Date A Re:Live
S3 Chapter 64: Mukuro Quasar, 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]
Before I say anything else... *bows* I'd like to apologize for how long it took to update! Before resuming updates on this story, I wanted to update another story of mine first. Though unfortunately, that story ended up... facing some issues, and as such, I need to restart it. I figured before anything else, I should use the latest update of that story to tell all the readers about what's going on.
Don't worry though, this isn't going to affect this story in any way. If anything, the problem I ended up with in my other story was due to not doing what I did for this one and LOHD, and that's... using my seasonal planning format, alongside a few other additional problems ^^; *chuckles embarrassingly* I didn't expect it to be as long, so I didn't really plan it the same way, but now, I'm starting to think that may have backfired on me. If there's any good news to this, it's the fact this happened early in the planned story.
Though admittedly, that wasn't the only issue. Something I've noticed is that I've gotten a bit overzealous with some planned story ideas, and with some parts of the story. Adding onto that, recently, I've realized my writing style is kinda "fast", and I've missed out on potential scenes, like the one Encore chapter about Tohka moving in, which I could have done before Origami's arc. As a result, what happened has taught me to be more careful, especially in regards to avoiding having the overzealous issue overwhelm me.
But I promise you all, I won't let any of them keep me from continuing this story! That being said, I've now become a bit more aware of some of my weaknesses in writing, and luckily, a good friend of mine gave me a few things to practice on, pointed out where my writing's weak and strong, and helped me regain my confidence when it was shaken. Slowly but surely, I'm gonna be improving my writing, and finalize my writing style, but for now? For right now at least, I'm going to focus on finishing this story.
Also, I've got some exciting news everyone... this story has finally managed to hit 100 favorites! Thanks for all the support everyone, I'm really glad so many of you enjoy this story ^^
Now to reply to two guest reviews.
To Seeker213:
" You're right, that bit about the data removal was in the translation, but what you said about Miku's phone data is actually the very reason why I had the data on Shido's Ratatoskr registry survive. When I was preparing this arc, the Vol 15 half made me pay more attention than usual, including the example you mentioned about Miku's phone, and during the process of checking everything, this thought came to mind... did Mukuro know about the nickname?"
" Right after that, another thought came to my mind, what caused New Timeline Origami and Inverse Tohka to be unaffected by Segva in the first place? Thinking Miku's phone might be the vital clue to that, I checked every instance when Miku called Shido darling, and sure enough, I ended up discovering that Mukuro was absent each time she said it, meaning she didn't know of the nickname's connection to Shido."
" Due to realizing this, I think I figured out a vital weakness in Mukuro's powers, her awareness. When Mukuro used Segva in canon, she didn't know about Inverse Tohka (if not the Inverse Form's existence in general), or New Timeline Origami . Th at's why the data for Shido's registration survived in this story, because unlike canon, I never had anyone mention Ratatoskr's existence to her, which made Michael unable to target any of their data."
To Fantastic:
"The only ones in Shido's harem, and the only ones that will be in it, are the 10 Sephira Spirits. That was my decision before I began this story, and I'm barely managing to handle this one, if I add any more people to the harem, I'm worry it'll backfire on me... *gulps* Also, no need to worry there, I already confirmed a long while back that there will be a Season 4 for this story."
Now, all that's left is an announcement relating to Season 4... however, I think I'll share that at the end notes, you guys probably just want to read the chapter now, so let's begin!
When Rinne had gotten Mildred's text about her little sister's preferences, she knew that Mukuro's competition with Tohka would make things a bit odd, it was a given since they'd both be gunning to get Shido to kiss them, however...
"Here Shido, open wide!" Tohka requested loudly.
"No Shido, you'll eat my offering." Mukuro countered.
...Rinne, and all of the other Spirits, were all staring at the sight of the two holding the sides of Shido's hand with their non-dominant hand, trying to force a slice of strawberry cake into his mouth. Needless to say, all that was happening was Shido got cake on his face.
"It's official, I think I could have planned this better..." Rinne sighed.
Currently, the group was at a small maid cafe, one of the many things on the "like" half of the preference list Mildred sent over.
The cafe was normally tranquil, and the various girls working in it had done their usual greetings of "Welcome home, Master" upon them coming in. Unfortunately, due to Tohka and Mukuro's small conflict, that had quickly faded.
"We're really sorry, we didn't think they'd do this." Mana apologized, lightly bowing to one of the workers.
"Oh, don't worry too much, this is just one of those double date scenarios, isn't it?" The maid replied.
"Yeah, it's... kinda like that." Mana admitted.
Luckily, the little contest between the two Spirits wasn't considered bad enough to be a disturbance and get them kicked out.
"I've played a few dating sims like the ones Tonomachi's always got his hands on, but this is new." Kotori stated, sweat dropping slightly.
"Who cares, I'm kinda enjoying seeing that arguing." Marina smirked.
"You're enjoying this, Marina!?" Maria exclaimed.
Marina gave a mischievous giggle in reply.
"Quick Shido, eat it!" Tohka stated.
Tohka quickly moved her arm to get her piece into Shido's mouth, but at that moment, Mukuro held up a finger, opening a wormhole that engulfed her fork. Tohka's eyes went wide as Mukuro ate the piece of cake instead.
"Hey!" Tohka complained.
"Mukuro, I said that either of you using your powers was cheating, did you not listen!?" Rinne whispered, giving a strict looked at the Dimensional Spirit.
Mukuro sweated at that.
"Crap..." Mukuro whispered to herself.
"Do that again and you'll be disqualified, understand?" Rinne replied.
