Chapter 6: The Pursuit
After finding an empty lot in the car park building of Ngurah Rai International Airport, Shu, Inori, and Haruka take the opportunity to have some sleep inside their car until morning arrives.
When the alarm from Haruka's phone rang several hours later, the three woke up and got out of their car. After taking out their luggage, Haruka locks the car and gestures Shu and Inori to follow her. The three of them walk through the parking lot together and along the way, Haruka tosses the car keys into a trash bin built on a pillar that they pass by. They cross over one of the bridges built between the car park building and the rest of the airport, and they soon find themselves arriving at the entrance hall. Inori looks at her surroundings as she, Shu and Haruka walk through the wide-open area and head over to the nearest flight information display system hanging on a wall.
Unbeknownst to the three however, the man in the black hoodie had been watching and following them from a distance. When he sees the three stopping in front of the flight information display system, the man quickly turns to his right and walks over to a vertical row of stores. He finds himself standing in front of a grocery store and casually picks up a fresh apple from one of the stalls placed outside as he waits for his targets to make their next move.
After finding the correct check-in area to collect their tickets, Haruka, Shu, and Inori turn to their right and make their way to one of the departure gates at the other side of the entrance hall. The man in black continues examining the apple in his hand until the three are almost out of his sight. After shifting his eyes to his left to make sure they had not notice him, the man places the apple back on the stall and continues his pursuit.
But after only taking a few steps, a voice spoke up in his earpiece. "What is your status on the target?"
The man stops and places his finger on his earpiece. "They are making their way to the departure hall now."
"If there is an opportunity to capture the target, this is the time."
"Understood. I'll make sure our target does not reach her flight."
"And not just that, there's something else."
As Shu, Inori and Haruka make their way to the right departure gates they need to pass through, they see a long queue of people waiting their turns to show their passports to the security officers and gain entry into the other side of the airport. That is when Haruka gasps as she comes to a realization.
"Wait a minute." Haruka said as she, Shu and Inori stop at their tracks.
"What is it?" Shu asked. Haruka turns to Inori with a frown.
"You don't have a passport, do you?" She asked.
"What's a passport?" Inori asked. Haruka and Shu sigh disappointingly.
"Should have known." Haruka murmured before she, Shu and Inori look back at the departure gates and watch a few more people showing their passports to the security officers from a distance.
"There's got to be a way for you to get past those guards, Inori." Shu said to Inori as they look back at each other.
Inori looks around the hall for a moment until her attention quickly lands on a technician who is carrying a work bag in his left hand and walking towards a door that is about 50 meters away from the right side of the departure gates. The girl watches him stop in front of the door and takes out what appears to be an identification card from his pocket with his other hand. He slides it down at the side of a keypad built beside the door and presses the correct numbers. After doing so, he opens the door and gets inside the electrical room.
Now knowing how to get inside, Inori turns her head to her right to see a security officer sitting at a table next to the fencing that forms the boundaries of a nearby cafeteria. He places his sandwich, cup of coffee and identification card down on the table in front of him before taking out his phone to watch a video.
"Shu, Haruka." Inori turned back to her superiors. "I'll see you both at the other side."
Noticing the determination in Inori's eyes, Shu and Haruka both know the girl has come up with a plan. They nod their heads to her before the three of them temporarily go their separate ways.
As Shu and Haruka walk over to the end of the queue outside the departure gates, Inori makes her way over to the cafeteria. Unbeknownst to the girl, the man in black is following behind her from a distance with his head slightly down and his hands stuffed in the front pockets of his hoodie.
While the security officer is distracted by the video playing on his phone, he fails to notice Inori walk past him and swiftly snatch his identification card from the table. After completing her first objective, Inori hides the card from plain sight and hastily walks over to the door to the electrical room.
Meanwhile, as Shu and Haruka join the queue and amble their way towards the departure gates, the woman turn to her stepson and said apprehensively, "I hope Inori will be alright."
"I'm sure she will." Shu said firmly to her. "I've seen what she is capable of."
As they look back to the front and continue moving towards the gates, a man wearing a white bucket hat and a pair of sunglasses with black shades drags his luggage along with him and walks over to Shu and Haruka from behind to join the queue. He is also dressed in a blue batik shirt with white flower patterns, white pants, a black belt with a silver round buckle around his waist, and black boots. As he slowly walks behind them, he takes out his phone and types a message.
'I've reached the departure area. See you both soon.'
When Inori reaches the door, she slides the identification card down at the side of the keypad and presses the correct numbers. As soon as she hears a click, the girl opens the door and sneaks into the electrical room. About ten seconds after the door closes behind her, the man in the black hoodie walks over and takes out a plain white card from the left pocket of his pants. He slides the card down at the side of the keypad and presses the same number four times which unlocks the door.
The man slowly opens the door and quietly steps into the room to see a horizontal row of machines placed in front of him. As he stands at the doorway, he turns his head to his right and sees Inori standing behind the right side of the row of machines. She slowly pokes her head out to see the back of the technician who is fixing the machine in front of him with his laptop placed above his left arm and hand. The technician wore a pair of earphones as he worked so he is completely oblivious that there are two other people inside the electrical room with him right now.
Inori carefully steps forward and turns to her left to see a door with an exit sign hung above it, hoping that it will lead to the departure hall. As the technician detaches the wires connected to his laptop from the machine, he turns to his right and kneels to temporarily place his computer aside on the floor. The girl looks back at the technician to see him grabbing some tools and spare parts from his work bag, realizing that this is her chance to make her escape without being noticed. She hastily makes a left turn and sneaks over to the door between the machines. While following her from behind, the man in black draws out a black gun from the right pocket of his pants just as he reaches the right side of the row of machines.
