Chapter Sixty-Five: Nishiyama Kimura

A few years ago, in Voltiana…

Inside a massive mansion in the Asuka District, a huge birthday party for Nishiyama Kimura took place.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NISHI!"

Nishiyama walked out of her room, still wearing her nightgown. She looked down at the living room, and she saw it filled with attendees and food.

Many high-profile guests attended, including Princess Akari and her mother, Queen Ayame. Nishiyama walked down the stairs, and her father, Nobu, greeted her.

"Good morning, dear! Happy birthday!"

Nishiyama rubbed her eyes, taking in the lavish sight. "Oooooh! Is this all mine?"

Her father nodded, and a smile crossed her face. She walked to the center of the room and cleared her throat, catching the attention of everyone present.

"Hi, people! As you all may know, it's MY birthday, so I humbly ask you all SPOIL me with the fancy gifts and other items you have brought!"

Everyone gasped and stared at her. Nobu just shook his head.

Nishiyama motioned for people to come forward. "Well? I'm waiting! Who has the best one?"

Queen Ayame looked at Akari. "Is this girl serious?"

"Yes, mom," Akari replied. "She has a massive ego."

"I can tell."

As Nishiyama went around demanding presents from guests, Nobu approached Queen Ayame and Princess Akari.

"Hello, Your Majesties! I'm sorry about my daughter, sometimes she just…doesn't know how to act."

Akari shrugged. "Why don't you enroll her for the Tryouts in a few years? Then she can put that ego to some use."

Queen Ayame smiled. "Yes, that's a great idea! She has a wonderful magical ability, I do imagine it'll serve us quite well."

Nobu pondered it for a moment. "Okay! I'll ask her and see what she thinks!"

Just then, Nishiyama came over to them, holding out her hand.

"Queen. Princess. Where's my stuff?"

Akari rolled her eyes and walked away.

Later that day, Nobu sat Nishiyama down in her bedroom, putting a hand on each of her shoulders.

"What is this about, Dad?" she asked. "I didn't get a gift from everyone, so don't make this day worse."

Nobu nervously chuckled and then took a deep breath. "I was thinking…maybe you should try out for the military when you turn fifteen! It'll be good for you!"

Nishiyama abruptly sat up, angry.

"Why would I try out for some stupid military? I'm so much better than that!"

He raised his hands defensively. "Sorry, I just thought you'd love to show off your cool powers and be a hero to our people!"

Nishiyama took a moment to reflect on it. "Hmm…what do I get out of it?"

"Fame, fortune, and a very high status! I'm sure you'll win, your Paralysis Magic is unrivaled."

Nishiyama smirked. "You're right, it IS the best! Maybe…that isn't a bad idea…"

Present Day…

"AHHHH! This was a terrible idea! A TERRIBLE IDEA!"

Nishiyama screamed as she and Dachii were pulled by the tendrils of smoke. Dachii attempted to wiggle himself free, but the smoke seemed to grow thicker.

"Hey, you! I need your help again!"

Dachii banged his head, but nothing happened.

"Oh, come on!"

The tendrils pulled them close to a massive skyscraper, and it slammed them to the ground.

BOOM.

Dachii and Nishiyama gingerly got up, and they found a terrifying sight greeting them.

"Hello, children."

Vapron was standing in front of them, his body and face fully coated in smoke. There were whips of smoke coming off his body.

Nishiyama immediately retreated behind Dachii. "Dachii! Hit him!"

"Are you CRAZY?" he responded.

Vapron began to make his way over to the pair, and Dachii slapped himself in the face. "Come on! Transform! Do something!"

Nishiyama shook him by his shoulders. "Stop hitting yourself! Do you WANT us to die?"

They jumped back as a plume of smoke came at them. Dachii rounded on Nishiyama. "Look, you're not much help! Where's that Nishiyama from the tryouts?"

As Vapron sent another blast of smoke at them, they yet again narrowly evaded it.

"What?" she asked.

Dachii ripped a sign off a nearby store and tossed it at Vapron, and it passed right through his body.

"In the semifinals, you were one of the only females not to make it! You let Akari, Hikari, and that other girl outdo you!"

As Vapron walked toward them, Nishiyama hesitated for a moment.

"Please…don't remind me…"

Dachii stared her right in the eyes. "Come on! Don't tell me Tomoko is more useful than you!"

