And indeed they did so, for later that night as they stood in a shipyard full of shipping containers, their kidnapper & his human cargo with him 50ft away, they watched as he ran over the briefcase with his phone to check for tracking devices. He smashed his phone against a container and threw the pieces away; Matoi could tell from his strength he was a host, so the next scene was instant.
He pulled a knife out and a shockwave blasted his hand against the shipping container; the woman tried to duck -
- but his thrown knife still shot through her throat and cleaved through half of it; as he recovered, he was already beginning to rush away -
" - Wedding!" shouted Matoi; an explosive barrage flew forward -
- but a dozen red orbs burst out of the man's back, capturing the missiles as he ran along another shipping container, right hand sweeping across -
- and a floating orb appeared in its place; new entrance found, he veered right and in to another hall, Matoi and Daishi chasing behind as the missile-orbs popped, explosions starting -
" - Wedding!"
- but a swifter barrage flew to contain their exploding rivals, shipping container reappearing as they rushed up -
"( - I shouldn't use Wedding's missiles.)" said Matoi, and Daishi nodded.
"(My acid can be neutralized - it's the safer option.)"
Matoi nodded, and as a puff of green gas hit the container -
- the entirety of it corroded away; the two rushed in to its former spot, vaulting up to another container beside, eyes searching for their foe around, and in the next instant -
- the container popped; a cloud of yellow burst outward as the two fell -
- but a swift shockwave blasted the foul vapors away, two running up to another container, vaulting up for another vantage point -
- and nodding as they stood safe at the top, eyes truly searching now.
"(He might have gone in to the water.)" said Daishi, gesturing to the backside of the dock. "(If it can contain air -")
"( - he might also be in one of the containers -there's plenty to hide in.)" said Matoi, and Daishi nodded. Permission for property damage given, she started her explosive assault, hundreds and hundreds of micromissiles erupting outward -
- and splitting dozens and dozens of shipping containers in half, still hundreds more left and stacked high around -
"( - brace yourself.)" groaned Matoi, two megamissiles bursting out of Wedding's shoulders and hitting the dock behind -
- and splitting the entire shipyard in half as if an earthquake had struck it, back half falling instantly in to the water -
- and the two laughed as they heard a shriek ahead&right; glancing over, they saw the man rushing out of one container, running and veering down another hall in the direction of the city. With no time to waste, the two rushed in pursuit from their perch, leaping over every popped container, gas and projectiles within useless against their dual counters.
Ahead, their foe reached the road, rushing along a line of buildings, street corner up ahead; the two leaped down and out of the shipyard, two hundred feet away but starting to gain speed -
"( - I'll flank.)" muttered Daishi, peeling right and away; Matoi nodded as she kept her run going as the man turned the corner ahead.
She took a wide berth as she turned -
- and saw her foe out of range ahead, no briefcase in hand as he ran. Ripping her sword out, she threw it forward -
- the man's hands swept back, readying to turn it orb as it flew close -
- and in to a hundred pieces exploded her sword; he shrieked as he turned, a dozen shards entering his chest -
- and eighty-eight orbs swallowed the rest, careful missile having been implanted in her hilt, man forced to slow as he backed away, one wall beside -
- a section of the wall opened up; and out of the corroded aperture stepped Daishi, purple gas following a second later -
- but the next scene was instant. The man pulled his knife out -
- and slit his own throat in half, leaving two groaning as he fell rigid, orbs disappearing.
Daishi sighed angrily as he stood over the corpse. "(I am very, *very* sick of these men. I'm beginning to see why you prefer the American system. These men are uncivilized - bestial.)" He turned to Matoi. "(And the most sickening part of it is that it feels as if even the tabloids and media wish to prolong this, by allowing such idiots to continue to corrupt the airwaves and push baseless conspiracy theories about your friends.)" He wiped his face. "(…I apologize for my outburst, but this has been quite a stressful few months, obviously. You were not there for the initial murders, but the media has done extraordinarily poorly in their handling of this all.)"
'The difference is you see that as corruption of their purpose and I see it as affirmation.'
"(I suppose so.)" said Daishi: Matoi had not realized it was out loud. He sighed again, pulled the corpse over his shoulder, and turned back towards their initial direction. "(Let us... retrieve both bodies, and I will need to notify her father in-person.)" He frowned. "(…admittedly, I haven't ever had to do this before. I would greatly appreciate your help, if possible.)"
