"We're here! Moriko!!! " Onora struggled to open a steel door, almost tripping over, and found herself now in a vast white room with a clear waterway splitting the room in half. Rabo and Akio followed behind her. The three instantly smelled blood, and traced the droplets on the ground with their eyes. Now looking back up, a being stood ahead, with an unconscious Moriko swinging side to side over his shoulder.
The stray was accompanied by three others. They were crossing the vast room, towards an open space that had a vault door open.
Rabo instantly became furious at the sight of Moriko, bursting forth into a straight collision against one of the Strays. This Stray had an irregular orange arm, with unnatural muscles that spread up, wrapping themselves around Rabo's arm as one of the muscles formed into a mouth and kissed Rabo's cheek, only to infuriate him more by the mockery. It put pressure down on Rabo's elbow as the stray snickered. Rabo's eyes followed the orange muscles to an orange face with no distinguishable features. "Slow down, big fella" said the mouth, but as it said this, it found that Rabo was punching into its muscles the whole time, inching closer and tearing into the Strays armpit until the stray screamed, being shot back past the others. Rabo's canine teeth grit, enlarging into tusks that wrapped around his ears. The front of Rabo's head smashed to the ground, sending chunks of the floor past him as he went straight for them all.
The remaining two attempted to get in his way but found themselves right behind him. Neither knew that Onora had switched them over with two marbles she had thrown over head.
This left the stray that was carrying Moriko wide open, with a raging bull's fury in Rabo propelled straight at him. Rabo lunged out, his claws sprawled like a mountain lion about to pounce on its prey.
The Stray frowned, tossing Moriko in Rabo's path, uttering "Here, boy."
It seemed as if Rabo was going to crash into Moriko, but his body whirled down below her as her body passed right over him. To the Stray's surprise, Akio was right behind Rabo, having caught Moriko while Rabo had a clear opening towards him.
His calves let out pure strength, which burst him right into the Stray with a full on tackle. Such power, useless, as it didn't move the Stray at all despite the continued thrusts. It seemed like Rabo was hugging him as the Stray had his arms held over Rabo, with a look of disappointment. "Seriously, that's all?", the stray shook his head.
Seeing that the thrusting was getting him nowhere, and furious by what the Stray said, Rabo instead threw the Stray up into the air with all of his strength, but felt his knee disconnect due to the twist in forcing it up.
Lurching on his other knee, Rabo shot up for the Stray with intentions to swing it down. The distance between the two closed quickly, but as he got closer, something unexplainable happened.
The Stray only swiped his arm down once, sending Rabo crashing back down to the ground, in a thunderous crash. Indented in the ground, Rabo growled, stiff and confused. He couldn't move his head at all, but heard Akio call his name along with the stray's footsteps getting ever so closer to his head. Rabo's fingers fidgeted as he attempted to move his hand, but suddenly everything went black.
The stray had stomped his foot on Rabo's cheek and cracked Rabo's neck as Akio watched in anguish. "Rabo!!"
Onora found herself dodging slashing attempts from both of the strays she was engaged with, until she jumped right between them, and her invisible setsu claws came out of the side of her hands, cutting the two in half when she somersaulted between them. Due to the core of their greyish heart gems having been shattered into thousand of grey little pieces seen below their torsos, the two Strays cried out in pain, dead by the time their severed torsos hit the floor.
Onora landed, front rolling onto her knee and looked over in disbelief. All of Rabo's vibes, were no longer present .... such furious and powerful vibes simply gone. She hadn't seen what happened but caught sight of the stray passing by Rabo's unconscious body. The small crater Rabo was in shifted into rows of teeth that bent upwards. All of the teeth came out like claws, ripping Rabo apart as Akio placed Moriko's unconscious body on the ground hastily but gentle enough as to not hurt her. Once her head pressed on the cold white floor, he took off. His upper body hunched over, his arms staying firmly in front of him, bent at the elbows, his fists clenched. Akio called out to Onora, who was reaching in her pouch for another set of marbles. "No... I'm too far to use it now," she noticed.
