Date A Re:Live

S2 Chapter 44: Choronzon Havoc, Part 9

By : Tohka_Yatogami

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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, we've already had the Yamai twins have their battle, so it's time for the next two Inverse Form fights! I had a bit of trouble deciding the order of who should start fighting next, so I ended up righting everyone's names down and having my parents each chose two of them. As a result, the decided pair who'll be fighting their Inversions in this chapter are... Kotori and Natsumi!

Out of these two, the former has a struggle to face in her battle. Inverse Kotori's level of regeneration is enough that as long she has mana left and part of her body's intact, she won't die. If Kotori wants to beat her, she has only two options, the first is for Inverse Kotori to run out of mana, but that won't work in this scenario. So, the only thing she can do? Well... she has to somehow entirely disintegrate Inverse Kotori in one shot 0_0

And since you already know all these fights need to finish before we end up going onto the next stage of the arc, the fights that'll be in the next up are Kurumi and Origami's, and after that we'll have Yoshino have her fight as we finally see things hit their next level as Tohka takes the stage against her Inversion and something big will show up... plus, that will be the point where you'll all see the flashback of her and Shido first meeting! ^^

I wish I was already at the big scene with Tohka for the arc, I've so been waiting all season to reach it and now that it's so close yet still far away... its driving me crazy! Wow, I guess what they say about scenes you've been working towards getting you all hyped up to right them really is true. Worse is I can't talk about it because even the slightest mention is going to spoil it. *shakes a bit* I've almost made it, just a bit longer now, I can do this!

Oh, and here's a bit of friendly advice I'd like to share based on something I noticed when I was making the Maria scene a few chapters ago. Often when you make a story, there's something that's going to be unavoidable even if just at a slightly minor level. You may notice some contradictions, bits of info that have an irregular match up, or occasionally something that might feel out of place compared to early and currently in the story.

Don't be afraid if you feel like these show up, or if you worry that you might have goofed even slightly, sometimes that worry will cause what you fear to happen. Just relax yourself and consider your readers, if they don't point it out, while partially they may not notice it themselves, they may also consider it too small of something to worry about.

What I believe is that as long as your readers understand where the story is now, and understand it as they're reading it, you're fine. Humans aren't perfect, we have flaws, even if we strive for perfection it's because we want to overcome those flaws that we try. Not to mention when it comes to story, you can also try writing the same one again when you finish if you'd like, but it's not necessary either. So if anyone has a worry like this, take it from me, it isn't as bad as you might feel it is.

I hope this advice helps, and I'm glad for anyone who sees it and gets the encouragement or ease to their worries that they needed.

Now before I start the chapter officially, I had a guest review that I feel I need to give a proper and somewhat long (my apologies ^^;) answer to, and one I feel has words of wisdom for anyone else who'd like to read it. This is something I did say before in Chapter 10's start notes, but I'll answer it again anyways since more readers view this story now. Seeker213, I'd like you to know in advance that when I say this, I say it with no ill feelings.

I understand what you were trying to tell me about those spelling mistakes, and why you think a Beta Reader might be a good idea, but I already stated once before that I did consider one and ultimately the person I had considered told me to honestly ask what I wanted to be as a writer. Due to his advice, I realized how my story flow works and realized a Beta Reader was not for me, because I'm not writing for popularity, but for fun and because I enjoy it.

Truth be told, the one time I gave that user a chapter to Beta, he found one mistake in it, but when I used spell check program to check it, I found even more he didn't notice himself. That helped me in my decision because I saw a way I could spot more mistakes by myself, in fact what I said above was the biggest reason I considered this. The mistakes I usually make that you brought up? Most people make those. I even found one in the start note where I typed "change", but meant to say "chance."

Using a character name twice, the wrong name when you have two similarly named characters, or wrong word that isn't a misspelling? Those are the kind of mistakes we can all make so easily and never notice, even if we look over the rough draft through multiple double checks. I'm even aware of most of those mistakes, and on occasion I've looked back to try and find them, the reason I've yet to correct them is because I only have so much free time.

Not just that though, the one time I tried fixing my errors and replacing the fixed chapter in a rush? I nearly lost a different chapter because I replaced the wrong one, that was scary and I was lucky to have had a backup of that chapter. So I'm not going to try making those fixes until I at least get the story finished, I hope you and everyone else understand my reasoning, not to mention every author needs to find and follow what works for them in both making and managing a story.

