Chapter 61: Calm Down, Makoto! The Black Fox of Massacre unveils itself! Time for me to knock some sense back into both my rampaging Kouhai, and my kind Senpai!
*ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!*
A deafening bestial roar echoed throughout the entire forest or what was nearly left of one. The trees and the ground were scared by the large jagged scars of what appears to claw marks. Through the shadows of the night were nine large tails that slammed into the beaten ground and created a chain of quakes that threatened to split open the ground.
The beast's sheer size was giant; it could easily shake the ground with just a single step. As its nine midnight black tails swayed behind it as it growled in a vicious fashion. Raising its head in front of the illuminating moon, the giant Midnight-Black nine-tailed Fox released an ear shrilling roar once more,
*ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!*
From far away deep within the remnants of the woods was the entire Occult Research Club looking yonder at the fox in disbelief. Things had changed so quickly that no one knew how to react to this new development in store for them. Whether to act and stop the beast or just retreat due to sheer power and size the beast had over them.
"N-Ngh…! M-Makoto-chan…" Natsuru winced as she tried to get up but stopped because of the sharp pain that her wounds were giving her. Gladly, she was getting healed by Asia at Michael's request even though it was much to the charging of everyone else who didn't want their enemy to be helped.
"Natsu-nee…" Kiyome worriedly watched Natsuru by her side and held her hand, then she looked out to see the large fox, "And Makoto-chan…why? Why did it have to come to this?"
Standing ahead, Michael glared at the giant fox and cracked his knuckles, "I don't know how things escalated this quickly, but I'm not going to let you stew up in your own self-pity forever, Makoto."
(Flashback)
Everything happened so fast. None of this was supposed to happen. Things were just finally starting to end, but it seems that this was just the beginning for something unbelievably devastating.
*ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!*
The shadow of a giant nine tailed fox towered over everyone. Just a second ago it was the once shy Makoto Abe, and now he forcibly transformed into a dangerous looking transformation. The traumatic sight of his sister being hurt in front of him made him go ballistic and warped his entire being into a feral monster filled with rage and the taste for mayhem.
Rias and Kiba were stunned and couldn't react until the laughing of the hooded woman caught all of their attentions, especially the furious nine-tailed fox's. She was in the midst of a scary monster and was laughing like she didn't have a care in the world. She was a madwoman.
"Teeheehee…Kahahahahaha! That's right, run rampant! Use whatever you can to fuel your craving for destruction! Hatred, Sorrow, Dread, and the pain of your loved ones getting hurt and killed! Use that to tear down anything in your path! Kahahahahaha!"
Her laughing was cut short when the shadow of a large clawed hand overshadowed her body.
"Eh?"
*SLAAAAAAAM!*
"Kyaaaaaaaa! W-What? Me?" The hooded woman shrieked once the large hand smashed her lower body and completely destroyed her legs. Her winces of pain were casted aside once she saw the fierce deep glare of the monstrous nine-tailed fox. Its golden eyes were piercing into her very being, she didn't try to resist or scream for help all she did was giggle that immature laugh of hers and embraced the eventual release of death.
"Me? You really want to me to be the first one that you destroy? You really are a sweet child, Makoto-chan! Gurgh…!" She coughs out a lungful of bile and blood as she looks up at the nine-tailed fox, however, all she saw instead was a deep abyss of darkness, "Thank you for the honor of letting me be the catalyst for releasing all of that hate for you, and thank you for choosing me to be the first to die at your hands! Makoto-chan~! Makoto-chan! Unlike Nat-Nat, you truly were the better kit-!"
*CHOMP!* *RIIIIIIP!* *GULP!*
*ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!*
She was bitten and torn in half by Makoto's sharp teeth as he roared after dealing with the main leading cause of his anger. But that wasn't enough to appease him anymore, nothing would be enough to stop him now. Stomping around and creating tremors, he was slowly bringing the island to its ruination.
"Is this really Makoto-kun?" Rias grunted, the tremors and roars were enough to sweep her away.
"Buchou!" Kiba cried and leapt out after her.
The vibrations each of his roars made pushed those on the ground away. Being thrown up in the air, both Rias and Natsuru were completely helpless due to their injuries because of their battle. Luckily for Rias, Kiba was able to catch her but Natsuru wasn't so fortunate to have someone to help her.
"GUUUUUUUUUTS!"
[Jet!]
A loud shout coming from the woods along with a Scale Male cladded Michael used the jet boosters on his back to make it pass the trees and into Natsuru's unresponsive falling body. Catching her in his arms and landing, he smiles, "Don't worry, senpai! I gotcha! Now where is Mako-Oh my Maou! What the flip is that!?"
'Michael-kun…' Natsuru thought through her aching stupor.
"Michael-kun?" Kiba gasped.
"Pretty Boy, and Buchou! How's Buchou doing is she okay?" Michael screamed.
"Don't worry. I was able to heal some of her wounds." Kiba said.
"Michael…" Rias smiled comfortably when she rolled her head to face Michael.
"I'm glad you're okay…" Michael smiled back, but paused when he heard Makoto's roaring one more time,
"And what exactly is that thing!?"
"That was Makoto-kun! When he saw that Natsuru was hurt he morphed into that beast form!" Kiba shouted.
"Seriously? I was told that he was taken by this powerful cloaked lady who was off of her rocker! By the way where is she?"
"Urh…Makoto-kun sort of…" Kiba subtly slid his finger across his throat.
"Seriously? He did that? Damn…I mean was it quick or did he just?" Michael looked down to see the remains of what appeared to be the crushed lower half of some poor sucker.
"Woah…that's downright brutal…" Michael's inhaled sharply.
*ROOOOOOOOOOOOAR!*
The Nine tailed beast wasn't at all satisfied with the death of the person who forced out his rage. It raised its large clawed hand again to squash another would be victim.
"Take cover!"
*DOOOOOOOOOOOON!*
The earth literally blew apart from the single swing of the large hand's sheer weight and strength.
"If he just literally tore a guy in two, then wouldn't it be hard to reason with him like this?" Michael questioned.
"Not just that we also have Buchou's wounds, they may be somewhat healed but they can open up if we tried to stand our ground here." Kiba said.
"Then let's go back to the others!" Michael shouted.
*SHRIIIIIIIEK!*
"What now?" Michael gasped when he heard the growing noise of energy charging form Makoto's beast form. Its head was tilted back with its mouth wide open as a huge mass of Ki was forming into a gigantic mass of pure energy in the shape of a spherical orb.
"I believe we should leave immedia-! Buchou? Wha-! Michael-kun!"
[JET!]
*WHOOSH!*
When Kiba saw his arms empty he saw Michael carrying Rias on his back and Natsuru in his arms as he opened his dragon wings and took off into the sky.
"Way ahead of you, Pretty Boy!" Michael screamed as he took it upon himself to get farther away with Rias and Natsuru in hand. Concerned with Rias' safety he decided to take her with him and left Kiba to run without any extra weight hindering his speed.
Kiba would have made a remark, but saw the power that Makoto was charging was becoming more and more pressurized and quite deadly looking. His feet dug into the ground then rocketed him off through the woods in top speed. By the time he was looking back the large form of the Nine-tailed fox was beginning to shrink in the distance.
In the air, Michael looked back to see the nine-tailed fox slowly angle its head downward towards the forest. The sphere of purely condensed power was shakily being adjusted right in front of the woods. He was planning to aim it at Kiba!
"Pretty Boy! Watch out!"
*BWOOOOOOOOOOSH!*
The sphere busted open like a water balloon and released all of its stored energy to tear through anything that stood as an obstacle. The blast radius was ganging up to Kiba, who was farther ahead from the nine-tailed fox. The reach and sheer power of the attack was extraordinary.
Kiba's eyes widened at the warning, his body reflexively moving out of the way just as the attack came his way.
*KaBOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*
"That surely would have killed me if I didn't take heed of Michael-kun's warning!" Kiba stood up and was still for a few moments before running off again.
"I can't stand here to watch it happen again. I shouldn't push my luck and stay as a sitting target."
"Incredible…that was so awesome! Did you see that? He literally just blew up a part of the island! Oh my Maou! That is so hard!"
Michael watched in awe at the sheer power that Makoto had when he just literally destroyed a piece of land on the island. It was just gone, nothing remained after that wave of Ki hit it.
*Grrrrrrrrrrrr~!*
The fox turned its head to look at Michael after his screaming caught its attention.
"Dammit! I mean, hey, Makoto! How's it going, buddy? I see you've changed something about yourself? Ah, I see it's your hair! I get it, so why don't you turn back to normal and-!"
*SHRIIIIIIIIIEK!*
Another sphere of Ki was charging up to be fired at him.
"Aw, shit…should have seen this one coming! Ddraig!" Michael cried as he gave the control over the Scale Male's wings to Ddraig.
[Got it, and It would be a lot faster if you knew how to fly aerodynamically yourself!]
"I only know how to go up, down and forward! You know how much I suck at using these things, Ddraig, you were there! Ever since I got these wings I've been all over the place!"
[You're always been all over the place with the rocket boosters on your back!]
"I-I meant intentionally! I can barely use my devil wings, let alone, these dragon ones like everyone else!"
Michael flies off as fast he could as Makoto fires another large wave of Ki into the sky. By Diving into the forest he narrowly avoids it and flies within what was left of the woods for better cover. But that didn't stop the berserking fox as it just rapidly fired less powerful but still very destructive blast of Ki through the forest for the sheer thrill of destruction.
Meeting up with Michael halfway to the clearing where everyone resided, Kiba said, "We managed to make it."
"Of course, we did! With my great efforts that attack was a piece of cake to dod-!"
Michael would have gloated but Ddraig interrupted him.
