*In an undisclosed location underground, two members of Blood Moon were standing outside of a sleek metal door. One of them was wearing a black/white mask of a monkey and the other wore a mask of a horse. As they stood there guarding the door, Gael came limping toward them with his clothes tattered, his left arm clutching his right arm tightly and he was breathing heavily. When the members of Blood Moon saw the condition of Gael they immediately rushed toward him*
(Monkey demihuman): Captain Gael! What happened? Where’s Captain Aika?
(Gael): *Breathing heavily* Damn Brister knights caught us by surprise. They showed no mercy to Aika.
*The members of Blood Moon took a step back after hearing that Aika had met his end at the hands of Brister. On the one hand they were relieved because they knew Aika was a psychopath and quite dangerous. On the other hand, he was a skilled warrior who held his own against any opponent he came across. Just what kind of knights did Brister have to dispose of such a dangerous person like Aika?*
(Gael): *Heavy breathing* Things aren’t looking good for Hargus! Where’s the rest of Red Fang?
(Horse demihuman): We lost communication with Brutus and Miho when they went out to face the knights. We don’t know where they are.
*After hearing this, Gael stops gripping his right arm, stands up straight and smiles*
(Gael): Great! That means the biggest threat is out of the way.
*Before the members of Blood Moon could question Gael on his quick recovery, they were both taken out by Sanada and Raika who snuck up behind them with ease. Raika locked in a rear-naked choke hold on the horse demihuman pulling him to the ground and wrapping her legs around his chest/stomach area so he couldn’t escape. Raika kept the hold locked in until the demihuman stopped squirming and passed out from the lack of air. Sanada used the hilt of his sword to hit the back of the monkey demihuman’s head and knocked him out. Sanada caught the demihuman in his arm as he began to fall forward and laid him on the ground softly. Both Raika and Sanada tied the arms of the demihumans behind their backs*
(Gael): You sure it’s wise to leave them alive and unconscious, bro?
(Sanada): One should not kill unless they have to or the person they are fighting is a legitimate threat to them. These two pose little threat to us and the mission. Not to mention a huge scuffle would attract more guards.
(Gael): Ahhhh~. I didn’t think of that. Smart move, bro.
(Raika): Good job finding their hideout, Gael. How’d you know it’d be here?
(Gael): I didn’t. Khaos was always a sneaky guy. He never told us about his underground facility. He would always contact us and tell us to meet him at different locations throughout the city. Only Miho knew where he was and she would never tell us.
(Raika): Then how’d you know this was here?
(Gael): I can see the magic aura of a lot of demihumans in this area. I figured something had to be going on here.
(Sanada): That ability of yours is something else.
(Gael): Is it really that great? I’ve had it my whole life, so I figured everyone had an ability like this.
(Sanada): A person’s magic aura can be sensed, but not seen. Not only can you sense magic aura, but you can actually see it. With an ability like that no one would be able to hide from you. If you really learned to control it, you could track down just about anyone.
(Gael): Woah. I had no idea I carried such a powerful ability.
(Raika): Just be sure not to use those powers for evil. I don’t want to catch you using them to peek on me or other girls.
*Raika’s statement made Gael face’s blush red*
(Gael): I. . .I would never do something so immodest, sis. I mean, you’re pretty but-
*Raika begins to chuckle at Gael’s flustering*
(Sanada): Stop teasing him, Raika. Let us continue on with the mission.
(Gael): Right, bro. I’ll lead the way.
*Gael quickly composes himself and leads the way into the facility*
***
*Sanada, Raika and Gael made their way through the facility all while searching for Viktor Khaos. With Gael’s ability they were able to sense when enemies were nearby and respond accordingly to them. Most of the enemies were swiftly taken out by them. As they continued through the facility, the alarm started going off*
(Computer voice): Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Unauthorized personnel have entered the facility. All guards be on alert for unauthorized personnel.
(Raika): Don’t tell me they found us. We were being so careful.
(Gael): Crap! There’s a lot of troops heading this way.
(Sanada): Which way?
(Gael): Everyway.
