“Your beloved?” Noh grinned, giving Kabuki’s summoner a naughty eyebrow wiggle, “Do tell!”

“Wow, you’re thick…” Joutarou grunted, “Noh Hiraoka…” he paused, taking a deep breath and turning back into Kabuki Mishima, “I love you, you idiot.”

“Ok!” Noh smiled, causing Kabuki to lose his composure.

“J-Just like that?” the Cyclops asked, “It’s that easy? And you… reciprocate my feelings?”

“Sure, why not?” the werewolf shrugged.

Suddenly, glowing purple fragments of the destroyed bridge rose up from the castle grounds below, forming a walkway between the two love-struck demons.

“Will you two just make up and hug it out already?!” Kitty’s voice called to Kabuki and Noh from the inner ward beneath them.

The two men looked down to Katherine and Kitty hopping out of one of Sumire’s portals.

“What are you two doing here?” Noh shouted down to them, “I thought you weren’t strong enough?”

“You were right,” Katherine called back, “Jackie’s risking everything for us! The least we can do is risk everything in return!”

“Where’s Shakespeare?” Kabuki asked, “Was she too selfish to join you?” he taunted.

“Kabuki…” Noh sighed, crossing the psychically-mended bridge and grabbing the one-eyed demon’s hand, “give it a rest. All you really wanted was my affection, right?” he asked.

Kabuki nodded. “Noh, I just…” the blue-haired demon was interrupted by Noh kissing him.

Kabuki shut his eye blissfully, wrapping his arms around the loup-garou’s naked back and returning the smooch.

“Let’s go stop Kuro, ok?” Noh winked, breaking the kiss.

“Put your clothes back on first, will you?” Katherine asked, as Kitty lifted Noh’s discarded garments up to him with her mind.

“Sure.” Noh nodded, reaching out and grabbing the floating shirt and pants.

 

“Why, why, why, why, why…” Jackie mumbled as her crying body floated purposelessly through the Unconscious Zone, “Why, why, why, why, why, why?”

The Londoner thoughtlessly stared at the Zone’s cinema screen-like rectangle as she saw Luna puppeteering her body to talk with Kuro.

“Why?”

“So,” Kuro began, pouring Luna a glass of wine and handing it to the tengu before leaning back in her seat, “what brings you to Phantasia?”

“Why?”

“Hmm?” Luna sighed, “Not like I had much choice. My summoner brought me here, after all.”

“Why?”

“Of-course,” Kuro smiled. “So what brought young Jacqueline here?” she asked.

“Why?”

“Sumire Shakespeare,” Luna bluntly scoffed. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“Why?”

“And why did my dear sister bring Jacqueline here, then?” Kuro asked.

“Why?”

“You know the answer to that question,” Luna said. “She wanted me to stop you.”

“Why?”

“And, yet, here we are bonding over some red wine,” the witch smiled.

“Why?”

“You call this ‘bonding’?” Luna laughed, “I’m just letting you have one last drink before I kill your sorry ass!”

“Why?”

“Kill me?” the villain shook her head, “Oh, dear… And why would you do that?”

“Why?”

“Why?” Luna asked. “Because it’ll make me a hero! Everyone in Phantasia will respect me!”

“Why?!”

“You really think that killing me will earn the respect of others?” Kuro asked, “Even Sumire doesn’t respect you. You know she’s just using you, right?”

“Why?!”

“Yeah, so?” Luna smiled, “As long as I get my rightful recognition as Phantasia’s strongest demon, I don’t care who’s using me!”

“WHY?!”

“Oh, really?” Kuro asked. “But look at what Sumire’s done to you… Jacqueline… You’ll never see your dear Sarah again. And look at that ridiculous outfit. Those ridiculous wolf ears. That messy hair. That tail always lifting your skirt ever so slightly too high.”

“…”

“Luna,” the witch continued, “don’t you want to avenge Jackie? Take your revenge against Sumire? I mean, she used you, the great and all-powerful Luna Wolfe, as a mere pawn… Are you really going to sit back and take that?”

“…”

Luna stared blankly at Kuro.

“…”

“I’m… outta wine,” the wolf tengu grunted, tipping her glass to Kuro as the witch gleefully refilled it.

