Floor 1,321—-
The van raced around as Zaria and Rio began fighting, with Yūto and Airi watching.
"Get her ass, Rio!" Yūto called out.
Rio pushed Zaria off the edge of the van, but she stabbed into the side with her blade, holding on tight.
"Rika! A little help?"
"Girl, I TOLD you not to jump out the car!"
Sōshin swerved the car back and forth, slamming into the side of the van and nearly knocking Zaria off.
"Kid, that ain't HELPING!"
Rei jumped into the front seat. "Hehe! I'm coming!"
"Rei, wait—-!"
Rei rolled down her window and vaulted out of the backseat, landing on the Dokkōdan van. Yūto and Airi immediately whipped their heads around.
"Who the hell are you?" Yūto demanded.
"I'm Rei! Nice to meet you!"
"Rei…" Zaria muttered. "Those are NOT good guys."
"Oh! Okay!"
"Now please…help me up."
Rei went over to Zaria, but a blur slammed into her, nearly knocking her over.
"Ah!"
"Watch out for that invisible son of a bitch! He's sneaky!"
More Dokkōdan hunters climbed on the roof as Rei helped Zaria up. "And…now there's more."
"Do you guys need help?" Rika called out.
"Uh…we'll let ya know!" Zaria replied. "Okay, Rei. Smash the guys on the left, and I'll smash the guys on the right."
"On it!"
Hunters lunged at Zaria, but she smacked them with the blunt side of her blade, knocking them off. A hunter grabbed her from behind, but she threw her head back, hitting him hard in the nose.
"Ow, you little—-!"
She grabbed his arm, chucking him off the van. "Did you get 'em, Rei?"
Zaria turned around, where a bunch of hunters were lying sprawled on the ground, as Rei gave her a thumbs up. "Yeah!"
"Huh," Zaria remarked. "Nice."
Rio suddenly appeared, wrestling with Zaria. "Sorry, but this is your stop."
"Get off me, you wannabe ghost!"
Rei pointed her hand at Rio. "Don't worry, Zaria! I got him!"
Rio disappeared.
"Oh! I don't have my Mahōshi powers! Hehe, silly me!"
Yūto formed a small bike, which wrapped itself around Zaria and Rei. "There. That should keep you ladies in place."
Zaria struggled against the bindings. "You think this will hold me? I'm a whole other level, now!"
"So am I. You're not special."
He held up a fake license. "Level 5,000."
Airi rolled her eyes. "Way to brag."
"Not now, Airi…"
"You might can hold me, but not Rei! Blast this thing, Rei!"
"Sure thing! Jugen-Mahōshi: Tsuki no Megenka!"
Nothing happened.
"Oops! Powers gone, remember?"
Rio quickly appeared and pushed both girls off the edge. "Make sure you leave a tip."
"AHHH!"
Rika watched as the girls tumbled into the distance. "Girls! Hang on! Sōshin, flip the car around!"
"No!" Zaria shouted. "Like you said! The statue! Grab the statue!"
"Me? I'm no fighter! Are you insane—-?"
But they had already disappeared from view, leaving Sōshin to follow the van.
"Hate it when she does that," Rika muttered. "Pushing ALL the responsibility on me!"
"Friend Rika! The van is speeding away!"
One of the hunters pressed their hand to the van. "Jugen-Sōunsha: Accelerated Movement!"
With a burst of speed, the van took off. Rika pointed to it. "Okay, now you can drive wild! Put this thing in overdrive!"
"Okay, friend!"
The car lunged forward, throwing Rika's head back. "Ow! Not so fast!"
One of the hunters began tossing bear traps along the path, forcing Sōshin to jerk around them. Yūto noticed them and hopped down to the back, grabbing the statue.
"Stay back, girl! I'll break it!"
"No, you won't! Pull up, Sōshin!"
Sōshin drove to the back of the van, and Rika steadied herself. "Don't drop me. PLEASE don't drop me. I'm too young to lose any more years."
"You got it, friend!"
Rika slowly crawled out of the window, sliding to the hood of the car. "Let it go, *Yūto.*"
"The hell are you doing, Rika? Didn't you hear what I said?"
"I'm taking what's mine!"