*Sanada spots a nearby room that was empty*
(Sanada): Quickly, into that room.
*Sanada, Raika and Gael quickly dive into the empty room and shut the door. They all ducked to the floor to avoid being seen. Outside the room, members of Blood Moon were running through the corridor*
(Blood Moon member #1): They’re not this way.
(Blood Moon member #2): Keep looking. As soon as you find them alert everyone.
*The Blood Moon members run in the opposite direction of each other*
(Raika): I don’t hear anymore voices outside. I think the coast is clear.
(Gael): Wait! I’m sensing two auras. Strong ones. They’re heading down this way.
*Sanada and Raika nod at each other and prepare to attack. Sanada pulls out his sword and Raika takes out her handgun. The two get into position in front of the door crouching down so as not to be seen. They motion for Gael to come over and open the door. Crouching down, Gael makes it to the door quietly and puts his hand on the handle*
(Sanada): On the count of three.
*Raika and Gael nod*
(Sanada): One.
(Raika): Two.
(Gael): Three!
*Gael quickly opens the door. Sanada and Raika quickly dash out to attack the guards of Blood Moon. Just before Sanada could slash his opponent and Raika could fire off her gun, they both stopped themselves when they saw that the people they were about to attack were Morgan and Jade. Sanada’s sword was inches away from Jade’s face while her blade was inches away from his face. Raika’s gun was also a few inches away from Morgan’s face and Morgan’s icicle spear was inches away from Raika’s face. Just like Sanada and Raika, Jade and Morgan managed to stop their attacks in the time to see who they were facing*
(Raika): Morgan?
(Morgan): Sanada?
(Sanada): Jade?
(Jade): Raika?
*All four of them quickly lowered their weapons or attacks from each other and take a sigh of relief*
(Jade): What gives? We thought you were the enemy.
(Raika): Same here.
(Morgan): I see you guys managed to find the facility.
(Sanada): We had a little help from a new ally.
*Gael slowly walked out of the room with his hands up and putting on a friendly smile*
(Gael): Hi, I’m the new ally. Name’s Gael. I’m sure bro’s told you all about me.
(Raika): We were doing a good job traversing this facility quietly until the alarm went off. I assume you guys had something to do with that?
*Jade puts her hands behind her head, turns her head sideways and begins to whistle avoiding eye contact with the others*
(Morgan): This idiot wolf here decided to rush in instead of taking the time to check for traps. Because of this, we tripped the alarm. Luckily, we managed to hide in a broom closet as the guards were passing by. When the coast was clear we walked down this corridor and sensed the presence of someone watching us. I wasn’t expecting to see you guys.
(Sanada): Neither were we.
*Jade stopped whistling and turned her attention to Gael where she walked up to him*
(Jade): So, this is the demihuman you’ve been interested in, Sanada?
*Jade bends over to sniff Gael making him stiff up a little*
(Jade): I like him. He’s got a wild smell to him. I’m Jade, feel free to call me sis.
(Gael): Uh, sorry, but, I’ve already got a sis.
*Gael points to Raika as Jade stops bending over*
(Jade): Aww, she beat me to the punch.
*As the group was conversing, a member of Blood Moon was running past the corridor when she spotted them*
(Blood Moon member #3): DAH!
*The Blood Moon member quickly activates her earpiece*
(Blood Moon member #3): I found them! They’re down in corridor E!
(Gael): I’m sensing a lot of auras making their way over here. Except a few others staying stationary.
(Sanada): Which way?
(Gael): Down to the right at the end of the corridor.
(Morgan): That must be where Dr. Khaos is.
(Jade): Alright. Ladies go left. Men go right.
(Raika): Gael we’re counting on you to lead them down the right path. Sanada, I’m counting on you to keep the dog safe.
(Sanada): Roger.
(Raika): Let’s go!
