have easily only made her learn a horrid truth. Not to mention her lifespan before her consciousness fade mattered." Reine replied, making Mildred sigh, but at least easing her guilt a bit.
"So, what should we do now that we know this?" Kannazuki asked, curious to their game plan now.
Reine sighed.
"We're going to send everyone we can to the Visitor's event we set up at Raizen High. Kurumi will likely be back for her goals, we need to be ready and get Saya to her." Reine answered, making everyone nod.
"Kannazuki, the Fraxinus crew and I will watch from the sky. Ryouko, stay here in case the AST requests additional weapon deployment and to manage ground operations. We have to treat this like we're surviving a war... because at this point that's what Kurumi's made it."
-End Flashback-
The talkative trio all stare intensely at Kurumi from their spots.
"Well... no turning back now guys. Shido and Kurumi are gonna make their moves, and we have to be ready for whatever reaction this chain starts." Mii whispered, everyone hiding nods. Right then, the first move was made by Kurumi.
"I'll have to admit, I'm a little surprised. I was sure you wouldn't want to come to school today. Most people wouldn't after dealing with such crazy drama." Kurumi stated, not once dropping the smile on her face. 'Only a bit longer till Phantom's lock breaks, the moment my powers return... he's mine!'
"...Kurumi." Shido stated.
"That's me." Kurumi smiled, closing her eyes a bit.
"Just so you know, if you were trying to make me give up on you the other day. It didn't work. I've made the decision that I have to save you." Shido bluntly answered.
Kurumi gasped at that reply.
'What? No way, I... I don't sense any fear from him anymore. He's... he's not afraid of me?' Kurumi thought, for one in her life she was the one lacking confidence. She wasn't going to be deterred. "Well, that's kind of a strange thing to say? Who wants to save the girl who tried to murder them?"
"I would. I will not let you kill anyone else, and I will not let anyone else try to kill you." Shido replied, making the two of them have a bit of a stare off, each holding a serious expression.
The others all watch closely as this happens, right now there was no clear way to know which of them actually did have the advantage. Not even Maria could tell via the emotional readers... it was an even stand off. Kurumi soon smirks.
"Well, how very big of you. You speak such grand words, but I get the feeling that's all they are." Kurumi smiled, counting ever second as she felt her powers nearly about to return to her. 'Sorry Shido, but you've lost this game.'
"What about you? It's clear you don't have to play this waiting game, you could have easily shot me without having ever met you. Yet you wait." Shido fired back, making Kurumi frown slightly. "I wonder if you're the one who's actually talking big here?"
Kurumi giggled at that, not taking Shido's comeback seriously.
"Really, you think you can understand my goal-"
"Does it have to do with what happened to Saya?" Shido interrupted suddenly.
Kurumi's only visible eye suddenly widened and froze a bit once Shido spoke that name, and confidence and courage she had built up was suddenly shattered in a mere instant. Everyone gasped at that.
"Maria, what's going on with Kurumi's emotional state? That was a big shock." Hiroto asked in a whisper, and Maria hummed as she look at the psychological and emotional analytics before her.
"I see the feeling of caution, surprise, and also worry. Before this moment... Kurumi was confident and without any fear. Now Shido's shown her he has his own bullets to fire. That she no longer has an advantage." Maria whispered back.
"No anxiety or distress though, that means it's clear she still feels she has a chance to win. From this moment... I'm pretty sure Kurumi's got no choice but to stop holding back anything she may have been."
Kurumi just stood there, trying not to have a panic attack from the revelation. She breathes in a bit.
"You know it's rude to ask a girl her secrets. Well, I'll see you in class then, we don't want to be late." Kurumi smiled, soon walking off as Shido stared. Once she knew he couldn't see her, her poker face dropped as she revealed one of terror.
'How is this possible? There's no way he should know who Saya is, not even Phantom would be able to get Shido's trust that fast. Could that Artemisia girl could have told him? I've let myself believe he was just normal dog... but it seems he's been a fox all along.'
Soon Kurumi enters an empty hall and uses her powers to make it to the roof, once she does, she suddenly turns to the sky.
"Well, it seems I need to prepare myself for-"
Kurumi suddenly felt the white hands she usually grabbed someone with constrict her.
"What? No, please don't! It isn't my fault!"
"Oh, I'm sorry 'me', but you've been relieved of duty."
Kurumi turned scared as suddenly from the ground, black spirit energy formed and a shadow in the ground rose up to reveal... another Kurumi! Unlike the first one however, this one was different. Her right eye clearly had the whitened pupils that seemed to be occasionally absent on the first one.
"Don't get me wrong, you were a good clone. Unfortunately, you proved to me that I can't hold back with him, now that I know that... it's time the real deal gets this job done... so goodbye." Kurumi smiled, soon the now revealed fake whimpered as she was dragged into the shadows of the real deal and swallowed.
Kurumi soon did a pirouette as her spirit power spun around her, soon manifesting as her Astral Dress. Once it finally manifested, she tapped the ground as her spirit mana suddenly became a black-red and began to slowly encompass the school.
"Get ready Shido, it's time to prove if what you claim is really the truth or if your words are just hollow promises." Kurumi smirked, giving a noticeable toothy grin.
Reine was seen walking towards the construction site of a building, looking around for any watchers, she soon enters and goes inside. Intending to use it to get to the Fraxinus and begin their work for today. They had to seal Kurumi before she began too dangerous, right before she could access the secret entrance leading to Ratatoskr's base...
