Date A Re:Live
S1 Chapter 21: Kurumi Fallacy, Part 8
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]
Alright everyone, before we start I should let you know that at best there's only one more chapter in Kurumi's arc after this one, after a long road this arc is finally going to see its climax. To be truthful there was actually going to be two chapters, but the second is basically an epilogue for the first season and the entire Kurumi that I think will more than likely need to merge rather than be separate. Nothing concrete until I start writing Chapter 9.
Oh yeah, since we're finally approaching the end of Season 1, there are some things I should reveal to everyone now before I forget, the Yamai arc is the first Season 2 arc, but... while Date AST Re:Strike is part of events between Season 1 and 2 while being a different story, and some of Date A Re:Live - Encore's chapters will be either in Season 1 or between the seasons and also another story... the Rinne Utopia movie! (it's not really an arc because it happens between seasons, like how Mauri Judgment is technically pre-Season 3... if we actually get one ^^;) which is between the two seasons of the anime will be in this story itself! In fact, this chapter will help explain some things, so I'll just let you read it then continue this at the end notes.
Also, the conflict with Kurumi will end here, but to those of you who remember, a few chapters ago... I showed that the DEM's Goliath machine was a prototype testing for a different attack machine. I don't think I need to explain what the last battle of this arc is gonna be. At this point, I think it's kinda a theme, at least for Season 1. The DEM plots after this will start involving more people again because the damages Shido left in Tohka's arc will finally get done repairing.
The most important thing I'll bring up? Last chapter, I had Reine expose the revelation that the Spirit Dimension was destroyed by Westcott 30 years ago when he caused the First Spirit to appear and cause the original Spacequake, but Tohka in a dark space during the first chapter and mentioned it herself. So I'll answer that now to curb any confusion, that place was the gate between the dimensions that Westcott used to destroy it in the first place, and this is where the Spirit's go when they end up Lost. This is why they wake up by force, there's Spirit Dimension to go to, so the gate spits them back out on Earth... as Spacequakes ^^;
Alright, now let's get up Mayuri's data sheet since I revealed her last chapter :3
Just as a small heads up, her stats may seem weak, but remember that Phantom had to make a Sephira Crystal for her. Since it wasn't a real crystal, she could only do so much to make it a safe and functional crystal.
-Mayuri Seraphina, Code Name: [Watcher]-
Angel: Kerubiel, the " Thunder Sanctuary " - Kerubiel is an artificial Angel that was created by Phantom when she decided to create a false Sephira Crystal for Mayuri, it takes the form of her Astral Dress' translucent wings shifting into a metallic form. Since the Angel is an artificial machine and Phantom didn't know how to entirely make an angel, it's limited to firing electrical beams or using the electricity to manipulate blades of the wings. Mayuri can combine the two attacks into a third that acts like an electrical saw blade.
- Powers: Mayuri's elemental as a spirit is Electricity and Metal, she gathers electrons to create weak electrical charges that Mayuri emits aren't truly lightning like that of Inverse Kotori. She can only manipulate metal by affecting the charge in their molecules. Because her Sephira Crystal is artificial in nature, Mayuri suffers from constantly burning out her power quicker due to a smaller reservoir to hold her spirit mana in, making her the weakest of the Spirits. As compensation, she has the easiest way to restore her power by simply recharging it by absorbing any form of electricity except lightning, and if she overcharges, she can enhance her strength temporarily while avoiding any danger from the overcharge.
Risk Factors: C , increases to A when overcharged
Spacequake: C , increases to A when overcharged
Spirit's Astral Dress: C , increases to A when overcharged
Angel Rank: C , increases to A when overcharged
Strength: 30, increases to A when overcharged
Consistency: 28, increases to 117 when overcharged
Spiritual Power: 145, increases to 217 when overcharged
Agility: 45, increases to 142 when overcharged
Intelligence: 101, increases to 180 when overcharged
"I am the artificially made spirit, Mayuri Seraphina, but you can just call me the Electric Spirit." Mayuri declared, a confident look on her face.
Westcott scowled Shido and Kotori looked shocked at the sight, a new Spirit stood before them.
"Alright, how does this work again? Ah! That's right." Mayuri wondered aloud, soon spinning in the air. "Charge it up, Kerubiel!"
Mayuri's wings spread out, soon transforming into something mechanical in nature. Electricity focused itself from them.
"You said time to begin our war, I say it's time to begin our date."
Mayuri waved her hand in a challenging manner at Westcott, the body snatching man cracked his neck at that, holding Lucifuge at the ready.
"If you think some voltage will end up scaring me, you're wrong." Westcott replied. "Truth is, I quite enjoy pain. Including giving it and taking it, so let's see what you've got Material B! I'll shatter that confidence in your power!"
"If you say so." Mayuri replied, soon sparking before launching forward... and disappearing? Westcott suddenly felt her right hand lobbed off from the wright, and the ground beside him had been noticeably torn through as Shido and Kotori found themselves free. Mayuri reappears by them.
"So you're the Shido that Phantom's told me all about, let me handle this for now. Right now, you and Kotori would probably die instantly. Oh, and if your there Mio, nice to meet you too."
[Ooh! The pleasure's all ours Mayuri, best of luck. Admittedly we don't know how Kurumi fights with her time powers, so the help is appreciated.]
Mayuri nods as Westcott began to chuckle at his cut hand.
"Amazing, you cut through this armor so easily! Well then... it's only fair I show you the same courtesy and go all out myself!" Westcott chuckled, his clock eyes glowing. "Unfortunately, I no longer see use for a defective product with its own free will, so accept the fact that you won't live after. LUCIFUGE!"
The dark clock behind Westcott cackles with power.
"Yottsume!"
Suddenly Westcott's hand reattached like it was never cut off to Shido and Kotori's surprise, while Mayuri raises an eyebrow.
