Inside the auditorium…
Toru opened his eyes, noticing he was in chains. He saw his squad chained as well, still unconscious. In the middle were Akari, Aoki, Luca, and Hikari, who were in the same condition.
"Pitiful," Toru scoffed. "I let that foolish woman get the drop on us."
He remembered Yamato showing him the crown, right before a large wave of water crashed into the building. The last thing he could remember was pushing Reika, Noriko, and Yamato outside before the attacker crashed into the house.
"A taint on my legacy," Toru remarked. "I will never hear the end of it."
He looked out the bars of the cage and noticed he was in an auditorium, while the rest of his squad was on stage with Dachii and Saori, confronting Uta. "It seems they got away. Why on earth are they dancing? What is Reika doing?"
Down below, Reika tapped her thigh as she smiled. Uta's green-haired double stepped up to face her. "Aww, aren't you cute? Green is my favorite color!"
"Flattering," the double stated. "Shall you go first?"
She shrugged. "Your funeral."
Reika continued tapping her thigh before breaking into her motion, which caught Uta off guard. "That's…unexpected! You're moving like a human…?"
The way she stretched and spread out began to take Uta by surprise, all while doing it with a confident look on her face. She dropped low and pulled her hair back, before jumping up and doing a hip roll and hip sway.
"Go, Reika!" Saori cheered.
"Whoa," Dachii thought. "Those are some moves. Can all of them dance like that?"
She stepped from side to side, snapping her fingers. Toru continued to watch from above, a mix of curiosity and disdain on his face. "That little idiot. Making a fool of herself once again. Her skill is undeniable, however."
Reika snapped her fingers, appearing behind Uta's double, before dancing right behind him. Uta pointed at her. "Hey!"
"Oops," she grinned, suddenly appearing right next to him. "My mistake."
With another snap of her fingers, she was right next to Dachii, an arm wrapped around him as the beat finished. "So? How was THAT?"
"It was…" Dachii paused. "Solid."
"Mmm," she teased. "Is that a pass in Dachii terms?"
"I guess…"
"It was amazing!" Saori congratulated.
Uta cleared his throat. "What an unusual form of dance, but it most certainly was a display of fine art! Now, my turn!"
The green-haired double began his dance routine, improving on the one from the last double. Reika watched as he planted his feet and leaned his body all around, noticing he was using sonic waves to keep his body from hitting the floor. "Hey, cheater!"
He used a wave to blast himself in the air, doing a triple front flip into a curl. "Oops! Must have been a mistake!"
Reika's face turned red with anger. "Dirty little—-!"
Noriko had to cover her mouth.
After using his sound waves to slide around, the double finally finished, waving to the crowd. The music stopped, and Uta pointed to the screen. "Alright! You guys know what to do! Vote for your WINNER!"
The crowd all pressed a button on their seat, and when everyone looked up, the score was 49% blue and 51% red. Reika pumped her fist. "Yes! I did it! I beat you, jackass! Where's all that cheating now?"
"Yeah!" Saori agreed. "Raiders 1, Uta…also 1!"
To their shock, the green-haired double was gone, leaving only Uta and his red-haired double. "A tie, this is pretty interesting. Well, only one round left. This will determine what happens to your friends!"
He motioned to Noriko. "Come on, step on up!"
Noriko panicked, and her face turned red. "I…I can't! I don't know how to dance!"
"Come on, Noriko!" Reika assured. "You've got this!"
"Yeah!" Saori added. "Show them what you're made of!"
"No…I…I can't! I won't win! I'm bad at dancing!"
"Well, this isn't good," Dachii thought. "She's having a breakdown again."
Noriko grabbed Dachii, shaking him. "Dachii? What do I do? What do I do? We're going to lose!"
"Uh…"
Uta gave a half-hearted shrug. "I guess that means you forfeit! Soldiers, restrain them!"
From the crowd, various Zharian warriors emerged, which the crowd didn't seem to notice. They quickly sprang onto the group, pinning them down.
"Hey!" Saori protested. "Stop!"
"Let go!" Reika shouted.
Dachii remained silent.
Noriko began to panic. "Get off me! Get off me!"
Uta got up. "Since you didn't win, I'll just be taking that armor from your brother now, Dachii. As for your friends, I guess it's lights out for them."
Toru watched the situation unfold. "Not ideal. I need to free myself from these chains quickly, lest something bad come to pass."
Noriko was on the ground, frantically trying to move. "No, no! Leave them alone!"
