(Believe it or not, I've been wanting to release this for a while now. Thank you all who've been supporting me so far.)

Michiru

W-What...

What is...

What is this thing?

I don't know what a Demon is supposed to appear or feel like beyond the Fallen Angel, I haven't been around them long enough.

I was able to at least stand my ground against him...

But this...

My fur stands on end just by looking at it!

Don't even get me started on how he talked...

The head looks made of burlap, but it's like a rabid jack-o-lantern with the orange glowing eyes and mouth. He emits some form of dark maroon-peach gas from his mouth, as if it were his breath, and even emerges from his eyes slightly. The rest of his form are raggedy brown garbs over his chest, ladled with several black feathers like from ravens, and stitched brown pants, both are several sizes too small. A hangman's noose looms on his neck. On his right hand, he possesses some form of sickle, like a reaper in the wheat fields.

It called itself...

THE SCARECROW

Hate to show any form of support for it, but the name is almost too fitting.

Cato, being held up by Scarecrow's left hand against the ground right now, attempts to bravely kick at him with his armored boot.

CLANG!!

Scarecrow used the metal sickle to block his attack.

"Adorable."

He bashes our friend in the head with the hilt of the weapon, drawing blood from the wound, and slams him in the ground.

"GAH!" He exclaims as the wind is almost knocked out of him, Scarecrow kicks him, flinging him further away and making him spin like a ragdoll. "GUH!!"

"CATO!" Me and Nazuna exclaim.

We both try to run towards him, but Scarecrow is already there, pummeling him into the ground. Cato has his arms up, trying in vain to defend himself against the merciless barrage this malicious being is delivering.

The way he's trying to bash our friend's head in, it's so brutal...like someone who's trying to deal as much damage as possible yet is just doing it so barbarically.

We try to stop this, but in a sudden wave of particles reminiscent of his maroon-orange gas and visible heat rays...

VMMMM!!!

"Not so fast, children..."

A-Another one?!

A COPY??!!

"No more big brothers to protect you now."

How is it even doing this?!

This thing isn't even a Demon!

Scarecrow 2 summons another sickle from some kind of void while the Scarecrow 3 wields a similar one with chains, spinning it to where it hits the ground, causing sparks to come off. Scarecrow 1 keeps pummeling our friend, much to our dismay.

Oh...sh-

Before I can finish mentally cursing to myself, Scarecrow 2 lunges towards me, I hold up and bulk up my gorilla arms to compensate for the impact. It forces me back like it's nothing, and I just about witness Scarecrow 3 backhanding a blocking Nazuna away.

It thrusts its sickle towards me as we move, but taking what Shirou taught me, which is when someone stabs at you, go for their arm to stop them. I do just that after shrinking down my arms, bulking up my legs to create weight displacement and allow me to stop while flinging Scarecrow 2 back towards a wall.

I try to run back to Cato, but a sudden breeze past my shoulder and witnessing one of Scarecrow 2's sickles slice off the side of my hair freezes me in place. I turn back to it, but...

"Focus on me, animal."

I'm instantly met with a body slam to the face, throwing me back...

SNATCH!!

Out of nowhere it grabs my arm, and seizes my other in the same grip, jerking both towards it, nearly pulling them out of their sockets, and it uses me as a makeshift ragdoll and slam me into the ground like a raging green man slamming a trickster.

"OOF!" I exclaim as I hit the ground repeatedly, the pain of each impact blocking out the previous one.

It holds my restrained arm, hard enough to where it nearly cuts off the blood flow, like he's found his prize, and stares at me...

Dead in the face.

"Now then...beast...let's see what's under the seams...shall we...?"

What...does it mean by that...?

How I find out, and what it does next...

Will forever change my life...

SHUNK!!

A sudden, overwhelming pain makes itself known.

"GAAH!! AAAH!" I scream...harder than ever in my entire life.

This being drove its blade straight into my abdomen

"F***ING...!"

I don't normally curse...that's how bad it hurts right now.

Falling from the top of Sylvasta? Shirou's bite? The Fallen Angel's sword?

Nothing...and I mean nothing...compares to the pain in my left side.

Whereas the Fallen Angel's sword was like acid, this feels like that piranha fluid you'd see online that would dissolve all organic matter.

Except it's like 10 times worse, and the pain seems to even permeate through my body...

And into my soul...

This thing... just...keeps...

PUSHING THE DAMN BLADE FURTHER IN!!!!

Worst part is...

"ARGH!" I scream as he PULLS IT OUT. "SCREW YOU!!"

"Says the one already getting screwed over."

"GUH...!" I try to struggle, but it only winds up making my blood hemorrhage.

"Oh, it's only going to get...way...WAY...worse..."

I snap my head up to his nightmarish face in pain.

"W-What...?" I utter.

The unchanging smile somehow gets figuratively bigger.

Wait...

What's happening...?

WHAT'S GOING ON?!

It's like...if something's grabbing me, something inside of me...

It's seizing it, and...

IT'S BEING TORN OUT, BLOCKED OFF, DESPITE ALL MY EFFORTS.

Suddenly...I begin to feel weaker...

MUCH...weaker...

My body suddenly gets draftier, namely the areas with my fur...

Wait...not fur anymore...

I look upwards to see my arms...

SKIN

I make the mistake of looking down.

SKIN

I look ahead...in realization...

I'M HUMAN AGAIN?!

NO!

NOT NOW!

I shouldn't be like this in a situation like this!

I don't have access to my abilities!

I try with all my might to shift back...

N...nothing...

I try...and try...and try...

Desperately...

Nothing again!

Come on! Please!!

Still...

Nothing...

No...

NO...

NO!!!!

Why can't I turn back?!

Wait...no...

MY...MY POWER!

THE BEAST FACTOR!

IT'S...

GONE!!

THERE'S NOTHING!!

I CAN'T FEEL IT AT ALL!!

Suddenly...I'm met face-to-face...

With the one who...took...

My power...

"Ah...there you are...the truth...is excised..."

He glides his sickle across my cheek, drawing blood from the sheer sharpness of his tool.

"Tell me, little girl...what scares you right now?"

"What's it to you?" I hiss against his echoing voice, and trying to hold against the pain in my face, despite me being in literally my weakest form...

He pauses for a while, and seemingly sizes up my whole form, even going so far as sniffing my head as he once did our friend.

"Ah, the conscience of someone who wants to make amends. A past, left forgotten, and still open like a flesh wound."

He rubs the flat end of his sickle on my injury, causing more pain from it...

Wait...

What is he referring to?

"A past, involving a someone...you know."

He creeps in closer to my face, forcing eye contact with me despite my efforts to turn away.

One more nose-less sniff, draining the heat from my face, and a phrase that will haunt my nightmares.

"A MOTHER."

He...knows...?

How does he know?

HOW CAN HE KNOW?!