But when the technician stands up and turns back to the machine he is repairing, he made a sudden sneeze, causing Inori to flinch and widen her eyes. The girl whirls about to not only look back at the technician, but also notice the man in black standing where she originally stood. Noticing the gun in his hand, Inori immediately believes him to be a threat and charges at him. The man in black quickly holds up his gun, only for Inori to tackle him to the floor before he could pull the trigger.
Hearing the thud behind him, the technician turns around and gasps in shock, realizing at last that he is not alone inside the room.
"What the?" The technician said in bewilderment as Inori sits above the man in black and swings both her fists down to deliver an overhead strike onto his forehead. The man however stops her by holding up his left arm to block her attack by pushing against both her wrists. The two stayed in a stalemate for a moment, trying to overwhelm the other with their strength. But the man manages to push Inori's arms out of the way. While the girl is distracted, the man quickly places his right hand and gun on her right shoulder and pushes her off him. The girl rolls over the floor to her left before she and the man get up at the same time. As the technician stands idly and trembles in fear, Inori slams her right arm against the man's chest and pins him against the side of the machine behind him. The man retaliates by briefly placing his hands on her shoulders and lifts his left knee up to deliver a kick to her lower torso. As Inori groans, the man pushes her to the right again, sending her slamming against the machine on her left. The girl briefly runs over to the center of the room and holds up her fists as she turns around. Seeing the man stepping forward with the gun still in his hand and turning to his right to face her, Inori narrows her eyes at him as she anticipates his next move.
After passing through the gates and having their luggage inspected by the baggage scanner, Shu and Haruka grab their belongings and make their way to the correct check-in area to collect their flight tickets.
As the security officer operating the baggage scanner watches them leave, he holds up his watch and whispered, "All units, this is MI-021. They are making their way over to row C."
"Roger that." Another security officer replied to his watch before signing it off. He looks up and nods his head to three other men standing in front of him. They nod back to their leader before the squad of four make their way out of the locker room, leaving behind four lifeless bodies in their undergarments hanging from the ceiling at the other end of the room.
Both Inori and the man in black gazed at each other in tense silence until they both hear a click from the door beside the pink-haired girl. Inori gasps as she turns to her right and sees a security officer opening the door and stepping into the electrical room. Without saying a word, the officer draws out his pistol and aims at Inori's face.
But before he could pull the trigger, the man in black holds up his own gun and fires first. The officer yells in pain as what appears to be a tranquilizer dart stabs right through his right lower arm, causing him to lower his weapon. He groans as he turns to the man in black before rolling his eyes back and falling to the floor on his back.
The man in black turns to the frightened technician and gestures him to leave. The civilian immediately drops his tools and spare parts, turns to his right and makes a mad dash to the exit. As the man in black now walks over to Inori, the girl holds up her fists again as she prepares to fight him.
However, to her surprise, the man extends his left hand to her and said, "Your friends are in danger."
As Shu and Haruka joined another line of people queueing up in front of the check-in counters at Row C, the stepmother looked around the departure hall worriedly as she could not find Inori anywhere. But when she felt Shu placing his hand on her left shoulder, she looked back at her stepson who simply nods his head to her, reassuring her once again that Inori will be fine.
Haruka sighs inwardly before she and Shu look back to their front and wait for their turn, completely unaware that the four security officers in disguise are now walking towards Row C and pushing aside any civilian that is in their way.
When they see the next passenger leave after sending her luggage to the plane and collecting her ticket and passport, Shu and Haruka immediately go over to the now vacant counter before the check-in officer could wave her hand to them. But as soon as they arrived at the counter, two of the disguised security officers go over to Shu and Haruka and hold up their identification cards in front of them.
"Excuse me." One of the disguised officers asked while Shu and Haruka look back at them in bewilderment. "Are you both Haruka and Shu Ouma?"
"Y-Yes." Haruka said nervously as she nods her head. "Is there-"
"You're gonna have to come with us." The disguised officer said as he and his partner lower their cards and place their hands firmly on their shoulders.
"Hey! What the?!" Shu cried as the officers turned them around and restrained their arms, causing the bystanders to watch and murmur among themselves in confusion. "What's going on?!"
"We didn't do anything wrong!" Haruka protested.
"You have the right to remain silent!" One of the officers yelled at her as he and his partner began tying their wrists with cable ties, causing Shu and Haruka to yelp in pain.
"Excuse me. What is going on?" The check-in officer asked the disguised officers concernedly.
"This is none of your business." The disguised officer replied to her with an icy glare. When he and his partner are done, they both push Shu and Haruka. "Move!"
While the passengers standing around the area continue murmuring among themselves and can only speculate what is going on, one of the other two disguised officers, who are both standing in the distance and near the neighboring Row D, said to his watch, "Major Guin, we have successfully captured two of our targets."
"Good. Take them to the drop off zone. We are on our way."
"There is nothing to see here. Just patrol duty." One of the disguised officers said to the bystanders as he and his partner escort Shu and Haruka out of the departure hall and towards the baggage scanners.
"Just who are you guys?" Shu inquired as he and his stepmother kept walking.
"And where are you taking-ah!" Haruka gets cut off when both disguised officers gave rough pushes on their backs again.
"Just keep your mouth shut and-AGH!"
The disguised security officer suddenly yells in pain when a tranquilizer dart shot right into the back of his neck, causing all the bystanders, including the other two disguised officers near Row D, to cry or gasp in shock and horror. Haruka, Shu, and the other disguised officer behind them turn and watch in bewilderment as the man began wobbling side to side. As he lets out a groan, Haruka and Shu quickly move out of the way before the disguised officer collapses onto the floor face-first with a heavy thud.
