Let the Dancing Commence! An Unknown Request to Dance? The Neko-Kitsune and the Agares Agents stop the party-crashers! Part 3

*TICK-TOK-TICK-TOK-TICK-TOK!*

Frantically checking their wristwatch, a feminine figure wearing a black hooded coat walked through the thick woods of the Underworld.

"Where is this place? They did say that the location wouldn't be very specific but what time is it?" Searching the area, they wandered aimlessly through the forest, feeling so many different energies clash or die out. Some energy signatures that she knew all too well and some that were completely foreign to her.

It was like walking across a warzone.

Their job was to avoid any detrimental confrontation until their mission was complete and they needed to stand by it.

"Grand Fall!" Shouted a fully armored Shirou, who skewers and slams about 5 dead chimeras into the ground where the figure once stood. As soon they sensed the devil's presence, they made sure to high tail it out of there to the closest bush that they could find. It wasn't just the objective of avoiding confrontation because upon sensing the man, they momentarily began to tremble in fear.

"H-How is he?" The figure stuttered in a hushed voice, 'Wait, its not "him" well its technically not him yet…but still…'

"That should take care of the beasts on my end." Shirou wiped off the chimera blood that caked his visor. Going out on a hunting spree against wild chimera sure was a good way for him to blow off some steam from that party.

*ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!*

Pouring out of the direction of the forest that he just came from was a whole infestation of Chimera raining down on him at once with their claws bared and ready to dig into him.

\Really? All of them? Hahahahaahahahaha!/ Typhon laughed.

"Shut up!" Shirou underwent his stance and prepared his halberd.

*BAKA!*

A magical bullet whizzed past Shirou to tear a huge hole into one of the flying beasts.

Eyes widening, Shirou muttered, "Shit!" Before he quickly turned his back to chimera and started to spin his halberd in the other direction.

*BAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKA!*

It had happened so suddenly, but a rapid firing of many magical bullets came flying out of the woods past Shirou, mostly past him since he stood in the middle of the firing range while deflecting the bullets with his spear. It barely took a couple of minutes before the heavy fire stopped and all of the chimera flying in the air dropped like flies.

"Are you fucking insane!?" Shirou angrily whipped his head back to face armed Lyudmila emerging from the dark brush of the woods.

"You're welcome." Lyudmila stashed her two machine guns back into their respective magic circles.

"Like hell I'll thank you! You fired a fuck-tillion of those bullets with me in the middle of you're range without warning! What if those had actually hit me, huh? How would you explain yourself, Sasha!?"

*BANG!*

Shirou immediately catches a regular bullet shot at him.

"My name is not Sasha, so stop calling me that redundant nickname. And cease you're whining already, idiot, you're Seekvaira-sama's Queen, so at least show some dignity and use that head of yours." Lydie lowered her gun, "Did you honestly expect me to wildly shoot at comrade? Something as simple as my bullets won't kill you, you're capable, Seekvaira-sama putting her faith in you to be her Queen only proves that."

"I see, so you believed in my skill? I sort of understand now…NOT!" Shirou angrily crossed his arms and got up in Lydie's face, "You and everyone else knows that you have an itchy trigger finger whenever I'm in your sights, so don't pull any out of character bullshit!"

*BANG!*

"Stop that!" Shirou narrowly avoided a bullet to the head much to his annoyance.

"Don't enter my personal space then, and the fault lies with you."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. I recall hearing you say that you finished dealing with your side of things." Lydie looked past Shirou to see the dead chimera.

"Tch!"

"Pathetic, although it pains me to give you some credit as a [Queen], your complete incompetence to properly finishing the job is astounding. Letting your guard down is one thing, but this…it almost makes me question why Seekvaira chose you to be her [Queen]." Lydie held her head down in pain.

"Don't act all high and mighty, we all make mistakes." Receiving a doubtful look from Lydie, Shirou angrily points at her, "So you mean to tell me that you finished dealing with your end of chimera?"

"Staying punctual and diligent is what I was trained for before becoming a devil, so its not that farfetched." Lydie folded her arms behind her back like a seasoned soldier.

*RO-!*

*BANG!* *THUD!*

"…"

"…Sasha, was that?"

"…"

Shirou sweatdropped at the chimera behind Lydie that was shot down.

\Looks like someone's not as dutiful as they say, guahahaha!/

*CHICHECK!*

"Whoa, cool it! Typhon, you dick, knock it off!" Shirou raised his hands as Lydie directed a fully loaded rifle to his head.

"…" Looking annoyed, Lydie sighed and lowered her gun, "This can wait. Were you able to sense it?"

"What? You're going to have to be more specific."

"Everything."

"Kind of hard not to." The pair referred to the many battles that occurred in the vast forest. The surge of chimera still roaming the skies and land. Two powerful senjutsu users in a fierce battle of nature and chi. The powerful flurry of pure holy energy colliding with pure demonic energy. Let's not forget, the sudden appearance of a dragon that Shirou was all to familiar with confronting an unknown presence that was dealing with Senjutsu.

It was just a mess of things happening all at once.

"It looks like someone placed up an Isolation Barrier." Shirou pointed out.

"Good, that way no one at the party would be harmed by these things." Lydie let out a sigh of relief, but looked worried, "Aaron, won't answer on the transciver."

"Must be some serious shit if he won't even respond to a female, no less without saying that annoying catchphrase of his." Shirou wondered about Michael's sudden appearance, "There's also a new arrival of two different people."

"Enemies?"

"Yes and no, one of them is a different senjutsu user while the other is…look the other guy is an ally."

"If he is then, helping them is the best course of action. I'll go get help them while you search and assist Aaron. That way we'll have more hands on deck to eradicate these vile creatures."

"Gotcha, hey, wait!"

"?"

Lydie questionably looked back to Shirou, who looked concerned.

"What?" she said.

"When you meet our ally, I just want to give you a heads up. Prepare yourself."

"Why? Do you think something extreme will turn up by the time I arrive there? Don't worry as a [Rook] I can take anything that's thrown at me." Lydie crossed her arms.

"Well, "extreme" is one way of putting it. All I ask is that you need to "prepare" yourself for whatever happens." Shirou gave the blonde girl a thumbs up, "Good luck." Before he dashed out of there and followed Aaron's energy signature.

Finding the young man's behavior to be strange, Lydie shook it off as Shirou playing some form of mind game on her as she ran for the two new presences in the forest.

Popping their head out of the bushes, the hooded figure saw that the coast was clear and quickly made their way out of the area. Avoiding contact with the monsters was fairly easy for them as they were already miles away from their current area. Running into anyone at this time would be chaotic for them, so all that they needed to do was fine a good hiding spot before anyone catches sight of her.

*RUSTLE!*

"…!"

"…Who are you?"

Running out of the thick brush of the forest next was Koneko, who unexpectedly confronted the hooded figure. She thought that she sensed Michael in the area, so she sought him out to help him should he encounter an ally of her sister's. She didn't expect to run into a stranger wearing all black.

'Did I mistake them for Baka-senpai?' Koneko oddly looked at the stranger.

'Oh come o-!' The figure thought.

"H-Hey, wait, I-I can expla-!" The figure panicked.