[By the way, if you couldn't fly all that well with your wings why didn't you use your flying nimbus your master gave to you? Think about that…process it…and…have fun relishing the thought…]
"…" Michael was silent at first.
Kiba began to say something about their situation, "Erh…Michael-ku-?"
"Oh, that Red-Scaled, Smart-mouthed, cold-blooded, conniving, MOTHER FUUUU-!"
(Present)
Arriving just when everyone was completely healed, both Michael and Kiba returned with Rias and much to everyone's dismay Natsuru except for Kiyome who ran to her side. With another person to heal, Asia rushed over to Rias as Michael asked Raynare for help to keep Natsuru from dying by using magic to heal the fatal the wound.
Raynare was reluctant at first and wanted to deny the request to heal the woman who kidnapped Michael, but a desperate request from him wasn't something she could so easily turn down. So she begrudgingly ended up with giving him a hand in keeping her alive just long enough for Rias' wounds to be completely healed so that Asia could tend to her.
Taking a break herself, Koneko was catching her breathe after supporting the healing process that everyone went through. She wasn't that proficient with using her senjutsu yet, so she was admittedly a little inexperienced with handling it for way too long. Rias was surprised to see the nekomata finally using her powers and chose to remain quiet about bringing it up for now despite being so proud of her.
"Hey."
"…?"
Shirou stood next to Koneko and patted her head.
"Good job with helping everyone get better…and I'm glad that you were able to get pass that fear of yours." Shirou looked away, but sounded very considerate.
The only thing that Koneko said was, "Thanks, Tsundere."
"Goddammit, I am not a Tsundere!" Shirou growled.
"Tsun-Tsun~!" Michael sang.
"Dammit, Michael!"
*ROOOOOOOOOAR!*
*CRASH!* *CRASH!* *CRASH!* *CRASH!*
Firing another barrage of blasts, the nine-tailed fox obliterated more masses of land on the island. So far the group was able to stay safe because of Makoto's tantrum being too out of control and unpredictable with his attacks as they were reaching farther and farther away from them. His rage was blinding his insight to sense any life forms around him.
The Occult Research club was now given the time they needed to think about their next course of action.
"At this rate the island won't hold up for much longer." Akeno says watching the mayhem the beast was instilling upon the small piece of land they were on.
Rias, who was back to about substantial strength because of Asia's healing, agreed and crossed her arms while looking behind herself to see Kiba crouched over a magic circle, "Are we able to use magic circles as transportation with no more hindrances?"
"Yes, it appears that he destroyed whatever it was that interfered with them from before." Kiba said out loud.
"Good, we'll be leaving once its fully ready." Rias evaluated the situation and found it is high time that they evacuate.
"W-Wait!" Natsuru stifled a cry of pain and sat up.
"N-No, you're still not fully healed yet…" Asia tried to heal her but Natsuru forced herself up to look Rias in the eye.
Rias looked back and the imposing look she gave her created tension, "What do you want?"
Kiyome found that Natsuru was biting her lower lip in frustration and pride at first. She could tell that what she wanted to ask would go against everything she stood for before. She literally just fought these devils and now she was about ask for them after her shameful defeat. But the request she made, caused her to understand why Natsuru was casting aside pride.
"P-Please…you can't leave yet. You have to…h-help me calm down, Makoto-chan." Natsuru bowed her head as her lower lip began to bleed, "Please, he's my cherished little brother and the only one I have left! I just need someone to help tire him out then I can just try to reason with him to come back! The last time this happened, I barely managed to turn him back myself! If he stays like this, then he'll! He'll-!"
This request sounded true and sincere, but the person who asked of it didn't bode well with a few of the club member.
"Do you really expect us to help you after everything you've done?"
"Y-You hurt Buchou and Michael-nii, that is reason enough to know not to trust anything you have to say."
"Michael-sama already showed you mercy by bringing you here to be healed. Don't push your luck."
"…We were put through a lot because of you…"
Xenovia, Gasper, Raynare and Koneko stated their disapproval. Kiyome wanted to defend her sister but knew they had legitimate reasons to be mad. She noticed that everyone else besides them were silent, they too were wearing looks of not wanting to help Natsuru, but they left the decision for Rias to make.
Crossing her arms with a decision made, Rias said, "I understand how hard this much be for you. Bowing your head to your enemy and being filled with shame knowing that you had to ask them for their help. But this isn't about you anymore, it's about Makoto now isn't it? I respect how much your love for your brother has gotten you to cast all of your personal feelings aside to be loyal to him. But…" Rias narrowed her eyes and talked very calm yet spiteful,
"The damage you've done has not only affected, but my servants as well. You threatened to steal not just Michael away from me, but also my security, my confidence and my trust in my friends. To possibly even think about lending you help is out of the question and I hope you can understand that."
"Natsu-nee…" Kiyome watched as her sister slowly broke down.
"…" Natsuru lowered her head in disappointment. It was true though, all of those heinous acts were finally catching up with her, and the thought of failing to protect her brother made her once confident and cold demeanor break down into tears.
"Hey, what do you get when you mix the colors red and blue together?" Michael asked.
"Magenta." Shirou answered.
Raising her head, Natsuru and everyone else saw Michael and Shirou discussing something while standing in the direction of the rampaging Makoto.
"Magenta, huh? That's a lame color name and too long. Isn't there another color we could use for an attack like that?"
"Fine, purple will just do then. But what about his tails, we need a way to keep them down or else they will be swatting us down like flies."
"Hmmmm…! I got it! Maybe we could use something sharp to pin them down!" Michael snapped his fingers.
"Something sharp? Sorry, but I only have the one spear."
"Shoot! Then-wait a minute you have a flipping spear too!?" Michael gasped.
"Yeah, it's a spear, but it also works like a halberd. It's called Uberlegen." Shirou explained.
"That doesn't sound Japanese, what does it mean?" Michael asked.
"Well, I looked it up and it's German for…"
"Excuse me, Michael and Shirou." Getting in between their conversation, Rias asked, "Just what is it you two are doing?"
"Oh, Buchou! Did you know Shirou has a spear with his sacred gear and-!"
"Not that. What are you about to do?" Rias reiterated.
Michael points behind at Makoto's large beast body and grinned, "I'm going to help Natsuru-senpai and turn Makoto back to normal."
"Eh!?" Everyone was shocked save for Shirou who stood there and nodded in agreement. Out of everyone, Natsuru probably had to be the most shocked with Rias right behind her. Looking around at everyone's priceless expressions, Michael shrugged,
"What?"
"Michael-sama, you don't have to help her. She pretty much had all of this coming."
"Exactly. She kidnapped you and Shirou while she deeply injured, Buchou."
"Baka-senpai, just leave her be, she doesn't deserve your kindness."
Both Xenovia and Raynare tried to get through to Michael as Koneko somewhat felt some spite towards Natsuru because of both kidnapping him and being pushed into using sage arts because of the environment around them being influenced by Natsuru.
"Kidnapped?" Michael asked, but then he laughed it off,
"Don't worry, I'm not kidnapped anymore and Buchou is fine, see?"
"That still doesn't justify what she's done. Aren't you the least bit angry after what she did?" Akeno asked as Michael looked at Natsuru for a second before smiling, the only answer that doesn't need words to figure out.
"But why?" Natsuru was speechless.
"Because before you said you didn't feel anything at all for the wrong things you've done. But look! You're here worried for your brother while asking for help. Not to mention that Kiyome-senpai came all the way here because she was in denial that you wouldn't do all of this horrible stuff. You could have faked being a lovable sister to her but you didn't. In the end, you can't feel nothing if you show love to those that are precious to you. In the end, you have to feel something because having nothing to feel is really like having no motivation to do or love anything."
"M-Michael-kun…" Natsuru gasped in surprise.
"That's what I believe anyways." Michael laughed, "So I'll help you as payment for being such a nice senior for me like Buchou, Akeno-senpai and Kiyome-senpai."
"T-Thank you…" Natsuru had to lower her head to hide some tears of gratitude.
"No problem! Just make sure to apologize for what you've done later. You may be my upperclassman, but you're not getting off the hook that easily!" Michael then thought, 'Wow, I never thought that I would be the one saying that.'
[Don't worry, you'll probably hear that said to you soon enough.]
'Grrr!' Michael growled at the dragon in his head.
"Michael."
"Hm?" Michael turns around to face Rias who tapped on his shoulder.
"Are you really okay with doing this?"
"Well…" Michael knew Rias stood by what she said before, and didn't want to get involved with any of Natsuru's personal affairs. But he knew from her tone of voice that she was completely neutral about him doing what he thought was right.
Straightening up, he nodded, "Yes. All of you don't have to necessarily fight if you don't want to. I can handle it with Shirou since he agreed to help."
"And why do you want to help so suddenly? Aren't you mad about being captured, too?" Rias turned to face Shirou.
"Oh, I am mad! But I would be even more mad at myself if I left to finish my job while a kid had stay like that. Trust me, it ain't pretty going on a rampage with all of those bad emotions swirling around your head." Shirou scratched his cheek.
"…" This took Michael a moment to process, "Eh? Why should we trust you about this have you ev-?"
"Not important, Mike!"
"Okay…" Michael trailed off, "But I'll find out someday, and when I do…"
"What was that?" Shirou gave him the stink eye.
"Nothing…" Michael looked away, "For now…"
*WHAM!*
"Ow!"
"Just because you say it to yourself the first time doesn't mean I won't hear the second time, dumbass." Shirou groaned before turning back to Rias.
"And look we just can't leave this kid here like this. And besides, I'm having second thoughts about putting him down when he finishes destroying this place to do the same to your territory, Rias-sama. Just thinking ahead is all I can do to avoid the extra trouble." Shirou scratched the back of his head.
