Enjoy!
"What a wimp," Kaina said as they walked away from Sidero. "I'm sorry you had to put up with him."
"Thanks," Beros said. "As annoying as you are, you're definitely better than him."
"Thanks," Kaina said. "By the way, what's with the yellow arm band?"
"It looks nice! Plus my teacher wore one," Beros said. "Why'd you grab a dress instead of a bodysuit like before?"
Kaina shrugged. "I like dresses."
Beros nodded.
They stopped near the first camera.
"Ready?" said Kaina.
"Ready," Beros said.
"Each one disabled with minimal injuries is four points, horribly maimed three, and killed one?"
"You're on."
They shook hands.
The two sprinted out, Beros firing her arrows down the canyon and knocking out several cameras. She then hopped on Kaina's back, who kicked off with Air Walk and used her gun to propel them.
"Can't we go faster?"
"It's hard with you on my back!"
They arrived at the door. Kaina applied the phony handprint, then raised her gun while Beros entered the code. The door opened, four guards pointed their submachine guns…until to find one Kaina's stronger guns pointed at their feet. "Knock knock."
BOOM!
Kaina's shot exploded at their feet, sending them flying. Beros and Kaina winced. "Twelve points?" Kaina said.
Four more came around the corner, Beros fired into their knees. "Sixteen." She gave Kaina a smug look.
Kaina growled. It. Was. On.
The two tore through the base, watching each other's backs and each other's scores. One group came at Kaina, so she fired a shot that went through several of them at once, all (probably) non-lethal. Most shooters wouldn't be able to do that, but Kaina was Kaina.
Several guards came down a hallway behind Kaina with submachine guns. Kaina whirled around, gun out, but Beros had already sent several arrows, knocking the guns from their hands. Kaina flew down the hall with Air Walk and kicked one guard in the face, kneed another, twisted another's arm until it dislocated, then punched another in the throat.
"Forty five!"
A cultist tried to hit Beros with a fire quirk, but Kaina pulled her out of the way and fired her gun through his knee. Unfortunately, the amount of blood that started spraying out showed she'd nicked the artery. Kaina flew down, picked up a gun to bash another cultist in the head, then quickly tie a tourniquet (she was trying to avoid killing people after all) while Beros brought down a few more. "Fifty," Kaina said to her sister. "And stop screaming!" she said to the idiot she was saving.
She non-lethally shot another cultist. "Fifty-three." Kaina then kicked another unconscious while Beros wove around her and kicked a cultist in the stomach before he could stab Kaina's back.
"Fifty-four!" Beros said.
Kaina grimaced. Her little sister was beating her. Barely but still.
A cultist turned into a mad dog and leaped at her, while another sent small exploding darts at the two. Beros fired her bow to force the dart shooter back while Kaina avoided the dog-cultist. Kaina kicked the mutt in the side while Beros tackled him to the ground. Meanwhile, the dart thrower had hidden behind a corner. One flashbang later, Kaina rounded the corner and beat the snot out of him.
The sisters reunited just as the wall exploded. Dust clouded Kaina's vision. A woman cultist ran out and grabbed Kaina by the back of the throat. Kaina popped out her gun, hitting the woman in the stomach with the barrel. The woman was thrown back, allowing Kaina to bean her in the head with a flashbang, then pull the pin and toss it toward the sounds of approaching cultists.
As Kaina fought through the cultists, who fortunately were as blind as her (but not trained to deal with it), she desperately searched for Beros. Finally, Kaina heard Beros's bow. Using her training in blind fighting (ironically thank you HPSC), Kaina dodged a slash of claws and fired her gun toward the nearest footfall. There was a pained grunt. Kaina picked up and slammed a large chunk of wall into its source.
A fist slammed into Kaina's chest, followed by a leg kicking her. Kaina rolled away, got her bearings, then grabbed the cultist's forearm. She heard footsteps behind her. Kaina got out her gun and prepared to kill this enemy to protect herself when a green streak went right through the air between them.
Beros lunged from the dust, tackling the cultist who'd been about to hit Kaina from behind. Kaina threw the cultist who'd punched her to the ground, then smashed his head against the floor. Afterwards, Kaina ran toward her sister.
Nearby, Kaina heard a male voice breathing heavily. She threw a piece of stone, hitting someone. The smoke thinned, letting her see the cultist holding his head.