Shaking her head, Koneko shouted, "It doesn't matter, you have to-!"

She gasped as she pushed herself and the figure away from a massive blast of chi that tore the forest apart. Looking back at the source, Koneko and the figure spotted two silhouettes flying through the air unleashing wave after wave of chi at each other.

"Staying here is too dangerous. Find a safe enough distance to hide." The nekomata picked herself up and started running from the two senjutsu combatants.

"No need to tell me…" Shaken by Koneko's appearance the figure ran away from the area of the without looking back at the sheer display of wizardry and nature being used.

*BAAAAANG!* *BAAAAANG!*

Heavily landing on the ground, the two silhouettes rushed through the picked up cloud of dirt to charge at each other. Both summoned a razor sharp rod of earth from the ground that they molded it with as one cloaked their rod with a fierce fox fire while the other imbued theirs with a deadly black aura.

*STAAAB!* *STAAAB!* *SPLAAAAATER!*

Lunging their rods into each other's bodies, both Natsuru and Kuroka dealt heavy and fatal blows to one another as their blood stained the ground below them. Both women kept their eyes locked on to each other as both their attacks started to take effect with Kuroka's body going up in flames and turning to ash while Natsuru's body slowly eroded away as purple poisonous markings ate away at her flesh.

Despite being at death's door, both of them still didn't let the other out of their sight.

"Oh my, what a morbid scene, nya!"

"Well, it's not every day that you see yourself die, you know."

Voices laughed as the cloud of dirt revealed the true bodies of Natsuru and Kuroka glaring at each other as the illusion of their genjutsu came to an end as the scene before them faded away. Just before they, landed, Natsuru intended to use an illusion to fake Kuroka out before deceptively attacking her from behind.

Sadly, the full-blooded Nekoshou thought of the same tactic that it made it impossible for either of them to act.

"A talent at even genjutsu, too? Wow, they really pulled out all of the stops to make you, Shirone's teacher." Said Kuroka as she began to form a wheel of black flames behind her back.

"Taking you lightly was never part of my plan, and you being able to create a Kasha like that just reinforces my caution of a skilled sage arts user like you." Natsuru leans back her body in a stance as her nine fox tails threateningly moved forward around her as they emitted intense blue flames on their tips.

*DON!*

"Nyaha~! You missed!" Kuroka mocked.

"Heh…" Natsuru smirked.

Extending, her nine tails shot out like vipers as they lunged forward at the Stray Devil-cat. Kuroka faced no issue with dodging at least one of them, but found out that a pattern was being made as each tail lunged out at her one at a time. Before she could unravel what the reasoning behind each attack as she easily dodged the final ninth tail, she was already too late to realize the kitsune-nekomata's strategy.

Like a frenzy, the tails that were already nearby were pursued Kuroka, but not in a straightforward approach. From all directions, Kuroka was getting assaulted by the furious dense fox tails, dodging them was still no task for her due to her feline nimbleness and flexibility. But if the small burns that her kimono and body received were any indication, she'd have to say that she was cutting it a bit too close there.

'Clever…' Kuroka thought.

'Taking it slow was the best choice after all.' Natsuru nodded.

Had she just attacked with all of her tails at once, she would have given Kuroka a chance to use the full out attack as cover to hide within the dust and strike her from behind.

"Annoying, nya~!" Kuroka's eyes sharpened as she threw the large wheel of black flames at one of Natsuru's tails, hooping the fluffy appendage in there, she made a hand-sign to multiply enough kashas to bind one of her tails to the ground.

"Kyargh!" Natsuru gritted her teeth as the intense flames of kasha burned her tails.

"That's one~!"

*FWOOOOOOOOOOSH!*

"Nrgh!"

Kuroka winked as she made quick work to bind the other tails that were still attacking her. With about four of them pinned, she only had about five more to go.

Growling, Natsuru uses her hands to fire a blast of azure fox flames at the vexing Nekomata.

"You missed~!" Going through her, the flames had no effect.

"An illusion?" After sensing her presence reemerge, she looked to the sky to see that her opponent was coming in hot from the sky with two more large kashas in hand.

"Up here, nya!" Kuroka laughed.

"…!" Natsuru prepared herself to attack, but hesitated. Why would someone like Kuroka, a woman that basically snuck around this entire time reveal her presence so suddenly like that? Eyes widening, Natsuru focused her attention back to ground in front of her to catch and redirect a black flaming rod made from the ground below them.

"Aw, you figured out my trick already?" Kuroka pouted as the illusion of her faded.

"Erchk!" Natsuru winced in pain as her hand began to bleed on top of it getting enshrouded by Kuroka's flames of malice.

"But I have to say, you're really making this playdate of ours so much fun~! So, why don't we postpone this fight of ours for later? I don't really feel like spilling the blood of my own kind, so just hand over Shirone already." Kuroka smirked.

"Can't do that, and even if I did have any say in Koneko's life, she already made her choice. So, take a hint, Onee-sama…" Natsuru mocked.

Kuroka's darkened from her growing anger, "You know, up until I've been doing my best to mask how pissed off I am with you butting in, but I see that trying to reason with you will only continue to be this insufferable!" Kuroka did her best to force the rod into reaching its original target on Natsuru, her neck.

"Aaaagh!" Natsuru cried out in pain as she tried to endure the black flames that were encroaching up her arm. Using her free hand, she transmutes her fox flames into a dense blade as she tries to lunge it into Kuroka. Much to her dismay, Kuroka caught on and jumped back to avoid the impaling blade of flames.

"Hyaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Forming a large kasha in front of her, Kuroka releases an intense torrent of flames through the ring of the wheel. The destructive capabilities of the jet-black flames were breath-taking. Despite the black flames ailing her arm and bounding her four tails, Natsuru slammed her hand to the ground and focused all of her attention to the roots and the earth around her.

"Huuuuuuuuuuua!"

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

Emerging from the ground, a wide and incredibly tall wall of thick earth emerged in front of Natsuru. The grandstanding manipulation of earth shielded Natsuru from the full brunt of Kuroka's flames as it's durability was chipped away as the blast of black flames continued. Holes and cracks began to form on it, and had it continue it was likely the whole thing would collapse on her. But it didn't, the wave of flames died down as a heavy cloud of smoke filled the area.

Taking deep breaths, Natsuru made haste to dispel the black flames burning her now damaged arm as she took the short moment to catch her breath.

"Surprise~!"

"…!"

*STAAAB!*

"Urchk!" As soon as Natsuru sensed Kuroka's presence behind her, she was quickly met with an earthen rod stabbed into her torso. Trying to get up, Natsuru tries to prepare a blast of her fox flames, but before she gets the chance a thick assortment of thorny roots and vines shot out of the sleeves of a kimono at her and pressed her up against the crumbling wall of her giant earthen shield.

Walking out of the smoke, Kuroka giggled, "Desperate, were we?" She gestured to the massive wall behind Natsuru. "Being in a pickle does that, you know. Plus, you going all out like that gave me the much needed cover to do this." Reaching out, she slowly pulls the rod out of Natsuru's torso while relishing the woman's held back screams of agony. "I'll be taking this back."

