“Raza’s really late… Did she sleep through her alarm?” I looked at my phone to check the time, wondering where she was. She was always waiting for me before I got here, and yet today, there was nobody here. If she was any later, the time it took us to walk to school would cause us to be late. I decided to call her, since I already had my phone out. The moment I went to press the call app, Raza texted me, and I let out a sigh of relief. That is, until I looked at the message. “..!”
There was a picture. A picture of Raza. She was sitting on a chair in a dark room, no, rather, she was bound to the chair. Her face and clothing were bloodied. Under the image were two lines of text, the first line was an address, and the second read ‘come and get her.’
A wave of emotion washed over me. Like I was spinning, my legs felt weak. Raza… was kidnapped? How, when? What was going on?! I couldn’t process what was happening, but after a moment I realized standing there wasn’t going to solve anything. I needed help, so I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out a scrap of paper with Akira’s current phone number witten on it, that I hadn’t put into my contacts list yet out of laziness.
Fumbling with my smartphone, I eventually managed to call the number. Every ring filled me with more dread, and then the voice mail system picked up. “Dammit Aniki, why are you always like this when I need you?!”
Aniki was out, so I needed another plan. My legs began to move without thinking, and I was quickly off in a sprint that would make olympic runners gasp in awe. I didn’t head towards the address in the kidnapping text, but towards the outskirts of town where an old western church sat. I’d have called her, but I didn’t know her number. After ten or so minutes, I was at the heavy wooden doors of the church. My panting body moved on instinct, and I banged on the door until the young priest who managed the establishment answered.
“Hello, are you alright? Do you need help?” he asked me, and I could hear the genuine concern in his voice. He was a priest all right, a noble man who cared about others.
“Umm, is Sara still here?” I asked him through heavy breaths, managing to compose myself enough to speak. He nodded yes, and pointed me to a back room. Wasting no time, I rushed down the hall and flung the door open.
Standing in the middle of her bedroom, her nightclothes on the floor, the smooth white skin of the angel filled my eyes. She held a plain white bra in her hands, which of course meant that it… wasn’t on her body. I froze stiff as a wave of killing intent filled the room. Saraviel stared at me, her expression blank. There was no kindness in those eyes.
The Valkyrie’s gilded bastard sword formed in her left hand, and she slashed towards me with the deadly blade. Were I a normal human girl, I would surely be dead, but I managed to dodge her swing with a moment to spare. However, I accidentally rolled into her room and not out of it.
“Do you wish to die that badly, devil?!” she shouted, her pale skin flushing red. Covering her breasts with one hand, she dangerously brandished the sword in my direction.
“I don’t have time for this 90s anime scene!” I replied, a surge of energy within my body flaring. With speed that could match the angel’s superhuman ability, I slipped past her sword slashes and pushed her down onto her bed, which didn’t make the scene any less problematic. The mostly naked girl struggled underneath me, and I was starting to feel the embarrassment of the whole situation as well. “S-Stop struggling! This is making me feel like some kind of criminal…”
“You beast, has lust rotted your brain?! Or do you simply enjoy taking women by force, as was the custom for your first life?” she hissed at me, and her words struck to my core. I released my hands from her body and stood up, turning away from the young angel.
“Sorry, but I’m in a hurry and I need your help… Raza, the Daeva that’s always with me, she’s been kidnapped… Aniki and the others aren’t responding to my calls, either.”
“And why do you need my help, you’re a Shard, aren’t you?” she asked an obvious question, but one which I had an answer for already. From the sounds behind me, the angel had continued to get dressed, solving at least one problem.
“Raza is a Daeva, do you really think an ordinary human captured her? The only way she lost in a fight is if she was fighting someone stronger, another Daeva… or an Angel.” I responded, crossing my arms. “I should be able to transform now that I’ve trained enough, but I haven’t done it yet… I need somebody there to stop me if I lose control. When Ahriman’s power runs wild in me I can’t think straight, and I might hurt Raza in that state.”
“Your past life’s memories are fighting for control with the current you, a common problem among the Shards. It’s the reason we Valkyrie are sent to exterminate them before they awaken, to reduce the collateral damage. Oh, you can turn around now.”
“Than-” I began to speak as I turned to face her, when her hand slapped me across the cheek with a loud smack sound. The embarrassed looking angel retracted her hand and walked out of her room.
“Come on, sounds like we don’t have any more time to waste here.”
“Y-Yeah, let’s go!” I followed her out, rubbing my reddened cheek. Man, she really doesn’t pull her punches.
I’ll spare you the details of the trip downtown, but we were now standing outside of a dirty warehouse that had been out of use for some time. There was no obvious entrance that was unlocked, so I simply broke in the door with a kick. The metal door went flying further than I expected, even though I wasn’t using my full power.
The two of us, former enemies and now unlikely allies, walked into the dimly lit and dusty warehouse. It was exceedingly quiet, and for a moment I wondered if this was the wrong address. That worry was unfounded, as right after thinking it, we were attacked.
Faster than human eyes could follow, a human figure leapt down in a flying kick. My reflexes were honed beyond a human’s however, so blocking him was no problem. The man landed in front of us, and I felt like I vaguely remembered his face.
“I can’t believe you just walked in the front door, are you an idiot?!” the thin man laughed, and then the memories linked together in my mind.
“Ah, one of the loser trio that keeps challenging me to street fights!” I tapped my left palm with my right fist as I let out that exclamation, and the man’s face twisted in annoyance.
“My name is Kyoshi!” he shouted, raising his fists into a combat stance that resembled some kind of kung fu.
“Who cares what your name is, give Raza back!” I shifted into my hand to hand style, raising both fists in front of me. While the tall skinny Kyoshi bounced back and forth on his feet, ready to move at any second, I stayed firmly in place.