"Strange, I was told you had to fire at yourself to use any time ability."
"Oh no, that's true... when this body wasn't Inverted that is!" Westcott chuckled, cracking the wrist back into place as his look gets even more insane. "So, still think you can win Material B!?"
'Does this man even give a shit about peoples' names?' Mayuri mentally asked herself.
Both get into a fighting position, and soon Westcott disappears, Mayuri feels a change in the air current raises a hand into the air to block Westcott's strike before being knocked back as he swiped Lucifuge at them.
"Is this really the best you can do!? I can say that I'm unimpressed, you can command an angel and manipulate electricity, but all you can do is block? Pathetic!" Westcott cackled, swinging at Mayuri as he attacks her from all sides as she continues to block.
"I'd focus on less talking!" Mayuri declared, soon evading an attack before slapping the colored spots on her wings. "CHARGE GLADIATOR!"
Mayuri's wings open up and spread, discharging a burst of Westcott back a bit, the man chuckled.
"Huh, I think I need to keep you still!" Westcott smirked, aiming Lucifuge at her. "Shichibanme!"
Suddenly Lucifuge fires like a rapid machine gun, Mayuri tries to dodge, but one of the bullets hits her and traps her frozen in time.
"Mayuri!" Kotori shouted.
"Oh no, you've been frozen. Here... let me open your perception back." Westcott rushed closer, soon aiming his guns at her and firing a whole load of dark spirit mana bullets, firing at Mayuri everywhere before firing a shot at her head for good measure. "Bye, bye, Material B."
[He... killed her. No, please wake up Mayuri!]
Shido and Kotori gasped before getting on guard as Westcott cackled as he neared them.
"If you want Shido, you'll have to go through me!" Kotori declared.
"Ah, that sounds scary. Then I'll take-"
Suddenly Westcott feels an electric shot strike him from the back, disorienting him before he turned around to see Mayuri, not shot even once.
"What? That's not possible, you were just shot point black in the head even!" Westcott growled.
"Oh, was I? Look over there and tell me what you see." Mayuri giggled, making Westcott see the body of Mayuri completely shot like Swiss cheese... only for it to fade away in statics particles a few moments after. Westcott's eyes widen.
"You made a fatal mistake, I said I'm the Electrical Spirit. Not the Lightning spirit. I manipulate the electrons in the air and gather the power of the voltage as a result. When I cut your arm off like I did, I managed to mess with your senses. The real me was hiding behind Shido and Kotori so I could trick them as you killed my synapse illusion."
[...Holy shit, that was amazing!]
Westcott growled at that, he had killed a mere fact? That was an insult to him.
"Typical villain monologue trap, the only thing that you've got different from most antagonists is you clearly have no goal but make this world your personal hell zone. Pathetic, isn't it?" Mayuri mocked, making Westcott grit his teeth.
"Alright, you've asked for it." Westcott declared darkly, cracking his knuckles noticeably and making a gruesome sound. Soon holding up Lucifuge at her...
"Hitotsume!"
Suddenly Westcott zipped around the field at supersonic speed, Mayuri barely able to follow him by sensing the electrical currents in Kurumi's body. Soon she realized where she was going.
"Look out!" Mayuri shouted, pushing Shido and Kotori out of the way as she deploys her swings as Westcott nears. "METAL STORM!"
Mayuri spins her body as her wings fly out, shooting out its 'feathers' as blades, Westcott was cut up before Mayuri rushed in front of him.
"MAGNETIC ARC!"
Suddenly Mayuri taps her wings before throwing the metal feathers off and turning them into electrical saw blades as they charge up electricity and spark. Westcott was suddenly hit and cut by them, knocking him across the ground and into the roof entrance's wall.
"Damn it! Yottsume!" Westcott screamed, his winds fading away. "Ooh, you might think you have the lead now. When I'm done, you'll learn how much you should have never mess with me! LUCIFUGE!"
[Destroy her, kill her, make her bleed!]
Mayuri smirks and gets into a new fighting pose.
"Yeah, show me what you got-" Mayuri began, suddenly her face freezes like an uncharged toy would. Soon collapsing onto her legs to everyone's confusion. Mayuri panics as she notices. "Oh no, not now!"
"Wait, what happened to her?" Kannazuki asked. "Why'd she suddenly just go down like that?"
"Let me see..." Maria replied, analyzing her data. She was surprised to see how low Mayuri's stats were overall. "All C ranks? Wait... of course, her Sephira Crystal isn't a real one! Its synthetic!"
Everyone turned at her confused except Reine.
"I get it, Phantom created one for her. The downside was it faced more limits than a natural one would. Even Phantom isn't a deity." Reine noted, scratching her chin. "My guess is since she uses electricity, she might be like a rechargeable battery. Quick to recharge, but also quick to waste all her power."
"So in other words... she used up all her juice. The closest source of electricity is within the school itself, there's no way she could make it or get back fast enough to keep Kotori and Shido safe." Kannazuki replied, swearing a bit.
'Come on guys... you beat the odds against the Hydra. You can do this!' Mara thought, making a praying motion with her hologram's hands.
Westcott blinks before suddenly beginning to laugh mockingly.
"You actually have such a pathetic limit? So you have powers, and yet they burn out that quick? You're like one of those lithium batteries that charge quick and die out quickly!" Westcott mocked, Mayuri sweat dropped a bit.
'[Uh oh... this could be bad.]'
'There's no electricity nearby either, I can't recharge my powers! Nor will he let me get the chance without killing me or the two of them!' Mayuri thought.
Westcott rushed at her, prepared to shoot her in the skull when...
*SLASH!*
Westcott suddenly stood in place for a moment, soon suddenly begin tossed around in the air like something invisible threw him around before he coughed up blood and slash marks appeared on most of his body.