Matoi nodded. She had already decided this was the proper thing to do, so this was not one of the reasons she wondered if Daishi was weak. She still could not explain why this was so, and even were she then she would not have been able to communicate it to another, like what soon comes & has already in this arc shall.
++++++
Protestors had, well, protested Ueno since its establishment, and today were particularly numerous. This had not prevented Daishi from asking Junpei to buy the morning newspaper (for he was a freak & preferred the feel of paper to electronics) for him before the Ueno & Urasaria students ate breakfast together, and Daishi was concerned as he began reading over it.
"(Are people blaming us for Haru dying?)" asked one of the students.
"(If they are, then it will mostly be directed at myself and Matoi.)" muttered Daishi. "(Don't let it affect your duties. We should be near the end of this investigation, hopefully. I was more concerned over this interview they've published with Kaoru Sakurai, who seems to be again pushing his baseless conspiracy theory about Mia intentionally destroying the neighborhood. He's always been a complete buffon.)" He shook his head and set it down. "(I'll never understand what value to society it brings to give these type of men a platform. Their role is information, not--)"
12 tablets vibrated and they took it quick.
"Oh fuck." muttered Junpei. "They tried to throw the money in the ocean."
"(Junpei -- evacuate the area and find out who the hosts are.)"
Junpei winced and nodded, for this meant he needed to individually pass through each person; Tyrant is vulnerable in this time. He disappeared as Daishi asked Matoi, Marisa, and Samuel to come with him and left the other Ueno students on standby.
Outside, Boudoir's ropes tied the three to Marisa and Daishi's phone nearly dropped from his hands as they began their bumpy ride through the streets, past buildings and over businesses. "(I- yes, Suzu, are you nearby? …yes, c-check your t-tablet...)"
"(Y-You'll be used to it eventually.)" groaned Matoi.
Daishi showed Marisa his phone with directions.
"Sharp right, coming up!"
"(M-Matoi, please call Junpei.)" coughed Daishi.
Near Zushi Beach, Suzu was walking out of the shitty little apartment in which her family lived as she saw people be disappeared off the streets, and three men running away from the beach a hundred feet away, where smoke had arisen from the ocean. They seemed oblivious to her as they ran away: clearly they had not expected this trap. Suzu positioned herself in such a way that she would be only fifteen feet away from them as they ran off of the beach and into the street beside her, and as they passed by -
- Suzu burst in to a thousand drops of blood; they shot towards the third man and swarmed him, gnashing, wriggling and disintegrating chunks of his flesh & sinew. The other two men realized and backed away, shouting at each other as he fell back with half a heart and half a spine, his organs rapidly swallowed underneath the droplet torrent.
To pause for a moment, readers, you may be thinking: How the fuck was that deemed non-lethal? Skip ahead three hours, and you will see Suzu do this:
{Suzu squeezed her hands together and wrung out 85,000 drops of blood, which soon coalesced into the man from earlier, still shouting at her.}
It is currently an open philosophical question whether Suzu's Revenant produces clones or the original man.
Back to the present: The two men have run away from Suzu and are currently near the beach, while the third man has resisted Suzu enough that her droplets of blood have been sent 200ft away from the others, still devouring through him -
- and a final chunk disappeared his right foot; she re-coalesced and was herself again, already starting to run at the other two before she heard four figures land behind her and turned to see them.
"(S-Suzu, are you good to fight?)" said Daishi with some difficulty.
Suzu glanced up to her family's apartment. "(And leave evacuating my family to that idiot Junpei? No, you have four of them here already.)" She glared at the Urasaria students, seemingly angry Mia was not with them, then burst in to a thousand drops of blood and was gone.
Ahead the four saw the two men leap in to the water, starting instantly to rumble; and as the four halted two hundred feet away -
- the earth and entire ocean shook, waves starting to burst out of the water.
["In The Choice Between Good And Evil" - Bayonetta works well.]
