Well, that paid off rather quickly, Mokomoko mused.The thing that was now lying on the floor was a young girl, her neck bent at an entirely fatal angle. Tomochika's fingers were pressing into the fallen girl's throat, one hand ready to gouge out her eyes.
"I've wondered about this for a while, but why does our school of martial arts have anti-air techniques anyway?"
The Dannoura Way is prepared for all circumstances.
Despite her neck being broken, the girl began to stand up. Looking closer, it became clear that she wasn't human — it was an exquisitely made doll.
By the time they realized it, Tomochika and Yogiri had been completely surrounded. Stuffed animals, tin puppets, porcelain dolls...although they varied in size and construction, they were all dolls of some sort. They had moved in to block both ends of the hallway, and were even crawling over the walls and ceiling.
"Ahh. I thought you were being a bit too cooperative, but you were just buying time."
Realizing she couldn't win on her own, Riza had simply been waiting for reinforcements. She hadn't given up on her orders at all.
"I had thought that I alone would be sufficient, though," she said with a relaxed smile before suddenly collapsing. Yogiri's power had been unleashed again. Now facing multiple opponents, leaving her alive was only a liability at this point.
Hmm. I guess you would call this a Puppeteer? Mokomoko continued her commentary. Each individual doll didn't seem all that strong, but together their numbers were enough to potentially overwhelm them.
◇ ◇ ◇
A young girl in a black frilled dress sat on the landing in the emergency stairwell. Perhaps a reflection of her interests, she was surrounded by numerous dolls and stuffed animals.
It was Chelsey, one of Yuuki's bodyguards. In reality, there should have been no reason for her to participate — taking a single girl with no powers captive should have been easy enough for Riza by herself. Chelsey had been content to let the captain of the Bodyguard Unit take the credit for the job, coming along just in case, but things had gone in a completely unexpected direction.Riza's magic had been totally ineffective. As shocked as she had been, Chelsey had immediately moved into action. She knew her dolls would be more than enough to get the job done. If some of the dolls themselves were destroyed, it was no real problem.
Chelsey's method of operating dolls was similar to possession. Something like a soul would inhabit the toys, allowing her to control them directly. If one body was destroyed, all she had to do was move that "soul" to another.
"She's better than I thought," Chelsey said to herself. She had figured she could grab Tomochika in a heartbeat and be done, but it seemed things wouldn't be going that smoothly.
"Owwww! What's with this girl?!" The voice came from a life-size female doll — the same kind as the one that had just attacked Tomochika."Start by killing Yogiri!" The teddy bear in Chelsey's arms spoke in a way that was in sharp contrast to its adorable appearance.
"Heheheh, we can take off one or two of her arms, right? As long as she's still alive!" This time it was a doll in the shape of a young boy that spoke, wearing a devilish smile and holding a large knife.
The dolls gathered around Chelsey were the leaders of her collection. Each of them could control other dolls of the same type as themselves.
"That's right. He only said to bring her to him," Chelsey said, despite having fully understood her instructions. She looked down at her own body. Though she had an endearing, fairy-like appearance, she knew there was little in the way of sex appeal there. With a body like this, she could never earn Yuuki's affection. There was no way she wouldn't be jealous of Tomochika. "Okay, everyone! Hurt them just enough that the girl doesn't die!""Here we go!" the bear in her arms responded.
Looking through the eyes of her small army, she watched the scene in the hallway unfold. Stuffed animals, dolls, and robots all threw themselves forward at once. As they did, they suddenly locked up in the air, flying past their targets and falling clumsily to the floor. This was as expected.
"Next...huh?" Suddenly struck by a sense of unease, she looked down at the teddy bear in her arms. It was just a normal teddy bear. "Morurun?!" Chelsey began to shake the doll in a panic, but the teddy bear neither spoke nor moved. "Jennifer! Jackie!" The girl-shaped doll had fallen to her knees, and soon after began rolling down the stairs. The boy that had been brandishing his knife was completely still, lying on the floor.
"No...no, no, no! Morurun! Jennifer! Jackie! Move! Come on! Come on!" Each of her special doll personalities was irreplaceable, like a part of her own self. Those irreplaceable companions were now being stopped forever, one after another.Overcome by fear, Chelsey looked through the eyes of the ones that could still move. Yogiri was walking down the hallway like nothing had happened. As ordered, the remaining dolls attacked him. And once they approached him, they stopped moving.
Chelsey heard the sound of the door to the emergency stairs opening. Looking up in terror, she saw Yogiri and Tomochika step into the stairwell. The dolls that could still move immediately made to intercept them and protect Chelsey.
"Stop! Please, stop! Don't hurt them! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
She finally ordered the dolls to stop their attack. Continuing the assault would only increase the number of casualties, although even that thought was beyond her in her desperation.
"Takatou, you're starting to look like the bad guy all of a sudden..."
"You say that, but all I'm doing is protecting myself," she heard an exasperated voice answer.
By the time the pair had stepped into sight, only a few of her dolls remained.