[Date: 2/3 - Monday]
[Time: 10:00 AM]
[Location: Sanctuary City - Sanctuary University]
I sat with Jessica and the others in the courtyard, enjoying the sun while listening to the gossips and giggles from each girl. I scrolled on my phone, casually leaning my back on the table and hummed softly.
As we chilled, I began to sense a powerful energy approaching the campus, but it wasn't just one...it was three. I sat up straight, causing Jessica and the others to become alert and look at me.
"Is everything okay, Shiro?" Joy asked, glancing at me and noticing my tense expression.
Jessica noticed I didn't answer and leaned to the side to get a view of my expression. "Babe..?"
I activated my Unleashed State and sensed an attack headed straight for the campus then stood up quickly, rushing toward the source and noticed a large orb of energy crashing down toward the campus. My eyes widened slightly and I caught the orb with my hands, grunting as I was getting pushed down.
A laugh was heard in the sky, causing everyone to look up, noticing a woman hovering above us. Lustie looked up as well, her eyes widening with shock and disbelief.
"Ardor?!" Lustie called out, her voice tinged with a mix of surprise and shock.
"Finally, we are back and I did not come alone~ My Master is back with our main Alchemist, but also...we've come back with two Mojisolan Deities, Vuta and Failnaught!" Ardor laughed, holding the back of her hand against her chin.
I groaned as I finally deflected the orb in the air, causing it to explode in the sky. I noticed two women behind Ardor, Feleti, and Lotus, my eyes widening in disbelief.
The first woman, Vuta portrayed an air of sorrowful elegance and mystique. Her pale complexion and silver and black hair evoked a sense of purity and otherworldliness. She also had black markings along her skin from her eye all the way down to her legs.
She wore a black hooded cloak lined with intricate lace, which suggests a traditional or ceremonial outfit. The dark tones of the cloak contrast with her pale skin, creating a visual of light and dark that could symbolize the duality of her nature. The small, red heart-shaped ornament near her chest stands out in contrast to her otherwise monochromatic appearance.
"Vuta..." I said softly, my breath hitching at the sight of her. My gaze shifted to the second woman, a soft grunt escaping my lips.
The second woman, Failnaught, exuded a striking combination of regal elegance, mystery, and dominance, blending elements of gothic beauty and restraint. Her long, vibrant red hair stood out against the darker tones of her outfit, her eyes were cold and apathetic, and she stared bricks at me specifically.
She wore intricately designed black armor, covering her chest and arms, adding a sense of battle-readiness. The armor was highly detailed, combining elements of baroque and tribal symbols, she also wore a white veil with lace trim that contrasts with the armor, giving her a ceremonial or sacred appearance.
Above her head, a metallic, spiked halo is present, which could represent divinity, sainthood, or a fallen angel. The halo also added an element of celestial authority or martyrdom.
"As you can see, cousin...while you were here playing around with your little girlfriends, I was out back in Hawaii getting even stronger. Since the Mojisolan Tribe didn't want to accept me as the Tribal Leader...I went to the Kamana Tribe and got accepted, thus making me a Tribal Leader also.." Feleti said, his tone cold and intimidating.
I stared at Feleti and slowly rose to my feet. "You went to an enemy Tribe and awakened two Deities of Destruction and Ruin?! Are you insane?! Do you not know the danger you just put us all in?!"
"It wouldn't have had come to this if the tribe would just acknowledge me instead of a punk like you playing Family Man and boyfriend of the year!" Feleti retorted, lowering his head then smirked as dark aura began to generate around his body.
"Since you have the power of Tengoku and Jigoku...I decided to obtain the powers of their opposites, Vuta and Failnaught. Now, I am much stronger than ever! It's time for you to die!" Feleti laughed, launching himself toward me.
"Everyone get out of here!" I yelled out, blocking Feleti's attack and grunting heavily at the power behind his attack.
Feleti laughed at me then pushed me back. "Syndicates! Strike everyone down!"
A wave of Syndicate members began to swarm the campus followed behind by Lane and Sebastian. I noticed each of them rushing inside and grunted at the chaos they began to cause.
"Karma! Let's go!" Naomi yelled out and launched herself toward Lane and Sebastian with Dante, Mariana, and Chloe.
Joy immediately called her dad and once he picked up, she didn't hesitate to warn him of the situation. "Dad! Set the defense systems, we're getting ambushed!"