"All right then. I won't stop you two. Just be careful." Rias consented to their plans to tire out Makoto.
"Don't worry, you can count on us, Rias!" Michael gave a thumbs up, "And it might be too early to say this, but after this is done let's try to recreate our first date, okay?"
"I can't believe you would even say that now, idiot…" Rias may have looked a little flustered and tried to sound serious, but the blushing smile she wore spoke the truth about how she would love for that to happen.
"M-Michael-nii, are you really going to face Makoto?" Gasper came up to him a little worried.
*BONK!*
"Ouch…" Gasper received a light hit to the head.
"Have faith in me Gasper! And remember to keep track of my guts out there! Men should always give it their all when faced with situations like this! Not to mention I have my goggl-! Grgh!"
Michael pulled his hair by accident, and instantly fell into depression.
*SLAM!*
Hitting a nearby tree trunk, he lowered his head and mumbled, "That's right I don't have it any more…Vali blew it up…"
"Vali? The hell is a Vali, and what are you even talking about?" Shirou was up to date with what was going on in Michael's head.
"Nothing, I'll tell you more about him later. Let's just do this!" Michael cheers himself up and stands by Shirou.
[Dragon Booster!]
*GIN!*
"About Goddamn time! Grand Chariot!"
[Welsh Dragon Balance Breaker!]
*ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!*
Two flashes of red and blue aura brightened the night darkened clearing and out came from it the two now donning their respective dragon armors. Michael in red and Shirou in Blue, both young men were ready to get back in the game.
"Michael-kun, be careful." Kiyome worriedly said.
"Thanks, but being careful will just hold back my greatness, so I'll be back before you know it!" Michael chuckled.
"Hey, you ready?" Shirou knocked on Michael's armored shoulder.
*FLAP!* *FLAP!*
Unfurling his wings, Michael heartily growled,
"Time to show my guts!"
The two took off to brave the destructive capabilities that Makoto was inflicting upon the island. Taking the air, Michael soared through the air with his dragon wings and his rocket boosters. On land, Shirou's top notch speed was able to give Michael a run for his money as he gallivanted leaps and distances that cut the distance between him and Makoto in half.
Watching the epic scene, Kiyome still wondered whether she should be okay with Michael's phrasing of his answer to her question.
"That doesn't reassure me, should that reassure me?" Kiyome whispered to Asia.
"It's just Michael-san's way of saying he'll come back." Asia's smile was the one to reassure her, but she needed to ask another question.
"But will he come back in one piece?" Kiyome looked to Xenovia.
"Overthinking it won't help. Michael will be fine and he has Shirou to help him, so things will probably end well for them." Xenovia said.
"I hope so…"
XXX
In the air, as Michael soared through the cool night air, he took the high road to bombard and surprise Makoto with attack and blasts of power whenever he lets his guard down. With a magic circle appearing next to his ear, he received a call from Shirou, who was taking the low road and confronting Makoto on land.
His role was much easier as he would be receiving the most heat from the nine-tailed fox's destructive attacks with little range to dodge them. His small size and maneuverability will play an important part in his attempts to tire out the raging fox.
"So what's the plan?" Shirou said from his side of the communication line.
"Plan? Aren't we just going to knock him out?" Michael asked.
"Not the overall plan. The battle plan!"
"Right! Okay, here's the plan. Here we go…its coming and you should be ready for it, and…" Michael was stalling.
"You don't actually have a plan do you, asshole!?" Shirou saw that he was stalling.
"Sure I do. Its, uh… look here is how my plan will go. You distract by smacking him around with your lance and quick hits. He'll be too overwhelmed by your speed that he will be slow to react and attack you. While you still distract him, I'll come in with a huge fire ball that will proceed to push into the ground and destroy the ground below him. Now break!"
"Hold on. I'm actually quite surprised you thought up a great plan, but how big of a fire ball are we talking about here? The size of a person, a truck?"
"About the size of a building."
"Ah, I see. Also how do you think you can manage to avoid hitting me while I still hold him off, retard!?" Shirou growled.
"That's why I leave the rest in your hands, Shi-rou."
"No, no, no, no! I'm literally making the plan this time! With no help or any extra ideas, you want to include! First you bombard the fox with demonic bullets of magic, he'll get too distracted by you in the sky. Then that's where I come in, he won't be mobile if his tails are pinned to the ground. When he becomes a sitting duck, then that will be the time to unload all of our attacks on him!" Shirou explained the plan, "You get it?"
"Yeah, but how come I have to be the distraction?"
"Because if he destroys anymore of the island, then we'll probably be forced to fight him in an area too close to the town. If he runs out of things to destroy then he'll search for more and a city filled with humans is plenty enough to destroy for this thing." Shirou said.
"Got it!" Michael was convinced as he remembered about his friends who lived in Kuoh town and finally realized the stakes in this battle.
"I'm going in." Michael finished his communication through the magic circle and began to form to orbs of demonic power in his hands as he loomed over the rampaging nine tailed beast.
"Hey, Makoto! Up here!"
*BWOOOOO-!*
"Nuh-uh! Not in my house!"
*DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!*
Michael shouted just loud enough for the nine tailed fox to react. The first thing it did when it caught sight of him was forming another deadly blast of ki at him. Good thing, Michael instantly fired an unrelenting barrage of magic bullets in time before the attack finished. The magic blast volleys initially interrupted the blast's charging process, but it wasn't enough to damage Makoto's large body as he just felt irritated by the rapid blasts.
"Now." Picking up the pace, Shirou finally managed to get in close enough to the beast without getting detected yet. He suppressed his presence so that he wouldn't be so easily caught. Catching sight of the nine tails being left motionless by the bombarded fox, Shirou rushed into action and jumped just high enough in the air from out of the fox's range of view.
"Materialize: Uberlegen!" Forming a dark blue spear-like halberd through his Grand Chariot, Shirou spin the spear around in his hand and stops as he prepares to throw the spear into the middle tailed between the other 8 fox tails.
"Haaaaaah!"
*Don!*
*ROOOOOOOOOARS!*
The spear was thrown, but the tails were gone by the time he threw it. Noticing that something was off, he found out that the fox had finally taken notice of him and spun around with its tails ready to slam into him.
Using magic to call back his halberd into his hand, Shirou uses the shaft of the weapon to guard the incoming swing of nine tails. Little did he know of the true power needed to swing all of them at once!
"Shit!"
*WHAAAAAM!* *CRASH!* *CRASH!* CRASH!* *CRASH!*
The tails made impact and sent him flying and crashing through the ground before he lands in a crater that he created with his own body. Getting up on a knee and balancing on the halberd, Shirou struggled to stand up after getting hit like that. The sudden blow rattled his head so much that his vision was getting all shaky.
'Damn, this thing was able to sense me at the last minute. His sensitivity to detecting presences that are completely concealed is impressive, this transformation of his is bringing out so much his potential. I can only wonder what kind of mastery of sage arts he'll have when he's older…no, I can't be thinking about that now…' Shirou gritted his teeth and tried to stand, but his head was still rattled for him to move.
*ROOOOOOOOOOAR!*
"Just my luck…" The nine-tailed fox opened its large mouth to form another giant spear of ki, but this time.
*FWOOOOOOSH!*
Blue fox flames began to form around the shell of the blast giving it a boost in power and effectiveness. It was just about ready to fire and Shirou wasn't prepared to dodge yet.
"Dammit."
*BWOOOO-!*
"Double Dragon Shot!" Two blasts of demonic blasts hit Makoto's fox face and interrupted the process of the attack. Zooming to fly in front of the infuriated fox's face, Michael whistled and waved, "Hey, Makoto why don't you come after me now okay!?"
*ROOOOOOOOOOOAR!*
"I'll take that as a yeeees!" Michael used his jets and wings to back away from the swipes of a claw nearly cutting him open. Turning around, Michael shouted, "I'll continue to keep him distracted. Once you're able to get up, try to do it again! He'll be focused on me while you pin down his tails!"
[JET!]
The sharp claws of the beast nearly got him that time, thankfully his jets were there to fly him out of danger, but it was still too early to think it was over since the nine tailed fox now stood on its hind legs and began slashing its claws and blasting large ki spheres into the air.
Getting back up, Shirou grunted, "I gotta pin that thing down. I only have one halberd and it has to be put to good use. So I'll just aim for that darn things middle tail again."
Charging in at the distracted fox, Shirou does a quick turn to avoid getting caught from running straight at it and leaps in the air to get a perfect view of the giant fox's nine tails.
"This time things won't end up like before! Wait, what is it doing? Are those flames?" Shirou gasped as he noticed the blue flames that were being ignited on the tips of the nine fox tails. They were swinging like crazy as they were close to knocking him out of the air.
"Fox fire, it's not something I can shrug off. Even with more armor on, it'll definitely burn through it." Shirou landed on the ground, and gasped as the tails were now slamming into the ground. He managed to leap back just before he could get hit, "If they're moving around like this then I can't pin them down."
Still barely dodging Makoto's full on claws and Ki attacks, Michael growled, "That is it! I'm done with just taking it! Makoto, get ready because the fist of tough love is coming for you!"
[JET!]
*SHRIIEEEEEEEEEK!*
Propelling himself at Makoto, Michael cocked back his fist and imbued touki into it. Charging in like this made him susceptible for massive damage once Makoto's claws tore through his armor and injured his soft body.
"Guaagh! You can stop this all of this Hanamura!" Blood spurted out from his wounds, but he still kept charging in and smashed his fist into the fox's glabella. The punch was really significant since it actually hurt the beast enough to cover the spot.
"Get dunked on!"
*DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!*
Once again laying it on thick against Makoto, Michael fired another volley of demonic energy. While he was busy doing that he didn't notice that the fox wasn't completely defenseless since one of its nine tails were quickly swinging towards him.
