CHAPTER 14: 4

The three individuals are trudging up a smooth path to the top of the biggest mountain.

Rinka looks at Ashi, who is very anxious and quivering.

Rinka: … Hey, you good, Ashi? You look worried, like, way more than usual.

Ashi: I- I'm okay, j-just scared… I- I'm gonna go back down. I don't know why I followed you two up here.

Doa and Rinka laugh softly.

Rinka: Okay, see ya later.

She begins speed walking down.

…

Rinka and Doa reach the summit, take a quick break, and then walk towards the biggest house, eventually arriving at the front door.

Rinka: So, like, do I knock?

Doa: Of course. What else are we supposed to do?

Rinka knocks weakly, and Rank 4 Immediately answers. Her swiftness and appearance shock him.

Rank 4: … Hello. Can I help you?

Rinka: … Uh, hello Miss… Are you a Skiller? Specifically, Rank 4?

She giggles innocently.

Rank 4: … Such a silly question.

And then takes a deep breath.

Rank 4: … Yes, I'm Rank 4. What do you need from me?

Rinka and Doa's eyes dilate with the reveal, they jump back and promptly pull their weapons out.

Rank 4: Ah.

Rinka: … By the way, Doa, just to let you know, I don't kill.

Doa: … Okay. I'll do it for you.

At this time, a boatload of alarming, Taffy Pink gas materializes near Rank 4. Doa begins shooting at the enemy, prompting Rank 4 to magically disappear and reappear right next to her, and attempt to clock her dome.

Doa deters the hit, however, the gas gets all up in her face, causing her to cough. Regardless, she goes for a punch and Rank 4 dodges it, and kicks her in the stomach.

Next, Rinka lunges at Rank 4 and swings his blade, and she firmly grabs it, resulting in blood seeping from her palm. Yet, she's unfazed. Rinka quickly throws his fist at her and she side steps, then attacks, but before any damage could occur, Doa fires a bullet forcing Rank 4 to jump back. More pink gas comes out of her.

Suddenly, Doa clutches her stomach and then collapses. She's kneeling on all fours, sweating profusely and groaning, so Rinka runs up to her, distressed.

Doa: … I- I feel like I'm gonna throw up.

Rinka doesn't know what to do. The pink gas has grown exponentially, and out of nowhere, two bullet trains rush out of it, heading straight for Rinka and Doa; they're thunderstruck.

"OH SHIT!"

Rinka quickly takes Doa and hops elsewhere to avoid dying, she gags and groans even more. The trains ram into the side of a hill and turn into mash, fire and minimal smoke protrude.

Rank 4: … Those who inhale my gas become sick! So your friend is going to be out of commission for a while.

Rinka lays Doa down, and focuses on the foe.

"Damn, what do I do about the gas?.. Hold up, I have a solution!"

He revs up.

"Black Bolt."

He becomes lightning and zaps ahead, yet, Rank 4's eyes precisely follow him. He strikes, taking shape behind her, and she swiftly turns around and kicks his side, propelling him to the far ground. She then pounces for him.

And to evade, he changes into lightning again and circles around her rapidly until several speeding trains come into view and crash into each other, and violently explode.

The boom is big, and it hits Rinka. He's forced out of his bolt form and collides with the floor. What's more, Doa is hurled and slams into the side of a mountain, then ragdolls. Metal crumbs fall like snowflakes and smoke is abundant.

A dirtied Rinka is lying on the ground, trying to rest for a second, when suddenly, Rank 4 falls out of the smog, the pink gas gone, and lands on his gut. He jolts and gasps in pain. After that, she proceeds to hold him down, with one foot on the belly and the other on his attacking arm. He wriggles bitterly.

"Uugh, using Black Bolt takes a lot of energy, I'm already really tired!"

…

Doa slowly lifts her head, her vision is hazy, regardless, she can make out Rinka's struggling.

"... I- I have to… I have to go help Rinka… I'm being completely useless right now."

She tries to budge but can't.