"Yottsume!" Westcott shouted, undoing the damage. Scowling noticeable he looked around for his attacker. "Who did that!?"
"That would be me."
Westcott looked as Mana landed in front of Mayuri.
"Mana!" Shido exclaimed happily, Mana turning to smile at him.
"Hey big brother, are you ever not in trouble?" mana asked playfully, making Shido face fault slightly. "Sorry I was late, I had a bad feeling when I saw the inversion and went into the school first. Good thing I did, a lot of the infrastructure collapsed as I did. Had I not been there, a lot of people would have died to this mad man."
Westcott sneered a bit.
"Don't you understand that's the best part of this? Filthy do-gooders, pacifists, peace lovers? This world lives on the Law of the Jungle! Anyone who refuses to eat another to survive is a moron!" Westcott shouted, making the others stare at him.
"This bastard is clinically insane, he has to be!" Mana declared.
Westcott crossed Lucifuge again.
"I am what I am, and I have no qualms! This is what it means to be strong and why you're all weak!" Westcott cackled, soon kneeling a bit. "Hitotsume!"
Mana suddenly sees him disappear, only to reappear besides her, and soon knocked her into the air by firing at her. Mana tried to slash at him, but he kept moving out of the way.
"Sword Style!" Mana shouted, deploying her swords before rushing at Westcott who moved out of the way again. Soon appearing on the other side of the rooftop. He aimed Lucifuge at her.
[Yes, get her now! Kill her!]
"Shichibanme!"
Mana turned and saw Westcott swing Lucifuge as a whole flurry of bullets aimed at her.
"Territory deploy!" Mana exclaimed, right at that moment however she froze in time.
"Mana!" Shido and Kotori screamed, but before he and Kotori could do anything, they were both got frozen was well form the shots that missed the Mana herself. Westcott cackled as he rushed forward and a bunch of black smoke formed as Lucifuge unloaded all every shot it could fire onto Mana's frozen form.
"Eat this! Eat all of it, suffer without mercy before you get a cruel agonizing death!" Westcott cackled loudly.
Soon time resumed for the trio, and the sound of Mana's territory cracking as she saw it break caught her eye before an explosion went off. She fell to the ground and crashed hard.
"Mana?" Shido gasped in fear, but soon noticed Mana get up. Luckily only with a few burns from the explosion. "Oh thank god, you're alive!"
"This Inverse Form... it's a monster controlled by an even greater one!" Mana weakly coughed out, she tried to walk but her leg gave out on her. "No, damn it... not now!"
"Now, it's time I kill-" Westcott began, but his words were cut off when Kotori screamed loudly and distracted him. The madman turned to look at her irritably. "Really, are you still refusing to-"
"MEGIDDO!"
Westcott turned as Kotori charged her fire beam, suddenly feeling a strange feeling screaming to run away from the blast.
"What the?" Westcott questioned at the unknown feeling, unaware Kotori's blast finished.
"Forgive me in advance if this goes wrong Kurumi..." Kotori whispered. "Burn them all to ashes, do it Camael!"
Westcott suddenly widened his eyes as the full beam strikes him, soon blasting him into the rooftop's gates. He stared in shock, Kotori staring at him while Mayuri looked surprised.
[Something feels odd there, he clearly saw it coming... right?]
"He didn't try dodging it?" Shido gasped, it was like he couldn't despite he wanted to. "Wait a second..."
Shido saw the clock eyes flicker, but so barely that you could almost fail to notice if you didn't directly focus at her. His eyes widened and realized.
'Kurumi, you're still in there fighting!' Shido thought.
"Stand up and fight! This fight's not over yet, far from it! If you're the man you claim, then pick up your weapon and fight! Well!?" Kotori demanded, making Westcott grit his teeth as he stood up.
"Isn't this the destruction you crave!? This is the fight you wanted, this is the war you wanted! If you can't even face the muzzle of my gun, then there's only one thing you are... weak! How you beat the First Spirit is beyond me besides cheating!"
Westcott's eyes shrunk before a vein formed on his head and he grunted loudly.
"I killed that bitch, that's proof of my strength! If you wanna see proof then I'll just prove it here by-" Westcott roared, nearly about to use a specific swear until he was suddenly shot by a white beam of light. He looked at his chest to see a bleeding wound from it. "...Hachibanme"
Kurumi's body fell to the ground dead.
"Oh no, Kurumi!" Shido yelled, rushing over to it and shaking it. "Come on, don't die!"
"SHIDO!"
Soon Tohka, Yoshino and Origami all ran from the scene, one of Metatron's pillars floating from the sky before he rest of the AST all surround the area around the roof. Origami went pale at the sight of Kurumi.
"Uh oh, did I overcharge my shot!?" Origami muttered, worried she just killed someone.
Suddenly Westcott's laugh was heard, and everyone saw the sight of a shadow form, ghastly black hands sinking the killed body of 'Kurumi', before Westcott appeared in a new one from behind them.
"Quite the show there [Angel], to think you'd actually catch me off guard. Had you not become a Spirit I'd have wanted you as part of the Adeptus elites. Such a shame." Westcott chuckled, everyone staring in shock.
"Isaac Westcott... you're gonna pay for what you're doing here!" Tohka declared.
"I knew it, that clock eye... it was unnatural to me because it wasn't Kurumi's actual eye! I should have realized it when she kept using our code names. Even fellow Spirits have the respect to call each other by name." Origami added, her hand turning into a fist.
"You're the only one who uses our code names as if demeaning us as nothing more than animals to slaughter!"
Westcott laughs, giving an evil looking smile at them.
"Every living thing is an animal, so what's wrong with murdering when it's a natural part of nature!?" Westcott laughed, making everyone glare at him. Soon he noticed Shido stare at him and look back at where he had 'died' earlier. "Oh, wondering how the girl and I are still alive? Simple, unlike the original..."