Still though, thanks at least for telling me about those errors, I decided to at least fix those mistakes because it was the most recent chapter. I just hope you at least understand my reasons now, maybe you won't accept them, but I hope you at least you understand my choices now. Also having someone to help try and find the mistakes? That idea might work, I'll think about it. I hope the advice I gave above, and what I said here helps calm some nerves to any fellow writers feeling nervous over similar reasons/issues.

With all of that cleared up now, let's continue on now. *grabs the gong* Get ready everyone, Round 2 of Normal vs Inverse Spirit fights... *hits gong* BEGIN!

The civilians all listened as Rinne explained the story of 30 years ago and the Spirits, culminating to what was happening now and the DEM's efforts gave birth to Choronzon and the destruction that was currently present before them right now. The civilians all showing shock.

"Damn it! So you're saying that Deus-Ex-Machina industries was responsible for everything!?" A woman asked angrily.

"Every bit of it, my sister-in-law only wanted to bring everyone home, and that Westcott used her... used my husband, used me even." Rinne answered, a look of regret as she remembered the day of disaster. "I can't apologize enough, even if we're all partially to blame I had the biggest role in the chaos. Even if indirectly."

"Hey, don't blame yourself. You didn't ask to blow up most of the Earth with energy explosions. That bastard Westcott started everything. Blame him and him alone, a catalyst is always the one responsible!" A man exclaimed, making a few nod with him. Marina growled a bit. "Yeah, we said it! Face it, he's a bad man, and that's all we'll say!"

Marina scoffed at that, ready to aim a wire and spew poison at him, only for Rio to form a barrier in front of her.

"Fine, sympathize with the weak! Even if not today they'll meet their demise eventually!" Marina growled, making a bunch of people grow angrily at her. Maria barely able to prevent them for reacting. 'Father will make sure of that soon enough, we'll see you fear him instead of hate him then.'

"So how are you gonna kill that monster?" A man asked, looking at Rinne. Rinne sighed at that to his surprise. "What, what's the matter? Don't tell me that it isn't possible and we're all really gonna die!"

Rinne turned to him and scratched her head, figuring out a way to answer.

"No, it isn't that... it's more like we just can't kill it, at least not until we do something else first. That evil tree you all see? My son is trapped inside of it." Rinne replied, making a lot of gasps ring out. "Westcott pushed him to despair in some manner, and it became that tree. I already lost my husband... I'm not losing him too!"

"...Don't blame you, lost my parents. Lady couldn't save him and me." The one boy said, making Kaguya hang her head down in guilt. Even if it was only for the sake of guaranteeing she and the boy would survive... she hated she couldn't save him too. "...He's waiting for you, you'll save him."

Rinne smiled at that, the encouragement being a refreshing reminder in all the chaos before them.

"Yeah, right now most of our friends are fighting parts of Choronzon's power, and each victory breaks one of those gems. We just gotta hurry before Choronzon can fire his ultimate attack again." Rinne replied, soon looking at Marina. "How long now?"

"One second, just gotta read the dark spirit power and..." Marina replied, soon getting a time. "Got it, we currently have-"

~ETA until the second Chaotic Divergence charge is ready: 36 minutes

Rinne sweated at that.

"36 minutes, counting the time we took to beat those copies of me, and then how long Kaguya and Yuzuru took against their Inversions... I just hope it's enough." Rinne breathed, looking at the sky as the sight of a red streak flies overhead.

Kotori dodged a bolt of lightning as Inverse Kotori fired at her, she turned and blasted a fireball from her left hand... but her dark half simply swiped it away before laughing madly and swinging Asmodeus forward. Kotori screamed as she was flung through some buildings.

"Seriously, is that all you have? I hope it isn't, because I'm not done with you, there's so much carnage left for me to bring!" Inverse Kotori cackled, soon licking her lips like she was about to have a feast.

"MEGIDDO!"

Suddenly a beam of fire shoots out and strikes her head.

"You sure, because I don't think you'll do much without-" Kotori replied, climbing out of the wall. However, her words were cut off shortly when she saw Inverse Kotori's body not break apart and her supposedly burned off head began burning back as it regenerated. "Oh no, I can't believe I forgot!"

Inverse Kotori laughs as her head fully grows back, she cracks it a bit before smirking darkly.

"To actually take off my head? While I may be able to regenerate and survive that, it is simply... wonderful! How splendid! This is just wonderful, let me taste more carnage from you! Fight me, fight me and try to destroy me as I try to kill you!" Inverse Kotori cackled, rushing at Kotori before swinging Asmodeus as it clashed with Camael.

