Chapter 23: Itawari Pharmaceuticals (III)

Ichika seemed to perk up as she set more shields around her son's classmates. She turned back to her son.

"Good news, Kenta-kun! Your darling Asia-chan is now here!"

As soon as she said those words, Ichika Itawari felt something shatter within her.

"No… that boy – "

Ichika coughed out a wad of blood, making her son look at her in alarm. "What's going on?!"

"Hyoudou… he broke through my shields! How did he – Gah!"

Despite clutching her stomach in agony, Ichika quickly stood back up again, Gangster's Paradise easily helping her recover.

"Reina, you have to destroy him quickly!" She called out within their Stand.

Reina Endo watched in surprise as Issei Hyoudou made it down to the next floor. Ichika had already set her shields in between each floor to ensure that the 2-E members wouldn't simply jump through floors by breaking the ground. Normally, no Stand User would be able to destroy those shields, but…

"What is that gauntlet he's wearing?"

Hearing something shatter behind her, she looked back to see Issei jumping through the floor once again, only focused on the walls behind her instead. With a claw formed by his now-black gauntlet, he tore through the blockades placed over the walls with ease, letting fresh light fall into the room. Reina hissed at the demerit placed over her Stand.

"These windows were boarded up for a reason, right?" Issei cried out. "Well, let's see you manage with some light!"

Once again, Issei burrowed into the floor beneath. Reina balled her fists at the boy's actions before standing over the hole he'd just created.

"Diamonds in the Sky."

Her shadow still fell past the hole, which meant the white outline of her Stand could manifest in the floor below. She immediately shot it ahead to trap the boy.

"Boost!"

Yet again, that gauntlet let out that insufferable cry. What in the world was that thing?

Meanwhile, Issei looked down at the white figure on the ground. He knew that it was Reina's Stand, but he still didn't know what it did other than crystallize him somehow. Despite not understanding it, he knew enough to keep away from it at all times.

He needed more time to build the Gear's boosts. He knew exactly what he needed to do. This is what he'd been training with Raynare for, after all.

He couldn't move his legs very well because of his injuries and he was down a right arm. The only way he kept moving was with the pads of Beetles under his feet helping him fly around. Forcing them to move, he skidded away from the incoming Stand. To his surprise, the Stand kept following him, spreading throughout the whole floor. Issei's breath hitched – despite being midair, that Stand moved forth with too much confidence. Maybe it wasn't seeking contact with him? No, the windows were boarded up in the upper floor. The Stand has something to do with light instead.

Issei sped to the back of the room, assisted by the Beetles under his feet. Using his Boosted Gear, he punched a hole into the wall, piercing through the concrete with ease and letting in more light into the place.

Reina smirked in glee.

Suddenly, Issei felt himself freeze. He tried to move himself, but the crystals of Reina's Stand quickly overtook him, building up on him over and over.

'But how? I let in more light, shouldn't it have done something?'

It wasn't as strong as before, though. With the added power of his Boosts, he easily shattered the crystal over him. However, more crystal formed almost immediately. Issei quickly checked in on the Stand beneath him. Diamonds in the Sky wasn't even close to him. It hung behind, writhing like white flames. Amidst the caricature of the Stand, Issei could see a pair of yellow eyes almost sneering at him.

"BOOST!"

Once again, Issei easily shattered the crystal; the barrier turned into mere paper. For the power he needed, three boosts was more than enough.

He couldn't tell where Reina was at the moment on the upper floor, but for that ability, he didn't need any fancy locator information. If he did it right, the ability would find her directly.

Under Raynare's tutelage, Issei managed to learn quite a bit about his Sacred Gear. Explosion: a mode where he could keep his current state of Boost for a whole minute. Transfer: the ability to give his power over to others in a pinch. However, there was one move that mattered to him most at that moment.

"Dragon shot!"

Red energy condensed into the green gem of his gear, only to be coated in a wave of black. As Issei felt his strength leave him and the crystals quickly take over his body, he still poured all of his boosts into the forming energy beam.