He rushed forward, and I smirked, throwing out a powerful left straight. But in a shocking turn of events, he slipped past my attack! He was so fast I could barely see him. His swift fists crashed into my body in a flurry of light but somehow powerful blows.
I blocked his next attack as he aimed for my face, then countered. He slipped away, ducking back to avoid the blow and taking a few steps away from me.
“What the fuck? How did you move that fast? I thought you guys were humans!”
“We are humans, Hatsu Takeru!” the annoying voice of the leader of these punks cut in, and I looked past Kyoshi, seeing the other two. Standing next to a bound and gagged Raza, who had been chained to a folding chair. “You acted so smug, the invincible sukeban! But you were nothing but a cheat, huh? Not even human, we didn’t stand a chance!”
“Takeru, these three… have been infused with Light.” Saraviel stepped forward, drawing her sword out of thin air. “An angel has transferred some of their power to them, an ancient and forbidden practice.”
“That explains why they could beat Raza… you cowards, three on one? And you call yourselves men?!”
“Oi, Boss, I thought the plan was to gang up on her, but she brought backup.” Kyoshi continued to pace back and forth, not letting either of us advance forward into the warehouse.
“Takeru, they aren’t as strong as an angel, but don’t let your guard down, all three of them together might be a bit of a challenge.” Sara held up her blade towards Kyoshi. “But you’ll be fine two on one, yes?”
“No problem, I’ll make these punks remember they’re just smallfry!” I held out m y hand and unleashed my inner power, summoning an ornate gauntlet on my left hand that extended up to my shoulder. Rather than a sword or spear, my soul’s weapon, or Suura took this form. It suited me more than a weapon, so I wasn’t too bothered by the lack of range or anything.
“I’m not sure which of my brethren defiled themselves to grant you this false strength, but seeing you there wielded the perverted energies of heaven is pissing me off.” Saraviel approached the man she picked as her opponent, a burst of light engulfing her as her brilliant armor formed around her. The fact that she intended to go all out against a human enemy was a bit worrying, but I had my own fight to worry about.
“You know, I could have defeated you both in one punch even before I awoke to the power of the god of destruction, but now that you’ve brought yourselves up to my current level, this should hopefully be more fun than the last time we fought!” punching my armored fist with my off hand and flexing my neck until the joints made a popping sound, I headed towards the two delinquents who stood between me and Raza, who seemed to be unconscious still.
“Taro, stay out of this.” Their leader, who I think was named Haku, stepped out to challenge me alone. Slicking back his dyed blonde hair, he took a deep breath and divine energy began to swirl in his body. He clenched his fists in front of his body like a western boxer, and suddenly his power began to flow out, coating his arms in a crystalline energy similar to the act creating a Suura, but not quite as complete.
“Heh, you really think you’re a match for Ahriman’s power on your own? You’re so funny I almost forgot how much I want to beat you to death.” I cracked my knuckles and rushed forward, never one to wait for my opponent to strike first.
I pulled back my left fist, the armored gauntlet vibrating with power as it built up power. From within the metal gaps, purple wisps of unholy energy began to seep out. A left straight punch with all of my weight behind it, I used my mind to command the gauntlet’s exhaust pipes to open, and a black flame exploded out of the back of my shoulder, moving me with the speed and force of a rocket!
And yet, Haku's reflexes were now fast enough to put up his guard. He blocked my full power punch with the crystal armor on his left forearm. The clear white armor of his audibly cracked, a massive fissure running through it, but it remained intact for now. His face was strained, the force of that strike must have reverberated through his entire body.
He countered, pushing my left arm to the side and pivoting his body into a right straight, as he favored that hand. He was taller than I was by a significant margin, and his speed made it hard for me to fend him off. His armored fist crashed into my face, and I found myself flying back against one of the empty shelves in the old warehouse.
“Not bad, that proto Suura you’ve got there really stings… but how many bullets do you have in the chamber?” I got back to my feet, rubbing my cheek where I had been struck, the shattered remains of his crystal armor flaking apart and falling to the floor. The force he had hit me with had cracked his own armor too, so his effectiveness in this fight was limited.
“Hmph, enough to take you down, bitch.” This time it was Haku who attacked first, his crystal wrapped fists flying with insane speed. A flurry of blows that I couldn’t dodge out of the way of, so I met them with my own.
Our fists crashed together again and again, neither one of us leaving an opening to land a damaging blow. Of course, we were uneven in this regard. His armor was indeed breaking more and more with each blow, however… my right hand is unarmored! My body was tough as Ahriman’s heir sure, but punching solid crystals was something else.
After over one hundred traded punches, our right hands collide, his armor shattering apart. But at a cost, as blood spurted from my hand, and I winced through the bones in my arm cracking. Both of us jumped away, my broken arm hanging limp at my side.
“Can’t believe she told us we’d need all three of us to beat you, seems like we only needed me!” Haku laughed, a violent glint in his eye as he dashed forward with a strong left punch. I met him in the middle of his charge, our armored fists screeching against each other in a picture perfect cross counter!
I stumbled back, but he went flying due to the difference in power of our two blows. Blood trickled down my face from a cut above my left eye, while Haku crashed against the floor and tumbled to a stop some feet away from me.
My purple colored energy swirled around my broken arm, wrapping it tightly. The flesh twisted and contorted painfully, but I ignored it. Following a horrific snap, I lifted up my right arm and inspected its range of movement, the damage repaired.
“I didn’t want to risk hurting or killing you… but I guess I can’t hold back anymore.” I looked at the delinquent man before me stagger to his feet, a furious expression on his face.
“You fucker… stop looking down on me!”
