Kaitansha HQ—-
The crowd forced Hayate and Marin back as they attempted to keep them from entering the office. Zan watched with a gleeful look in his eye as Zeku turned to leave.
"Where are you going, brother?" Zan asked.
"To scout the rest of the place. They may have more useful assets we need."
"Good thinking."
He left, and an army of Dokkōdan soldiers followed him, sweeping the hallways. In the office, Marin pushed over some citizens, eliciting a gasp and enraged shouts from the rest of the crowd.
"She just hurt us!"
"Kill them! They're villains!"
"Crazy bitch!"
The crowd began tearing apart the office and throwing objects at the two, but Hayate made a circle with his hands. "Jugen-Mahōshi: Void Capsule."
A capsule-like object formed around the entire room, expelling the crowd and blocking them from entering. Zan attempted to erase it with his gun, but the void absorbed his attacks.
"An annoyance of a power," Zan noted. "I should have expected as much from the Director of the Kaitansha."
He pointed to the crowd. "Shatter his shield! Bring me their heads! Dokkōdan shall be the new enterprise, the Kaitansha are dead!"
Reporters burst in, broadcasting the entire scene.
"Breaking News! The Kaitansha Director is attacking Kaidanchō Zan Ikaruga and an entire crowd of innocent people! How far have our former heroes fallen?"
"Not far enough," Zan muttered.
Dokkōdan agents swarmed the building, capturing agents and ransacking rooms. Venus and Stone cleared each room one by one, dragging out stragglers.
"This place is much better than that crappy old hotel," Venus remarked. "Ripe for the taking."
"Don't lose focus on the main goal," Stone told her. "We're here to jack this place, not sight-see."
"We can do both."
After scouting more of the area, they finally reached the cell block, where they found Kohaku and Kazuki.
"Eh?"
Kazuki banged on the door. "Please, help me! Get me away from this psychotic bitch!"
Kohaku backhanded him. "Quiet, whelp. Whom are you two, may I ask?"
"The new owners of this place," Venus explained. "Whatever Kaitansha you thought you knew, they're dead now."
"You seem like a strong warrior," Stone nodded. "Tryna join us?"
She crossed her legs. "No. I have no interest in partying with you cupcakes. You portray yourselves as predators, but you're weak in mind, and in soul."
Venus shrugged. "Suit yourself. I guess you can watch our takeover from your pretty little cell."
Airi and Rio entered the cell block, sweating heavily. Venus turned toward them. "The hell are you two doing? Weren't you supposed to be backing up the Eighth?"
"The Eighth didn't need our help," Airi told her. "He wanted us to come back and assist with the HQ takeover."
"As you see, we've got it covered," Stone assured them. "Just gotta deal with the Director and his number two."
"The Director will be a problem," Airi noted. "You don't become the leader of the Kaitansha by being weak."
Venus crushed her fist. "We'll squeeze him out like the scurrying rat that he is. If you two really want to help, go meet up with Zan at the top level."
The two hurried away, taking the elevator to the top floor, where the crowd was still attempting to break Hayate's capsule.
Zan noticed Rio and Airi approached. "You two. Where's Yūto?"
"He's still with the Eighth," Rio said. "We've come as backup."
"Interesting. Rio, I believe you can use your Jugen to get through this field, no?"
Rio nodded. "One second."
Zan motioned the crowd back as Rio got into a low stance. "Jugen-Sōunsha: Ghost Mode."
His body became translucent, and he phased through the capsule, where he noticed Hayate and Marin in the center of the room. The moment they saw him, they got into defensive stances.
"How'd you get in here?" Hayate demanded.
"Wait, wait!" Rio insisted. "I'm not here to fight, man!"
"Then why are you here?" Marin questioned.
"That Han kid told me if we helped you guys, you guys could help us," Rio explained. "Truth is, we don't really wanna be with Dokkōdan, but there's no resisting the Heralds."