*SLICK!*

"Gah!"

"Thank you, well, its been fun, and since you already made you're choice to keep getting in my way… Don't regret this, nya…" Kuroka raised the rod with her open hand.

Panting, Natsuru coughed with her reminiscent Cheshire cat smile, "Don't worry, I won't…But you will…"

"What are you-!"

*WHOOOSH!* *SLAAAAAAAAAM!* *CRACK!*

"N-Nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!" Kuroka cried out it pain as one of Natsuru's fox tails swung heavily into Kuroka's occupied arm that controlled the roots in her kimono. The flames on tail made sure to burn the roots and satisfyingly send Kuroka flying and crashing into a nearby tree with a broken arm.

Retracting back to her, Natsuru had manage to free her bound tails by overpowering the black flames with her fox flames. Not to mention, she was able to conceal one of her remaining tails in the collected dirt before Kuroka took notice. Now with both girls having at least one inactive arm, they were back to being on equal ground with each other. Only, except, Kuroka was not happy about this…

"Gaaaaargh! You BITCH!" Kuroka held her broken arm in pain, getting blindsided made receiving the damage even worse. She had already dispelled the fox flames that also came from the attack, but it still didn't change the fact that she now had to fight with one arm.

"Hello, Kettle, my name is Pot. Oh, have I ever mentioned how black you are?" Natsuru laughed while wincing in pain. She needed to stop herself from bleeding out, so she seared the wound shut with her flames.

"W-Why-?" Kuroka clawed at the ground.

"Why am I-ngh! Stopping you from taking your sister with you?" Natsuru received a glare filled with killing intent. Apparently, she wasn't supposed to finish her sentence for the angered criminal.

Using the wall behind her to help her stand, Natsuru coughed, "Well, it certainly isn't because I care for her, in fact, she's been a pain in butt for days this past month…"

"Then why!?"

"Because I have more than ONE reason to stop you. Recently, I just heard that you were gunning to fight the Red Dragon Emperor, Michael-kun by drawing him out with those chimeras. You might not know this, but it's basically my objective and personal duty to support him and that also means to protect him from potential threats like you." Natsuru said clutching her pained arm.

"My next reason is simple. Kuroka, you're an A-class Criminal, so letting you just take Koneko would have just been more bad news." Natsuru continued. "And lastly, my final reason for stopping you is because…you definitely remind me of myself…"

Kuroka clicked her tongue out of annoyance.

"I'm serious." Natsuru asserted, "As older sisters its only natural for us to want what's best for our little ones, we don't use reason, we don't care for status or anything. As long as they're happy, we're happy, but that happiness becomes a dual-edged dagger if our methods of attaining said happiness collects the sins and hatred of the world around us. Were it just "you" doing the deed for yourself, then the consequences would be easy to swallow, but the person that all of this is being done for would suffer too," said Natsuru she remembered the tear-stricken faces of Kiyome and Makoto.

"We say that we do what's best for our siblings, but that's just the same as being selfish. Limiting them from making their own choices and deciding their future just because "our" desire to see them happy in "our" way outweigh "their" individual happiness."

Taking one look over to Kuroka, the nekomata was still to insistent to fight as she too struggled to stand on her feet and continue this fight. Natsuru gave a sigh as her words weren't truly reaching the criminal, but that was exactly what she expected.

"The same could be said right now, you may believe that the "Shirone" who's your sister would be ecstatic to go back with you in spite of what happened. But she's a different person, after many years of being apart from you, she lived on and forged bonds with many others as "Koneko Toujo." Going through with forcefully taking her will end all of the connections that took years for her to make and drown her in the deepest of sorrows," said the girl as both she and Kuroka stood back up on their feet, "Or worse of all, end up with her hating her very own sister, who stubbornly placed her feelings of happiness onto her without considering the feelings in the matter."

"If that's the case, then she'll just have to create new bonds with her new life with me." Kuroka bared her claws.

"That way of thinking, I would have thought the same way if I wasn't stopped. But that's not going to happen." Natsuru was lost in thought, perhaps her confronting Kuroka was a way of personally atoning for her crimes, but she dashed the thought as ignorant and brushed it aside. By doing this she prevents another person from making the same mistake as her. It didn't matter if they were an enemy or some dangerous criminal, she just didn't want to see the eventual result happen in front of her again.

"That's because, I, a fellow older sibling will fight you over and over again until you give up."

"Sorry to break it to you, but I'm not going to give in so easily."

"Did I say it would be easy? Like you and I said, we're alike and when we want something it'll take all of heaven and hell to change our stubborn minds." Natsuru smirked, "Which is why this fight will result in either two ways: We fight until both of us lose consciousness or I end up dying."

"Sadly, for you, that first result isn't going to happen." Standing up straight, Kuroka makes a handsign and releases from her body a powerful storm of ki and aura that poured into the ground below her. The sounds of the grounds shifting at wooden roots snapping could be heard as a long and prehensile visage emerged from the ground.

"Be thrilled, you're the first to see me unveil a technique that I've been working on for ages, nya!"

"A dragon!?"

*ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!*

Kuroka stood atop of the head of a giant wooden dragon taking on the appearance of a Chinese dragon as it's loud bellowing filled the forest.

"Impressive, eh? I made sure to put enough effort to make it life-like, and I assure you that this appearance is more than meets the eye. No, I intend to pay you back for ruining my reunion with Shirone and my broken arm." Kuroka said with killing intent filling her voice.

"How? I just don't feel Ki, but…dragon energy?" Natsuru grunted, "To even be able to do that would mean constant contact or..." Natsuru coughed as her cheeks began to flush upon realization.

"I don't mean to brag or anything, but I have made contact with a certain White Dragon Emperor a few times. I even managed to "suck" out a few of his aura whenever it was too built up for him to handle, nya-nyan~." Kuroka emphasized the sucking part by inappropriately making a gesture with her hands.

You know what she was doing…

'…No, need to stay focused. Being envious aside, this could prove to be quite a challenge. Should I use it?' Natsuru contemplated on whether or not to unveil [Code: Unknown] in the fight, 'I may not have a choice, but to use it if things don't go too well…However-!'

"I can still at least try to hold out as long as I can!" Slamming her clawed hands into the ground, Natsuru went on all fours as she concentrated most of her senjutsu and power to her tails. Eventually, fierce fox flames surrounded each of them in their entirety but grew only to match half of the size of Kuroka's Wooden-Earth Dragon.

*FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!* *GRRRWL~!*

Morphing, each of the flamed tails took on the visages of rabid fox heads as they growled and grew ready to tear into the larger prey above them.

"Not a dragon, but still just as impressive." Kuroka's smile fell as she finishes attending to sling her broken arm with her kimono, "Last. Chance. Will you stop interfering with my business with Shirone or do I have to paint the grounds of this forest with your blood, Halfie?"

"I hate repeating myself..." Natsuru growled.

"Weak last words, but fine, have it your way. Let's end this little playdate of ours already, okay, nya?" Kuroka tilted her head and creepily smiled as her wooden dragon lunged ahead and fired a blast of condensed Ki down at Natsuru.