HOW DOES HE KNOW ABOUT MOM??!!

"H-How...?"

"It's practically radiating off you like an acid perfume. You are afraid, that you'll lose her before you give her peace of mind. Same for that daddy of yours, never even knew what happened. Must be awful..."

I...have no words...

Can he read emotions or something like that?

"Y-You don't know anything about me..." I try to stand my ground.

"Little late for that statement, aren't we?"

"HERE'S ONE FOR BEING LATE!!" Nazuna cries out, she's bulked up her arms and tried bravely charged into Scarecrow 2.

Unfortunately, my pink fox friend is slammed by Scarecrow 3 into the nearby building and breaks the bricks while he's at it.

"OOF!!!" She screams as she disappears into the ash with the third Scarecrow forcing her into the ground while still moving. "AAAH!"

Dammit, I might actually be screwed!!

"Now, you were saying, shapeshifter?"

SHUNK!!

Another stab on the other side of my body...

"GAHHNN!!" I scream. "DAMN YOU!!"

"Already looking forward to it..."

Desperate, I kick Scarecrow in the face, despite my intense doubts it will do anything.

He continues to smile as he drops me...but it seems more as an attempt to instill false hope within me...

I shamble away, knowing full well I won't be able to get away. I grip my sides, feeling the warmness of the red blood. I don't know if they pierced an artery or not, because if it did, I'll bleed out soon, much more so because it's on the left side. Blood pumps OUT from your heart on that side, so it's more dangerous. I paid attention in anatomy class; you'd know this if you did.

I'm losing strength...

Losing blood...

AND I CAN'T TURN BACK INTO A BEASTMAN!!!

My friends are occupied right now...

Dammit!

I can't die...not now...!

I...

I...don't want to die...

Desperate...I feel around my pockets to see what I have...

The metal piece...

AND THE HEALING MARBLE!!!

THANK YOU, CATO!!!

With more haste than I've ever had in my life, I shove the little white ball into my mouth...chewing it and swallowing faster than any food before.

The wave of relief instantly brings back...at least...my hope for survival.

The flesh, muscles, organs, skin, all soon become regrafted as if they were being sewn back together.

"Intriguing..."

Ignoring his commentary...

Let's see if it worked...

I try again to transform...

No...nothing...

Still...nothing...

Did...

Did I turn back into a full human again...?

"What. Did. You. DO TO ME?!" I interrogate it, not having been angry like this in a long time.

"Wanted to see the truth. Not so mighty without your grand power, little girl...?"

This...thing...doesn't know what that form meant to me...

IT DOES NOT KNOW, WHAT I'VE GONE THROUGH, TO SAVE THAT FORM, AND EVERYONE AROUND ME THROUGH IT!!

I just want to pummel this thing so hard, but...

I'm so used to having my Gorilla Arms or my wings...

I only feel...

Helpless

I know this is my original form...but...

After what I've done and been through in my other form...

I've never felt so naked...exposed...even...

All I can do...in my state of fear...is pull out my bladed peace offering from my friend, hold it up like a knife...

Hoping...I won't just live...but...

Survive...

Cato

"You dare come into this world...attempt to strike me down...and try to KILL MY FRIENDS??!!"

"What'd you expect when you saw an ominous void appear out of thin air?"

"Irrelevant. YOU'RE GOING TO GODDAMN SUFFER!!"

"You'll have to hurt me first."

"Noted..." I growl.

I managed to recover from the initial beating, and after an exchange of blows, we found ourselves in a grapple.

Far as I've seen? No one gets away with hurting my friends.

Despite this...

Scarecrow's got this power to back up its claims on me having to hurt it.

Desperate times come for desperate measures...

Though I'm trying excessively to hold my opponent back, it's only vain as I am hardly making any progress.

This thing really is living up to its, his, name, I can't even tell...

I'm trying desperately to drown out this...toxic fear aura with anger and adrenaline...

It's working for now...but...

I need help.

More so than ever...

I fire off my senses into the Omniverse, making contact with someone who could literally save us today.

"Kai!"

"What's going on?"

"Please tell me you have that weapon ready!"

"I finished testing it, it's battle ready."

"Convenient, because I just so happen to be in one!"

"I got you! Okay, I'm getting it prepped to be sent to you."

"Send it to the exact coordinates I'm sending you!"

"Got it!"

"Only do so after I shout your name!"

"What? Why?"

"JUST DO IT!!"

I pull myself out of my focus to meet the jack-o-lantern eyes of Scarecrow once more.

Still locked in a grapple, I take the liberty of igniting my power and getting the edge to fly him up into the air.

Not sure why I didn't whip this technique out earlier...but I was surprised...and scared.

"Nice view, lots of little subjects..."

"Keep dreaming, mad scientist." I hiss at him as I tornado-spin him and fling him back towards the ground.

It's a small distance away from where the girls are, so I have to finish this soon.

If they get mortally wounded, they can always heal themselves.

But still, they can only do so once, all the more reason for me to hurry.

Oh crap, I think there might be civilians here!

Scarecrow crashes into the ground and uses its sickles to stop, and sure enough, there were some Beastmen civilians frozen in fear behind the structures who are now running in terror.

"Tasty, Tasty, Beautiful Fear..."

As this Freddy Kreuger/Pennywise wannabe loons over this whole dimension of his character, especially towards the innocents, I take haste in meteor-crashing my knee into its neck, forcing it into the concrete. I follow up by grabbing his head and smashing it into the ground once more.

"That the best you got?"

"Haven't even gotten started." I retort.

"I don't know, what do you think, BOY?"

Wait, who is it referring to as bo..?

I turn to where it creepily cracked its neck towards.

No....

No-no-no-no...

Those little ears, those terror-struck eyes...that blue shirt...

Youta

Why is he here?!

He must've been hanging around this area at the time...

This was a damn mistake bringing Scarecrow here...!

The kid is afraid to move, like being in the sights of a T-Rex, if he does so...

I'm getting vibes of the intro of Finding Nemo here, except Scarecrow's the barracuda...

I snap my head back to the monster I'm holding at bay.

We have a brief, aggressive exchange with our glances and minimal actions that speak volumes.

Don't you dare...not him...

'I will'

Don't you goddamn dare, if you do, then I'll-!!!

I'm suddenly having to put my arm up in defense as I sense one of his sickles coming straight at me from the air.

It deflects off my armor.

Must've summoned one of its weapons and threw it upwards before hitting the ground...

It takes this opportunity to force me off and CHARGE TOWARDS YOUTA!!!

The little dog boy fumbles over his own feet as the monster attempts to SEIZE HIM.

"YOU MOTHER-"

I nearly go into a frenzy as I launch myself faster towards Scarecrow than anyone I've ever done before, grabbing him at just the last moment, flinging him towards the wall, slamming him into it, and pinning him there.

