Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction / Saint Seiya Fan Fiction ❯ The Intense Clash of the Gods ❯ Tale 45 ( Chapter 45 )

"Wow... she really got on Mizuki-san's nerves, didn't she?" Horoki asked as she walked around the hospital on a pair of crutches along with Mina.

The goddess smirked. "Yeah... to be fair, she's rather irritating. Wanted to sock her once or twice myself."

"I'm still class rep, you now. I'll have to write you up for that."

"HIKARI!!!!!" Mina pleaded, only half-joking.

"I'm serious. I mean, I'm supposed to protect you and everything, but you gotta learn to avoid picking fights with that bracelet on your arm and everything!" She looked around, glad nobody had been in earshot. "But... maybe I can make an exception or two in this case..."

"You'd better, you stupid swordswoman!"

"Pyromaniac!"

"Complete cripple!"

"Powerless deity!"

They both glared at each other for a moment, growling in aggression before the moment passed and they let out a humorous laugh.

"Incidentally, I'm not completely powerless now." Mina corrected

"Wha?"

"Well... that Radamanthys guy stated the bracelet only restricts and limits my strength, but it doesn't completely eliminate it. I'm reduced to low-level stuff... not even as potent as I was before Eurydice... but I can still hold my own."

"What a relief then!" Horoki said. "Turn left here... I'm feeling in the mood for a nap. Between Julien and Mizuki, you should be fine. Worst case, we could easily just dial up that Tudor guy..."
_
Franziska sat at the terminal, playing around with her return ticket back to Germany in her hands. She had expected to avenge Reiji and then just head back home... but after finally meeting Mr. Garuda Specter, her world just became quite a bit larger.

Make no mistake, von Karmas had a reputation to handle this kind of thing... and Aiacos had proudly stated how Lune quickly accepted his role as Balrog Specter when he was only thirteen. But the question was whether to stay and confirm the truth of it all with her very eyes that her biological little brother and her adoptive, metaphorically little brother were just helping out a greater power.

Reiji and Lune meant a lot to her. Manfred had introduced Reiji to Franziska not long after the Yanosuke incident... a humorous jokester that seemed to find some way to smile no matter what the odds were during his cases. She had even side-barred with him once or twice...

In all honesty, she was surprised that he would ever be capable of defending the very man that had allegedly killed his parents.
_
Kaede smirked as he stood atop the rooftops, looking down at target...

"Solo..." he said, "Such a shame the Hakkeshu weren't able to confront Ambrosia in your own kingdom..." He grit his teeth, recalling his graphic and painful death at the hands of Charybdis Tiamet.

He hated that woman like no other... single-handedly annihilating a group of assassin that had been designed to successfully bind and break Ambrosia to Nerve's will...

But she'd pay soon enough. But first... time to begin the plan...

"POSEIDON!"

Julien froze at the name, turning around on the streets of Tokyo, looking around for whoever had spoken that name. His eyes quickly noticed the blonde-haired man standing atop a building a few hundred meters away from him.

Kaede grinned. As per Eurydice's instructions, it was time to announce himself to those here. The sky darkened almost instantly as he raised his hand in the air. "KASSHIN KOURYU!"

Julien was horrified as countless bolts of electricity shot down to the ground, each one precisely piercing and electrocuting to death the dozens of people on the street.

"YOU BASTARD!" Julien shouted as Kaede jumped down to the ground, looking at Kaede.

"Stop looking so shocked," Kaede suggested, "I merely wanted to open this place up so I could fight you without you worrying about innocent bystanders. They're all dead, so fight away. Nobody else will get hurt."

Julien swore under his breath as Kaede charged, chopping down at him. The sea god jumped to the side, Kaede's Progress leaving a gigantic slash in the ground as Julien rolled away. "I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS!" he roared, the orange and yellow statue materializing in his hand. It flashed gold for a second before its parts burst off and attached themselves to Julien's body, growing to match the young man's build. He slid the helmet on and lastly grabbed the trident that had nearly killed one of his best friends, ready to put it to good use.

"Don't joke around here," Kaede snorted. "You have zero fighting experience... you only took down Mizuki because she intercepted the attack meant for Ambrosia, and SHE only was going to be hit due to the intimidation factor of seeing you like that."

