Well here's the next update! Sorry it took me so long but I hope you like it!
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Chapter 21
The next day it was time for the continuation of the individual battles. The last couple of pairs were Rena and Jurina, Sayaka and Sae, Yuki and Mayu, Atsuko and Minami. They were the only ones left in the tournament and now is the day to decide who will be victorious. The first battle up was betwen Yuki and Rena against Jurina and Rena. Atsuko watched as the four stepped up to battle arena. They stepped into the middle and then when the signal was given, they started the battle. Mayu was the first to move as she pulled out her sword and charged towards Rena. Rena stepped back as Mayu swung and then shot her threads out and wrapped around Mayu's body. She tightened the threads around her and was ready to squeeze her tight but then Mayu cut the threads and jumped up. She moved her sword downwards and managed to cut Rena's shoulder. However Rena also had some tricks in her for as Mayu was coming down, Rena used her threads and formed tiny drills. She launched them into Mayu's shoulder and leg and they drilled into her body. Mayu had to get far away from Rena and pull the drills out.
"Mayu watch out!"
Mayu looked up and saw Rena coming close to her with a large drill. Mayu didn't have time to dodge and had no choice but to try and block. Using her sword, Mayu placed it in front of her at the right time. The metal clashed and sparks flew. The two were pushing each other back trying to take over. Then suddenly Mayu's sword broke and the drill pushed forward. Mayu ducked and the drill impaled her left shoulder. As it drilled into her body Mayu screamed in pain and tried to get away. However the more she struggled the more damage she did to herself. Mayu was trapped and so Rena was ready to make the final move. She made a drill with her other hand and was getting ready to take off Mayu's head. Then suddenly Mayu was gone and there was nothing there. No one knew where Mayu went until Jurina shouted,
"Rena above you!"
Rena looked up and saw Mayu coming down on her with only one arm. Rena tried to step back but something prevented her from moving. She looked down and saw Mayu's other arm holding onto her leg. Mayu came down hard and slashed Rena's right arm. Now both of them only had one arm and now the battle was about to get serious. Something happened to Mayu that not even Yuki knew. It was something inside Mayu that suddenly came out and was now ready to burst. Her legs started to glow and looked like they were vibrating at an incredible speed. On Rena's side, Rena was now leaving and Gekikara came out. With her right arm gone, Gekikara couldn't use her fire punch but only the chaos touch which only works when she has a hold of Mayu. However the new thing with Mayu was something no one knew. Gekikara lashed out and tried to attack but Mayu vanished and reappeared behind her. Mayu threw a punch and then vanished again. It took a while for Rena to realize it but Mayu was actually moving at an incredible speed. She was moving so fast that it look like she was disappearing and reappearing.
"Can't catch me!"
Mayu started running circles around Gekikara and throwing punches at her. Gekikara may have strength but Mayu had speed and was much faster than Gekikara. The more Mayu punched the weaker Gekikara became. Then at one point, Mayu struck and hit one of Gekikara's eyes. Now blinded in one eye, Gekikara's chance of winning was becoming very low. Gekikara shouted and screamed trying to grab Mayu but had no luck. Mayu threw another punch to the stomach and this time Mayu didn't have time to run. Gekikara managed to grab Mayu and hold her tightly. A blast of black lightening shot from Gekikara to Mayu and entered her body. When Gekikara let go, Mayu fell to the ground and started shaking.
"Mayu snap out of it! Don't let the madness take you!" Yuki shouted.
Mayu was now screaming and crying on the ground. Kicking and thrashing Mayu looked like she was having a seizure. Gekikara giggled and then started to search for the sword Mayu had. As Mayu was screaming in agony Gekikara searched through the rubble.
"Mayu please wake up. It's not real!"
"I'm sorry Yuki I'm so sorry!!"
"Mayu wake up!"
"Finish her now Gekikara!" Jurina said.
Gekikara found the sword and was now slowly making her way over to Mayu. However suddenly something happened and Gekikara fell to the ground as well. There was something happening where Mayu somehow turned Gekikara's power against her and now she was suffering from the power as well. Not sure what to do, Jurina decided to grab the sword herself and finish Mayu off. However that's when Yuki came in as well and tackled Jurina to the ground. The two fought for the sword scratching and pulling each other's hair. The fight was fierce but eventually Jurina got the sword and was now running towards Mayu. She got on top of her and was about to plunge the blade into Mayu but then suddenly Mayu opened her eyes and saw Jurina. Quickly she reacted and pulled out a hidden dagger she had. She stabbed Jurina in the chest and seconds later Jurina died.