"Yes ma'am." Mukuro apologized.
Mayuri chuckled a bit, a sweat drop going down her face.
'Mukuro's terrified of Rinne, let's hope it stays that way.' Mayuri thought worriedly.
After that small debacle, Mukuro prepared her fork, only to see it was gone.
"Eh!?" Mukuro gasped.
"Yummy!" Tohka smiled.
Mukuro turned to see Tohka had taken her fork and eaten her pace, the former having never even noticed she had stolen it.
"Now we're even." Tohka remarked.
Mukuro pouted angrily at that, making Shido sweat.
'At this rate, this contest might kill me!' Shido mentally panicked.
While everyone was watching the odd scene, each giving their own reactions to it, the cafe door was heard opening up.
"Welcome home, Master." A maid greeted.
"Thank you."
Everyone recognized the voice, and turned to see Mildred walk in, the Ratatoskr engineer waving to them.
"Mildred?" Yoshino stated in surprise.
"Did you come because you were worried about Mukuro?" Kurumi asked.
"I'm her big sister, of course I'd be worried-" Mildred answered.
Mildred soon looks at the table her sister was at, confused by what she just saw.
"What're those two doing?" Mildred questioned.
"Huh?" Natsumi wondered.
Everyone turned, and saw the two were now forcing cake into each other's mouths, rather than Shido's.
"...I think they just made me a third wheel, all because they stole the cake piece the other was offering me." Shido mentioned.
Everyone sweat drops at that.
"Yep, Mukuro's basically a Tohka 2.0, this all but prove sit." Origami joked.
"We ahn't aeyfin aike!" Both replied, their mouths fool.
"Don't talk with your mouths full, it's rude, not to mention disgusting." Nia stated.
Back at Ratatoskr, everyone gave similar reactions to the most recent scene.
"...Gross!" Ryouko commented.
"Sakura, Ren, your daughter's not one for manners, is she?" Matthew stated.
Tohka's parents both gave embarrassed chuckles in response, unsure of what to say.
"Uh... let's examine Mukuro's emotional state, please?" Reine begged.
Matthew types a bit, and the emotional graphs were shown, most of the readings were steady and showing Mukuro's feelings for Shido were still strong, but Reine noticed something... and it wasn't something she wanted to see.
"I don't like this." Reine remarked.
"Don't like what exactly, I don't see anything bad with these readings." Kannazuki asked.
"Well, Mukuro's happiness meter is rising smoothly, but what worries me is her uneasiness numbers are as equally high." Reine explained.
Reine sighed, soon crossing her arms slightly.
"With what Rinne's told us so far, any emotional reading that can be defined as negative or problematic worries me, and that's because we don't know what might happen if she's pushed far enough to act on them." She implied.
"Every Spirit's been a ticking time bomb, but this is the most powerful of the Sephira Spirits, so I guess that's justified... worse, from our experiences so far, it might be wishful thinking to hope nothing goes wrong." Ryouko sighed.
Reine soon looked at Mukuro's uneasiness readings again.
'There's still a bigger question throughout all this, and that's probably what frightens me most, we know she's uneasy, but... the question is what's making her feel that way?' Reine wondered.
After the little incident with the cakes between them, the sight of Tohka, and Mukuro, having the cake ingredients covering their faces wiped off by Shido. Needless to say, each Spirit blushed in embarrassment, knowing everyone was watching them.
"Honestly, you two need to calm down, neither of you two will win this contest if this continues." Shido sighed.
The two hung their heads down in shame, hearing Shido tell them that made the comment more hurtful than it would have been normally.
Seeing this, Rinne tapped one of the maid's shoulders, and whispered something to her, causing the maid to nod before she walked over to the table.
"Excuse me ladies, I believe I can help you out." The maid offered.
The two Spirits look at her.
"Being rude to one another will only trouble master, you need to feed the cake to him more delightfully, so let me teach you a secret spell to make it taste better." The maid smiled.
The two Spirits' eyes sparkle, while Rinne and Rio showed surprise to the maid's words.
"There's a spell for that!?" Rinne gasped.
"Really!?" Rio exclaimed.
Nia sweat dropped at that, and then cleared her throat as she turned to them.
"No, that's just a placebo effect, making them believe is why it seems to taste better." Nia explained.
The two go wide faced, looking away and whistling in embarrassment.
At the same time, the maid motioned her hands like a heart.
"Put your hands like this and say: "become so yummy, become so yummy, moe moe aw!", just like that." The maid explained.
"Ooh, moe moe aw!" Tohka said excitedly, mimicking the maid.
"Uh... mew, mew..." Mukuro repeated, a bit nervous about it.
Surprised by Mukuro's sudden cold feet, Rinne looks at Mildred, giving her a "What just happened?" look.
"I think it might be because she's being asked to do that in public." Mildred replied, sweat dropping in worry.
Mukuro's face began to turn blue as she felt the pressure of everyone watching her, with Shido looking a bit concerned, and Tohka trying not to laugh at her. After a few moments, Mukuro simply hid under the table.
"Mukuro, are you OK?" Shido asked.
"...Please let me skip this part." Mukuro begged quietly.
Rinne chuckled at the sight, and checked Mildred's text again, seeing the next thing they could do together.
"Come on you three, we're gonna head somewhere else."
Chinami sweated, worry overtaking her as she tried to remember what she had been doing before she forgot while getting her hot chocolate, sipping the beverage heavily as she tried to keep herself calm.
"OK, I left the Inverse Void, and then I... crap! Hot cocoa, curse you for being so delicious and distracting!"