A smoke screen.
Kaina picked up chunks of rubble, sprinted forward and quickly beat the cultist into the ground. Finally, the smoke faded, letting Kaina and Beros see each other. More importantly, they saw another cultist hanging back. He threw his hands out, as if to attack. Kaina tackled Beros and threw her body atop hers as the cultist blasted a hole through the next few walls.
Kaina and Beros both got to their feet and ran around him, trying to flank him. He fired a blast at Kaina, but she dodged with Air Walk and fired a bullet at him. He barely avoided it, but was unable to avoid the arrow to the knee. He tried to blast Beros, but she grabbed his arm and pointed it down and to the side. The ground exploded, throwing all three of them back.
Kaina groaned as she rolled to her feet. After a moment, she got her bearings and stood up. There was a large pit where the floor had been. The cultist who created the hole nearly fell in, but Beros dragged him back.
"Gee, thank-"
Beros' foot slammed into his stomach. Nearby, one cultists was about to pull one of Beros' arrows out of his body, but Beros stomped his hand. "Don't you idiot. You'll bleed out."
Kaina said. "Hundred and two."
Beros walked to Kaina. "One hundred and four."
Kaina growled.
They made their way into the halls. Kaina had to say, these people may be evil but they had nice test in décor. Gold and red velvet furniture, marble floors, pillars and covered in grand ornamentation and flourishes. She wished the HPSC had bothered to decorate their evil lair like this. Might have her visits better.
Nah.
The sisters walked into a large antechamber and found themselves facing two others. Twins.
"The Serpenters," said Beros contemptuously. "Mercenaries. Joined to survive. I was never fond of them. But now…"
"Lowest of the low." Kaina then addressed the Serpenters, "If you turn around and leave, we'll let you go. Either way, Humarise ends today."
"Oh he he he! Sssshe thinks she'll defeat Flect Turn?" said one.
"I think not! Sssshall we kill them?" said the other.
"Yesss!"
As one they pulled out two tubes.
"Trigger!" Kaina said as she and Beros both fired at once, shattering the syringes. Beros and Kaina then took out their knees. As the cultists fell to their knees, their bodies began to change. Their hair becoming spikey, their eyes became dark. They pulled out their other hands, revealing two now-empty Trigger tubes.
"Oh hell…" Kaina said.
"Language," said Beros.
"Are you s-"
"Take thisss!" The two's faces became sharper snakelike, their shoulders and upper arms sprouted multiple blades. Meanwhile, their forearms became snake-like tendrils. Multiple blades lined their forearms, turning them into bladed chains. The twins let out a hissing laugh at the sisters.
"Not good."
The Serpenters swung their blades at Kaina and Beros. Kaina barely ducked getting her head sliced off while Beros narrowly avoided being bisected. The two sisters hurried backward while the brothers swung wildly, their blades carving up the walls, pillars, and anything else unfortunate enough to be in their way.
One of the blades scraped across the side of Beros's forehead. Blood burst from the wound, while Beros fell out of sight. Kaina saw red. She turned to the one who did it and fired off a power shot. He easily leaned to the side, as intended. In that moment, she lunged at him and began senselessly punching him into the ground. "How. Dare. You. Hurt. My. Sister?!"
"H-hey!" he said, "It's just a sibling-"
Kaina punched him even harder for that. She was so focused on making him pay, she failed to notice the other one raising his blade until the last moment. Just as he was about to impale her, several arrows collided with the blades. Kaina leaped back. Beros landed next to her, her head bleeding, but overall intact. Relief flooded Kaina, until Beros said, "What are you doing?! Just shoot them!"
"Right," Kaina said, suddenly feeling very embarrassed.
Kaian shot off one of the blades while Beros' arrows fired all swarmed the others. The brothers blocked the arrows while swinging another blade at Kaina. She shot it off, then took to the air. Kaina bounced from wall to wall, shooting and avoiding at the same time, helped by her sister's arrows knocking the blades off course. Beros's work gave Kaina time to shoot off more of their blades, along with with one of the Serpenter's arms,.
Kaina aimed to take off another, but the other protected him. She aimed at him, but a blade shot from his mouth with the speed of a cobra. Kaina flailed as it seemed she was about to be impaled.