"Adorable..."

"YOUTA!!! RUN!!!" I scream with more emotion I've had in my voice so far here towards the boy than I've ever had, who reminds me far too much of my little brother.

The currently dot-eyed puppy-kid right now scrambles to his feet and sprints down the dark alleyway, Scarecrow just now managing to break my grip and slip free, attempting to chase the boy down.

I catch up to Scarecrow just a few feet away from Youta, doing the same thing that I did a moment ago, but it counters and throws me into the other wall, causing a crater to form in it. It charges at me, I grab it again and it returns the grip, and we end up engaging in an overtly violent, Symbiote-like carnage exchange as we throw each other to the other sides of the walls. Some cave in and we break through, only to fly right back at each other and pound the other before being slammed into the brick. Because I fly occasionally and Scarecrow jumps exceedingly frequently, it almost looks like we're dueling in zero-gravity.

Every single bit of this, all while Youta is running away, teary-eyed, and terrified from our brawl.

I manage to pin Scarecrow down in a full-nelson as Youta successfully escapes from the alley, running away to either the orphanage or the authorities to be protected.

Speaking of, where the heck is Shirou?!

I had a feeling about that crow...

He's more than likely on his way...

But seriously!

Let's just take this away from the civilians for now.

Still locked in the full-nelson, I ignite my power further to skyrocket out of the alley and return to the area where I know there's no innocents to be hurt.

I try to meteor-slam Scarecrow into the ground again, but it seems to learn from its mistakes, as it elbows me in the face and pulls the reverse-card on me and slams ME into the ground.

When the dust clears, I'm seized by my neck with those ice-cold hands again.

This feels familiar, even though it's only been like 15 minutes.

It tilts its head in a mocking manner, still speaking without the mouth moving at all.

"I learn from my mistakes, kiddo. Do you?"

"Yeah, but you know there's more to the job than just learning from mistakes?" I ask, returning the mocking tone.

Holds me up to its face, brandishing yet another one of the sickles to my cheek.

"What?"

"It's learning to not repeat them." I say, soon increasing my volume. "KAI!!"

From the sky, a brief flash of light appears, and within my senses a new power/presence can be picked up, falling like a star towards the earth at Mach-like speeds. An object, but it's radiating familiarity. Scarecrow barely has enough time to dodge it and back off as it embeds itself in the ground, almost into its back.

I pick myself up and view the spectacle in front of me.

Kai...

What in the hell did you just send me?

I walk up to, what I presume to be...

A Sword, embedded in the concrete stone.

A Greatsword, at that.

Wait...it looks like the Fusion Sword...

Why'd he choose this design?

We've used aspects of other universes in our own arsenals, it's not new, but why this one?

Then again, it IS him we're talking about.

He even redesigned the outdated LeMat revolver into one that is effectively revolutionary, of which is now his primary weapon.

I think he even did the same with the more antique Bergmann pistol...but I'm not sure.

But those stories are ones for another time...

I place my hand upon the long hilt of the weapon, covered in a red grip material, finding that it's exceedingly soft, comforting in the hands.

Holding both hands on the weapon, and gripping as hard as I can, like Arthur pulling out the Sword in the Stone, I free it from its inadvertent prison.

SHHINGG!!!

Dear heavens...

It's miraculously light, still has some weight to it, due to its size, but still.

On the giant handguard before the rest of the weapon, engraved, is a singular word.

SKYFALL

My mind instantly goes back...

Kai...

Why did you name it...this...?

You know that's what I've been calling myself as a codename...

But...is this meant to signify...a change...of some sort...?

I'll have to ask him on the symbolism later.

Side note: This IS what we used to call ourselves, as a team.

I mean, I think our old associate Coen Krauss ran his own official team at one point.

Spectre, I believe was the name.

But both of those are also a discussion for another time.

My assessment on it looking like a Fusion Sword was not just pure conjecture, as it seems to be an identical match to the actual thing.

For now, Dad...

Let's see if all that Greatsword sword training you put me through was worth it.

I give it a quick swing, only further cementing the pure lightness of it.

I'm already liking it!

The monster in front of me, witnesses my new monster-killing weapon.

"Unexpected, but not unwelcome..."

"Kind of like you, but you're both unexpected, AND unwelcome." I say, he chuckles.

"Weren't you told to respect your guests?"

"Technically, I'M the guest here, and you're the troublemaker at this home party." I say, flicking off the dust of my sword and pointing the mechanical masterpiece at him.

"Always am."

We can't keep fighting like this, the girls are still going, and they can't do so much longer.

Michiru's at a disadvantage...

She's human right now...?

Did Scarecrow somehow NULLIFY her powers?!

I have to end this, now.

"Coup de grace?" I ask.

"Might as well."

I brandish my new weapon, holding it in front of me like I was taught, keeping my balance and footwork in check. Scarecrow just holds out a sickle menacingly.

"RAAH!!" I shout as we charge towards each other, me taking in every detail about Scarecrow and what he's going to do.

Speaking of doing things, I've always wanted to do THIS.

We almost meet, and it swipes a chained sickle towards me, of which I duck dodge and spin towards it. Using the centrifugal force of my body, I take a powerful swing towards my adversary.

After some resistance against my blade, the next thing I realize, I'm behind him, holding my weapon in a swung position, and I hear fluctuations of some sort.

I turn around to see Scarecrow's form with a giant yellow-glowing slice wound in the left torso.

He doesn't seem overtly shocked, surprisingly. He just still speaks nonchalantly despite having this massive wound, looking over the right shoulder.

"One down, two to go."

The Scarecrow I've been facing for the past while now, suddenly disappears in a cloud of the same maroon-orange smoke.

Wait, so was this the real Scarecrow? Or one of the little clones he was occupying the girls with?

Or is it a thing where you have to eliminate all the clones, and then whichever one remains, that's the true one?

I don't know, I'll have to see.

Actually taking the advice of a fear-addicted madman, I take haste in activating my power to speed over to where the disadvantaged Michiru is.

First I get her, then Nazuna.

By the time I get to the former, she's dodging like a madman against her own Scarecrow.

When she does, however, she parries a sickle strike with the piece I gave her.

Resourceful...

Knowing the way Scarecrow fights, he likely caused her to heal already...

Though I'd hate to know what exactly he did to her...

For the time being, all I can do is help remediate the situation.

As she manages to bravely drive her 'knife' into her Scarecrow's head, and pull it out soon afterwards...

"MICHIRU!! DUCK!!" I shout out to her.

She turns to see me wielding my giant sword, shocked to where she almost doesn't dodge under me driving my weapon downwards into the head of her adversary.

She lands on her rear and bears witness to me saving her, wide-eyed at how quickly the tides turned.

"Two down, one to go"

This Scarecrow disappears in the same way the other one did.