Chinami downed the rest of the tasty beverage, soon realizing she drank all of it.
"...And for making me not buy a cup of you in large size." She remarked, putting it into a recycling bin.
"Alright, we're heading to the movies next."
Recognizing that voice, Chinami's eyes went wide as she hid behind the recycling bin, peaking out to see the Spirits and Mildred all leaving the cafe.
"...Wait, now I remember! I was trying to keep watch over [Zodiac]!" Chinami whispered.
Chinami secretly followed them from afar, none of the others noticing.
Midway into their trek to their next location, the cinema, Mukuro turned to Mildred, having realized the Ratatoskr Engineer had been staring at her.
"...Why do you keep looking at me?" Mukuro asked.
"Uh, well... no real reason, you just look like someone I used to know." Mildred lied.
Mukuro tilted her head in confusion, and Mildred sighed, soon looking at younger sister.
"Hey Mukuro, you let your family know where you are, right? I doubt you want them to worry about you." Mildred stated.
Mukuro flinched for a moment, making Mildred stare at her.
"...I didn't need to, because I don't have one, I've been alone since the very beginning." Mukuro answered sadly.
Mildred's eyes widened a bit, and realizing Mukuro wasn't looking, used the moment to show relief on her face.
As Mukuro was still distracted by Mildred's question, the latter suddenly hugged her from behind, surprising her a bit.
"...I'm sorry Mukuro, I never meant to hurt you all those years ago." Mildred apologized, tearing up slightly.
Mukuro suddenly stopped for a bit, surprised by Mildred's words towards her.
'She's... sorry? For what, I don't know her... do I?' Mukuro thought.
She put her left hand over her right, feeling a familiar nostalgia for reasons she didn't understand.
"But then, why... why did that feel so familiar?" She whispered.
Shido soon noticed the headset reflect a change in Mukuro's emotional state, showing regret and confusion suddenly spiking up, confusing him a bit.
'Confuse and regret, why is she suddenly feeling these?' Shido wondered.
Eventually, the group reached the cinemas, and Shido sat with the two Spirits throughout the movie... although the whole time they were there, the two kept trying to get Shido to lean on their shoulders, so it didn't do them any good.
When the movie failed to give any results, they instead went to an arcade, while at first things were normal, Tohka eventually got Mukuro absorbed in a game of air hockey and they kept knocking the puck off the table, preventing either side from progressing the game.
And after that didn't work out, they went to a department store... although Mukuro quickly brought up she had no idea of anything romantic should could do there, and neither did Tohka, so they didn't stay very long.
Once outside of the department store, the group still unaware of Chinami stalking them, Rinne sighed tiredly.
"OK, this competition... not happening like I thought it would." Rinne admitted.
"It's like watching a game of ping pong that doesn't end." Yuzuru mentioned.
"Was that one of your many contests?" Miku inquired.
The Yamai twins chuckled, recalling the embarrassing memory.
"One of our 49 draws." Kaguya admitted.
As Rinne looked at the list, her and Mildred trying to figure out where to go next, Mukuro looked around and saw something in the distance, something that was familiar to her, even if she didn't know why.
"What's that?"
Everyone looked in the direction Mukuro was, soon seeing her eyes had locked onto Tenguu Tower.
Upon seeing it, Rinne was reminded of the time her powers went berserk while on it, and Mildred remembered this as the place where she unknowingly pushed Mukuro onto the path that made her run away from home.
"Oh, that's Tenguu Tower, it's a popular attraction in the city, and it isn't rare for couples to go there." Shido explained.
Shido soon blinked at his own words, and soon turned to Mukuro.
"You wanna check it out?" Shido asked.
Mukuro nodded.
"Yes, there's something... familiar about it, as if it's calling me." Mukuro answered.
"Alright then, off to Tenguu Tower it is." Shido declared.
"...Yay." Rinne cheered nervously.
The group headed towards Tenguu Tower, and Chinami soon walked into view and smirked a bit.
"Perfect, this is the chance I need." Chinami remarked.
Chinami soon crossed into an alley way, instantly summoning her CR-Unit, and then attacking a realizer to cloak herself from Ratatoskr's radar.
"It's go time."
Meanwhile, within the tower itself, the group was looking out the windows with excitement.
"Wow, you can see the whole city from here!" Maria exclaimed.
"The Fraxinus' view is nice, but from here, the view feels more natural." Marina mentioned.
Mildred looked around, only able to feel sadness as she looked at the tower's interior, but her focus soon changed as she noticed Mukuro looking a bit shaky.
"Mukuro, are you OK?" Mildred asked worriedly.
"I... I don't feel so good, where's... the bathroom?" Mukuro stuttered.
"No need, let me take you there, it's better you have someone help you there if you feel sick." Mildred offered.
Mukuro felt Mildred support her up with her arm.
"Hey guys, Mukuro's feeling a little ill, I'm gonna take her the bathroom real quick." Mildred called out.
"Alright, and Mukuro, we'll wait for you before we resume the contest." Shido replied.
Mukuro weakly nodded, and soon Mildred brought her into the bathroom, but the moment she was in.
"Guh!"
Mukuro suddenly collapsed to the ground, making Mildred panic.
"MUKURO!" Mildred screamed.
As Mukuro shook across the ground, her eyes tightly shut as something flashed through her head.
A fairly young Mukuro, who had only become old enough to be aware of her surroundings, ran around the outside of her homeland, the country of China.
Once she became a bit tired, she went inside, looking to see more of the strange bottles she always saw her dad holding. Once she got near the kitchen, she got closer and heard both of her parents talking.