He desperately went in, boxing at the Stray in an effort to get him out of his way, when the Stray finally jumped over him and gave him visibility of Rabo. Akio dropped to his knee, seeing his partner's body parts displaced, some stuck between the crooked teeth, others stabbed into them, the head, being balanced on top of what seemed to be a tongue. The final expression Rabo had, being an angered one, jaws clenched. Rabo's heart gem was no more; he was now gone and unreachable.
"You're crying more than that girl over there did. Truly, you Ikigai are... so hypocritical." The stray said, listening to Akio's wails. Such commentary caused Akio's eye to widen with furious anger, his skin, the entire front of Akio, shifted to black, only his shrunken dilated eye visible.
"You don't see me crying over your Setsu killing two of mine. That's the difference between you and I. And I still have to kill another here to make things even. I'll send you off with at least my name," Said the stray as Onora continued running for them.
"AKIO!" Reaching the clear water passing between the massive room, she tripped, splashing over as Natsu's saber flipped off of her hip in the process. Onora tried to fling her hand up, reaching out for where the two were.
"Nibla." The Stray revealed his name, raising his hand up as Akio was turning around.
The marbles slipped out of Onora's hand, frontward, as this played out. They plunged into the water surface, skipping across the waves and in the reflection of one of the wet marbles that sprung back up, two explosive clouds were visible.
Up ahead, as the smoke cleared, Onora caught sight of a silhouette. "Natsu!" she exclaimed. She already had Onora's Saber pressed against the jagged forearm skin of a surprised Nibla.
"I really hate exerting Retsu but I guess it was necessary. I should have done it sooner instead of thinking I could run all the way here." Natsu glanced down to Akio, as she was hunched over him with her hand on top of Akio's head for balance.
Nibla struggled against the saber, as it cut into his forearm slightly, forcing him to stagger back and jump backwards until he felt he'd established a safe enough distance to gauge his new enemy.
Natsu only watched him, as he tilted the saber, observing the blood that drew from the contact. Her attention went over to Onora, who made it to Moriko's side. "Moriko's scent is all over him," Natsu assessed in disgust and lament, looking at the lower half of her body.
Moriko was battered, bruises all along her knees and thighs, and was practically shirtless. Natsu watched Onora remove her poncho, using it to cover Moriko. Claw marks sprawled along Moriko's left side. "She was such a good girl" Natsu had a quick flashback to Moriko pouring her tea in a customary violet kimono that bore the symbols of the Setsu clan she originated from, years prior to the current time. It was a visit Natsu made with Yayoi, where Moriko's grandmother entrusted the two—who were there to escort Moriko along with other Setsu of that clan to the Setsu academy in the secret valley of the Hachi—to watch over her.
"I'm so sorry..." Natsu said within.
"Tainted by the likes of you," Natsu spat, her voice deepening with the final words. Natsu's eyes brightened to a bright glowing violet, as her iris split to resemble a sharp " C " back to back with another reverse "C." The space below Natsu's feet blackened, as Akio used his vibe ability. The black space continued up behind the pair, hiding Natsu and Akio in the darkness. It spread out towards Nibla, who took two steps back, confused as to what it was.
At random, chunks of the white ground broke up in different directions around them, hovering up seven feet from the ground, all around Nibla. His head followed all of the chunks rising up to this level, his sights returning to the staticky sensation he was getting from that center space where the pair were.
Out of nowhere, he spotted a black mass headed for him, the center whipped open to reveal Natsu, as she managed to graze the side of his neck with her saber. "So fast!" he thought. The black mass quickly covered her up and drew her back into the darkness.
Once more, it came out a short while later, but this time it was two black masses. Nibla's eyes checked both of them out, as they opened like flowers, with Natsu coming out of one, almost slashing down through his shoulder, smashing the ground right beside Nibla. "Yeah, I'm gonna need to move back a bit..." he thought to himself, as he tried to move away while both of the black masses slung back into the darkened space. Moments later, three black masses shot out. "There's no way they can reach m-" he gasped, seeing all three split away and come at him from the front and the sides. They all opened, but he looked to his left when Natsu was in the one to his right. By the time he turned his head, she already jammed Onora's saber into his thigh, as blood aggressively splattered out. Nibla quickly attempted to swing his forearm down onto her face, but the black masses covered her again and shifted back into the darkened space.