Retaliating, the kuonichi garbed Neko-kitsune lunged all nine of her fox figured and flamed tails upwards as their powerful jaws bit into and released a heavy torrent of flames back at the dragon resulting in an incredible surge of power exploding.

*KaBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

XXX

[Boost!]

"Flame Blaze!"

*FWOOOOOOOOOSH!*

"Kakakaka! Now this is a fight," laughed Bikou, who took pleasure from the intense brawl that he and the Red Dragon Emperor were engaged in. Dodging such a huge mess of flames that Michael spewed at him was child's play, but the intensity and power in the flames was no laughing matter. Bikou had to wonder what sort of training the Sekiryuutei had to take to have gotten this strong before remembering the comment about Kai training the kid.

"Kinto'un! Come!" Bikou called his golden cloud to take him up into the sky.

"Oh no you don't! Stratus!" Flying into the air as well, Michael called upon his flying red cloud to chase after Bikou.

Looking back, Bikou clicked his tongue, "Seriously? Man, he really is your master if he even gave you your own Kinto'un." Twirling his staff overhead, Bikou thrusted it at Michael and extended it's reach. Coming in hot, Michael quickly used his touki to increases his speed and reflexes to dodge to the side.

"Hehe! Not good enough…" Bikou laughed.

"What the-oof!" Momentarily forgetting the reach of the staff, Michael was hit in the gut when Bikou simply swung it to the side. The force of the blow sent him falling off of Stratus and down to the ground. The cloud did its best to try and reach its owner, but it was of no use due to the velocity of his steep fall.

'Come on, you're going to have to use you're Balance Breaker to help reclaim your balance so use it!' Bikou wanted to further see the extent of the young man's power and possibly compare it to Vali's.

Looking calm, Michael took a few deep breaths and as he steadied himself, "Okay, okay. Remember what Aniki said just…" Steadily concentrating the touki in his body to the soles of his feet, Michael tensed his legs muscles as he looked up to Bikou.

"Release a little burst and…"

*PWOOOOOOOM!*

"OHMYMAOU! TOO MUCH! TOO MUCH!" Michael cried as he rocketed himself up into the air, uncontrollably. The advice that Sairaorg gave to him may have been minimal, but he was able to get the gist of it during his training. The issue that he faced was what you would expect, he still had an issue with deciding about how much touki should or should not be used to keep him up in the air. It was still a new concept to him in spite of already being able to execute it correctly a few times.

And despite it not being important to the current issue, he continued to wonder what Sairaorg and Kai called the ability.

Eyes widening, Bikou gasped, "Hold on a sec, did he just use touki to do the Sky Dance!?"

"OHSOTHAT'SWHATIT'SCALLED!"

"Holy sh-!"

*BAM!*

His body crashing into Bikou, Michael knocked the monkey youkai off of his cloud to fall down to the ground. Seeing the falling as his chance, Michael tried again to use touki to hurl at Bikou, and this time it actually works as he prepares to do what he does best.

"Nut shot!" Michael kicked Bikou in the face.

"Argh! Dick!" Bikou gripped his bleeding nose and cocked back his fist.

"Oi!" Michael catches Bikou's punch and constantly attempts to kick Bikou in the nuts to no avail as their steep fall keeps making each hit miss their mark, "Stopping moving!"

"Then stop kicking me!?"

"NEVER!"

*BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!*

Soon enough, their arguing devolved into a rough brawl as they exchanged fists amidst their fall. Bikou being a skilled martial artist was a given considering his training under his Ancestor, the first Sun Wukong, any openings that found, he would take without hesitating. This actually allowed him to leave a few heavy blows on Michael and cause the teen to cough of some blood. However, when faced with the Sekiryuutei like this, he found it odd that most of his attacks weren't coordinated or that strong.

"Toh!"

"Guh!" Bikou gripped his sore chin after Michael kicks it and puts some distance away from the monkey youkai. It was the only good hit that he received since they entered hand to hand combat in the sky.

"Hehehehehe!" Michael laughed with a mischievous smile on his face.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, I dunno…THIS! Dragon Break!" *SNAP!*

Suddenly small magic circles popped up all over Bikou's body as he was now an open target.

"W-What the-!?"

"I'm sure you've already seen my new and improved Dragon Shot, Dragon Gun!" Michael placed out both of his hands and held them out like guns, "They may be smaller than a dragon shot, but pack more of a punch and fire out faster, so let's see how you can handle two hands!"

"Shit!"

"Double Dragon Gun!"

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

Bikou's Ryuji Bang was the perfect weapon for deflecting the powerful bullets of dragon energy, but he wasn't able to get all of them. Swinging it from left to right or spinning it to act as a frontal shield, Bikou still missed the blasts that cleverly changed directions to hit the magic circles on his body. Each shot really stabbed into him as the pain was quite sharp in spite of the bullets being so small.

Lowering his hands, Michael looked through the smoke, "Wow, you're really durable! Just as expected of someone who's Vali's ally."

"And you're really strong! As expected of Vali's rival." Bikou laughed as he emerged covered in cuts and bruises along with his armor now dented.

Positioning themselves just right, both combatants landed with a bit of force as the ground crumbled into two large craters.

"You know, even though I'm completely out of the loop since getting transported here, I have to say that this is a good exercise after all of the training I did." Michael laughed.

"Ohoho! You just finished training? So that's why you're so powerful! Hey, do you have other new techniques like the one you did up there? Show me!" Bikou excitedly laughed.

"Hehehe, well…"

[Boost!]

Michael rubbed his nose, "I have been working on something and its still a work in progress unless you want to still see it?"

"Yeah, yeah!"

"Heh, well then sit back and be amazed, Bibi-chan!"

[Boost!]

"I-It's Bikou…"

[Boost!]

"Biki-chan!"

[Boost!]

"Agh, nevermind…"

"As I the Gutsy Hanamura show you his new special technique!"

*SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!*

[Boost!] [Transfer!]

Taking in an enormous breath of air, Michael's entire midriff expanded as lit a flame in his belly that only grew more and more thanks to all of his past boosting that he transferred to it. Now with a large enough flame, he was ready to unveil the addition to the Gutsy Hanamura's moveset.

"Red Dragon Emperor's Meteoric Ro-!"

*SNAP!*

'Natsuru-senpai? And is she fighting someone!?' Finally keying in on the upsurge of powers in the other direction. The sight of a massive wooden dragon and He had no clue on what was going on, but as soon as he felt Koneko's presence in the mix, he quickly placed his attack on hold by compressing the expanded flame into a manageable size in his stomach.

Nursing his glowing belly, Michael said with smoke coming out of his mouth, "Oi, Kiki-chan."

"Okay that one was on purpose." Bikou groaned.

"What's going on over there?" Michael asked.

"Oh, that?" Bikou shrugged, the cat was already out of the bag, "That's probably my companion, Kuroka fighting someone…who also uses Senjutsu? Wow! This place is just a smorgasbord of fights! Anyways, Kuroka came here to fight you, the guy who matched Vali and reclaim her…sister, I guess. I don't really remember, I turned down the idea of joining her at first."