"Stay away from her!" Beros snarled as she fired two arrows at the Serpenter's tongue. The one attacking Kaina screeched in pain, allowing Beros to loose three more arrows to knock back the blades threatening Kaina.
The other one ignored his bother's pain and tried to impale Beros. Instead, Kaina's bullets took his limbs off. Nobody hurts Beros on her watch.
The remaining brother tried to recover. Beros threw herself sideways to avoid his attack. "Traitoroussss fool!" he screeched. "You would have survived the coming onslaught!"
"I never cared about that!" Beros said. "I only cared about saving the world! Which I'm doing now."
"Then you're as stupid as you are naïve."
Kaina fired a shot through his knee, removing it. The Serpenter screamed, while his brother said, "YOU'LL PAY YOU WRETCHES!"
He threw one final attack at Kaina. Meanwhile, Beros loosed a cluster of arrows. Panic flashed through the Serpentor's eyes as they nonlethally impaled him. He fell, his eyes falling on Kaina, "Dirty bit-"
Beros dealt him a final kick to the head. "Hundred and eight."
"Hundred and five," Kaina said, making sure the one who nearly bisected Beros was given a tourniquet so her score wouldn't fall to one hundred and three.
"We're nearly to the lab," said Beros. Kaina took a moment to see if she was alright. She had several minor cuts, but she was mostly unharmed. Biggest concern was the heaviness of her breath. She was tired. They both were.
Beros retrieved several arrows from th ebrothers. Then, the two continued down the hall. The pair waiting for them this time were two muscular men, white and red specifically.
"Rogone and Leviathan," Beros said.
Rogone immediately bulked up into a massive oni.
Kaina said, "Why do they call the other one-"
The tubes on Leviathan's back pumped liquid that Kaina was pretty sure was Trigger. He bulked up into a massive monstrosity, given that he bulked up to a massive white monstrosity with arms as thick as a car's engine. Leviathan laughed, revealing his blackened tongue.
"Run," said Beros.
"Agreed," said Kaina.
Kaina grabbed her sister and leaped back, using her gun to both rocket away and shoot behind her. They went through a door too small for the two cultists to follow. Moments later, the doors blasted off their hinges as the cultists thundered through like rampaging elephants, smashing anything (or anyone) unlucky enough to be in their path.
Beros tried to shoot them, but her arrows bounced off the Leviathan's skin. Kaina landed a few of her own, but those barely penetrated at all. She needed to use stronger shots, but that required retracting her gun. She didn't have time to do that right now!
They rounded another corner. The cultists barreled through wall instead, only to barrel right back in pursuit of the sisters. It gave them time, but they needed a good place to fight!
Finally, the two reached the large antechamber where they fought the Serpenters, Kaina let Beros off, then hopped onto the upper corner of the wall. The two cultists thundered into the room. Rogone lunged at Kaina. Kaina leaped away, only go find herself facing Leviathan. His fist barreled toward Kaina, too fast to dodge.
Just then, Beros's arrow struck his face, distracting him long enough for Kaina to swing her gun around and blast herself away. His fist still brushed her foot, briefly sending her into a spin.
Rogone lunged at Beros, who ducked aside and sent an arrow into the back of the knee. Rogone hissed but swung his fist at her again. Once more, Beros ducked. Meanwhile, Leviathan threw another punch at Kaina, who narrowly avoided it while his fist buried itself in the granite. Leviathan yanked it out and growled at Kaina, who'd perched herself on the ceiling.
Kaina retracted her rifle, then pulled it out again. Leviathan leaped upward at her, moving much faster than she'd prepared. Kaina barely avoided being squished. As she dodged, his arm shot out and grabbed her boot, then pulled her toward him with a snarl.
"Not so fast you-"
Kaina pulled the pin on a grenade and stuffed it in his mouth, kicking it in there for good measure. She backflipped onto the floor as an explosion erupted from Leviathan's mouth. She turned around to face Rogone, who was desperately flailing as Beros' arrows took their toll. Oh well, one point was still a-
Then she heard movement behind her.
"IIII…NOOOHHH, THUUUNNNN!" Leviathan screamed, his teeth now gone.
Kaina actually gasped. Seriously? That didn't kill him?!