My currently human friend takes a moment to breathe, as she realizes I managed to save her from this threat, for now.

"Cato...you're okay." She says in between breaths.

"Why are you human right now?" I ask. "Isn't your Beast form the one with the powers?"

She suddenly gets teary-eyed, nearly defeated, even.

"I DON'T...! I don't know...I just...can't access it right now...I try...but...it's just gone..." She almost has an outburst, on the verge of sobbing.

I want to console her...but we don't have time...as hard as that is...

"Michiru, I know your power is gone right now...but I need help saving Nazuna. If Scarecrow can do this to you, it's only a matter of time until he does the same to her...you can do this." I do my best to encourage her.

She musters up the ability to dry her tears, and nods...

"I don't know what I'll be able to do, but I'll at least try to help..." She utters.

"That's the spirit. Michiru." I say.

I take the lead, and her hand, as I use my power to track both the unusual signature of Scarecrow, and the familiar signature of our fox-girl friend.

If I was taken me down THAT easily when we first started...

She won't survive on her own.

In the meantime, while I lead Michiru to save Nazuna, I fail to notice her staring at me...

Slightly smiling. Blushing, even...

Nazuna, meanwhile

COME ON B*STARD!!

YOU WANT A FIGHT!!

I'LL GIVE YOU A FIGHT!!

For Michiru!

For Shirou!

For Youta!

For Cato!

For...

Me...

First, after that second Scarecrow engaged Michiru, the third one with the chained sickle attacked me.

He tried to come down at me with it, but I sidestepped it, he did the same thing after a while and soon retracted it. I dodged him a few times before I tried charging towards Michiru to help her, but I got interrupted.

Why did she turn back into a human?

She hardly ever does that nowadays, much less in a combat situation!

Now, I keep on defending as Scarecrow smashes me through the brick walls, trying to maintain my gorilla arms so I can keep holding him at bay. I use one to hold him and his free arms away and the other one to consecutively punch him in the core despite him forcing me back.

The concerning part is he makes little to no signs he's being actually harmed, so I don't know if I'm actually doing anything, but I keep going regardless.

"Such determination...where does this come from?"

I was able to pick up on the last 2 lines of dialogue from him and Michiru before I got taken out from left field, so I don't know what they were talking about.

Michiru looked afraid, which means either he threatened her with something...

Or he knew something.

Damn Freddy Krueger-like voice...

What's scarier than one Scarecrow? Three of them.

And I'm being pummeled by the third, right now.

Suddenly, even though I keep on blocking/striking him, he pulls out another sickle from his back, and throws it up a staircase that I stopped him by.

I only realize too late as we were grappling, that it's attached to a chain in his hands, and he grips onto it as the chain reaches the limit, at the ceiling.

As he does, however, I hear him sniffing, for some reason.

CLINK!!

He pulls, violently.

"GUUH!!! OOF!" I exclaim as he held onto me, and full-body slammed me INTO THE CEILING.

So, basically, he grappled his way up to the top of at least 3 stories, and kamikazed himself into me, and then let me fall all the way back down again...

How have Michiru and I not died yet?!

I'm dazed, my head hurts from the impact, and my equilibrium is off. My arms are already shrunk back to normal because I can only swing with them, not walk. They throw me off if I don't brace for the force of whatever I use them for, like punching.

I painfully get up from my stupor, and witness Scarecrow holding himself up mid-air with his chains like a Halloween decoration. He lets himself down and flicks his metal links, making whatever the sickle was grappling onto fly off and back into his monstrous hand as he lands atop me like a predator flexing on his prey.

"Guilt."

"What?" I ask, confused at his sudden question, but still maintaining my cool.

Suddenly, the area gets disturbingly darker, as if a void spontaneously came up to swallow the surroundings to only show us.

Is he doing this?!

Unfortunately, more of those 'Scarecrows' appear, emerging from that weird maroon-orange gas that Scarecrow himself is now saturating the place with.

The copies look identical, but they'd look more reminiscent of ghosts, or like actual afterimages. Like, if you saw them initially, you'd think they're there, but they're actually translucent.

One comes up to me, permeating more gas into my face.

It smells fermented burnt popcorn...I nearly gag at it searing the inside of my nose.

"You carry much of it. It burns off you like acid. Why? Pretty girl such as yourself is bound to be popular. You failed people before?"

"Back off, creep." I hiss, but another jerks my head aside, whispering to me while caressing my cheek.

"You hurt people...and you fear your inability to redeem yourself to them, especially your friend..."

"Huh?!"

"You've been an instrument to malice, blind to your own ambitions, ignorant to the world around you. You even fear repeating it..."

How does he-?!

One creepily crawls up my legs.

"Yet, you have a little hint of parental instinct drive within you. Contrary to your friend, who has a mother, you seem to be driven by more than just redemption. You wanting to protect a few somebodies besides her? Little dog boy was so close to meeting his little end..."

IS HE REFERRING TO THE CHILDREN??!!

WAS HE TRYING TO KILL YOUTA??!!

"No wonder you'd run so foolishly into danger, you can't bear watching others suffer..."

"You want suffering? Here's some..." I retort, preparing myself for another offensive.

"Bit late on that for your friend back there..."

I use my stretching arms for the first time in a long time, shooting them behind me and pulling myself away from under Scarecrow, and away from his darkened illusions, during which he seemingly allows the light to return to the area.

He merely smiles.

"That's new."

"You haven't seen the half of it..."

I stop sliding, and I grab a couple pieces of rubble and sprint at him, throwing them at him as I close the gap. The effect of them are minimal to his form, but they seem to distract him long enough to where even though he throws a punch, I reverse-somersault to dodge it. This gives me enough time to where I can get my leg bulked and land a good counter on him, causing a small pulse of force that flings him back up the staircase, he hits the ceiling, causing the structure to splinter once more. He falls down and I gracefully leap into the air, bulking up my leg once more and knocking him out of the dimly lit building and into the streets.

Cato told me about that little maneuver this morning, helluva time to use it.

Also, wasn't Scarecrow referring to Michiru a moment ago?

What'd he do...?

I was so busy fighting my own copy I could only hear the sounds of walls crumbling and my own grunts.

I begin to emerge coughing from the dust of the structure to reengage him, but suddenly...

WHEE-SHINK!!!

"GAAAH!!! DAMMIT!!" A sudden, excruciating stabbing pain in both my shoulders makes itself very known.

"Get over here."

Before I even have time to uncharacteristically curse, I'm being wrenched towards where my adversary is, pulled so hard that I even get some airtime before my neck is snatched by Scarecrow's ice-cold hands. He squeezes hard on my windpipe, only soon being inhibited by my vain efforts.

He threw two of his sickles towards me with deadly accuracy...

Has anything we've done so far done anything to him?

That nightmarish face is still giving me that s**t-eating grin, so I doubt it.