*Raika and Jade quickly sprint forward and attack the Blood Moon member by slamming her into the wall with their shoulders. When they got done slamming her, more members of Blood Moon appeared and a brawl breaks out between Jade, Raika, and Blood Moon. Jade charged at the enemy delivering punches and kicks while Raika hung back and shot the members of Blood Moon with her handgun doing her best to avoid hitting Jade and not interfering with her fighting. At the other end of the corridor Sanada, Morgan and Gael run towards the members of Blood Moon who were firing guns and elemental magic spheres at them. Gael and Sanada deflected the attacks with their bo staff of light and sword respectively while Morgan was behind them for cover. Gael and Sanada attacked the member of Blood Moon with their weapons to either knock them out or knock them over as they turned right down the new corridor. At the left end of the new corridor, members of Blood Moon appeared and began firing at them, but Morgan protected them with an ice wall he created with his magic to protect their backs. The members of Blood Moon chased after them while Raika and Jade continued to fight against other members of Blood Moon on their end. Jade continued to take out members of Blood Moon with hand-to-hand combat and once a few members of Blood Moon managed to reach Raika, she switched over to hand-to-hand combat as well. While Raika wasn’t as strong as Jade, her strikes were quicker, more precise and brutal. She grabbed one member of Blood Moon by the head and slammed their head into the wall before kneeing them in the back of the head for good measure to knock them out. One Blood Moon member tried to clobber Raika over the head with an electric nightstick but she caught the arm, headbutted the member of Blood Moon forcing them to drop the nightstick. Raika caught it and used it against the Blood Moon member by bashing them upside the head eleven times before they fell to the ground. Raika dropped the nightstick and took a second to catch her breath as another member of Blood Moon who was a chameleon demihuman used their powers to blend into the white wall and sneak up behind her. The Blood Moon member slowly pulled away from the wall and took out a knife prepared to stab Raika in the spine, but Raika sensing their presence spun around, took out her handgun as she spun and shot the chameleon demihuman in the face with a lightning bullet to send them flying backwards to the ground. Back with Jade, she had finished beating up the last member of Blood Moon present by hitting them with a spinning jump kick*
(Jade): Alright. I think we’re all good here. Let’s catch up with the others.
*Before Jade and Raika could go after the others, a door opens on the left side of the corridor they’re on and a very tall muscular bull demihuman wearing the mask of a bull walks through the door staring them down and breathing heavily*
(Jade): That is one big bull.
*Raika pushes Jade out of the way and fires her handgun at the demihuman’s face. The lightning bullet hits the demihuman’s mask and he removes the mask to reveal his fiery red eyes and long curly brown hair*
(Raika): Oh~ that worked out better in my head.
*Letting out a primal scream, the bull demihuman charges at Raika and Jade where he spears both of them through two walls before stopping in a room that’s set up like a lounge with two pool tables in the center of the room, a bunch of chairs and table and a bar in one of the corners. The bull demihuman tosses both Raika and Jade where Jade lands by one of the tables and Raika lands on the pool table. Both ladies lay in their respective positions writhing in pain as the bull demihuman walks over to Raika*
(Bull demihuman): You ladies made a mistake coming here.
*The bull demihuman grabs Raika by her collar and pulls her up to his face*
(Bull demihuman): Time to make you wish you were never born.
*Raika regains her senses and clocks the bull demihuman upside the head with a pool ball she managed to grab before being pulled up. The hit dazed him enough for him to let go of Raika, who lands on her feet and takes out her energy saber where she takes a slash at the demihuman’s stomach only for her attack to bounce off leaving no damage. The demihuman retaliates with a punch but Raika jumps backwards to escape the attack*
(Raika): Let me guess, you’re an earth user aren’t you?
(Bull demihuman): Good guess little lady. I can turn my body as hard as stone.
(Raika): Really? I guess I’ll swing harder and see how durable you are.
*Raika charges at the demihuman ducking underneath to get behind him and striking his back with the saber. Still no damage was done and the demihuman quickly turned around to face Raika where he was hit on the side of the head with a high jump kick from Jade which staggered the demihuman and gave Raika enough time to pull out a mini lightning bomb from her waist and attach it to the stomach of the demihuman where it detonates and he clutches his stomach in pain as Raika jumps backwards to get some distance and Jade flips through the air after landing her kick to land next to Raika*
(Jade): So, any idea how to beat this guy?