"That's right, burn! Destroy! Annihilate! Show me the destructive power of your fire, show me the power of the devastation that exists within your abilities! That way I can destroy you with everything you use being rendered useless!"

Kotori grunts as she held her dark half back before pushing her away.

"A chill pill, have you ever heard of such a thing? Please take one!" Kotori shouted, looking incredibly nervous at the sight. Fear burning into her heart as she recalled what she did in this form when Saya had been controlling her body. 'This is why I prefer being easily frightened and timid, this kind of personality frightens me!'

"Chill? As it don't be hot as a fire, how should I answer that?" Inverse Kotori asked, soon cackling as her eyes glow with a more snake like shape. Her fire burning starting to burn even hotter as she melted the nearby buildings. "No way in hell, I'll just heat up even more! VAJRA!"

Asmodeus transformed into a hammer, and Inverse Kotori cackles like crazy as she swung it down, the immediate area bursts apart as fire blasts out and heats most of the stone into flying boulders of magma. Kotori gasped in horror and rushes out of the way.

'Come Kotori, try to remember. What are her powers and weaknesses? You can't win if you don't figure it out!' Kotori sweated, soon trying to think. She breathed and soon gasped as she remembered. 'That's right, aside from the hammer and Megiddo's inverse counterpart, it can be a scythe that hits weakly but quickly.'

Kotori thinks more, trying to think on her weaknesses and soon her eyes widened.

'And her regeneration isn't perfect, just like how Saya told me losing my head would be too fatal to heal from, there's a limit. Blunt attacks don't work, and even with mana it fails if... her body has nothing to regenerate! I need to destroy her entirely in a single shot! But how? Megiddo worked, but while in my Limited Astral Dress state, I can only hit half her body at once! She'll just regenerate afterwards!'

Kotori's thoughts ended as a suddenly scythe slash of fire appeared, Inverse Kotori giggling with a crazed smile as she held Asmodeus in its Labyrs form, lightly tapping the blade in her other hand in a threatening manner.

"Come on normal me, come out and play some more!" Inverse Kotori begged in a creepy tone, making Kotori sweat.

'Could I possibly just waste all her mana somehow? No, this is my Inverse Form, she has more and I'd run out before she did! I'd just make myself a sitting duck!' Kotori mentally panicked, she couldn't figure out what to do. If Inverse Kotori had an armor chink she could strike at her... she didn't see it.

"Come on, pick up your weapon and fight me! This fight's not over, and neither is the war! Come one!" Inverse Kotori cackled, staring at Kotori who looked at her in fear. "Come on! This is the battle I wanted, this is the war I wanted! Give me the destruction I love so much! GUNGNIR!"

Kotori shook in fear, her mind racing as Asmodeus' form shifted into a cannon and the inverse counterpart of Megiddo pointed right at her.

"Seriously, you've given up!? Fine then! If you can't face the muzzle of this gun, then it's time you die! It's all over you weakling!" Inverse Kotori shouted with a smile, giggling slightly as her teeth showed from her grin.

'I might be called Efreet, but I think the real fire demon's the one I'm staring at!' Kotori thought, her mind like a maelstrom. As she stared at Inverse Kotori, she felt like seeing a demon of fire gazing at her before it killed her like a predator tormenting its prey.

'What can I do? Can I run, can I defend, can I dodge, can... can I... can I do anything? Come on Kotori, think, you gotta do something if you don't you... if you don't you'll-'

"Calm down Kotori, stressing out won't help." Tohka's voice echoed.

Kotori gasped as the thought of Tohka's voice rushed through her head, making her remember something.

Kotori was seen sweating heavily as she looked at the last bit of what she had to study for the test to skip her remaining Middle School years and get herself transferred into Raizen High. The questions before her all looked incredibly brutal, and her mind was racing.

"Damn it, what do I do? I don't understand half of this stuff... what is this all supposed to be!?" Kotori asked herself.

"Uh, Kotori. I don't think it's-" Mana tried to say, only to see Kotori as she shook her head around like a wildfire. "K-Kotori! Please calm down, you're making it worse!"

Kotori screamed as she began to create some flame, making Mana quickly grab the fire extinguisher to put out anything she set ablaze.