This pain is far too much like the Fallen Angel's sword, or what I felt in my dream, except it's far worse.

It burns like hell...

"Now...show yourself..."

What's he mean by...

"GUH!" A sudden sensation, not unlike a part of you is...

Being removed...erupts from my entire body.

The pain...it's unbearable!!!

WHAT'S EVEN GOING ON!!!

W...why is everything getting drafty right now...?

When the searing pain is finally gone...and all that remains is the continuing pain in my shoulders...

"Hello there..."

I open my eyes...

To see something...

That horrifies me to the nth degree.

I'm...

I'M HUMAN!

WHY NOW?!

I try to transform back into a Beastman...

I can't...

It's like it was there, I had it...

And now...

IT'S GONE!

"W-what...?"

"Just like your friend. Oh, how the mighty doth fallen..."

This is even worse...

Did...DID HE DO THIS TO MICHIRU TOO?!

WHAT EVEN IS THIS GUY?!

When I try to look around for help...

I notice something...

Normally, when I transform back into a human, contrary to Michiru, I don't have my normal hair.

Her hair has always been brown as a human, even after she got Beastman powers, but when I got them, my hair changed pink and white...

But...

As I notice the hair on my sides...

A color I never expected to see again, much less in a situation like this...

IT'S MY ORIGINAL ORANGE HAIR!!!

Why...why is it back...?

No...did...

DID HE ERASE, OR SOMEHOW INHIBIT, THE BEAST FACTOR WITHIN ME!!!

NO!

"How...how did you...?" I utter, my whole world turned inside out, upside down, you name it.

"Once one has been stripped of their power, stripped of their layers, you truly see who they are...at the core."

It moves its face closer to mine.

"All but...a little...girl..."

"I'm...18..." I utter, not knowing why I impulsively said that.

"Still a teenager...little girl..."

Talk about insult to injury...

I...I haven't felt this...helpless in so long.

Like wild game, finding itself in the jaws of the hunter...

As my hope begins to dwindle....

The piece that's surprisingly stayed in my pocket all this time, creates a sensation that...

A certain someone is nearby.

If he's here...then she must be too.

This may be conjecture...

But faith does, indeed go a long way, even a little bit.

"A young, dumb, inexperienced, little girl. Deadly mistake taking on a stronger foe alone."

"(gags) Well, mostly...NHH...right..." I barely manage to utter in both my suffocation and pain.

"How's that?"

"It was a mistake fighting you by myself, I am young, dumb, inexperienced, and I've made more mistakes than anyone should in life...but I wasn't taking you on to beat you..."

He tilts his head, still smiling, as if he were anticipating an answer.

"I was just keeping you busy." I admit with a cheeky smile even through my pain.

"HAAA!!" A very distinct someone cries out.

Scarecrow looks to his left, and is soon met with Cato's energized foot to his face. As he gets forced back, I witness the bloodied form of the human Michiru pry the freezing hands off my neck before pulling me aside, the sickles still in my shoulders.

Our opponent is still, apparently, not done yet.

He pulls the dirty move of yanking on the chains....

"GHAA!!" I scream as he literally RIPS the sickles out of my weak human shoulders...

Sending me into shock as I witness my blood, gushing out once again from both ends of my body, my eyes going catatonic.

"NAZUNA!!"

I pass out from the pain, my human form wasn't supposed to take this much damage.

Cato

I barely managed to see what he did to her...

Oh, that-

D*CK MOVE!!!

"GRAAA!!" I shout as I begin kick Scarecrow away and unleash a horde of slices against him with my sword, most of which he blocks using the same sickles he harmed Nazuna with.

I grab him by his arm, and in my anger, Olympic-throw him away. He lands a small ways down the street.

"Cato!" Michiru calls out.

I turn to her, she's putting pressure on both of Nazuna's shoulders.

"SHE'S BLEEDING! I NEED HELP!" She exclaims, teary-eyed.

Oh no...

I sprint towards her, slightly enhanced by my power to save time.

"She's bound to still have her Seed! Look for it!" I exclaim, Michiru gets right to it.

But asking...

"WHAT SEED?!"

"THE WHITE HEALING BIT!!!"

Before I can get to helping, however, I just about hear Scarecrow charging back to us, smiling menacingly all the while.

"Oh, crap!!" I exclaim.

I have to hold him off!

I stab my sword into the ground, and fling it up, flying up concrete chunks in an attempt to stop him in his tracks. Some he dodges, others he just knocks away, and the rest pierce his skeleton-like body, but it doesn't seem to harm him.

I plant my feet on the ground and hold my sword in a defensive position.

BRING IT ON!!!

I just need to get lucky like the first time to get the final hit in...

Suddenly, before anything else happens, Scarecrow is placed in full nelson by a pair of very distinct clawed hands, stopping him dead in his tracks.

Michiru and I just about notice who it is.

"SHIROU!!!"

"You dare hurt my friends??!!" Our wolfman ally accuses Scarecrow, pulling him away from us. "Cato! Check on Nazuna!!"

Taking this opportunity to get back to Nazuna, Michiru's already found her friend's Seed in her pocket.

I let my inward power flow from the palm of my hands into our now orange-haired friend, soon, the bleeding all but stops, at least sufficiently. It just needed to be where Nazuna's eyes could soon flutter open slowly, but surely.

She needs to be awake in order to take the Seed.

Me and Michiru breathe the biggest sighs of relief we've given in our lives.

She's saved...for now...

"M-Michiru?" Nazuna asks.

"Oh, Nazuna!" She exclaims, embracing her friend.

"Ow...ow..." She recoils from the pain of being touched on her wounds.

"Oh, sorry."

"No, it's alright. Consider it us being even for me doing it to you after Shirou bit you." Nazuna comments, Michiru smiles.

"I guess we are." She laments with a smile, they both share the expression. She holds out the Seed. "Here, should've given this to you a second ago."

"Thanks." She says as she takes it.

Her skin, organs, wounds, all close and regraft together...

Seconds later, she's no longer in pain, and she is now rising up once more. Her strength, vitality, and seeming sense of health all return at once. Minus her bloody hoodie, she's back to her former self.

"Girls, I hate to break up this tender moment, but we're not out of the woods yet." I point out.

The girls snap their heads back towards where Shirou and Scarecrow are, the former two pulling out their bladed pieces as knives.

Scarecrow has already broken free of the Shirou's grapple and have currently engaged in similar vicious combat to how I was in earlier.

That was the closest thing I ever got to an actual frenzy...

"You actually dare to hurt them?!" Shirou exclaims as he throws Scarecrow to the building on the other side of the street. "Who do you think you are?!!"

"Pain is the root of fear. Pain is required to create fear. You of all people should know that, for I..."

He launches himself from his crater in the building, and Shirou does the same, they meet halfway in the air.