She jumped onto the back, grabbing at the statue. Sōshin eagerly watched as Yūto batted her away.
"Dude, you're just a healer! Get back!"
A lightbulb went off in Rika's head. "Oh, that's right! Ha!"
She held out her hand. "Jugen-Mahōshi: Ki Shuriken Ranbu!"
Shurikens shot out of her hand, cutting Yūto's flesh and making him drop the statue. "What the—-? How'd you get that skill?"
"I have ways."
Airi landed in the back, a cold look on her face. "Hop out. I'll keep her busy."
"You sure?"
"Yes. Just go."
Yūto nodded and hopped out of the vehicle. When Rika tried to follow, Airi pushed her to the ground.
"Nuh-huh, healer. You're staying here."
"You must not have gotten the memo," Rika replied. "Jugen-Mahōshi: Ki Shuriken Ranbu!"
The shurikens impaled Airi's flesh, but she didn't even so much as flinch.
"Jugen-Kaiseisha: Keizoku Tsūkaku Mukōka."
The shurikens clattered to the ground as Airi wiped the blood away.
"Damn it," Rika thought. "She's a healer who plays dirty."
Airi cracked her knuckles. "Time to blow off some steam."
She delivered a kick to Rika's chest, but Rika caught it and bit her leg.
"Did you just bite me? How old are you, girl?"
"Old enough to know when all else fails, use your teeth!"
She threw another shuriken at Airi, who blocked it with her forearm. "You Kaitansha are just immature babies. Ridiculous."
She ripped the shuriken out of her forearm and threw it into Rika's shoulder, who winced.
"Ouch. That hurt!"
More hunters joined them, weapons pointed at Rika. "And of course you had to bring your little fan club!"
"I dunno why you only came with 4 other people. You always gotta bring an army in a dungeon."
A few hunters grabbed her, pulling at her hair. Rika tried to kick them off, but she spotted Sōshin driving the car up to the back of the van.
"Sōshin! You wanna be my friend right?"
The car whirled to life. "Yeah!"
"Then slam into this van as hard as you can! And don't stop until it's wrecked!"
The AI face smiled. "Yay! Friend!"
Airi turned around. "What are you—-?"
The car backed up, and slammed into the van at full speed, causing everyone to fall over.
"See ya, losers!" Rika taunted.
She jumped out of the van, leaving Sōshin to bash it again and again, upturning it.
"Friend! I did it!"
"Yes, yes you did…" Rika replied, swaying on her feet. "Nice job…friend…"
Then she collapsed, passing out.
Sōshin drove his car up next to her. "Friend Rika sleepy! No worries, Sōshin will take you back home!"
The car door opened, and a seatbelt reached out, grabbing Rika and pulling her in before driving off.
Airi crawled out of the wrecked van. "Damn, Yūto better have gotten away…"
Meanwhile—-
Yūto crawled through the trees, lugging the statue along with him. "Damn Airi. Damn Rika. Damn Zaria. Damn moon girl. Damn living car…!"
He stopped to sit on a log, taking a break. "Why do I always gotta do the heavy lifting?"
"You always talk to yourself this much, or…?"
Yūto stood up as Zaria appeared behind him, pointing her blade at him. "Now. The statue."
"Please. You want it, you gotta take it. The Dokkōdan way."
"Works for me."
He drew a steel bar from his back as Zaria laughed. "Cute lil' rod! Now eat this, Dokkō-jerk!"
She sliced at his chest, and he knocked the sword out of her hands. "Pfft. You don't even know how to swing that thing, do you?"
"Course not! I'm a spear girl, not a swordwoman!"
She rolled out of the way as he brought the bar down, picking up her sword. "But steel is steel!"
She flipped it over, bashing him in the face with the butt of the sword. Yūto felt his lip, which was bleeding, and growled.
"Jugen-Kōbisha: Cursed Manifestation Cage!"
A giant metal hut appeared around Zaria, enclosing her. "Not fair, you little shit!"
"Try getting out of that! Peace out!"
Zaria pulled her leg back and kicked the wall, which immediately sent pain rippling up her thigh.
"Ow…legs are back to normal…"
She looked at her arm and made a fist. "Maybe this!"
