D-008
Approx 25 hours since launch
Planet Serea
Itadori Kujo and the Metarix commander, Ivythorn, stand opposed to each other in a clash on top of the deserted planet. The so-called failure of the Kujo clan remains armed with the blood sword, formed by the injury of his chest, while the machine arms itself with a pair of sharp blades, one replacing each hand.
Despite his injury, Itadori stands tall with confidence.
"Saa, hajimeyou ka?!"
"A dead man using a dead language, quite poetic. Quite poetic indeed!"
With a fierce warrior cry, Itadori charges at the enemy, beginning a-
"ICARUS!"
Icarus' concentration on the fight fades as Cosmo calls out for him.
"The ship! You need to use Chaos Control on the ship so that we can get out of here!"
"R-right!"
Icarus runs away from the intense clash as he sprints through the green-tinted sand and towards the ship wreckage.
He does a small hop into a breaking stance as he reaches it.
He then lets out the Chaos Emerald and points it towards the wreckage.
"CHAOS…CONTROL!"
Nothing.
"Oh, right…the focus thing…"
He closes his eyes and sees what he's gotta do.
The emerald shines brightly.
"CHAOS CONTROL!"
The pieces of the ship begin to have a green aura, as they slowly get put back together!
Cosmo feels a strange pull on her chest, she opens her palms to see her seed glowing in the same green aura as the ship. Does that mean it will be undone…?
"Wait, Icarus, stop, stop!" Panic in her voice breaks Icarus' focus. The repairs done to the ship come undone as they slam back down on the sand.
Icarus: "What is it?!"
Cosmo: "The seed…can you…can you make sure to not affect it?"
"I…I am not really sure how! Look, it will probably just be put back on the spot it was before it crashed, on your bed! Come on!"
"A-are you sure?"
Icarus rolls his eyes in annoyance…but then realises he can't offer any confirmations-
Itadori: "YOU TWO! HURRY UP!"
Ivythorn: "Oh? You are getting quite, quite tired, isn't that right, Kujo Itadori?"
Icarus ponders his options…
Icarus: "Alright, Cosmo, stand right next to the ship! You see that thing move anywhere that isn't right next to you and you yell at me to stop, got it?"
"I-okay!"
She jogs right next to the ship as Icarus tries again.
"CHAOS CONTROL-!"
Suddenly, he hears a cry of pain from behind. Losing focus once more, Icarus looks behind him to see Itadori pinned down. The only thing separating the blade of death from Ivythorn and Kujo's head is the thin blood sword of Itadori.
Itadori: "Icarus! Hayaku shiro-!"
SLAM!
Ivythorn: "Quite a small distance between my blade and your neck, don't you agree. Kujo Itadori?"
Why should Itadori be the only one playing keepaway?! If they are running away from a fight this early on the journey, how are they supposed to get rid of the Metarix?!
…
Then again…defeating the Metarix was merely Icarus's goal. The heroes back home…Itadori, Cosmo…they would all agree on this plan on a whim if it meant simply gathering the emeralds and leaving…besides, he wasn't meant to stay on this trip much longer anyway…didn't he learn from Foralon that the image isn't purely black and white?
…
Cosmo: "Icarus! What are you waiting for? We need to get out of here!"
…
No, this is different. Itadori is throwing his life away. If Icarus has to leave, he should at the very least give him a guiding turn.
A light in his starless sky.
…
Ivythorn hears the sounds of rapid footsteps coming closer.
It looks to its side for just a moment.
Itadori takes this chance, plants both his feet on its chest, and KICKS the Metarix General upwards, sending it soaring up in the sky!
Icarus looks up, and bends his knees down as far as they can go, and leaps in the sky, before rolling into a ball and intercepting Ivythorn, hitting it on its chest dead on in mid air with incredible speed and accuracy!
As small fragments of purple armor rain from the sky, the machine lands ungracefully on its back, creating a massive puff of smoke. Icarus gets bounced back from the impact, then uncurls and manages to land on all fours, scraping the sand right next to Itadori, who was getting up from his earlier scuffle.
Icarus stands up straight, dusts himself off, and turns to Itadori with a grinning smirk.
Itadori: "What do you think you are doing? And what's with that look?! We needed to get out of here five minutes ago! This was my fight to settle, you didn't have the right to-"
"Sorry, Itadori, but until I leave, we are a team. That means your battle is my battle, too. I won't let you throw away your life in a meaningless fight." Dropping the smirk for a moment.
"You utter fool! That is my purpose! The one I was born with! If I cannot fulfil it, then I am not worthy of living, and certainly not worthy of your pity."
"Yeah yeah, love you too, best buddy. You don't have to say it outloud so frequently though." And so the smirk returned, as fast as it left.
"You are so…so irritating-!"
"Quite entertaining, your banter is. A shame then that I have to interrupt IT with your demise." The artificial voice filter strangely seems to be absent. The now natural (and slightly dry) feminine voice is interrupted with frequent pitch changes.. As if her mechanical side is fighting against her DNA.
Itadori and Icarus look ahead with a serious expression, standing side by side.