"That whore... she cut through me again!" Nibla placed his hand over his wounded area, seeing a portion of his femur. From it, the bone expanded, wrapping around the wounded area. "That'll stop the bleeding," he told himself, drawing his attention to four black masses forming. "This sh*t is getting annoying. I can't die here... I can't! I still have to avenge..." he thought to himself, quickly bringing his attention back to the situation at hand.
By the time he returned his sights to the blackened space, he saw four masses shoot out straight for him. "Which one.. which one?" he found himself too distracted. Unaware that Natsu was flying overhead on one of her large cards, she silently stepped off of the card, going down for him with her Saber aimed to cut him down right through the middle. "I'd have enjoyed taking you slower!" Natsu thought aloud as Nibla looked up eye wide.
"TTTTNnnNnnSSSSSSTTTttttTTttttTtTTttttt!!!!!" A massive tail flew in, right above Nibla, blocking Natsu's saber from coming down any further. Nibla gasped, turning his head upward, having not seen her attack coming. The moving white tail continued to cast a shadow, continuing to screech with the friction against Natsu's saber causing sparks.
[Panel for that]
Natsu clenched her teeth and her grip on the saber's handle, barely managing to backflip onto the ground as the tail circled far around her. From one of the red circles on the tail, a red tail shot out, forcing Natsu to slash it away, nearly knocking the saber out of her hold. More red tails came out from the other circles all around her at a rapid pace, aiming to strike her as she blocked more of them. They all continued to circle around her, tightening the space she had, suddenly all whipping high up above her. As she turned around, something screamed out
"GGRRRAAAAHH!!"
Nibla witnessing this, internally cringed recognizing the one that saved him. " Jeel..."
"It had to be that weasel..."
The red skinned Stray kept the pressure on Natsu, who dodged all of his grabs until Jeel managed to slam his palm on her shoulder as she was falling back. Natsu was freaked out, but swiped her hand onto his wrist and flipped Jeel as his tail came from right below her, causing him to trip as she rolled back swiping two cards with sharp edges past him. The cards expanded as they passed by him, revealing they had thin wires attached to both sides; the wires pressed up against Jeel, causing the cards to close in, slapping up against each other. The thin wire glided down to the floor along with the cards behind Jeel, who glanced back to the cards. "What's that supposed to do?" he thought out loud and shrugged his shoulder, turning back around to face Natsu who stood up to her feet.
Jeel tried to step outside of this thin wire, but found that he couldn't get out, as he suddenly heard grinding. The cards floated up, resembling a wheel, and smashed into the ground, cutting through it as it got closer to Jeel. Jeel attempted to jump, but the wheel floated along with him. Natsu turned over to go back to Nibla, who thought "There goes my help."
"Stay there until it's time for me to chop off your neck, you psychotic weasel" Natsu pointed the tip back to Jeel and then slung the tip of the saber down to the floor.
"With Akio unconscious after using his Retsu, I'll have to deal with the Stray myself..."
Natsu gripped the hilt of her saber, as the bat wings that made up the hilt elongated. She calmly began her walk for Nibla "Now, back to you"
"Really? Come try, I've got game!" shouted Jeel, getting completely ignored.
Before she could take another step, they all heard a slashing sound like iron being cut into. Natsu stared back in shock, as Jeel's tail kept the card from advancing. Jeel himself gulped, visibly hungry, attracted by Natsu's display of Retsu vibes. "So tasty," Jeel bit his lower lip and shook his hips around uncontrollably, as red splinters formed along his tail. His vibes blew the card away, shooting the wire back towards Natsu, who slashed at it, but found the wire slip along her cheek, drawing blood that sent Jeel into a craze as he closed the gap between them.
"That stray..." Onora watched from afar, as more tails were rushing in at Natsu until she got hit in the back, falling face first to the ground. Onora's eyes shifted to a soft violet and she noticed at the center of Jeel's stomach, there was half a heart gem giving him power. One with a very powerful vibe as Onora then notices some other heart gems in the Stray.
