"So, you're the guy that ended the Fossilizers, hm?"
Maintaining his usual deadpan as he heard the Demon before him speak, Mikazuki raised his head up to look at him as he watched him crouch down to look him in the optics. It had been about a day since he had fought those dinosaur Demons, and by all means, people, or rather Demons, seemed to recognise him for his feat, now that he had done something admittedly impressive.
This in itself was hopelessly annoying to Mikazuki, who had wished to be left alone whilst he explored his new eternal home and look for any potential comrades, but alas, such was not to be, and now, as he remained seated in an alleyway with his head formerly bowed, recharging from a day's worth of exploration around Pentagram City, Mika had found himself rudely awakened by a Demon that had found him by chance.
Said Demon was an Imp of sorts, one with the atypical red, black and white colouration that they all seemed to have, and as it… as she knelt in front of the former pilot, she grinned at him, seeming somewhat impressed all the while.
She got no response from him, something that annoyed the Imp, to say the least, though it didn't really matter, as the question was a rhetorical one to begin with. She already knew the answer to it, and with a grin, she looked the former pilot's mechanical body up from head to toe before she chuckled faintly.
"Can kinda see how you were able to beat em, honestly; you're one helluva Demon, regardless of just how wet you are behind the ears. A fully mechanical bod, eh? You rarely see shit like that these days!" cackled the Imp, with her bringing a hand forwards to caress Mikazuki's chassis, only to be stopped when he reached forwards and seized her wrist, surprising her with his speed, though she seemed to get what he was getting at before retracting her hand. "Alright, cool, you ain't cool with touching. Fair nuff."
"What do you want," grumbled Mikazuki, with him wanting this Demon to be gone as soon as humanly possible as he glared at her. His blue optics narrowed as he hoped to be given some time alone to think once more, though alas, it was not to be as, moments later, the Imp cackled before responding.
"Well, what I want is to have a look at the one that buried the Fossilizers up close and personal… and to perhaps enlist some of his aid," grinned the Imp, with her words eliciting a curious raise of Mikazuki's fake brow as he listened. Noticing his interest, the Imp continued. "You see, I've got a job that I need someone to pull off for me, but all the high quality hitmen are out of my league when it comes to hiring, so…"
"You want me to kill someone for you," concluded Mikazuki flatly, to which the Imp grinned maliciously.
"Bingo. Here's the deal; you kill this fuckface for me," began the Imp, with her showing Mikazuki a picture of another Imp as she spoke. The former pilot's optics emitted a laser that scanned the image, saving it in his memory banks thereafter, when she had done so. "And I'll pay you… let's say four hundred? How's that sound."
"Awful. You'll need to raise your price," responded Mikazuki almost immediately. If being alive had taught him anything, it was that the price of murder was much higher than four hundred. She'd need to raise the price up a little more to make it worth it.
"Youch. How's six hundred sound?"
"Still bad."
"Seven?"
"Higher."
"Seven fiddy?"
"Better, but still too low."
"Nine hundred?"
"A little better."
"A grand?"
"What's a grand?"
"A thousand!"
"That's the bare minimum."
"Geh… a thousand one hundred!"
"A thousand five."
"Kh, fine!"
"Good. We have a deal."
Said details were sparse (apparently, the Imp had been cheated on by her spouse and really wanted him dead or something. Mikazuki wasn't sure, not that he really cared, honestly), but even so, he knew enough to know how to deal with his target, and with a soft sigh, he marched up to the hotel that he was allegedly staying in for the night and did his thing.
The staff didn't even care that he had barged past their low end counter and marched up the stairs; they had only hoped that whatever business he had here, he'd deal with it quietly so as to not disturb the other guests. That in itself proved to be an impossibility, though, seeing as how, despite being known for many things, subtlety was never in Mikazuki's resume, something that was made abundantly apparent when he got to the door for his target's room.
Grabbing at the doorknob, Mikazuki tried it out to see if it could just open, and when it didn't, the former pilot pulled on it… only to rip the entire door straight off its hinges, surprising even himself as he peered in.
The deadpanned look on Mikazuki's face somehow grew even more so when he saw his target sucking faces with another Imp, and likewise, they seemed to be taken aback by his presence. Still though, one of the Imps, the one that wasn't his target, broke off the kiss and turned to face Mika, who just stared back, unamused.