"Wait…" Michael rubbed his chin, "Natsuru-senpai…Koneko-chan…senjutsu…reclaim her sister…recollecting information…its loading…can't…speak…in…full sentences…gah!"

*GURGLE~!*

'No, wait, its just my stomach slowly burning away…Brain Blast!' Piecing everything together, Michael thought, 'This guy's one of Vali's companions, which make him an ally to the Khaos Brigade like him, and that also means that this Kuroka chick is a terrorist and it links with her also being a criminal. There's also the fact that she can use senjutsu and has a similar presence like Koneko-chan plus she's here for Koneko-chan!'

"Wow, I totally linked everything together like a-Gah!" Michael gripped his head in pain, "Brain cramp!"

[Don't push yourself, partner, exercising a muscle that you've never used requires times…]

"Shut up, Ddraig!" Michael stood up, "Because I now know what I have to do…"

*GUUUURGLE~!*

"But first, I have to go! See ya, Bikou!" Michael held his stomach and waddled off.

"It's Bik-Oh, you got it right that time…" Bikou chased after Michael, "And where are you going!? We're not done here yet! Weren't you going to show me that new move of your's?"

"Dude seriously! Not now!" Michael called Stratus and rode on the red cloud.

"Oh no you don't get back here!" Bikou called and rode on his golden cloud, "I see, you're going over to Kuroka in order to help that other senjutsu user, who's your ally! Kakaka! Too bad for you that you're not done with this fight!" Bikou extended his staff but it missed when Michael zoomed to the side.

"I'm not joking! I really have to GO!" Michael shouted.

"Not until you finish this fight and show me that new move of yours!" Bikou shouted.

"FINE!" Bending down, Michael directs his ass in Bikou direction, "You asked for it…"

"What in-?" Bikou began.

"Seven hells?" Gasped Lydie, who had already arrived and took position in one of trees, she had followed along in their fight until just now with a sniper riffle and widened her eyes at the strange occurence above them.

"YOOOOOOOOU! ASKED FOR IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

*POOOOOOOOOOOT!* *FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!*

A massive sea of flames filled the sky along with a disgusting odor.

"I-I should have prepared myself…" Lydie regretfully wished that she took Shirou's advice. Never in her life has she ever seen such an unorthodox living being, who would commit such an unsanitary deed, and she's been around long enough to see Shirou and Lancelot pull in as a close second.

XXX

*ZAAAN!* *ZAAAN!*

Aaron and Arthur dispatched of the few remaining chimeras before they looked up at the smelly fire filled sky.

"Flames?" Arthur wondered.

Noticing a familiar presence, well, two of them. One was approaching them while the other just popped up on his radar, Aaron chuckled, "Well, what a surprise. It's Righty!"

"Who?"

"His name is Michael, but you know him as the Red Dragon Emperor, the guy that you're here for." Aaron smiled.

"Hm, I guess that we're fortunate enough to have him appear just before the barrier was raised." Arthur pinched her nose, "But…what is that smell?"

"I don't know, but it is rank! Phew!" Aaron swatted the air entering his nose away.

"So…what's he like?" Arthur asked.

"Whuh?"

"The Red Dragon Emperor, you met him, so any what was he like?"

"Why ask now?"

"Because I may not have the time to seek the Sekiryuutei if I'm going to be occupied beating you in our duel." Arthur challengingly raised Caliburn with a smile on her face, there were no more chimera to get in their way and she's been aching to properly cross blades with her old friend again.

Grinning, Aaron said, "Don't get ahead of yourself. Just because I'm a devil doesn't mean that I've left behind all the training that I was put through as a human," getting back on topic, Aaron said, "And the Sekiryuutei, I only just met him tonight, but I can safely say that he's a loud and bright guy…well, he's optimistic just not the other kind of "bright" if you get me. Overall, a nice guy, but that's just my first impression and since he's not a chick then I could care less about digging for more info on him."

"Good to know, it will suffice for now." Arthur shrugged it off, she was already done with following Kuroka's mess of a plan so hearing that helped her get an image about how the Sekiryuutei was able to effect Vali, who's calmer and possibly quite the opposite to him.

"Now…"

"Let's start…"

Holding their blades out, the two prepared to clash their swords of legend and begin their duel.

"ARTHUR!"

"…Bikou?" A teleportation magic circle appeared between them and emerged a crispy and burned black Bikou, who positively reeked with an odor that was too hard to put to words.

"Yuck!" Aaron pinched his nose and turned away.

"Why are you here, and what happened?" Arthur said nasally as she gripped her nose.

"I'm here because Vali sent me to bring you two back! First, I was reluctant because I just wanted to see my hero movies in piece, but then Le Fay and Vali came in talking about Gogmagog and giving it a stupid nickname like Goggy!"

"Huh, I thought that Le Fay wanted to call it Goggy-Woggy?"

"Who the fuck cares because I certainly don't!? T-Then after getting forced to come here, I ran into the Sekiryuutei and got into a heated battle which was kind of awesome until things went down south, literally! Then…rgh! AFTER THAT-AAAAAAUGH!"

"Bikou…Bikou!"

"Huh?"

"Deep breaths…" Arthur patted the frustrated man on the back.

"It's just that…I've been having a really bad day and…" Bikou sniveled.

"Dude, are you crying?" Aaron raised an eyebrow.

"Shut up, I'm not crying!" Bikou cried.

Arthur reprimanded Aaron with a look which received a passive shrug from the [Knight].

"Bikou, its alright… We all have our ups and downs, mostly downs on certain days, but things will get better. So, go on ahead back to Sir Vali and tell him that we're returning." Arthur consoled her comrade.

"Really, but aren't you two busy with-?" Bikou wiped his eyes.

"No, we're done…" Arthur looked around at all of the piles of dead chimera bodies and shook her head. This plan of theirs fell at the seams just as things really got rolling. The best that they could do right now was just leave before the isolation barrier broke and revealed themselves to the devils at the party.

"I'll go make sure to pick up Kuroka before we return, so go ahead…go…" Arthur led Bikou into the portal that he crafted, "And I'll see you when we get back, okay?"

"Okay…" Bikou waved goodbye and closed the magic circle while muttering something about taking a hundred showers.

"So, you're just going to leave me blue-balled for our fight?" Aaron clicked his tongue.

"I may not know what that blue-balled phrase means, but yes, this duel will have to be postponed for now." Arthur bitterly smiled.

*RIIIIIIP!*

Tearing a hole in the air with Caliburn, Arthur created a portable portal to enter. Her next stop, Kuroka.

"Next time, just come to a party when you're invited. I mean it's just so unlady-like, Princess Artoria…" Aaron mocked.

"Your insufferable dribble never gets old, filthy pig… I just wonder what Merlina ever saw in you?" Arthur shook her head and waved as the portal closed.

"Yeah, I wonder about that sometimes too..." Looking forlornly up at the now clear sky, Aaron took a deep breath as he was lost in thought.

The sounds of rapid footsteps caught his attention as Shirou appeared in a matter of seconds.

"Aaron, I'm here to-eh? What's going on? Weren't you fighting someone?"

"Yup, but they're gone now…" Aaron sheathed Arondight.

"They're…ugh…was it a female?" Shirou groaned.