Noticing the shadow, Michael turns his head to see the tail and couldn't evade it in time.
"Pay attention!" Shirou jumped in the air, in front of Michael and covered the halberd
*WHAM!*
Appearing in the nick of time, Shirou used the full weight of his body and the powerful swing of his halberd to bat the swinging fox tail away.
"Don't let the tails touch you! They have fox flames. If you touch them, then you'd experience the same burning sensation that holy weapons give to us, devils!" Shirou warned as he descended back to the ground.
Remembering his fights with Freed and Irina, Michael shuddered about the pain he once felt and nodded,
"Thanks for the heads up and the save!"
Running to find a perfect opportunity to attack, Shirou circled around the fox and shouted, "Don't thank me yet. You still have eight more of those things to watch out for!"
Nothing that more of those flame ignited tails were coming after them, Michael groaned, "Aw, crud!"
'Ddraig…'
[I'll handle it…again…]
Leaving Ddraig to handle his evasive maneuvers, Michael focused on firing away at Makoto at any chance he could. Shirou on the other hand was too busy finding a weak spot to exploit.
"The tails won't hold still anymore, so I'll just have to go with plan B!" Gripping the shaft of his halberd tightly Shirou jumps up and climbs aboard the curve of the fox's back all the way to the back of its neck,
"Plan B standing for: Bury him!" With a strong swing back, Shirou was about to use the flat side of his halberd to blow Makoto away. But the beast was still self-aware of its environment and easily sensed him, and twisted his head back to fire a torrent of fox flames from its mouth.
"Chi! Dammit!"
*WHOOOOOOOSH!*
Spinning the halberd, Shirou deflected the flames while getting knocked back to the ground.
"This kid is really something!" Shirou growled as he struggled to deal with Makoto's onslaught of Ki attacks. Flexing one arm with touki, while Makoto fires a Ki ball surrounded by a thick layer of fox flames, Shirou knocks it back with a single punch.
*BOOOOOOM!*
It explodes in Makoto's face and sends the fox falling flat on its back, its tails were no longer shelled with fox flames. Looking over at Shirou from above, both him and Michael nodded in agreement.
"Its time for an all-out attack!"
"Uoooooooooh! You're finished!" Leaping above the fallen Makoto, Shirou surrounds his body with a large volume of dragon aura with a spiral drill of touki around it.
[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!]
"I'm not about to get left behind this time!" Michael boosted his power just enough and covered his fist with a vast amount of touki.
"Crushing Dragon Fist!"
"Grand Fall!"
They both descended with their individual techniques, but it wasn't the end. As a last resort, Makoto's nine tails were raised to shield himself from the impending attacks.
"You think that will stop us!" Michael roared.
*Grrooowl!*
A shady purple aura was starting to surround all of the fox's nine tails, and as soon as Michael and Shirou's attacks made contact with the tails their Sacred Gears were instantly unequipped. Their eyes widened they could only respond with,
"What's the big idea here!?"
"The fuck just happened!?"
The fox used their confusion and slammed all nine of its tails into their vulnerable bodies, sending Shirou flying into the air, and Michael crashing into the ground. Hitting his head against the ground caused him some head damage as Shirou had to take a quick breather before catching him and landing on a tree branch.
"What happened to Grand Chariot? Did he break my armor all at once? No, if he did then it would have fixed itself by now. It felt like it vanished." Shirou panted.
\That's because it did./
"Really? So does that mean I can't access it?" Shirou asked.
\No, you still can, but if it happens again. You'd be even more vulnerable./
"I don't know what kind of trick he pulled, but this makes our job of putting him down harder. Touching him will leave us open, so what can we do to avoid that?" Shirou was deep in through before coughed and covered his mouth, he spewed out a handful of blood and bile.
"Even with the armor on that kid packs a punch if you don't notice it in time." Shirou's eyes widen when he realizes something, "Wait, Michael!"
"Urgh…" Groaning and trying to get up, Michael shakily sits up and touches his bloody forehead, "That sucked…what happened to my Balance Breaker?"
*THUD!* *THUD!*
Looking up, Michael came face to face with the large clawed hands of Makoto's fox form. Soon enough his eyes met with the beast's crazed/hatred filled eyes.
"Just what did you do to my Sacred Gear, Makoto?" Michael slurred as he held his aching head, eventually his vision became all wonky as he saw three giant foxes, "And how did you split into 3!?"
*ROOOOOAR!*
"Give me an answer, or else I'm going to kick you in the-!" Michael pointed at one of the delusional foxes that he was seeing.
*ROOOOOAR!* With his back turned to the real one, the beast raised its large hand and slams it into the ground where Michael once stood. It was quick to notice the shadow that was momentarily fleeing from it as it grabbed Michael just before he could get hurt.
"What the heck are you doing talking to him? The obvious thing to do was run away!" Shirou growled as he reequipped his Grand Chariot armor.
"I couldn't do that and besides I have an idea. First, we'll get into our armors. Second, we-!"
"That can't be done. Whatever that kid has negates our sacred gears." Shirou explained, "That purple aura has something to do with it. So we have to think of a way around it."
"A way around it, eh?" Michael rubbed his chin, and thought, 'But I feel strange. I don't feel any different than when I was in my scale mail. I still feel some of its energy built up inside of me.'
[That's true. That fox has a strange ability to negate your Balance Breaker, but it's powers are still finite. It looks like it cannot reach the power you kept on boosting.]
'Hm…then I could keep my stored power without the Balance Breaker?" Michael opened and closed his hands, 'He can only negate the Boosted Gear's abilities just enough not completely…'
Shirou ran as quickly as he could, but widened his eyes once he saw a flurry of tails trying to impale him from behind. Bounding off the ground multiple times, he managed to shake off the nine-tailed fox's pursuit. Only to be met with another danger involving more dangerous volleys of chi blasts being shot his way.
"Thought of something yet!?" Bouncing from place to place, Shirou had a difficult time dealing with the intense heat of the attacks that exploded near him. The only thing he had left to do was evade all off the attacks being thrown his way.
"Wait! I have an idea…I have idea! Shi-rou, I have an idea!"
"Stop saying my name like that and what is-whoa!"
[Dragon Booster]
[Welsh Dragon Balance Breaker!]
Equipping his red dragon armor, Michael spread his wings and took Shirou into the sky, deftly dodging one of the biggest blasts that Makoto ever sent their way. Looking down at the beast, Michael said,
"When he negated our armor, he didn't really stop everything. I still have my boosted power." Michael's body glows red.
"So it does have a limit to how much negation it has." Shirou said.
"The plan I have deals with why we haven't really been making that much progress. He's very durable and with that purple aura, he's crazy hard to hit. So if just hitting him isn't working, then we'll have to hit him very, very, very HARD!"
"Okay. You need to cool it with the shouting because your hurting my ears. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but…*GAG!* *COUGH!*"
"Say it…" Michael whispered.
"*GAGS!* *COUGH!* *COUGH!* That plan was well thought out. Good work, Michael."
"See was that too hard?"
"Actually yes. It hurts being nice to you, you annoying, horrible creature."
"Meh, been called worse… But does it hurt even more than being nice to Pretty boy?"
"The hell is a Pretty Boy?"
"Kiba."
"Oh, nice demeaning nickname. You don't like him too?"
"Well, we have this on and off friendship. Mostly me being a jerk to him because he somehow makes my life harder and suckier. How about you why do you hate him?"
"Do I need a reason to?" Shirou asked quite honestly.
Awkwardly looking from side to side as he flew, Michael said, "Fair enough."
"And well…you're a close 3rd out of the people who annoy me. He's 2nd." Shirou said.
"Who's the first?" Michael asked.
"Someone that you must never know about…" Shirou couldn't get the words 'BOW-CHIKA-BOW-WOW' out of his head.
*BWOOOOOSH!*
Amidst their chattering, Makoto fired another beam that almost grazes Michael, but causes him a little turbulence. They were now getting pursued in the air, and couldn't find a way around this endless barrage of mayhem.
"So how are we going to overpower this kid?" Shirou asked.
"First, I'll boost up my power and transfer to you, then I'll boost energy for myself. Then we'll combine both of our attacks to create the Dual Purple Dragon Supreme Flash." Michael was proud of the absurdly long attack name.
"So a maxed out attack, it would honestly work against the kid, but no. We are not using that name."
"How about Spiraling Twin Purple Dragon Wave?"
"No, you know what leave the name to me!" Shirou groaned.
"Sure! I'd like to see you do better th-!"
*DWOOON!*
Barely dodging a beam, one of Michael's wings were decimated and unable to support his and Shirou's weight.
"Whoops…"
"What's wrong? Why are you slowing down? Just stay up in the air and boost your power. Saves us a lot of time than doing on land."
"Yeah, about that…" Michael trailed off, and prolonged the bad news.
[Damage has been done to the right wing!] Thankfully, Ddraig was the provider of bad news.
Looking up at him with a fierce glare, Shirou growled, "You are a fucking idiot!"
"*SIGH!* I know…"
Was the last thing spoken when the pair were forced by the natural laws of gravity to fall upon the hard ground. Now they were flightless in front of the angered beast, and the drop down wasn't all that great for a running head start since Makoto was already preparing another blast at point black range. By the time they got up on their feet, it was already too late, the blast was completed and was about to be fired.
"Not good!"
"Crap!"
Both young men shielded themselves the best way they can to endure the fatal energy attack. At that moment a single lightning bolt was coming down over the beast.
"Resound! Thunder!"
*FLASH!*
*DOOOOOOOOOON!*
A single stroke lightning combined with a demonic powered wave pelted Makoto's face and canceled his attack.
"Michael, Shirou! Are you two okay?" Running out from behind the pair, Rias and everyone came to the rescue.