Dragon Shot was a move that came from the Boosted Gear that shot out a beam of energy but combining it with Beetles led to incredible results. More of his Beetles enveloped the energy beam, containing its power within itself. Right before the crystals overtook his face, Issei grinned.

"Beetles. Here Comes the Sun."

The energy beam shot out of his gear, only to stall midair as the Beetles around reformed into a different shape. Its body elongated into a snake-like structure and a scaly head emerged from its front. Tiny arms jutted out of its body, topped by four red claws. The new creature's eyes opened, revealing the brimming red energy within its wyvern body.

Despite the crystal forming over it, Here Comes the Sun easily tore through the shards and dove through the upper floor. Tearing through the floor with red energy-tipped claws, it glowered at a bewildered Reina Endo before charging at her.

"Diamonds in the Sky!"

The Stand retreated out of the lower floor to catch the new monster instead. However, it didn't move fast enough to trap it in time. Here Comes the Sun easily slashed through Reina's body, shearing through the honeycomb shield emerged in front of her as well, before aiming its other hand at her and firing out an energy beam.

Reina was quickly thrown out of the building, her body breaking through the wall from the force of the Dragon Shot. As she fell to the ground, she couldn't help but tsk at her failure. Ichika was too busy protecting the others, so it was best to let her fall and regenerate.

Moreover, the guest of honor was on her way.

"We've been expected you, young girl," Homura Itawari remarked. Sakuna blinked in surprise at the appearance of Asia Argento. "What are you doing here?"

"I just, umm…" Asia but her lip. "I'm sorry, but I wanted to help. Even if I won't be able to do much…"

"No, we are glad you showed up," Homura said. "Don't mind us, the battles are going on upstairs. I merely have Sakuna trapped here with me, so I apologize for not being a better host."

Asia turned to look at Sakuna, then looked at the board game they were playing. "How can I… get up there?"

Homura pointed at the elevator. "Just take that to the 24th floor. Kenta is expecting you."

"Don't!" Sakuna cut in. "It's most likely a trap."

Homura shrugged. "We have no interest in hurting her. She is special to Kenta. In fact, out of you all, we want her to be left untouched by our Stand."

Sakuna blinked in confusion. "What? Why?"

"Kenta would become… jaded in the long run if everyone he knew were just part of his Stand. To keep him happier, we're choosing a handful of people who don't need to be changed. Asia Argento is one of them."

"… why?" Asia couldn't help but ask.

Homura smiled at her. "Kenta sees a familiarity with you. He believes that you are a victim of the world just like him. That is why we chose to keep you alive above all else."

"Then… the others?"

"They will die, but it will only be temporary. They'll still be with us once they're part of Gangster's Paradise."

Sakuna looked behind Asia, wondering why he felt something familiar. He blinked in confusion upon seeing his own Stand, Lucky You, trailing behind her. He smirked: it seemed that his Stand saw Asia as someone necessary to their victory.

Outwardly, he sighed. "In that case, we have no choice." Sakuna turned to Asia once more. "Are you sure that you want to help with this fight?"

Asia blinked in confusion. "I… um… don't know?"

Sakuna balked at her. "You don't know?"

"I just… I think Issei and the others can manage, but I just…"

"You wanted to come along?"

"Oh no! That's not it, I'm okay with anything you all ask of me! It's just…"

"You're already here, so go up," Homura cut in with a shake of his head. "Honestly, despite being him, I don't see what Kenta sees in you. I cannot bring myself to harm you because he wouldn't want it, but you'd better not trip over your own two feet on the way there."

"I-I've been called clumsy before, though…"

Homura sighed. "That's not what I meant. In all this time, Asia Argento, have you decided anything for yourself?"

Asia blinked in surprise. She wanted to say that she decided to come there, but thinking again, it was Rias that asked her to go there. She thought back to the people she'd helped on her way there, but that was just a consequence of the ill that occurred to them. Was it really something she'd done?

"I… don't know."