"Quite a beautiful lady. You wouldn't believe her elegant looks, hell you might just mistake her for an actual Princess~! Ah, yes, I've truly been refreshed today!" Looking sweetly content, Aaron fantasized about many beautiful blonds and none them were exactly Arthur.

"You-!" Shirou's fist shook as a menacing blue aura surrounded him, "Do you have any idea about what you've done? Now we lost a culprit, AND you're just laughing so carefree despite fighting them on your own like that without responding to Sasha and I's calls!"

"W-Wait, Shirou, my main wingman! I can explain, I was just-hold on…" A smug smile crept up Aaron's face, "Were you worried about me?"

"What? No way in hell! I was just worried that the enemy would kick your ass and extract information about us from you! Maou forbid, you'd probably sing in a heartbeat if it was a lady promising you one kiss to the cheek." Shirou crossed his arms and looked away.

"True, a kiss from a beautiful lady can cause a ton of men to go back on their word just for them. But I'm not letting this go at all my Partner in crime." Aaron slung his arm around Shirou's shoulder, "You were worried and even though you deny, I can still see that you do care, so…"

"Don't you dare…"

"Thank you, Shirou-tsun!" Aaron laughed as he cleverly replaced the honorifics.

"Hey, Aaron, I think this forest will be an appropriate place to bury…" Shirou cracked his knuckles.

XXX

A stalemate.

It was the only way to describe the outcome to their battle. Their portion of the forest was now barren. As the crackling of Natsuru's fox flames and Kuroka's black flames were strewn about all over their battlefield.

The head of a burnt, decapitated wooden dragon's head laid uselessly in a large ditch just behind the two youkai.

No longer having the energy to move, Natsuru's nine tails laid motionlessly on the ground behind her.

"Another tie…this must be lucky for me and unlucky for you, our power parameters are equal…" Natsuru panted, she barely had enough energy to stand and the same could be said about Kuroka as well. Pushing each other to their limits inevitably led to this conclusion. Throughout their fight, Kuroka was capable of doing many nasty ploys that would have killed any unsuspecting opponent. Frankly for her, Natsuru's own fickle nature didn't allow for any of her tricks to successfully cripple her for good.

Also, worth mentioning was Kuroka's proficiency with Senjutsu, her skill in the craft would make it hard not to consider her a full master. Unfortunately, the same could be said about Natsuru as well. Although Kuroka's Senjutsu isn't the only thing that bolsters her strength was her ability to use demonic magic and fuse it with her sage arts, a major reason why she was dubbed an A-Class Stray Devil.

Again, the same could be said for Natsuru, who was born with the ability to use senjutsu along with fox magic, a power that her kitsune bloodline allowed for her to mix in with her senjutsu.

In all aspects regardless of a few being a unique trait of theirs, the two women were equals.

Seeing how exhausted Natsuru was as her head was done gasping for air, Kuroka raised her hand to conjure a moderate sized kasha. It was certainly enough to erase the pesky enemy in front of her; without enough chi, she would basically be vulnerable.

*FWOOOSH!*

"…!" Kuroka remained silent as her vexation continued to grow. Seconds after she made her kasha, Natsuru was already forming her own in hand by fusing the purification flames with fox fire.

"Just…get out of my way!" Kuroka threw her attack and Natsuru responded in kind by doing the same.

*Boom!*

A small explosion from their collision knocked the both of them to the ground. Their bodies were heavy to even consider standing, but they still do so with great effort. If either of them had shown even a momentary glimpse of an opening, then the other would seize it as their chance to finish things.

"Stop it…! Just… Stop. Getting. Up!" Kuroka coughed.

"No…"

"You can't stop me…I-I will get Shirone back no matter what! Even if it kills me!" The Black haired Nekoshou's voice cracked.

"I know…"

"If you do know, then why get in my way? Just WHY!?" Kuroka dug her nails through the dirt.

Coughing, Natsuru sits up and wearily looks up at the sky, "No matter how many times you ask that question, I'll only give you the same answer," she took a deep raspy breath, "Instead of repeating myself, I'll only say this: Family is everything to people like us. We need the love of others while giving love back to them, a family does not need to be tied together by blood, but its all still the same. People, no matter if they're human, a devil or some kind of god, need love to live. A criminal like you is no exception, Kuroka."

Arms shaking, Natsuru tries to push herself up to her feet to no avail, "But that love that we crave will unknowingly lead us to receiving hatred from the ones that we seek to give, and gain said love. That's why I won't give up, I'll face you every time that you get up. You knock me down, I'll stand right back up. I knock you down and you stand up again, I'll just knock you down again. Until you give up, I won't give up…"

Getting up on a knee, Natsuru looks over and sees Kuroka doing the same thing.

"The only way to stop me is by taking my life…" Kuroka's eyes although shined with malice were filled with stubborn determination.

"I won't kill you. Because…" Feeling a pair of eyes watching them, Natsuru smiled, "I wish to avoid making another young sibling fall into despair…especially due to the loss of their beloved older sister. Though that despair will come full circle after your death… This choice, your choice that you've made will only end if you continue with this. Step back and reconsider, you'll find yourself with a much better option to reestablish you and Koneko's-."

"Shut up…" Kuroka gritted her teeth as she managed to get up on her feet, "I'll kill you…"

Standing up as well, Natsuru looked surprised as she noticed a single tear drop down Kuroka's cheek. Although her malice remained, Natsuru's words were still able to reach her in spite of it not being as effective in the moment.

Taking a reluctant sigh, Natsuru shook her head and clenched her fist. If their fight were to devolve into a brutish brawl, then so be it.

*RIIIIIIP!*

"Kuroka, that's enough. Our business here is done." Emerging from a ripped portal, Arthur emerged it from it and placed her hand on the nekomata's trembling shoulder.

"Arthur?" Kuroka's face scrunched up in anger, "Like hell it is! We haven't accomplished what we came here to do!"

"Exactly, that's why we're leaving." Arthur gestured her eyes in a direction for Kuroka to follow. There were so many energy signatures coming their way, and they certainly weren't pushovers, and to top it all off, the chimeras that they let loose were all eradicated, not one beast was left.

"You know as well as I do that you're certainly in no condition to fight reinforcements."

"If more are coming, then fine…" Even in her weary state, she still looked as on edge as before, "More sheep to the slaughter…"

"Bikou came by earlier and was requested by Sir Vali to pick us up. Whatever vendetta or business that you may have can wait." Arthur brandished Caliburn and warned, "You're already in a pitiful state, Cat. Don't make me resort to using force to take you back."

Kuroka vexingly looked up at Arthur before setting her sights on Natsuru and the dark forest behind her. In the dark, she could see well thanks to her senses as a nekomata and lo and behold, Koneko was silently watching her from behind a tree. She was so close…so close…

Taking one step forward, Kuroka was met with Caliburn's edge pointed to her throat.

"Kuroka, I only offer you one last warning. Come willingly or I will use force." Arthur threatened.

"Tch, fine. You win, I'll return…" Kuroka's eyes fell, her very will to fight dashed by the circumstances placed on her.