"That must be what's giving him that power! I have to help Shousa Natsu somehow." Onora looked around, making sure there weren't any other Strays, before standing up and running. In an instant, Nibla caught on to her and glanced over to Moriko who was left alone. He turned over, deciding he'd take her and leave, but as he was going to run in to retrieve Moriko, five black masses shot out and from the one in the center, Akio appeared, punching Nibla with force he hadn't felt before. Nibla's eyes almost faded with the force that had been blasted into his gut, as saliva blew out, forcing him to let go of Onora.
"RRRRRHHHHHRAAAAGHH!"
Akio switched through each of the black masses, as Nibla was shot up, now airborne. The black masses all zig zagged around Nibla, more shooting out from the black space below. From over the top, from below, Nibla was pummeled all around, as the space above and around him, now resembled a spider web.
"GAH!!" Nibla found himself being punched higher up towards the ceiling, each punch to his gut elevating him higher until he smashed up against the ceiling and came back down, headed for a big fall headfirst.
Akio continued switching from black mass to black mass, circling around as Nibla continued going down, at the center of the "black webs." Nibla's eyes almost faded again, as a flash of a young female face forced him wide awake as he screamed, stopping his fall halfway. He panted. "Where'd he suddenly get all that strength?" Nibla then paused, with a laugh. " Oh... vengeance? Does this mean his is greater than mine? No way! There's no one in this existence with a stronger desire for it... " Nibla chuckled, wiping blood from the corner of his lip.
"THAN ME!!!" He extended his arms outward, causing his arms to form muscles, his abs growing as well. Akio suddenly flew out, forcing his center knuckle to grow, aiming for Nibla's chest.
"I WILL ERASE YOU FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!!!!" shouted Akio, as Nibla challenged those very words "NOT YET!"
Akio's center knuckle plunged into Nibla's chest, slightly indenting it, but Nibla's forearms closed in at the center of Akio's forearm. His forearms cut through Akio's forearm, surprising Akio as the blood splattered on his face. Nibla's right forearm rose up as he rose a bit over Akio, but he quickly brought it back down, much like he had done to Rabo, and Akio found himself plummeting. His black masses attempted to stop his fall, but he fell through all of them, his back colliding with the ground.
All the while, other black masses swept in, attempting to latch onto Nibla, who cut through them, swiping his forearms around. This went on until Nibla smashed his forearms together, grit his teeth, and shouted, "STOP!" He continued whipping his forearms to his side, as the black mass was whipped away from him, splattering down to the ground below him.
From there, he stared down to Akio, who hazily saw Nibla floating down towards him.
Onora heard the commotion that went on behind her, forcing her to stop. She stared over to Natsu struggling, and then Nibla floating down for Akio. "No way..." she thought to herself.
"Rookie! Go assist AKI! " shouted Natsu telepathically, having been monitoring Akio and Nibla on and off while avoiding Jeel who was coming at her with the same consistency. At that very moment, Natsu found her knee giving out, causing her to hunch over. At the side of her calf, she realized there was a number of gash marks, as her tights ripped. "From earlier..." Natsu thought back to her maneuvering through the tails, when one slashed against her. This time around, she couldn't break out of the paralysis creeping from the lower portion of her leg going up to her knee.
Jeel laughed, skipping around as he sang "Meal time, meal time! Ohhh, I wonder what this one will taste like! Beef or goat skin!" Jeel swooped down on Natsu, who attempted to use Retsu, but stopped herself, refusing to use what she could use, recalling a promise she made to Yayoi.
"Only use that Gekyume state, when I give you the order. You're never allowed to use it anywhere where I'm not present."
"I promise!" Natsu in the flashback saluted her teacher Yayoi.
"Shousa Yayoi said not to!" She refused, jerking her head aside as Jeel ripped into her arm with a chomp, taking a chunk of it, as blood spurt across his cheeks and out of his jaws. Natsu let out a pained scream causing Onora to take notice of her.
Over at the other end, Nibla reached down, eloquently wrapping his fingers around Akio's muscular neck. He moved them over to Akio's throat and lifted Akio a foot off the ground.