"-do you even realize we can't pay for this house anymore, or anything for that matter!?" Her mother shrieked.
"Shut up woman, get off my back!" Her father shouted, smashing something on the floor.
Being too young to understand, Mukuro didn't realize the severity of what they were talking about, or even the darker side of her parents lives... until one fateful day .
Mukuro hummed as she stacked some blocks on the floor, only for the door to suddenly open up, and some people she only saw as black silhouettes came in.
"Uh... hello, who are you?" Mukuro asked naively.
The figures walked past her, and soon found where Mukuro's parents were, quickly starting a conversation with her, and the leader of the strange men soon spoke up.
"Is she the one?" He asked.
"Yes, get her out of our sight, that girl's not our problem anymore." Her mother stated coldly.
Mukuro blinked in confusion, soon noticing the men walking out, only for two of them to grab her arms and start pulling her away.
"Mama? Papa? What's going on, I'm scared!" Mukuro whimpered.
"...Get out of here you worthless piece of trash, we would have never been in this situation if you hadn't been born." Her father replied cruelly.
Mukuro started crying.
"Mama, papa, help me please!" Mukuro cried.
Her voice went unheard as they walked away from her, and soon she taken out the door, where the men began to pull her towards a car, marked with a symbol she didn't recognize.
Terrified by what was happening, Mukuro bit both of the hands holding onto her, making the them scream as they let her go, and giving her the chance to run away from them.
"That little bitch, after her!" The leader screamed.
From that moment, Mukuro did nothing but run, as fast as she could, and as far as she could. Eventually, she ended up falling into some strange crate, and her head slammed into the side hard, causing her to lose consciousness.
Before Mukuro even realized it, the crate was moved onto a boat, and the still unconscious Mukuro stayed inside. Eventually, the boat finally took off, heading towards the location listed on the side of the crate... "Tenguu City."
Mukuro's eyes widened open, and she felt her body sweating heavily as she tried to catch her breath, she looked to see Mildred as the latter stared at her worriedly.
"Mukuro, are you alright?" Mildred asked.
"I... I saw... I saw..."
Mukuro struggled to say anything, and soon Mildred noticed tears stream out her eyes, making Mildred gasp as she saw her younger sister suddenly start crying, completely unaware of the catalyst.
Not knowing what else to do, she hugged Mukuro close, letting the tears flow out of the troubled Spirit's eyes.
'I was... abandoned, by the people I thought I could trust, by... by my own birth parents!' Mukuro mentally sobbed.
Shido sat on a chair, waiting worriedly for Mukuro to come back, there had only been on instance when any of the Spirits had gotten sick, and even then, it wasn't really a genuine illness due to the situation.
That wasn't the case this time, so he couldn't help but worry over it, even if it ended up being nothing.
"Do you think Mukuro will be alright, Shido?" Tohka asked.
"I hope so, she's already been through a lot, she could... easily be..." Shido answered.
Shido began to grunt, holding his head in pain, and shouting a bit as a migraine suddenly razed through it.
"Shido!?" Tohka exclaimed worriedly.
"What's wrong, Shido?" Rinne asked.
Kurumi felt his head, but didn't feel anything.
"He's not hot, Nia, what kind of issues can cause severe head pain?" She asked.
"Let me see..." Nia replied.
She summoned Raziel, and soon checked to see what the problem might be, as that was happening, Shido's eyes widened.
Various images suddenly flashed out.
First, the sight of various elements, like raging wildfires, massive tsunamis, violent tornadoes, and more all appeared, taking the form of camera images as they quickly shuffled by, yet there seemed to be no apparent connection between them.
Then, the sight of a figure glowing came into view, standing before what seemed to be an earthquake stretching for miles, and a dangerous storm over the horizon.
However, the true surprise among the images came when Shido saw one other than Seigo, his own father, looking terrified towards something, but he couldn't tell what he was seeing because the image showed him facing towards him.
Only one image remained after that, Westcott, back in the days before he gained his current appearance, suddenly having his eyes go blank as she showed a crazy, face... that wasn't enough to prepare him for what he saw next.
A raging black explosion incinerated everything he had just seen, and soon glowing red eyes slowly neared him before a mouth opened up, and deep, slow, yet terrifying sound was released from it!
Shido gasped before he fell forward, prompting Tohka to catch him.
"That was..." Shido gasped.
"Shido, what happened? Are you alright?" Tohka asked.
Shido breathed, some sweat trickling down his face before he turned to Tohka, and the others.
"I saw... I don't know what I saw, there were these images, it looked like disasters, and... and during them I saw dad." Shido explained.
"You saw Seigo!?" Rinne gasped.
Shido nodded, but soon gave a worried look.
"He was seeing something, but... I don't know what, but he was frightened, and then I saw Westcott, but that wasn't the worst of it." He continued.
Shido breathed.
"The last thing I saw? It was, unnatural, a black explosion of flames with glowing red eyes, a mouth with the same glow, and... whatever it was gave this terrifying scream." Shido revealed.
Everyone looked at one another, unsure what Shido had just witnessed, because it didn't ring a bell to any of them.
They didn't have long to ponder it though, as Mukuro and Mildred suddenly came back, and when she saw Tohka holding Shido... her mind only came to one conclusion.
"You said... that you would wait until I came back to resume the contest, and yet you made a move on my Shido while I wasn't here!" Mukuro growled.
"wait, Mukuro, this isn't what you-" Shido panicked.
Mukuro stomped the ground, causing everyone nearby to fall over, and leaving a crater under her foot.