Suddenly to everyone's surprise, Westcott's shadow extended as a bunch of Inverse Kurumi clones all start forming and laugh in Kurumi's actual voice. Yoshino hugged Tohka close at the sight before them.
"...The clones made when Nightmare undergoes Inversion can actually act as a backup and transfer. The moment I died, a clone simply became the new true me. There's no way you can kill me without getting rid of me completely. By extension, there's no way to get rid of me completely!"
"We're surrounded!" Mayuri shouted, seeing the onslaught of clones before them. "No, don't give guys. If we can't kill the real one without killing all the clones first, then we can just force him to waste his power!
Westcott smirked.
"Ooh... sounds like a fun and happy ending based idea, unfortunately I don't wait to read or bother reading that kind of ending. So..." Westcott replied, his voice echoing soon after. "Hitotsume!"
Before anyone could react, the clones all disappeared! Everyone AST member in the sky was suddenly struck or shot down by the clones and knocked to the ground, while the rush all dog pile and constrain the others, more of the ghastly black hands shoot out and hold everyone down.
"With that act alone, I've just smashed your dream out the window and stained it with the blackest ink I could think of, and for good measure... let's make sure none of you can interfere!" Westcott grinned savagely, his clock eyes glowing brightly before each hand struck midnight.
[The clock strikes... midnight! Oh my god, I think that's a sign he's going to kill us here! Quick, someone move right now or we're dead!]
Shido stares in horror as Westcott raised his hands and swung Lucifuge's two guns together.
"ARTEMIS!"
Soon, Lucifuge transformed into something similar to a M134 Minigun, and within it a mixture of tachyon and shadow particles began to gather for a fearsome blast in each chamber. The clock behind him moved to the 'I' position, slowly making way to the 'XII'.
"Time for you... to all die!" Westcott exclaimed, a fierce smile on his face.
Back on the Fraxinus, everyone began hurriedly typing or making calls in response to the situation. Hoping some kind of aid could arrive in time.
"All members at the base state it'll take them about 3 minutes, estimates state that the blast will fire in only one!" Kawagoe stated.
"No one's close enough to be beamed over, that's a negative too!" Minowa exclaimed.
"Mystelltain's power can't be weakened enough to be safe, none of our other weapons will be fast enough!" Shiizaki panicked.
Reine sweated at the situation, shaking in fear.
"No... it's happening again, not again." Reine breathed, nearing a panic attack. "Don't take someone away from me again!"
Maria suddenly noticed something.
"Wait a second... everyone, something's heading towards them!" Maria shouted, getting their attention.
Westcott smirked as the clock finally hit 12, and the charge finished.
"...Time's up, say goodnight." Westcott quietly said, a mocking tone as he screamed excitedly and fired the blast at the group, everyone stares in horror as their most likely last moments neared them closer and closer. Just when all hope seemed lost...
"(SHIDO, LOOK OUT!)"
Shido's eyes widened at that before a familiar mosaic rushed into the blast, surprising everyone as Phantom suddenly formed an umbrella like barrier, she held it best she can but it began to crack... and soon she screamed as the blast hit, knocking her and her alone into the wall of the rooftop's entrance. Everyone stared in silent shock.
"...Phantom?" Shido stated worriedly.
"Damn that brat, I nearly was rid of you all!" Westcott sneered, he tried to fire Artemis again, but nothing. "Damn it, a charge lock! I can't even change it back!"
Soon as Phantom slid off the wall, Mayuri stared as she weakly moved towards the group, her mosaic flickering.
"(...Phantom did, good. Right?)" Phantom weakly asked.
Phantom soon fell backwards, crashing back first to the ground. Her mosaic soon failed entirely as she was revealed to be a young girl with long plum hair that reached to her legs. Her hair tied with one single braid and a bow at the top of her head. Her eyes a deep pink, and her Astral Dress was a lavish pinkish-red dress with a gold emblem on the center, containing a large robe that reached her feet.
"...Rio, she saved everyone."
She soon fell unconscious as she laid on the ground, Westcott stared before suddenly laughing madly.
"So all this time, my plans were completely foiled by nothing more than a mere child!? This is funny, it's so funny it's disappointing!" Westcott cackled, everyone either glaring at him angrily or worriedly about what happened to Phantom, or rather Rio going by her last sentence.
"No wonder she was such a slippery bastard, that pink hair? That outfit, her being around since the beginning? I should have known that bitch kept trying to annoy me and delay my plans by sending her own daughter! She must have been a horrible woman if she could only make her child suffer through that!"
Mayuri stares in horror at Rio's down form.
-Flashback Start-
Mayuri's body slept within the pod for the Material B project, no mind or consciousness existed in her because they didn't intend to give her one... then suddenly she felt herself think, right as the pod opens up, making mist come out. Mayuri felt herself get up as she saw some being made of... something, she couldn't see her, but knew she was there.
"(It's good to meet you.)" Phantom giggled.
"Who are you?" Mayuri asked, looking at herself and then Phantom. 'For that matter, who am I?'
"(I have everyone call me Phantom, but my real name is...)" Phantom began, soon twirling once and dropping the noise around her. Soon showing Rio in a blue and white dress rather than her Astral Dress, and without the bow either.
"Rio, Rio Sonogami!" Rio giggled, making Mayuri blink at the sight. Suddenly... she felt herself laughing. "There you go, you smiled!"
"So you're just a child?" Mayuri asked.
"Mhm! Rio's a child, mama says Rio's a good child, just like big brother and big sister." Rio replied.
"Oh, where is she?" Mayuri asked.
Suddenly, Mayuri saw Rio get sad and tear up, making her gasp.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Mayuri replied.
Rio had since resumed her disguise and talked with Mayuri until the request to join her came.