Shu, Haruka, and the other disguised officer turn to their right and see the man in black standing at the other end of Row C as he reloads his gun with another tranquilizer dart.
"Oh my God, he's got a gun!" One of the bystanders cried as they stared at him.
"It's a terrorist!" Another bystander yelled.
"Do something about him, officer!" Another one added.
Upon hearing the terrified cries from the civilians, the two security officers who were stationed at the sides of the departure gates hurriedly rush through the baggage screening area and make their way to Row C while drawing out their guns.
"Why you…" The other disguised officer muttered as he tried to draw out his own gun. But Inori suddenly runs over to the disguised officer on his left and delivers a powerful punch to his left cheek. The bystanders cry in alarm again as the disguised officer sprawls through the floor and over to the wall at the other side. When the officer screeches to a halt, he turns and lies on his back before passing out.
"Inori!" Shu cried in relief, not caring about the frightened and confused reactions from the bystanders.
"Shu! Haruka!" Inori responded as she turned to them.
"We got to get out of here now!" The man in black yelled at Inori as he stood where he is. As Shu and Haruka turn around to show the cable ties around their wrists to Inori, the other two disguised officers quickly run over to the center of Row C. The man dressed in his white bucket hat and blue batik shirt, who has been standing idly along with the bystanders at Row D, furrows his brows as he watches them.
"Inori, what's going on?" Shu asked as he felt Inori snapping the cable ties around his wrists with her bare hands.
"The enemy has found us!" Inori cried as she worked on freeing Haruka next. But as she was releasing the woman from her restraints, the man in black now notices the other two disguised officers standing behind the large crowd of bystanders at Row C, and he widens his eyes in shock upon seeing one of them drawing out his gun and aiming at Inori's head after finding a good open view. He quickly aims his dart gun at the disguised officer and tries to fire before he could.
But suddenly, the bucket hat-wearing man runs over to the disguised officer, grabs his right arm, and lifts it up in the air just as he pulls the trigger and fires a bullet at the ceiling instead.
This causes Shu, Haruka, and Inori to flinch and turn to the bucket hat-wearing man and the other two disguised officers while every passenger and check-in officer in the departure hall and the baggage screening area scream as they cower in fear.
"Halt!" One of the two security officers shouted as they enter the departure hall, stop beside Shu, Haruka, and Inori, and aim their guns at the disguised officers and the man in black.
However, the two officers operating the two baggage scanners at the center of the screening area suddenly get up and fire their guns at the real security officers from behind. As they yelp and drop dead on the floor, Shu, Haruka, and Inori stare at them in horror while every civilian began fleeing in all directions and looking for the nearest hiding spot they could find.
Inori quickly turns to the baggage screening area and sees not only the two disguised officers who shot them now aiming their guns at her and her assets, but also the other six screening officers getting up from their seats, drawing out their electric batons and flicking them to the side to extend them.
The girl quickly places herself in front of Shu and Haruka as the two disguised officers began firing their guns at them. She swiftly uses her arms and hands to block every bullet they fire until their guns are emptied. As soon as she hears their weapons click, she charges at the nearest disguised officer in front of her before he can reload. She yanks his hair at the back of his head and briefly pulls him back before slamming his face hard against the metal plating of the baggage scanner to knock him out. As soon as the other disguised officer finished reloading his gun, Inori quickly jumps over the baggage scanner and lands right on top of him. While sitting above him, she throws a swift and powerful punch to his forehead to knock him unconscious.
Back at the departure hall, the disguised officer punches the bucket hat-wearing man at the right side of his lower torso with his left fist in order to break free from his grip. As the bucket hat-wearing man backs away, the other disguised officer punches him across his left cheek and sends him falling to the floor on his face. The bucket hat-wearing man quickly turns around to see the disguised officer he stopped earlier now pointing his gun down at his face and ready to shoot him.
However, the man in black quickly fires a dart at the disguised officer's left shoulder, causing him to yelp and drop his weapon. The bucket hat-wearing man quickly lifts his right leg up and kicks the disguised officer at his abdomen, sending him stumbling back and falling to the floor on his back as he passes out. The other disguised officer goes over and brings his right foot down on the bucket hat-wearing man, but he quickly dodges it by rolling over to his right.
When the bucket-hat wearing man quickly gets up, the disguised officer turns to him and swings his right fist horizontally at him. But the bucket hat-wearing man swings his left arm horizontally to deflect the officer's right arm and delivers an uppercut to his abdomen with his right fist. While the officer groans in pain, the bucket-hat wearing man quickly turns around and goes over to a suitcase that was left behind by a passenger who had fled. He pushes the suitcase over to the disguised officer, who catches it when it is right in front of him. The bucket hat-wearing man now runs back to him and delivers two hard punches across both his cheeks. He drags the suitcase away from the disguised officer as he runs to his right, and when he turns back to him, he finishes his enemy off by holding the luggage high up in the air and swinging it down onto the top of his head, sending him falling on his knees. The disguised officer wobbles for a brief moment before collapsing onto the floor face-first.
At the baggage scanning area, Inori turns to her left and sees one of the disguised officers armed with an electric baton coming over to her and swings her weapon down on her head. Inori dodges it by rolling to her right and getting back up on her feet. But just as she looks back at the disguised officer and gets into her fighting stance, another disguised officer goes over to her from behind and successfully thrusts his baton at the back of her neck, causing the girl to throw her head back and scream in pain.