"I hope you're not planning on going anywhere Reine Murasame."
Reine suddenly flinches and turns around, seeing Mana behind her, looking at her face with determination but also a strong fierceness that was often seen when a predator faced off against its prey.
"Reine, you and I need to talk and we need to do it now. You've hidden enough from me, from Shido, from all of us. So, it's time you finally spill the beans." Mana stated, Reine looked as a single trickle of sweat dripped down her face as she looked at Mana's stare.
"...I'm sorry Mana, but I don't have the time to talk. Right now it's stopping Kurumi that's important." Reine replied, trying to head to the secret entrance, when... it suddenly was blocked off by a wall of fire! Reine gasped at the sight.
"No, you're answering her here and now or you don't go anywhere."
Reine looked up to see Kotori in her Astral Dress, slowly descending to the ground before landing in front of Reine and changing back to her usual outfit. Reine backed up a bit as Kotori walked forward at her.
"Mana's right, you hide too much. We're out there risking our lives and busting our butts to help the Spirits. You've sent Shido to go unarmed against dangerous spirits, and now he's going against the most dangerous one and we're not there. Especially me who's vital." Kotori said, pointing to her head.
"Now talk Reine, or he could die. By all means your secrecy is enough I'm actually considering you could just be a spy for the DEM. That eternal youth thing you claim could just be some crap excuse or a DEM realizer. Talking is how you prove me wrong... so?"
Reine grit her teeth a bit.
"You think either of you know anything? About what's going on, what the world has suffered three decades of with barely anyone noticing!? You're too young to get it, your negligent at best! You should know the danger Kurumi brings by now. So why risk this here and now!?" Reine yelled.
"Listen well, I'm not just the Commander because I'm smart. I've been affected by the First Spacequake, I could easily-"
"Oh please, being born more than 30 years ago means you don't have any mana core to enhance your physical abilities, nor the potential to be hiding a CR-Unit. You really think you can feint us with that? I don't think so." Kotori smirked, making Reine's eyes widen.
"How did you know that!? That's information only Kannazuki..." Reine began, soon sweat dropping a she realized it. "No way, how did you get him to let you find out."
Kotori went silent at that to both Mana and Reine's surprise.
"I had to... destroy my pride. I flashed my breasts to him!" Kotori yelled while blushing red, making Mana nearly face fault in shock and Reine's left eye twitched as she face palmed as Kotori began crying a bit. "Do you know how awful that experience was? It was horrible, I let a guy other than Shido see my breasts."
'Damn it Kannazuki, why did you let your perverted side beat you!?' Reine thought angrily, mentally groaning at the revelation while Mana patted the sniffling Kotori's back before turning seriously to face Reine.
"You aren't walking from this Reine. I need to know, or I'll never be able to trust you again. How did you get the teddy bear my father gave me?" Mana question, and Reine's eyes widened as she heard Mana say this. Kotori looked surprised from the declaration as well.
"Yes, I know. The reason I ended up getting that fever like state? When I picked this bear up, I saw it... a memory of the day my father gave it to me. I'm not sure where we were, but I heard myself call him daddy. He had the same hair, same eyes, even my birthmark was there."
Reine stared in shock, her mouth open and shaking.
"Tell me Reine... what do you know about my mother and father, I deserve to know. So please stop hiding the truth or like Kotori said, I'll make myself believe you're just someone in DEM. Someone who was there the day they kidnapped us!" Mana screamed, crying a bit.
Reine looked down, a guilty look on her face.
"...I should have known the fact I brought you to Ratatoskr wasn't me wanting to build Shido's trust. You were meant to come here as much as we were." Reine began, soon sighing as she looked up.
"Alright, you win. Just know this... you'll probably wish you hadn't heard some of what I'm about to tell you. There are points you'll wish the conversation ended. However I'm not going to allow that, if you want to know, then you'll hear the full story."
Both Mana and Kotori look at each other before nodded.
"Alright, no turning back now. Before I married my late husband, my maiden name, the name I was born with was... Reine Takamiya." Reine answered, suddenly making Mana gasp in shock. "That's right Mana, the man you knew as your father... was my older brother."
Reine soon began to cry to the surprise of the two.
"...And it's my fault he's was killed, why you'll never get to see him again no matter how much you me or Shido beg for him to come back."
Mana's eyes shrunk as if a knife had stabbed her in the heart.
Soon Shido took a deep breath as he looked out the school window, everyone else had spread out across the school so they'd have eyes everywhere in case Kurumi tried anything. He taped his headset as he tried to contact Reine.
"Hey Reine, are you ready? We'll need to start soon." Shido sighed worriedly.
"We haven't seen Kurumi leave the school, the real problem is if we'll get her to listen to what we have to say." Kannazuki replied, surprising Shido.
"Kannazuki? Where's Reine, I thought she was supposed to be there by now?" Shido asked.
"Something came up, for that same reason Kotori and Mana will be a bit delayed. Don't worry, they won't need too long. We do need Saya for this to work after all." Kannazuki replied, not wanting to reveal what he had an idea was going on. 'Shido would probably kill me.'
"So until then, you'll be my navigator." Shido realized, nodding. "Alright. Reine trusts you, so let's do this."