"(I wonder, was this fate? Those words ring so familiarly to me it's crazy. Alright then, but first...)" Phantom smiled, soon looking at part of the room and revealing some shards. compressing them together, she made a disfigured gem like a Sephira Crystal.
"(I don't have any more Sephira Crystals since I gave the last one to Tohka, so I hope you don't mind this attempt at an artificial one.)" Phantom said, scratching her cheek a bit in embarrassment.
"It's alright, its more than enough." The female being said, touching it and soon feeling herself transform as it embedded itself in her.
"(Welcome to the Spirit family, glad to have you... oh my god, you don't even have a name. Let's fix that then. The question is, what should I name you?)" Phantom wondered, soon looking around until seeing something that gave her an idea. "(I know! How about the name... Mayuri Seraphina?)"
"Mayuri... Seraphina?" Mayuri asked, blinking before smiling. "I like it. Though if I may ask, how'd you think of it?"
"(The pod has the kanji for 10,000 {万}, and that can be used to make your name. Your name also can mean myriad, since you were made from a combination of people's work coming together as one.)" Phantom explained, getting Mayuri's awe. "(And Seraphina? I just think your gold hair makes you look like an angel.)"
Mayuri blushes a bit.
"Thank you for the name, I'll treasure it."
Mayuri and Phantom were in the building that Phantom used as her residence while in Tenguu, and soon Phantom undoes the mosaic to turn back into Rio.
"Rio only has the one bed, does Mayuri mind sharing with Rio?" Rio asked.
"I don't mind, it's better than nothing in the end." Mayuri replied, and soon the two get in the bed. She soon notices Rio hugging her arm. "What is it?"
"Rio... Rio wants to be with mama, Shido, Mana forever. Will... Mayuri stay with Rio too?" Rio said, already asleep.
Mayuri's eyes widened in surprise, even if she was asleep, Rio's question touched a heart string within her.
"...Rio, you were so lonely. Weren't you?" Mayuri asked herself.
-End Flashback-
Mayuri teared up at the possibility of Rio possibly dying here with the rest of them.
"RIO!" Mayuri cried out.
'[R-Rio... that name. That name!]'
Mio's mind began to race.
"Is even the life of a child worth nothing to you? You bastard!" Shido screamed angrily.
"Anyone who stands in my way deserves death, don't worry... I'll kill you all with her! Then you can all die with her and keep her company!" Westcott cackled, finally getting Lucifuge to change back as the recharge period ended.
"First... I think I'll take away your Spirit power for myself so I can use Artemis to kill you all again! So now... Hyakuman!"
Shido was shoot, and soon felt himself in pain as Lucifuge began leeching away all of his Spirit power. Tohka, Yoshino, Origami and Kotori all felt similar pain as the stealing of his power affecting them as well.
"Victory... is mine!" Westcott cackled.
'...I'm so sorry!'
Shido's eyes briefly widen, and then... feels his mind flash before his eyes as if time suddenly stood still.
Suddenly, Shido finds himself in the same pink realm he was first in when he first spoke to Mio for the first time, but this time he could feel himself move, and felt a ground he could walk on.
[It's been a long time since you came here, hasn't it?]
"Hey, this is... I remember this place. It's been forever since I was last here." Shido said to himself, but soon he heard crying. He looked around and then soon saw the sight of Kurumi crying on the ground. She was in her normal hairstyle, but her body was just black spirit mana with a white outline showing her shape.
"Kurumi!"
Shido runs over to her, and soon kneels by her, soon hearing a voice as Kurumi keeps crying.
"I'm so sorry! I can't control myself, all my actions... Westcott used me and now he's taken all I had, my entire body is his now. I don't want to hurt you, I never wanted to hurt anyone!" Kurumi's voice echoed as it cried.
"I consider you a friend, maybe I didn't get the chance to know you, but you fought for me... you even let me see Saya again just one last time!"
"Kurumi..." Shido breathed.
[Poor girl. Her heart is in pieces, she's breaking apart...]
"Maybe... maybe I've even grown to like you more than a friend, not just you either Shido... all your friends. They all care about one another, they like to have fun, they're so friendly and warm. It's like your rays of sunshine that never allow a rainy day from one's sadness. Even while under this control, I think I honestly felt I found friends since I lost Saya. Even Phantom refused to hate me for attacking her." Kurumi's voice kept crying.
"But look at what happened! I wanted to help, and yet all it led to this, people in pain, you and your friends in pain, even Saya. Maybe if I had met you sooner I could have experienced joy... but... but who would wanna be friends with someone like me when all I've brought is misfortune! It would just be better if I died and joined Saya, so please... just do it! Sacrifice me to stop Westcott! I don't have anything left, no hope... all I live in now is despair, I have no reason to keep living! It doesn't matter if I die!"
Suddenly Shido feels rain in the form of tears splash around them, the Kurumi made of Spirit before him ignoring it as it phased through her.
'She's crying... and yet even in all her words of despair, I can still feel the warmth of her tears.' Shido thought, and that's when he suddenly breathed in and shouted.
"DON'T SAY THAT!" Shido shouted, suddenly making the Kurumi made of mana look at him in shock. "Don't say it doesn't matter if you die because of course it does! If you need a reason to live, I'll be that reason! No matter what, your life matters to me Kurumi!"
"W-what? Shido, don't you understand what you're doing here, this means? You'll chain yourself to my mistakes." Kurumi's voice echoed, sniffing heavily.
"I do, but if it makes you happy there's nothing I won't do." Shido replied, and Kurumi gasped. "I know you're a good person! Saya, she told us everything! With what Westcott did to you, none of how you acted when you weren't nice was real, the kindness you showed us was however!"
"I don't deserve happiness, I deserved to be damned! Don't be a fool, I let Saya die and caused so many problems already. Me rotting is nothing compared to what you've been through!" Kurumi's voice cried again.