"Er, hun, is this like, someone you hired as the third wheel or-" began the non-target Imp, and when the other got ready to respond… Mikazuki threw the door at him.
Lobbing it towards his target, the edge of the door promptly slammed into his skull, caving it in and sending him flying backwards. Gore and brain matter splattered the ground as Mikazuki's target twitched momentarily before going limp, and after doing so, and after his apparent girlfriend shrieked out in horror, Mika sighed and took a photo of it with his client's Hellphone.
And thereafter, he left. No point in stretching out a job, he reckoned.
"What the fu- it's only been two hours!"
"Yeah, and?"
"I… I-I thought you'd take your time with it!"
"Well I didn't. No point in stretching out a job."
"Huh, I getcha. A one and done sorta guy, huh? I can dig that in a Demon, specially' a Sinner~"
The Imp's words had been suggestive enough, so much so that even a dunce like Mikazuki could pick up on it, though whatever the case, the former Pilot stopped her from leaning in too close as he held a hand up to put some distance between the two of them, flashing the sharpened tips of his fingers as a warning all the while, prompting the Imp to pout as she shifted away from him.
"Don't push your luck. Now, my payment?" stated Mikazuki, to which the Imp grinned.
"Normally I'd wire the money to ya, but seeing as how you're still green behind the ears, here's it all in cash. Go make an account or something; you'll need it," grinned the Imp, with her slapping several wads of green onto Mikazuki's mechanical hand as she spoke. The former Pilot counted his earnings before the Imp left, shaking her modest bust at him and curling her tail up into a heart all the while. "Pleasure doin' business with ya, kid~"
"Hm," grunted Mikazuki absentmindedly, with him holding onto his earnings with a sigh all the while. So this was his new life now, huh? Well, he'd probably have to get used to it; making a legitimate earning down here without committing to bloodshed seemed to be an impossibility, after all…
Opening up an account in Hell was an odd process… not that anyone could blame Mikazuki, anyways. He didn't even own one when he was alive, as all of his savings were shared with Orga!
Whatever the case, he had ultimately marched up into a bank (somewhat low end, shoddy looking but still acceptable in his eyes) and asked to make an account. The Demon that he spoke to, some sort of slime with no solid body, gurgled a little, before making him one, and before long, he had a rusty white card with his name stamped onto it alongside a poorly drawn mugshot.
The quality could probably be better, but whatever the case, as he handed off his new earnings to be transferred in, he spoke to the slime counter to pass the time.
"So I just need to show them the number whenever I get a job from someone?"
"Yeah. the money oughta be transferred in soon. You can check if it has been via our app on the Hellphone."
"Where can I get a Hellphone?"
"You don't- wait no, you're a new guy. That makes enough sense… er… you can get one down the street, I guess? It'll take a chunk out of your savings, but it's usually worth it."
"Ah. Thanks."
"I, uh… you're welcome?"
And with that, Mikazuki left after his savings were properly transferred into his new account.
The Hellphone was important, but truth be told… clothes were important as well.
He just felt naked, really, and with some hope of him finding a good place to get himself dressed, Mikazuki scoured the general area, hoping to find a place to get himself clothed all the while.
Ultimately, he found a low end clothes store, one that didn't have much to it, but it was still good enough that the former Pilot was willing to try it out. Entering, Mikazuki saw a sort of silkworm Demon behind the counter, one that perked up upon seeing the young Sinner enter.
There wasn't much in terms of conversation from then on, with Mikazuki browsing the contents of the store before settling on a few outfits that visually matched his old Tekkadan attire. A sleeveless blue undershirt, baggy grey pants with padding on the knees and a baggy green jacket; all of them were familiar to him, albeit in a foreign sort of way. The material rubbed against his new body, giving him the sensation of actually wearing it despite his body being made of metal, which was nice.
The total cost of all this wasn't all that much; the attire was low quality, after all, but all the same, Mikazuki paid for it upfront, and as soon as he had left the building, he pulled on his new jacket's sides before moving to wherever his next point of interest was.
Staying by the darkened corner of an alleyway, Mikazuki dimmed the lights in his optics as he watched this business exchange go down.
It was another job of his, a simple bodyguard role that he had to fulfill for a thug that was exchanging for some goods, weapons, apparently? Mikazuki was getting paid less than usual for this one, but even so, it was a simple job, so he reckoned that it was understandable.