Right at that moment, a sudden dark eave of energy phased through the school, Shido felt the recoil push him for a moment before he regained his footing. Shido soon looked to see all of the students dropping to the ground unconscious.
"What happened?" Shido gasped, looking around. "Kannazuki, what is this? It's like we've been sucked into a different dimension!"
"I'm not sure, I've never seen anything like this!" Kannazuki said shakily, both he and the whole crew in surprise. Maria's hologram had fallen over before getting up.
"That barrier... something's not right, it feels like it's a vampire." Maria gasped.
Mana stared in shock, to hear her father was dead... and that she was looking at the woman who was her biological aunt? She didn't know how to react.
"You're my Aunt... why did you hide that fact? Better yet, if you were family, why didn't you take me and Shido in? Why didn't you take care of us and just left us in the care of Kotori's parents!?" Mana screamed, feeling slight anger.
"...What right did I have to raise you when cost my brother his life? Not just him, my husband, Tohka's parents... and 6 billion people who were innocent and didn't deserve to die!?" Reine yelled, surprising the two.
"Yes, it's exactly what you think. When I was growing up, my brother was always there, I couldn't ask for a better big brother. My husband was even his best friend. When he grew up and set out on his own, he chose to be an explorer, to see and discover the world. However, one day... a news report told me he went missing. For years, we thought he was dead, it had been bad enough that I learned I couldn't bear children and even name one in memory of him. Then one day... he called me, and I heard his voice, telling me he was alive."
"Then... where was he?" Kotori asked.
Reine looked at the two, breathing in.
"He went missing... because he managed to somehow be sent to another world entirely. No, world isn't the right term, it was an entirely different dimension." Reine replied, making their eyes widen as they realized it. "That's right... the Spirit Dimension was that world he found himself in."
"Dad... found the Spirits' world? No way..." Mana breathed.
Suddenly the memory flashed as Mana realized parts of the scenery she saw.
"Wait, that was it! That place... my father and I were in the Spirit Dimension! Does that mean I was born there!?" Mana asked, and Reine nodded.
"Yes, he mentioned he wasn't the only human he found had landed there. Many others explored what he had and became trapped there. He was just the first to re-establish contact with Earth from that world." Reine answered.
"That's where he met your mother most likely, and you and Shido likely got your powers because you were born in that dimension. The exposure your mother had while pregnant with each of you likely made you the first Humans with mana cores... before that day."
Mana suddenly gasped.
"That experiment... the one that summoned the First Spirit, that wasn't what you really were doing, was it?" Mana reasoned, the fact she was on Earth was proof. "You tried to bring us all back home!"
Kotori's eyes widened at Mana, and soon looked at Reine for confirmation. Reine simply nodded to answer.
"That's right, but... that's when I made a mistake. I wanted to get my brother back so badly I didn't consider who I should be trusting. So when a brown haired man willing to shell all his money to aid us came? I didn't doubt it..." Reine replied somberly. "...That man was the one we know as Westcott."
"What!?" The two both shouted.
"That's right, he wanted to get contact to the Spirit World and with my brother connecting to this world, I gave us the opportunity and joined the 'Gateway Project' to let us enter the world and let others leave it." Reine confirmed, making the two stare at her.
"...Westcott however had a bigger ambition. After we succeeded in bringing everyone back, and around the time Shido and Tohka met each other, her parents having been part of the project, close friends of mine even... Westcott did something."
Reine's eyes squinted as she remembered the screams that day, the mana energy that zapped into her body and froze her again, and soon... the First Spirit as she was pulled into the world against her will and caused the first Spacequake.
"He... destroyed the entire Dimension, and the strongest Spirit that survived the dimensional genocide was forced out to our world. That's when the first Spacequake arrived. Very few of us survived, and Westcott's ambitions began. We had no choice but to fight back. I gained my status as a Commander through my orders, and during this... I sent your father and my husband on a mission, but their dead bodies came back to me in coffins."
Mana gasped, even more as she saw Reine tear up and begin sobbing.
"Then to make things worse, Tohka's parents were killed as the DEM kidnapped you, her and Shido. In the end... you and Shido escaped due to Tohka's sacrifice. She somehow got away after that, I don't know how. It didn't change I wasn't strong enough to prevent their deaths." Reine sobbed, the horrid memories making her tears flow.
"In the end, what stopped Westcott was the First Spirit herself, she fought him and did everything she could... at the cost of her life. In her last moments, she split her powers into the 10 Sephira Crystals, and I presume Phantom was born from that. Perhaps she saved Tohka? I don't know, but... that's what happened."
Kotori blinked for a moment in shock, then noticed something off.
"Wait, if Shido, Tohka and Mana were all born around 30 years ago, and Tohka's been a Spirit for 3 months, why aren't any of them that old?" Kotori asked, completely confused now from the contradicting information.
"I don't know the full details, but apparently, your mother and the First Spirit decided that to protect you from Westcott... you should be locked in a time freezing version of a cold sleep." Reine answered, making Mana blink.
"You didn't wake up until around the time before you were put in an orphanage, and I think it was this that caused you to have memory loss. Mio had likely been put into Shido before this as a precaution or a way to restore your memories. Problem is she forgot her memories as well. Tohka I'm assuming may have gone through a similar process, though Phantom likely did it since she became a Spirit later."
Kotori's eyes widen.
