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[Smoke Mirrors]

"Right, so, due to this being an emergency, I'm just going to have us go back to the original plan where you three hold the monsters off and us three squishy, non-violent types go try to save Akitsuki." Mori said, as he grabbed Shoji's hand and started running for the school entrance.


"I know you really wanted to be the one to save her, Kasuga, but I think she'll understand when we explain you had to stay back so the tentacle rock monster things don't murder us all before we can get to her."

[SeriousConcentrate]

"All right, you demon sons of bitches! I'm going to show you why everyone calls me Mad Dog Mildred!"

The delinquent charged forward and with an arcing overhand drove the metal stake into the eye of one. Letting go of it, she picked up a large chunk of rubble from the destroyed wall and threw it at another.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Right as Mori intends to run away with Shoji, a set of three tentacled rock monsters appear in front of him, barring his path and hemming him back towards the group. Shiro and Mildred's shots towards the eyes are intercepted by another tentacle, metallic appendages hanging both girls hanging them upside down. Akihiko rushes towards Mildred, only to have his hand caught by one, and him lifted into the air the same as his compatriots, before-

[Now Playing: Theme of Scathach ~Flash Control~]

A purple and black blur speeds between the party and the monsters.

A thin violet line appears in the blink of an eye across every beast. The beasts suddenly stop moving, their tentacles hanging limply, with Mildred, Akihiko and Shiro tumbling to the floor.

Another moment passes, before the beasts, cut into two, fall to the floor and fade into moonlight.

In front of Mori and Shoji floats a feminine figure, robot-like in form, clad in black armor with glowing purple lines running throughout pulsing with light, wing-like projections with hexagonal "feathers" behind her and blades like limbs separating out into fingers as she stops them. Her legs, instead of ending in feet, end in razor-sharp tips, glimmering in the faint moonlight permeating the Domain.

"My, my. Are you all lost in here? You're not hurt, are you?"

To those in the know, she was a figure only less known than the White Knight of Mishima, and more known than the Ocean King. The three most well-known of their kind, mysterious figures who appeared out of nowhere to save those trapped by the Akuma, she was the most destructive, the most mysterious.

The Black Princess of Calamity.

[Smoke Mirrors]

”…oh thank God. I was absolutely terrified I was going to run into some other monster between here and Akitsuki and we’d all end up killed off one by one like some cheap horror film.” Mori let out a deep breath he felt like he’d been holding since they got here.

He stepped over to Akihiko and offered him a handshake


”Thank you for pushing me out of the way, I’m rather squishy when it comes to violence. I’ll figure out some way to return the favor to you. And apologies for going to run, I thought it would be important for someone to get to Akitsuki as quickly as possible, in case she’s in trouble. But now, there’s someone who can actually not die dealing with all the insanity here. Yay…”

Mori’s words trailed off as he collapsed against the wall.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

This time, Shoji was on high alert, thanks to the distant sounds of destruction. Thus, she instinctively took a step back right before the wall in front of them burst open. In an instant, the young girl was frozen in fear as she looked upon not one, but five unnatural creatures, seemingly made of rock. She could barely process what they were, much less what was going on, but one thing was at least clear: These were Akuma. And she was going to die.

Then, Shoji was snapped back to reality when Akihiko is knocked to the side and into a wall, and the others around her began fighting back.


"Akihiko!" Shoji shouted, taking a step forward before she was suddenly yanked in the opposite direction by Mori. Before they could even get far before another set of three burst out and blocked their path. This was it, they were going to die, overrun by Akuma and killed in a place no one would find them. Instinctively, Shoji closed her eyes, trying to hide behind Mori as...

...

Nothing happened, and everything seemed to fall silent.

Cautiously, Shoji opened one of her eyes, and was immediately greeted with the sight of the Akuma in front of her falling into pieces, a black armored figure floating in front of them. It only took her an instant to recognize the figure from the various rumors she had heard about: The Black Princess of Calamity, one of the three saviors of those assailed by Akuma.


"U-Uhm, er, I-I'm okay, b-but..." Shoji began, frantically wracking her head for the words she wanted to say, but ultimately simply looking back at Akihiko, who seemed to have taken the biggest hit of all of them.

[Chevaleresse]

"Fuck-!" The profanity broke into a less-than-dignified shriek as she was unceremoniously yanked off her feet and held upside-down. Mercifully, it was (probably) not long enough for anyone but Shiro herself to notice the effects on her skirt, but her face was flushed when she stood herself up regardless. Embarrassment, anger, and pain made for an unpleasant mix, leaving her in an even worse than usual mood.
"I'll be less hurt if someone tells me what the hell is goin' on around here."

[Smoke Mirrors]

Mori looked at Shiro and gestured to the Kaijin.


”Kaijin. Superhero. Saving our asses.”

[Chevaleresse]

"You think I waste my time on those kinds of rumors? Far as I could tell until today, it was all sensationalist bullshit." She glared at Mori. "And it still doesn't really explain what I saw earlier, 'cause this chick isn't just disappearing when I try to look at her."