"Where do I start? Do I tackle the hard part with math, or maybe English? That's easiest for me, isn't it? Science has a lot to write so that should be done first... but what about history!?" Kotori panicked, making more fire as Mana sweated and tried putting it all out. "What do I do, should I just cram or maybe I-"

"Hey Kotori."

Kotori and Mana turn to see Tohka look at her.

"This is what you should do, think fast!" Tohka replied, throwing her fist forward and freaking out Kotori as Tohka stopped only a moment before hitting it.

"Tohka, and you freaking crazy!? You just tried to punch me!" Kotori shouted, still a bit frightened. "What made you think that-"

"Isn't your mind more focused now?" Tohka asked.

Kotori suddenly blinked, with Mana even seeing no more fires were starting. Kotori gasped as she realized she wasn't thinking about the studying now.

"Hey... you're right, I'm not overwhelmed. How did you know it would help?" Kotori wondered.

"Remember the other day while the wind was blowing and I got hit in the face by that flying soda can?" Tohka asked, making the two nod as they sweat dropped. "Well I was thinking of a lot, but the moment I felt the pain I stopped and focused on it. Kotori, if you ever feel overwhelmed, just give yourself a single focus."

"Single focus..." Kotori repeated.

Kotori soon took a moment and punched herself in the left cheek, surprising her Inverse counterpart.

'Why'd she just deck herself?' Inverse Kotori wondered.

'Ow! OK, my mind's calm. Just think Kotori. Nothing's invincible, Rinne's full power was proof enough of that fact. My Megiddo can work, so that means my fire does to. The problem I'm facing is that I can't burn her entire body at once.' Kotori thought, trying to think of something. 'So, how can I?'

As Kotori thought, a certain memory made her gasp as she got an idea from it.

Kotori was seen at school with most of her classmates, she was shivering at the chills brought by the heavy snowstorm that had suddenly blown in, freezing all the heat within the school making everyone try to stay close for warmth.

"Big bro, sis... I'm scared." Kotori shivered, crying slightly.

The snow had gotten incredibly awful once it had begun to blow in, due to the weather forecast being wrong and the storm happening during school hours, the roads had gotten blocked off and no one was able to get home because either their bus couldn't arrive or no one could drive to pick up their kids until the roads got cleared.

What was worse for Kotori's case though? Mana had been at home sick, so her honorary sister/best friend wasn't there to help her feel calm. Right now, she was a complete mess, crying as she wished she was hope.

"I'm scared, please... someone help me." Kotori cried, rubbing her arms as she felt it getting colder. Suddenly at that moment, the school heard the door open as someone came in, Kotori looked up to see who it was. Her eyes widen as she saw Shido, all frozen and shivering himself. "Big bro!?"

"I'm here Kotori, let's get your home." Shido replied, soon walking over and helping the shivering Kotori onto his back as she held her stuff and his arm tightly.

"H-How did you get here? The roads are still blocked aren't they, you didn't just walk through here on your feet, right?" Kotori asked, Shido turned at her and gave a frosty looking smile as he chuckled nervously. "No way... you actually did? Why?"

Shido scratched his head a bit, chuckling once more.

"Because... I didn't want my sister to be scared and alone with her family there." Shido replied, making Kotori gasp as she heard it. A slight blush formed on her cheeks without her even realizing it.

Soon she felt Shido go back outside, trudging through the snow as the two slowly but surely traveled through the heavy snow to get back home. After a long trek through the snowy landscape, Shido manages to get them back to the house and inside.

"Alright, let's get you a blanket and a warm meal. Make sure you didn't get sick. Then help you get some rest, you'll be OK." Shido stated, pulling a blank over her as she laid on the couch. Shido soon went to the kitchen and began cooking. As he did...

'This feeling, big bro cam all that way... for me.' Kotori thought, soon blushing again. This time she managed to notice since she wasn't as frozen in the face anymore. 'Wait a second... could it be? Am I... no way, I'm falling in love with my brother?'

Kotori hugged the blanket closer as she blushed more.

'But... we're not related, and he's not adopted by mom and dad. Then... it would be alright, it's... this is real! I think I'm really in live with Shido!'

After about 10 minutes, Shido walked in with a warm bowl of soup and carried it over to her. He sat next to her, making her blush as he felt his warmth against her body.

"Here, let's get some food in you." Shido said, holding the spoon by her mouth. Kotori soon swallowed it and rested against Shido's shoulder. Blushing a bit as she smiled, Shido kept feeding her the soup.