"I get it... you didn't take them in because you were worried you'd end up risking their lives, or causing them to meet your brother's fate. You were too scared to trust yourself with them, so you trusted them with people you felt could do what you couldn't. My parents were those people. Am I right?" Kotori asked, and Reine silently nodded.
"Now you know my sins... if you refuse to trust me again, I won't convince you otherwise." Reine finished, closing her eyes in shame. Then... she felt Mana hug her. "Mana? Why are you-"
Reine was suddenly slapped across the cheek to Kotori's surprise, Mana crying a bit.
"Don't... stop making yourself sound like a monster. So what if you've sinned, no one hasn't done something wrong, even if it was accidentally stepping on an ant or breaking a rock!" Mana cried, making Reine stare in shock.
"You're still trying to make things right, aren't you? If your hands cause the pain you claim... why do you keep doing it? Don't you get it? You haven't given up!"
Reine's eyes widen, more tears flood her eyes, and Kotori suddenly tears up as she smiles.
"I... I don't deserve forgiveness, I deserved to be damned. Even yet, you... you don't hate me?" Reine cried, hugging Mana back.
"I'm so sorry for everything, but... I promise you I will spend the rest of my life making it right. Maybe your father is gone, but... I never heard about your mother. She must still be alive out there, so I vow to help you find her. If we don't, then... I'll do what I should have done and raise you and Shido the best I can!"
Mana nods, shedding the last of her tears.
'See that Reine? We understood you, because you finally stopped hiding yourself. I'm sure everyone else will understand you too' Kotori thought, wiping her eyes dry. Suddenly the three of them heard their headsets ring.
"What is it?" They all say together.
"Oh thank god, everyone... its Kurumi! Mana, Kotori, I need you to hurry to Raizen High now! Commander, we need you on the Fraxinus ASAP." Kannazuki screamed in a panic, catching their attention.
"I'll head to the beaming point now, wait for me. Kotori and Mana will fly over now." Reine answered before hanging up.
The three nod, but right before they leave...
"Wait, one last question." Mana asked, making Reine look. "You didn't mention who my mother is, so who is it?"
"Sorry Mana, but I honestly don't know. Things went crazy too fast for me to confirm her identity." Reine answered, making Mana sigh a bit.
"That's why she may still be alive, for all I know... she's a Ratatoskr member and I don't even realize it. Don't give up, because she may just be out there somewhere. In fact, this is one reason why we need Mio to regain her memories. Your mother put her into Shido, so she has to know who your mother is."
Mana gasps before nodding, and soon the three all ran off.
Shido looked around, trying to find someone who was still conscious, and soon...
[Look! It's Hiroto, and he hasn't passed out!]
Shido turns and sees Hiroto, he was indeed still conscious, but looked like he would faint any moment. Maria was heard also weakly grunting from his phone.
"Hiroto!" Shido called out, running over to help him up. "You alright?"
"Yeah, Maria and I are still wide awake. It just feels like my body's gone heavy." Hiroto replied, holding his phone up. "Maria?"
"Right, give me just a second... wide area link! Connect all headset devices within the school grounds!" Maria exclaimed.
Soon everyone's headsets showed all Ratatoskr agents and members currently in the school.
"Link successful, now listen carefully everyone. My analysis concludes this is some wide-area barrier, it seems to be manipulating the 4th dimension in some form I still need time to understand. It seems to at least debilitate everyone within its range." Maria explained.
"Kurumi must have done it, but why?" Shido asked himself.
"That's what I'd like to know, only due to what happened to us." Maria continued, soon showing the data she had so far.
"From what I can tell, those in Ratatoskr who aren't wizards or spirits are feeling effected, but not enough to faint due to slight spirit mana resistance from being around Tohka and the rest for so long. They just feel a bit weak. For wizards, they're only partially effected like they have a low fever. Anyone who's a Spirit is outright immune, almost as if Kurumi can't affect those who are fellow Spirits, unfortunately it may limit you to your Limited Astral Dress state however if you need your powers."
"But everyone else was completely effected, they're helpless." Shido realized.
Soon everyone heard the school speaker turn on.
"Shido darling, can you hear me?" Kurumi giggled, getting everyone's attention. "If you need anything at all, feel free to join me on the roof. Something tells me you might wanna get here as soon as possible though."
"Damn it, what do we do?" Shido questioned.
"Stay calm Shido." Reine answered, suddenly getting his attention.
"Sorry for the delay, Mana and Kotori are on their way as we speak. Listen close. Shido, head to where Kurumi is, we have to take her threats seriously, she likely has done the same for you. Tohka, Yoshino, Origami and every AST member, follow him in case danger comes. AST, I'm cutting off the link and replacing it with Ryouko's private line. Everyone else, help the downed students at least outside of the building. I have no doubt there's going to be a fight soon."
Everyone nods.
"Good luck Hiroto, we all need it." Shido said, running off.
"Be careful Shido!" Hiroto called out.
With everyone in the AST, the grabbed their emergency transfer devices to send their CR-Units over without using any of their mana.
"Identifying AST!" They all stated, soon stating their ID names. "Transferring personal CR-Unit now!"
All of them feel their CR-Units equip a bit painfully, but once they did, the pain vanished as they got up and began moving. Meanwhile with the Spirits, they prepared their Astral Dresses.
"Adonai Melek!"
"Ehyeh!"
"El!"