"That was up to you," Uta reminded her. "You failed them, not I! That's the harsh reality of an artist! You only have yourself to blame! Guess you were just too talentless. And you're supposed to be a Vice-General? Man, that sucks!"
Noriko froze up, a flash of memory coming into her head.
Four years ago…
"172 murders. All over three years. She's one skilled assassin, that's for sure."
"This demon is a part of the Takahashi clan? Why hasn't she been executed? Look at that face, it's the face of a devil!"
A tall young woman with long golden-tan hair and menacing white eyes sat in a cell, her hands and feet in chains. She sat with a cold, unresponsive look on her face, which was covered in blood, and her hair hung over her face, shadowing it. She was wearing an orange dress while sitting barefoot. Voltian guards analyzed her from head to toe.
"How old is she?" one guard asked.
"Twenty-one," another confirmed. She's been killing since she was young, but it's spiked in the last three years."
"Any pattern? Any motive? Money? Revenge?"
"She just…appears to love killing. She's brutal, vile, and sadistic. She'll kill anyone, even for free. She's a true psychopath, and she's highly dangerous. She's cunning and intelligent as well, probably plotting all of our deaths in that cell."
A bulky, sharply dressed man walked inside the room. The guards gave a curt bow. "Detective Daigo."
The detective waved them off. "Stand back. I want to question this girl myself."
"Are you sure, sir?" one guard warned. "She's not right in the head!"
"That's quite fine. She's in chains, not the other way around."
Daigo unlocked the cell and stepped inside while the guards left the room. "Noriko Takahashi, was it?"
She remained quiet.
"I'll be frank, dear," he stated. "You've killed over 300 people in your lifetime. That's gonna be a long time in Zettai Kangoku Prison. Now, if you can talk and explain why you did this, we could negotiate a deal. Any clients you could point me to?"
The young lady remained quiet.
"Fine, if that's how you want to be, we'll just skip right to charging."
As the detective turned to leave, the woman stood up. "Detective…tell me…how long have you had this job?"
He turned around. "Over fifteen years. Why?"
A malevolent glint appeared in her eyes. "Your naivety…is disheartening."
In an instant, she jumped onto his back, wrapping her legs around his torso and wrapping the chains binding her arms tightly around his neck. He frantically tapped her thigh, but she just squeezed tighter.
"No."
In a few more minutes, his body went limp, and she kicked it aside, searching it for any trace of a key. "Perfect."
She released her chains and stepped over the detective's body as she left her cell. As guards came back into the room, they immediately pointed their guns at her when they saw what had happened. "Freeze! Don't move!"
In an instant, Noriko was on top of the first guard's shoulders, and cleanly snapped his neck between her legs before grabbing his gun and firing at the other two, shooting them dead. "Disappear."
She trampled their corpses as she exited into the hall, killing guard after guard that tried to stop her. A guard was in the lobby of the jail with his teenage son, reading a book to him before Noriko kicked the door open.
"Shit!" the guard realized. "It's the Twilight Assassin! Son, get behind me!"
The guard pulled his gun out, but Noriko immediately shot him in the arm and the knee, causing him to fall to the ground and drop the gun.
"Dad!" the boy cried.
The guard held up his good arm. "Please…spare my son…don't do this…please…if you have a heart…"
"I do," Noriko confirmed. "You can both reunite in the afterlife."
She shot him in the head before shooting his son as well, walking over the corpses without a single glance or word. Once she was outside, she basked in the free air, hurrying to escape as the alarms sounded.
"Freedom! At last!"
She turned corner after corner, attempting to break into a nearby car, but a voice interrupted her as she tried to get away. "Ahem."
She stopped and turned around, and there was a man at the end of the street. "I don't believe you're supposed to be here."
She noticed his outfit. "A general? Why'd they send you over here? Do you have a death wish?"
"My name is Kaneko Toru," the man introduced. "I heard the sounds of gunshots and recalled there was a pretty violent and dangerous criminal being held over here. And as I deduced, you killed everyone and escaped."
"That's right. Now move, before I kill you too, old man."
"Old?" he remarked. "It seems I'll have to teach you a lesson, brat—-!"
Before he could finish his sentence, the girl was already behind him, pointing a gun to the back of his head. As she pulled the trigger, he managed to dodge out of the way, landing on top of the car.
"She's fast," Toru analyzed. "But my movements feel more sluggish. Has she done something to me?"
Noriko pointed the gun at him once more and fired repeatedly, but Toru blocked with his lance. To his surprise, she caught one of the blocked bullets and threw it back at him, nearly grazing his shoulder.