"You... cheating... little... bitch!" Mukuro screamed.
Mukuro rushed forward, causing the both of them to crash through the window, and fall towards the ground.
"TOHKA! MUKURO!" Shido shrieked.
"No, don't do this..." Mildred whispered, her body shaking with fear.
Mildred tapped her headset.
"Reine, sound the alarm, I think they're about to fight!" Mildred stated.
Hearing Mildred's cue, the alarm was instantly sounded by Reine, and the citizens of Tenguu City immediately began evacuating.
For those in the tower, Rinne motioned her hands as everyone began to leave.
"Come on, go, get to shelter as fast as you can!" Rinne shouted, a strong warning in her voice.
Shido watched as Tohka and Mukuro soon broke off in midair, both materialized their Astral Dresses, and took flight before they summoned their Angels.
Tohka grit her teeth, shifting her head to face Mukuro, an angry look on your face.
"Are you crazy!?" Tohka shouted.
"Shido... I won't let you take Shido, and for attempting to do so..." Mukuro said quietly, trembling a bit.
Mukuro's eyes looked at Tohka with an extreme intensity she had never used before.
"I will make you pay!" Mukuro screamed.
Mukuro teleported in front of Tohka, surprising the Energy Spirit with her speed.
"Alhazma - Beam!"
Tohka was smashed by Mukuro's beam attack, pushing her back as her Reiryoku automatically formed a barrier to protect her.
"She needs our help, come on!" Origami shouted.
All of the Spirits jumped out of the window, doing the same as the two clashing Spirits had, before flying after them.
Mana looked at Shido, and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, we'll stop this big brother, now let's go!" Mana declared.
"...Right." Shido nodded.
Mana, followed by Shido, soon did the same and flew after the others, Shido transforming into Shiori as they did.
Mukuro turned as she saw the others near her, and soon scowled.
"I won't let any of you, get in my way!" Mukuro screamed angrily.
'I've gotta stop her now, here goes!' Nia thought.
Nia grabbed her pen and began writing: "seal Mukuro's movements" in her Angel's pages, but before she could write the Dimensional Spirit's name, she teleported in front of her.
'No, I won't make it!' Nia gasped.
Mukuro yelled as she slammed Michael's tip onto Nia, warping the point of contact as she was slingshot towards the building, Raziel shattering apart as she smashed into it.
Everyone saw the debris crash on Nia, and when the dust finally cleared, her upper half was barely out of the rubble, and her Astral Dress had been torn to shreds as she stared at Raziel's broken state.
"I'm... sorry everyone, this is... all I do." Nia apologized.
Nia cried a bit before she collapsed.
"Just... just one attack?" Kurumi gasped.
"Damn it, she knew Nia's abilities and realized her powers were a threat, don't drop your guard for a second!" Marina warned.
Everyone nodded, readying themselves as Mukuro zoomed at the rest of them.
Kurumi whistled, summoning her Nibellcole clones to bind her in place.
"Sorry, you aren't going anywhere?" Yuuki smirked.
"Alright girls, do it now!" Kurumi ordered.
The Arusu sisters fly to Mukuro's left and right sides, readying their angels.
"Opheniel!" Maria shouted.
[You got it, boss.] Opheniel replied.
"Sarufiel!" Marina shouted.
[On it, sir!] Sarufiel confirmed.
Maria shot the ground, causing a stalk of vines to grow from it and tangle Mukuro within them, the Nibellcole clones still holding on. Marina thrust her arm forward, unleashing a geyser of acid, infecting Mukuro with a debilitating venom.
"What did you... do to me?" Mukuro asked weakly.
"Everyone, attack her at once!" Mayuri shouted.
Mayuri motioned her hands, swirling a mass of liquefied metal into electrified steel spheres.
"Static Steel!"
Mayuri launched them forward.
"Megiddo!"
Kotori morphed Camael into its cannon form, and gathered flames inside it before firing.
Yoshino moved Zadkiel close, the Angel opening its maw, and then breathing out a fierce blizzard.
"El Kan'aph!"
The Yamai twins fired their combined arrow shot, while Kurumi flew behind it and fired as maybe shadow bullets as she could, the attacks all hit Mukuro, causing a cover of smoke to surround her.
"Next wave, don't even give her a moment!" Marina ordered.
Miku unleashed her sonic scream, and Origami motioned her pillars into position.
"Artelif - Crown Cannon!"
"Kaleidoscope - Metatron!"
Two sets of Metatron's Artelif formation fired off, Tohka shouted as she slashed an energy wave, with Rinne mimicking her and doing the same.
"Big sis, I'm ready!" Rio called out.
"OK, let's do it!" Mana replied.
Mana's hair turned red as she manifested Kotori's power, and unleashed a burst of flame at Rio, causing the latter to hold up Eden as she deflected the attack towards Mukuro. The second wave of attacks all exploded as they struck her.
However, a yellow flash soon pushed everyone back as Mukuro broke free, the Nibellcole all dissolving into shadows as they tumbled across the ground. As she watched from Shiori began to sweat as she saw Mukuro display her power again, while the others all were shocked she was still standing.
"No way, how can she still stand after all that!? Mana exclaimed.
"...Rataibu - Unlock!"
Motioning her Angel towards herself, Michael was created a small burst with a keyhole, and the venom in Mukuro's body was soon seen shot out as purple beads of liquid. With the poison now out of her system, Mukuro regained most of her lost vitality.
"You won't... stop... ME!" Mukuro shrieked.