Suddenly, an alarm went off and I watched as Feleti began to retreat with Lotus and Ardor, preventing him from being trapped upon the campus. I watched as he backed away with a smirk.
"We shall settle things once and for all...but only on my terms. We will go to the summit of Mt. Sanctuary and we will settle the score once and for all in a Kaua Lahui, a Tribal Battle," Feleti chuckled as he hurried off with the others.
"Shiro! We've got to help take down Lane and Sebastian if we want to get out of here!" Lustie called out to me.
I looked at Lustie then looked around, noticing all of Karma fighting against Sebastian's and Lane's crew. I cleared my mind and focused on the task at hand. "Alright, let's do this.."
{Mission START: Defeat The Syndicates!}
{Current Objective: Kill Lane and Sebastian.}
[Lust-E: We should help Jessica and her friends first! Naomi and the others can handle themselves!]
I nodded and dashed toward Lane's forces, vaulting over the table and launched a large bolt of fire toward multiple Syndicate members, taking them down in one blow. I noticed Jessica, Baylee, Faith, and Melissa tagging with each other to fight off a group of Syndicate members on their own, hurrying toward them at high speeds.
"Of all the days! Why now?!" Jessica asked, dodging and evading the attacks of her opponents then launched dark fire energy at the Syndicates. "We don't even have our weapons on us!"
"Focus Jess! This is Life or Death!" Baylee called out, launching a blast of water at the Syndicate members to push them back.
"Faith, are you alright?!" Melissa asked, combining her Earth and Water Control to form Plant Control, using roots and vines as defense to keep the Syndicates away from Joy.
"I'm doing as well as I can!" Faith called out, controlling the winds and lightning to strike down as many goons as she could.
The four girls worked together, each taking down multiple members on their own and together with combined powers. Once the last member was taken down, Jessica noticed Lane rushing toward her and grunted as he gripped her face.
"Now I'll be taking you four back with me!" Lane laughed, preparing to corrupt Jessica and destroy the True Love Sigil on her chest with dark energy.
"Drop her right now!" I called out, rushing toward Lane and leaped forward, landing a flying Superkick to his face, forcing him to drop Jessica and knocking him away.
Lane slowly stood up and rubbed his cheek, smirking at me then closed his eyes. He grumbled lightly then stepped forward, opening his eyes to meet my gaze. "If it isn't the Tribal Leader...we meet again except this time...I am ready for you..."
I got into my stance, my Crest of Love flashing Pink activating my Crest of Flirtation and awakening my Nymph Energy. Flirtoria appeared behind me in her Dryad Form, getting ready for battle as well against Lane.
"This time... Sparing you is not an option! We end the Syndicates' reign here and now!" I declared, Floral Energy spiralling around my body due to Flirtoria's Dryad Form.
Lane smirked at me then lowered his stance. "Let's get this started then!"
Lane dashed toward me and I launched myself toward him as well, the two of us clashing and knocking each other away. I rose my hand, a wall of roots rising in front of me then I palmed the wall of roots, causing it to fire multiple thorns at Lane.
Lane blocked and deflected each projectile then ran forward, leaping over the wall of roots and came down with an axe kick. I dodged the axe kick and landed a powerful Destiny Flash to his face, following it with an uppercut.
"Now!" I commanded, my Crest of Flirtation glowing brightly upon my arm. "End this quickly!"
Flirtoria rushed toward Lane, grabbing his leg then dragged him back down. She wrapped her arms around him, her arms becoming branches then roots began forming around herself and Lane.
Lane struggled to escape Flirtoria's hold, groaning as he began to get crushed as a tree formed around the two. Once the tree formed, it shined brightly then detonated into a large Floral Explosion. Jessica and the others grunted as felt the high winds of the explosion pushing them back.
"That's one down," I said, hearing gun shots and looking back to see Naomi shooting down Sebastian.
"And that's two," Lustie nodded, watching Naomi's crew hurrying toward us.
{Objective Complete: Killed Lane and Sebastian.}
"Is everyone alright?!" Naomi asked, her tone a mix of concern and urgency.
"Yeah, we're alright! What the heck was this all about?! They just ambushed us!" Jessica said, still in shock of the chaos that just took place.
"It's my cousin, Feleti. It slipped my mind that he was going back to Hawaii for a month to awaken Vuta and Failnaught while we were cleaning the streets from The Syndicates. I need to make it to Mt. Sanctuary and take him down once and for all!" I said, hurrying to the parking lot.