"Good choice." Arthur sheathed Caliburn and stepped to the side, "You go first…"

"…" The swordswoman knew her well, not to trust that she'll willingly follow her from behind without pulling a fast one.

"If you'll excuse us." Arthur bowed and led Kuroka into the portal.

Just as Kuroka was about to enter the portal, Natsuru exclaimed, "The story of your crime. There's more to it then what the devils have been saying about it."

Kuroka stood still as she listened on.

"No older sister would bear to leave their sibling behind unless it was for a reason that would jeopardize their life, right?" It may have just been her slight prejudice for devils, but Natsuru found that there was more than meets the eye concerning Kuroka's past deed.

"…What's your name?" Not even deeming that answer, Kuroka instead asks her a cold question.

"Natsuru A-."

"You're real name." Kuroka corrected.

Knowing what she meant, Natsuru said, "Kurogane."

"Kurogane…" Kuroka nodded at the authenticity of Natsuru's birth name, "Next time that we meet, I will get Shirone and kill you if you interfere, you can bet on that."

"Next time, I won't be alone or even need to be there since you'll be facing Koneko's "family", who'll prevent you from taking her. And word of warning since this comes from experience myself, they tend to go wild if someone were to kidnap one of their own." Natsuru smirked and earned a not so subtle glare from the nekomata.

"I mean, that'll only happen should you continue doing things in this manner, but that's just me." Natsuru said.

"…" Contemplative, Kuroka paused in thought before examining the face of her opponent.

"Kuroka." Arthur urged the nekomata into the portal.

"I know, I know, geez…"

And just like that, the two entered the portal in the air and vanished.

Taking a deep breath, Natsuru fell flat on her back for a much-deserved rest. Confirming the eradication of all of the chimera, she let out a heavy sigh of relief. The job was done without any casualties on their side. She would be disturbed with how smoothly things went but considering that she just literally finished a duel to the death, she honestly could care less at the moment.

Stepping into her view above, Koneko looked down at her in silence.

"Were you coming when things finally ended?" Natsuru asked.

"I've been here the whole time." Koneko nodded.

"…You hear everything?"

Koneko pointed to her cat ears.

"Right…" Natsuru grunted, she lacked the energy to remain her youkai form and returned to normal.

"…"

"…Aren't you going to ask why I came to help you?" Natsuru asked.

"No because you had no obligation to do it for my well-being like you said." Koneko flatly rejected the notion, "I still stand by my initial thoughts on you." Sadly, those thoughts weren't so gratifying to begin with.

"Yeah…why wouldn't you…" Natsuru shrugged it off and closed her eyes.

"Thank you…"

"Hm?" Natsuru opened one eye to see the girl begrudgingly look to the side.

"…" Koneko remained silent.

It took all that Natsuru had not to look shocked, so she focused her sights to the sky. Things were no longer strained between the two of them, the first year wasn't as thorny as she was last month. Her feelings might not have changed, but there was a budding respect that seem to grow during that big spectacle of a battle.

"Pathetic…" She said loud enough to get Koneko's attention, "You barely lasted a second against your sister despite already having access to sage arts, pathetic. That's why, we're going to continue you're training all over from the start, so when or if you face her again, you'll be able to save your own skin." Paying the girl attention with her eyes, Natsuru said, "That is if you want for me to continue being your teacher after this Rating Game is finished."

"…Whatever…" Koneko said distastefully, but with a smile on her face.

It certainly wasn't a no, but the vague yet obvious answer exhausted Natsuru to come up with a snarky remark on it so instead she said "Whatever" too.

*SWOOOOOOOOOOON~!*

The isolation barrier fell and with it came a familiar face.

"Natsuru-senpai! Koneko-chan!" Zooming in on his red cloud, Stratus, Michael hopped off and worriedly rushed to the both of them.

"Michael-kun?"/"Michael-senpai?"

"I'm glad that I was able to find you two…" Michael fastened the makeshift belt of his suit as it mostly covered his rear end.

"…Where did you come from, baka-senpai?"

"Dunno, but I encountered this monkey guy, who's on Vali's team and he told me about how his teammate, Koneko-chan's sister is here to take her away from us. So, I made sure to cook him to a crisp before rushing here to save the day! Now where is that cat lady so I can knock her block off? Ah, yeah…it's my time to shine!"

Michael excitedly searched around them.

"She's gone." Natsuru said, plainly.

"Say what now?" Michael squeaked.

"…You're late…" Koneko shook her head.

"I made sure to take care of it and drove her back." Natsuru said.

"Are you serious? I get teleported here from out of nowhere, farted a whole stomach full of dragon flames and now I don't even get to save my kouhai and show off my new moves to her? This is BS, man, I didn't get to do anything!"

"On the bright si-hold on what was that I hear about you farting dragon flames?" Natsuru and Koneko looked at Michael weirdly.

"…" Michael clapped his hands and smiled, "So you were saying?"

'I'll let that slide…' Natsuru teasingly smirked.

"On the bright side, I was able to at least get Koneko to be on board with me teaching her, so in the end things technically worked out." Natsuru smiled.

"Really? That's awesome, see? I knew it was a matter of time before you cracked Koneko's icy walls, thankfully, they're not as flat as Koneko's brick walled ch-!"

*WHAM!*

"Oooough! I-I was joking…" After receiving a blow to the gut, Michael held his stomach in pain.

"Some jokes can be pushed too far, Baka-senpai…" Koneko cracked her knuckles.

"Wow, you must have a FLAT sense of-Okay, I'll stop! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Michael cried as Koneko prepared herself to throw another punch.

"Michael-kun, do you perhaps know what happened to the barrier?" Natsuru questioned.

"Oh, that? Well, this Gun Lady, who's apparently a comrade of Shirou's, filled me in on what's going on. After helping a bit, she received word from her friends that Raymond-san was steadily taking down the barrier from outside." Michael explained.

"Wait, are you talking about THE "Nightmare Flame" Raymond? He's here?" Natsuru shuddered, that name would send shivers down the spines of anyone who was knowledgeable about the man.

"Yeah, he's Ray-chan's older brother and a pretty sweet guy despite being a brocon." Michael shrugged, "Honestly, I'm surprised that he was able to find this area after leaving the party since this barrier felt completely isolated. Strange, but strange isn't exactly new anymore…"

The question loomed over his and everyone's heads before Natsuru cuts in with a surprised expression.

"Raynare's brother? Wait a minute, your friends with him?" Natsuru sweatdropped.

"Not exactly, I'm just on his good side, and I intend to continue to be these since he quite literally scares the piss out of me sometimes." Michael gulped, he remembered hearing about the forms of torture that he placed Dohnaseek and Kokabiel in. Especially Kokabiel, the guy was not a push over as an opponent and for him to have been crippled that easily blew his mind.

"…I'm honestly at a loss for words." Natsuru winced in pain, laying down on the hard ground with her wounds might not have been a great idea.

"Oh, Natsuru-senpai let me just…there we go." Michael picked her up in his arms and carried her like a princess.

"Ohoho, Michael-kun~!" Natsuru relished the close body contact and took advantage of it by pressing herself into him.

