https://youtu.be/RdzowyNNe0Y

"CLASSSSHHHH!!!" Sparks rang out as Mizuki's icy blade collided with a hunting knife that Destra drew from her waist.

Destra threw the hunting knife at Mizuki's head after parrying her attack, which Mizuki knocked out of the way with a sword slash faster then the speed of sound.

"You're fast." said Destra. "nice.

Mizuki didn't say a word, instead she just continued to stare at Destra with her cold and emotionless eyes.

"Not even going to say anything eh? You're like a completely different person."

"I don't want to hurt you." said Mizuki. "Stop this now.. and we'll leave it here, I don't have any desire to play this game.."

"You don't have a choice." said Destra. "So don't think you're going to wriggle out of this battle!! Understand!!!"

Destra twirled her electrical bow. "Alexandria, Twin Bolts mode."

The bow separated into two scimitars made of electricity and she whirled the two blades around with ease, moving like a fluid dancer and smiling at Mizuki. "Well then? Tenant? Care to share a few steps with me?"

Mizuki smiled slightly. She didn't know how to explain it.. but the anticipation of the battle ahead was somehow making her feel.. excited.

Mizuki charged forward, as did Destra...

Cold icy wind collided with electric power as the ice blue blade clashed with the electric ones.. each blow and parry causing a shockwave to shake the very train, bright flashes accompanying each attack and lighting up the surrounding city at the same time.

"Not a bad fight huh?" said Destra, leaping back, as Mizuki did the same.

"Have to admit.. not relying on Mana bars for Skill Type attacks is refreshing." Mizuki muttered. She grinned and licked her lips.

"I see, you're enjoying the emotion of bloodlust.. a typical emotion of the demon class." said Destra. "In the end we're all the same.. heheheheheh.."

Mizuki slashed her sword across the metal of the roof, and immediately a barrage of icicles shot at Destra, who blasted them away with one slash from one of her blades.

"What an OP character.. capable of Long Range and Close Range combat.." said Mizuki. "Though I admit the challenge is pretty thrilling.."

"Shall we continue?" said Destra.

Destra charged again, and once more, cold and electric collided. After a few sword parries Destra dodged an attack and used her two blades to carve a circle around herself, immediately falling through a hole in the roof.

"What!? Is she insane!? Taking the fight in there!?" Mizuki growled. "Our classmates are in there!!!"

"Like I said before, Gamers do ANYTHING for more lives." said Soni. "She might even start killing off other kids to get you to come after her if she thinks that's what'll lure you in, there's no telling."

"Damn, then I have no choice." said Mizuki leaping into the hole.

There were surprised gasps from all the other students on the train backing up along the windows as Destra and Mizuki faced each other.

Mizuki looked around at all the astonished classmates that were now taking photos of her with their cell phones. "Is this a problem?"

"The Game Masters will take care of memory deletion later." said Soni. "Just calm down and assess the situation. And with any luck we might be able to fight without any casualties. Observe, find a weakness and aim for your target with the same concentration as a predator in the wild."

"That's pretty sound battle advice." Mizuki said.

"It's my job to guide you.. I'd be terrible at my job if it wasn't." said Soni. "Now observe.. you'll find that your Battle Form has far sharper senses than your default form."

Soni was right once more.. Mizuki could see every twitch of Destra's muscles as she breathed and moved, every movement was visible, and Mizuki could somehow figure out what each muscle did just by observing.

"The left leg.. do you see it? She's not as balanced in her footing as you." breathed Soni.

"Yeah.. I see it.." said Mizuki as Destra stepped forward, her swords sparking with terrible power.

"This is no longer about power, but speed and precision. Strike.. and strike quick. Keep your breathing slow and focused, and your aim will strike true." said Soni. "NOW GO!!!!!"

It was as if she had become a calm viper in the grass.. Mizuki felt nothing but utter calm and peace as she charged forward, her blade flashing in the light of the setting sun coming through the train's windows..

There was a splatter of blood upon the train's floor and a bunch of people yelled with fright.

Mizuki was behind Destra now, her sword out like a samurai having just finished a super fast slash attack..