[SeriousConcentrate]

"Yeah, well, thanks for the help. I'd offer to fight with you but I don't think I can do much here."

Mildred turned to the others.

"Looks like we have a free pass. Let's go find Akitsuki and anyone else while this person deals with the monsters."

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"I....could be better."
Akihiko winces as he realises he isn't in danger. For the moment. He slumps against the wall, holding his side and checking it with a touch; no wetness, no tenderness. He wasn't as hurt as you'd expect, smashed into a concrete wall at that speed. Most people would be seriously injured, but this was like taking a hard slam during sparring at the dojo, or a hard hit with a chairshot; with the crowd Mildred ran with, and the solid he owed her for helping him with Sasanuma a year ago, Akihiko sometimes got tied up with things he shouldn't have been.

Yes, the sort of things Saya fretted on him about, but trusted him enough to know he was doing right by others.

He limply takes Mori's handshake, too busy holding his side, nodding at him quietly before looking at their savior.
"Took a pretty hard bump there, but I'll live."

The armored figure stares at him briefly, whispering under her breath.
_{"...an Onibi struck him and yet he's still...and they're all in here and not the Akuma....could it be?"}
She shakes her head, continuing to speak. She gestures for the group to start following her as she glides towards the entrance of the school.
"I'll make it quick, let's walk and talk. You're in a Domain, the realm of an Akuma. Akuma are created from people's negative urges. Your deepest fears, your darkest desires, everything you want to keep hidden from the world, they create an Inner Demon, and that thing turns you into an Akuma when it's unleashed. Those creatures I just got rid of, those are Onibi, fragments of the mind of whoever the Akuma is. They're mindless, usually attack anything in they see in the Domain, except when near the Akuma. I'm what you would call a Kaijin. Like Sawatari here said, like a transforming superhero on some TV show. We fight Akuma, my partner and I.

Unfortunately, Akari, you're not in some sensationalist conspiracy story in a bad newspaper. This is very real, and we need to get you all out of here."
She continues.
"If I'm right, the exit should be near here. But....we'll likely run into the Akuma on the way out."

Akihiko's eyes widen as he follows.
"...no way. That means....Saya...."
Despite being clearly hurt, he surges forwards.
"I have to save Saya! Quickly. Maybe I can...."

[Smoke Mirrors]

”…sit down and rest because my injuries are probably going to make it harder for me to keep up with the monsters that could already tear me apart.” Mori finished, then coughed a bit ”You know, I couldn’t agree more. Let’s try to stay behind the one person here who can actually keep up with the Onibi, ok? If you get yourself killed, you’ll die without me getting out of your debt.”

He turned to the Kaijin.


”His best friend is at the front entrance. We were heading over to save her when we ran into the Onibi. We don’t know if she’s in danger, but, I mean, she probably is. Please go save her, if you don’t, he’ll kill himself to do it.

[Unlurking Sentinel]

Masaru fell on his back when the wall emerged next to him. None of this felt real. The school, his impending death, the bizarre and horrifying monsters, the black-armored savior, An Akari who clearly had clearly given up on her reputation... None of it felt real. Masaru was left to process nearly all of it all at once.

Indeed, it took Masaru until midway through his own speech before he assembled enough of the pieces.


"Now hold on! We only went in this direction because we heard someone definitely in pain, and one of ours insisted, but there could still be others in the school! We are just going to leave without ensuring a complete evacua-"

He paused, and took a deep breath.


"...You said you had a partner, and even if not, it is clear that you alone can do more than all of us combined, several times over. Can you, both of you, ensure that everyone here evacuates safely?" Not just us?

[Chevaleresse]

Shiro caught the way Masaru looked at her out of the corner of her eye, and took a deep breath, trying to settle herself. Father would flay me for talking like that in school. Or anywhere else, but people know who I am here.[/color]
"What happened to everyone else, anyway? It doesn't seem like there's a reason it would just be seven random students and nobody else. Does it have something to do with. . . well, I don't know if it was an Akuma or a Kaijin or what I saw, but I saw something unnatural on the roof earlier."

[Smoke Mirrors]

”We all felt a cold stabbing pain in our necks earlier today. That’s likely involved.”

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"I can still fight, Sawatari. I'm not gonna back down while Saya's still out here! Not while you guys are are in the lurch. It wouldn't be right for me to sit out, no matter what I'm like right now."

The armored figure is about to speak, and then Shiro and Masaru chime in. She pauses.
"My partner is here already, searching the rest of the school, but...you said a sharp pain?"
She pauses.
"The only things that can enter a Domain or exit it are Kaijin like myself, Akuma, Onibi, and those deliberately dragged in by the Akuma. As none of you know where the Akuma is, and you're clearly not Onibi...."
She exhales.
"I'd like to sugarcoat it, but I can't. All of you, right now, are potential Akuma."

Akihiko's eyes widen.
"...what?"