Chapter 03: Coup d'etat
-----Lilly-----
“Distract him, Shin!” I call out as the Student Council’s muscle swings at me. I slip under his trunk-like arm and to his right side.
Shin, to his credit, nails the lumbering brute in his temple with a stone, drawing his attention away from me. I flick my right arm out, my telescopic cane clacking into it’s full length and locking in place. I thrust at the back of his knees and he stumbles forward, falling face-first into the dust.
“
Arrrrgh!” He howls in pain but knocking him down shouldn’t have been enough to illicit that reaction. He rolls onto his back and clutches his chest.
“Shin, what happened?” I call out to my dance partner. Not being able to sense him makes this a little more difficult. I can touch him and I can hear him but I can’t…
‘see’ him.
The way my ability works is much like echolocation but instead of sound, I use visual inputs from everyone around me. I guess it’s like telepathy in a sense. Using the eyes of those around me, I can ‘see’ the world but, for whatever reason, I can’t with Shin. He's invisible to me. A blind spot that could cause trouble in the future.
“To your right, Miss Satou.” Whether or not he’s doing it on purpose, he’s at least gracious enough to help me locate him. “I couldn’t move out of the way in time so I used my intangibility to phase through him. Apparently it hurt him.” He almost sounds surprised.
Interesting. Maybe phasing through someone messes with the human body’s natural bioelectrical impulses. We can use that.
“Shin, I’m going to be relying on you for this next part.”
“I’m at your disposal.” He says with his usual tone of warmth and politeness. He’s a little weird but he seems reliable. Good for a team mate.
The Student Council’s pet ogre manages to get to his feet with a growl. He’s top heavy so I’ll just hit him in the knees again and let Shin deliver the finishing blow.
“I knock him down, you go for his heart!” I cry out as I bolt towards the hulking mass before me. I hope Shin is getting into a good position but without knowing that he is for sure, I’ll just have to trust him. The bruiser swings again and I slide between his legs, hitting his left on the way through and giving a hard whack to his right as I come out the other side. I get into a crouching position and give another two thrusts, making sure he crumples to his knees. As he drops, I hear Shin cry out.
“Here goes nothing!”
The monster roars, then gurgles and finally slumps to the floor in a heap.
“Nice work, Shin!” I offer a thumbs up and Shin quickly corrects me.
“Over here…” He says quietly from my diagonal right, approaching me.
“I’m going to have to put a bell on you.” I chuckle and Shin doesn’t laugh when he usually would. “What’s wrong?”
“I missed.” He says sombrely. He didn’t though, this guy went down like a sack of bricks.
“I didn’t phase his heart… He lunged forward a little and my fist went through his
skull. I was hoping that the heart trick wouldn’t kill him, just make him pass out but I fear I may have done far worse to the poor fellow.” He says grimly. Wow. Compassionate, even to his enemies. I don’t know if that’s admirable or foolish. I know which Uncle Jigoro would say but I’m not him.
“You had no way of knowing, Shin.” I offer what little reassurance I can. The blame’s really on me, I asked him to use his intangibility in a way he’d never done before.
“No, but it’s done now… It appears Miss Kapur has promptly dealt with her opponent too. Quite impressive.” He changes the subject to our British-Indian cohort. Impressive indeed, I had a vague awareness of what she was doing while we fought and she’s definitely got some tricks up her sleeves.
“Now we just have to wait for the Wonder Twins to wrap up the show.” I smile a little, turning in the direction of intense bickering.
-----Kenji-----
“Watch where you’re swinging those things, woman!” The guy who is supposed to be me screeches.
“
Wahaha~ Then get out of my way! I wanna get to the creamy centre under this hard shell!” I bet Shiina is hating her doppelganger too.
“I don’t cackle like that when I laugh, do I?” Shiina asks as she paces back and forth. She’s been itching for a fight all day and now I ask her to wait until I formulate a plan. Other me has been throwing home-made chemical explosives at my barrier while Shiina’s counterpart is much weirder. She’s been attacking the barrier with her hair, each cluster of strands becoming a tiny whirring drill at it’s tip. A drill-haired medusa, as it were.
“I just hope my voice isn’t that
whiny.” I chuckle and she throws me a smile.
“C’mon, Kenji. Just open a few ports for me to blast ‘em!” She gets her fingers ready in a firing position and as I’m about to suggest something else, a hair drill bursts through the dirt beneath our feet and catches Shiina.
“Fuck!” She blasts the hair tentacle and it severs in twain, becoming normal-ish pink hair again. I run to her side and brush the hair out of her face.