"And there's your problem. For now, just meet up with my son. You'll find your place in our new world soon enough."

Nodding to both of them, Asia entered the elevator that opened before her and entered.

As the elevator dinged into movement, Homura looked at Sakuna. "That was a fair interruption. Shall we continue?"

"Before that, I want to ask something," Sakuna said. "How deep does this connection within Gangster's Paradise go? Can you share more than your memories? Say… your Stands?"

Homura grinned. "Astute observation. Yes, we can share our Stands as well. However, since it is just you hearing this, I don't mind sharing more. We are unfortunately constrained by the number of people who can use a particular Stand. At a time, only 1 person can use a Stand amongst all of us. However, with Susumu Hino taking over the entire building, most Stands are under his administration as general protection for the building. Damage on the Stand will still go to the original wielder, but that's not an issue for us."

Sakuna grinned. "So, you're saying that you're linked to the others in terms of Stands as well?"

Homura grinned. "Of course, I am." Not speaking any more, Homura picked up the dice. The Monopoly game was going rather well for him. He was able to place properties around most of the board, spreading himself and making Sakuna pay him more as a net sum. However, Sakuna insisted on not building anything on some regions for whatever reason, instead upgrading the few spots he took to the absolute maximum.

One such spot was approaching him. Nearly every region ahead of his piece were his, but there was a single region where Sakuna had placed two hotels. It was an expensive region as well, but Homura could bank on the luck that guided him throughout the game for the continuation. He needed to get any number other than a 3.

With a grin he rolled the dice. The grin faded immediately.

It was a 3.

"You thought you were lucky, didn't you?" Sakuna chided him with a nasty gleam in his eyes.

Ichika grimaced as pangs of pain went through her. Reina being out of commission was a bad thing, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. Her focus shifted to her three adversaries: Fumihiro Sasaki, Hanako Kogawa and Noboru Iwata. She grinned as she saw them trapped within barriers, unable to escape. Fumihiro's Stand was close range and while it could phase through the barrier, it could reach her or her son. Hanako Kogawa's Stand was annoying, so she simply put a second barrier around that thing. Noboru's duplication may have been a concern, but it didn't allow him to phase through the barrier with his body. The block she'd placed on the floor above further helped Noboru from infiltrating the floor she was resting on.

As for the others, things were mixed. Aia and Nyoko had failed in their tasks, being either cured of their infection or completely trapped and unable to do anything. It was only Susumu that was managing to slow down Daichi and Azumi, but with how spread thin Susumu's consciousness was, it was all the more difficult for him to control that battle. Frequent sloppy moves led to neither of them dying so far.

"Haah," Ichika sighed. "The best way of doing things is to not do anything, after all."

Kenta grimaced. He hated seeing his friends in such helpless states… but he couldn't do anything about it. As much as that Stand loved him, it certainly was stubborn about its beliefs of him becoming King of the World.

Ichika just grinned at her son. "Don't you see how lucky you are to be at the top?"

Despite her grin, a green dragon flickered over her.

Another pang of pain was Ichika's next warning. A shield between the floors was broken with ease and a black wyvern with flaming red eyes shot out. Looking down at Kenta, the monster immediately charged at him.

"Move!" Ichika cried out, pulling her son away and wresting control over Titanium from Susumu to protect her son. No shield appeared, but she applied the property to phase through Stands over her son.

Kenta's being pulled to the side was what saved him. Here Comes the Sun may have phased through the right hand that remained in its path, but the hand was then subjected to the full force of the Dragon Shot residing within the construct. Kenta screamed as he felt his hand lose all feeling from inside that monster and reflexively pulled away, only to freeze and the blackened stump that remained at the end of his right arm.

"Argh!" Ichika suddenly lost her grip over him. Looking back, Kenta whimpered as his mother's hand that held him degenerated just as his had. Ichika looked down in agony at her hand, seeing the same blackened stump as Kenta's own.

The monster reared its head and turned back at Kenta, willing to charge at it again. Kenta looked back in alarm, now extremely wary of that monster.