"Inori!" Shu cried in horror as he and Haruka stood idly and watched.
"Shu!" Haruka cried as she and Shu turn to their front and see three other disguised officers running over to them with batons while Inori is distracted.
Before they could reach them, another tranquilizer dart flies past Shu and Haruka and hits the left shoulder of the disguised officer on the right, sending her falling to the floor on her back. As the other two disguised officers stop at their tracks and look down at her, the man in the black hoodie quickly puts away his dart gun, runs past Shu and Haruka, and goes over to his enemies.
The man in black throws a punch across the nearest disguised officer's left cheek, and another punch to the right side of his lower torso. As the man in black now turns around, he wraps his hands and right arm around the disguised officer's head and chin and falls to the floor together. While the man in black landed on his back, the disguised officer however finds himself slamming his face and forehead against the floor, which causes him to slip into unconsciousness. When the man in black gets up and turns around, the remaining disguised officer swings her electric baton horizontally at his abdomen, but he quickly dodges it by backing away.
Meanwhile, after the disguised officer in front of her swings her baton across the right side of her head, Inori finds herself turning to her left and falling to the floor on her face.
As the three disguised officers now surround and stand above her, they all thrust their batons at her back to electrocute her. The girl throws her head back again and screams helplessly as her enemies pin her to the floor, never wanting to let go of their weapons.
While they are distracted however, the bucket hat-wearing man grabs a hybrid golf club from a nearby golf bag and runs over to the three disguised officers. As he goes over to the nearest officer, she could only turn her head and stare at him for a brief moment before the man swings the golf club horizontally to hit her in the forehead, causing her to turn around and collapse onto the floor face-first.
The other disguised officers turn to him as they remove their batons from Inori, and the nearest one steps forward and swings his electric baton down at the bucket hat-wearing man's head. The man holds up the golf club to block his baton and pushes him back. As the officer stumbles back, the bucket hat-wearing man twirls around and thrusts the head of the golf club against his abdomen, causing him to yell in pain while leaning forward and throwing his head down. The bucket hat-wearing man takes the opportunity to turn the golf club around and brings its grip down onto the back of his head to knock him out and send him landing on the floor face-first as well.
The remaining disguised officer turns to his left and sees Inori now getting back up on her feet. He yells as he goes over and tries to swing his baton diagonally at her head. But the pink-haired girl swiftly turns to him and grabs his right arm to stop his attack. As she turns around, she tosses the disguised officer over her right shoulder and sends him slamming onto the floor on his back. He yells in pain as he lands with a heavy thud.
After dodging a diagonal strike from the disguised officer in front of him by moving to his right, the man in black throws a swift punch to her face with his left fist. He snatches the baton from her right hand and thrusts it onto the left side of her neck, causing her to scream as the electricity surges throughout her body. The man in black stays there for three seconds before tossing the baton away and letting the disguised officer rolls her eyes back and collapses onto the floor on her face.
The man in black now looks up to see the female disguised officer, who was knocked out by the bucket-hat wearing man with a golf club, and the male disguised officer, who Inori slammed his face against the baggage scanner, both getting back up. He turns to his left and sees the disguised officer, who was knocked out by the bucket hat-wearing man with a suitcase earlier, shaking his head after standing back up on his feet as well. The three disguised officers suddenly yell as they charge at Inori and the bucket hat-wearing man, wanting to pay them back for knocking them out.
But the man in black suddenly draws out a .44 Magnum revolver from the back of his hoodie, holds it up and rapidly fires three bullets at the three recently recovered disguised officers. They all yell as the bullets shot through their shoulders and upper arms, and Inori, the bucket hat-wearing man, Shu, and Haruka all watch in astonishment as they fall to the floor in pain.
The bucket hat-wearing man turns and shrugs at the man in black, who lowers his revolver and shakes his head at him. Knowing that all the enemies in the area are down, Inori closes her eyes and lowers her head as the bullets slowly emerge from her gunshot wounds and land onto the floor. Some blood pours out as well, but the bleeding quickly stops when her wounds heal and patch themselves up within a few seconds. The bucket hat-wearing man and the man in the black hoodie continue staring at her in awe until Shu and Haruka walk over to the latter.
"Excuse me." Shu said as the man in black turned to him and his stepmother. "Who are-"
Before he could ask their mysterious savior, several more bullets flew past them. Shu, Haruka, Inori, and the two men turn to the source of the gunshots and see eight more disguised officers standing at the other end of the departure hall and firing their guns at them, causing the civilians who have been hiding behind the check-in counters the whole time to cringe in fear.
"I'll deal with them! Get out of here!" The man in black shouted at Shu, Haruka, Inori, and the bucket hat-wearing man before running towards the enemies.
"Let's go!" Inori cried. Shu and Haruka nod their heads as they waste no time running over to the departure gates.
"Wait!" The bucket hat-wearing man suddenly shouted, causing Shu, Haruka, and Inori to stop and turn back to him. Much to their bewilderment, the three of them widen their eyes as they see him running back to the departure hall and into the line of fire.
"Where is he going?!" Shu shouted. They watch him going over to his luggage which he left behind at Row D while holding onto his bucket hat and dodging the bullets at the same time. As the man in black now reaches the center of the departure hall and fires his revolver back at the disguised officers, the bucket hat-wearing man quickly grabs the handle of his luggage, turns around, and drags it along with him while running back to the gates. The man in black briefly glares at the bucket hat-wearing man in annoyance before he turns his head to his left and sees eight more disguised officers armed with electric batons coming from the passport control area and running towards him. He lowers his gun and charges at them as he prepares to engage them in close combat.