Before she could open her mouth to speak, Vapron was on top of them, holding them by their collars.

"The little speech is cute, but it's time now."

Dachii tried to punch him, but his fist went through his head. "It's not a speech! Now let us go!"

Vapron laughed, holding them both up even higher. "I have a better idea. I'll use this girl's power to make my mission easier, and you and your mom will come with ME!"

His eyes began to glow. "On behalf of my allies, I will FINISH THIS MISSION!"

Dachii tried to kick him. "The Generals will stop you!"

Vapron scoffed, and he used a few smoke tendrils to drag two figures from behind a nearby building: Morino and Nakada.

"THESE Generals?"

Dachii saw they were unconscious and bleeding heavily. "No…"

"Such a pity! Now enough talk, it's about time we finish this!"

Vapron turned himself into pure smoke and began to fly away with Dachii and Nishiyama, carrying them toward the back of Umego.

"I'll come back for the woman later."

Nishiyama hopelessly watched as they were taken away, and she saw Morino and Nakada lying on the ground.

"Why? Why did this have to be so hard…?" she wondered. "I'm supposed to be…the best…my power is supposed to be…special…"

And then they began to descend, and the last thing she heard was Dachii calling out to her.

"Come on, Nishiyama! Use your cool power!"

Earlier this week…

"Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!"

Nishiyama was busy throwing and breaking objects in her room, fresh off her loss to Tomoko in the tryouts.

"I hate humans! I hate them, I hate them, I HATE THEM ALL!"

Nobu walked into her room, but he had to duck to avoid a chair being thrown at him. "Nishi, what's wrong?"

"What do you mean, what's wrong? Didn't you watch the damn TV?"

He sighed, gently getting closer to her. "Listen, honey. It's natural for these things to happen! That doesn't mean you're weak, or inferior, or—-"

Nishiyama broke one of her holographic lamps. "No one loses to humans, Dad! All of them except Sir Morino are so weak, so damn weak! Look what happened to the other two!"

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, the human who beat you gave that other girl a run for her money——"

"That DOESN'T help!" Nishiyama snapped back, angrily.

Nobu turned away but stopped at the door. "Nishiyama, soon you'll find out that your power isn't useless. But you'll have to calm down first and really think."

She rolled her eyes and slammed the door. "Moronic old man."

Then she sat back down, covering her face with a pillow. "They'll regret making a fool of me, I promise you!"

And unbeknownst to her, the magic inside her began to spill out, and everything in her room became utterly still.

Present day…

Dachii watched Nishiyama, who still appeared to be in her own world. "Why? Why me? Why do I have to be the one to deal with this?"

Vapron continued on his path, and Dachii saw Kai, Obara, and Mina below him, who all stared up in shock.

"Just great! They've finished their fight, but I'm still not done!" Dachii noted.

In a raspy whisper, Vapron began to speak.

"You never should have sided with these monsters, Dachii! They'll only use, abuse, and MANIPULATE YOU!"

Dachii looked down at the ground, before clenched his fists. "That's okay. I only side with MYSELF!"

He brought his hands together and bumped them, which caused a massive force that sent him and Nishiyama flying.

As they fell toward the ground, Dachii held his hands out. "Just like in my mind! No water this time, though."

He began to slow down, and he saw Nishiyama falling below him, still not moving.

"Oh, great."

He reached out and used his power to speed up. "Make me heavy!"

As he did, he reached and grabbed her arm, slowing himself down again just as they fell into a dumpster.

"Ew…this…is so gross…" he remarked.

Nishiyama opened her eyes, looking right at Dachii. "You…did you just save me?"

Dachii got up, looking away. "Well, I can't just let a girl fall to her death, so…"

Nishiyama stared at him for a long time, and just as she was about to say something, the dumpster was picked up and tossed into a building.

Vapron stood outside of it, eyes blazing with smoke.

"So you want to make me hurt you, then? If that's the case…"

He lifted his hand, and a fist of smoke came out of it, slamming into the dumpster.

But to his surprise, the dumpster remained intact, and his fist never struck it.

"Now what the hell is going on?" he wondered.

He took a closer look, and he saw Nishiyama blocking the fist with one hand. Her eyes were glowing bright white.