"I'm so useless ...'' Onora, dropped to her knee, her hands slipping into her hair under the pressure. She yanked at her hair tearfully, now undergoing a psychotic episode. Natsu's scream, along with the images of Riri having been attacked by Shiki's as a surrounded Moriko told her to run, Moriko's damaged body, and Rabo's death all flashed through her head and now... "Who'd have thought the next two days would be like this?..." escaped her quivering lips as she then cried out. Jeel stopped biting into the remainder of Natsu's left arm and dropped Natsu to the floor, turning around to face Onora. He rubbed his forearm over his stained red lips and laughed.
"Are you freaking out?!" Jeel asked with a crazed smile.
At the same time, Nibla refrained from killing Akio right away. He stared into the hateful eyes that were angled on him as he held Akio up, blocking the center light orb from the ceiling. Hateful eyes that made him think of a day long ago, when he lifted his small hands up to cover his eyes from the rays of a morning sun. A day that served as the introduction to his hell. What the girl said, resonated with him. He too, wondered the same thing back then. Living felt as if he went into one nightmare after another, even at that very moment. "All because of you" Uttered Nibla.
"R-Rookie ... run" Natsu tried to force her upper body up, calling out to Onora, who only watched Jeel stop with a frown, hearing what Natsu said. "You wait your turn to be eaten b*tch. Let me play with my food FIRST!" Jeel's tail flew up, smashing into the ceiling, causing more damage to the ceiling, as thousands of cracks spread out towards the indentation Nibla had made on the ceiling minutes prior.
Out of these many cracks, chunks of the ceiling broke, headed down for Natsu along with Jeel's tail.
"SHOUSA!" Onora cried out, the shadow of the tail zeroed in, but Natsu only stared straight ahead at Jeel, not avoiding eye contact but staring death in the eyes fearlessly. Her iris once more shifted to a glowing violet. Jeel knew all too well that she had more than she was letting out, only thinking "That'll all be mine I'll put it to use! Owwwww when that do-"
Suddenly, like butter, he witnessed his tail get cut through, as a mix of orange and yellow flames tore through them, blowing back past Natsu. These flames roared up, turning the chunks of debris that rained down, into nothing. Light orange hair spiked, waving back wildly. A set of wide, enraged green eyes were aimed at Jeel. An unmistakable vibe.
"A ... Rikuto?" Jeel had a flashback, stunned.
"Lo-Lord ... Fukushima" Natsu thought, being healed by the flames that caressed her wounds as she saw Yoshigawa land in front of her.
"Finally ... I found you" Yoshigawa glared intently at Jeel, seeing the glow of Naomi's Heart Gem in Jeel.
Jeel remained in his flashback of Takumi, causing him to smirk in glee. "I was far weaker than. But wait until I encounter that one again ... Osaka's something else, goodies everywhere, and now another one! So many treats all in one place!" Jeel took off straight for Yoshigawa.
"That's Stray that has Nao's heart gem" Yoshigawa finally caught up to the trace. That's right. He could see the heart gem pulsing within Jeel amongst numerous others. Yoshigawa swiped his arm up, only to find Jeel dove backwards upon landing. "Heh?!" The ceiling above was breaking apart, resulting in debris crashing about as Yoshigawa took off to not let Jeel escape, a shadow fast approached where he was headed. A spiraling chunk of the massive ceiling.
"Hmmmm" Neifer watched from a monitor-like hologram, switching his sights to the one above that hologram, then to a number of others all stationed on the different rooms and floors within the factory. Of them, the one that interested him the most was the camera pointed to the front of the factory. A faint scuffle at the other end of the room, brought his attention back. He turned away from the holograms, following the sound over to the couch area, where he saw Himari attempting to wiggle her way behind the couch, in an effort to hide and head for the door. He watched her tushie wiggle as she wormed around, until she felt his presence. Neifer dropped his head with a sigh behind his helmet and knelt down on one knee. He pulled her to the firm wall.
"I'm going to head out, as I informed you before. Please refrain from leaving this room. Nothing will happen to you, so long as you stay in here. I do not have intentions of hurting you, but I cannot guarantee your safety if you go roaming this factory with all that's happening right now."
Himari turned over, her hands pinned to her back. She couldn't help but question "Not hurt me? Why are you doing all of this then? Why not let me go?!"
"We're in need of some documents your mother has brought, that's all you need to know."