"Don't speak about my friends like that," Julien said, spinning his trident and slashing hard and fast.

"Well... if you want to try it THAT way..." Kaede sighed, a electric-blue katana forming in his hands that he quickly used to block each of Julien's strikes. "As I said before, no fighting experience. Nerve primed me for a whole six months. You're out of your league." He spun gracefully around a strike and his sword hit the ground. "Kasshin Fukoryu."

A bolt of lightning shot up from the ground, Julien springing away as Kaede charged, quickly blasting by him.

"SHINMEI RENJINZAN!!!"

Julien screamed as blood squirted from his arm, turning around in time to get a kick to the head. He rolled away from Kaede's killing blow, raising up his trident for protection.

"What the..." he looked down at his arm, "That makes no sense! You're no god, I would've sensed it... and there's no way a mortal can harm a god without Inferno being present!"

Kaede shrugged and chuckled softly. Looking to his side, closing his eyes and shrugging, he answered. "What can I say? I'm neither. I'm something else. Ever hear of the Four Symbols?"

"Aren't those the Coronas of Ambrosia?"

Kaede shook his head. "What are you smoking? Ambrosia has four protectors. First, her little Shoujo-ai priestess bitch Mizuki. Second, her little overzealous and simplistic thinking bimbo Hikari. Third, her gambling arrogant tramp Zepplin. And lastly, her over-analyzing and wannabe-cop Kirishima. Those last three have the three Sacred Treasures, but you're mistaking us for them."

"Us?"

"Of course! Eurydice has assembled all four of them to exact vengeance after said Shoujo-ai priestess bitch managed to kill two of her Notes. She's only got ten left... but back to me! I apologize for digressing!" Kaede bowed with false-honesty. "As I was saying... the Four Symbols are sorta the spiritual entities that the Kirin, Ambrosia, is supposed to keep in check. Of course, Eurydice decided to sic all four of us on a common foe so we can all run rampant. And since we're not mortals, that means we can very easily hurt gods or goddesses!"

"And why tell me all this?" Julien asked as he struggled away from Amana.

Kaede shrugged. "So when you die, right here and right now, you won't have any questions on your mind like 'Who was this incredibly cool guy that just cut me down like that?' Understand?"

"I'm not going to die here." Julien said in an even tone, looking Kaede straight in the eye.

It probably wouldn't shake the asshole on the surface, but Julien was hoping it would at least do something subconsciously.

"Oh well..." He charged. "SHINMEI RENJINZA-AHHHHH!!!!"

He should have looked where he was running...

Bleeding in buckets often resulted in the bleeder to lose consciousness quickly, but it also had the effect leaving much of a slippery substance on the ground.

Kaede stumbled forward, only for a second, before gripping his sword and correcting himself.

Too late.

Kaede's world became pain as Poseidon's trident impaled him from behind, throwing him into a wall. He looked up at the bloody Greek god, about to land the finishing blow.

"Funny..." Julien said as he spun his trident expertly in his hands. "What were you saying about no combat experience? Mizuki's got plenty of that... she just gave me some pointers."

Kaede couldn't believe it. He was going to die... AGAIN!

"HELLFIRE TAKEOFF!"

Julien suddenly was blasted high into the air by a burning blast, hitting the ground and blacking out, the last thing in his view being... Isabeau?!?

The Italian, now in a skin-tight black leather jumpsuit, walked into view, snorting at the sight in front of her. "Seiryu..." she said, addressing Kaede by his Four Symbol name. "You were sloppy."

"Suzaku," Kaede responded in kind, "I had him right where I wanted him. But now that you're here... might as well finish him up..." He stood up, gripping his sword and moving to plunge it into Julien's heart. Scale or no Scale, it WOULD go in.

The sword pierced through, Julien's eyes opening wide as he screamed in agony before he just blacked out.
_

"How you holding up, Julien?" Mina asked as she and Mizuki sat opposite of their friend, currently bed-bound in the same hospital Asuka and the others were at.

"Doing better," he answered. "Just wish I had any idea of what happened at all..."