Marin remained wary, but Hayate rubbed his chin, considering his words. "I see. Well, you don't have a Nyugawa on your side."
Hayate walked up to him. "If you can get us out of here, we'll do our best to help you."
"I can try, but Dokkōdan won't give up this tower easily."
"Neither will we. That trick you used, can you use it on multiple people at once?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Then on my signal. 3…2…1…NOW!"
At the same time that Hayate dropped his shield, Zan and the crowd entered the room, but only Rio was there, holding his hands up.
"Where'd they go?" Zan questioned.
"No clue," Rio replied. "They were gone when I got here."
Zan surveyed the office before pointing to some thugs behind him. "Search the building. They couldn't have gone far. As for me…"
He sat at Hayate's desk. "I'll have a taste of being Director for a while."
Airi and Rio shared a knowing look before blending into the crowd and slipping out unnoticed.
Meanwhile——
The three Heralds stood before the competition, eyes all glowing. The Sixth stepped forward as Omariro did the same.
"Annihilate them all," she ordered. "Master is mine."
Without hesitation, she punched Omariro hard enough to send him flying over a row of buildings. Omariro landed on a rooftop, and the Sixth floated above him.
"Jugen-Daraku: Yami no Hōju!"
Orbs formed in the air around her, descending toward Omariro, but Omariro quickly moved in between them all, and in the blink of an eye, he was next to Mirei, swinging his blade at her.
An orb rose in between them, repelling the attack. The Sixth combined the orbs into a massive variant, dropping it onto the building and exploding it into pieces.
BOOM.
Omariro made it onto the ground as the Sixth formed another large orb, sending it rolling down the street like a bowling ball. Trapped civilians ran as Omariro fired a light blast, which turned the orb golden as it exploded.
The Herald dropped, eyes narrowing as multiple Omariros began to form. "Jugen-Mahōshi: Tenjō no Ōgon Bunshin!"
The Omariros charged at Mirei, but a grayish-white field surrounded her. "Jugen-Kaiseisha: Nenrei Sōsa no Kessei!"
The clones got close, aging to dust. The Sixth lifted her arm, her field moving like a ring. She sent it bouncing off the walls and spiraling toward Omariro, who erased it with a clap of his hands. She unleashed more fields, reducing all of the surrounding houses into dust.
Omariro teleported behind her, slamming her into a lamppost, but she kicked it out of the ground and launched it at him, which he split in two.
She jumped back, orbs rising around her like clouds. She stood atop one, firing the rest at Omariro hard enough that they tore holes into the ground.
"Power driven girl mad," Omariro realized. "Return power to me!"
"Never!" she hissed. "This isn't yours anymore! I saved you, and what did you do? You banished me!"
More orbs formed in the air, larger than before. One by one, they came for Omariro, but he erased them with timely claps. Before she could throw another attack, Omariro tapped his blade on the ground. "Jugen-Kōbisha: Kamigami no Kōsoku."
Golden whips ensnared Mirei, who screamed out and began to vibrate. "No! Not again!"
Abyss energy burst from her. "Jugen-Daraku: Dokusen'i!"
Poison-coated fiber whips burst from her body, wearing down Omariro's bindings. The Sixth raised her hand, and the fibers thrashed at Omariro, who cut them down.
The Sixth jumped onto Omariro, climbing atop him as they fell to the ground. "Look at me! Look at what you've done!"
Omariro delivered a strike to her face, shattering her mask. Beneath it revealed Mirei's hollow eyes and the gray veins under her skin.
"Girl pain self-inflicted. Girl listen to none. Girl will join the rest."
Omariro knocked her off of him as she did a backflip and reformed her mask. "Almost 40 years in that prison. Forty YEARS! I couldn't age, I couldn't think. All I could do was plan how I would get my revenge on you, how I'd drag you back and make you regret everything you've done!"
More fibers burst from her body. "But most of all, how I'd make sure you wouldn't teach another soul. You're our Master, no one else's!"