(Raika): Working on it.
*The demihuman stops clutching his stomach as Raika and Jade see traces of flesh before stone-looking flesh covers it up*
(Raika): Now I get it, his whole body is made of stone. His real body is hiding underneath the stone body. All we gotta do is just keep slashing and bashing away at his stone body, pull him out, and then beat him.
(Jade): I like this plan. Especially the slashing and bashing part.
*Raika smiles at Jade before charging at the demihuman with Jade following behind her and taking out her blade. Raika slides between the legs of the demihuman to get behind him and once again slashes the back of the demihuman where this time a piece of the stone crumbles away exposing the flesh of the demihuman before it slowly starts to repair. Jade manages to bash the chest of the demihuman with her blade crumbling some of the stone there and exposing the demihuman’s flesh before it starts to repair itself only at a slower pace than the damage on his back. Jade then bashes the leg of the demihuman with her blade creating cracks in the stone which repair faster than the damage done to his stomach and back*
(Jade): Keep striking hard and fast. He can’t repair multiple areas in a timely manner.
*The demihuhman showed a panicked look on his face at hearing what Jade said. Not only was Jade right, but he was shocked at how she quickly figured out his weakness. Most people would buckle under the pressure and fear of his size, power, and invincibility but these two women showed no fear when facing him and easily figured out how to beat him. He calmed down and quickly went on the attack now knowing that time was of the essence. He realized that the longer this fight went on the more danger he was in of losing. The demihuman quickly grabbed one of the pool tables and swung it wildly while spinning hoping to hit Jade and Raika but they both managed to the dodge the attack by ducking underneath and jumping in the air. Jade jumped in the air while Raika ducked. As Jade was coming down she bashed the head of the demihuman with her fist shattering a small part of the stone skull and exposing half the face of the demihuman. This caused him to drop the pool table and try to concentrate to repair the damage done to his stone skull. Raika took advantage of this and slashed away at the ankles of the demihuman where she exposed the flesh of his ankles and slashed them before rolling out of the way. This resulted in him screaming out in pain and falling to his knees where Jade delivered a powerful thrust kick to the chest of the demihuman to send him falling backwards to the ground and cracking the stone chest as she jumped into the air. Raika tossed up her saber to Jade who grabbed it with her right hand and landed on the demihuman’s stone chest with a weapon in each hand. With a sadistic smile on her face, Jade began slashing wildly and rapidly at the stomach and chest area of the demihuman until she finally shattered the stone exterior and exposed the real body of the demihuman. Despite the body of the demihuman being slightly smaller, he was still muscular and quite larger than the average demihuman both ladies were used to seeing. Jade thrusted her blade into the mouth of the demihuman and then thrusted Raika’s saber into his stomach making him let out a muffled scream of pain as tears poured from his eyes. The demihuman fought through the pain and kicked Jade off of him. He then spat Jade’s blade out of his mouth and then pulled Raika’s saber out of his stomach where he tossed the blade and coughed up some blood. Breathing heavily, he concentrated on his stomach and filled up the spot where Raika’s saber was thrusted at with stone to stop the bleeding. Taking a deep breath to compose himself, he gets struck in the back by Raika with a pool cue breaking across it. The attack stung him a little bit, but he retaliates by grabbing Raika on her collar and tossing her over the pool table towards a table of wine glass bottles. Jade punches him across the face and goes for a second punch only for him to catch it with his right arm which he turned into stone. He punches her back, spins her around and runs forward with her towards the bar counter where he planned to toss her over the counter, but just as they approach the counter, she jumps onto it and flips backwards onto the ground to escape the demihuman’s grasp. Angered by this, he slowly walks toward Jade only to get surprised by a wine glass bottle being broken over his head by Raika. Against all odds he manages to shake it off and turns his attention to Raika not happy about what she did*
(Raika): Come on! Go down already.