"Buchou! Natsuru-senpai and everyone!" Michael smiled, "I thought that all of you left!"
"We were just about to do that, but leaving you here to fight alone because of our personal grudges just didn't seem right." Rias shook her head, "And besides we placed a lot of effort in trying to find you, we're not going to waste it now."
"To calm down, Makoto-chan, you'll need all the help you need." Natsuru still looked to be in bad shape, the injury she sustained really impacted her, "The last time he was like this he needed me to be there to calm him down. Right now he's barely tired, you have to do something to knock him down for good."
"So what's the deal with this kid's aura?" Shirou asked.
"He's using an ability called [Code: Unknown]. It negates all attacks, but it does have a limit to how much power it can stop." Natsuru explained.
"You need enough built up power to overtake him. And from personal experience, you'll have to attack all at once to break through it." Rias crossed her arms.
"That's why I'll boost up all of my power and transfer it to Shirou while boosting my own aura just enough. It'll definitely be powerful if we can get him to stay in a single spot to take the full hit." Michael nodded.
"Leave that to them." Rias turned to both of her knights and Raynare, "Yuuto, use your Balance Breaker to keep Makoto-kun's feet planted. Xenovia, Durandal's power may be just enough to keep him pinned down, don't relent with your attacks. And finally Raynare, try to use your spears to pin down his nine tails."
"Hai, Buchou!" The trio nodded.
Turning her head over to look at the others, "Gasper, I want you to stop the time around those tails to give Raynare a better shot at them. Asia, please stay back with Abe-san and…"
"Anzu, nya~!"
"Yes…stay back with them and try to provide for us healing support whenever you can. Understood?" Rias said.
"Hai, Buchou!" The two Bishops nodded.
"As for the rest of us, we'll need to act as Makoto-kun's distractions. Michael and Shirou need their chance to gather enough power, so do your best until they're ready. We may need you to transfer the power you have now to us to even affect him, Michael."
"Right, well then gather around all of you!"
[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!]
After boosting up, Michael stuck his hand out as Rias, Akeno, Natsuru, and Koneko gathered around and placed their hands on top of his.
[Transfer!]
As the enormous amount of energy flowed into them through Michael's boosted gear, their power signatures and auras increased to a higher margin, but strangely they moaned as the energy rushed inside them.
"Incredible…" Sensing her rise in Ki, Natsuru entered her kitsune transformation and flared out her power along with the others.
"Everyone are you ready!?" Rias shouted.
"Hai, Buchou!"
"Then move out!" Rias commenced the operation as Kiba and Xenovia dashed to both sides of the rampaging Makoto, who was starting to sense more prey coming at him as Raynare took off into the sky. Asia and Gasper stayed hidden amongst the woods with Anzu and Kiyome should they be needed for any support.
"Let's do it!" Michael cracked his knuckles.
"Follow me! We need to get a good distance away from here!" Shirou ran ahead and Michael followed.
Still in place as they watched the beast sensing around at its multiple targets, Rias and her group still remained in place. A group piled together will surely take its attention off the others.
Looking at all of the help she was getting, Natsuru said, "Gremory-san, I appreciate what you're doing to help Makoto-chan, so tha-"
"Be quiet." Rias hushed rather rudely, "I'm not doing any of this for you. We're only doing this for Michael and Abe-san. Be lucky that both of them even brought up the notion of helping you."
Rias took Natsuru's solemn silence as her answer as she started flaring out her demonic aura to get Makoto's attention. This sudden rise in power from Rias took Natsuru by surprise as she thought,
'I can't believe how potent Michael-kun's power is after all of the stuff he's been through. Right now even all of these guys would give me a hard time if I were to face them…'
She could feel the power flowing through Rias. The devil was basically at a stalemate with her transformation's power without Michael's transfer in energy.
Regaining his bearings, the feral, Makoto spotted the group of his future prey and raised all nine of his large tails.
"Here he comes!"
They all scattered once the tails smashed the ground apart. Unfurling their devil wings Rias, Akeno and Koneko flew as Natsuru used a magic circle to levitate in the air.
"Take any openings he has and don't hold back!" Rias fired a blast of demonic power and manages to agitate the beast only a little as the purple aura was barely getting phased.
"Koneko-chan, together!"
"…Hai…"
*FLASH!*
*BAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKA!*
*DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!*
Getting pelted by a tag team attack from Akeno and Koneko, Makoto was receiving a gigantic bolt of lightning and Ki blasts bombarding him. His purple aura was doing its best to negate the attacks, but it started showing signs of vanishing, it was a start, but not enough.
"Makoto-chan, please snap out of it!"
Charging and firing a blast of Ki mixed with fox fire, Natsuru was able to push the aura of Code: Unknown a little closer to reaching its limit. The force of her blast forced the giant beast's feet to dig into the ground.
Seeing that Makoto was trying to move out of their unrelenting fury, Rias cried out, "Yuuto! Xenovia!"
"STAY DOOOOWN!" Charging straight at the large tailed beast, Xenovia swung Durandal and created a massive arc which temporarily knocked the wind out of him.
"Kiba!"
"Right! Sword Birth!"
*GIN!* *GIN!* *GIN!* *GIN!*
"His feet are secured! Raynare-san!"
With a sharp yelp and whine, Makoto's feet were stabbed and pinned down by bundles of large Holy-Demonic swords. The thrashing of Makoto's nine tails grew and were close to hitting most of everyone that was airborne.
"I can't get a good shot if he's moving them all at once!" Raynare screamed as she had to focus on living through the endless tirade of dangerously swaying, flaming tails.
"Gasper!" Immediately calling the boy, Rias sees him run out of the woods and focus his vision on the tails.
"H-Hai!"
*GLEAM!*
With his Forbidden Balor View, Gasper could stop his tails, but his focus wasn't enough to stop all of them at once. There were still about 6 that were moving around as 3 were kept frozen.
"S-Sorry…I can only do this much." Gasper sweated at the strain of concentrating.
"Don't worry about it Gasper-chan!" Forming a large enough light spear while smoothly dodging one of the tails, Raynare hits it home and pinned one of the tails into the ground.
"It's a much easier job now than before! We'll just do it 3 at a time okay?"
"Yes, Raynare-senpai!" Gasper nodded.
Raynare formed two more light spears and resumed to do it again. The tails were really close and scalding hot as their flames burned her and her uniform, but she pulled through and pinned the remaining two before continuing to do the same for the remaining six.
"Six more to go!" Raynare prepare to hold down the next set of 3 tails that Gasper was stopping.
Getting pushed into a corner and overwhelmed, Makoto's hatred and anger began to rise to new levels as his Ki began to flare up and intimidate everyone. They're full on assault against him was beginning to let up because of the beast's sheer strength to lift his head through it and release a blood curdling roar that shook everyone to their bones.
*ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!*
The deafening roar caused everyone to stagger back and stop. Using his new chance, Makoto slowly pulled one of his hands free from the bundle of swords.
Being the first to recover, Xenovia charges in and shouts, "He's breaking free!"
With another swing, she created another giant shockwave of holy aura. But much to her surprise, Makoto swatted the attack away with no damage. And to add more onto injury, he fired a sphere of Ki at her, something Xenovia had no time to block as she used Durandal to shield herself only long enough before it exploded and gravely injured her.
"Xenovia!" Immediately dashing after her, Kiba manages to get to her in time lift her up, but was met with the same blast that engulfed Xenovia. Fortunately, he reacted in time and evaded, but he couldn't be lucky twice in a row because of the sweeping strike from one of his Makoto's flaming tails, knocking him out and severely burning him.
"Gyaaaaaaah!"
*THUD!*
Paralyzed with pain, Kiba couldn't move and with the extra weight of Xenovia's unconscious body, he couldn't even attempt at getting anytime soon.
"Yuuto! Xenovia!" Rias cried out.
"Nya!" Running out from the forest in all of the commotion was Anzu who manages to get through a flurry of Makoto's burning tails to grab the pair, "Don't worry, I've got them. I'll be taking them back to that healing girl!"
Sighing in relief, Rias expressed her gratitude with a nod and returned back to fight and looked past the enraged fox to see Raynare still flying in place.
"Raynare, continue to pin down those tails!"
But Raynare wouldn't react she just stayed floating in place.
"Raynare?" Rias called out again, but didn't receive an answer.
*Drip…*
"…! Buchou…" Noticing something, Koneko heard the sound of blood dripping and looked closely. Coming out of Raynare's ears was blood, "…Raynare-senpai, can't hear us anymore!"
"What?" Rias gasped.
"It must have been the roar! And she's really out of it, she won't survive any attack if she stays like that!" Akeno directly flew to Raynare to get her out of there.
Taking heed of the worried Akeno, Makoto's sight began to follow her towards the afloat Raynare.
"Akeno, wait!" Rias called out.
"…" Looking around with a vacant expression, Raynare muttered, "W-What happened?"
The sound of ringing filled her ears as she looked completely out of it. The only thing that stood out for her was the sound of something muffled getting closer to her.
'What is that…wait, I think I can make it out…is that?' Raynare thought, and soon enough the muffling came out to clear and easy words to understand.
"Raynare-san, look out!" It was Akeno and she was quick to grasp Raynare's hand and pull her away from near the fox's tails, but…
*BWOOOOSH!*
"Kyaaaaaaaah!"
*THUD!* *THUD!*
A blast of Ki and fox fire inflicted upon them tons of damage as they too were the next to burned by it. Their screams filled the area before they collapsed to the ground.
*SHRIIIIIIIEK!*
Met with another ear piercing shriek, Rias with Koneko and Natsuru landed on the ground to quickly deliver the injured pair to Asia to heal as they deal with the shrieking beast that was once known as Natsuru and Kiyome's little brother.