She punched the metal wall and ended up clutching her hand. "Ow, ow, ow! If it's not my arms or my legs, what else is there?"
She looked at her knees. "Hmm…"
Driving her knee into the wall, there was nothing but a sharp crack.
"Gah! Not the knees!"
She looked all over her body. "What? Do I have to hit it with my elbows?"
Zaria paused. "…Seriously?"
She got into a fighting stance, and in a blur, she swung her elbow at the wall, causing a loud thud and forcing the metal to bend.
"Elbows for the win, okay!"
Swinging another elbow, the metal fully cracked, and she stepped out, but there was no Yūto in sight.
"No way that scrawny cat got far. Running time's a go!"
Rei ran up, holding a creature in her hands. "Hey, Zaria! Look what I found!"
"What is THAT?"
"It's a baby raccoon! I wanna keep it!"
"That is NOT a raccoon! Drop that thing!"
Rei kissed it. "Don't say that! That's mean!"
"Look! The black-haired weirdo ran off with the statue! We gotta catch him!"
"Okay! Mr. Willy is coming too!"
She put the raccoon-looking animal on top of her head. Zaria slapped her forehead and hurried through the trees, with Rei following.
"Which way did he go?" Rei asked.
"No clue! He must have been putting in hella work when I was trapped!"
She noticed drag marks on the floor. "Almost forgot. He's gotta lug a massive statue around."
She pointed toward a mound of bushes. "It leads there!"
The two girls pushed through the bushes, where they found Yūto on the phone with someone.
"Yes, Boss. I've got it. Those Shinkaidan fools are hot on my tail. I don't know how long I can hold out before their leader comes."
"Who's he talking to?" Rei asked.
"Leader?" Zaria questioned. "But I thought Mr. Nyugawa was fighting their leader!"
"He is!" Rei confirmed. "Well, maybe he's won by now!"
"But, who's Yūto talking to, then…?"
The raccoon jumped onto Zaria's head, nibbling a piece of her hair. "Hey! Get off, you crappy little rodent!"
She immediately covered her mouth as Yūto turned around. "My bad."
"They're here, boss! What do I do?"
A garbled female voice responded.
〈Hold.〉
"But…!"
〈Do you presume to question me?〉
"N—no, Boss."
"The jig is up," Zaria declared. "Give the statue over, and you get to keep your limbs."
"Over my dead body!"
"Keep chatting, and you won't have a body!"
She charged at Yūto, who held the statue up to defend himself. "Back off!"
The phone clattered to the ground as he and Zaria fought for the statue.
"Give it here!"
"No! My boss wants this statue, so it's coming to the joint!"
"MY boss needs this statue to clear this commission! Tell your boss I said he or she can kiss my black ass—-!"
〈Yūto…〉
Yūto immediately snapped to focus. "Yes, Boss?"
〈Separate.〉
Yūto shoved the statue into Zaria's chest, making her stumble. Rei caught her. Yūto's phone began to rapidly shake.
〈Jugen-Daraku: Buttai Shunkan Ten'i Kōkan.〉
Zaria and Rei watched, horrified, as the phone disappeared. A large feminine shadow appeared where it once was, barely visible.
"Jugen…Daraku?" Zaria gasped.
Yūto immediately got to his knees. "Boss! M'lady! Here!"
The woman grabbed the statue. "Hmm. Impressive. I appreciate the success."
Zaria calmed her nerves. "Hey! That's ours! We're clearing this commission, whether you like it or not!"
She swung her blade at the shadow, but she caught it without so much as glancing over. Purple eyes suddenly began to glow on her face.
"Silly girl. You should learn not every fight is a winnable one. Just ask your master."
"What—-?"
With a swipe of her hand, the shadow lady sent Zaria flying into a tree, hitting it with a painful THUD and knocking her clean out. Rei rushed over to her.
"Zaria!"
The woman placed a hand on Yūto's head, and chains rose from her back. "Jugen-Daraku: Norowareta Tsūro no Kusari."
The chains wrapped around the two, and with that, they were gone…
…along with the statue.
〈Statue: *Out of Range.* Commission Failed.〉
Zaria briefly opened her eyes, as the final chains disappeared.
"No…this…can't…be real…Sir…I'm…sorry…"
And then, it all went black.
———