Of course, he would've been a fool to have assumed that things would go smoothly; the Demon that his hirer was meeting up with, someone working for someone that went by Mimzy, had brought some muscle with them in order to attempt to convince the buyer into paying extra for whatever weapon they had.
Of course, Mikazuki was being paid to protect the guy, so he had intervened with extreme prejudice.
It had taken less than a minute before all three Demons that had fucked up the deal were nothing more than corpses, and as he wiped the blood off his attire, Mikazuki had kicked open the case that they had brought with them and saw its contents; it was nothing more than a handgun, albeit a powerful looking one, and with a hum, Mika picked it up and observed it.
It was larger than the one he used to own; his was a regular handgun, this was more akin to a Magnum, though in his mechanical grip, it was no heavier than a feather. Pulling back on its slide; when it sprung back forwards, a strong pulse of power could be felt by the former pilot, and he quite liked that…
"Keep your payment. I'm taking this gun instead," stated Mikazuki, with him holstering the weapon in one of his jacket's many compartments as he spoke. He didn't wait for a response; he already had his 'payment', so there was nothing more to be spoken of to the Demon that had hired him regardless.
Though in his ignorance, the former pilot did fail to realize that he had, admittedly unintentionally, killed his employer after dropping a roof atop him.
Ah well. Such was life in Hell.
The pistol, Mikazuki would soon realize, was a top of the line armament produced by Mimzy's Racks and Gats, one of the top weapon dealers in Hell, second, or perhaps third only to Carmine Enterprizes.
Mika himself cared little for the brand, but he'd be damned twice over if he didn't admit to the outstanding craftsmanship behind the armament. The gun in itself had little to no recoil behind it when fired (possibly because of Mikazuki's mechanical body absorbing all of it to the point of there being none), and it seemed to never need to reload.
He himself had no idea how this worked, though it didn't really matter now, really, as he sighed from behind his cover… and moments later, he peered out and aimed his magnum with minimal issue.
Firing two shots in rapid succession, Mikazuki took down two imps before leaping away from cover to avoid a rocket fired at him, and as he dodged, he narrowed his eyes before firing at a spot above him; said shot struck an overhead pipe that began to spurt out oil before the bullet ricocheted down towards another Imp, putting a hole through its head all the while.
"Shit! He's got another one of us!" proclaimed one of the Imps that were attempting to kill Mikazuki; currently, he was in a shootout against just about twelve Imps, or more accurately he was in a shootout against five, as seven of them were already swiss cheesed by now. This whole situation started after he had been lured here by one of them claiming to have a job for him, though he was quick to realize it was a trap and retaliated.
Not that it was difficult to see that it was a trap, of course… the Imps that were trying to ambush him weren't the sharpest tools in the shed, and in truth, Mikazuki reckoned that at least three of them had been killed via friendly fire beforehand, which was quite amusing, all things considered.
Either way, the building would eventually be set on fire thanks to the oil leak that Mikazuki had unintentionally caused, and it seemed as though he himself would be the only one to survive the subsequent inferno.
His clothes, unfortunately, were not as fortunate, but hey, at least he survived.
God bless metal skin.
"You… want me to have sex with you?"
"Yep! Two hundred bucks for some succubus puss! How's that sound?"
"No."
And after turning his back on the succubus, regardless of her protests or her offers to raise the price, Mikazuki went back to roaming the streets of Pentagram City. Call him a traditionalist or whatnot, but even in death, he would remain forever loyal to Atra and Kudelia, and regardless of the price offered to him, Mika refused to take it in exchange for disloyalty.
Someone was watching him, and he didn't like it.
Raising a brow, Mikazuki paused in his walking and glanced up at the closest vantage point to him. Narrowing his eyes, the former pilot could barely make out the outline of a cloaked individual standing a good ways from him, observing him from afar, and with a frown, he reached into his jacket and pulled out his recently acquired pistol.
He could see the figure tense slightly when it saw him aiming the weapon at them, and, admittedly to his amusement, they had flinched when Mikazuki had mimed shooting at them; it was a clear message to his stalker that he was well aware of their presence and wanted them gone, and although they were reluctant, they seemed to take the hint and move to retreat, much to Mikazuki's delight, and thereafter, he went back to wandering the streets of Hell.