Shirou swipes at him with his claws, but Scarecrow dodges all the strikes, he seizes the wolfman in the air, and puts him up to his face, permeating that gas at him.

"AM BOTH"

Shirou is left with those two words as he is full force kicked to the ground, leaving an indentation of his form in the concrete.

Our friend is still on the ground as Scarecrow throws a sickle to Shirou, impaling him and using him as an anchor to pull himself towards him. He knees him in the chest, stunning him, and seemingly summons a giant SCYTHE from his back area as compared to his other sickles.

He holds it up to Shirou's face.

"And now, Immortal One...you will know death."

"Don't need to. Because I already do." He retorts. "MINK!!!"

Out of nowhere, and like Shirou, a surprising face, and holder of the title, makes herself known.

"GLAD SOMEONE GOT IT RIGHT!!" She exclaims as she lands on top of Scarecrow's shoulder, grabbing him by his eyes and pulling it in a manner that makes him stumble back.

"MARIE??!!" Me, Michiru, and Nazuna all exclaim at the certain someone who shows up, currently in her Mink Beastman form.

She came...

She whips out my piece...

She kept it...

I guess my judgement was correct after all.

Though out of all places, should've expected it here.

Faith really did go a long way...

Avoiding his monstrous hands, she brings the blade to Scarecrow's throat.

"HAAA!!!"

SLLIIIICE!!!

She cuts the burlap-like skin all around both the front, sides, and back, creating a little ring of orange that reveals the glowing orange insides of our assailant.

Despite this, he violently seizes her, and she just manages to kick him towards Shirou as Scarecrow slices his scythe at Marie, seemingly just about grazing her face. Shirou slugs him twice in the face. He throws him towards our other 2 friends.

Michiru and Nazuna, now sufficiently ready from both their wounds, reach their bladed pieces up and drive them straight into Scarecrow's form as he descends towards me, ripping open 2 massive gash wounds in his chest area.

That was the send-off as he flies towards me and I hold out my sword.

SHING!!!

I enhance my strength with my power as he gets skewered, and hold him up with one arm.

As he hangs there, impaled on my blade, and his weight on such, it feels like we can take a breath for once.

As penance for what he's done to us, I slam him in a rage on the ground, making him slide off my blade as he does.

The impact caused more dust to appear from the area, and I witness the girls walking closer to the site and observe it alongside us. When the dust lifts, Shirou's clawmarks, my footprint on his face, the girls' knife wounds, and Marie's throat slit are all present on him.

Plus, the giant gaping hole in his chest from my Greatsword, as the cherry on top.

Suffice to say that I think we finally did a number on him.

"First serve, first defeat. Strange feeling, indeed. But at what cost for your Pyrrhic Victory?"

"You're beaten. You're helpless now."

"Like how you feel about protecting your family?"

How the f-

How does he know about my family...?

"It's over. Scarecrow." I stare him down, trying not to be distracted by this obviously HORRIFYING statement coming from him.

The deafening silence that follows is only broken by the most unsettling thing we've heard in our lives.

He looks up into the sky.

"For now."

He chuckles soon afterwards, soon holding two of his fingers to his head.

Wait...is he...?!

VVV-WHOOOM!!!

He disappears, leaving behind a miniature cloud of that same maroon-brown color.

This guy can damn Warp...?

Left alone in the deafening silence once again, and now being devoid of our assailant...

We're all just here, contemplating...

WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED??!!

Nazuna

"Is...is it over...? Are we safe now?" I ask, my legs almost entirely numb from anticipation.

More so because I'm still in my human form...

"It...looks like that..." Cato says, he digs into his pockets. "Everyone...okay?"

"Not really..." We admit.

He begins handing out the healing marbles to us as we begin moving to the curb to rest.

We've already eaten ours, and we haven't been hurt since we've been healed, so he's just resupplying us for now.

"Who was that, Cato?" Michiru asks as she takes the white eye-looking marble, sitting down soon afterwards. I join her as she puts her bladed piece back in her pocket.

"Something new, I've never encountered anything like it...him...before." He says as he eats one. His wounds, gashes, and bruises all disappear. "I can't even decide on if it's it, or a he..."

"What do you mean, 'you've never encountered it before'?" I interrogate him as I put my Seed in my pocket.

Though my own Seed from earlier has already sweetened the wounds, and healed them, I'm still shaken at what happened.

Imagine what would happen if we didn't have these things.

Now I know FOR SURE what Michiru went through after Shirou bit her...

I've never been a fan of Halloween...

But now, this October I think my Vietnam-flashbacks are going to kick in.

Especially since the scars are already evident...

Shirou prepares to consume his own Seed, but it's already replaced by a new one, save for Marie. Shirou breaks the silence as he remains standing.

Side note: I think I just about noticed Cato slipping a Seed to Marie.

"So this is what you look like, huh? Finally decided to show yourself?" She smiles, eyeing him up, and properly seeing his face for the first time.

"I guess you could say I found a place I can be comfortable around...despite this place already being hit by things I should know, but don't, surprisingly." Cato smiles, then looks down.

"You're supposedly the expert in the Omniverse." The wolfman comments, popping a Seed in his mouth and his bruises and cuts disappear. "Ugh..."

Cato struggles to compose himself...

"Well, first things first, thank you guys, SO. DAMN. MUCH. I don't think we would've survived without your help." Cato thanks them. "But seriously, why so late?"

"Kuro came to me. He saw what was happening and he came to warn me." Shirou explains.

"Were you on the other side of the city?" Cato asks.

"Well, yeah. I was patrolling earlier today, but I had some work to take care of. I was skeptical because of the gunfire, but Kuro confirmed it." He says.

"What about you, Marie?" Cato asks.

"I was merely conducting business when I saw the people running away. For some reason your little peace offering was telling me to go there, so I did." Marie adds. "Never would've expected you and him to look so much alike..."

"It wasn't exactly 'telling' you to go there. If I give those things to certain people, I can choose whether it'd be like a guide to bring them to where I am." Cato says. "Also, yeah, it's just a coincidence we at least slightly resemble each other."

"The similarities are uncanny...but your whole 'tracking' on the piece feels more like plot armor than anything." Marie comments.

We snap our heads towards her.

"What?" She asks, holding her hands up. "Just saying."

"Okay...but again, I still can't thank you enough for coming to help. Pretty sure Nazuna wouldn't've survived if you haven't bought us the time to heal her."

"Yeah, thank you." The pink fox girl nods her head, eternally grateful for what the wolfman and the mink girl have done.

"Welcome." Marie says nonchalantly.

"Anytime." Shirou adds.

"Also, wanted to comment on-" Marie starts...but...

Suddenly...they hunch over...in pain...

Wait...

"No..." I utter.

"No...no...no..." Michiru absentmindedly adds.

"GUH! What's happening?!" Shirou exclaims, going wide eyed.