"Are you kidding me?!" Haruka chided the bucket hat-wearing man as he regroups with her, Shu, and Inori.
"It's important!" The bucket hat-wearing man responded as the four now head over to the departure gates.
As they pass through the gates and step back into the entrance hall however, another gunshot was fired and Haruka screams in pain as she felt a bullet grazed across the skin of her left upper arm.
"Haruka!" Shu cried in horror as he, Inori and the man turn and see Haruka falling on her knees and grabbing her left arm in pain.
Inori narrows her eyes angrily as she looked back to the front and quickly spotted the source of the gunshot, which was another disguised officer armed with a sniper rifle and lying prone on top of a store at the right side of the entrance hall where they originally enter.
The disguised officer fires another shot, this time at Shu. Inori swiftly leaps to her right and catches the bullet with her left hand while in midair.
As the girl rolls over the floor and gets back up, the bucket hat-wearing man positions himself in front of Shu and Haruka and places his luggage in front of him.
"Get down!" The man shouted at Shu. The boy obliged and they both cower behind the luggage along with Haruka just as the disguised officer reloads his sniper rifle.
Now livid that her enemy had hurt Haruka and tried to do the same with Shu, Inori dashes towards the store where the disguised officer is at.
"Need backup!" The sniper said to his watch.
As Inori makes her way towards the sniper's location, six more disguised officers, who have been hiding inside the horizontal row of stores and eateries at the other side of the hall including the cafeteria, suddenly step out and fire their rifles at the girl.
Inori rolls over the floor, performs a cartwheel and does a somersault in midair to evade the shower of bullets as she continues making her way towards the sniper.
The sniper now fires another bullet at Inori, who dodges it by getting down on her knees, sliding through the floor and throwing back her head and entire upper body. After the bullet flew past and above her, she throws herself forward, rolls over the floor again, gets back up on her feet, and continues running over to her enemy's location.
While their enemies are distracted with her, the bucket hat-wearing man takes out a roll of bandage from his luggage and wraps it around the wound on Haruka's left upper arm.
"Thank goodness it didn't went through your flesh. It would suck to have a gaping hole on your body, right?" The bucket hat-wearing man chuckled at Haruka.
"Arigatou." Haruka said to the man with a nod. "Guess I was wrong to scold you back there."
"Who are you, sir?" Shu asked the man.
"Well…" The man tried to answer but was interrupted by another gunshot. He, Shu, and Haruka look back at Inori to see her nearly reaching the store where the sniper is hiding. After the pink-haired girl had dodged another gunshot from him, the sniper panicked and yelled at his watch, "Grenade! Now!"
One of the disguised officers stationed at the toy store next to the cafeteria quickly removes a safety pin and throws it over to the space between the sniper and Inori. As soon as the grenade lands on the ground, the sniper quickly turns around and runs over to the ceiling of the next store, and it explodes behind him and right in front of Inori.
"NOOOO!" Shu screamed in terror while Haruka and the bucket hat-wearing man drop their jaws.
The sniper turns around again and breathes heavily as he stares at the huge cloud of smoke. But just as he was about to let out a sigh of relief, Inori suddenly jumped out from the smoke and over to him. The sniper cried for less than a second before Inori landed a punch on his face in midair, sending him falling onto the top of the store on his back.
As soon as she lands back down on her feet, Inori whirls about and grabs the disguised officer by his hair. He yells in pain as she pulls him back up and turns him around. She throws two more punches across both his cheeks before pulling out his pistol from the pouch attached to the right side of his belt. After grabbing his collar and holding him up in the air, Inori turns to her right and tosses the sniper off the top of the building. The sniper screams helplessly as he falls to the ground below and lands face-first.
Inori flinched as the six disguised officers stationed in the stores at the other side of the entrance hall fired their rifles at her again. As the smoke clears up, Shu, Haruka and the bucket hat-wearing man could see Inori turning to the disguised officers, kneels on her left knee, and fires her pistol rapidly at them, successfully hitting them on their shoulders, arms and thighs and sending them falling to the floor in pain.
"She's good." The bucket hat-wearing man commented as he nods his head.
"Yeah. We played Call of Duty together." Shu said to the man with a smile, causing him to arch an eyebrow at the brown-haired boy.
However, the moment of relief was short-lived when another gunshot was fired, causing the man, Shu, and Haruka to flinch. They turn to their left and see three more disguised officers approaching them, with one of them holding up his pistol in the air and the other two aiming theirs at the civilians.
Inori turns back to her assets and gasps in shock upon seeing them in danger again. She was about to fire her pistol at the three disguised officers, when suddenly a harpoon stabbed through the right side of her back and out from the right side of her chest, causing her to scream in pain.
"Inori!" Shu cried to her in horror upon hearing her agonizing scream.
The line attached to the harpoon suddenly pulls Inori off the top of the store, and the girl finds herself slamming onto the floor below on her back. She continues groaning and wobbling in pain as the line continues pulling her back and over to a more muscular disguised security officer armed with a harpoon gun and standing near the drop off zone outside the entrance hall. He releases the trigger and stops the pulling when the girl is in front of his feet.
As Inori continues struggling in pain, a familiar bald and large-sized man walks over to her with his hands behind his back and two masked mercenaries walking alongside him with rifles.
"It's over. We have you now." The bald man spoke.
As he and the masked mercenaries now stand less than a meter away from the girl, Inori looks up and widens her eyes upon seeing the bald man in front of her.
"Guin." Inori uttered while breathing heavily.