Naomi looked at Dante, Mariana, and Chloe. "You three stay here! Keep the campus safe while I go follow Shiro!"
"Got it!" Chloe nodded, watching Naomi hurry off.
"Be safe!" Dante called out.
"Don't worry, I will!" Naomi said, running to the parking lot and getting on her motorcycle.
I got in my car, starting it and driving off quickly. I noticed Naomi had called me on Facetime so we could keep track of each other. "Hey, you're coming with?"
"Of course! Even though I know you can handle yourself, I'm not gonna let you deal with this alone," Naomi answered, riding behind me on her motorcycle.
I nodded and smiled at Naomi in the camera. "Alright, let's ride then! To the Northern Division!"
The two of us sped down the road and raced across the Southern and Central Divisions, speeding down the asphalt to reach the Northern Division. As we drove, we noticed multiple police units racing after us and a few riding in front.
"Stop your vehicles now!" A familiar voice called out.
"Shit..! We have Marshall after us!" Naomi exclaimed, looking back and seeing Marshall's police car racing behind us.
{Mission START: Reach Mt. Sanctuary!}
{Objective: Defeat Marshall (Decide Her Fate)}
{Normal Task: Lose Marshall}
{Hard Task: Kill Marshall}
{Luscious Task (Ambition/Charm/Talent/Luck): Convert Marshall to Karma's Side (Kill Axel)}
I grumbled at the decisions I needed to make. "Either I just lose her and leave her fate undecided, I kill her and get rid of her completely, or convert her to our side by killing Axel... but where is he?"
Suddenly, a supercar rammed into mine, trying to push me onto the off road. I looked over and noticed Axel trying to push me into a steel barrier. I swerved my car and blasted through the barricade blocking an off road path.
"Shiro, who is that?!" Naomi asked, speeding ahead on the main road with Marshall following her.
"It's Axel! Looks like I have a little race on my hands.." I said, gripping the steering wheel tightly. "I'll meet back with you on the main road! We won't be crossing paths for another 20 minutes!"
"Got—" Naomi began, but due to the area I was in, her connection was momentarily lost.
I lowered the roof of my car and looked over at Axel, smirking at him. "So, you pussies only show up when my cousin and his goons come back huh?! I should've known you all would be too scared to confront us alone!"
Axel laughed and glanced at me with a devious smirk. "So I take it you've already taken down Lane and Sebastian? I should've guessed since you have gotten a lot stronger. There was no way we could win as you are now and catch up was OUT of the question! But now...we are just only stalling you all for time!"
"I don't know what he's talking about but I do not like the sound of that!" Lustie said, looking ahead and holding onto her seat as we raced into the forest.
"I don't care what your plan is! We're taking you all down for good!" I declared, shifting the gears in my car and boosted forward.
Axel laughed and boosted after me, the two of us starting our deadly race between one another. We raced down a path within the forest the broke through a barricade, racing down a rural area.
The two of us began burning rubber along the roads, quickly speeding around every corner and curb to make it back to the main roads. Axel took out his alchemic firearm, aiming it at me and began firing bullets toward me. I heard the bullets and ducked my head while driving faster to escape him.
"Talenta! You're on!" I called out, raising my head to look at the road and broke through another barricade to get back on a shortcut.
Talenta nodded, flying up in the air then summoned multiple energy blades, aiming each one at Axel. "Victory Storm!"
Axel noticed the volley of energy blades flying toward him and began to swerve around each projectile, evading each energy blade with precision and caution. He looked up and noticed Talenta flying in front of his car, shifting into her Demon Form and spreading her blue demon wings.
"Try all you want, but you aren't going to hit me!" Axel declared, swerving his car to evade the oncoming projectiles.
Axel continued to race after me, trying to ram his car into mine, but each attempt was foiled as Talenta's energy blade flew between our cars. Axel began to grow frustrated then drove ahead to try and run Talenta over, but she flew into the air, distracting Axel.
"Keep your eyes in the road! Lust-E, Side Boost!" I commanded.
Lust-E used her Digital Particles to form boosters on the side of my car then activated it, causing my car to slam heavily against Axel's and sent him crashing into multiple trees.
"Don't let up! Finish him off!" I said, watching as Talenta appear beside my car and launch a powerful blue laser at Axel's car.
The laser hit his car, causing his car to explode and start a mini forest fire. Luckie used her Talisman to summon rain to prevent the forest fire from spreading then clapped her hands together.