Through the smoke, they see a pulsing green light, getting brighter and brighter as the machine cuts through the wine-red smoke by walking forward. The way it moves is strangely way more mechanical than before. Every micro movement seems to be deliberate. And yet, the ground shakes every so slightly with every step. The silhouettes of armor pieces appear to break away from the core figure one by one.
Icarus and Itadori get into battle-ready stances.
"All these decades serving the META-RIX…I had never had to unshed before…I have long thought I would NEVER have to show my im-PURE shape again. Truly, the encasing of the META-RIX wasn't enough. QUITE a shame, TOO. COSmo, you could have shared THIS beautiful FORM with meeee-eeeeee-e-e-e."
Cosmo instinctively begins to walk forwards towards the fight.
But then a confused look appears on her face.
She shakes her head, and steps backwards.
…
Itadori notices this.
…
The source of the glowing begins to appear through the smoke. A pulsating dark green heart. Thick green vessels connected to and from the sick heart.
The figure continues to walk forward, showing bare shoulders and chest. Light green, scaly skin. It looks unimaginably dry and…dead.
It's arms are still covered in armor, and so are most of its legs..however, its legs are also bare. Brown and wooden, they are moving tree roots.
After it finally moves outside of the smoke, it retracts its blades back into regular hands, and begins to take off its helmet.
At first, the metal helmet refused to budge, but soon enough, white dense smoke came emitting from its bottom as it loosened.
…
The helmet drops on the floor.
The smoke begins to fade, revealing its face.
Sharing the same veiny, scaly skin of the rest of her body, its right eye threatens to escape from its face, while its left eye is practically sealed shut. Her 'hair' is more like short, sharp quills, pointing towards the right.
…
Icarus takes a step back.
Icarus: "W-what…is that? Weren't the Metarix purely mechanical?!"
Ivythorn: "Oh…quite scared, aren't you, Icarus? Don't be! The META-RIX simply rewards it's MOST loyal servants with an…OVERHAUL!"
Icarus thinks back to what Cosmo said when she first came to Earth…were they going to do this to her as well? What if Ivythorn could be saved? Surely there is enough for them to salvage-
Itadori: "Icarus."
A firm call snaps Icarus out of his train of thought.
Itadori: "You have a kind soul. You do not wish to harm. However, there are those who cannot be saved, who you must get past in order to get to those who can be saved. Perhaps the Metarix army is filled with hundreds like Ivythorn, but there are millions who are about to be like Ivythorn. If you truly wish to take down the Metarix…if you truly wish to stop evil, you must be ready to rip apart its roots!"
!
"Take out the Metarix? Wait…Itadori, you don't mean-"
"Hmph. I couldn't care less about such a meaningless and futile goal…but…I still owe you for saving my daughter's life. For that, I will help you attain your goals just this once, erabareshi mono, yo!"
"Quite a spectacle, quite a spectacle indeed! Unfortunately, you won't get the chance." The pitch switching of Ivythorn is getting less and less frequent. The pair don't have time to analyse as she walks closer.
Icarus: "Alright, man, how are we supposed to beat this thing? And don't say attack the heart, I am doing this non-leathly if possible."
"Non-You utter fool! Did you just not hear a word I said?!"
"I heard you. I also ignored you. I am not harming anyone when I can prevent it. I will fight, but I won't kill."
"You naive idiot…:"
Suddenly, Ivythorn comes charging at them head first with a fierce leap!
Icarus and Itadori jump sideways in opposite directions. Ivythorn misses them, slamming the ground with immense force, causing sand to shoot out viciously in random directions.
Icarus and Itadori land on their feet with grace.
Icarus: "Itadori! There has to be a way to do this without killing her!"
Ivythorn: "I am afraid that's not quite possible, Icarus! We fight proudly till the day we drop dead!"
Ivythorn lunges at Icarus, who just barely manages to hop over the attacking General using the tip of his foot.
"There has to be a way! Surely you have a family or-"
Ivythorn turns around in an instant, and attacks the unprepared and still falling Icarus.
Icarus seems defenceless-
BAW!
A dark red arrow pierces through Ivythorn's shoulder. Ivythorn doesn't react nor express pain, but gets launched sideways from the force of the attack.
Icarus lands safely, and turns to see Itadori holding a blood bow, which then dissolves soon after and goes back into his chest wound.
Itadori gives him a judgmental look. Icarus scratches the back of his head and pretends to not notice. The Kujo shakes his head as he walks towards Icarus while Ivythorn recovers.
Itadori: "It is as I thought. Angelic powers have no effect on it."
Icarus switches from the comedic act and starts to pay attention.
"Huh? What does that mean?"
"It means it possesses a life core…"
Ivythorn stands up from the attack, her movement shaky and over-compensating for every micro movement as she rips the arrow away from her shoulder. The vessels around her right eye turn a bright red.
"...the bad news is that we cannot directly hurt it without ripping away the heart…and, since you said that wasn't an option…that leaves us with only one more option."
"Which is?"
"The only way to hurt life is life itself. In other words, we must channel life energy of our own. Life energy consists of a perfect balance between Chaos and Angelic energy…that means…if you use your chaos emerald to power up, and land a blow the instant my Angelic powers kick in…we will hit the jackpot. The only way to win this conflict…
"...is with a mighty blow of 'Tomonari'!"