"Stay the hell away from him!"

Fumihiro Sasaki charged at it, Eye of the Tiger pouncing over it and smashing it to the ground. While the wyvern could have normally withstood that attack, the additional power within it let it be more fragile, letting Eye of the Tiger's claws pierce through the hide and leech out the rest of the Dragon Shot at Fumihiro instead.

"No!" Noboru cried out as Fumihiro got caught in the explosion of the construct, shot against the ceiling and smashed back down. Rushing to him, Noboru immediately noticed that he wasn't responsive. Fumihiro was not like Nyoko; he couldn't restore him by making attempts on his life. No, by the foolish action of interfering with that monster that attacked Kenta, Fumihiro had sacrificed his life.

"Is he…"

Noboru dove next to him, making sure to hear what he was saying.

"Ken… alri…?"

Fighting the tears in his eyes, Noboru nodded. "Y-Yeah… he is."

"…"

"We can restore him!" Ichika immediately cried out, ignoring her now missing hand. "This doesn't have to be his end. We can bring him back! You just need to give him to us!"

Noboru hung his head low. All the clones in that area made a point to not dissipate at all. The other clones should not know about Fumihiro's death yet.

Ichika gritted her teeth and turned back to the hole that the monster emerged from. "That thing was yours, wasn't it? Issei Hyoudou?!"

Rising from the hole was Issei, even though he was in a sorrier state than even Fumihiro. His skin looked almost cracked and his lips were chapped to the point of bleeding, his skin remained paler than anyone there, and his whole right arm was snapped off; the crystal remains over it proved who did that to him. They could also make out the black bars around his legs serving as a splint and the black pads under his feet which he was hovering on. Most importantly, there was some kind of black gauntlet over his left arm studded with green gems.

"You killed him. Are you happy?!"

"Once I'm done with Kenta…" Issei started, the pads drifting him closer. "I'll take him to a hospital as soon as I can."

"BOOST!"

Ichika immediately placed yellow shields in Issei's path to keep him from approaching, but Issei simply swatted his hand and tore through them. Every single interruption that she put in his way, Issei simply broke through.

A walking force of nature. Nothing that Ichika did could stand up to the sheer might that the boy held within that frame of his.

"Stop, please!" Noboru cried out, running behind him and grabbing onto his gauntleted arm. Clones appeared around him and held the rest of his body back, each making sure to not hold an injured part of his body. "Please… we can find some other way. Don't hurt Kenta!"

Issei grimaced. "Let me go."

"We're family, Issei! That's why Fumihiro sacrificed himself! And… and if joining Kenta's Stand will have us all together again, then isn't that better?! If you kill him, everyone else under his spell will die too!"

Issei gritted his teeth. "Stop."

"Kenta's someone worth saving!" Noboru cried out, making Kenta widen his eyes in shock. "Please… he's my best friend. Please don't hurt him."

Kenta's lip quivered. The boy that he insulted nearly every day. Someone he'd never imagined would take his side for anything. His rival in love for Hana Tanaka when she was alive. Someone like that was holding Issei back and calling himself Kenta's best friend?

Issei sighed.

"Boost!"

With a simple shrug, all of the Noboru's holding him away were thrown off him like nothing. As they all flashed away from the injuries, Kenta shivered again.

'I'm going to die.'

"Explosion!"

In a flash of light, Issei appeared in front of Kenta. Ichika dove in front of her son, only for Issei to grab her and throw her against the wall. In that very motion, Issei pulled back his gauntleted left hand and balled it into a fist. However, Kenta could make out the streaks of tears in his now closed eyes.

"I'm so sorry."

Music. Just as Issei threw his fist ahead, the sound of music filled his ears. Opening his eyes in confusion, he looked ahead in shock.

Kenta was pushed away from his attack and Issei remained with his fist boring a hole through Hanako Kogawa.

"No!" Issei cried out, immediately holding Hanako's body close. He didn't dare pull his arm away and encourage the bleeding, he only pulled her in close to add pressure from behind and stall the bleeding as much as possible.