'It's so warm, like a fire enveloping my body.' Kotori thought, smiling warmly.

Kotori's eyes shake as she realized that last part, a fire enveloping her body... of course! If her fire could still burn Inverse Kotori, she didn't need to fire it off through the Megiddo, she just needed to burn Inverse Kotori!

"I've found the path for victory!" Kotori smirked, making Inverse Kotori look at her oddly. Soon Kotori jumped overhead of her, and Inverse Kotori tried to move, but she was still charging and couldn't move, and Kotori smirked as she held Camael up.

"You can't regenerate if there's nothing left of you, fire still burns you if there's spirit power in it, and you can't move right now. I think you're wide opened to be burned into cinders. So, thanks for becoming immobile and defenseless!"

Inverse Kotori suddenly had her eyes widen in fear, and Kotori raised Camael into the air before she swung the axe down. A burst of fire formed underneath Inverse Kotori, and soon she screams violently as the fire consumed her. Gungnir shattered before Inverse Kotori reached out in vain, soon turned into nothing by ashes.

"Can't take the heat? Then don't play with fire." Kotori smiled, panting as she collapsed on one knee, her healing flames starting to quick in. Meanwhile she turned as she heard Choronzon scream in the distance, the red eye gem on his body shattering apart. "Alright, that's another one down."

Soon she heard galloping, and turned to see a flock of horses being ridden, Mayuri soon noticed her and pulled her horse's reins to stop the others. At that moment, everyone noticed Kotori as she smiled at them.

"Hey Kotori, over here! Get on!" Mayuri shouted, and Kotori weakly trudged over before Mayuri helped her onto a horse. "You just won your fight, didn't you?"

"I did, now let me nap for a little while. OK?" Kotori asked, soon slumping on her horse and sleeping. Rinne rubbed her head as the horses resumed their galloping across the area and Choronzon's roots continued to pull out. The area before them starting to show a few coming out of the ground.

Tohka panted a bit, managing to send Inverse Tohka into a building as she tried to regain her breath. She turned right as Choronzon's screams announced his red eye gem breaking, leaving only the purple, green, white, blue, black and pink gems left.

"There you go Kotori, you did it!" Tohka panted, soon getting hit by a wave of energy blasts and screaming. She crashed into a large building, causing it to break apart and slowly fall over. Inverse Tohka flew from the debris she crashed in unscathed.

"You talk too much." Inverse Tohka replied, holding Nahemah out as she charged a dark purple beam at the tip of the blade.

[Then let us silence her.]

Tohka noticed the attack and stomped the ground as she broke through the floor and dodged the blast, spinning with Sandalphon held out as she continued falling until she reached the building's bottom and ran outside.

'Dang it, I haven't fully recovered from our last fight. If only I had my full Astral Dress.' Tohka thought, using Sandalphon to support herself before she saw Inverse Tohka crash down before her, making her hold Sandalphon out defensively.

"Pathetic. You're so weak right now, it's as if you've chosen to fight me while wearing heels." Inverse Tohka declared, making Tohka have a vein form on her head.

"You and I both know my Astral Dress doesn't have heels!" Tohka shouted, rushing at her inverse counterpart and swinging Sandalphon down. The two blades colliding while Tohka gives an emotional face to Inverse Tohka's stoic one.

Natsumi rides Haniel through the skies as Inverse Natsumi chases after her, Baal shooting out the crystal on its broom brush end, with Natsumi narrowly dodging the attacks and the incredible speed of her Angel's dark counterpart.

"Dang it, how do I fight an enemy like this? A copycat against another copycat... that doesn't make any sense!" Natsumi shouted.

Natsumi soon gasped as Inverse Natsumi turned into an Eastern Dragon and growled at her, making the original pale as she witnessed Inverse Natsumi spew out her transformation light as a beam.

Natsumi quickly turned and managed to dodge it, with the nearest structure that it hit being turned a storm of mini-bombs that detonated and exploded everywhere once they hit the ground.

"Holy... shit!" Natsumi paled, looking at the Dragon transformed Inverse Natsumi again. "Yeah, I think I might be f-Ah!"

Natsumi flew away as Inverse Natsumi flew by, soon evaporating the Dragon form into smoke before turning around and aiming Baal towards her blinded original. Soon it glowed brightly.

"Shinigami!" Inverse Natsumi shouted, soon transforming Baal into a staff-like magic blaster. Inverse Natsumi gave a dark smirk. "You used to care so much about how people say you, how about you care about people being unable to see you period!?"