"JURINA!!"
That was the last thing Gekikara said before she turned into ash and faded away. The winner of the battle was Mayu and Yuki and Jurina and Rena were gone. With that Mayu's arm came back and the two walked off the stage hand in hand but with a cold expression on their faces. When the two were gone, the next battle was preparing and the ones battling were Atsuko and Minami against Sayaka and Sae. The four walked onto the battle arena and prepared for the final battle. Minami and Atsuko were ready and weren't going to show any mercy towards Sayaka and Sae. They knew this day would come and they knew this would happen eventually. The time has come and now it is time to decide who will be victorious.
"Minami let's go."
Minami jumped up and flew high into the air and that was exactly what Sayaka was waiting for. Sayaka shot out her rose petals and they surrounded the air. When Minami got close to one, the petal started to glow and soon after it exploded starting a chain reaction of explosions. Minami did her best to try to avoid the explosions and managed to get past most of it. However Minami didn't notice it but Sayaka managed to get a petal into one of Minami's feathers. The petal went of and it blew off Minami's entire left wing. Minami crashed onto the ground and was now unable to fly.
"Minami watch out!"
Minami looked up and saw more petals heading towards her. They made a spiral tunnel and surrounded Minami trapping her in it. Knowing what would happen if she moved, Minami remained perfectly still. Slowly the flower petals started to move closer and closer to her and soon they will completely swallow her and blow her to pieces. There was nowhere for her to escape and now it was only a matter of time before the petals closed in. However suddenly there was something surging inside her that was slowly growing. Then there was a sharp burning sensation on her back. She could feel something stretching and growing until suddenly she felt something warm surround her. The petals touched and there was a loud explosion. There was a lot of smoke but everyone was expecting Minami to be dead. However to their surprise Minami was alive. There in the smoke was a small white ball. The ball started to move and then stood up on two feet. There standing in a silver plated armor was Minami. Her feathers on her other wing turned into a protective cover and covered her entire body.
"Sayaka don't let that stop you! We can still win!" Sae said.
Sayaka shot more petals at Minami and this time Minami didn't move. The petals hit but there was no damage. The feathers protected Minami and weren't letting anything touch her. Minami decided to use this to her advantage and decided to charge towards Sayaka. She swung and punched Sayaka hard in the face. Sayaka fell back and Minami tried to punch her again but Sayaka managed to get away and shoot a rose petal that produced smoke. In the smoke Sayaka got further away and then this time she pulled out a very large rose. She threw it into the air and then multiple roses came out of it. They surrounded Minami and then started firing multiple rounds. The rounds had no effect on Minami and instead Minami took her right hand and formed a really sharp blade from the feather armor. Minami turned to Sayaka and then charged at her.
She swung her blade and managed to cut Sayaka's arm but when she tried to attack again she missed and Sayaka punched her in the mouth. Minami stepped back and Sayaka advanced forward with another powerful blow to the gut. Even though she had the armor on, she could still feel the punch. If she wasn't wearing the armor Minami was sure that there would be a hole where Sayaka had punched her. Sayaka went in for another punch but this time Minami ducked and kicked her in the leg pushing her down. As her head went down Minami raised her foot above it and was preparing to bring it down on her. However her foot ended up hitting nothing and instead Sayaka kicked Minami shooting her back. Then Sayaka pulled out a blue rose with light and dark blue petals. Sayaka bit her finger and then dripped some of her blood onto the rose. The rose glowed and then suddenly a large sword came out of it. The rose had turned into sword and not just any sword but a sword meant for quick movements. Sayaka took the sword and charged towards Minami. Minami formed on of her own out of the armor and the two began a sword fight.
Minami thought she was invincible with the armor she had on but sadly she was wrong. When Sayaka sliced into Minami's leg she actually cut through and scratched her leg a little. There was something about the sword that was letting it cut through and Minami needed to know what it was. Sayaka swung and Minami blocked it with her sword. Then she reached out and when she felt the sword she felt a harsh burning sensation coming from the sword. The thing was as hot as lava which explains why it was able to cut through so easy. The sword was practically blue fire. Minami knew this was going to be a problem if she didn't do something soon so she backed away and then pulled out two little daggers. She charged towards Sayaka who was waiting for her and when they collided Sayaka managed to block one but the other dagger Minami had went straight into her leg. To make things worse the dagger was actually a feather and when Minami let go of it, the feather expanded making the wound worse. Sayaka fell back and that was the moment Minami thought would be perfect to finish her off.