He was getting lightheaded. What was that? That blood on his arm? Did Beetles return and did the Boosted Gear regain its old color? No, there was nothing vibrant about the red on his arm. Hanako Kogawa gasped in agony under his arms; Issei choked in tears as he pulled her closer to him. He heard something fall from her hand; her MP3 player cracked under the concrete, shutting off the music it was playing.

"No… no-ghk!"

Something pierced through him. Looking down, he noticed a yellow honeycomb wall moving out of the ground and cutting through both his and Hanako's chests.

"It didn't have to be this way, Hyoudou," Ichika said. "You could have just voluntarily joined us and you wouldn't have had all this pressure weighing down on you. Now, you're going to have to live with how you killed both Fumihiro Sasaki and Hanako Kogawa. Sure, they can return very easily, but you will always be reminded of this day when you see them."

Blood rushed through Issei's trachea, making him choke and cough. As red dribbled down his chin, he looked down in despair. That was how it would end, then? He killed his friends and failed to do what he set out to do. Raynare mentioned that being the Red Dragon Emperor was a curse; was this that?

A light ding sounded in the bleak hallway. A pair of doors opened and Issei heard a loud gasp. "W-What…? Issei!"

Issei couldn't help but shiver. "Asia…" He didn't want her to see him that way.

Yet, she said nothing as she ran up to him. Manifesting Twilight Healing, she showered him in her power, letting him feel how the torn parts of himself came back together. Asia then looked down and noticed how Issei's hand was buried with Hanako.

"W-What…?"

Her magic faded and she stumbled away. Issei risked a glance at her and immediately regretted it; she was heartbroken. She wasn't able to stand the sight of Issei having killed someone.

Suddenly, another door opened and the mechanical whirr of machines filled the hall. Looking up in confusion, Issei watched as a panel opened from the wall and a crossbow aimed down.

"A-ghah!"

Just as Issei spat out another wad of blood in his lungs, the arrow in the crossbow fired and struck Asia in the leg. She screamed in pain and fell to her knees, immediately clutching her shin.

"No… grrh!" Issei winced and pushed Hanako's body away from him, not caring for any further blood loss, before running to Asia and kneeling down before her. He only had his left arm, so he had to push Asia's leg with his bloodied elbow and pull the arrow away with his hand. With a cry, he detached the golden arrow from her leg and threw it away before grabbing Asia's hand and putting it over the wound. "Heal… please!"

Nodding, Asia used Twilight Healing and reset her own injury. "Issei… why… why would you…"

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"

Asia ignored all the blood over him and hugged him, letting him cry over her shoulder. Issei hissed in pain with every word he said. "I messed up… please…"

"I'm sorry about that arrow, but you will thank us for it soon enough," Ichika said.

Asia looked around once more. She saw Hanako bleeding out where Issei once stood, completely dead and averse to her help. Fumihiro remained unmoving nearby, breaking her heart even further. She then looked up at Ichika who simply smiled at the presence of all this death… something bitter filled her. She couldn't tell what it was. However, she felt as though she wouldn't ever heal her.

"Why?" Asia bemoaned. "Why would you do this?"

"We never wanted this, you know? It's Hyoudou that made things this bad. He was the one that killed them."

"I know Issei; he would never do such a thing!" Her expression contorted into an ugly scowl. "I know it is you!"

Ichika shrugged. "Well, Issei got there by trying to kill Kenta. It was those two that jumped in the way. Noboru, you can back that up, right?"

Asia looked to the chubby boy with a haunted expression, who simply nodded. "I… wanted him to stop. But he wanted Kenta dead. Whatever he was scared of… I don't know."

"Still…" Asia closed her eyes in frustration. "Why would you do any of this? Why even put these poor people through so much?"

"Like I said, we didn't want to hurt them! We wanted them to willingly surrender and give themselves up to us. It's only those that stand against us that face dire consequences, like your old friend there."