Mukuro shouted as another burst sent everyone flying, using more of her power than previously, and soon spun around in the air.
"Jerez - Solution!"
A focused energy wave of yellow Reiryoku was fired out, hitting everyone as it melted through their Astral Dresses, and shattered their Angels. When it was over, Shiori watched in horror as all of the Spirits laid on the ground, vulnerable and too weak to restore their Angels.
Seeing her chance, Mukuro flew into the air, preparing another attack.
"Mukuro, no!" Shiori screamed.
"Now, it's time for-" Mukuro yelled.
Before either she or Shiori realized it, an energy wave flew at her, knocking her to the ground.
"What!?" Mukuro gasped.
Tohka soon dropped from the sky, landing on the ground as well.
"Mukuro, this fight's not over yet!" Tohka declared.
"How, how are you still standing!?" Mukuro demanded.
Tohka smirked.
"When you began spinning, something in me told me to get away, so I launched myself into the sky and avoided your attack." Tohka answered.
Mukuro gasped at her claim, and Tohka held Sandalphon towards her.
"I'm not the smartest girl there is, but I trust my instincts, and it paid off here!" Tohka shouted.
"Damn you!" Mukuro screamed.
Mukuro unleashed another beam at her, but this time, Tohka swung Sandalphon across the ground, splitting it in two before it pushed Mukuro back a bit. Once she shattered the energy wave, Mukuro stared at Tohka angrily.
"My god... with all the damage they're doing, I hope they don't breach the shelters." Shiori said to herself.
"I can't believe this, after all this time, to think that you'd push me to use 100% of my power, Michael!" Mukuro shouted angrily.
[Understood!]
Mukuro's eyes focused as the ground shook beneath her, and then broke apart as her Reiryoku's full aura was unleashed.
She rushed forward, knocking Tohka back as she smashed Michael's tip through her, the force sending Tohka ripping through dozens of buildings as she skids across the ground before she slammed down Sandalphon.
Once she regained her ground, she formed Sandalphon's throne and shattered it, manifesting her Angel's strongest form.
"Halvanhelev!"
Tohka yelled as she swung it down, the explosive force ramming into Mukuro, sending her flying as she screamed through the air, crashing into a building and causing it to fall backwards to Shiori's horror.
The Energy Spirit rushed ahead, flying towards Mukuro before ramming them through the building, growling at Tohka, she teleported below her.
"Alhazma - Beam!"
Tohka's eyes widened before she was blasted upwards, making the Dimension Spirit smirk before a bunch of stones suddenly rose around her.
Motioning her hands down, Tohka caused the stone slabs to shift, making the ground below Mukuro collapse before the slabs fell on her. She raised Halvanhelev high, and screamed before slamming it down, her Reiryoku exploding upon contact.
"Stop it Tohka, if you push things too far, she's going to die!" Shiori warned loudly.
"No, if I don't push it this far, she'll end up killing me." Tohka replied.
Shiori blinked in surprise, and Tohka soon felt a burst of Mukuro's power fling her rocky prison away, flinging Tohka across the air before she rushed at her.
'...Oh no, now I get it, Tohka's barely managing to face her.' Shiori gasped.
As Tohka smashed the ground with her foot, glowing purple cracks formed in the ground as stalagmites shot out to pierce Mukuro, but the Dimension Spirit simply smashed through them before firing a beam at Tohka.
'Even if she survived her earlier attack, Mukuro still managed to beat everyone else on her own, if only I could heal the others so they could help her!' Shiori mentally screamed, gritting her teeth in frustration.
Tohka unleashed an energy slash in response, and the two attacks collide as an explosion of yellow and purple Reiryoku burst out, flinging Shiori across the landscape a bit before she regained her footing. After the dust cleared, Tohka and Mukuro were both seen panting.
"To think that you'd be able to match me, even at my full strength... you're truly no normal opponent Tohka." Mukuro breathed.
'She's starting to struggle, I might be able to win this, I've just gotta hold on a little longer...' Tohka thought.
Mukuro gripped Michael tighter and soon shifted her grip on it, holding it like an axe, surprising Tohka a bit.
"However, I'm afraid that's exactly why you're going to die..." Mukuro stated, a dark glare in her eyes.
"...Shifuru - Release!"
Mukuro screamed as her body began to flare up, and her Astral Dress changed, becoming more like a warrior-princess version of its original appearance, but with a pink and black color scheme. Meanwhile, in her hands, Michael's key like form morphed into a halberd.
As Tohka and Shiori stared at this transformation, the other Spirits slowly came to, turning to see Mukuro's current form in shock, while Nia looked horrified as she recognized.
'No... this is bad, she's actually using it!' Nia thought, horrified at what might happen next.
"What?" Tohka breathed.
"This is Michael's true form, and my true power, be prepared Tohka... because in the brief time I use this ability, I've gone beyond 100%." Mukuro revealed.
Everyone, with the exception of Nia, had their eyes widen at this declaration.
As this thought processed through Tohka's mind, her confident face shattered entirely, one of fear and horror replacing it.
'...I never stood a chance against her!' Tohka thought, her entire body freezing up.
In an instant, Mukuro appeared in front of Tohka, and struck Michael's tip onto her stomach, launching her into the air before she could even react! Without wasting any time, Mukuro appeared before her, her Reiryoku flaring out of her body, burning Tohka from the close proximity.
"Jerez - Solution!"
Mukuro screamed as she blasted Tohka with her most dangerous attack, smashing her into the ground as her Astral Dress was as torn as the others' now. Mukuro hovered near her, Tohka weakly looking at her in fear.