"You're wrong, I know that's not true! Do you know how long Saya thought you were dead? She was happy to learn she was wrong, she held on to see you again, to tell you to live. She wants you to live... she was your friend, right? Don't you want to make her last wish a reality? Are you going to leave that dream unfulfilled!?" Shido reasoned.
Kurumi gasped and cries more.
'[Shido?]'
"No, I don't want her dream to die!" Kurumi's voice sobbed.
"Then tell me what will make you happy, and I swear that's what I'll do for you! Even if that means just loving you!" Shido declared, and Kurumi's eyes widened.
-Flashback Start-
Kurumi was sitting on the ledge of a building at night on a say over 5 years after unknowingly being made DEM's Material A, looking at herself in a window's reflection somberly. She soon looked at Zafkiel, remembering one of its particular bullets.
"...Maybe seeing my future would cheer me up." Kurumi sighed, holding up Zafkiel to her.
"Gimmel."
She fired at herself, but when she did, the reaction she had wasn't what she'd ever expected it to be.
[!]
{Tell me what will make you happy, and I swear that's what I'll do for you! Even if that means just loving you}
The somewhat blurry image of a blue haired boy claiming that before offering his hand entered her mind, and she gasped as it fully sunk in.
[Holy... guacamole, we really saw that, right?]
"What... was that? Am I going to fall in love, with him?" Kurumi asked herself, shaking a bit. "...There's no way, that's impossible."
-End Flashback-
"Shido..." Kurumi's voice cried. "I knew it, I thought I was just crazy, but it wasn't some fake feeling... it was real! This is... this really is love! I... I love you!"
Kurumi cries as the black spirit mana begins to waver slightly.
"I just want to be with you Shido! Your friends! Your family! Your life!" Kurumi screamed at the top of her lungs, her echoing voice losing its echo.
"I want to be with you in this life and the next, I want us to be together now until the end of our lives!"
Shido smiles.
"Good, then come with me! Because I swear I'll save you!" Shido stated as he reached out his hand, and Kurumi's hand grabs his, the black spirit mana shedding to reveal the real Kurumi.
Kurumi cries before she vanishes from the pink realm, and as she does, Shido feels her power slightly surround him.
[What is... is... i-is...]
Mio screams loudly, and gets Shido's attention as she sounded in severe pain.
"Mio!?" Shido asked worriedly.
"Hey, who are you?"
Shido and Mana's Father, Seigo Takamiya, looked up as he slowly regained consciousness. Before him he saw a beautiful girl with pink hair and red eyes, he noticed her pupils were white rather than black unlike a normal human.
"My name is Seigo, Seigo Takamiya. Who are you miss?" Seigo asked, surprising the girl a bit.
"My name is..." The woman answered.
"I love you, so... will you stay with me? From here until the rest of our lives?" Seigo asked, making the pink haired girl before him tear up.
"Seigo..." She breathed.
Everyone nearby watched, wondering what her answer would be, as smiled as her eyes shed tears of happiness.
"...I will, of course I will Seigo!" She answered, making everyone cheer happily.
Seigo held his wife's hands tightly as she screamed loudly, soon panting as the sound of crying was heard. After a bit...
"Look, he's finally here!" Seigo said, tears of joy in his eyes as he held a baby boy in his hand.
"I don't believe it..." Seigo's wife cried, holding her new son. "Our little boy, he's finally here. Welcome to the world... my little Shido."
As the pink haired girl felt her body fade, she held her hand out and used some of the leaking mana of her body to create a being with a similar appearance to her. The Spirit girl that was born soon blinked at her.
"...Mama?" She asked, soon feeling her mother tap her head and share information with the last bit of her strength.
"It's up to you now... please, protect the Sephira Crystals. Protect Shido and Mana, protect... Humanity's future. I know you can, so don't ever give up... Rio." She said, smiling before she disappeared.
"Mama!" Rio cried.
"...I'll be waiting, for the day I return to you all."
"My name is..."
The pink haired woman's face was finally seen as she was revealed to be a girl with long light pink hair, two long braids at a length that was approaching her legs, intense pink eyes that were almost red in color.
Her outfit was a purple empress looking outfit with golden extensions on her shoulders and hips. At the top of her head, there is a decorated headdress with a golden emblem at the center. However, after looking at this man, she decided to change her clothing with a white t-shirt with a sleeveless beige colored sweater, a blue skirt, white socks and brown colored sneakers.
"...Rinne Sonogami, it's a pleasure to meet you Seigo." Rinne smiled, introducing herself.
All of a sudden, Shido saw a brightly shining light in the pink realm as a bunch of energy began amassing together into one spot. Once the brightness faded enough for him to see again... Shido couldn't believe his eyes.
Before him was a pink haired girl who was curled up to hide her body due to a lack of clothing, her eyes opened to reveal the intense pink orbs they held. Soon looking directly at Shido who suddenly wondered if he was seeing what he thought we was.
"Shido."
While it was different without the distortion altering it, Shido only needed to hear that voice once to know who this girl was.
"...Mio?" Shido asked.
"I remember... I remember everything! Now that I have, Westcott's victory will never succeed!"
Suddenly Shido was ejected out of the pink realm as a bright flash went off.
Westcott kept laughing at his supposed victory, but suddenly... Shido's eyes widened to reveal an intense pink-red color in place of the gold eyes he possessed. Suddenly a bunch of energy flared as the other Spirits stopped feeling pain, Rio suddenly began to stir and wake up.
"What's this? Lucifuge, drain him faster! Let's kill him now!" Westcott demanded.
[...No]
"What!? I am your master, you will obey me!" Westcott screamed.
[No, you are not my master! It doesn't matter, right now there is someone before me even I can't refuse under master's orders!]