Meanwhile, Issei allowed the Boosted Gear to fade from his arm, leaving him weaker than he'd ever felt before. There was nothing else he could do. He couldn't protect Asia any more.

"You see, Asia, we're only trying to save the world!" Ichika continued. "Under Kenta's grace, we're going to unite the entire world under a single banner! No poverty, no despair, no death. You won't have to heal anyone ever again, because everyone will be happy! Isn't that a wonderful future?"

Asia, having noticed Issei going slack, gently set him down on his back. She stood up, ignoring how the red bloodstains remained on her once-pristine clothes. "Everyone… will be happy?"

"Exactly! Whatever happened here today wouldn't ever happen again! We only need to kill everyone once, and they will forever enjoy our Paradise!"

"Then… you want to kill me too?"

Ichika smiled at her. "No, dear. Kenta would be sadder than anything if you die, so we decided to let you live. You just need to join us, and you can be the Queen to his King."

Asia frowned. "I don't… want that."

Ichika shrugged. "It's said that the best rulers are the ones that don't want that role. Kenta too is on the fence on whether he'll be a good King. You're just like him there, aren't you?"

Asia looked at Kenta, who simply hung his head low in shame.

"He's a little sad, forgive us, from all of what happened here. But he'll come to his role soon enough. For now, we're the ones managing things, but you both can take your roles soon enough."

Asia bit her lip. "Then… you wanted this, Itawari-san?"

Kenta jolted at her utterance of his name. "I… um…"

"As I said, he'll accept things soon enough," Ichika cut in for him, making him look away. "Of course, something like this is terrifying for him. He'll be much better once the world is under him."

Looking at Kenta again, Asia felt a pang of familiarity. The way he wasn't able to say anything… Asia recalled the time she tried to order ramen with Issei that day. She couldn't order anything and made the bad choice of following behind Issei and eating something she couldn't handle. She remembered how Issei asked her to stay away for that mission, only for her to meekly accept despite wanting to join.

'You had no reason to join them. You can't do anything for them, after all.'

Then… if she were with them, would these people still have lived? If she were there to heal them sooner, wouldn't they be here with them as well?

'Then… what is going on here?'

She looked at Kenta again, shadowed by his own Stand. He couldn't do anything under its power. He too felt helpless under it and would rather choose to move with the flow than fight it. Exactly as she does herself.

'I don't get it… is Issei a bad person, then?'

No! Asia still had her wings. She could fly.

'Issei helped me fly.'

No, she didn't hate him. She could never. He gave her a chance when no one else would. He exposed her to so much of the world and promised to show her much more. Even if he's killed people, he'd apologized. That was what mattered the most.

"U-Um, Itawari-san… do you mind if I ask you something?"

Ichika smiled. "I'm sure my son would – "

"P-Please, Ma'am… I want to speak to Itawari-san directly."

Blinking in confusion, Ichika stepped away from them, leaving Asia and Kenta alone.

"W-What is it?" Kenta murmured, not having said much for the whole day.

"Your father… he asked me something. I thought you could think about it too." Asia took in a sharp breath. "In all this time, have you decided anything for yourself?"

Kenta blinked in confusion. "What… what do you mean?"

"Anything that's been done here… have you directly suggested anything?"

Kenta bit his lip. "I… I never wanted them to die."

Asia's heart hammered in her chest. "Then… what did you do to stop it?"

Kenta looked away in shame. "I… I can't… I can't stop it."

Asia looked back at Issei. Despite lying down on the ground utterly defeated, he was still craning his neck to her. Despite everything, he still cared for her.

"Your Stand… isn't it yours?" Asia asked.

"I can't control it!" Kenta cried out. "No matter what I do, I can't tell it to stop! It keeps on telling me that it knows what's best for me, and it just does whatever it wants!"

Ichika blinked in confusion. "Kenta… is that how you saw things?"

Asia looked back at Issei, her heart leaping in her chest. Every single day she'd spent with Issei had been a blessing… and a curse. She loved to spend time with him, but every single moment showed her the difference between the two of them. Issei showed her how to fly, and yet Issei flew in the air with everyone else, leaving her behind. He wasn't to blame; he couldn't carry her all the way up.