Destra staggered to one knee panting, utter fury on her face now... blood dripping from her side.

"D-damn.." Destra stammered. "What the hell!? You're supposed to be just a rookie! How are you this good?"

"I'll tell you why." said Soni. "I wasn't sure why the Game Masters chose her at first either. Her dedication to the game is great sure.. but other than that.. she doesn't have many entertaining factors that the Game Masters might find interest in.. or any defining qualities that separated her from an ordinary high schooler.... but then... it became apparent to me as soon as she unlocked her Battle Form without my assistance."

Soni let out a toothy grin, his eyes flashing with pride. "This girl has a natural instinct for battle. She knows how to fight without even being taught!! She's never raised a fist in her life!! And here she is, using a fighting style that doesn't exist.. there's your answer.. a Natural Fighter... now if that isn't entertainment material, then I don't know what is!"

"H-hey.. Soni." said Mizuki, blushing now. "Really now.. you're embarrassing me."

"No need to be modest Mizu.. I know a natural when I see one..hahah!"

"He speaks the truth Destra." said Destra's blue dragon. "This girl's a natural combatant.. I've never seen anything like it, it's not just the game's instinctual avatar moves that gives her fighting prowess.. that strike just now, required the most precise instincts.. and I take it you knew she could succeed.."

"Hmmm.. perhaps." said Soni, grinning back at his blue counterpart.

"Perhaps you're not as useless of a guardian as I at first believed." said the blue dragon. "Be careful Destra, this fight just got a little dangerous."

"Like I said before, I don't want to kill you.. I don't even want to play this game." said Mizuki. "Leave now.. and I won't pursue you. I'll just pay my rent as usual at the end of the month."

"Pay your rent!?" Destra growled. "OH NO!! I'm going to kill you.. and kill you.. and kill you again! TIL YOU'RE TRULY DEAD!!!!!"

Destra charged past dumbfounded classmates, throwing flecks of blood behind her, as Mizuki prepared for another powerful strike.

But before she could attack, the train suddenly trembled.. and ahead of the track... the stone bridge that was going into the station was crumbling..

Who knew the reason for this. Maybe the shockwaves from the battle earlier travelled farther than Mizuki thought.. or maybe a car had rammed into the pillars supporting the bridge below.. all anybody knew was.. that everyone in the train was now officially in danger.

Mizuki's eyes widened as everyone in the train began to scream with terror.

https://youtu.be/3htnynoQrOc

Mizuki then charged forward, her heart pumping.. acting without really thinking, charging past the shocked Destra.. past her fellow classmates..

She smashed through the window of the train and she sheathed her sword to her back . The bridge was standing in water.. if the train flew down there, everyone would drown..

She took a deep breath and jumped onto the roof and blew a large icy bridge over the spot where the tracks and bridge had broken..

But it wasn't enough. The slippery ice caused the train to swerve and fly off the track..

"NOOOO!!!" Mizuki screamed as she heard people in the train begin to scream as the train started to skid right into the air.

Without thinking, she grabbed the edge of the train's ceiling, her fingers dug into the metal, wrenching it.. and with the other hand she grabbed the steel railing of the bridge.

Every inch of her muscles hurt as she screamed, half of the train already over the bridge, hanging there like a limp caterpillar.

With every fiber of her tremendous Ice Demon strength she pulled, and pulled, digging the heels of her metal studded boots into the concrete of the bridge, pulling it back up..

"M-Mizuki.." said Soni, absolutely speechless.

"NOBODY.. IS GOING TO DIE BECAUSE OF ME!!!" Mizuki roared.

As she pulled, many students in the train began to cheer her on.. and the steady beating of a News Helicopter above began to assault Mizuki's ears.. but she was only concentrated on one thing..

Saving all the innocent lives on that train..

Finally, with one last pull, Mizuki managed to pull the train back onto the track.. panting, and sweating.

But it wasn't over, there was a scream.. a girl with light pink hair done in a small pony tail was hanging over the edge of the track.. having fallen out the window when the train went over.. and her grip was slipping..