Westcott growls, and Rio suddenly gasps.
"...Mama!?" Rio asked.
- (*insert Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut OST 40 - Saijaku Muhai*) -
Shido stands up, shouting before ripping Westcott's Hyakuman apart, negating the stolen power he took for being unable to drain it all.
"Westcott, its time you learn firsthand... why your plans are doomed to fall here and now!" Shido exclaimed, holding up his hand as a powerful amount of Spirit power formed... but pink in color. Rio gasped and tear up happily while Westcott's eyes widen in shock.
"What!? No, it can't be... that's impossible!" Westcott gasped, it was a voice he was sure had been silenced 30 years ago.
Shido raised his hand, his entire body shakes as if the molecules and atoms that held it would break apart, but he kept a strong face as light formed in his hand in the shape of a blade.
"To the power of the God in this world sleeping in a madman's prison, shatter the darkness and grant me your divine strength... overcome the possible, go beyond the limits and shatter the foundations of this reality to destroy the evil before me!" Shido shouted, his entire body feeling like it was ripped apart.
"Now lend me your strength... power of the First Spirit! COME TO ME... URIEL!"
Shido's body raised into the air, and a pillar of light formed before turning white, then gray, black, blue, red, yellow, green, orange, indigo, and finally purple. When it disappeared, in Shido's hand was a one-handed sword similar to Sandalphon, but with jagged edges that give the blade the shape or a tree or the branch of a tree and ten gems representing the colors of the other ten Sephira Crystals.
What was most surprising was Shido himself who was now glowing with a rainbow colored aura, the same pink-red eyes, and his hair was now pink in color, and had temporarily grown out much longer.
Meanwhile from the Fraxinus which had flow nearby, Maria zoomed in on the sight of Shido.
"What... what is this?" Maria breathed, the readings were all impossible for her to pick up, it was like trying to measure a deity's power! "Just what is that power, does anyone know?"
The whole crew murmured trying to find out, but stopped as Reine stood up from her seat, getting their attention.
"Commander?" Kannazuki asked, surprised by her reaction.
"It's Uriel. That's the... First Spirit's Angel!" Reine gasped, completely shocked she was seeing it again. "But then that would mean..."
Everyone stared in shock at the sight before them, while Rio stared happily and cried tears of joy.
"Mama!" Rio cried out happily.
Westcott took a few steps back, his face full of... fear? Disbelief? Whatever it was, it was a rarity and a clear sign that he was not confident about the situation.
"No... how can this be? There's no way you can be holding that Angel!" Westcott screamed in a panic, thinking this had to be a nightmare he was in right now. "The First Spirit is dead!"
"Am I Westcott?" Rinne asked, making Westcott's eyes shake in shock. At that moment... any doubt that this wasn't real shattered.
"Wait a minute... isn't that Mio?" Tohka asked, making everyone look at her for confirmation.
"I am, but now I remember my true name, all because of a small gift of hope Kurumi game me. I knew the fight with Goliath gave me weird memories out of nowhere and Shido helped me find them." Rinne explained, soon flaring her power from Shido.
"My true name is Rinne Sonogami, and I am the First Spirit! I've finally returned to end the nightmare you brought to this world... Isaac Westcott!"
Everyone's eyes widened.
"The... First Spirit..." Mana breathed, in complete awe.
"NO!" Westcott screamed, flaring his power out. "I will not let you ruin everything again! This is my destiny, my dream, I won't let you set me back again!"
All of Westcott's clones fly up and prepare to fire in one united assault using their dark spirit power.
"I'll send you back into the fires you where should have gone!"
Shido smirked and soon flew up, surprising everyone as he was flying in his Spirit Ascension, and in moments, Westcott saw him shred through hundreds of the clones as they exploded into dark spirit mana, as he did, he only swung Uriel and nothing more.
"Incredible, it's a Spirit Ascension that's gone beyond the limits, it's... an Over-Limit Spirit Ascension!" Tohka said in awe.
"No... this isn't real! I won't let you take this from me!" Westcott roared.
"Westcott, you need to learn a big lesson!" Shido declared, surprising the madman as he suddenly saw the remnants of his clones explode and get destroyed in a chain reaction around him, almost like going down a spiraling slide. "If you don't want things taken from you... THEN DON'T TAKE FROM OTHERS!"
Shido screams loudly, and Westcott shrieked as he felt the clock begin to disconnect from Kurumi.
"Now... GO!" Shido screamed one more time, slashing Uriel down.
The sword slashed through Kurumi, but instead of cutting her... the link to the clock was severed, and suddenly Kurumi gasped as the two clocks in her shattered into pieces and changed back to her natural red ones before they closed as she fell to the ground.
- (*insert song end*) -
Her Inverse Form faded away into her Astral Dress, before that also changed into the Astral Dress she had years ago as Shido caught her in the air. Her true Astral Dress revealed itself to be mainly black like before, but had light blue rather than orange as its secondary color with some of the black areas glowing along with the light blue.
While it had similar traits to her corrupted dress in design, such as her hair's scrunchies (as her hair stayed styled the same as she did normally) which looked like mini-versions of her net bow, her boots and some of her cleavage showing.
It looked less like a Gothic Lolita outfit and more like the casual dress you'd see from a wealthy yet kind girl. Similar to her astral dress, there was a cut that showed her legs, but had small skirt not show as much. Finally, rather than black stockings she wore white ones. (A/N: Sorry, this Astral Dress is kinda hard to describe ^^;, the best references I can give for visual aid are a mix of her canon Astral Dress, Past self's outfit in Vol 11, and some original designs of mine.)
Kurumi soon stirred and her eyes back up, and the first thing she saw after she did was Shido holding her, smiling at her.