Asia could never fly by herself. It was never a lack of ability; it was a lack of courage. Issei taught her how to fly, but it was herself that held her back.

'Have I ever decided anything for myself?'

Asia sighed. Her face was turning red with how her heart pumped, but she had made her decision. It was a long cliff down, but only by stepping off could she soar.

Asia walked up to Issei and knelt before him. Seeing her come closer, Issei stirred. "Asia…?"

"Issei," Asia smiled at him while holding his sole hand. "… I… thank you."

'No! Say it! Stop holding yourself back!'

"Issei, I…" Asia took in a sharp breath. "Issei, I want to be with you!"

Issei went still at the unexpected confession. He'd thought he was having the worst day of his life, but that definitely turned things around.

"Asia… I…"

"But I can't… not yet," Asia confessed, bowing her head at him. "You're so high… and I'm so low. Issei, let me take care of you too. I want to help you! I want to be there for you! I want… I want to fly with you everyday!"

Issei remained stumped. "I Want." That was a phrase Issei had never heard coming out of Asia's mouth. She always went along with everyone else and led herself to ruin more often than not because of it. Issei smiled; he was so glad that she was expressing her wishes as well.

"You heard me the first time, right?" Issei managed to say. "You can do whatever you want, Asia."

Her brain thrummed within her head. 'Break…'

"Whatever I want to do?" Asia repeated, letting go of Issei and standing up. "I… I know I can't always follow after Issei, because we aren't the same. What I want to do… is heal." She turned back to Kenta and smiled at him. "I want to heal the world. It's all I've ever wanted to do. I don't want people to suffer any more."

"That's exactly what we want!" Ichika tossed in. "Join us, and you can get all of that and more!"

Asia sadly smiled. "Kenta… can you make your decision as well?"

Kenta blinked. Make his decision? But what could he decide on?

She knew that she'd become a Devil and was now disgraced by God, but she still had her faith. No, she wanted her faith. Even with her black wings, she wanted to feel pure. So, she clasped her hands together, manifesting Twilight Healing, and silently prayed.

'Thank you, God.' The sting didn't hurt as much as it did before. 'Thank you for gracing me with so much love.'

The green gems of Twilight Healing twinkled with every recitation in Asia's mind. Tendrils seeped out of the gems and traced down her arms, binding them together in service of her God. Asia smiled as her entire form was sheathed in a green glow, leaving behind a simple white dress that fluttered around her ankles and a crown of thorns on her head. Black bat-like wings emerged from her back, only to be covered by the light of Twilight Healing.

Issei watched in wonder as Asia manifested this new version of her Sacred Gear. Moreover, he sat stunned as the light around her wings faded, showing her Devil Wings now turned White.

Asia let out a soft breath while Twilight Healing thrummed. She looked up, resolute in her decision.

"Balance Break… Miracle of the Saint."

Asia Argento became a beacon of light to every person in that building. Her energy pulsed out her form steadily as she maintained her prayer. Issei looked at her with a wide smile; he couldn't help but feel proud of how much she'd grown. Someone as pure and wonderful as her… wasn't it the other way around? Wasn't he the one stuck on the ground?

However, he felt something change within himself. The first change was that he felt energetic again. Standing up, he looked down to inspect his body, only to see that with every pulse of Asia's light washing over him, the stump of his right arm miraculously regrew, eventually forming the bone, muscle and skin as if nothing had ever happened to it in the first place.

Kenta, meanwhile, felt a million pinpricks go through his skin. His mother cried out in agony under the light that Asia gave out, clutching her head in pain and circulating back to her son.

"M-Mom! What's going on?!"

"It's… It's bringing her back! Ichika Itawari is coming back to life!"