As he did so, the cloaked figure uncloaked themselves and pulled out their Hellphone, frowning deeply as they rang up their superior with an uncertain look in their gaze, and as soon as they got through, they spoke to the one on the other side of the line with concern.
"Er… Ode- oh, right, sorry boss… uh… boss-lady… the uh, that Sinner you were interested in… is a lot more perceptive than we realized…"
About four months have passed since he first arrived in Hell, and by all accounts, very little had changed. Life was just as terrible as it was back in the real world, but hey, nothing was particularly boring.
His name wasn't particularly well known, but even so, Mikazuki wasn't a nobody either. In a decently short amount of time, the former pilot had tore his way into subpar notoriety with reckless abandon, a side effect of him taking as many jobs as he did within such a short span of time; some were comparing him to a Radio Demon of sorts with just how powerful he was for a newly arrived Sinner, but alas, Mika didn't really give a damn. As long as he got by, he'd do what he needed to.
Of course, with notoriety came adversity; more Demons came after him, and all of them would fail to properly dispose of him a second time, though all the same, with adversity… came opportunity, and in such a short amount of time, Mikazuki was already working his way up to getting more and more contracts from those that desired his aid. Mid-ranking Demons and even some decently powerful Sinners had come to him for aid, and with their mutual exchange, Mika's afterlife bank account found itself swelling with dough.
(Not that it was a difficult thing to do, of course. Mikazuki required little to live; his body was mechanical and was apparently self-sustaining, eliminating the need to buy food, and the only thing he needed to change on the daily were his clothes…)
With that being said, though, Mikazuki was still careful with the jobs he took for others. With this being Hell and all, the former pilot knew that it was only inevitable that he'd be taken advantage of in some way, and as such, he played things smart. He took jobs that didn't seem too good to be true, and he made sure to always play it safe.
He was alone, after all… and he had no one to fall back on but himself.
Which is why, at the moment, Mikazuki found himself feeling exceptionally stupid as he stared up at the abandoned warehouse that had been marked as the meeting point for himself and one of his clients. Mika in particular wasn't sure why they had chosen this to be their meeting point, but his client had promised him a decent sum of money should he show up and just… speak to them alone.
That was manageable, he reckoned; Mikazuki couldn't exactly bring anyone else with him, after all, and considering how simple this job was, he supposed that he could take a mild risk and just… humour this client of his, and as such, he stepped into the abandoned warehouse with his hands shoved into his jacket pockets.
And upon entering, the Sinner's eyes were quick to widen when a mechanical tendril abruptly snapped out from the innermost portion of the warehouse and ensnared his arm. Reacting quickly, the former pilot was able to pull away before it could grab him, though moments later, several more emerged and ensnared every part of his body; it took him no less than five seconds before he found himself in a compromising situation, with the mechanical tendrils restraining him as the warehouse lit itself up.
Several television screens illuminated the general area, with the largest of them all flickering on to reveal… well… a Demon with a TV for a head. Mikazuki found it mildly amusing, how a TV head Demon was transmitting his image through a TV, though he said nothing about it as he watched the guy cackle.
"HAH! And they said you were smart! You're quite the invalid, ain't cha?! You fell for the whole chat thing, hook line and sinker!" cackled the TV headed Demon, with him observing Mikazuki, seemingly waiting for a reaction, as he spoke. He… didn't get much of one, really, as the former pilot just stared at him, unamused, and thereafter, his demeanor faltered a tad. "What? Seriously? You just gonna stare at me? Where's the dramatic gasp?! The demands to know how I oh-so-cleverly outsmarted you?! The rage that a lesser Demon like yourself would-"
"Just get to the point," grumbled Mikazuki, annoyed as a vein somehow appeared on his forehead. How it showed up atop his fake skin was a mystery, to say the least, though no one questioned it as the TV Headed Demon flinched a little at his bluntness, giving the former pilot enough time to continue. "You called me here for a chat, so stop wasting my time."
"... well, I guess you've got a point. Eh, fuck it. Alright, kid, here's the deal; the name's Vox. You probably heard of me, yeah?" introduced the Demon, Vox, as he checked his nails. Mikazuki didn't humour him with a response, something that the TV Demon took as a net positive. "Oh, who am I kidding?! Of course you have! Who hasn't! All Demons in the Pride Ring know of me! Especially those with technological bods like you!"