The three had their Astral Dresses try to form, but unfortunately, they could only overlay with their clothes, becoming their Limited Astral Dresses instead.
"Maria was right, we can't fully transform." Origami stated as she saw her outfit, sighing. "We'll have to work with what we've got, it's the best we can do right now. Hang on Shido, we're coming!"
Soon Shido reached the rooftop door and opened it, as he did, he turned to see Kurumi who he noticed had her whitened pupil finally showing up without it glowing.
"Welcome Shido, I'm glad you were so eager to come see the real me." Kurumi replied, giggling a bit.
"Real you, what do you mean?" Shido asked.
"Oh? I never mentioned it, I guess you could say I can bring the shadows of my past to life. I believe clones are a good reference for what you'd call them." Kurumi smirked, making Shido gasp.
"The me you've met was just a fake I scouted around with, but now I can't let you have an advantage over me. In fact... I've made sure your friends can't come to help you either."
Mikie was seen running through the halls.
"Mikie, go left and then straight ahead!" Ryouko replied.
"Got it!" Mikie replied.
As she went left and ran, she suddenly had part of CR-Unit shot, disconnecting her from Ryouko. She gasped to see... three of Kurumi!?
"What the!? Wait, why are their three of you?" Mikie panicked.
"There's plenty of me, and I assure you each is the real deal, so don't think this is an illusion deary." The middle Kurumi answered, the other two giggling alongside her. Meanwhile in the hall, Yoshino sees a bullet fly at her, making her form ice to shield herself.
"W-who's there?" Yoshino asked, and Yoshino pales.
"Uh... Yoshino?" Yoshinon pointed, and the Water Spirit gasped as she saw half a dozen of Kurumi, three on each side of the hall. Soon the other Spirits and AST members each got a group of Kurumi clones who blocked them off. The Fraxinus crew was shocked.
"Now I see it, this is how Kurumi can avoid being killed. She just sacrifices a clone and no one would be the wiser. She's had her aces hidden all along. The clones don't have them to use." Reine reasoned, biting her nails worriedly.
Shido sweated as he heard the sounds of fighting below, realizing the others wouldn't be coming for a while, possibly too late to help him.
"...Alright, if I'm involved in this then you at least have the right to explain what's going on. Why do this?" Shido demanded.
"Huh, I guess it's only fair. After all you were the one who sealed Tohka, Yoshino, Kotori and Origami." Kurumi shrugged mockingly, seeing no harmed in it. "This little barrier? It's my City of Devouring Time the barrier sucks up the time energy of anyone within its shadow."
"The time?" Shido asked confused, and soon Kurumi giggles.
"Oh that's right, Origami's the only one who got to see it so far. Take a look." Kurumi said, slowly lifting the hair blocking her left eye.
Shido gasped as he saw it, the golden clock that was her left eye.
"Your eye's a clock!?" Shido asked.
"That's right Shido, I don't just manipulate darkness and shadow. The power of my Angel can let me bend time, but it has a nasty habit at eating away too much of my spirit mana." Kurumi explained, giving an exaggerated sad face in response.
"However. I ended up realizing a simple solution to that. While I can't use up my own life force as compensation, I can simply replenish the clock in my eye with other people's time to replenish it. "
Shido gasped at that.
"You mean you kill just to keep allowing your power to be used without any worries?" Shido exclaimed.
"Oh, nothing that short sighted Shido. My ambitions are much bigger, all the scum in the Earth I purge, they're mere prey for the power to achieve my ultimate goal." Kurumi smirked, unnerving Shido slightly.
"My final power, the power to go into the past. I need the power to travel 30 years into the past to the moment after the original Spacequake. When I get there... I'm going to murder either Westcott or the First Spirit. Whoever is more convenient, perhaps both would be?"
"Then... why do you need me?" Shido asked.
Kurumi soon giggles, and then laughs before cackling a bit to Shido's surprise before she simply licks one of her fingers.
"Simple, you're the reason I'm even here." Kurumi replied, her gaze creepy and distant at Shido. "You have the power of four spirits sealed within you. I'll gain all the power I need from you, and all I need to do is eat you!"
"OK, fine! If I'm the one you want then you don't need to involve anyone else!" Shido shouted.
"Do I?" Kurumi wondered, her smile becoming a grin. "I disagree, in fact you gave me a reason to do that this morning."
"Huh?" Shido said confused.
"Obviously, you're not going to save me now. So... take back what you said this morning." Kurumi answered, making Shido's eyes widen.
"Come on, don't you think I'm downright awful to cause this pain for such a silly reason? So go on, you can say it. You hate me and it's clear I'm not someone who deserves mercy."
Kurumi walks up close to Shido and rubs his cheek.
"I will eat you, but I'm at least giving you the chance to take your words back. Do that darling, and I'll take down the barrier so your classmates won't die. So, what will it be Shido?" Kurumi asked, before laughing as if she had won.
Shido closed his eyes, and soon looked at her.
"I'm not giving up on you Kurumi." Shido said, surprising Kurumi with his answer.
"...So, you think you can be stubborn enough to find a solution. Sorry Shido, but now you've simply forced my hand. If this barrier isn't enough then this will be!" Kurumi raises her hand, and soon...
[WARNING! THERE HAVE BEEN PRECURSORY SIGNS OF AN IMPENDING SPACEQUAKE!]