"... I have to get up. I've felt… Pain worse than this."

…

Dirty and lengthy Black hair, soiled and mistreated clothes, and an expression that could not decide whether to be unemotional or cry endlessly, belonged to a 10-year old homeless girl who had been recently abandoned by her family for a number of unknown causes. And, in addition to that, everyone in the neighborhood she inhabited hated her for some odd reason.

That girl was Doa.

…

A bright park is full of bright children indulging in boundless fun. Doa is there too, trying to do the same, but she's unwanted.

The kids humiliate her repeatedly. They aggressively pull and poke her, and their obnoxious laughs clog her mind. One kid even shoves her off the highest point of the playground, it is a clear attempt of murder.

Doa violently hits the ground and subsequently bursts into shrilling tears. Parents rush over, very concerned, but as soon as they notice who it was that got hurt, they gag.

"Ugh, you smell horrible! Get out of here, you homeless brat!"

Now, the average kid would stay put due to the influx of omnidirectional pain, but Doa, no words or damage would keep her down.

She quickly rises and leaves the scene, limping along.

…

Behind a large, rich restaurant, adjacent to its parking lot, is a big dumpster, which to Doa, is something amazing. She blithely runs up to it and climbs inside, scouring for any food.

But out of nowhere, a ferocious yell, and it makes her jump and trip. An employee of the restaurant has found her, he's gripping a broom.

"Hey! Go find food somewhere else!"

He brutishly swings it and hits her knee. She squeals in agony and scurries off.

…

It's the dead of night, Doa is woefully wandering the streets, her stomach growling profoundly. In due course, the pain of severe hunger brings her to the floor.

Nonetheless, she continues her journey by crawling. Dropped tears leave a trail. Along the expedition, she tries to stand up several times, but trembles and falls back down, and ultimately she stays down, unmoving.

That's when really short-haired 8-year old Rinka walks up to her, confused.

Rinka: What are you doing?

Doa herself doesn't respond, her stomach does, by rumbling again.

Rinka: … You're hungry? I think I can give you food, I have to ask my mom.

…

Returning to the present, Doa rises at a slow pace.

"That night, Rinka saved my life."

"... His family took me in for a while, until I was miraculously adopted by a loving couple. After that, I changed my appearance drastically and my whole world flipped upside down. People accepted me, and I had managed to survive the worst the world could throw at me."

"... I owe Rinka a lot."

"... When I heard of the incident surrounding him though, I was so surprised… He killed his entire family? I didn't believe it, I still don't. How could, why would he do that?"

"… After that, I never heard of him again, and I thought I never would, but now, he's right in front of me."

"... You know, one of these days, I should talk to him about all of this."

"... Shit, I'm rambling. I need to stand up and help. This pain is nothing compared to what I had to go through when I was younger."

…

Rank 4 puts more pressure on Rinka, he's stopped squirming and is pretty uncomfortable. All of sudden, a bullet zips ahead and Rank 4 briskly moves away to avoid it. What's more, Doa, without warning, appears before her and forcefully strikes her in the gut, pushing her very far.

She then leaps back, snatches Rinka, and advances to somewhere else.

Doa: Are you okay?

Rinka: Yeah. Thanks.

She unhands him and he stands, and on Rank 4, who's up and pissed, more abounding gas comes into view, and then the sundry trains. They fly out like missiles but are constantly changing in speed, and these, they don't end, they're like multiple extensive snakes.

Rinka: … This shit is crazy, dude.

Doa: Yeah… Are you ready to move like crazy?

Rinka: … I think so. Are- are you ready?

She smiles wholeheartedly.

Doa: Very ready!

The trains are now quite close to the two. Promptly, they hop onto one, and are full of joy.

Doa: Hey, you had the same idea as me!

Rinka lets outs a light chuckle.

They start sprinting down the train, on their way to Rank 4. But, unexpectedly, the trains begin to veer upwards and the two have no choice but to slide down the surface, Doa's thrilled, Rinka's a little worried.