*CLANG!* *CLANG!* *CRACKLE!*
"He's attempting to break free from Yuuto's other swords!" Rias watched as Makoto's other hand began to break the other bundle of Holy-Demonic swords.
"He needs to stay restrained or else we can't turn him to normal!" Natsuru pondered on a way to alternatively hold the nine-tailed fox down, "Wait a minute…"
She turned to Koneko and said, "I sense you somewhat know how to handle your chi. But do you think you can control the life force of the grass and roots below the ground?" Natsuru saw the scornful look in Koneko's eyes, but looked past it, "If you can do just that then you can use them to pin his limbs down."
"…" Koneko was reluctant at first, but a pat on the shoulder and a nod from Rias changed her mind.
"…Hai." Kneeling down and focusing her ki into the ground, Koneko managed to force a numerous amount of roots and enlarged blades of grass to wrap around and hold down Makoto's limbs and tails.
"He's trapped for good…now we just have to wait for…
*BWOOOOOOOOSH!*
The beast sensed the properties of senjutsu and aimed directly at Koneko who was still stationary on the ground. He prepared to charge up a large enough sphere to potentially kill her.
"Dammit, he already knows that killing her will break the binds!" Natsuru screamed.
"I won't let you lay a hand on her!" Rias declared.
'Buchou…' Koneko looked at the back of her master and stayed determined to hold Makoto down.
"We'll just have to hold him back!"
*DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!*
Releasing all of her demonic power into a single massive blast of energy, Rias' attack collided with Makoto's sphere of fire and ki.
"Kch…"
*DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!*
Clicking her tongue and deciding to stay right by Rias, Natsuru unleashed an even more gigantic blast of Ki and fox flames to support Rias. A former enemy and now an ally? She laughed at how far she has fallen to reach this point.
'How ironic and pitiful of me…but this is all for your sake!' Natsuru bit her lower lip.
"Makoto-chaaaaaaaaaaan!" She bellowed as their combined attacks were still no match for the built up energy that Makoto was charging up at point blank range.
XXX
Miles and miles away, were Michael and Shirou who skidded to a stop once they heard that scream and the sight of the apparent giant sphere in the horizon.
"I think here's good enough…" Shirou coughed.
"Ya think!?" Michael got into position and raised his fist, "Let's get a move on!"
[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!]
*SMACK!*
[Transfer!]
"Huuuuuuuuuuuraah!"
*SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!*
By high-fiving Shirou, Michael transferred most of his energy to the young man as his blue dragon aura flared out and let out a crushing pressure that took Michael by surprise.
'This guy's power alone was amazing, but after giving him my energy and releasing so much power I can clearly tell our vast differences in strength.' Michael clenched his fist in frustration, 'No, I'm not going to be upstaged! I'm giving it all I got!'
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
*SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!*
[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!]
Now cloaked with his red dragon aura forced into its maxed output, Michael crouched down and prepared to make a mass of pure dragon energy in the shape of a sphere along with Shirou who created his own separate sphere of dragon energy. The built up pressure the two attacks made caused the air around them to heat up and shake.
"C-Come on! Come on, stay together, don't let it burst open!"
"Almost…done! Grgh!"
Michael and Shirou gritted their teeth as they tried their best to compress all of his power into their spheres. Cramming so much energy into a small shape was dangerous, the chances of it exploding in your face and possibly killing you were dreadfully high.
*SHIIIIIIIINE~!*
But that didn't stop them once both of the sphere glow bright and completely perfect in shape and constant pressure of all the energy they poured into it was in perfect equilibrium.
"Their done!" Michael grunted as he looked over at Shirou who nodded back.
"You ready to tear this kid a new one!"
"OSU!"
*GIGIDOOOOOOOOOON!*
"Then let's cram them together and do it then!"
The pair crammed the two large spheres of power together despite the two masses of power repelling one another. The process was like trying to mold two creations into one with the risk of both masses of power exploding like popped water balloons. The pair had shaky hands when doing this process, if either of them slipped up then they would most likely die.
"Aaaaaaaaarh!"
"Yaaaaaaaaaah!"
*GIGIGIG-SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!*
The cracks of lightning followed by the easy process of merging, both Michael's red dragon sphere and Shirou's blue dragon sphere formed to create a large purple sphere of pure dragon energy. Its bright shine filled the night sky as they supported the weighty attack on both sides.
Looking up ahead, they could tell that their friends were making their struggle against the nine-tailed fox.
"Firing it at this distance won't work. We'll have to get close enough to it." Shirou analyzed.
*FLAP!* *FLAP!*
"Think you can keep up with wings and jets?" Michael smirked.
"Hmph! Can I?" Shirou smirked back.
Michael looked forward then back to Shirou with a clueless expression, "C-Can you?"
"Of course I can, dumbass! Why did you have to ruin the moment!?" Shirou growled as he spread his legs out like a professional athlete.
*WHIIIIIIIRL…*
The boosters on Michael's jets were ready as it took only a second for him to notice the swift change in scenery when they kicked things off. The only thing that he caught before they took off was a loud-!
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*
XXX
It was no good, their attacks were doing nothing to stop the massive sphere that Makoto had charged and it was so close to reaching them. Both Rias and Natsuru were reaching their peak, they already wasted the energy Michael transferred to them and were solely relying on their own reserves.
"It's too much…we can't hold him back like this forever…" Natsuru panted in exhaustion.
"Don't even think about giving up!" Rias reprimanded.
"I wouldn't think about giving up on Makoto-chan! In fact, I think I can do about most of your share if you're just about to drop, Gremory-san." Natsuru smirked despite her heavy sweating.
"Hmph! I could have sworn you were bellyaching a while ago, if you still live up to your glorified words then I'd be happy to most of your share of the work." Rias retorted with a challenging smirk on her face.
Neither one of them wanted to admit their fatigue to the other, but saw no other way to let out their frustration other than poke at each other's nerves. They were losing, and they knew it.
Opening his mouth even wider, Makoto poured more energy into his sphere which was now pushing the two girls' attacks at a much moderate speed.
"We can't continue like this…" Both Natsuru and Rias' bodies trembled in exhaustion.
"N-Ngh!"
*Snap!*
"…!" Looking back at the forest, Koneko sensed a massive load of power coming their way along with a bright light that was quickly approaching them. Turning back to look at Rias, she screamed, "They're here!"
"Heh…"
[Jet!]
In that moment, Rias smiled as a shining light emerged from the woods, a massive sphere of purple dragon energy and the two armor clad fighters who were maintaining its shape.
"Move out the way!" Shirou yelled, "Twin Purple Dragon Supreme Fang!"
"Smile you, son of a bitch! SMILE! Why won't you smile damn you!"
*DOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!* *DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!*
Michael growled as he and Shirou forced their attack to the entire brunt of Makoto's charged up Ki blast. The force of the two sides colliding blew Rias and Natsuru away as Koneko stayed planted on the ground, to keep Makoto bound by the roots and vines.
The two sides were at a stalemate, and Shirou shouted, "Mike, we need more momentum use your jets!"
"On it!" Michael shouted.
[Jet!]
*THOOOM!*
The propulsion of his jets allowed for them to finally push back Makoto's Ki ball just close enough to being repelled back at him, but it wasn't enough.
"Give it more power!"
"More!?"
[Boost! Boost! Boost!]
[Transfer!]
*THOOOOOOOOOM!*
It still wasn't enough, the added output that Makoto used stopped the attack's progression.
"It's not enough! You have to get mad!"
"Get mad? ...Dude I can't do that now. I'm trying to focus on helping Makoto!" Michael screamed.
"Well you're not helping him by acting like a complete fuck up! Get your stupid ass in gear and get pissed already!" Shirou unleashed a hurtful barrage of insults at the boy.
"*SNIFF!* *SNIFF!* I can tell you're doing it on purpose and it hurts…you hurt my feelings…" Michael sniffled.
"Look, I'll apologize later, but we are going to get fucked over if you don't let your anger out!"
"I'm more worried about helping my Makoto, my friend. I can't just flip a switch and get that ma-!"
"I bet Vali could get madder than you if he were here." Koneko said.
Michael's face tensed up.
"What…did you say?" Michael's spoke in a slow yet terrifying fashion.
"Hold on what's happening? Who the hell is Vali?" Shirou was confused.
"Vali could get angry at any time wants to. He can even get angry more than you can get angry yourself. He's simply just better than you at everything. I bet he could've finished this battle ages ago when compared to you, Baka-senpai, or should I say…" Koneko had to apologize later for what she had to say next, "Loser-senpai…"
*THROB!* THROB!*
A vein popped out on Michael's forehead as a seething rage built up inside him. There was literal steam and red aura coming off of his body as those forbidden words were spoken to him.
Looking confused, Shirou looked back at the nekomata, "What's going on…?"
Lowering her head down as a silent apology, Koneko whispered, "…I-I…just pushed the Vali button."
"Seriously, who the fuck is-!"
"VAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALIIIIIIIIII!" Michael was ballistic and screamed his head off, a traumatic scene playing over and over again in his head where Vali called him a 'loser'.
[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!]
[Transfer!]
[JET!]
*THOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*
The continued boosts and power placed in his jets instantly slammed both Makoto's own attack and their own into the beast's body. Makoto's cries of pain however were overshadowed by Michael's incessant screaming and continued pursuit about overwhelming the fox.
"Holy shit! Mike, are you okay?"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! VALI! VALLIIIIIII!"
*DOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!*
Michael screamed like a mad man and increased the output of his power, blowing Makoto away.
"Damn, remind me never to bring that guy up, but I guess to be fair, I should get pissed off, too. It could really help him, I mean it's not like I want to do it for the purpose of helping him as a friend, y'know. I just want to get this freaking job done wi-!"