"Inori Yuzuriha." Guin said. After listening to what he received from his earpiece, the masked mercenary on his right turned to his superior.
"Major Guin, the other unit has captured Shu and Haruka Ouma." The masked mercenary reported.
"Good." Guin nodded to him before turning to Inori, who groans and wobbles in pain again while glaring at them. He narrows his eyes at her as she seems to react strongly upon hearing the names of their targets.
"You seem to have feelings for the Oumas. Is that why my men have been spotting you walking alongside them?" Guin snorted. "To think that you have turned your back on us by siding with our enemies. You have shamed the legacy of Zouken Matou. But no matter. As we rebuild our glorious company, we will revert your memories back to the way they were, and you shall remember what you were meant to be."
"Ugh…" Inori grunted before asking Guin. "Meant to be what? Killers who bring countries to their knees?"
Guin continued glaring at her for a moment before looking up at the muscle-bound mercenary behind her, "Put her to sleep. She needs absolute rehabilitation."
"Yes sir." The mercenary replied. Upon hearing this, Inori widens her eyes and grits her teeth in pure rage as everything she and Shu had learnt from Kurosu was true after all. As the girl roars furiously at Guin, no longer caring about the pain as she wobbles once more, the muscle-bound mercenary pulls out a syringe from one of the pouches on his vest while holding onto his harpoon gun in his other hand. He bites onto the cover of the syringe, pulls it out, and spits it onto the floor. He looks back down at his struggling victim and prepares to bring the syringe down onto her right shoulder to silence her.
But suddenly in mid-swing, a dart flies over and stabs through the left shoulder of the muscle-bound mercenary, causing him to yelp and drop the syringe. Inori, Guin, and the other two mercenaries turn to the direction where the dart came from, and they see the man in black holding up his dart gun and standing alongside Shu, Haruka, and the bucket hat-wearing man in the distance.
"Shu!" Inori cried to him.
"Inori!" Shu responded.
"Fire!" Guin commanded. The two masked mercenaries place themselves in front of their superior, hold up their rifles, and aim at the man in black, who swiftly holds up his .44 Magnum revolver in his other hand and fires two bullets at them. They shot through their thighs, causing the mercenaries to yell and drop their rifles before falling to the floor in pain.
As Guin now widens his eyes and drops his jaw in horror while staring at the man in black, Inori quickly sits up and jabs her left elbow at the muscle-bound mercenary's left leg. As the mercenary drops his weapon and falls on his left knee, Guin quickly turns his head back to Inori, draws out his pistol, and aims it at the girl, only for the man in black to fire another bullet at his right hand with his revolver. As Guin yells, drops his gun, and grabs his right wrist in pain, Inori pulls the harpoon through her body until she sees the wire at the end of it. She grabs the wire with her right hand and pulls the harpoon to snap it before the mercenary behind her wraps his right arm around her neck.
Inori grabs his right wrist with her right hand, slowly pulls his arm away from her neck with all her strength and brings it down onto her right shoulder with a huge amount of force, making a sickening crack and causing the man to scream in agony. While Shu and Haruka watched in horror from a distance, Inori tosses the mercenary's broken arm away, gets up, turns around and stabs the harpoon in her left hand into his right shoulder. The mercenary lets out a yell until his head slumps to his left and passes out as the contents in the tranquilizer dart finally takes effect in his body. The girl releases her grip around the harpoon to let the man collapse onto the floor on his back.
Inori whirls about and glares icily at Guin, who gasps and widens his eyes in horror as he looks back at her. The man begins backing away from her, but Inori slowly approaches him as he does. The girl has nothing but blind rage and pure hatred towards her former superior. After years of being deceived that she was trained to become a peacekeeper, stripped of her freedom from the outside world, and needlessly enduring the pain and hardships from her vigorous training which cost the life of her former friend Gai, Inori wants nothing more for Guin to pay dearly for what he and the rest of Matou Industries have put her and her fellow patients through in that wretched facility. And since they all trained her to become the perfect killing machine, it only made sense for her to repay them with their own blood.
Inori suddenly lets out a furious roar as she now makes a mad dash towards him. As soon as Guin tries to turn around, Inori jumps up and wraps her legs around his neck. She turns around as they both fall to the floor together, and the bald man finds himself landing face-first and breaking the orange shades of his sunglasses at the same time. Inori removes her legs from Guin as she rolls herself back and gets up on her feet. As Guin struggles to get himself back up, Inori walks over to him, lowers herself to his level and roughly grabs him by his collar. The man yelps as the girl pulls him up and gets him to kneel. When Guin finds himself staring back at her, Inori proceeds to deliver a series of brutal punches across both sides of his head and face. She kept punching her former superior mercilessly, damaging his sunglasses and forming huge bruises of various sizes all over his face in the process. And as blood began trickling down both sides of Guin's head and lips, Inori bellows in rage as she delivers a final uppercut to the bottom of his chin, which sends the bald man falling to the floor on his back.
Inori breathes heavily as she gazes down at her victim, who moans in unbearable pain as he lays on the floor helplessly. Still not satisfied with the punishment she had brought upon him, she walks past the bald man and over to the muscle-bound mercenary she defeated earlier. After removing the harpoon from his right shoulder with her left hand, the girl turns around and walks back to Guin. Through his swollen eyelids, the bald man groans in horror as he sees the girl now standing above him with the harpoon in her left hand. With a cold glare, Inori turns her weapon around to have its tip pointing downwards. She lifts it high up in the air for a few seconds, and the girl lets out another yell as she prepares to bring it down onto Guin's forehead and finish him once and for all.