"GAH! WHY DOES EVERYTHING HURT SO DAMN MUCH?!" Marie screams, writhing in agony.

THEM TOO?!

THEY GOT HIT?!

This continues on for a few moments, much to our horror...

Soon...

Shirou...

And Marie...

Both shaking in pain...

Their fur...their snouts...

All shrink...and disappear, into skin...noses, and hair...

When they come to...they look up, narrow-eyed in shock, Marie almost gagging...

Both shaken...at what happened...

And both...now human.

"What..." The pale Shirou starts.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Marie exclaims, looking to her dark-skinned hand. "Why...am I human again...I didn't even try to transform back!"

She seemingly tries to turn back, even going so far as grunting... several times...

"I can't...I CAN'T!!" Marie freaks out.

"What do you mean, 'you can't'?" Shirou frustratingly asks her.

"I...I can't turn back into a mink!" She exclaims, soon pointing to him. "You try!"

He soon does so...but soon realizes, to his horror...

Especially since he's had the power the longest...

His...too...

Is gone...

"No..." He shakes his head. "Impossible...I thought only Alan's Anti-Beastman serum could eliminate the Beast Factor..."

"Well, surprise, surprise JAGOFF! WHATEVER THAT THING WAS, IT TOOK...BLOCKED, OUR POWER!" Marie bluntly and angrily summarizes.

As she does, I can't help but notice Cato walking over to where we defeated Scarecrow. He makes his giant sword disappear into his 'Pocket Dimension', as he says, and picks up the scythe and the 2 chained sickles Scarecrow seemingly left behind when he disappeared.

"Cato..." Michiru starts.

"I don't know what happened..." He replies, somberly.

"Why did Scarecrow appear? He didn't seem affiliated with the Demons in any capacity..." I ask him.

"Dude, you better have a good explanation. If I'm stuck in my human form, you don't even know what kind of trouble that's spelling for me right now." Marie interrogates him, her anger beginning to rise.

"All I know is that, whatever Scarecrow was..." He says, looking at the remaining weapons in his hands, beginning to think over his words. "I can't help but shake the feeling that he wasn't supposed to..."

"To..." I try to help him continue.

"To what? Spit it out!" Marie interjects.

"Exist."

Cato, 2 hours later, City Hall

"What do you mean, not supposed to exist?" Mayor Rose asks in confusion.

"Didn't 'feel' like anything we've faced. He/It, was different." Shirou explains.

The damage been done at our little public battlefield is already being worked on. The civilians were evacuated, good on Michiru and Nazuna's part for doing so earlier. The news, as usual, managed to find a good vantage point and record the whole, drawn-out fight.

Scarecrow's already trending, and the public is uneased.

Especially with the fact that rumors are already spreading on the fact that he can nullify Beastman powers...

Since we didn't technically need to go to the hospital, thanks to the Seeds, we wanted to inform Mayor Rose of the situation after ensuring everyone was alright.

Except us, obviously.

When was the last time you had a nightmarish being pop out of the darkness and affirm your childhood fears?

Today.

Today was the day.

"First Boris, then that Fallen Angel, now this...Scarecrow..." Rose utters, her face buried in her hands.

"I actually had a skirmish with a low-level Scout just moments before Scarecrow attacked." I add, Rose looking closer at me, seeing my face officially for the first time.

"You took off that mask, huh?" Rose asks.

"Yeah, better that I did, at least." I say.

"Scarecrow... knew things about us." Michiru says, bringing us back on topic. 'How could he have known about Mom?'

"Things that only we would know about each other." Nazuna adds.

"Specifically, he taunted us about the things that we fear..." I elaborate.

"What's scarier is if that's the case, how could he have known I'm immortal? He called me 'Immortal One'." Shirou adds.

"And nobody's commenting on the fact that he took away our Beast forms..." Marie comments again, passive aggressively this time, not just aggressively.

I know...she's making a good point...

Twice as of right now...

"Beyond Alan...that's...just unheard of..." Rose utters, elaborating on what Marie said.

I hate having to add all this onto Mayor Rose. She's dealing with both the city and these new threats that are popping out of the woodworks. Being a politician and a humanitarian? It's like trying to live 2 lives at the same time.

"You said you had superiors, didn't you?" Rose asks, rubbing her hands across her head.

"Yeah, why?" I ask.

"We'll be dealing with the damage and crisis management down here. You should try asking them as to who, or what, this Scarecrow was. If you're not experienced in that field, consult those who do." She advises me. "Bring me up to speed when you can."

"That'd be smart. I'll also discuss any other threats or hazards that might need be touched on." I say. "I'll also be asking about potential cures to whatever's inhibiting your Beast powers right now."

"Thank you, though it's time we also address the slight elephant in the room." Rose says. "When ARE you going to start training? If Scarecrow returns I'd hate to see a repeat of today. If this power you say we can have access to is so great, then we must find a way to supplant our abilities should they become neutralized as soon as possible."

"We were going to begin training soon as we were done here, actually." I say.

My friends and allies turn to me.

"This soon?" Michiru asks, dumbfounded.

"But we almost died!" Nazuna exclaims.

I return the glance, minus the expression.

"The same happened when we fought the Fallen. The Seeds have already healed us. I've procrastinated this for far too long. I know I was scouting out who we had to work with, and I'm fully aware that we couldn't've seen Scarecrow coming. However, I have had more than enough time. We begin, ASAP."

The group, minus Marie, who didn't suffer any major injuries, all glance at their clothes, still bloodied from the fight.

I sigh as I do the same, my white armor and face are stained red slightly from my face wound, and my limbs are still in pain from having to deflect those overtly powerful blows...

Dammit, I have to realize that my friends are still basically neighborhood defenders...

This is far beyond anything they've known. I know they signed up for this, but it still feels like I owe them the means to actually do this.

I've Awoken them, though it only ever provided slight defense in our most recent fight...

If I didn't...

I don't want to think about what could've happened.

They haven't even been properly Inducted yet, so.

And now suddenly the power they relied on so much has been taken away!

I can only imagine what's going through their minds right now...

"Okay, everyone go home. Change, clean, ready yourselves." I say, walking over to the window and pointing to Anima City Co-op, where Michiru, Shirou, and I live. "Meet me there in about 3 hours, I'll lead you to our training grounds soon as we all do."

They all nod in agreement, we thank Mayor Rose as everyone begins to leave.

"Marie." I call out.

The Mink Beastman in her dark-skinned human form, turns to face me.

"Yes?" She asks.

"Wanted to talk to you." I say as I approach her.

"Come to thank me again, mighty Skyfall?" She asks, adjusting her glasses.

"My...real name is Cato." I tell her.

"Trusting me enough without a codename huh? Did I truly earn that respect from you?" She raises her eyebrow.