"S-Shido?" Kurumi breathed, wondering if this was all real, she felt her left eye and felt her mind clear, anything foreign in it was... gone. "Shido, does... does this mean that you... am I-"
"That's right Kurumi, you're free from Westcott. Now and forever." Shido replied, making Kurumi cry happy tears as she hugged Shido close. "And now, it's time to free you from the burden you've carried for the last ten years."
Kurumi pulled away confused, suddenly seeing a coat fall over Shido's shoulder before Shido suddenly kissed her to her surprise. She blushed as she kissed back.
"I've sealed your powers, so... I'd put the coat on now, there's an unfortunate side effect they have." Shido chuckled before sweat dropping.
"Huh?" Kurumi asked, suddenly she noticed her Astral Dress vanish, and blushed as she realized what the coat was for.
Screaming as she hurried and covered herself with it as Shido landed on the ground. Once she did, all the others quickly ran over to her and hugged her to the Shadow Spirit's surprise.
"W-what? Why are all of you..." Kurumi asked, suddenly hugged close by Tohka.
"Welcome to the family Kurumi, our family." Tohka smiled, making Kurumi smile before she teared up slightly. She wiped her tears as she looked back at her.
"...Thank you, everyone." Kurumi smiled, and everyone smiled back.
However, at that moment things suddenly took a turn for the worst as the entire ground of Tenguu City shakes, everyone looks around for the source.
"What's going on!?" Mana shouted.
Suddenly Westcott's voice laughs as everyone sees the clock attached to Kurumi in its original design, soon morphing its shaped to reveal its true form as a clock based robot, the Cassiopeia, that Westcott spoke through.
"So what if I've lost [Nightmare], there's still 10 years' worth of people I had it devour inside of it! Now, I shall use it alongside my ultimate weapon and force the world to submit! True this will take longer, but we all make sacrifices!" Westcott laughed crazily, and soon from a distance, everyone sees something coming.
"Oh... my... god!" Shido declared, Rinne gave the same reaction silently as she looked through his eyes.
Out in the distance... a gigantic robot that made the Goliath look tiny in comparison was slowly walking at slow speeds towards the city, Spacequake alarms going off everywhere to hide every possible witness in Japan that it could. It had the appearance of what would look angelic but not look like an actual Angel, and it had black and white parts to show while it looked divine, it was pure evil.
"This is the ultimate DEM weapon, the god of machines in Deus-Ex-Machina Industries! Behold, I give to you..."
Everyone stared in horror as the machine's eyes lit up and its wing like crests unfolded.
"...The Deus!"
WOO! There you have it, Phantom's identity is... Rio Sonogami! And the First Spirit's identity is... Rinne Sonogami! I've been waiting all season to finally reveal these twists and they were worth the wait! This is why the Rinne Utopia movie adaption will take place between the story, because Rinne was important from the very first chapter of the story. Not to mention the reason for Shido and Mana's abilities are because Rinne is their mother!
The reason why Rinne doesn't have the same last name as them? Because in the Spirit Dimension, they didn't have a way to officially marry and take the name, and unfortunately... Seigo, the Takamiya's father, died before they could have it in the real world. Rio has her mother's last name due to how she was born in the one memory flash. This is also why Shido and Mana look like their father to the level they're like clones of him, Rinne had no human genes to pass down.
Now you might ask, why did I choose Rinne and Rio to be the First Spirit and Phantom of this story? For Rinne, it was her code name that made me choose this, [Ruler] felt like a code name that fit for the most powerful Spirit. For Rio, its due to how Rio was born as a remnant of Rinne's power, and Phantom is mysterious, but having the Sephira Crystals initially made her seem like the First Spirit's agent, so... I figured why not? :3
That robot Westcott introduced... the Deus, now that is probably the last time any DEM machine that's bigger than the Jabberwocky will be in the story, they had their role while Westcott's main forces from Tohka's arc needed to heal, and after this... how do I even top the Deus? Exactly. I can't because I made it for the very reason it couldn't be topped. Westcott and his lackeys have to get their hands dirty after this season.
Since we've finally gotten this far, get ready next when next time, this season meets its stunning conclusion or at least the first part of it, and most of all... a twist you will NEVER see coming, and it's one that has nothing to do with Rinne just to help keep you even more in the dark.
So... until next time everyone, stay awesome and thanks for supporting Season 1 as you all have up until this point ^^
-Rio Sonogami, Code Name: [Phantom]-
Angel: Eden - Eden is an Angel that has no physical form, manifesting as a special aura that surrounds Rio. This is due to how Rio was born, giving her no physical object to make as her Angel. Eden's effects don't possess any offensive nature as a consequence, but the spiritual power and defense it has is incredibly near-impregnable as a result.
- Alternate Form: Mosaic - By altering the texture of Eden's aura, Rio can make herself lack a visible form and hide from view. This is the form that gave made her give herself the code name of Phantom. Using this cloak allows Rio to hide her facial expressions, making it hard to know her emotional state if she's silent. This form's best feature is when she teleports away while wearing it, all spirit sensing technology will mistakenly believe she's become "Lost".
- Powers: Rio's powers are like her mother's, but weaker and defensive based due to having no Angel to properly attack with. Her abilities are also mostly support and disruption based to aid allies and harm enemies. One ability she's been notable for using is the "Spirit Lock" which acts like a temporarily sealing, but allows aging to continue as if the Spirit lacks powers. Rio is also somehow able to detect when a Sephira Crystal's host dies and able to instantly retrieve it before it can be stolen.
Risk Factors: A
Spacequake: A
Spirit's Astral Dress: C
Angel Rank: S
Strength: 43
Consistency: 35
Spiritual Power: 230
Agility: 52
Intelligence: 31
-Spirit Bond Levels-
Tohka - 80%
Origami - 73%
Yoshino - 68%
Kotori - 77%
Kurumi - 62%