"I know... it's downright confusing as to what's going on," Mizuki sighed. "Worst of all... it's not easy to forget Eurydice manipulated you, me, Mina-ojosama, and the others to pretty much do what she wanted. We definitely need to watch our steps."

Mina sat back, thinking. What was the point of all this? Eurydice technically still had them all where she wanted them. She obviously had more muscle than just Maxime and Juste, so why not just kill them and get it over with?

"Mizuki?" she asked, turning to her more-than-friend.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think it would be safe for us to take a look around? Whoever did this certainly packs a wallop... enough to take Julien down and all, but together we migh-"

"Leave it to me," Mizuki interrupted. "You stay here." The miko stood up, joyous at the fact that unlike the other Coronas, she had no fancy transformation sequence, meaning she could deliver miko-y goodness whenever the need arose.
_
"You wanted to see us, Lord Hades?"

Hades turned to the two men standing before him, weighing his options. If he was going to make this claim and exploit a possible loophole to his no-interference-without-god rule, it would be wise to get the input of a pair of lawyers.

"Reiji, Lune, there's something that has been bothering me greatly, dealing with Eurydice... I don't know exactly what is going on or why she's decided to start making her move again after four years, but it can't be good. And with the release of the Four Symbols, Radamanthys and Aiacos are going to need all the help they can get. Ambrosia and the Coronas no doubt will help, but there's only so much they can do without Inferno. I know you two will be going on leave in only a matter of weeks, one of the Substitute Reserve Judges filling in for Minos, meaning you can do whatever you think is necessary."

"Standard rules set down long ago," Lune stated, traditional von Karma promptness evident in his voice. "Any Specter on leave can't take his Surplice along, unless protecting someone that passed the Trial of 108 Fates. However, they can be involved in any affairs they wish, such as Aiacos's attack on Nerve."

"Now tell me..." Hades said as he looked between then, glad to know Reiji was taking this very seriously. "Do you really think Inferno is part of the Balrog Surplice or not?"
_
"Visiting hours are almost up," said a nurse as Mina walked from Horoki's room to Mana's.

"Oh, this won't take long," she said, smiling and dropping in on the Yata Corona's room for another visit. "How are you doing?"

Mana looked up from the bed, looking a bit depressed. "Mizuki gets to play detective and I don't! How do you think I feel?!?"

"Well this is serious!" Mina answered. "A lot of people died and Julien can't remember a thing from back then. We're lucky we actually are in a position to do anything at all. Besides, you'll be back on your feet eventually and we can solve this all together."

"If you insist..." Mana started say. "I guess-"

The suddenly became very quiet hearing shouting down the hall.

"IT'S A MONSTER! A COMPLETE MONSTER!"

Mana started to stand up, but Mina stopped her. "You're injured."

"And I'm supposed to protect you!"

"And you're also supposed to obey your goddess!" Mina ran outside, seeing one of the nurses run by her, only then to see some sort of strange fish-man charging at her and looking an awful lot like...

Like Julien...

"Ambro...siaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..." The thing charged, Mina looking down at the bracelet on her arm that drastically limited her strength. This would be one hell of a fi-

"Yata Mirror Starstone Crystal Power: Make-up!"

The shout from Mana caused both Mina and the Julien-monster to turn as Mana charged straight at him, the Corona punching the monster in the face and knocking it away. Mina, however, was more awestruck by Mana's new appearance.

Once again, the detective-in-training was still wearing her white coat, but instead had on underneath a pair of red jeans and T-shirt with the words "Garou" on the front. The ensemble was finished with a red bow on the front, which Mana was surprised at.

"What the..." Mana said looking down at it.

Mina then snapped her fingers. "Of course! Fenrir let Pandora use his blood for the Yata Mirror's repair, so I bet it got altered by it!"

"Good excuse for me," Mana answered as the creature charged again. She turned back to Mina and quickly spoke. "Ambrosia-sama, get Asuka and Horoki. I'll transport me and this thing to the Mirror Dimension. Between Horoki's sword and Asuka's Q&A sessions, we might be able to figure everything out right here!"