Rinka: This is scary, man!

They skim to a point where they can start running again, so they do, and don't stop. Just then, all the trains except the occupied one, begin to swerve in a bunch of random, unnatural directions. However, that doesn't concern Rinka and Doa, they're focused on Rank 4, who's up ahead on their train.

Doa shoots at her multiple times, she nimbly evades all and lunges forwards, so Rinka speeds up and lunges too.

Moments before they're face to face, from the gas, spawns a large yacht and it's coming towards Rinka. He's flabbergasted.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?"

He converts into lightning and darts around the ship, reaching Rank 4. Where he comes out and swings his fist. The yacht vanishes.

…

Doa retches and wobbles around for a moment, then stabilizes.

"Gah! … I have to be more useful."

She activates her Ultimate Skill, "Sense Boost."

…

"Sense Boost'' allows her to boost her five senses, and by boosting her sight, her aim becomes somewhat better. Standard bullets are still quite hard to land, but the boost makes it so her "Magical Bullets" always land.

"Magical Bullets" is another one of Doa's skills. She can produce Fuchsia Pink bullets that do not create deadly wounds or cause death but instead are faster, only stun, and inflict severe pain, more than normal.

…

Rank 4 seizes Rinka's fist and holds him still. Immediately, a handful of magical bullets are fired from Doa's gun. They bang into Rank 4's arm, prompting her to viciously yell in pain and let go of Rinka. He uppercuts her right after.

She bumbles, and then leaps high and off, trying to get onto a different train, but more magical bullets come and hit her, awkwardly stunning her mid-air. She then falls and lands onto another train, and it takes her away.

She quickly stands up. Lightning swoops and Rinka emerges, ready to attack. Rank 4 briskly points her palm at him and a medium-sized wave of hot candle wax shoots out.

Doa dashes by and grabs Rinka before he can be hurt and they land on the ground, where they depart. Rank 4 follows and magically pulls out a Bole Brown whip from her gas.

She thrashes it around and with every swing, it expands. Additionally, more and more trains are starting to turn up. Rank 4 looks impassive.

"... It's going to be hard for them to get close."

She points her palm again and another wave of candle wax, this time much, much mightier, shoots out. It's going to blanket the whole area.

Rinka turns into lightning and bolts out. Doa also dips, while rapid-firing. The magical bullets soar, go through the wax, and hit Rank 4's neck, she judders. The wax wave comes down and unfortunately, Doa wasn't quick enough to fully avoid it.

Her shoes and shins are daubed in wax. She makes a face since it's burning her skin. Asudden, Rank 4 pops up and goes for a hit, Doa scurries back, stands up, and does a roundhouse kick, focusing on the head. Right away, Rank 4 clutches her leg, in response, Doa raises her gun, and has it instantly kicked out of her hand. She's taken aback.

Doa is now being uneasily held in place. So she steadily makes a finger gun, pointed right at Rank 4, who's staring bunglingly. And unexpectedly, from her index finger, a magical bullet comes into being, and is sent flying into Rank 4's eye. Doa is let go.

…

"Finger Guns", another Doa skill. It enables her to shoot magical bullets from her fingers at the cost that they're slower.

…

Doa quickly punches Rank 4's stomach. Next, thunder comes down and Rinka comes out, ready to batter. However, before he can do anything, all the trains in the vicinity violently crash into each other and cause a massive explosion.

It brutally launches Rinka into a cliff and Doa into the side of Rank 4's house, stuff crumbles. Their ears are ringing sharply, and they quickly stand and scamper around to avoid metal falling like meteors.

Rinka, from the corner of his eye, notices Rank 4 coming for him, and two subconscious ideas take over his mind.

"Black Bolt, Soul Search."

In a flash, as fulmination, he zooms to her, and as a human, he comes forth and uses his katana to impale her arm. The void then entirely envelopes both and Rinka witnesses Rank 4's past fly by.

TO BE CONTINUED…