"…You are the biggest tsundere dragon that has ever lived and existed in history…" Koneko was just pushing everyone's buttons today.
"SONUVABIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH!"
*DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!*
Shirou's power was boosted by his rage and his power output doubled that of Michael's as they effectively engulfed the giant fox in their attack. It was beginning to look one sided after Makoto's Code: Unknown was shown to be unable to handle so much of their power at once.
"Incredible…" Everyone watched the pair blow away the giant beast like it was just an obstacle in the way of two rampaging dragons. The devastating team combo scared the already ravaged island and dealt a serious blow to Makoto, who couldn't even lift a finger after taking all of that damage at once. Reaching its end, the attack was close to being done, but the beast still could not get a break because of the last ounces of power that the two raging dragons forced out.
*KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*
Which resulted into a full blown explosion which engulfed the entire nine-tailed fox's body. The shockwave of the explosion released a powerful gust which reached everyone who were still getting treated in the woods.
Once the eruption of power began to settle down, the large burnt and bruised figure of Makoto's nine-tailed form laid flat on his back.
"He's finally been subjugated…" Rias let out a sigh of relief.
"Let's see…Va-Vali…do that…nyurgh!" Turning back into his normal state, Michael fell tiredly on all fours.
"Phew…that was really exhausting." Landing and returning back to normal, Shirou wiped his forehead.
"How come you're not tired?" Michael panted.
"I am. I'm just not at the point of passing out like you." Shirou exhaled, sharply.
'This guy really is in another league compared to me…' Michael sweatdropped.
"Did we win?" Gasper emerged from out of the woods.
"No…not yet…" Getting up and walking with a limp, Natsuru tried to walk over to the beaten beast.
She would have fallen, but Kiyome rushed over and helped her up, "Natsu-nee, lets go see him together."
Looking surprised, Natsuru nodded, "R-Right…Makoto-chan needs both of sisters this time."
"Hold up, you two. Sirius!" Catching his breath, Michael stood up and called for his red flying cloud 'Stratus' to aid them, "I'll give you two a ride over there."
Bowing her head, Natsuru said, "Thank you, Michael-kun."
"Don't mention it. I may have lost most of my stamina to use Balance Break, but I can still help you by using my guts." Climbing on the red cloud together, Michael zipped away with Kiyome and Natsuru, he waved to the others, "I'll be back real quick you guys don't worry!"
"Those two really are strong, nya~!" Anzu giggled from her place with the injured devils.
"Y-Yes, and thank you for helping us…" Asia nodded, but still was a little cautious, "Um…if you don't mind me asking why are you helping us? Weren't you just our enemy a while ago?"
"Oh, that? Don't worry about it, I just decided to change sides so that I wouldn't die. You see my master wouldn't tolerate failure and would kill me if she found out I lost to you guys." Anzu shook her head.
"Do you mean Natsuru-san? She doesn't seem like that now." Asia blinked.
"No, Natsuru-sama isn't the one that I'm talking about?" Anzu gulped at the thought of how terrifying her true master really was.
As they were on their way, Natsuru looked at Michael's back intently and said, "Michael-kun…"
"Hm?"
"It may not be enough for all the chaos that I've brought to you and your friends, but I'm so terribly sorry." Natsuru bowed her head, "I understand if you don't want to forgive me. I don't think I can even forgive myself after placing Kiyo-tan and Makoto-chan in danger."
"Natsu-nee…" Kiyome frowned.
"Natsuru-senpai, you don't have to apologize. If you feel bad about doing the things you did then it's enough for me." Michael shrugged, "I wouldn't have forgiven you if you continued to talk about how all the nice things that you did was just act. You can't possibly do something without having a reason for it. You're really nice and Kiyome-senpai and Makoto think so too, you can't fake yourself out if people actually love you that much."
Turning around, Michael came face to face with Natsuru and grinned, "So like I said before you are a really nice person, Senpai. I can tell good people are influenced by other good people because Kiyome-senpai and Makoto are the best people I know, including you."
"I-I…well…thank you…" Looking away, Natsuru tried to hide her obvious blushing as Kiyome just looked at Michael dazedly with a blush of her own.
"T-Thank you…Michael…" Kiyome was obviously embarrassed and smiled.
"No, problemo, Kiyome-senpai." Michael chuckled.
[Wow, partner, I never knew you could do a Double K.O. like that.] Ddraig laughed as he could tell the effect Michael was having on these girls.
'Double knockout? I don't get it?' Michael thought.
[Just be patient. It will all start coming to you soon.]
Finally making their stop near the head of the large beast, Michael dropped the two off and stayed nearby to watch.
*Grrrrr~!*
Makoto growled in vain, his body was still to panged with pain to move. Giving Natsuru and Kiyome some comfort as they approached him.
"It's okay...I'm right here…see?" Natsuru raised her hand to touch, but stopped when he snarled at her, "You, poor child. You were scared death weren't you, and it was all my fault."
No longer afraid, she petted Makoto's head and began to cry,
"I caused so much mayhem and sadness, I did anything to make your dream a reality and along the way I inflicted pain and suffering upon myself. I was blind to realize that all of it could indirectly get to you, and Kiyo-tan. I'm such a worthless older sister to you both."
As she wept, Kiyome placed her comforting hand on her shoulder and Makoto's head, "Makoto-chan, you should know how we love you. But out of us both, Natsu-nee cherishes us the most. She does everything for us even if it means hurting herself for our wellbeing. That type of love is a heavy burden for her to bear because she's always too hard on herself, so let's try to carry it with her, okay?"
Makoto's snarling was replaced with short frantic whimpers as his eyes started to moisten up and cry large tears. The fox was reverting back to his human form, "Natsu-nee…Kiyome-neechan…"
"It's okay for boys to act tough, but don't be ashamed to cry, Makoto-chan, my beloved little brother."
"We won't leave you to suffer. As your older sisters, we will cherish you."
Makoto returned back to normal and fell into a hug between the sisters, "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to…I watched everything and I couldn't stop myself…!"
"Its not your fault, I am to blame. Just let it all out…" Natsuru patted the boy's head and allowed him to continue sobbing into their chests.
'Must be nice having a family to hug like that…' Michael watched enviously and failed to notice the tear coming out of his eye, 'Must be really nice…to have a family at all...'
[Michael?] Ddraig felt something strange resonate from within Michael.
'Eh?' Michael noticed the tears and wiped them away, 'Where did that come from? Man, this moment of theirs must be getting to me.'
[…Are you okay?]
'Sure I am! After all my guts did save the day!' Michael laughed it off.
[…Are you sure you're okay?]
'Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Why the questions, man?'
[Just curious. Congrats on surviving to see another day.] Ddraig cut of the link and left Michael to think for himself.
'Weird…wonder what bothered him...' Michael thought as he slowly lowered Stratus to approach the siblings. Soon enough all of the
The conflict which took place on the island was all said and done. All of the chimera, except for one, were exterminated. Michael and Shirou were freed and Makoto was back to normal. But good endings come at a price. Being the one who orchestrated this whole tirade of chaos, Natsuru had to fess up for her deeds.
"You know I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but I did come here to stop and bring in the person responsible for all of this." Shirou crossed his arms.
"I did all of this knowing full well about the consequences." Natsuru looked downcast.
"Then you must know how severe your punishment for this will be then?" Rias said, and Natsuru nodded.
"Punishment?" Makoto looked between her sister and Rias.
"Severe? I know that Natsuru-senpai has done a lot of damage, but is it going to be that bad?" Michael winced.
"Michael-kun, she stole from and disrupted the flow of trade between the Devils and Fallen Angels and committed to kidnap the servants of Rias Gremory and Seekvaira Agares. Not to mention the attempt at taking Buchou's life. It would be a miracle for her to be kept alive, but its most likely that she won't escape being imprisoned." Akeno told the surprised boy.
"Seriously?" Michael looked around and saw the solemn faces of everyone around him, "Come on! That can't be right. Natsuru-senpai just turned over a new leaf! Now that she's rekindled her bond with her family, she'll be taken away? There has to be something we can do. Right, Buchou?"
Michael expectantly look to Rias, she wasn't amused at the notion of helping their enemy, but resigned herself with a sigh, "It isn't in our power to judge them. Only Shirou has the power to decide things, he's the one that Seekvaira sent so his say about the charges can possibly affect her punishment."
"SHIROU!"
"Urk!" Shirou flinched back once Michael popped up in front of his face, "Don't do that!"
"You must have something you can do to fix this." Michael shook the white haired boy.
"Don't touch me either!" Shirou slapped Michael's hands away from him, "Look I was sent here by my master to do this job. I'm only ordered to capture her and bring her back, its not my say in how she gets grilled."
"You have to have some way of helping them, dude!"
"Nope. I'm just doing my job." Shirou crossed his arms but stirred a little when Makoto tugged at his sleeve, "What?"
"Please help my sister, Mister Shirou. I-I don't want her to go away…please…" Makoto started to tear up and that made Shirou feel quite guilty.
"L-Look…kid. My master and her family are basically the ones who do the sentencing. Unless your sister has something of equal value to give to them, then I can't really speak out for her." Shirou desperately clambered at the crying boy.
"Something of equal value?" Kiyome asked.
"Yes, if the culprit has something that interests the devils her sentencing may be lightened. No one of particular really died, so I can tell you that it won't be harsh." Shirou explained.
Frantically turning back with some hope in his eyes, Makoto smiled, "Natsu-nee, we could tell them about the village!"
"Village?" Rias questioned.
Looking serious for a moment, Kiyome asked, "Do you really want to reveal it?"
"It was my plan to always keep it a secret for Makoto's sake, but if I can't be there for him because I stayed silent, then he would only be saddened by my imprisonment. If I can somehow avoid it then its fine, Kiyo-tan."