She fell towards earth, and immediately, without even thinking, Mizuki jumped off the bridge.. gathering speed by putting her hands to her sides to increase aerodynamics.

She grabbed the girl in her arms and her feet collided with the street, sending a shock through her kneecaps while also crushing the area she landed in to rubble.

The girl stopped screaming and stared into Mizuki's eyes.

"You okay?" Mizuki asked.

"I-I am now.." The girl whispered.

Mizuki instantly recognized the girl as Shizuki Mana from Class 3.

However, before Mizuki knew what was happening, reporters, paramedics and police were flooding the scene.. And reporters were jamming their mics into her face.

"Eh.. I've gotta go.." Mizuki stammered, putting Shizuki down.

"W-wait!!" She heard Shizuki exclaim before Mizuki dashed away at top speed, leaving a wall of ice behind her so nobody could follow.

__________________

Later, Mizuki leaned against an alley wall as several stray cats slinked past. "Boy, that was intense."

"Mmmhmm.. it was.. I have to say, you're different from most Gamers. I don't think any of them would've bothered to save others. They usually just worry about increasing their life counters.." said Soni.

Suddenly, without warning.. A large electric arrow whistled past her head.

"SHE'S STILL ATTACKING ME!!!?" Mizuki stammered.

"Well duh!! didn't I tell you!? Morals aren't really big on Gamers!!!" Soni stammered.

"Where is she coming fro-" Mizuki began, right before a hunting knife stabbed her right in the back.

Mizuki coughed up blood in shock, as Destra stood behind her, and continued to drive the knife in.

"You were brave.. selfless actually. I admire that.." said Destra. "I hope you can tag me back."

An inky blackness soared into Mizuki's eyes as she felt her body succumb to gravity and fall to the ground with a 'thwump'.

She was dying...

dying...

dy-

"UWAAAAAGGGGHHHH!!" Mizuki screamed, awakening back in her bed, in her room.

It was night time.. and she was dressed in her pajamas..  For a minute Mizuki stared into space... then she hastily grabbed a hand mirror on her bedside table.

She looked, and once more saw the beautiful girl within.. then she cursed.

It hadn't been a dream after all..

Mizuki then felt a burning sensation in her right hand. She looked at her palm and saw a red number 10 glowing there, which then turned into a 9."

"Nine lives left.." Mizuki muttered. "And if I don't tag Destra back, it'll keep going down every week.. crap.."

"Well.. we had a good run for a pair of rookies!"

The play station under Mizuki's TV gave a shudder before instantly turning into Soni.

"We've got around 9 weeks to tag her back, so let's not panic kay?" said Soni.

Mizuki sighed. So it looked as if that she had around 3 months to live unless she actually played the death game.. how stupid.

"You said I was a natural fighter Soni.." said Mizuki. "So how good of a chance do you think I have against my Landlord?"

"About 40 percent.. which is better than the average rookie against a veteran like her to be honest.. " said Soni cheerfully."

"Then why are you so happy?"

"Cause we don't necessarily have to fight her head on!! That's the weakness most veteran fighters have in this game.. they NEVER consider using trickery. They consider it beneath them! All we need to do is drop a piano on her or something when she isn't looking, or maybe poison her food!" said Soni.

"What happens then?"

"She dies, and is resurrected back in her bed." said Soni. "You gain two lives, she loses One, your countdown stops, and everything is back to normal. After that, we can focus on training you up.. maybe up your chances by taking on a few other rookies in the area... or you can try living a normal life again.. though we both know how that turned out today."

"I'll fight to defend myself from other Players, no other reason, I'm not going to go hunting for other people's lives. I don't want to kill." said Mizuki.

"Death is only frequent among rookies kid." said Soni. "When they keep on trying to tag back the other player by force, but keep on failing, and therefore run out of time and die. Other then that, Tag Backs are pretty manageable, and after players are no long rookies, deaths happen so infrequently. It's like only 30 percent chance of death after that."

Mizuki sighed. "I-I guess I'll just have to make it through being a rookie then.. got any assassination id-... mmm..."

"What's wrong?"

"I... have to go to the bathroom.." Mizuki whimpered.

"So, go." said Soni.