“…”

“Besides,” Kuro smiled, “I know a better way to guarantee the respect of every denizen of this world…”

“…”

“And what might that be?” Luna asked, raising her eyebrow and nonchalantly sipping her wine.

“…”

“Fear,” Kuro leered, putting both hands on the table and leaning in really close to Luna’s face. “Join me as my familiar. Together, we’ll make every single witch, demon and human in Phantasia bow before our might!”

“…No.”

Luna gently placed her wine glass on the table, sliding it aside and sitting back in her chair.

“No!”

“I’m listening…” the kinkind said.

“NO!”

“First off…” Kuro smiled, “we kill Sumire Shakespeare and anyone else who stands in our way!” the witch maniacally laughed.

“NO!” Jackie screamed, regaining control of Luna’s body and punching Kuro in the face with her tengu fist!

Kuro’s chair tipped over, falling to the stage floor and taking the villainous pirate with it. Kuro pushed herself off the stage, her body flickering as her blonde hair turned black and her outfit morphed into a black sweater with matching tracksuit pants and beret. Luna’s hands trembled, as Jackie withdrew the Magic Gun and pointed it at the girl.

“D-Don’t move!” Jackie stammered.

“Look at yourself, Jacqueline…” Chloe muttered disapprovingly, “Look what my sister did to you! What she did to me! Yet you still choose to take her side? Why?”

“I-I’ll s-s-shoot…!” Jackie gulped, tightening her grip on the supernatural firearm. Jackie’s eyes widened as she noticed another figure appearing behind Chloe Webber. “M-Mi-Mis-” Jackie clutched her kinkind’s temporal muscles as her body phased out and back into existence. Luna was back.

Luna stared Chloe directly in the eye and mouthed a single word.

“Duck.”

BANG! Chloe dropped to her knees, pulling her beret over her ears and cowering by Luna’s feet as the tengu fired a blast of magic from Vladimir’s pistol straight ahead of her. THUD! Chloe lifted her hands off her hat and readjusted it as she stood back up cautiously and glanced over her shoulders to locate the source of the noise she had heard.

“Well, well, well…” Chloe spoke with disdain, “Maryanne-Susan Webber…”

Luna and Chloe stared down at the witch that the tengu had just shot and who had fallen to the wooden stage floor with a heavy, echoing thud. Sumire Shakespeare.

“So, y-you’re a kinkind too, Ku-Kuro?” Sumire asked the playwright. “How d-do… do you know m-my name?”

“Figures,” Chloe frowned angrily. “Of-course you wouldn’t remember me,” she said, reassuming the form of Lady Kuro.

“What are YOU doing here?” Luna scowled.

“Just…” Sumire paused to cough up a small amount of blood, “Just launching a good ol’ sneak attack! …Or, well…” she sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, “Trying to, at-least.”

“So now you want to help Jackie?” Kuro sneered, “Don’t you think it’s a little late for that?”

“Yeah,” Luna smiled, “I’m through with you.”

“B-But I’m going to take you h-home after…” Sumire coughed up more blood, “after y-you beat K-Kuro…”

“Change of plan,” Luna said, pushing Kuro out of her way and pointing the Magic Gun at Sumire’s head, “I’m not leaving.”

“So, you’ve joined Kuro?” Sumire frowned, “After all this training, all this work?”

Luna looked back at Kuro as one of Sumire’s vortexes appeared vertically down Chloe’s body.

“Who said anything about joining Kuro?” Luna asked. “She merely inspired me, is all.”

“What are you doing?” Kuro asked her sister before letting out a gasp as the vortex closed, severing her body in two, one half a smiling Chloe and the other a frowning Kuro. An ironic resemblance to the masks of Sock and Buskin.

“Oh, dear,” Luna smiled, closing her imitation of Sumire’s vortex with a smile, “looks like your dear sister died thinking it was you who killed her?”

“T-That’s m-my…” Sumire stammered, “W-When did you copy my ability?”

“Although…” Luna began, “technically you did kill her. Since this is all your fault, after all.” She paused. “I don’t need you anymore,” Luna leered. “You did this to me. And now you’ll pay for your sins.”

BLAM!