As Leviathan raised his fist a final time, Kaina opened her elbow and strongest her biggest gun, practically a cannon. She fired a shot clean through Leviathan's leg, then his arm. Leviathan screamed in pain. The holes were big, but she missed the arteries.. He wouldn't die, but he wouldn't be moving either of those any time soon.
Kaina turned to Beros and Rogone. Beros evaded another sloppy blow, placing an arrow in his shoulder and knee. Rogone threw a final sluggish punch at he that she easily avoided. Beros picked up a chunk of floor to hit him, but Kaina was faster. She slammed her own chunk into his head, leading Rogone to stagger like a drunk then fall to the ground.
Leviathan had fallen unconscious too. Kaina checked his pulse for purely altruistic reasons.
"Hundred and twelve."
"Rogone was mine!"
"Then I got him. So, he's mine."
Beros growled, kicking over a vase like the sore loser she was.
The two then went forward, retracing their steps until they were just past where they met Rogone and Leviathan.
"Where are we anyway?" said Kaina, as they approached an elaborate set of golden doors.
"We're just outside the chamber where the Supreme Leader likes to address all of Humarise."
"So," Kaina said, still panting lightly. "That's where we'll fight him?"
"Yes," Beros said. "But there's a problem. Hitting him."
"Yeah. We need to trap him. Or…" She pulled out her gas grenades. "We use these."
Beros nodded. "Good idea."
Kaina handed Beros some grenades. The two took a deep breath and pushed the doors open.
Flect Turn stood in the middle of the room. "If it isn't the monster who's been taking out so many of my finest soldiers," he said glaring at Kaina. His gaze fell on Beros. "And you…foul traitor."
Beros flinched from his gaze. Her hand reached for her quiver, but Kaina saw a little tremble.
Kaina took a protective step in front of Beros. "Yeah, that's right. She saw you're just a bunch of deranged liars and losers, so she threw in with me. Besides, taking down an evil smurf is good family bonding."
Flect Turn growled. "Smurf?" while Beros made a sound suspiciously like one trying very hard not to laugh.
"Y-yes!" Beros said. "We shall make you the Supreme Leader of the cell block!"
Kaina sighed. "Close enough. Let's do this!"
"Very well," Flect Turn said. Then the lasers lining the ceiling took aim and fired.
The two sisters scrambled behind cover as the laser blasts landed around them. Kaina quickly shot out several of the lasers while Beros fired a swarm of arrows, taking out dozens near instantly (to Kaina's irritation).
However, the lasers kept firing. One grazed Kaina's side, creating a searing burn. Kaina hissed and ducked behind a statue as the lasers kept blasting. Then she noticed a group above her taking aim.
Kaina barely avoided being fried and raced up the wall using Air Walk. She kicked one laser, shot another, and all the while tried very hard not to get fried. At one point, Kaina fired a bullet at Flect Turn in desperation. It reflected back. Kaina threw her head sideways as the bullet flew by her.
Wait.
She aimed at his head again. The shot bounced off and hit the laser behind Kaina. Success.
Beros stayed behind cover while the guns focused on Nagant. She had to help her sister! She pulled out several arrows unleashed them, knocking out several guns. She sent out another, and another, slowly whittling the lasers down. However, some of her shots missed. Beros was getting worn down. But she couldn't fail. Not now.
Midoriya was depending on her. Her mother was depending on her. Nagant was depending on her.
One by one the cannons fell silent, mostly due to Beros, but with some from Lady Nagant picking them off, who either shot them directly or bounced bullets off a mildly irritated Flect Turn.
Finally, the guns were completely gone. A pity they weren't counting lasers. Beros still kept track of course. Just in case. As the last laser went silent, Beros glared at her former Supreme Leader. She pulled the pin on a gas grenade and threw. It bounced across the floor until it settled right at his feet. He looked at it with disinterest until it exploded, unleashing the gas.
Beros and Kaina both stopped and watched, wondering if it was over.
Flect Turn flew out and slammed his shoulder into Beros. The initial blow, augmented by his quirk, sent her skidding across the ground. He floated above her with a disdainful glare. "Pathetic whelp. And I once thought you had potential."
"You…" Beros's sides heaved from the blow. She glared venom at him. "You killed my mentor, for pointing out your people's misdeeds!"