"Such hand-eye coordination, and her reflexes and reaction time are close to a General's," he realized. "She isn't an infamous assassin for nothing, I suppose."
She appeared to the right of him and tried to kick him in the face, but he countered and tripped her. She recovered mid-air and landed on her feet.
"You're good," she complimented. "You'll be a satisfying kill."
Toru attempted to use his magic, but nothing happened, and a realization clicked in his mind. "Suppression…she's suppressing my magic!"
While he was distracted, she came around from behind and snatched his lance from him, attempting to stab him through the chest with it. He easily side-stepped her attack and grabbed the top of the lance, pulling it from out of her hands and causing her to fall over. Before she hit the ground, he twisted her hands behind her back.
"You've lost."
"Let go of me," she ordered, warningly.
"I said, you've lost."
"This is your last chance. 3…2…"
"1," Toru finished, as she struggled in his grip. "You now have two choices, neither of which you will enjoy."
"Enlighten me," she scoffed.
"Option 1, you resist and get sent back to your cell, where they will surely execute you for your crimes."
"And the second?"
"Option 2, you join the military, and become a part of my squad. Your skills are impressive, to say the least, and that magic you have is a great equalizer."
"How do you know about my magic?" she questioned.
"Because I am not dumb. Now make your choice," he demanded.
"I don't want to join your stupid little military," she spat.
"Well, you can go back to your cell," Toru stated. "Come."
"Fine! I'll join your stupid little squad! But don't expect me to put my life at risk for anyone!"
Toru laughed. "Ha. We shall see."
A few weeks later, Toru received a knock on the door to his mansion, and he opened it. He found Noriko, who appeared younger and shorter, with a nervous look on her face. Xar was standing next to her, a hand on her back. "Go inside."
"Xar, what the hell is this?" Toru asked.
"It is Noriko Takahashi," Xar answered. "A side effect of her magic is that it can constantly regress her body and personality into that of a 15-year-old child, who is too timid to even hurt a fly."
"Where's that ruthless assassin I fought?"
"She's still in there, believe me," Xar assured. "That is her true identity. The one you see right now is just a mask, one formed due to her magic. I believe a burst of extreme emotion like fear, anger, or excitement will trigger it back."
"I see," Toru replied. "I suppose this could be…advantageous, as opposed to having her attempt to kill me over and over."
"I'll leave the rest to you, Kaneko," Xar said, before he got back into his car.
Noriko nervously walked around the S-6 Mansion, nearly jumping when a young girl introduced herself. "Hi! I'm Reika!"
"Gah!"
Reika tilted her head to the side. "Huh? Something the matter?"
"Who are you? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I told you, I'm Reika! General Toru found and adopted me, so now I'm a full-fledged member of Squad S-6!"
"Oh…I see…"
Years later…
Toru got out of bed at 4 am, only to hear the sounds of screaming and fighting downstairs. "Training? Without my orders? Hmm, odd."
He walked downstairs to find Noriko, now back in her true adult form, beating the life out of the soldiers. "Come on, weaklings! If I'm going to be stuck here, I'll need a fulfilling kill!"
"What is the meaning of this?" Toru questioned.
Reika walked over to him, rubbing her head. "Vice-General Noriko has gone crazy again…"
Toru sighed. "Step aside."
Toru stepped forth. "Enough, Noriko. They won't have the strength to train later. I need them fully prepared to destroy their bodies."
"No," she declined.
"I said enough."
Without warning, she tried to kick him in the face using her heel, and he grabbed her by the leg, as she smiled. "Aww, seems you're still as fast as ever. I like a man that can fight."
"Ridiculous. Can you not temper your bloodlust for even a moment?"
She sprang out of his grasp. "Not until the day I finally kill all of you, and regain my total freedom. I shall have it, do you hear me?"
"Enough babble. You are to clean the house as punishment for insubordination."
"You old son of a—-!"
Reika had to cover her mouth. "She'll get right on it, Sir!"
"Good. When she's done, I want a proper spar."
Present Day…
As Uta walked away, the men holding the group down forced their hands behind their backs, but to everyone's surprise, Noriko wasn't among them.
"What the—-?" the soldier holding her blurted out, confused.
In an instant, the heel of a shoe stabbed into his neck, dropping him to the ground. Dachii looked over and saw what appeared to be Noriko, but clearly older and with a different aura to her. "Noriko?"
She ripped her heel out of the Zharian's neck and picked up his gun, pointing it at Uta, who turned around suddenly. "What is this?"
Noriko pointed the gun right at Uta. "You want a dance, right? Then dance, you little shit."
Then she pulled the trigger.
—-