Natsumi gasped, remembering just what the Shinigami's power was. The Shinigami fired off, causing everything that was trapped within the blast to suddenly vanish like it didn't exist, trapped in the illusion Inverse Natsumi had created.

"Gotcha!" Inverse Natsumi smirked, soon cackling as she vanished from view. Nearby the area, Rinne and the others all stopped as they neared it. Rio looked at her mother worried, holding her arm tightly.

"Is Natsumi... gone?" Rio asked.

"No, worse... she's trapped in some kind of illusion, and this illusion is a deadly one. Right now, sight and contact with her is impossible, she's in trouble...and we can't reach her to aid her!" Rinne answered, sweating a bit. "One of them isn't going to leave this illusion zone alive, and if it isn't Natsumi... I fear her dark half may replace her."

The sound of beeping was heard as Mana suddenly gasped, regaining consciousness. She tried to get up only to scream in pain as a Ratatoskr allied doctor forced her back onto the bed, she looked and him and breathed heavily.

"What happened? Why am I here?" Mana asked, she soon turned after hearing many more pained groans and saw the entire AST was in the hospital room as well. It took a while for the memory to fully sink into her as she remembered their fight with the DEM wizards. "We... all of us were beaten?"

"I'm afraid so, even Artemisia and Karen were overwhelmed. Also... I'm sorry to tell you this, but shortly after you knocked unconscious, the DEM managed to kidnap Shido. None of us were able to stop it, Spirit, AST or other." The Doctor answered, hanging his head as Mana gasped. "Oh, you may wanna see this."

The doctor showed a news report that was showcasing the sighting of Choronzon in England, making Mana stare as she remembered seeing the tree manifested by her mother's power. The fact it was black meant only one thing...

"Are you saying my mother's in her Inverse Form? No way, she said that she can't Inverse!" Mana shouted.

"...Did I say she was?" The doctor replied, making Mana blink. "Mana, that true isn't holding your mother. In fact, she's there fighting against it, but someone else holds your mother's power. Unfortunately, the worse has happened, Shido has Inverted."

Mana and the entire AST gasp at that.

"What?" Mana shook, soon trying to get up again. She screamed in more pain as the doctor forced her back down. "L-Let me go, I need to help big brother! Let me go help Shido! I can't just stay here, let me-"

The doctor slapped her, making Mana hold her cheek as she looked at him.

"I know how you feel, but you're in no condition. Just moving hurts you. Do you want to try heading over, and then your mother, sister and brother learn you never came back from trying to help you? Or worse, dying!?" The doctor asked, and Mana closed her eyes and teared up.

"I know how you feel, we're all guilty. The DEM used Tenguu Square are the perfect attacking ground. The Spirits couldn't go full out due to civilians, Miku's powers worked to their advantage, especially after she Inverted herself. Worst of all, Ellen didn't fight with Jessica or Chinami just to capture Shido. Even Tohka couldn't fend her off."

Mana soon sighed and looked to the side.

"I'm sorry Mana, we weren't strong enough. Worse is we let ourselves get too cocky. Nia's warning to Shido, we realized it too late... we succeeded to much we didn't change our strategies, and the DEM used it against us." Artemisia replied, and Mana looked at her.

"Don't apologize, after this... we're going to get stronger. So we can keep this from ever happen again!" Mana stated, squeezing her fists. "I swear it... I won't let Westcott achieve victory. My father gave up his life to give us hope, I won't let it die out."

Natsumi feels herself cough as she regained her senses, and soon looked up to see herself in some strange realm that was all washed out and gray-white in color. She got up and looked around, seeing everything that was hit but non-living took the shape, including the buildings.

"I... I knew what it could do, but not how ghastly it would look." Natsumi gulped, looking around. "Haniel, are you still OK?"

[Yeah, I'm alright master. So, this is the space the Shinigami attack created?]

"I think so... kinda spooky though. I'll admit it, I'm so terrified I might have already thrown up and not realized it. Uh, sorry for sharing that." Natsumi stated, sweat dropping as her angel shivered. "Though now here's the big question, where is Inverse Natsumi?"

"Behind you." Inverse Natsumi whispered, making Natsumi gasp as she turned around. She smirked darkly as she held out Baal. "Izanagi - Nahemah!"