{Decision Made: Convert Marshall.}
"Alright! Axel is out of the picture! Let's meet up with Naomi on the main road and convert Marshall and save Sanctuary City!" Lustie said, glancing at me with a smile on her face.
[Time: 11:00 AM]
[Location: Sanctuary City - Outskirts of Northern Division]
Naomi kept driving forward at high speeds, evading and swerving around police units to prevent herself from being caught. While she drove, she heard more police sirens then groaned, looking back and noticed Phoenix's car.
"Phoenix!" Naomi gasped then a smirk placed on her face. She looked ahead and noticed someone joining the call.
"Naomi, are you there?" A familiar voice said to her.
Naomi looked at the new caller and her eyes widened. "Raymond..! I'm here."
"Good, it's nice to see you again. Now listen carefully, there is a strange phenomenon ahead. The area looks really trippy and distorted. You won't be able to continue ahead on the main road, leave that to Shiro as he has the means of dealing with that," Raymond informed, glancing between the camera and his computer screen.
"What do I do then?" Naomi asked, looking ahead and noticing what Raymond warned her about.
"Stop. There's nothing more for you to do. Lotus is up ahead and none of us have the means of taking him down...let alone dare to face Feleti and those three Devils he has with him," Raymond said.
"But if I stop—" Naomi began, looking at her camera.
"I know, but there's nothing more you can do...either way...we've won the war. This is Shiro's calling now. He's Destiny's Hero... we leave the rest to him," Raymond said.
Naomi closed her eyes then sighed, pulling onto the side of the road and stopping. She turned off her bike and set the keys on the ground.
Marshall parked her car behind Naomi's and hurried toward her. "You're under arrest for MULTIPLE crimes! So many that I can't even FATHOM what your final judgement will be!"
"Yeah, yeah..." Naomi said, getting off her bike and placing her hands behind her.
As Marshall prepared to handcuff Naomi, she felt a hand grab her arm, stopping her. Marshall looked back, noticing Phoenix then glared at her. "What do you want, traitor..?"
"Don't do this...Naomi...Karma aren't the bad guys..! It's always been The Syndicates! Have you not read Noelle Grant's book? It's Lotus, not her. She's only been defending Sanctuary City," Phoenix said, her grip on Marshall's arm slightly tightening.
Marshall scoffed, snatching her arm away then turned to face Phoenix. Before she could say anything, she noticed my car parking behind Phoenix's then let out a groan.
"It's over, Marshall. The Syndicates are dead. There's no reason for you to keep serving them. We've won," I said, walking toward the three women.
Marshall stared at me then glanced at Naomi and Phoenix. Phoenix gave Marshall a pleading look, an expression of hope that Marshapl would finally drop all the animosity.
"Please, Marshall...I want my best friend back. You don't have to fight us anymore.." Phoenix said softly, holding Marshall's hand and interlocking their fingers. "I want my childhood friend back.."
Marshall looked at their hands, staring at their intertwined fingers for a moment and a memory of their childhood flashed in her head. She closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh, lowering her head. "Alright...I surrender..."
Phoenix's eyes sparkled with happiness and she hugged Marshall happily. Marshall grunted softly at Phoenix's tight squeeze, but hugged her back and closed her eyes.
{Task Complete: Converted Marshall.}
Naomi smiled at their reunion then looked over at me, turning her head to the location ahead. "Beyond that point...is Heavenly Bay. Raymond said that only you can handle that kind of twisted and distorted energy."
"Definitely looks like a job for me...Once I cross past that sign, there's no turning back. This will be it," I said, turning to face Naomi.
Naomi nodded, feeling a pang of sadness in her chest. She walked closer to me and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me in for one final kiss. I wrapped my arms around her waist, returning the kiss that seemed to last for a life time.
Naomi slowly pulled away and let me go. "Please...be safe. Don't die on me...on us."
I smiled at Naomi, letting her go as well. "I'll be safe... I promise..."
Naomi watched as I walked forward, holding her hand at her chest, her True Love Sigil glowing. "I love you, Shiro..." She said quietly, closing her eyes.
I felt Naomi's love, but also the love of the others I bonded and connected with. I noticed my Crest of Love shining brightly, 28 orbs of iridescent energy gathering inside my body and boosting its power.
"Here we go...no turning back.." I said, stepping into the twisted and disorienting area, taking my first steps into Heavenly Bay.
{Final Mission: Kill Lotus and Feleti.}