*With his attention on Raika he failed to see Jade come up from behind with another wine glass bottle she got from a nearby table. She cracked the bottle over the head of the demihuman followed by Raika who delivers another bottle over his head followed by Jade who cracks another one and finally Raika who cracks a fifth bottle over his head. The shots managed to daze the demihuman and cracked his head open a little as blood began to slowly pour down. Staggering on his feet, Raika delivers a running high knee to the jaw of the demihuman followed by Jade who delivers a discus lariat to finally lay out the demihuman on the ground completely unconscious. Sweaty, exhausted and breathing heavily, Jade sits down on one of the bar stools as Raika goes behind the counter and pulls out two glasses and a bottle of wine to pour a drink*
(Raika): So, how’s your day been?
(Jade): Been a little wild. Been getting myself into a lot of fun brawls today. You?
(Raika): Oh just another day at the office. Took out some crazy psychopath, became the sis of this cute dog demihuman, and just took out a bull demihuman with one of the baddest bitches I know.
(Jade): Nice! I did the same thing with one of the coolest bitches I know.
*Raika and Jade let out a good laugh and smile at each other. Raika gets done filling the glasses with wine which was a medium brown color. She hands one to Jade and takes the other for herself*
(Raika): Cheers, buddy.
(Jade): Cheers, baby.
*They toast with each other and drink down their glasses of wine. When they finish they let out a sigh of relief and satisfaction*
(Jade): Alright, let’s go.
(Raika): Right behind you.
*Raika and Jade retrieve their weapons, leave the lounge area and head down the corridor to try and catch up to Sanada, Morgan and Gael*
***
*While the women were busy fighting, the guys have managed to fight through the members of the Blood Moon and were closing in on their target*
(Morgan): How much further are we from the target?
(Gael): Not too far, his magic aura is getting stronger. Which means he’s close. There! Through that door. I’m sensing a lot of auras.
(Sanada): This must be it. Everyone ready?
*Gael and Morgan nod at Sanada who presses a button to make the door open. All three enter the room expecting an attack only to be met with darkness and no attackers*
(Gael): That’s odd. I keep sensing auras, but I don’t see anyone?
(Sanada): And I sense no hostilities in the air whatsoever.
(Morgan): Stay on guard. There’s a good chance we could still be attacked.
*All three men slowly made their way through the room staying on the lookout for any hostiles. When they finally enter an open space, the lights come on and they find themselves surrounded by pods which are housing mechanical skeletons. In the place where their hearts should be is a magic stone with each one a different color*
(Morgan): Well that explains why you were sensing all the auras.
(Gael): Are they active?
(Morgan): No. It looks like they haven’t been activated yet. We’re safe, for now.
(Sanada): I suggest we move quickly before they decide to wake up.
*All of a sudden, Gael gets hit with a ping in his head which makes him visibly shake. Sanada notices this*
(Sanada): Is everything alright, Gael?
(Gael): Bro, I just felt a strange aura. The likes of which I’ve never felt before. It’s as if the aura was in pain and desperately crying out for help.
(Morgan): A person’s aura can cry out for help? Fascinating.
*Morgan takes out a notepad and begins to write this down while Sanada checks on Gael with a concerned look in his eyes*
(Gael): It’s close. It’s coming from that big pod over there.
*Gael points toward a big pod in front of them. The men walk up to the pod to get a good look inside where what they see leaves them speechless. Morgan drops his notepad shocked at what he sees*
(Morgan): By the gods.
(Sanada): This is sickening.
(Gael): What. . .what the hell is this!?
*Inside the pod is the mutilated body of what appears to be a girl monkey demihuman with blue hair, pink eyes and half of her body burnt to a crisp. On the pod was a name that read: Cindy Khaos*
Author’s Notes: And that’s the end of chapter 22. This was another fun chapter I had a lot of fun writing. Particularly, the fight scene involving Jade and Raika. I always wanted to do a fight scene involving these two together and that bit at the end of the fight just shows how good friends they are with each other outside of work. However, the chapter ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. Who exactly is Cindy Khaos and what’s her connection to all of this? You’ll have to find out next week. There’s only two chapters left before the volume ends and I’m going to make them count. Thanks for reading as always and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.