Inverse Natsumi held out Baal as it transformed into the dark sword, her right hand twitched with excitement as she stared at Natsumi with a vile smile, and Natsumi gulped as she saw the Demon King copy. However, she gained a focus face and held out Haniel.

"Kaleidoscope - Sandalphon!"

Natsumi swings Haniel as it takes the form of Sandalphon, making Natsumi stare at her Inverse counterpart who gave a smug and cocky grin towards her. Natsumi rushes forward, swinging Sandalphon down on Inverse Natsumi. However, her dark half simply parries her attacks easily and then slashes a dark energy wave at her, knocking her back.

"You're too weak!" Inverse Natsumi declared, laughing as she swung a few more slash waves and knocked Natsumi against the bleached buildings of the Shinigami's illusionary world. She laughs more as Natsumi falls to the ground weakened.

"See this? This is an example of what you really are, why you can only mimic things! You are nothing, so you have to act like anything else just to feel like you're something, but that doesn't change the fact of what you really are! A zero, an imitation, and a useless blank space!"

Natsumi got up, but soon fell back to the ground.

"No, that's not... it's not..." Natsumi tried to counter, but either from exhaustion or uncertainty she couldn't.

"You're better than you think you are Natsumi." Shido's voice echoed.

Natsumi's eyes widen as she heard that.

"Well, I guess that makes haremette number six." Kotori giggled, while Tohka scratched her head in confusion at the whole situation.

"Hey Shido?" Natsumi sang, making him look at her... only to see a handcuff attached to his hands as Natsumi suddenly assumed a sexy police outfit with her powers. "You're coming with me downtown, for a personal date! No one else allowed."

The others all went wide eyed as Natsumi ran out of the house with a panicked Shido, all staring and blinked.

"She... she just stole Shido!" Tohka finally screamed after a delayed reaction, her ribbon flapping like crazy.

"After five sweet Spirits, we have one who's a bit bolder and possessive apparently." Rinne stated, chuckling a bit. The other Spirits all pouted at that. "3, 2, 1..."

"AFTER THEM!"

The other Spirits all rushed out to chase Natsumi, the Mimicry spirit giggling from far away. She soon slips into a small crack in the walls by transforming her and Shido into slips of garbage wrappers on the ground, making all the others run by without even realizing they missed. She transforms them back after.

"And we gave them the slip, nice!" Natsumi giggled, shifting her police outfit for a dress outfit that was quite... revealing of her cleavage based on what Shido saw. She turned to him and bent to show it, likely intentionally, making Shido nearly have a nosebleed. "Come on Shido, time for our date.

"Where are we going exact-Ah!" Shido exclaimed, soon being pulled by Natsumi somewhere.

Shido panted exhaustively, Natsumi giggling as she held a triple flavor stack of ice cream in her hands, licking all the flavors at once. They had just gone through a bunch of girls' clothing stores... including the lingerie store that Shido had been to with Kurumi once, and Shido had to deal with everyone looking at him as Natsumi tried things on.

"Now that was fun, I think we had a fun date." Natsumi smiled, and Shido groaned with a somewhat forced smile at the reply. Though Natsumi stopped licking her ice cream briefly, making Shido look at her. "It's weird... when I had everyone see me before and show praise for my looks, it felt so empty. Now it doesn't, why?"

Shido blinked at that.

"I had been in this form for so long thinking it was the fake, and now I know it's not. I don't get it... nothing's different, and I just got back my true age and form. It shouldn't sink in, so why am I... aware of it? Why does it feel genuine?"

She feels Shido take her hand and hold it, making her blush a bit.

"Natsumi, you may have powers that work by turning into someone else, copying something else, and all that time you may have never felt happy with what you thought you were... but there's a reason why that makes you so special." Shido answered, making Natsumi blink confused.

"You've gotten to see so much, do so much, experience so much and experience the views of so many people that finally find your own. Finding your place here, that's special because it's something you knew was your decision alone. That's everything you are, and someone to be proud of, and the fact people can see that makes it worth something, because it's the real you. Not just physically, but in your heart and soul."

Natsumi gasped, blushing a bit before smiling and hugging Shido. He blushed a bit as he felt her breasts squeeze against his arm.

"No wonder me and the other Spirits keep falling for you, you're so sweet and know just what to say to a girl." Natsumi smiled, kissing Shido on the cheek to his surprise before cuddling his arm more.

Inverse Natsumi prepared to swing down her copy of Nahemah as she grinned evilly.