" - run!" shouted Matoi, whip in her voice repeated in Japanese as the four ran back, entire beach starting to get swallowed in to the ocean, step starting to slow from the enormous whirlpool forming -
" - behind - tsunami!" shouted Marisa; they glanced back -
- and saw something enormous burst out of the water, titanic wave starting its ascent and shrouding it for three hundred feet above; and as it started to crash forward -
- the next scene was instant. A hundred micromissiles flew above; at Matoi's side, Marisa gripped the three tight, strands yanking them up to one missile -
- and again and yet again, the four were yanked constantly back, desperate flight and strands keeping pace ahead of the tsunami, swinging for hundred and hundreds of feet up&away, constant volley erupting -
" - there!" shouted Matoi, pointing to one skyscraper right; no option left, a new volley brought them to the roof -
- to at last land at the top, and as they turned -
- they saw the tsunami crash in to the middle; foundation lost and starting instantly to buckle -
" - back one more!" shouted Marisa; a new volley of missiles flew behind, and a new strand yanked them away -
- to at last land on another skyscraper, tsunami flooding the ground below, still safe as they finally turned -
" - hoo boy." muttered Samuel, relevantly.
- to see their foe on the horizon, metallic beast hundreds of feet wide, black with two oval legs, two oval arms and green slits. The four were only mid-level with it, as it started its stomp forward.
"Really could use another Solar Beam." muttered Samuel, and Marisa winced.
"Too soon."
"(Really could use another Solar Beam.)" muttered Daishi; Matoi's laugh burst involuntarily, bilingual benefit for the white wedding -
- and ahead still stomped the beast, far less amused than they. Its arms swept overhead, green slits starting to rumble and hundreds of waves crashing in its stomp; and in the next instant -
- a hundred jets of water burst out of its slits, enormous projectiles combining to one, shooting with the speed of a missile towards them; the four swept underneath just in time for the jet to enter the skyscraper behind -
- and tearing it in half in an instant, Matoi glancing back just in time to see the collapse, four grateful for Junpei's wide evacuation then - but they had no time to rest. Another set of jets erupted ahead, and as the water cutters sought their torsos -
- the next scene was instant. A puff of green gas hit the floor below, corroding through the roof; and in to the sudden burrow fell the four, watercutters catching only air as they fell for dozens of floors down, new puffs of Kiseru dissolving new burrows -
- but new water cutters split the walls ahead, new jets seeking their torsos and following their descent -
" - Outcast!"
- ghastly hands yanked the rubble to the jets, clogging and shielding them as they fell, Marisa's strands around them now -
" - Marisa - again!" shouted Matoi as they still fell, missiles erupting and veering right -
- and repeating the same strand&missile jig again, assured bumpy flight as they came to the right wall of the skyscraper -
" - Kiseru!"
- and a final puff of Kiseru's gas freed them out to the city, keeping their flight going right. Ahead, the beast's arms turned to them, and one jet of water erupted outward -
- and split Marisa's torso in two; a horrific shriek erupted from her as her grip unclenched, Boudoir forced to repair her under threat of death -
- and forced to disconnect the strands, final flick throwing the three cargo in separate directions -
" - s-s-sorry!" gagged Marisa -
- and down the four fell for hundred and hundreds of feet, ocean that had been city a minute ago below. Head-first descent, Matoi's lips opened to shout -
- and clenched shut a second later, swift micromissiles flying to plug her nostrils as she hit the water, starting to fall at a hundred feet a second -
' - Kekkonshiki.'
- and the shockwaves of her missiles slowed her descent, preventing pressured death as she came to the bottom slower, barely seeing the skyscraper of the beast's legs a thousand feet ahead.
'They'll each have figured something out. Focus.' she thought; but she had no time to rest.
Another dozen jets pierced through the water ahead -
- but she stayed still, slowly descending to the bottom, knowing the beast couldn't see her then, and as another jet burst ahead -
- a wave started in the depths, sudden current starting to blow her away -
- but the next scene was instant. A dozen missiles flew ahead and down, digging a pole in to the ground, Wedding's lasers welding it tight -
- and she grunted, clinging tight as the immense current thrashed, dozens of cars and rubble passing by her. Breath starting to run out, she swept to the seafloor below -
- a dozen missiles blew a hole in the road, shockwaves swifter than water and blasting the liquid away; unaffected by her Revenant's aftershock, she dipped her head down to the pocket of air -
- and breathed a full gulp again, water rushing to fill the pocket as she swam forward.
'It's trying to track me.'