Well… that wasn't a complete lie. Mikazuki has heard the name Vox jump around on occasion, but even so, he rarely paid attention to it. When it came to stuff like TV or useless upgrades to a machine Demon's body, upgrades that would probably be useless for Mika in the long run, the former pilot would almost never consider them.
The Gundam Frame his body was based on was already strong enough as is; pointless upgrades like some sorta big dick attachment were nothing more than pointless options that he didn't care to consider whatsoever.
"I've heard of you, I guess. You sell useless body mods?" asked Mikazuki as he tilted his head concomitantly, and upon hearing his disinterested tone, Vox's head screen short circuited as he stomped a foot in anger, cracking the ground in the process.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! YOU'RE A FUCKING MACHINE AND YOU HAVEN'T EVEN HEARD OF VOX ENTERPRISES?!" protested Vox, with him being so angry in the moment that he didn't even process the fact that, despite being bound by his mechanical tendrils, Mikazuki was still able to pull his arms closer to him and shrug nonchalantly. If anything, the gesture only infuriated Vox further, as his face glitched further and further. "SERIOUSLY?! YOU DON'T KNOW THE HEAD HONCHO OF VOXTEK?! THE ELECTRONIC OVERLORD?! THE STRONGEST OF THE VEES?!"
"... no not really," stated Mikazuki bluntly, completely unphased by how electric and demonic static was coming off the Overlord before him. His rage was increasing tenfold by the second, but even so, it didn't exactly frighten Mika one bit; the guy certainly seemed powerful, as his little temper tantrum was causing quite a bit of damage to the surroundings, but outside of some mild glitching of Mika's optical sensors, he didn't feel anything all that threatening regarding this so called Electronic Overlord at all.
"GRAAAAAAA-"
Whatever the case, Vox began to grow increasingly more frustrated over the former pilot's ignorance of who he was, though before long, he stomped out of the warehouse for about… say, five minutes, before stomping back in, seeming more composed all the while. The decently quick shift in attitude was very much amusing to Mika, though he said nothing as he watched the Overlord clear his throat and speak once more.
"My apologies for that unsightly display. I just find it… shocking that a Demon like yourself didn't know about the prime distributor of mechanical upgrades," mused Vox, with his voice carrying a more professional tone when he spoke. He made sure to put some emphasis on the upgrade portion, as though that would somehow get the restrained pilot on board; as things were now, it only served to make him hold back an eye roll as he listened.
"I don't need upgrades; my body's fine," deflected Mikazuki, eliciting a twitch of Vox's digital eye.
"I for one doubt that; upgrades are what you need to stay relevant, kiddo. How do you think I became an Overlord in the first place, hm?" smiled Vox, with him adjusting his bowtie as he thought that so casually outing himself as an Overlord could've gotten Mika to perhaps show some form of respect to him; truth be told, it only served to underwhelm him further as his eyes became metaphorical dots as he continued to stare at him with disinterest.
"Luck?"
"Wh- NO! I had upgrades, you fucking imbecile! When I got here I was just some low tech flunky! But look at me now!" growled Vox, with him posing dramatically as neon sign boards sprouted from his back, all of which held massive arrows that pointed down to him with the words AWESOME and THE COOLEST illuminating their surfaces.
Any other Demon would've probably been impressed. Mikazuki was just annoyed.
"One of the head Overlords of Pentagram City, the Leader of the Vees, and the master of all things digital!" laughed Vox proudly, with him very much expecting Mikazuki to finally look at him in awe… only to be met by a deadpanned stare once more.
"Okay. If you're done showing off, can I leave now? I have other things that I should be-"
"Alright that's enough out of you."
In a near instant, mechanical tendrils lashed out, wrapping themselves around Mikazuki's mechanical mouth and his throat, the latter of which strangling it just tight enough that his voicebox found itself constricted, rendering him mute. Narrowing his eyes at this, Mika glared at Vox in growing anger as the Electronic Overlord smiled in glee at how he was finally taking him seriously, and thereafter, he continued.