"Time to die you little piece of nothing! Inverse Natsumi laughed, soon swinging down Nahemah... only for Natsumi to hold Sandalphon out, the crystalline edge of the blade glowing brightly as it did to the dark half's surprise. "What!?

"I am not nothing... I am Natsumi Itsuwari! The Spirit who wields the Haniel crystal, a member of Shido's harem, and most of all... I know who I am, and proud of it!" Natsumi screamed loudly, causing her spirit power to surge off, and soon to Inverse Natsumi's surprise, the Shinigami real broke into pieces.

"You're the one who's nothing, because everything I am is what you aren't! That's the different I've learned from living, and I won't let you end that! Not today, and not any day for as long as I live!"

Natsumi swings her copy of Sandalphon down, and Inverse Natsumi couldn't react as it cut a green slash against her body. Rinne and the others all smile as Inverse Natsumi slowly stepped back, and soon fell on her knees. Meanwhile, Marina smirked as she saw the power of [Phoenix] and [Sorceress] enter her wires.

"What... what did I not have?" Inverse Natsumi asked, reaching a hand out before her body shattered into green spirit power. Natsumi smiled as she turned to the others, giving a thumb's up as the Yamai sister ran and brought her into a hug. Choronzon screamed as the green eye gem broke.

"That's another one, we're almost there!" Rinne smiled, soon motioning to Natsumi to get on a horse. "Come on, the others are still out there. Let's find them and hopefully lend them some aid in time!"

Natsumi nodded and got on, and soon the group continued on as the horses galloped again, and as they did... Choronzon's roots began to uproot in an entire area, the first area to have his roots ripped out of the ground.

"This victory... means... nothing!" Choronzon declared, raising the roots slowly. His remaining eye gems glow brighter. "You've only delayed the inevitable..."

~ETA until the second Chaotic Divergence charge is ready: 27 minutes

Choronzon's body glowed with a dark aura.

"ONLY DELAYED IT!" Choronzon screamed, the aura growing by the second.

And that's another two down! Go Natsumi and Kotori, you both did it! I was initially worried with writing Natsumi's, but luckily once I got far enough into making it. Now aside from Tohka and Inverse Tohka's current battle, only three more left to destroy. How will our remaining Spirits handle their Inversion though? Origami's got some memories it may remind her off, and Yoshino knows hers well due to Yoshinon, but Kurumi? She's not using her Cassiopeia corrupted powers, so... what can her Inverse Form do currently?

Just to clear this now before anyone asks or mentions about Tohka claiming she her Astral Dress not having heels, I am aware that the shoes on Tohka's Astral Dress do have heels normally, but back when I described her Astral Dress in Chapter 2, I described her as wearing armored boots, not armored heels. I do tend to make Tohka a bit more tomboyish in this fanfic, not to mention I don't like heels, and most of all... I just think Inverse Tohka's non-heel shoes are awesome! So... yeah, just consider her normal Astral Dress' shoots to be similar to Inverse Tohka's with her usual colors.

Also answer a question from a guest reviewer who replied while I was making the chapter, I'm glad people are liking how I had Tohka and Origami be friends in this fanfic, I think had this had been Origami's personality from the beginning of canon, she and Tohka would have actually become friends even if not at first. As for your question about Rio and Rinne? No, they can't merge, while the games show they can, that's due to different circumstances regarding Rio being born of part of Rinne's power. In this story, Rio was born in a way closer to asexual reproduction.

Now for the actual end notes talk, as you can see... Choronzon's getting close to being freed and the Chaotic Divergence only has another half hour before it can be fired. Yikes! 0_0 *gulps and breathes* Not to mention Marina's still getting benefits, and Tohka's really in the worst situation she could be right now, hope she finds a way out of this soon for her sake.

Now, it's time the last few rounds against Choronzon and his forces and then... the ultimate reveal I've been waiting to pull out! So until then everyone, stay awesome!

-Spirit Bond Levels & Passive Abilities-

Tohka - 99% (Form a mana barrier automatically)

Origami - 95% (Teleport Dodging)

Yoshino - 90% (Dampen enemy territories)

Kotori - 92% (Healing from fatal wounds minus losing his head, doesn't work on wounds caused by blunt force)

Kurumi - 87% (Hide in his shadow, and only his)

Rinne - (Summon a weakened copy of Uriel)

Natsumi - 84% (Transform into Shiori)

Kaguya - 78% (Flight)

Yuzuru - 78% (Weight Manipulation)