Shido gasped.
"That's right, just like [Princess], [Angel] or [Efreet]... I can set them off instantly, so don't even try to stop me." Kurumi cackled, making Shido sweat at his arms shook. Even if he had a Spirit Ascension with the power to stop her, he couldn't use it fast enough.
'Damn it, what do I do?' Shido thought, trying to find a solution.
[Shido, she's bluffing. She's afraid of you.] Mio whispered.
"What?" Shido whispered back.
[I can tell, the way she showed surprise to your first response? She's getting desperate, in fact... didn't she say she had to eat you? What do you think might happen if you were to die and not by her hands?]
Shido's eyes widened.
"That's it!" Shido declared, making Kurumi raise her eyes a bit as the outburst. "You said you came here to eat me, right? If that's true, take down the barrier and stop the quakes, if you don't..."
Shido jumps onto the guard rail.
"I'll commit suicide right here and now!" Shido exclaimed, making Mio nervous with his plan while Kurumi stared in shock.
"...Your making yourself a hostage? Nice try, but I don't think you'll actually follow through with it." Kurumi sighed, and Shido exhaled as he looked at her again.
"Watch me."
Shido jumped off the roof's guard rail, and Kurumi's eyes widen.
"ALEPH!
Kurumi shoots Zafkiel at herself, soon accelerating fast enough to catch Shido and throw him back on the roof, Shido coughing as he landed on it.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" Kurumi screamed. "Damn it, that was incredibly stupid and reckless!"
Shido smirked as he looked at her.
"I'm not as dumb as you think, because by saving me you proved what I was thinking. If I don't die by your hands, you lose the power you want so much." Shido smirked, causing Kurumi's eyes to widen. "Oh by the way? At that height, I likely would have still survived due to Kotori's healing powers."
"No... that's not possible, you couldn't have outsmarted me!" Kurumi breathed, showing the same face she felt when Kotori's Megiddo aimed at her 5 years ago.
Shido got back up, staring as her as she stepped back.
"Now if you could do me a favor, take down the barrier and stop the Spacequakes. If you don't, I'll make sure I kill myself faster than you can stop me." Shido demanded, giving a look to clearly show he wasn't joking.
Kurumi shakes before snapping and doing just that. Back inside, the Kurumi clones soon saw the Spirits manifest their full Astral Dresses, and each of them give confident smiles. The clones all looked fearfully as the three Spirits all attacked them.
"Oh, there's one more thing. I want you to allow yourself to have another chance." Shido requested.
"Are we seriously back to this? Trust me, I'm more trouble than I'm worth. Kurumi sneered.
"That isn't true and you know it!" Shido stated, making Kurumi gasp. "You can change and be happy, and I know you do. If that wasn't the case you wouldn't have been so overjoyed to see the cats when we were on our date! I know it!"
Kurumi's eyes widened.
"No... you're wrong!" Kurumi shouted, shaking her head.
"No I'm not, I can help you!" Shido screamed, making Kurumi stare in shock. "Yes, you'll live with what you've done for the rest of your life. That doesn't matter, no matter how terrible you've been that won't give me a reason not to save you!"
Shido reaches out his hand, and Kurumi looks at it for a moment before reaching out... and slapping it away to Shido's shock.
"Forget it, it's too late! I've come too far to throw it all away now!" Kurumi screamed, aiming Zafkiel at Shido. "Yud A-"
"Kurumi, stop!"
Kurumi's eyes widen and she freezes as she hears that voice, she turns slowly to see Kotori fly down onto the rooftop, but her eyes were both blue showing that Kotori seceded control to her for the moment.
"...No, it can't be. It's not possible." Kurumi breathed, unable to believe what she was seeing.
"It is Kurumi, it's me... it's Saya." Saya replied, smiling at her.
Kurumi accidentally dispelled her Angel in shock, tears overflowing in her eyes as the impossible had happened before her... Saya was speaking to her again.
"B-but that can't be..." Kurumi cried, soon Saya gave her a serious look.
"Kurumi! I know why I think you're doing this, but you've been deceived, I swear to you! Phantom didn't lie to you... you weren't the one who killed me!" Saya exclaimed, surprising Kurumi.
"W-what... what are you talking about? Yes I did! Phantom gave you your powers but you became a flaming monster! I saw myself kill you in the Spirit Dimension." Kurumi shouted, suddenly angry. "Are you really Saya, now I think your-"
Saya slapped her.
"Be glad Chestnut isn't here to see this!" Saya said coldly, making Kurumi just stare. "I learned the truth from Kotori's memories, the Spirit Dimension was destroyed 20 years before we gained our powers. There's no way you could have been there."
"B-but... I know what happened!" Kurumi sweated, her memories had to be right. Saya had to be the one remembering wrong.
Shido and Saya try to think how to properly convince her.
[Kurumi, you swear you know how things happened right? Then tell us how things lead to those moments you remember. How did you reach the Spirit Dimension? What date was it, and what time did you kill Saya at on it?]
"Of course, I got there by... by..." Kurumi began, but the more she tried to think, the more she couldn't bridge the memory to something. "The day you died was... the time was at..."
Kurumi feels her head, why didn't she know? At that moment, she suddenly remembered the day Saya begged to become a Spirit and Phantom decided to allow her, and her not becoming that burning monster.