"With Shirou, I'd expect something like him being able to drop in at any time to help Anima City." I say. "I mean, better late than never, but still."

"Came as a surprise from lil' ol' me?" She cheekily flutters her eyes, hand still on her glasses.

She's doing it to cope with the fact she lost her abilities...clear as day...

"The fact that you did, kind of, and that it literally saved us." I admit. "But it's also that you kept my gift."

Marie's smile instantly falters as she pulls out the little weapon she used to hand us the win against Scarecrow.

"Yunno, some gangster guy came up to me earlier. Promised me 100 million yen for this thing." She says somberly, observing the piece of me, rubbing her finger across the ribbed texture. "Turned down the offer that could've set me up for life."

Pretty sure that's almost three-quarters of a million in US dollars.

Even then, that could set someone up for early retirement...

Kai taught me the math.

401k's are the standard, this is almost double that.

"I'm a bit of a greedy girl. That, I will admit. If only you didn't splinter my perspective on reality not just a day prior, I would've already had the money and left this city for Bali, Tokyo, Osaka, or wherever." She says. "But I didn't, and I, for once, threw it all away. Literally, after today..."

She looks to me with her emerald-green eyes.

"Because you, somehow, made me believe in you." She says. "I'm not blaming you for what I did, or honestly, what happened. What I did, I did on my own terms. But whatever you have in life for me and whatever you see in me that makes you choose me to have a better fate...better be worth it."

She only leaves me with a few seconds before I answer.

"The fact that not only did you show up to help save us, but because you kept the gift..."

I walk past her to prepare for the training.

"Was why I chose you." I whisper, I speak up once more as I exit the room, the steps of my boots echoing throughout the room. "We'll begin today. You know the where and when."

I leave her with those words as I depart the building, effectively leaving everyone to their own terms for the time being.

I ignite my power and I carry myself into the air, catching concerned glances from the occasional citizen due to the blood on my armor.

It does not take long for me to make it back to my home on top of Anima City Co-op, and I take exhausted haste in entering and shutting the door. I walk up to my bedroom area that holds my bathroom, and I lock the door, sealing myself off from the outside world for the time being. I gradually pull off all my dirtied armor and place it down. The door is open, and I glance out towards my sword, which I replaced with Scarecrow's weapons in my Pocket Dimension and leaned it up against it.

I'm pretty sure things would've gone drastically differently if a few someone's didn't intervene today.

I close the door and edge my way into to the shower.

I turn on the water, not caring whether it's hot or cold.

It's cold.

Left here, slightly freezing, and holding my hands up against the tiled shower, letting the water wash off the remaining blood and impurities on my body.

The water makes little ringing sounds when they bounce off...

The metal around my body

In the same shapes as the peace offerings, like a plate armor around my torso.

The one thing I can't take off...

Grafted to me, so to say, not born with it.

I sigh...

I've said it before, and I'll say it again...

What in the hell...did we face today?

Scarecrow, a being that I believe wasn't meant to exist.

He was powerful. Far more powerful than I ever could've anticipated. Brutal, unrelenting, even more so than last time. Whereas he would more or less kill you with class and look a bad MOFO while you're at it...

Scarecrow just pummels you with everything he's got and more, and taunting you with knowledge that terrifies you all the while.

THAT...is something I have to point out.

The things he knew about me, and the girls, even Shirou...

I'm guessing he didn't say anything about Marie because he was a little preoccupied with his throat getting slit, but I still feel like he would've said something similar if he had the chance.

Not like he needed his throat for anything, he didn't need his lips.

Out of everything that could've popped out of that little fissure, of which I noticed disappeared soon as Scarecrow came out of it, I never would've expected him.

Much less my friends...

Losing their power

I was more anticipating us being able to begin training soon as we were done at the orphanage, but unfortunately, this wrench in the gears had to show up.

So much happened I forgot the Scout was the one who knocked me closer to that 'void'...more than likely either triggering it, or giving Scarecrow that moment to catch me off guard.

I know it's not my fault, but I still feel a shred of guilt for what happened today...

Much less to my new friends...

I shut off the water and step out, taking a moment to look at myself in the mirror...

Without my armor.

I'm obviously heavily trained and experienced, despite my chronological age, so I'm at peak physical condition, and I'd look basically like someone who's just been discharged from the military.

Kind of like a Captain America physique.

Only difference being the metal around my body.

Which I haven't used in...

So long...

I turn my back to the reflective surface, sitting on the sink to look to where the skin meets the silver. Looking closer, you can notice that the flesh being fused with the metal, not like being welded together; Like, somehow the materials are conjoined together, enough so to where you can notice the differences between the two materials.

To this day, it's still such an incredible phenomenon that I have these things...

I have Rict..no...Rick...to thank for them.

Quick recap:

I'm ordered to capture Seraph (The Fallen Angel's true name, not sure why I've been calling him that...) in an attempt to find the whereabouts of Rick, next thing I know Seraph's trying to invade a universe, of which he TRICKS me into. I gain the aid from the natives and take him down after handling one of their terrorists. I get to know my furry friends, I somehow unlock a new power by punching the soul out of a whale guy, hang out with my new friends and connect with the young, and we get our asses handed to us by a (for lack of better words) literal Scarecrow. We then defeat him using a Fusion Sword, now I have to help clean up the mess after he takes away their powers.

And the girls say THEY have crazy lives, I was born into this.

Only difference now, is the fact that the blessing they've been bestowed with...

Is gone.

And now...

I have to help them supplant that power, until we find a cure for their affliction.

I take a towel from the rack and dry off my whole form after emerging from the bathroom.

I summon a set of replacement clothes from my Pocket Dimension, I have nothing more to hold beyond just a few sets of replacement clothes and backup armor. I haven't really used it for weapons beyond just my original double bladed one.

I walk over to my greatsword and look at the plaque engraved on the handguard again.

Skyfall

I suddenly have an urge to keep this.

Side note: When I was talking with Kai earlier today, he said he made contact with Coen Krauss...

I put on a set of grey-silver clothes and pull them down to accommodate my metal core. Customized track suit. Flexible, perfect for training.

Though I am currently ready, I still have about 2 hours and 30 minutes until we begin.

I sit down on my bed, cross kneed, and holding my sword horizontally on my lap.

I close my eyes, shutting out all other senses in the world and depriving myself of such.

I fire off my presence into the beyond and connect with my desired targets like I'm dialing a number on a smartphone.

In the blackness, the voices emerge, voices that I am all too desperate to hear right now.

"Son?"

"What is it, buddy?"

"Mother. Father. We need to talk."

As I prepare to continue, I remember One. Crucial. Detail....

SCARECROW IS STILL OUT THERE

WITH HIS ANTI-BEASTMAN POWER

Chapter End

(So yeah, I literally have not seen any fanfiction involving our Beastmen losing their power. How will they react? We'll see...)