Dachii exited the dumpster, admiring Nishiyama's new aura. "Wow, Nishi! That was so badass!"

As the smoke disappeared, she straightened up. "Dachii…thank you."

"For what? I didn't do anything!"

Vapron sized her up, right before he touched the ground. "You think you're tough, little girl? CLEARING SMOKE!"

A massive smoke cloud came at them, but Nishiyama calmly put her hand up and touched it before it could reach them.

"Paralyze."

Dachii watched, mouth open, but Vapron appeared behind them, and he used another blast of smoke to send them both flying.

"Haha! Still not good enough!"

Dachii used his powers to land on the ground, and Nishiyama landed next to him, her face bland and serious.

Dachii turned towards her. "This is still looking grim! What now?"

She stood up, sparks emitting from her body. "Don't worry. He forgot who he was messing with."

Vapron stalked toward them, but immediately he froze in place. He opened his mouth and unleashed a barrage of smoke blasts, but Nishiyama emitted more sparks and they all stopped in mid-air.

Vapron scoffed. "You can't just freeze me forever! If you can't do any damage, what the hell are you here for?"

Nishiyama smirked. "Too bad for you, that's not my job."

As Vapron caught on to what she meant, he looked behind him to see a blade coming right for his chest.

"Crap!"

As the magic wore off, he turned his body into smoke just as Nakada slashed through him.

As Vapron disappeared, Nakada appeared beside Dachii and Nishiyama.

"I'm so sorry for being so incompetent, you two! Thanks for keeping him at bay, especially you, Nishiyama!"

Nishiyama nodded, and Dachii sighed a sigh of relief. "Finally, we're saved!"

Nakada held her blade out, just as Vapron touched down in front of her. "Not just yet."

"Nakada…" Vapron growled. "You think you can beat the Obsidian Order? You're just wasting your time."

She got into a running stance. "Let me waste it, then."

And then, she took off toward him, unleashing a barrage of attacks he managed to evade.

"Are you still trying to hurt me? You know you can't!"

Despite his words, she spun around, trying to kick him in the head, but her foot just went straight through it.

Vapron grabbed her foot, squeezing it until he heard a crack. "See? You're just too weak."

Without a moment of hesitation, she used her other foot to kick him before he could turn his body into smoke.

As she landed on the ground, limping, she pointed the barrel of her gunblade at Vapron.

"One thing about you, you talk way too much."

She fired it, and it went right through his body. He began to laugh and mock her. "And yet I'm still standing!"

Nakada narrowed her eyes at him. "Not for long."

An axe tried to slice off his head from behind, but he ducked the swing and quickly got out of the way.

"I see there's still some cleanup that needs to be done!" Morino noted.

"Grandfather!" Dachii called out. "You're not hurt?"

Morino gave a thumbs up, still bleeding. "Nothing little old Hikari can't fix!"

And with that, he and Nakada turned back toward Vapron, who watched them intensely.

"So this is it, then?"

They both charged at him and attacked him at once, although he continued to dodge their attacks.

"He's too fast!" Nakada remarked. "We need to slow him down!"

Nishiyama held out her hands. "I've got it!"

As Vapron was paralyzed by her magic, Nakada and Morino prepared to slice his chest, but he roared and a powerful cloud of hot smoke knocked them away.

Morino's axes landed beside Nishiyama, and she looked at them for a moment before picking them up and reattaching the chain.

Dachii watched her as she held them up. "What are you doing?"

"Finishing this! Come on!"

As she began to run toward Vapron, he burst from the cloud of smoke and charged at Dachii and Nishiyama, grabbing them by the necks before they could react.

"What are you kids gonna do now?"

Dachii punched him in the chest, but it went right through. "Get off!"

Nishiyama touched the arm grabbing her, and as Vapron began to freeze up, she swung an axe at his chest, partially cutting through.

"You'd better hope that thing does me in!" Vapron taunted. "Or I'll kill you!"

As she used all her strength, the axe cut a little deeper. "Come ON!"

The magic began to wear off, and Vapron laughed even louder. "What now? WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NOW, NISHIYAMA KIMURA?"

"This." She kicked off of him and grabbed Dachii, just as Nakada came from behind and slashed him through his chest, severing his heart in two.

Vapron turned around and began to start shaking, just as Nakada gave him a smile.

"How's that for a victory?"

—-