"Finally, you recognize who's in power! Good! Because I've grown sick of trying to make you realize how out of your league you truly are, so… let's get down to it then, kid," began Vox, with his smile finally relenting as his expression turned into one of genuine annoyance. The shift was abrupt, though Mikazuki thought little of it as he glared at the speaker before him. "Your body… it's… unique."
A holographic diagram was quick to manifest by Vox's side, allowing him to gesture towards it with a scowl. A near perfect schematic of Mikazuki's body was shown to him… well, a near perfect surface level overview, anyways, and after giving him a good few moments to look at it, Vox continued speaking.
"It's similar to those things… Gundams, were they? Those fancy tools that were used 300 years ago… I've always wanted to have a look at one of those and reproduce them, but y'know… we're in Hell, and we can't exactly get up to the mortal world to steal a Gundam for ourselves," hummed Vox, with him crossing his arms as he said this, only to dart forwards and abruptly put himself mere inches away from Mikazuki's face moments later. His digital eyes bored into Mika's blue optics, with neither relenting in their glares as the former continued speaking. "And then… you show up.
"The Sinner with a body that's a near perfect copy of a Gundam Frame. With your schematics, I would mass produce an entire army of Gundams… and, well, the rest doesn't need to be said; you see how lucrative this market could possibly be, yeah, kid? Your body… well, it's got more worth to it than what Valentino's considered, but that aside… there's just one problem…"
A pause, with Vox grabbing ahold of Mikazuki's upper face with his clawed hand. Thereafter, a light blue electric was admitted from his arm, passing down to Mika's body moments later. The electric ran along his body for a brief moment before it was promptly dispelled, though in that instance, the former pilot felt something attempt to take hold of his very being.
Clawed hands, all scratching at the shields that were protecting his soul… all attempting to reach it. Alas, his will proved to be stronger than his assailant's, and thusly, they were repelled.
On the offset, Vox recoiled his hand back as though he were burnt, and thereafter, he waved it like he was putting out a flame. Putting two and two together, the former pilot realized what had just happened, and it made him scowl beneath the metal tendrils. Oh yeah… he really wanted him dead now… and he'd only just met him formally!
"As you can see… I can't exactly… get the schematics the way I always do. Something about you makes it difficult to do so. I could get it out of you eventually," Mikazuki could honestly tell that he was lying about that, but each to their own, he reckoned… "... but that would be a waste of time. So… why don't we make this beneficial for us both, shall we?"
Another pause, with Vox grinning as he dramatically bent down towards Mikazuki's restrained form and unfurled the fingers of one of his hands. As he did so, blue lightning coalesced around it, forming a small orb of electronic power atop his palm as he worked his magic. Mika, although having never seen this in action prior, was aware of what this was; a soul contract… and seemingly sensing the curiosity (mistaken for interest on Vox's part of things) in the boy's optics, Vox's grin widened into a sneer before he continued.
"Let's form a contract. We Overlords deal in souls… so if you give me yours, I'll let you become a personal bodyguard of mine. You'll be paid a good wage, work under a top dog Overlord and… uh… I'unno, you'll be able to afford rent? You really need to stop living in trash bins, kid. Seriously," grumbled Vox, eliciting an inaudible huff from Mikazuki near the end; what was wrong with dumpster sleeping?! It helped him save money… even if he already had a lot of it… "The catch is that I'll own your soul… and I get full access to your body's schematics. How's that sound? A good deal, no?"
And as he said this, Vox allowed a tendril to release one of Mikazuki's arms, which would allow him to shake his hand. He seemed very confident in Mika accepting his deal, so much so that his guard was completely down momentarily. He had all the cards in his hands, and he didn't have to concern himself over the guy attacking or fleeing; he was trapped, and if he didn't wish to be eviscerated and brought into Valentino's personal dungeon in the Vee's HQ… he'd accept his deal.
Ah, good, he was bringing his hand up to shake his! Good! VoxTek would have those Gundams mass produced in no time! Ah, Vox couldn't wait to strap Mikazuki down onto a dissection table and carve him open whilst violating every last circuit in his mechanical body… all he needed to do was forfeit his soul to him and-
WHAM!
In an instant, Vox was brought out of his delusions when, without warning, Mikazuki, rather than shake his hand, grabbed ahold of his wrist, seizing it in a crushing grip, before pulling him in for a powerful headbutt. On impact, Vox's face shattered, with it turning into static as he momentarily lost control of… everything. Staggering backwards, the tendrils under his command briefly went slack, allowing Mika to pry himself free of them before he lunged forwards at the Electronic Overlord.