“Phew, just a scratch.” I smile a little but Shiina’s irises just glow hotter.
“Drop the shield.” She orders and I hesitate. I know better but I do as she says, a portion of the hexagons in front of us shrink away, revealing our targets. I step back away from Shiina, knowing what’s coming.
“
Bang.”
A blazing orange bolt of energy erupts from her fingertip, striking her doppelganger in the chest and sending her reeling into my counterpart. They begin bickering again and I throw a barrier around them, making sure to cover the dirt in case they try to burrow out. They begin attacking their new prison from the inside and I pat Shiina’s back. This will make her feel better.
“Hit ‘em with the Pinball Wizard.” I smirk and her eyes light up in excitement before literally lighting up. She loves this move.
She fires two consecutive shots from her fingers, both angled differently. I open the corresponding hexagons and allow the shots into enter into the barrier before closing once more. Her shots ricochet rhythmically off the inner walls, like a pinball machine, building up speed until one connects with a glass vial held by the other Kenji.
“Bang.” I say with a sly smile and Shiina giggles as the inside of the bubble erupts into a quick but intense fireball. I drop the shield to let our enemies out and they lie on the ground, a little scorched but still alive.
“That was awesome, you guys!” Molly calls as she pounces on Shiina’s back. Lilly pats my back and our team stands together once more.
“You weren’t too bad yourself, Molls! I though magical girls were supposed to have cute little costumes though.” Shiina grins, tapping her chin with her finger as she bears down on Molly. I grab her by the scruff of the neck and pull her back.
“
I do… I just didn’t want to use it and need it later. I can only use certain abilities once every twelve hours.” She kicks the dirt sheepishly.
“Well, I hope you still got some gas in the tank. We’ve still got the Queen Bee to deal with.” Shiina says cracking her knuckles. “Y’hear that, Shizzy?! You’re up next!”
As if answering Shiina’s challenge, Shizune rises from her throne and the crowd falls deafly silent. She steps to the edge of her throne’s staircase and clears her throat.
“AHEM”
With explosive results, as the ground, dust and our team are sent hurtling backwards by a concussive sound wave. The ringing in my ears subsides and I’m met with a string of obscene curse words from Lilly, who is clutching her head. Molly rubs her back and Shiina scrambles to her feet. Shin… hasn’t moved an inch. He’s still standing in the spot the rest us were a few seconds ago. He looks back at us surprised then chuckles.
“Are you alright?” He asks, slightly raising his voice to a shout.
“SHIN! Go for her
THROAT!” Lily shrieks an order and he looks taken aback for a second. His face turns sour and he begins walking towards Shizune.
-----Shin-----
I was hoping I wouldn’t be forced to do this to another person today. I hope that Taro fellow isn’t brain damaged… That’s a fate worse than death. Well,
almost.
“Miss Hakamichi,” I begin to speak, signing as I do just so she understands. “I am going to have to ask you to relinquish your position. I do not want to have to harm you but, as you’ve seen, we are more than capable of taking anything you can throw at us.”
I reach the stairs and calmly ascend them, Hisao meeting me halfway to throw a punch. It passes right through me and he tumbles down a few stairs. I shake my head and return my gaze to Shizune.
“So I am asking you nicely, release your vice grip on this school or your world will face dire consequences as a result. Please.” I finish signing and she stares at me with a face of utter disbelief. I don’t think anyone has ever asked her to stop before.
Her face turns to a scowl and she begins to open her mouth. I thrust my hand forward like a blade, phasing it into her throat. She coughs and splutters as she recoils. She opens her mouth once more and nothing escapes her lips except a weak rasp.
She tries several more times and I breath a sigh of relief. I thought I might end up cutting her head off or something. I should do some tests to make sure I don’t kill someone accidentally… I look from my hand to Shizune’s face, which has become grief stricken. Her council broken, her voice silenced, she has no more weapons to to use.
“Are you done?” I ask, signing as well and she slumps onto her throne with a resigned nod.
“Shin?” I raise my wrist and turn to walk down the stairs. "Can you hear me?"
“Yuuko? Hello, how’s things at the Shanghai?” I smile as her face appears on the holographic screen emitted from my bracelet.
“Quiet, looks like you guys have had some fun though. The authorities are on their way, Commander Mutou will take it from here.” She explains with a smile.
“That’s it then? Mission accomplished?” I tilt my head as the others meet me halfway across the arena.
“That’s right, mission accomplished.” She beams as the group gathers around me.
“Come on home.”