The two sisters nodded before Natsuru turned back to Shirou, "The village that Makoto-chan is referring to is the Hidden Nekomata Village that I've been developing. There lies about over a hundred of our kind, who were once refugees before I took them in."
"!?" Everyone couldn't believe what they heard.
"My family decided to help them out by bringing in the people. To make them feel more at home. The island, we bought for them was productive enough to keep them fed and give them proper shelter." Kiyome admitted.
"I wanted a strong figurehead for the village so that it could have a promising future." Natsuru said.
"So that's why you wanted to make babies with this idiot." Shirou nodded.
"Oi! You don't have to say it like that?" Michael sweatdropped.
"So what about me? How come I was kidnapped too?" Shirou asked.
"You were just there at the wrong time. To be honest, I was going to give you over to Anzu when I was done." Natsuru pointed at the chimera.
"Meow~!" Anzu purred and winked at Shirou.
"Eurgh!" Shirou shuddered, "I'm so glad that we stopped all of this from happening."
"I still don't trust pure blooded devils with the safety of my race. But I can't stand the fact that I have to be torn away from my family because of my crimes. I will even hand over all of the data I stole from between the Devils and the Fallen Angels. If this lessens my sentence, then so be it." Natsuru resigned herself to her fate.
"You know by the way your talking it sounds like you're selling out your people to a bunch of people you just don't like." Shirou raised an eyebrow.
"I said I don't trust pure blooded devils. But you and Michael-kun are the exception since you are Reincarnated devils. I believe in Michael-kun and if Michael-kun has enough trust to put his faith in somebody like me. Then compared to me, he must see you in a whole brighter light. So I believe I can actually put my trust in you without fear of you letting me down." Natsuru's smile and charming words tugged at Shirou's heartstrings as he blushed a little.
"Ahem!" Shirou coughed into his hand and looked away.
"Well?" Michael leaned in close to Shirou who watched the half fox/cat youkai's behavior closely.
Sighing, Shirou shook his head and growled, "I can already hear Seekvaira giving me an earful for doing this."
"So does that mean you'll-!?"
"Yep, they're in the clear. I can vouch for them after gaining that tipid about that village. And don't worry about your people being handed to the devils. I already have someone who isn't one who'd be willing to take them in and care for them. Hell, I bet your race would gain much more prosperity than it had before the purge." Shirou was cut short by Makoto and Kiyome's happy cheers.
"Yay! You don't have to be taken away, Natsu-nee!" Makoto cried.
"Isn't that wonderful, Natsu-nee!?" Kiyome embraced her siblings.
"Fantastic…" Natsuru wrapped her arms around them both.
"Don't get too happy, you still have to be taken in and judged. Your sentence is just probably lighter for you not to be eligible for complete imprisonment or execution." Shirou groaned and rubbed his neck.
"Thank you, Mister Shirou!" Makoto gratefully bowed his head and gave Shirou the puppy dog eyes.
"L-Like I said you guys aren't out of the woods yet, and you don't have to thank me for anything!" Shirou was flustered and looked away, but his eyes met Michael's, "What?"
"I get it now. Shirou, children crying is your weakness!" Michael rubbed his chin.
"What? No, shut up. No it isn't!" Shirou shook his head.
"Yes it is! And guess what you deserve for being such a softie!" Michael opened his arms.
"No."
"Yes. My friend, you deserve an honorary bear hug!" Michael approached Shirou.
"Don't touch me!" Shirou shirked back.
"You can't escape."
"Yes, I can!"
"It's already in motion…" Michael's arms were close to touching Shirou.
"Then get it out of motion!"
"Can't do that!"
"Knock it off already! I will pay you money!"
"How much?"
Michael stopped and held out his hand.
"I hate you." Shirou pulled out his wallet and actually started paying him in money, "How much do you want?"
"You only have yen?" Michael asked.
"Why? You don't take it?" Shirou asked.
"Actually…the only currency that I take is…" Michael trailed off then pulled Shirou into a big ol' bear hug, "Hugs and laughs! Hahahahaha!"
"Why you, son of a mother freaking whore!" Shirou freed his arm and socked Michael in the face, which resulted in a large drawn out brawl between them.
"Are you okay about this?" Akeno asked Rias, who watched Natsuru get along with her siblings.
"No, actually. Right now seeing her happy doesn't really change my past spite towards her. I can't let go of my grudge against her so easily. Helping her just this much is just about all that I can take. I'd rather just stay out of the rest of their business." Rias crossed her arms and shook her head, "I'll just trust Michael's judgement on this one."
"I see…" Akeno looked somewhat troubled as a thought crossed her mind.
"Is something bothering you?" Rias asked.
"No, it's nothing." Akeno smiled for one moment, but looked lost in thought the next.
The fighting was over and there was nothing left to do for them on the island anymore. Virtually everything was destroyed through Makoto's rampage except for a few remnants of the facility. Finally, free to use their magic circles again, the Gremory family teleported themselves off of the island as Shirou personally took Natsuru back to the underworld himself.
XXX
"Hm~! Hm~! Hm~! Hm~! Hm~!" Skipping along the rocky floors of the ruined facility was the mysterious cloaked woman.
"How convenient~! They actually thought that I died. Good thing I created a fake of myself to take the dive~!" Approaching what appeared to be her lab, she pushed down the hinge-less doors and approached the smashed up computer with its barely operating screen.
"I've collected more than enough data for him and I was successfully able to copy the artificial sacred gear research." Tapping on two disc slots, she took out a red and black sided disc with a dragon on it and a purple rimmed disc.
"Well, my job here is done. It's been a real fulfilling partnership, Nat-Nat~!" The hooded woman winked, then felt something rushed right towards her and found that both of the presences were familiar. The air above rippled and out came two figures that were clashing blades.
"Teeheehee! Getting pushed back, Wrath?" She giggled at the sight of the cloaked young man and Azazel donned in his Downfall Another Dragon Armor.
*CLASH!* *GIN!* *GIN!* *GIN!* *GIN!*
An intense exchange of weapons clashing resounded throughout the desolate island, before the cloaked young man kicked Azazel back. In both of his hands were dark red swords of light.
"So that strange dimension fell apart, eh?" Azazel looked around at his surroundings, "But where is this place?"
"Azazel-sama!" Flying through a ripple herself, Mittelt appeared right by Azazel's side.
"By your visage and beautifully crafted artificial sacred gear. I can take a stab and say that you are the Governor-General, Azazel, right?" The woman bowed, "Such an honor to meet with you, sir~!"
"Hm. Strange, that's the usual first impression that I'd get from someone I just met. Especially if that person was to know my name." Azazel noticed the same type of black cloaked hood the woman had next to the young man.
"What are you talking about? You're such a super star you know? Being the first person to bring up the idea of peace amongst the three factions. Heck, you even developed sacred gears that are man-made. Meeting you here has me all up in jitters~!" The woman giggled rather maniacally.
Gulping and hiding behind Azazel in fear, Mittelt cowered in fear of the woman.
"A fan? No, I'd say your lying on account of all that killing intent that your sending my way. The jitters must be from you holding yourself back." Azazel could tell as the cloaked woman held her twitching arm down.
"Wowie~! You're such a mind reader you know that? But I truly am a fan of yours. See?" The woman raised up her acquired discs, "I even bought all of your exclusive DVDs!"
Narrowing his eyes, Azazel said, "The research data and…!"
"Oh, you caught my extra secret disc, didn't ya? Well, it's a secret so I'll just leave out the spoilers and tell you the name of this murderous story's main antagonist. It starts with an "A" come on you could probably guess who it is…but remember there is a false antagonist with the same first letter to their name to distract us from the true villain!"
*GIN!* *GIN!* *SHATTER!*
"…" The cloaked young man destroyed a rather destructive light spear that was thrown by Azazel.
"Ah! Ah! Ah! Getting so excited like that made you lose your composure, Governor-General! Now I'll just have to leave you to find out about who the antagonist of the story is."
"Tch!" Azazel clicked his tongue.
*STOMP!* *STOMP!*
"…!"
Taking two heavy steps forward, the young man held out his finger and began to generate three different sources of power to form a spiraling helix. There was a beam of light converging with a dark red dragon aura, and white aura, touki? The three dangerous elements were spinning in a dangerous spiral.
"Triple Helix Wrym Sh-!"
*SNAP!*
Creating a large magic circle behind them, the hooded woman's interruption made the young man stop.
"That's enough, Wrath. You've held them off long enough. Master will be pleased with our results so let's leave for now."
"…" The young man lowered his arm and took a single glance back at Azazel before entering the magic circle.
"Excuse him for his recklessness. Being a teenager, he tends to get carried away sometimes. We will meet again, so be patient until we do, kay-kay~!?" The cloaked woman waved as the magic circle began to teleport them away.
"You-!" Mittelt felt frustrated and could only watch with Azazel. He could rush over there and try to stop them, but he would only fail once they heightened the speed of the magic circle.
"Now don't look so sad~! I just need to prepare myself for next time! We'll play together like you promised last time, right?" The hooded woman's face was revealed under the bright light of the magic circle. Azazel's eyes went wide after he noticed the face of the woman. But what stuck to him the most were the last words she said to him, "Make sure to keep your eyes on this kid, you were left with to watch, or he'll make my job easier…"
Disappearing without a trace, Azazel was left with Mittelt, who was confused about what she meant. But the still figure of Azazel standing in place told her that it must have been something for him and only him to know. The only words he had to say for this moment was,
"So you did survive… after all this time… Well, ain't this just a bitch…"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Retribrutus
Retribrutus Next Chapter- Natsuru turns over a new leaf! More Unexpected additions and Hot developments happen at the Hanamura Residence!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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