"G̸̞͈̫͔̤̤̫̃̽̉̍̈́̆̈̆̅̎Ą̴̘̗̬͚͓͔̤̫̠̞͖̐̅̎͂͂̋̂̎̉͘H̸̢̗̟̤͍̺̣͓̺̩̠̦̙̍̄̈́̅͝!̴̠͙̎̊͜ ̸̨̜͎͔̙̌̑̈́͗̾͋̈́̈̄̀̌̈́̓̅͠Y̴̧̺̥̥̪̠̬̙̻̩̦̼͂̉ͅǪ̸͉̘͇͉͚͂̔̃͋̀͌̔̾̚Ù̸̢̨͙̳͔̓̐ ̷̞̥̝̹̰̫̜̪͇̜̄͗͐͘̚̕͝ͅF̸̡̢̦͙͍̟͇̘̣͇̥̥̌̎̒͘Ṳ̸̺̹̦̗̺̙̟̹̱̦͑̈́͜C̴̨̩̳̩̭͚̹͔͂̓͒̀̚Ḵ̷̨̨̯̜̳̩̲̥̹̉́͌̾̑͑͋̈́̔͗̀̄͝I̴̡̳̖̗͕̩̱͖̊͒́̓͑̀Ṉ̶̨̲̦͈̻̫͉̻̺̜̫̦̜͆̀̍̀̓G̵̘̰̯̎̽̉̂ ̷̛̰̬̳̼̭̌͒͛͂̓͆͒̆̌̃Ḏ̸̛͖̭͕͍͒̿͗̍̅́͂̐́͘͘̚͝I̷̡̭̘̳͔̚C̴̺̐̽͂̏̋͋̀̍͒K̴̦̂͌͒B̵̨̥̥̟͔̿̄̓́-̶̢̛̣̰͉͖͍̖̯͈͐̀͒̇̈̒̔̈́͂̕̚"
Vox wasn't able to finish that statement, really, as Mikazuki was quick to close the distance between himself and the Overlord. His flatscreen face was able to halt its glitching for long enough to display to the pilot a look of complete and utter shock, and thereafter, it blacked out completely when Mika leapt at him and gave him a powerful haymaker to his screen. On impact, the Electronic Overlord was sent flying into the far wall of the warehouse, with his TV screen completely out by now.
Still though, he was still conscious, albeit blinded, as he fumbled around like a mouse in the darkness, though after some time, he was able to regain his bearings, to a certain degree, before he clenched one of his hands into a fist before pointing in Mikazuki's general direction. No words were uttered, though moments later, several red optics lit up all around the otherwise abandoned structure, with their combined glow illuminating the area just enough to reveal their origins…
'... other robots?' thought Mikazuki, with him observing the several machines that were gathered around the place, obscured by the darkness until their optics lit up. Their general appearance mimicked that of clowns, armed to the nethers with heavy artillery that looked capable of actually damaging his body. Tensing his frame, the former pilot took a moment to consider his options, with him ignoring how Vox had disappeared in a zap of lightning.
He was confident in these machines destroying Mikazuki… and as soon as he was gone, the silent order to destroy Mika was given.
And in an instant, the former pilot began to move.
"Oh… whoa… whoa whoa WHOA!"
"Clara, dearest, what seems to be the issue?"
Blinking owlishly as she sat atop her family penthouse's sofa, young miss Clara Carmine swiveled her head back to see her mother, Carmilla, and sister, Odette, walk into the room… just in time to see that she was watching Channel 666 once more. They didn't take stock of what it was showing, however, until Clara pointed towards the screen with a deadly glint in her eye.
Turning towards the screen, the Carmine family all watched as a live recording of… well…
"Hey… isn't that…?" began Odette, with her bespectacled eyes widening in recognition as that very specific Sinner found himself on television once more, this time bursting out of the flaming remains of a warehouse as several machines pursued him. Her demonic irises dilated slightly when she noticed this; those weren't any normal machines! Those were Mammon Made Anti-Demon Cyber Security Drones, incredibly high quality drones that were made with Hell forged metals and not the Steel/Iron fakes that were usually used in the Pride Ring… those things were no joke… and yet…
"HO HO HO! LOOK AT THAT LIL PUNK GO!"