However, she was stopped mid-swing when a person came out of nowhere from her left and held his hand tightly around her left lower arm. Inori growls as she turns to her left to find Shu now standing right beside her. The girl roars furiously at him as she tries to break free from Shu's grip, but the boy never let go as he held her firmly. Angered by her superior's refusal to allow her to kill Guin, the pink-haired girl continued bellowing at him until she finally notices the pleading eyes on his face a few seconds later. Although Shu stayed silent, Inori could tell just from his expression that he was telling her to spare his life and not walk down the path that they wanted her to take. Realizing her mistake, Inori widens her eyes as her breathing began to slow down, and all the rage and anger that was once boiling inside her has faded away.
Feeling that she had calmed down, Shu carefully removes the harpoon from her hand. After tossing the weapon aside, Shu releases her arm and places his hands on her shoulders as he turns her body to get her to face him. When the boy gives a wan smile to her, Inori responds by pursing her lips and nodding her head back to him.
Their moment of silence was quickly interrupted when Haruka, the man in black and the bucket hat-wearing man run over to them.
"The military will be here at any minute. Let's go!" The man in black said to Shu and Inori before running towards the nearest bridge to the car park building. Shu and Inori glance at each other before they, Haruka, and the bucket hat-wearing man, who is still dragging his luggage along with him, follow the man in the black hoodie from behind.
As Guin lies where he is and turns his head to his left to cough some blood onto the floor, several dark green trucks and jeeps drive up the drop off zone. As soon as the vehicles came to a halt, multiple soldiers armed with rifles got off from the back of the trucks and entered the airport. Some of them surround the mercenaries who are still lying on the floor in pain or unconscious while many others rush past them and Guin and over to the stores and departure hall to rescue any civilians and apprehend the disguised officers who were taken down by Inori and the two men earlier.
"Freeze! Don't move!" One soldier shouted as he and two others point their rifles at the two masked mercenaries on the floor.
"Angkat tanganmu ke atas!" Another soldier yelled at Guin as he and three other soldiers surround and aim their rifles at him. Knowing that he has no way out and lost sight of his objective, Guin stays on the floor as he now rolls his tongue inside his mouth. An officer dressed in a red beret and black bulletproof vest walks over to Guin's side and looks down at him.
"Who are you?! And why have you terrorized this place?!" The officer demanded Guin.
Guin did not speak however as he bit something inside his mouth. Within seconds, huge amounts of saliva foamed out of the bald man's mouth as he gurgles and rolls his eyes back, much to the surprise of the officer and his men. The same thing also happens to the other three mercenaries lying on the floor, and their bodies soon go rigid. The soldiers kneel to place their hands on the sides of their necks.
"There's no pulse, sir." The soldier kneeling beside Guin said to the officer. "He's dead."
"Major, come in!"
The officer answers his radio attached to the right top side of his vest, "What is it?"
"All the terrorists in our area…they seem to have committed suicide."
"Understood." The officer said before signing off. He looks down at Guin and sighs disappointingly.
The man in black burst through the door when he, Shu, Inori, Haruka, and the bucket hat-wearing man reach the top of the stairs and arrive at the highest floor of the car park building. They all go over to a black Cadillac Escalade SUV that is parked just a few meters in front of them and take a moment to look around their surroundings to make sure no one else is around. After confirming the coast is clear, they all take a breather before looking back at each other.
"Who are you? And why did you help us?" Shu asked the man in black.
The man stares quietly at everyone in front of him for a few moments before deciding to reveal his true identity. He first grabs the sides of his hood and pulls it back. Next, he removes the white cap to let his shoulder length dark blonde hair flow freely down at the sides and back of his head with several strands hanging and covering over his right eye. Inori gasps softly as she recognized the man standing before her and her superiors.
The man opens his eyelids to reveal his pupils are black, and after tossing the cap aside, he unzips his black hoodie and pulls its sides to show that underneath it, he has been wearing a white short-sleeved button-down shirt with a wide brown horizontal stripe and a thin yellow horizontal stripe across the top of it, and a black tie around its collar. He tosses his hoodie aside and strokes his hair.
"It's you." Inori murmured.
"My name is Ricky Blade." The man introduced himself. "I was assigned by my organization to go to Bali and find the former human experiment known as Inori Yuzuriha before anyone from Matou Industries does."
"What?!" Haruka cried as she and Shu widened their eyes in shock. "Matou Industries?! But I thought they were permanently shut down back in 2017?"
"We thought so too. But our organization discovered that for the last five years, its remnants have been regrouping and rebuilding their company. They are slowly re-emerging as a threat to our peace and stability, and it is our mission to hunt them and their former human experiments down." Ricky explained.
"Wait, what? Who exactly are you people? What is this organization you're talking about?" Haruka inquired.
"And who are these remnants you speak of?" Shu added.
"We are an organization who hides in the shadows while keeping peace and stability around the world. One of our greatest enemies is Matou Industries, founded by the now deceased Zouken Matou. Not only were they responsible for creating a dangerous serum known as Od, but also abducting innocent children around the world and turning them into living weapons which they can sell to other dangerous organizations and regimes. In 2017, my team and I invaded their main hideout in Germany. Zouken Matou was eliminated, and two of its former members, Sakura Matou and Kirei Kotomine, assisted us in shutting down all other facilities around the world that were owned by them."
"It's true." Inori said, causing Shu, Haruka, Ricky, and the bucket hat-wearing man to turn to her. "I remember you. You are one of the people who intruded our…their facility in Bautzen."