"He was destabilizing us. For our organization to survive, we at the top know what is best. Lesser wretches like you must simply obey!" He kicked her, sending her rolling from the double impact. A bullet bounced off his head, nearly taking off Nagant's.
"I did obey!" she said. Tears began to fall. "Then you ordered me to let my mother die! A quirkless woman who was kind and loving, everything you swore to protect!"
"She was a useless weakling, unfit to serve under our guidance. Your mother may be blessed to be quirkless, but that doesn't mean she's meant for our new world. Especially since she produced a disgrace like you."
Another bullet, an armor piercing round by the looks of it, bounced off his head. Nagant glared at him with utter fury. "Don't you talk about them like that! Either of them!"
Flect Turn gave a disdainful snort, then, using his mirrors, shot forward and slammed into her. "Pathetic," he said, looming over her. "What did All for One promise you? Money? Power?"
"Family!" Nagant said. "But I mostly, came here for redemption!"
Flect Turn scoffed. "Redemption. You were a hired gun then and you're one now. Even if you spared my men, you're no Hero. You're still just a thug. You can never save anyone, body or soul."
"That's…not…true!" Beros said, rising to her feet. "She saved me!"
"And now you'll die," Flect Turn said. He flew at her again, but this time Beros dove to the side. As she landed outside the door they'd entered from, an idea occurred. Flect Turn glared at her, while Beros fired her bow, then ran.
Beros raced through the antechamber, down the hall, hoping to make it far enough. She didn't. Instead, Flect Turn slammed into her back. This time when she rolled to the ground, he planted his foot on her face. Beros felt herself being repeatedly slammed into the ground by the combination of his foot and his quirk reflecting her at the same time. The pain grew unbearable, Beros cried out.
"Get off of her!"
Another gas grenade went off. Nagant.
Flect Turn levitated above the gas while Beros crawled away, her mask filtering just enough to let her escape. She then felt two arms grabbing her and lifting her by the shoulder. "Come on sis, you're not beat yet."
"Focus on the enemy, not me!" Beros said.
Nagant looked up. She shoved Beros to the side, then threw herself back, narrowly avoiding a blow from Flect Turn. Nagant tumbled through the air before steadying herself on the wall.
Kaina steadied herself. Unfortunately, she had another problem. "You don't know what harm quirks bring, do you?" Flect Turn said. "My own kept anyone from touching me. I couldn't even be held by my own mother."
He likes his own voice as much as All for One. Wonderful.
"I didn't even remember when I had my mother!" Nagant said. "I forgot to the point that I spent days with her without realizing it! My quirk caused the HPSC to turn me into their personal weapon! And what about Beros? She didn't get to even see, let alone touch our mother since she was a little girl! Because of you and your stupid rules!"
"A necessary sacrifice to protect the Chosen Ones. She came to understand."
"Because you raised her on your bullshit! I don't know much about the Quirk Singularity-"
"We prefer Quirk Doomsday Theory."
"Whatever! But I know you nutjobs aren't the answer. You're just a bunch of crazies making the everyone miserable. Did you even try and learn to control your quirk?"
"Why attempt the impossible?"
Kaina growled, imagining the amount of misery Botan and Beros suffered from this dumbass. "You disappoint me," she said.
"She was one of us mere days ago," Flect Turn said, gesturing to Beros, who was still struggling to her feet.
"Yeah, but the difference is she genuinely thought it was right. She'd sacrifice everything for it, and she still cared about others. You? I'd bet the only misery that actually matters to you is yours."
He sighed, "Very well," he said like a disappointed parent. He lunged at her. She flipped over him, landing in front of a corner to find herself at…
The pit that other cultist made!
Turn threw a punch at Kaina. She moved in time, letting his fist hit the wall and leave a small crater. Kaina floated in the air and grabbed her hair, twisting a bullet off. She fired it, hitting his mirror. He came at her again, but she avoided, hitting another. She fired a third time. It missed.
"I'm not a fool Lady Nagant," he said. "I can see your plan. But-"
An arrow shattered another of his mirrors.
Flect Turn and Nagant turned around. Beros stood tall, her bow pointed at Flect Turn as her hand reached back for another arrow.
It found an empty quiver. Oh no.