However Sayaka had a little surprise of her own for she puffed her cheeks and spat out blue fire. The fire burned Minami and melted some of the armor on her. Minami's head and chest was now exposed which wasn't good for her. Sayaka spat more flames and Minami did her best to try to avoid them. However suddenly Sayaka held out her sword and Minami ran right into it. The sword sliced Minami's arm causing major damage. Then Sayaka grabbed her by the head and slammed her into the ground. She placed her foot on her chest and raised her sword above her head. Minami thought it was the end but there was something in Sayaka that Minami noticed. Her hands were trembling and there were tears running down her eyes.
"I... I can't.." she said.
Minami realized that Sayaka didn't have the strength to kill her. She didn't know what to do because everything seemed to have stopped for a moment. Seeing Sayaka's crying face made Minami realize that she was being forced to kill one of her best friends. Something no human or puppet would want to do. Because fate is cruel though, here they were fighting to the death. In this very moment, Minami was reminded of her past. What she had done back then and what Sayaka is doing now. She understands the pain of it all.
"Minami get up and kill her!" Atsuko screamed.
Minami wouldn't move. She didn't care what Atsuko said this was something that only her and Sayaka were allowed to handle.
"Sayaka she's not your friend remember! We want to win don't we?!" Sae shouted.
"I can't!"
Sayaka dropped her sword and fell to her knees.
"I can't do it.."
Minami stood up and looked down upon Sayaka with a sad look on her face. With her sword in one hand and a fist in the other, Minami bit her lip regretting the thing she was about to do. She looked at Sayaka who kept her head down and continued to cry silently. Minami sighed and patted Sayaka's head gently. Then she raised the sword high into the air and said,
"Any last words?"
Sayaka looked up and said,
"Yeah... Win Minami. Win for not just yourself but everyone who sacrificed their lives for this. For Mariko, Miichan, Rena, Jurina, Sae and me.. Win for us Minami so we know that we didn't die for nothing."
Hearing those words left a heavy feeling in her heart and understood Sayaka's final wish. She knew that she was going to win for everyone for their honor and sacrifice. Minami nodded her head and then prepared to make the final strike. However suddenly someone pushed her out of the way and Minami fell to the ground. She looked up and she saw Atsuko with an angry look on her face. She grabbed the sword and quickly stabbed Sayaka in the neck. As her body fell to the ground Minami heard Sayaka's last words to her.
"Arigatou.."
Then her body turned into a cluster of blue rose petals. Meanwhile Sae's body turned into a cluster of red rose petals and the wind carried the petals away. As the petals faded into the distance, Atsuko looked down at Minami. She raised her hand and then slapped Minami hard in the face. With a dark glare in her eyes Atsuko said to her,
"Next time I tell you to kill someone you do it."
Then she walked out of the arena leaving Minami alone. Later on that night, she met up with Mayu and Yuki and the three of them talked. They were happy that they made it to the final round but were also kind of sad. All of their friends were now gone and it was just them. They were also concerned about Atsuko. There was something about her that was changing and it was up to Minami to figure out what it was. The three said goodnight and then went to bed. However Minami went up to Haruna's room and this time planning on finding and explanation. She charged in and she then knocked Yuko out quickly and pinned Haruna down.
"I don't care if what you did to Atsuko is making her stronger it's making her mad. She only cares about winning and killing. This isn't Atsuko. I want my Atsuko back!"
Haruna smiled and said,
"I'm afraid I can't do that. The seed has taken a liking to Atsuko and I don't think it'll be leaving anytime soon."
"Take it out or I'll take you out.."
"Do you really think you can?"
Haruna vanished and then reappeared behind her. She pulled her arm back and then pinned her against a table. She leaned in and whispered,
"The damage has already been done."
Minami struggled but Haruna pressed her down further.
"Tell me do you know what happens when the puppet wins?" she asked.
"Yes they get their humanity back." Minami said.
"And do you know where they get that humanity from?"
"...Where?"
"The master."
"You're lying!"
"I'm afraid not. You see in order to obtain humanity you cannot create it so easily. It takes time and effortless work. Instead we've developed a way to gain it much easier. That way is by taking the humanity away from the master itself."
"Then what will happen to the master?"
"With its humanity lost, the master will become a puppet and become the most power puppet earning the title as the puppet master."
Minami's body froze as if it was stone. What Haruna just said made everything in Minami's head crash and explode into pieces. If the humanity comes from the master then that means that if Minami wins then she will take Atsuko's humanity and Atsuko will become a puppet.
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Well now that Minami knows the truth, what will happen between her and Atsuko? Find out in the next update when they go into the battle before the final round. Who will in? Find out next time!