Mina nodded and took off running as Mana snapped her fingers, sending both herself and the creature to her specially-crafted mirror world, hoping it would hold him off for long enough.
_
Not to far away, however, Kaede and Isabeau were sitting back on the edge of roof, looking through the hospital windows and grinning.

"All I'm missing is some popcorn," the redhead sighed before another voice caused her to turn.

"You'll make due."

Kaede and Isabeau turned to see Eurydice standing there, as emotionally as distant as usual.

"The situation here is... going modestly. I doubt the Coronas, even with Radamanthys and Aiacos, are capable of overcoming you two as well as Genbu and Byakko. Unfortunately, I can't stay... things will be happening soon in Greece and I need to prepare... scare up a few ghosts from the past. If you fail, well, you won't be able to run home, cry to me, and tell me about your shitty little day. Understand?"

They nodded.

"Good. Expect Genbu and Byakko to arrive here within three days. Until then, stay alive." She turned and walked away.
_
"Kusanagi Sword Sunstone Crystal Power: Make-up!"

"Yasakani Magatama Moonstone Crystal Power: Make-up!"

"WHAT THE HELL!?!?!"

Asuka and Horoki were both looking down at their new outfits in complete horror as Mina was surprised by the sudden change. Fenrir's influence of Mana's Corona garb hadn't been too drastic but this...

Horoki, instead of wearing a female sailor fuku was know actually wearing the school uniform for a boy... blue jacket with the symbol of the sun on the back and blue jeans, along with a black T-shirt underneath and a white headband on her head.

Asuka was wearing something literally out of left field... red pants with a belt attached to the back of her knees along with a black long-sleeved shirt with streaks of white here or there and a white crescent moon on the back as well.

"No time!" Mina shouted as she led her protectors back down the hall and down a few flights of stairs just in time to see Mana slide down the hall, battered and bruised as the creature charged at her.

"That thing's a nightmare..." she said as she stood up. Asuka quickly looked at it, probing its soul with questions, finally smiling.

"Great news," she said with a haughty smirk on her face as it charged.

"What?" the others asked her.

"That thing not only IS Julien... but it should be easy enough to get him back. Mana, would you mind taking another look?" She charged at him, tackling the monster and rolling across with it as Mana blinked, lowering her glasses.

"Wait a second... right there!" she pointed at its back. "There's one HELL of a parasite on its back, looks like a Plagas."

Horoki smirked. "Well... this was rather easy then..." she snapped her fingers, a katana appearing in her hand. She looked at it and gulped. "What the-?!? THIS ISN'T THE KUSANAGI SWORD! THAT STUPID CECIL, RUINING MY SACRED TREASURE WITH HIS BLOOD!"

"MAKE DUE!" Kirishima and Yuki screamed at the top of their lungs.

"Fine..." Hikari answered, charging at the creature as Asuka paralyzed it with a stream of purple flames.

"ALL YOURS!" Asuka shouted, springing away as Horoki pierced the monster's back with her sword, the creature screaming as she ripped out a large and rather disgusting Plagas parasite.

"LONE NEEDLE!" Mana blew through it with one slash, ripping it to shreds in the process as the Julien-monster collapsed on the ground, slowly re-assuming his human form.
_
Isabeau's eyes went wide as she doubled over, hitting the ground hard.

"What is it?" Kaede asked, surprised that his superior was suddenly in severe pain.

"Is Eurydice still here?" she asked quietly. Kaede shook his head.

"No... we're on our own."

"We underestimated. The Coronas somehow recovered the Sacred Treasures... and empowered them too. We need to be at our best to win this."

"Just our luck too... with Lady Eurydice gon-"

"No. It's better this way," Isabeau answered, standing up and staring at the hospital before walking away. "We have three days. We bide our time until the others arrive, then we strike."

 

A/N: In regards to Horoki, Asuka, and Kirishima's new outfits, it's mostly references to the King of Fighters… Horoki wearing Kyo Kusanagi's outfit, and Asuka wearing Iori Yagami's, since he's of the Yasakani lineage. Kirishima's is similar to her original one… but it resembles the outfit of Ema Skye, who partially was inspiration for this incarnation of her, from Phoenix Wright now a little more than before.