"No... this doesn't make sense, why am I seeing you request to be a Spirit? Why!?" Kurumi screamed, holding her head. Suddenly her clock eye came back into view as it glowed.
"[Because the memories you had before were a mere fallacy, they were never real.]" Westcott's voice echoed through the eye. Catching Shido and Kotori, who gained half control back as her right eye became red again, gasped in shock.
"[A pleasure to meet you Nightmare, or should I call you... Material A? I am Sir Isaac Westcott, the ruler of DEM Industries. A pleasure to make your acquaintance. As it is to know you for real... Shido Takamiya.]"
Shido growls at his voice.
"What... what are you talking about?" Kurumi asked, shaking at the revelation before her. Soon the clock she saw appear when she killed someone appeared behind her. "Huh? I didn't call you, why are you here Zafkiel?"
[Master... I remember too, that isn't me! It never has been.]
"[Correct little Angel, I implanted these false memories and made them prominent. This idea that your friend was killed by your hands. Truth is she died saving you, but your power? It was useful, so rather than killing you, I made you my unknowing puppet and pawn.]" Westcott's voice explained.
"[Maintaining a false reality was not easy, so I gave you this clock eye to control you. The sheer work it took to keep the illusion even astounded me, we had to add this clock and force you to black out while I used it to kill nearly 20,000 bastards. Yet I think its funnier to know an innocent was unknowingly letting a murderer kill bastards that would never exceed his evil, you may not have stained your hands with murder, but you've felt it with each drop of blood that hit it.]"
Saya's eye shook.
"You... Phantom was right about you, you're a sick monster! You're not even human!" Saya roared.
"[Of course not, I lost that when the First Spirit defeated me 30 years ago. Luckily... her defeat only helped me now.]" Westcott's voice cackled.
"...A lie." Kurumi said softly, getting Shido and Saya's attention, Kurumi fell to her knees as her true personality slowly began to come back to her. "Everything these past ten years was a lie! I didn't kill anyone, Phantom never betrayed me... all this time... you just used me to gather power for yourself! I let it happen!"
Westcott began to laugh.
"[Also, I need to thank you Shido. Everything you did helped me realize the truth behind the Inverse Form. See, it turns out strong despair is all it needs. The reason for that? Well... turns out I am the origin for the power!]" Westcott declared.
"What!?" Shido, Kotori and Saya announced.
"[Turns out the Inversion never existed until I got involved, when the First Spirit split her powers, I tried to take them... and my wish to cause despair to the world? It manifested a stain on the ten Sephira Crystals. I am the essence of the Inverse Form, meaning...]" Westcott explained before he began giggling.
"[...I can simply force it.]"
Kurumi's crying was suddenly interrupted, she suddenly felt her body in pain, holding herself as she screamed.
"What's happening... to... me!?" Kurumi cried, her right eye suddenly becoming a clock as well.
"NO! KURUMI, I'LL SAVE YOU! I'll-" Kotori suddenly stumbled, and noticed her blue eye flickering. Saya gasped in horror as she realized it... the last of her consciousness was finally slipping away, her end was finally here. "N-no... please not now! It can't be the end here! Kurumi... I'm sorry, but this is goodbye. Know that I never blamed-"
Kotori felt something strange and felt her head.
"Saya? Saya!?" Kotori called out, and soon gasp and teared up as she realized it. "...No, she's gone!"
"Saya... no! Please! Come back, don't leave me again! I beg of you, to any god that can hear me, I don't care what happens to me! Give her life back, I'll give you anything, you can even kill me for all I care!" Kurumi cried before she suddenly lurched forward, soon lurching her head as her look went blank.
"Please Saya, come back. I'm... sorry for everything."
Kurumi suddenly floated into the air, her Astral Dress fading and leaving her without anything, her eyes two red pools of darkness, soon black spirit energy even black and darker than before suddenly formed from her before it became a hand and grasped her... and then exploded out into the sky!
"KURUMI!" Shido screamed.
Inside the Fraxinus, the warning readings were at the highest levels it ever recorded for a Category E.
"Oh my god..." Maria gasped.
"What is it Maria, how bad is it? Just what kind of Inversion are we dealing with?" Reine asked, suddenly terrified just by seeing the dark spirit energy.
"Commander... by all means she should be a SSS-Rank, but it's gone even higher! An... an X-Rank!" Maria replied, soon gasping as new info came up. "Wait... no that's not impossible, its saying Kurumi's consciousness isn't even there! The one listed here is... Westcott's!"
Everyone gasped.
"Westcott... as an Inverse Spirit, what the hell is happening!?" Reine said, her stoic expression breaking into one of pure fear.
Meanwhile in inside Raizen High, the Spirits all suddenly feel the ominous aura.
"That... that feeling, it's like that time for me, but even worse!" Tohka said, shivering in fear. Right as Origami and Yoshino find her. "Guys, do you..."
"I-I do, i-it's like true evil h-has been born!" Origami stuttered.
Soon the sound of laughter came as Mana, the rest of the AST, and every other Ratatoskr agent in the school heard the laughter.
"What have you done!" Shido demanded.
"The Understanding... it has Inverted!" Westcott's voice declared loudly, cackling madly. "Finally... the power of a Demon King has become mine!"
The black spirit power soon explodes out and Kurumi's form was revealed, but now completely Inverted with both of her eyes as the golden clocks and the big clock now black and spiky, labeled with "DEM: MATERIAL-A" on the top of its rim.