As if on cue, Clara cheered on as she watched the Sinner evade several high powered, Demonically charged energy rounds from one of the many Mammon Drones, zig-zagging across the battlefield before he leapt up and landed atop its shoulders. Leaning back, he punched a hole into its neck, grabbing a hold of the wires within it, before he ripped them out, causing it to go haywire momentarily as it began to fire wildly. Its sporadic bursts took out a trio of its fellow drones, though moments later, it was dispatched when another Drone, wielding a demonically charged Greatsword, attempted to strike at the Sinner atop its shoulders.
It didn't manage it, as he leapt off the Gunner's shoulders, in turn causing the Drone to be bisected by its fellow mech, which somehow appeared a little horrified at what it had done, though before it could recover from its teamkill, the Sinner lunged forwards and karate chopped its elbow joint. The strike was strong enough to sever the Drone's forearm from its body completely, and as it staggered backwards, the Sinner grabbed ahold of its severed arm and swung it at the Drone, demolishing it with its own weapon moments later.
Now wielding a Greatsword (with a severed drone arm attached to it), the Sinner went to work on getting rid of the remaining pests on the field, and as he did so, Clara turned towards Carmilla with a wide smile on her face. The Overlord of Armaments could already tell just what she was going to say, and she didn't even need to open her mouth before she spoke up with a sigh.
"Well, I suppose that this Sinner has some skill… I'm to assume that you wish to meet him, Clara?" mused Carmilla, with her eyeing her daughter with a tiny smile as she said this. The grin that was present on Clara's face more or less gave her her answer, and for all it was worth, the Overlord couldn't help but chuckle faintly as she glanced over at Odette. "Well, this certainly is an intriguing coincidence… Odette too wishes to meet this Sinner."
"Not a surprise, really! I mean, he can fight, sure, but that bod? That's right up Odette's alley!" snickered Clara, with the Channel 666 news freeze framing right at a perfect moment; the Sinner's mechanical body was on full display as he ripped the last of Mammon's drones in half, and upon being called out by her sister, Odette found herself blushing faintly as she nodded in affirmation.
"I will confess to being interested in his frame… it's simply far too similar to the Gundam Frames of the Calamity War for me to brush it off as a coincidental visual similarity. If possible… I wish to study him up close and personal," admitted Odette, with her glasses shimmering with intrigue as she took in every inch of the Sinner's on-screen body in the freeze frame provided to them by the Channel 666 feed; she was saddened when the feed abruptly shifted to the hosts, though she didn't let her disappointment show as she glanced at her mother. "Mother… I know that we've been stalking him for quite some time, but considering how powerful this Sinner has shown himself to be… perhaps…?"
A pause, with both Odette and Clara glancing up at Carmilla as they wondered what she'd respond with as she rubbed at her chin thoughtfully. Glancing up at the TV screen, the Overlord of Armaments stared into a blurry image of the Sinner's visage on screen. Whoever he was… he did certainly intrigue the Overlord quite a bit… from his odd connection to the Gundams of the Calamity War to the sheer strength that he had displayed on more than one occasion… all of it pointed to this Sinner as being an excellent buyer of her wares, especially considering how he seemed to have a knack for getting into trouble so frequently…
… but beyond that, something about this Sinner's gaze had resonated with the Overlord of Armaments. His eyes were naught more than blue bulbs that were staring out of his mechanical face, masked by a layer of synthetic skin… but all the same, something about his gaze reflected no small amount of sorrow… sorrow that Carmilla herself could somehow feel that she could resonate with despite having not even met this Sinner formally.
This odd resonance… it was… intriguing to her, and beyond her wish to expand her company's reach with this new up and comer as a client, she wished to know just why she felt this way to begin with, and as such… she eventually found herself nodding in approval before crossing her arms.
"I will see what I can do to reach out to this Sinner. I make no concrete promises, but I will try my best."
"Thank you, mother/Thanks mum! You're the freaking BEST!"
And off in the carnage, Mikazuki couldn't shake the feeling that things were going to be a bit more complicated from here on out.
Hey, new chapter!
I'm in the process of writing more stuff for Tekketsu No Kyojin. It'll be updated around mid-January... possibly?