"I don't know how.."

Soni blinked, then his eyes widened. "Oh dear.. well.. erm.. I'm not familiar with the human anatomy I'm afraid..

"REALLY!? COME ON!!!" Mizuki screamed. "Damn.. My stomach hurts so bad."

There was a ring at the door bell.

"NOT NOW!!" Mizuki screamed.

"BOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!" Destra kicked the door open, her blue dragon on her shoulder.

"Yo!" said Destra as casually as one who would when talking about the weather. "Thought I'd see how you're doing after I kicked your-..er...what the-?"

Mizuki was doing a silly little dance as she desperately tried to hold it in..  she probably looked comical, but she didn't want to think about it.

"Hey." said Destra gently. "Ano... you okay?"

"No..." Mizuki groaned. "Can you kill me another time please?"

"Not here to kill you.." said Destra. "What's wrong?"

"NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT-"

"She doesn't know how females use the restroom." said Soni.

"GOD DAMN IT SONI!!"

"Well she's a girl too ain't she!?"

Destra sighed, and nodded at her dragon. "Hey Misof. Git!"

Misof gave Destra a reproving glare. "Well.. how about a please in that sentence!?"

"It's girl business, don't be a whiner."

Misof leapt off onto Mizuki's bed as gracefully as a cat and went to sit next to Soni.

The two dragons watched as Destra led Mizuki into the restroom and closed the door.

It wasn't as bad as Mizuki thought it would be. Far from the usual feisty quick tempered girl she usually was around Jake, Destra gave Mizuki calm instructions, the sound of her voice reducing the embarrassment of the situation some..

When they got out of the restroom, it was to find Soni and Misof playing thumbwar with each other.

"Thanks.. though, why help me when you can just kill me?" Mizuki asked.

"Cause, I guess I've taken a liking to ya." said Destra simply, yawning and collapsing into a nearby armchair. "Listen.. that thing you did with the train.. er.. it was.. pretty cool."

Destra blushed. "Scratch that, it was VERY cool. No gamer I know would've risked their own skin for the good of others like that. The Game Masters have a knack for picking the most selfish people they can find. I guess it just tends to be Hard Core Video Game nerds like me are very selfish when it comes to sharing and using our game loot."

"Thanks." said Mizuki. "Pretty nice coming from somebody who just gave me 3 months to live."

"Oh, don't worry about that.." said Destra. "I decided I'd teach you what I know over the next week.. then we can have a rematch. I'll give you a chance to stop the countdown and gain an extra Life to boot."

"What!? She's a rival in your territory!" said Soni, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "Why help her!? Even if you do admire her to an extent!"

"You're still young, not all the rules are made visible to you yet." said Misof to Soni. "More experienced players are allowed to become Masters and take on Apprentices. Apprentices, after they retag their masters during their first week of training under said master, have their Life Counter total merged with their Masters... in other words. If a Master has 12 lives and an Apprentice has 5.. their grand total lives would be 17."

"You could gain more lives by pooling them together through that rule." said Soni. "Huh.. I see.. but that could also be a vulnerability. If one of the players in the relationship is a horrible player, and continues to lose lives, or is on the Tagged countdown.. both players suffer from the life reduction.."

"It's a close relationship..  the feature was designed because viewers wanted more drama in the game, so the this is used to force players to form close relationships with one another." said Destra lazily, leaning back. "Huh, this is a comfy couch.. oh by the way, in case you're thinking of just refusing and trying to poison me later.. people have tried that already.. didn't work."

Soni looked rather grumpy at the sound of those words.

"Why should I trust you?" Mizuki said.

Destra held up her hand, showing her Life Counter, which was at 51. "Tempting right? To add it to your pool. And even if your countdown continues, you'll have 51 weeks instead of 9 to tag me back.. and I'll be the one teaching you how to do just that. That gives you just a week  under a year to live.. well for both of us, if our life counter is shared, then I'll die too when our supply reaches 0."

Destra smiled. "So.. shall we? Tenant?"

Mizuki considered things for a minute, then made up her mind.

"Fine." said Mizuki. "Show me the ropes Landlord."