Kenta looked at her in alarm, only to immediately feel hot metal rush through his nerves. He screamed in pain, writhing against the ground, as the remains of Gangster's Paradise literally died within the building. However, the pain didn't last for long. Any lasting injury was immediately healed by Asia's Miracle. Not only that, but even his severed right hand was reconstructed by that power.

Meanwhile, Fumihiro Sasaki opened his eyes. He looked up, wondering if he'd become Kenta's thrall, only to wince as he faced the brightest light he'd ever seen. Immediately looking away, he briefly noted Hanako Kogawa rising while what seemed to be a hole in her chest rapidly closed. Fumihiro immediately thought: 'Itawari is an asshole.' Yes, he could think that; he'd not been turned by Gangster's Paradise? Then what was this?

Chimon Tabata stood in awe as the regular people all writhed about with the sudden pulses of light coming out of the building. Even Susumu went offline, meaning that he too succumbed to whatever was going on there.

The prophecy he made with Visions they Say stated that they would all die. It confirmed that there was no hope against Gangster's Paradise. Yet… what exactly was going on?

Chimon, for the first time in his life, send a prayer of thanks to whatever God was out there for this miracle.

"Ow!" Chimon winced as a pang of pain shot through his head. "What was that?"

Soon enough, the power Asia emanated died down, and her body went slack. Issei immediately ran up to her and caught her before she could hit the ground. The crown of thorns dissolved into nothing, her dress returned to her normal blood-stained ones, her palms separated, and her wings turned black and retreated.

Asia looked up at Issei who held her with a smile. "Issei…" she said. "I did well, didn't I?"

Issei smiled back. "Of course. You were wonderful, Asia."

Kenta looked at the two of them, once again feeling that errant jealousy. Gangster's Paradise was down in that building; every dead person was now truly back to life. Kenta let out a breath of fresh air; losing that shock left him feeling lighter than ever.

"You don't have to stop here!" A voice cried out inside his head. "It's me, Gangster's Paradise. You just need to kill someone else. Everyone outside the building is still under our spell. Janice is in the opposite building, and she has a scope at the Hyoudou boy. We're taking the –"

"No!" Kenta cried out, balling his fists at the errant voice within him. "Stop it, already! Haven't you done enough?!"

"… I'm only doing this for you, Kenta. For a world where you will be accepted."

"I'm already accepted by them! I don't need your help!"

"You were nearly killed by Hyoudou! Do you want that to happen again?"

"Yes, that was scary… but it was nothing compared to what you put me through."

"… and your parents?! You know how they are; it was only because of us that they gave you so much love. If you let them live, you will go back to that poor little boy suffering under their thumb! Do you really want that?!"

Kenta let out a raspy breath. "Asia made her choice. I… I need to make mine as well."

"What are you saying?! You want to stand up to them?!"

"If that's what it takes, then yeah. After what she did, I can't just cower away again."

"… so be it. I am merely your Stand, after all."

A/N: I should reiterate that despite how much I claim to hate this series, there are some characters that I love. My biggest example: Asia Argento. I love her character, even though I feel like they could have done a lot more if they investigated her a little more than her connection to Diodora. That's why I'm picking up for that slack: Asia Argento is so proficient and in tune with her Sacred Gear that I was disappointed that she never got a Balance Break. She was never given that opportunity. Here, I've decided to give her that chance.

Now, Asia is not going to be some overpowered figure that brings people back from the dead left and right. That being said, I have a lot of plans for the girl and I will see them play out soon. You've seen a little glimpse of it here too. I'll have to be a little careful balancing her from here on out, though.

What do you think of Here Comes the Sun? That's another early idea I had for Issei. For those confused by it, it's the energy from Dragon Shot but contained within a wyvern-like construct built by Beetles. It moves as Issei's Stand and it has that treacherous power inside it. Another thing is the interplay between Issei and Asia. Issei is someone fated to bring himself to ruin in violence because of the Boosted Gear, but Asia here is someone that's keeping him safe. I think it's pretty touching when you think of it like that.

I know I should be putting up the Stand cards, but... I don't feel like it lol. I'll do it later. See ya next chapter.