Seeing her weak state, she aimed Michael at her, and charged a familiar beam.
"No, I beg you Mukuro, please don't kill her!" Shiori screamed in horror.
"...This is your end, now goodbye." Mukuro said coldly.
Mukuro's beam prepared to fire, with everyone unaware of someone running towards them.
"Alhazma - Beam."
"Mukuro, stop!"
At that moment, everyone looked in shock as Mildred rushed into view, and pushed Tohka out of the way... only for the beam to fire through part of her lower abdomen, leaving a hole through it.
Everyone looked in horror, their faces contorting to one of silent shock, but the strongest reaction came from Mukuro who had her eyes widen larger than ever before, a slight sound escaping her mouth before a sudden jolt shot through her mind.
-Flashback Start-
Mukuro slowly looked at Mildred, not saying a word.
"I'm here because my family wants to adopt a child, so... would you like to be my little sister?" Mildred asked.
Mukuro's eyes widened slightly, and Mildred kept smiling.
At that moment, Mukuro slowly reached out her hand to Mildred's, who took it in return.
"What's... your name?" Mukuro asked.
"My name is..." Mildred answered.
-End Flashback-
Mukuro continued staring as Mildred's body fell to the ground, the thud sounding louder than it should have been to her ears. At that moment, the jolt faded, and Mukuro's senses fully returned to her as she looked at Mildred's body.
No, at her sister's body, bleeding out a puddle of blood underneath her unmoving form.
- (*One Piece - Ace's Death*) -
"Mil...dred?" Mukuro breathed.
Mukuro dropped her Angel to the ground, kneeling closer to her sister's body, tears starting to well in her eyes.
"I remember now, everything I forgot, what I did back then... how you, mom, and dad got angry at me... yet despite that, you still cared enough to find me here and now?" Mukuro said shakily, barely holding herself together.
"So why, why did this happen?" She asked.
Mukuro's tears began to leak out, her face showing one of genuine sadness and pain.
"WHY DID I HAVE TO END UP KILLING YOU!?" Mukuro shrieked loudly.
Everyone began to tear up as well, crying over Mildred's sacrifice, while Rinne noticed something and held out her hand, attempting to do something without anyone noticing.
"Please, come back, don't do this to me! I never wanted this! I didn't, I'm sorry, I'll be good, I'll never do anything like this, just please come back... please! Just don't... don't die, and make me live guilt I killed you... for the rest of my life!" Mukuro begged, screaming at the top of her lungs.
...but it failed, no matter how much she screamed, no matter how much she begged, Mildred didn't move.
- (*insert song end*) -
Clawing at her face, Mukuro lowered her head, and then... she shot it back up, screaming at the top of her lungs her eyes slowly turning into two yellow pools of darkness, instantly making Shiori's eyes widen as she saw it.
The eyes signaling a Spirit's inversion.
'Oh no, she's inverting!' Shiori gasped.
Suddenly, Shiori felt a pain in her chest, and a cold dark feeling began to well in her body.
"W-what's happening to me!?" Shiori stuttered, fear overtaking her entire being.
It wasn't just Shiori either, Mana, and all of the other Spirits, even the non-Sephira Spirits, all gained the same feeling.
"This feeling, what is... oh no!" Rinne gasped.
- (*Date A Live - Hanten Tohka*) -
Once the other Spirits all felt the feeling overtake them, Rinne did as well, but rather than her own, it was a fusion of everyone else's.
Shiori and Mana both feel a dark cyan mist emit off them, darkening their hair and making their eyes glow brighter, but soon quickly regained their bearings as the feeling faded away.
"This feeling, it's... oh my god, no!" Shiori gasped, turning towards the others.
Back at the Ratatoskr base, the warning alarm literally echoed as it sounded itself multiple times, almost to show this was a threat among threats, leaving everyone in a rush as they tried to figure out what was happening.
"What's happening, I've never see the alarms act like this before!?" Reine demanded, a look of terror on her face.
"Commander Murasame, it looks like a category E, some of the Spirits must have undergone an Inversion!" Minowa replied.
Reine sweat a bit at that.
"Can anyone confirm anything, if there is more than one Inversion, someone figure out how many!" Reine shouted.
"I think I've got it, the readings state..." Sakura answered.
Sakura gasped, her body trembling at the number she saw as her hands hovered over the keyboard, Reine saw this and shook in fear.
"Sakura, please... tell me how many." Reine asked.
Sakura slowly turned, her eyes still embedded with a look of horror in them.
"The total number of Inversions is..." Sakura answered.
Sakura shook, and said the dread number.
"18!"
Everyone gave looks of shock and horror at that number, almost as if they had gone deaf at that moment.
"1-18, but then that would mean..." Kannazuki paled.
"You're right, if you count Mana and Shido since they're at least Half-Spirits..." Reine stated.
She looked towards the static on the monitor, only imagining what she should be seeing, and it wasn't pretty...
"...then 18 readings can only mean one thing, all of the Spirits have undergone an Inversion!" She exclaimed.
You heard that last part right, it wasn't just Mukuro who entered her Inverse Form, they all did! How did this happen? Well, remember when I said in the previous chapter's end notes that Mukuro's use of Segva had a side effect on the Spirits they weren't aware of? That's right, you're looking at it, but I should clarify what the exact effect was to avoid any misunderstandings with it.
What happened was quite similar to how when Shido seals a Spirit, there's a path indirectly linking them, but with Mukuro. Also, rather than her powers, they had a link to Mukuro's Sephira Crystal. Due to this link, when Mukuro began her Inversion, the taint of her Sephira Crystal caused the others' crystals to have their taints overtake them, while also infecting the non-Sephira Spirits who lacked it before now.