Flect Turn was about to attack her, but Nagant aimed at his mirror. Seeing it, he moved his hand and backhanded the bullet, sending it into the shoulder of Nagant's gun arm. She grunted, clutching her arm as her gun retracted.
Not now! They were too close! Beros looked around and saw four arrows embedded in the wall, rubble, and two unconscious cultists. She grabbed them, held out her left pinky and thumb to form her bow, then fired. Flect Turn's eyes widened as the arrows struck his remaining mirrors, destroying three and leaving one heavily damaged.
Flect Turn wobbled over the pit, trying desperately to steady himself. Beros saw an arrow in the wall at the edge.
Beros sprinted forward, grabbing the last arrow as she lunged at her quarry. For the salvation of humanity.
With a loud cry, Beros plunged the arrow into the last mirror, shattering it. She collided with Flect Turn, his quirk sending her flying back to the pit's edge. She was about to slam into it when someone grabbed her back.
Beros looked up and saw Nagant smiling at her. "Nice one sis." This time, Beros smiled back.
Flect Turn yelled as he plunged to the bottom of the pit, landing with a loud thump. His quirk bounced him up, nearly allowing him to escape. Then it bounced him halfway up. Then a quarter of the way. Finally, he settled to the bottom.
Beros and Nagant both awkwardly fell in slow motion. Beros grabbed the edge of the wall and looked to her sister. Nagant looked utterly wiped out. She couldn't carry them both anymore.
"Could you um, kick off?" Nagant said.
Beros nodded and did as asked, getting them over the edge. Meanwhile Flect Turn screamed insults at him.
"Fools! Traitors! Enemies of humanity! You shall pay for this! You shall paaaay!"
"Wow, talk about a sore loser," Nagant said. "Looks like we won. And pretty much no fatalities. Even him."
Beros nodded. "Hundred and twelve. It's best not to kill if you don't have to."
She then picked up one of her discarded arrows and shot Flect Turn in the face. The arrow ricocheted and landed on the side.
Nagant gave her a look.
"What?" Beros said. "It won't hurt him. And it felt nice."
Nagant nodded, then said, "Let me check if my quirk is working."
She activated her gun and loaded it. BANG!
A bullet bounced off of Flect Turn's face.
"Still works."
Beros nodded. Then fired another shot. Followed by Nagant doing the same. Beros searched the compound and retrieved her arrows so she could keep shooting, even using Flect Turn's quirk to return arrows to her.
Just as they were about to stop, Flect Turn yelled, "Would you two quit doing that?!"
Naturally, they continued for another five minutes.
After successfully destroying up the unarmed Trigger bombs, Nagant and Beros returned to the entrance.
"I'm gonna need some good healers and a week of sleep!" Nagant said.
"Me too," Beros said. She then turned to look her sister in the eyes, "That was nice Nagant," she said.
"Naga-did I never tell you my name?!" Nagant said.
"No?" Was that why she signed that card with a K?
"It's Kaina. Kaina Tsutsumi."
"Kaina…" Nice name. Not surprising given their mother chose it.
"So what's your real name?" Nagan-Kaina said.
She blinked. "Beros?"
Kaina looked exasperated (like usual). "You used your real name?"
"What else would I use? I was a cultist, not a Villain."
Kaina sighed. "Fair enough. Your last name's Yamada by the way."
"Beros Yamada?" Beros said. "I like it."
They opened the door, and found themselves facing a sunset. "Beautiful," Beros said.
"It sure is," Kaina said, smiling. "I guess we're both free."
"I guess so."
"Let's go."
Using each other support, the two sisters walked off into the sunset.
And that was the climax, but not quite the end. I have one chapter left.
It was fun seeing them run the gauntlet. And get payback on Flect Turn! (Also, for the record Flect was Beros's win, so that puts her at one hundred and twelve, tying her with Kaina)
I forgot to share this sooner, but I feel that my idea for Beros can be summed up in this quote:
"The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist."
Because Beros was convinced of Humarise's truth, it meant she approached it as something to understand. This meant she had plenty of thoughts a blind follower shouldn't, leading her to finally break away. By contrast, Sidero and the Serpenters didn't care less, so they were more ideal followers.
How lovely then that it's Beros, the once true believer, who ultimately brings Turn down.
Hope you enjoyed! Reviews make me smile!