The fibers took hold, wrapping around Omariro's body.
On the other side, Atsushi and Shion were pacing around each other, with Atsushi forming stone fists.
"Shion. I haven't seen you since my youth."
"Atsushi. Getting old, are we? I remember when you were once a student. But of course, Nyugawa wouldn't banish you."
Nonoka stopped. "Dad…what's he talking about?"
Atsushi held up a hand. "It's not important. What's important is stopping the sicko from murdering anyone else."
The Seventh chucked. "You're not better. You've never been better! How is it that the weakest of the bunch gets to become a Kaidanchō? That's hardly fair, is it?"
He stomped the ground. "Jugen-Daraku: Shin'en no Yaiba!"
The blades came for Atsushi, but he blocked with his stone arms, while Yuka rushed in to back him up. "Hold on, Sunahara!"
She formed her ice legs, repeatedly assaulting Shion, but he matched them, shattering them with his palms. "You must be Yuka. Impressive, for a lady!"
He tried to kick her in the head, but she ducked, and Atsushi grabbed him by the legs, ramming him into the nearest building.
"Jugen-Daraku: Hasai no Hametsu!"
A corrupted blast pushed Atsushi back, shattering his stone arms. Nonoka rushed over to his side. "Dad!"
Mizuki and Kōichi both unleashed attacks at Shion, but a net trapped them in place. Zaria looked up, and she found the Eighth standing on a rooftop.
"Come down here and fight us, Han!" she declared. "That's what you want, right?"
He didn't respond.
"Pff, too much of a coward to face us yourselves?" Nonoka mocked. "You've got to break our trust first?"
Rika turned away from him. "I'll never trust you again! After we did everything for you, you're trying to kill us!"
Shino fired a vector at him, but he formed an electric gate to block the attack. "We were a team, right?"
The Eighth formed a cage above their heads, but Rei used a shield to counter it. "No! No more tricks!"
Sōshin looked between the girls' angry expressions, optimism on his face.
"Friend Han won't kill us," Sōshin thought. "Friend has a plan!"
The Eighth dropped from the roof, landing next to the Seventh. The latter turned toward him. "Glad you could join the party."
"Mhm."
"Even if there's two of you, we won't falter," Atsushi promised.
The Seventh's body began to shift once more. "Jugen-Henshōsha: Ruinform!"
His large mech reformed, with the Eighth on his shoulders. With a stomp, the Seventh sent everyone flying back.
"Goodness…" Rika gasped.
"No time for fear!" Gakuto called out. "We move, now or never!"
He formed his helmet and dashed right into Shion's legs, tripping him. Mizuki appeared on his shoulder, unleashing a flurry of attacks. Kaoru touched his body, freezing him in place.
Atsushi shifted into his golem form, with Yuka on his back.
"Charge!" she ordered.
Atsushi rammed into the Seventh, both battling for ground. The Eighth used a wire and grappled to the ground, where dozens of Dokkōdan thugs joined him.
"Your orders, Eighth?" one questioned.
"Grab the kids."
They rushed for the rookies, but Zaria broke free, attempting to kick Han in the face, but he blocked her attack.
"How could you lie to me?" she demanded. "Using me like that, what's wrong with you, asshole?"
She tried to smack him with her spear, but he ducked. As she jabbed at him, he caught it, his eyes fierce and his voice distorted. "Zaria. Stop."
She headbutted him, only hurting her own forehead. The Eighth pushed her to the ground, but as he prepared to fire a wire to restrain her, Rika stepped in front of him. "No!"
〈*Siphon* Activated.〉
The wire bounced back, wrapping around Han. As Rika helped Zaria up, the Eighth easily broke free of his restraints.
"Rika."
"Don't say my name, traitor!" Rika hissed.
The Eighth cracked his neck. "Fine. Takeno. Amakawa. Stand down."
Thugs flanked him from either side.
"Don't make me hurt you."
——