"So, you do know who I am." Ricky said calmly to Inori before continuing his explanation. "We thought we had put a permanent end to them. But we were wrong. There are still former employees out there whom we fail to find and apprehend during the process of the shutdown of all their secret facilities. And now, they are regrouping and restarting their mission in achieving Zouken Matou's so-called vision of bringing peace and order throughout the world. One of their ways to accomplish that is by hunting down the former human experiments whom we freed from their main hideout seven years ago, including Inori. But our organization is dedicated to shutting them down once more. And we won't rest until we hunt down every single one of these former employees."
Haruka hesitated for a moment before asking Ricky, "These former employees you fail to find and apprehend…does one of them happen to be…Shuichiro Keido?"
"Yes." Ricky nodded, causing Haruka and Shu to flinch and frown as they lowered their heads. "In fact, following Zouken's death, he is one of the most senior figures leading Matou Industries now."
"It's true…he is still alive." Shu said grimly.
"I assume you don't hold him in high regard." Ricky said.
"Y-yes." Shu responded as he and Haruka looked back at him in surprise. "How do you-"
"You're both Shu and Haruka Ouma. Son and wife of the late Kurosu Ouma. Step-nephew and sister of Shuichiro Keido." Ricky said. "We know about you two. We know everyone who worked in their main hideout seven years ago. And we know you are both housing Inori Yuzuriha. That is why I have been following you since yesterday, Shu." He turned and frowned at Inori. "Because I was waiting for the right opportunity to bring Inori in."
"Bring her in for what?!" Shu cried at him as he quickly held his arm up in front of Inori. "She has done nothing wrong!"
"I know she hasn't." Ricky said to Shu as he momentarily held his hands up. "But unfortunately, as long as the remnants of Matou Industries are still around, we cannot let her roam around in public."
"What are you planning to do to her after taking her in?" Shu narrows his eyes at him.
"We will do what we have been doing to every former human experiment we found for the last seven years. Bring her to our facility. Keep her there. Take good care of-"
"Sounds similar to what my bastard step-uncle and his lackies did to her in their own facility! You're no better than them!" Shu snapped.
"You don't understand!" Ricky shouted back as he walked over to Shu and stood right in front of him. "These former experiments have already lost a part of their humanity as soon as they were injected with the Od Serum!" Shu, Haruka, and Inori stare wordlessly at him while Ricky glares right into the boy's eyes. There was a moment of silence among them before the dark blonde-haired man continued, "Inori here may act normal within your presence now, but the moment these bastards get a hold of her, she will attack both you and Haruka without hesitation. I know this because I have seen other human weapons like her attacking their loved ones throughout my time in the organization. It's as if they do not recognize the people they are attacking when their minds are being controlled. And while they can break free of their control if they fight hard enough, the possibility of that is still random at best. That is why we have no choice but to label them as a threat until we can find an antidote to the Od Serum. Sadly, we still haven't found one after seven years, even with the assistance of Kirei Kotomine. But I promise that while she is under our custody, we will keep helping and protecting her until our last breath."
Shu stayed silent and stared at the floor for a few moments before looking back up at Ricky with his eyes narrowed. "But putting her in a facility where she may never experience the outside world again is not the way. She isn't some lab rat placed in a cage. She's still a human being! You may think she has lost a part of her humanity, but during our time together, she is still capable of doing so many things that a normal person would do. Before my father died, his dying wish for Inori is to have her live her life free and normal, and Haruka and I are going to continue helping her achieve that. And we will certainly not let her be used and contained by anyone again, including you and your organization!" Shu yelled.
"Shu…" Inori said softly as she and Haruka stared at Shu.
"And how exactly are you going to do that?" Ricky asked flatly. "Face it. The people at Matou Industries aren't just hunting Inori. They are hunting you and Haruka as well because you both have ties with Keido. We know full well how dangerous they are. No matter where you go next. No matter how much you think you've isolated yourself from the whole world, they will always find you. You, Haruka, and Inori have nowhere to hide. We are the only ones who can keep you all safe. So please, let us take Inori in. Let us help each other."
Shu shakes his head. "No. I can't."
"Then what other option do you have?!" Ricky shouted in frustration.
Shu lowers his head as he ponders for a moment. That is until the bucket hat-wearing man decided to speak.
"Actually, I think there is another option." The man said, causing Shu, Inori, Haruka, and Ricky to turn to him. "I know a place where we can take Inori to. A place where she'll be safe from Matou Industries forever, while also living free as a normal person."
"Really?" Shu asked the man with his eyes widened with anxiety.
"I'm sorry. Who are you?" Ricky asked frowning.
The man proceeds to remove his bucket hat to reveal his messy black hair. He also removes his sunglasses to reveal his black pupils and keeps them in the pocket of his pants. He takes out another pair of glasses shortly after and rests them on his nose and ears. When he is done, he lowers his right arm and gives a warm smile to everyone.
"My name is Darren Leong. And I want you all to hear me out."
Sovereign: I would like to thank LayLay lives and Darth Necron for reviewing. Thank you!
Both Ricky Blade and Darren Leong are OCs of mine, and they first appeared as main characters of two of my previous stories, Dangerous Losers and Dawn of Arcadia. I know there are readers who have problems seeing OCs in fan fictions, but I hope you will give them a chance.
Also, this chapter is dedicated to EGOIST, who recently announced their disbandment by October this year. The news saddens me as I've grown to love their music since Guilty Crown was first aired on television and would go on to make music for Psycho-Pass, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, and Fate/Apocrypha as well. And, if it also weren't for them, they would have never provided the beautiful character design of Inori Yuzuriha that we know of today. Thank you, EGOIST, for your amazing contributions to the music and anime industries.