A single missile flew right and burst open -
- and a jet followed it a second later, beast's legs barely turning as she kept her swim going, seven hundred feet separating the two. No option left, it started to stomp forward again, right leg filling up the entire avenue she was in -
- she swept down again, Wedding's lasers helping her breath -
- and stifling a groan as the bubbles blew up to the surface, beast suddenly halting as she saw one arm ready -
- and swept clear down, enormous arm the size of a skyscraper seeking to crush her -
- but the next scene was instant.
A hundred missiles flew above and spun in the water, explosives and shockwaves keeping the explosive barrage going as its arm entered the water, whirlpool that was her own forming; swept in to the current, she spun and spun, feeling the arm twitching at the midsection and unable to break free. Only a dozen feet separated her now, and as she passed by it again -
- a stab of her blade pierced through its arm; and up she climbed -
- to at last rise to the surface again, beast leaning with one arm caught in the whirlpool fading below, Matoi standing at the tip of it now. With no time to waste, she started her rush up -
- a jet of water shot for her -
- and she swept with the speed of light away&down -
- and the jet carved a clear hole through the unnatural metal, leaving a laughing Matoi as she swept up again. No option left and whirlpool gone, the beast's started to yank back up; blade digging in for support, she grunted and dug her boots in, riding for the entire way up -
- but a flick of its arm threw her with the strength of a thousand away, blade still in hand as she flew for hundreds and hundreds of feet away -
- its other arm turned towards her, green slits rumbling as it readied to fire; missiles readying to help her dodge, she saw its arm rise -
- but suddenly swept back down to the water, eight jets of water hitting something floating below&left -
- and a set of shockwaves blasted her to the roof of another skyscraper, grunting and skidding as she landed backfirst. She rushed to the ledge as she recovered, eyes careful on her foe -
- and on the familiar rainbow speck below, raft with the other three on it to the left of the beast, buildings all collapsed around.
" - shit." winced Marisa, Boudoir's strands yanking them behind another three-floor building for cover - " - don't - have much left, here -"
- they heard the rumbling begin behind the building -
" - go back!" shouted Samuel, voice whipping like Matoi's; trust in the boar, Boudoir's strands yanked them back out of cover -
- and the jet hit Outcast's armor torso-on -
- and its host grunted, thrashed, but still stood by the end, few wounds but for chipped obsidian. Marisa yanked them back behind cover, excess strands healing the boar as he winced.
"Can - take a few more hits to delay it."
Daishi dove overboard, leaving two sighing at the inability to communicate, building still for cover.
A puff of Kiseru filled Daishi's nostrils, no worry for being tracked as he swam down the avenue, keeping close to the ground and hoping for his target.
'(There's been tsunamis that bring in deep-sea fish - they might be able to handle the pressure, but…)'
He turned one corner -
- and stifled a laugh to find dead targets floating on the surface ahead, enormous oarfish having been brought in by the blast. Kiseru giving him new breath, he gripped one and came up to the surface -
- only two hundred feet ahead of the beast, new water cutters erupting outward -
- then suddenly stopping as it caught sight below. The liquid projectiles shot towards him -
- a puff of black gas tripled the oarfish's size -
- and he sighed relief as it absorbed every last drop of water, enormous pressure building up within -
- and exploding in a dozen chunks of fish gore once its task was finished.
Unbeknownst to the three, Matoi made her steady trek underneath the beast's legs, breath punching her chest as she held for as long as she could -
- and stifling relief as it started stomping forward, still seemingly oblivious of her. She saw new jets of water hit vague figures in the distance, and as she leaped out of the water behind it -
- the next scene was instant. Her missiles flew up and ahead; gripping one, she leaped on her own explosive volley, projectiles shooting with the speed of explosives ahead and above, rushing swiftly and leaping upon every missile in turn -
- and meeting at last head-level with it, footwork perfect as she leaped forward; its right arm only a hundred feet ahead, she took a final leap to its tip -
- and landed square on the beast's flattened arm; and up the creature's weapon she ran, lasers and missiles behind, sword splitting the starving beast wide open as she rushed -
- and with a final leap to the midsection -
- she fell with the speed of sound down, missiles&blade&lasers splitting the entire beast in half as she fell, ten-ton halves falling down beside, hundreds of feet separating her and the water below, slicing and slicing down, Wedding's lasers continually rewelding her cracked blade, jets of water cut mid-volley as their master was split open -
- and she landed feet-first in the water, shockwaves blasting her back to the surface -
- where two still-beating hearts floated.