Also, time for the big surprise before I reveal the news about Season 4, this arc... is over! That's right, you heard me right, Mukuro's story still has one more arc, and I don't think I need to tell everyone what the focus is about. There's some shocking revelations that are about to happen, but this time, you won't get all of Season 3's mysteries until we get to the Mayuri Judgment movie arc!
Now, time for the news about Season 4, and that news is... *starts a drum roll* That it's the final season of this story! All good things have to come to an end eventually, and after long consideration, I've come to realize that there's no way for me progress this story beyond a fourth season without trying to stretch everything. So, there you have it, after the crossover chapter, the last season of this story will begin, so to everyone who sticks with this story until the end... thank you.
Before we close up though, I'm just gonna say I waited for Vol 17's illustrations before I submitted today's chapter, and... the mystery about Mio Takamiya and Shido's powers? HOLY FREAKING CRAP!
Until next time everyone, and stay awesome! ^^
-Inverse Mukuro, Code Name: [Supernova]-
Demon King: Belphegor - Michael's Demon King counterpart, and just like Michael's the most powerful Angel, Belphegor is the most powerful Demon King. Belphegor takes the form of a staff designed as a key like its counterpart, but much more demonic in design, and the same black it assumes when Mukuro uses Shifuru, only entire black and gray.
However, unlike Michael, its powers don't work in a divine manner, but a nightmarish one. Some of the ways it manipulates space when warping the fabric of space-time are fully unstable, and worst of all... Belphegor isn't limited by Mukuro's understanding, only being hampered by what she chooses to use and not use it on.
- Alternate Form: Cuihui, "Destroy" - The inverse counterpart of Segva. While it keeps its counterpart's ability to limit or disable whatever Mukuro chooses to target, it has an added ability it can use on anything that's non-living. The power to destroy, shatter, break or any similar form of action that can damage an object. Against living things, this ability can at best give a short minute of pains.
- Alternate Form: Huifu, "Restore" - The inverse counterpart of Rataibu. While it keeps its counterpart's ability to free or unseal something, regardless if it was locked by Segva/Cuihui or not, it can also recreate, repair, fortify or any similar form of action that can enhance or fix an object. Unfortunately, this power is limited to non-living things, and can't be used to restore the dead, or save someone who's dying.
- Alternate Form: Fahui, "Unleash" - The inverse counterpart of Shifuru. Like its counterpart, Fahui enhances Mukuro's strength beyond her limits, transforming Belphegor into its true form as a demonic halberd-like weapon, while changing her Inverse Astral Dress. However, it's considered a worse ability compared to its counterpart (a rarity for an Inverse Form ability), as it gives a greater boost at the cost harming the user, and it doesn't last as long.
- Alternate Form: Yanmo, "Annihilation" - The inverse counterpart of Jerez. Like its counterpart, it decomposes Dark Reiryoku and the bonds holding molecules together, allowing Belphegor to create a focused energy wave. However, unlike its counterpart, Yanmo doesn't work by trying to melt the target... but destroy it. Luckily, the cost for this more destructive force is that it can't destroy living things.
- Alternate Form: Jiguang, "Laser" - The inverse counterpart of Alhazma. Like its counterpart, it focuses Mukuro's powers and warps spatial energy around the tip of Belphegor's key, firing a beam of Dark Reiryoku. However, unlike its counterpart, it loses its piercing ability, instead replacing it with an anti-Maryoku and anti-Reiryoku (regardless of its form) effect, allowing it to destroy attacks and defenses that possess it.
- Alternate Form: Waqui, "Distort" - By releasing Belphegor into the air and letting it spin in place, Mukuro can essentially use psychic abilities, but mixed with her usual spatial manipulation powers. If truly pushed far enough, Mukuro can compress someone into a distortion prison, though if they're strong enough, they can easily escape.
- Powers: Compared to most Inverse Forms, Mukuro is a unique case, as while she does have some improved abilities, many of her other abilities lose their destructive power, and become more refined, with one actually gaining a negative drawback her normal form lacks. Despite this, Inverse Mukuro is still one of the most dangerous Inverse Forms with many powers that are perfect counters to other Spirits and Wizards. However, Rinne theorizes these wouldn't work on Light Reiryoku.
Risk Factors: SSS
Spacequake: AAA
Spirit's Astral Dress: AAA
Demon King Rank: SS
Strength: 250
Consistency: 217
Spiritual Power: 274
Agility: 200
Intelligence: 123
-Spirit Bond Levels & Passive Abilities-
Tohka - 100%, MAX (Form a mana barrier automatically)
Origami - 99% (Teleport Dodging)
Yoshino - 99% (Dampen enemy territories)
Kotori - 99% (Healing from fatal wounds minus losing his head, doesn't work on wounds caused by blunt force)
Kurumi - 99% (Hide in his shadow, and only his)
Rinne - (Summon a weakened copy of Uriel)
Natsumi - 99% (Transform into Shiori)
Kaguya - 99% (Flight)
Yuzuru - 99% (Weight Manipulation)
Miku - 99% (Pain Reliever)
Maria - (Restore dying/withered/dead vegetation and plant life)
Marina - (Remove toxins or other harmful substances, either from a living creature or an object)
Rio - (Create a soothing aura of Reiryoku to reduce a sealed Spirit's anger)
Mana - (Allow Mana to use Spirit Ascension at its weakest level without Angels)
Nia - 99% (Photographic Memory)