Kurumi was now wearing a somewhat intact yet shredded looking Astral Dress was made out of black and white frills which now looked like it had actual sleeves, the color combination being terrifying due to how primarily black Kurumi had been, and the fact that Westcott had forced her into an inversion. the middle area had been shredded apart to reveal her legs to the world, her stockings unchanged.
Her hair was no longer in twin tails, flowing completely freely, but still showing her hair's uneven length on each side, her clashing against the black and white outfit and both enhancing yet harming the Gothic Lolita image she possessed. She had slightly shredded and torn white and black collar on her neck, and her black boots had become partially white in places. Her entire look was now something of a... a paradox!
This was the code name of the Inverse Spirit before them, a spirit of time whose appearance clashed against even itself, [Paradox].
"Is... is that really Kurumi?" Shido breathed, Kotori hugging Shido's arm as she felt more afraid than she ever had in her life. Kurumi's clock eyes ticked until her left eye struck 3 and her right eye struck 9, and soon she gave a smile like Westcott's before the shocking reveal came from the voice that spoke.
"Now Shido Itsuka... are you ready to start our war!?" Westcott declared, summoning Kurumi's Demon King, Lucifuge. Shido stared in horror at the revelation that Kurumi's body was now under Westcott's command.
"He's... taken Kurumi's body over!" Shido gasped.
"Impossible!" Kotori shrieked loudly, shivering noticeable before she and Shido suddenly felt Kurumi's ghastly hands, now black in color grab them.
"Hmm... actually, that seems to easy and not torturous enough. I know... I'll do what Kurumi didn't do! Time to level this entire city!" Westcott cackled, raising his hand.
[WARNING! THERE HAVE BEEN PRECURSORY SIGNS OF AN IMPENDING SPACEQUAKE!]
"NO! YOU CAN'T!" Shido screamed as his eyes widen, Westcott laughed as everyone tried to evacuate to safety again, but Westcott wouldn't give them that chance.
"Prepare to be purged from every map of this world Tenguu City!" Westcott exclaimed.
Soon multiple black colored Spacequakes began to go off everywhere in the city, everyone staring as it seemed it was too late for them... only for brown colored Spacequakes to suddenly form by each of them, and then simply cancel out each other harmlessly.
All the citizens suddenly murmur about what had just happened, while all of Ratatoskr, Shido, the Spirits and Westcott stared in shock at what had just happened. Westcott especially as his entire moment was ruined.
"What is the meaning of this?" Westcott gasped in disbelief.
"You mean you didn't know? Well, lucky me then. Spacequakes harmlessly cancel out one another if they're of opposing spirit powers like yours and mine. Try that trick again all you want, I'll just keep stopping it." A voice suddenly said.
Everyone turned to see a being emitting silver colored electricity that covered their form, Westcott recognized the voice.
"Material B! How dare you, you'll pay for this!" Westcott growled.
"I'd appreciate if you didn't call me that. That isn't my name, and it never was. I am the spirit code named as [Watcher], however for you Shido?" Watcher said, soon spinning around.
The electricity fades and soon the sight of a young, beautiful girl with golden hair and deep pink eyes was seen. Her Astral Dress took the appearance of a short black dress with a slit in her chest and stomach. She wore black gloves and gold gauntlets on her legs, on her back were a pair angelic wings alongside four large transparent wings. Additionally, she had a smaller pair of wings attached to her ears as extensions.
"You can refer to me by the name Phantom graciously gave me, I am the artificially made spirit... Mayuri Seraphina, but you can just call me the Electric Spirit."
Whoa... I didn't think this chapter would get as long as it did, then again with how much was revealed here I guess I can't blame how big it ended up. If I had fit every reveal in here... yikes! Worst of all, poor Saya... she held on and fought just to see Kurumi one last time before she disappeared, but her life finally faded away at the worst possible moment. I bet Westcott did that one on purpose.
Oh yeah, that's right! Material B was none other than Mayuri! I'll also reveal now due to how she was born, Mayuri will... NOT die in the story! That's right, she's here to stay! In regard to her angel, Kerubiel, it will be a bit different due to how she was born in the story. I can say my decision to give her electricity as her power comes from Kerubiel being called the " Thunder Sanctuary ", so I felt it was required.
That's right, Kurumi was the fabled Material A, the clue was the fact Phantom mentioned an unwilling puppet. Kurumi had her memories changed, the whole arc was named after her both creating a fallacy, and being the victim of another. Ooh... things are getting bad now, Westcott has taken over Kurumi's body and forced an Inversion to use the power for himself. What he meant by creating the Inverse Form? Well, the dude's evil and corrupts people via mind control and memory editing anyways, need I say more?
Now, some of you may feel that Inverse Kurumi's abilities and powers are a bit broken, but I'll say now that the clock eyes and clock face on Kurumi are partially why this is the case. After she's freed, I'll explain this more, just know she's only as powerful as the data sheet states her to be this one time. So the powers being kinda broken is simply for that reason.
Oh, and best part? Next chapter isn't even the final chapter! Kurumi's arc is nowhere near over just yet! Get ready for the next chapter, because everyone's about to throw down! Stay awesome everyone ^^
-Spirit Bond Levels-
Tohka - 80%
Origami - 68%
Yoshino - 55%
Kotori - 73%