Neifer rose, then moved in to lift her up. She didn't kick at all, accepting what he said since his voice was far too calming and she didn't think he was lying at all, nor did she want to anger this being at all. He seemed almost angelic, yet sad to her for some reason. A small white wing-like thing continued to flap side to side, at the front center of his helmet, she noticed the most.
Neifer slipped her onto the couch, pushing the old tattered couch back against the wall. Dust puffed up from the arm rest, making Himari cough as Neifer swatted at the dust with his hand, then went off silently. It wasn't until he closed the door of the office that Himari sighed, with some time to reflect on all the crazy happenings that night. She gently bit her inner cheek, affirming that she in fact was very much awake. She could only hope her mother was safe, and from the way the being had put it, she was alive. Himari glanced over to the different holograms showing what was going on all throughout the factory. In a few of these hologram monitors, fights were taking place, but she quickly looked over to the office door, suddenly hearing the knob rattle, followed by the door creaking open. Chubby sausage like fingers grasped the center of the doorframe, followed by a chubby face poking out from behind the door. Then, an individual entered, closing the door behind him after turning his head and checking that no one was in the hall.
"Perfect, " said Mr.Burke. "I can get a drink quietly" He said, spotting Himari, who seemed appealing in her Hirazawa school clothes.
"A drink and some entertainment, they're useful for once" Mr.Burke used his cane as he hobbled to one of the large pantries. There, he tried to reach the handle but couldn't.
Himari awkwardly watched him struggle with reaching the knob and got an idea. "I-I can help you open it if you'd like .."
Mr. Burke tilted his head to her.
"If you untie me"
"A little bitch like you thinks I'm gullible enough to do that? I've been around far longer than you, that trick won't work. In fact, I've got something for you in just a sec" He responded in a chuckle, going over to get a stool. Once he did, he managed to open the Pantry and brought out a large glass bottle. It's content swishing around, visible to her.
Shutting the pantry, he carefully moved himself down, setting his round belly on top of the leather stool so he wouldn't flat out fall. This took well over a minute of struggling until he managed to land his little stumpy feet on the ground and hobbled to a table near the couch. There, he poured himself a glass after popping the top and went straight to Himari, who tried to scoot to the other end of the couch, knowing his intentions by the way he pressed his fat lips.
"Make this easy for me!" she heard him say, as he gripped the side of her skirt, slightly tearing it upward. He took a handful of her chest,alarming the girl. Himari tried kicking his midsection but none of it worked as he laughed, informing "You're gonna have to do better!" Upon saying this, he clawed up her arm, on top of her.
He cast a shadow over her on the couch, and all she saw were the haunting lips coming down for her until... a fist jammed into his face. The fist pulled back and came back in a second time, causing Mr.Burke to hurl backwards, toppling over the other end of the couch as his body continued to roll until it slammed against the wall, causing a vase to tip over and smash over his head.
Groaning, he slammed his palm to the floor as his cracked glasses dropped to the floor. He stared over to who was behind the arm rest Himari had her head on.
"WHO THE HE-" Mr.Burke stopped.
"Dredger, you're here," said another voice, coming from the entrance of the office.
"And that pig's here too," Seilei added, catching sight of Mr. Burke. Her attention then briefly went to Dredger, whose glare was directed to Mr. Burke. Glancing down to Himari's partially ripped skirt and the whole situation, Seilei could make up what happened.
"What do you think you're doing? Why are you even here?" Seilei questioned Mr. Burke.
"I came in for a drink and that-"
"Shut up and get out of my office," Dredger cut Mr. Burke off. Mr. Burke reluctantly wobbled up onto his feet and made his way out, fed up with this mistreatment. Seilei silently observed Mr. Burke exit and followed after him. Both disappeared into the darkness of the gigantic pipe lines.
"Uh... thank you," Himari said, seeing Dredger lower his gloved hand for her to take. She sat up with his help, though he didn't respond, letting go of her as she sat.
Dredger went over to a control panel, the lights in the room dimmed as he passed below them. "Another odd one... though he seems different from the rest," Himari thought to herself. She maintained her sights on the being, who typed a number of commands. Dredger resumed his observations. One camera in particular attracted his interest.