At a loss for why she was acting the way she was, Michael smiled, "After all of your hard work, this is the least that I can do. I'll carry you back to get healed by Asia."

"Nyan~!" Natsuru playfully licked Michael's cheek.

"S-Senpai!?" Michael blustered.

"Consider that my thanks unless you wanted a kiss," Natsuru seductively stroked Michael's chin, "Ooooh, but where? The cheek? The forehead? The tip of your nose? Or dare I say…you're lips, the very same lips that claimed Kiyo-tan's first kiss…"

*BAM!*

"God why!? OW!" Michael cursed before experiencing pain from saying god's name in vain and receiving Koneko's hit to the back.

"Koneko-chan?" Michael turned around to spot a jealous looking Koneko looking off to the side.

"Idiot…" Koneko walked ahead in the direction of Shirou and the others along with the rest of the devils, who immediately picked in on their battle stricken presences.

"Wait, why are you calling me an idiot? Koneko-chan? Koneko-chan!" Michael chased after her while Natsuru sniggled closer to Michael.

'This settles it…there's no way for me to even consider liking her…' Koneko challengingly glared back at Natsuru out of spite.

'Oh geez~! It looks like Gremory-san won't be the only one that's my enemy in terms of this "battle" but the more the merrier as they say, nya~!' Natsuru challengingly stuck her tongue out at Koneko.

After that, they all reunited with their respective families and taken care of by the guards and healers, who surrounded the perimeter of the hotel. Sadly, the sponsored party had to be cancelled. It would have been cancelled because of the attack of the [Khaos Brigade], but it was mainly because of Serafall and Grayfia drunkenly fighting with the hotel as their battlefield.

Those that were involved with the battle were taken in for questioning and that included Michael as well since Rias placed in her thoughts about Michael suddenly disappearing and chalking it up to him possibly being forcibly transported.

No one was holding them back, so collateral damage did occur, and, in the end, the party and the hotel still sustained damage.

XXX

"Hmhmhmhm~!" Hummed a jovial Asriel, who skipped through the dark forest after the commotion at the party was finished. Despite the bland décor and the detestable devil company that surrounded her, she really enjoyed herself. That one dance that she experienced was enough to rev up her engines again and get back to work.

She would have wanted to spend more time with the Sekiryuutei for a bit longer, but things had to go as planned. If he had sought her out like he did, then she would have obviously gotten the attention of the devil that was following him. From the…Gremory family was it, she thought. Had the Gremory devil encounter her then she would have obviously garnered her suspicion, no, she would have completely blow away her cover.

*SNAP!*

"Hehe~!" She smirked as she heard the sound of twigs snapping. There were obviously some devil soldiers following after her since she did abruptly leave the party so strangely. Two volunteers would be a great way to preoccupy herself as she begins to experiment on them, but that was too bad since they were dealt with swiftly.

*VRIIIIIIIP!* *VRIIIIIIP!*

"Hey, what's going-!" One of the soldier gasped as the life was getting squeezed out of them by long, hard to see metallic threads that bounded them by the waist and neck.

*SNAAAAAAP~!*

The sickening sound of two necks breaking was music to Asriel's ears as the two deceased devils' limply fell to the ground.

"Thank you, Wally~!" Asriel giggled as barely average heightened male dressed in a black hooded trench coat emerged from the shadows. Clenching their fist, they retracted their dirtied wires and shook their head.

"It was reckless of you to let them tail you like that."

"I know, and I would have done away with them myself, but I really wanted to see your Sacred Gear in action? Hey, Wally, they may be different, but would you say it was just as thrilling to kill those with your Vampire Hunter skills, they are both technically bats if you really think about it~!"

"Do not refer to me with my real name. That is why we were given codenames, Envy." The hooded young man reprimanded.

"Sheesh, we're not on a first name-nickname basis yet? Fine~! Lets boringly use our codenames, Gluttony." Envy pouted.

"Leader requested that I bring you back from your short vacation." Gluttony crossed his arms.

"He did? Aw, shucks! I must really be loved if the both of you were that worried to check up on me~!" Envy swooned.

"I was ordered to come, and you very well know the reason why he wants me to check up on you, Envy." Gluttony emphasized.

"…" Envy remained quiet before cutely smiling, "Don't worry~! Don't worry~! I didn't do anything to jeopardize our agenda, I just wanted to enjoy a dance with a naïve looking boy is all. I may have expended a ton of my chimeras to a pair of suckers, but I had already duped them by only giving them the mindless default beasts."

"Then you didn't indulge yourself in your sin by going overboard, yes?" Gluttony asked.

"…"

"Envy…"

"Ufufufu, the boy that I'm interested in was already aching for the truth so I just decided to give him bits and pieces of it without getting into the nitty gritty. It still had nothing to do with "us" so no harm's done and it will help break the enemy from the inside should he continues to desperately search for an answer that won't be given to him by that Governor-General…"

Envy laughed as a devilish smile crawled up on her face. People, in general, were an easy read for her to manipulate them and get what she wants.

"Again, I fail to understand your erratic babble, but if it won't cause us any trouble then that's fine." Gluttony drew a magic circle in ground and created a portal for them to enter, "Now let's leave before we catch anymore attention. We apparently have a pesky spy trying to figure out the Organization and we're experiencing trouble trying to detect them."

"If they're that hard to find, then they must be a master of senjutsu. I have certain measures on how to find them. You could even say that I'm already aware of them and their monkey business~!" Envy stifled her laughter but Gluttony was not laughing.

"And besides, the enemy isn't the only side smart enough to have a spy. I mean, a literal spy amongst their ranks." Envy giggled, "Probably two if I can remember how to "wake" her up."

"Interesting, tell me…who are they?" Gluttony asked.

"Nuh-uh! That's a secret~! But they are the reason how I was able to figure out this party, find the perfect disguise and the victim that I killed in order to replace them. And speaking of disguise…"

*SNAP!*

Quickly the visage of the beautiful devil woman was replaced with a familiar sounding woman dressed up in the same black hooded trench coat as Gluttony.

"Ta-dah~! Isn't the original better than that old drab appearance?" Envy posed like a magical girl despite looking too old to do enact such a pose.

"So, whatever happened to the body?"

"Oh, I made sure to drop it off at my most hated place in the world~! Now…lets start moseying back to take care of that monkey spy problem! I have a ton of experiments to get through especially with that fresh priest that the Old Satan faction brought to me. I've been hankering to mess up his genetic makeup for days! Ufufufufufu!" Envy maniacally laughed as she jumped through the portal.

Shaking their head, the gluttony tiredly followed after Envy and made sure to erase the magic circle on the ground with a couple of his threads. Being alone with a woman as insane and sporadic as this would make any person exhausted.

XXX

"Phew, I managed to avoid any trouble…" The feminine figure emerged from one of the bushiest trees in the forest and hopped off of it. There was no time to waste, she needed to be ready and observe how things play out until the "turning point".

*TICK-TOK-TICK-TOK-TICK-TOK!*

"I may still have time, but it won't matter if I don't use it wisely." The hooded female took a picture out of the pocket and intently looked at it as a way of identifying her target, "Asia Argento, you're the catalyst that changed everything…"