Date A Live! Practice Chapter 8:
"… ikey?… Mi…? … Mikey, you up?" A voice echoed in Michaels ears, which made him lift his head off his desk… wait, he fell asleep? Damn. Yesterday was hectic, but he didn't think he'd be THIS exhausted.
That contest with Nia, then the fight with her Inverse soon after was pretty tough, especially with her 'Future Entry' ability. She definitely lived up to her rep as the 2nd Spirit. Inverse Tohka from what he saw, did struggle with unexpected arrival of Yoshino, Kaguya and Yuzuru; but did manage to eventually overpower them all with brute force. When Origami was Inverse, it was EXTREMELY difficult to get close to her, but their sheer numbers did give Mike the opening he needed.
But in Nia's case… they couldn't even move. At least not until Michael accidentally figured it out her weakness upon his healing flame not activating for some reason, then when he instinctively used Yamai's Twins wind powers to repel an incoming attack, he then remembered Nia's explanation of her Angel. More specifically about how while it can influence future events, it cannot predict them.
Back to who awoke him from his nap, it was his friend Hiroto, who had a hand on Michaels shoulder to try and gently wake him. This proved effective. Michael did have to shake his head to shake the drowsiness out of him once he was awoken. "Oh… morning, Hiroto." He greeted. As it turned out, Hiroto wasn't the only one to came over to Mike's desk; Ai, Mai and Mii had also showed up.
"You okay, Michael?" Asked Origami.
"Nah… I'm okay, just a little tired." Michael assured nothing was wrong.
"Michael… you burnt and overcooked breakfast this morning." Tohka said, as that was unlike Michael.
"That didn't stop you from eating it." Kurumi commented, which was not a lie.
"I'm fine. Really." Michael assured again, though he had to hold back a yawn. "Just been… one of those mornings, that's all."
The 4 other humans of the group were shown to be looking at him with concern. "… Spirit Crap?" Hiroto asked.
"… Spirit Crap." Michael confirmed after a moment of silence.
"So what happened yesterday?" Asked Ai.
"There was a Space Quake Alert. Was it a new Spirit?" Asked Mai.
"That's so lame." Said Mii.
"It's… complicated…" Was Michael's answer. If he thought his life was flipped upside down like a pancake on a pan, then yesterday he was just yeeted out of the kitchen. Nia had all but confirmed Spirits were human at some point, also confirming Ratatoskr's theory when he was brought up to them behind Kotori's back and learned about the human biology Spirits had.
That excluding the fact he's… done it… with a few of them already.
Before the humans could ask Michael to (or if he could) explain further, the warning bell rang which meant their teacher would appear shortly. Sure enough right as all the students got to their students, Tamae walked in.
"Good morning, everyone," she greeted her class kindly. "Hope you all had a wonderful break, this new semester will be a fresh start. Plus my Birthday is in a few months, so you better start thinking of gifts."
It only took that paragraph of dialogue for the class to know she was in one of her moods… again. "Either PMS-ing or Husband Desperation." Michael muttered. To think he flirted with this woman once before, but luckily she had either forgotten or chose to put it behind her.
"Oh, don't worry. I refuse to turn 30. So I'll be trans-aging like Americans' do. This way I'll still get a husband before I officially allow myself to turn 30." Tamae continued her rant.
"Um… Tamae-sensei?" Asked Ai, concern in her voice. "You okay?"
"Did Michael finally corrupt you too?" Asked a male student, one of the many who were jealous of all the female attention he would always receive.
Now Michael has openly made fun of his own countries… quirks… when asked about them. That's how most of his classmates eventually warmed up to him, though still retained their jealousy due to the amount of girls always around him. Like on his first day here, he was bombarded with questions concerning his origins, as well as his appearance didn't fit the American stereotype the Japanese students held about that place, or how he wasn't complaining every 5 seconds on Twitter dot com.
It was Ai and Mai that asked those questions ironically enough, then when Mike gave his answer back then, Mii's response was her normal one.
"Oh, nothing. I had a wonderful break myself." Tamae said. "All my friends set dates to finally get married to their new husbands. Hee hee hee." She added, but in a darker voice. The students could even swear they saw a dark aura around her. "I'm so happy for them… yet here I am… single and alone…" she added again, retaining her dark tone.
"I think she absorbed your powers." Michael whispered to Kurumi with a cupped hand over his mouth.
Kurumi slightly turned her head to look back at him as she was in the seat in front. "Oh? Should you seal her?" Kurumi asked in a genuine voice, but it came across as a tease, which it obviously was. Michael bit his lip, which made Kurumi smile and internally giggle… he walked into that honestly.
"… okay, class. Time to take attendance!" Tamae said, now back to her cheerful self. "Although if an astroid came hurtling down to earth at top speed, I wouldn't be compla-…"
KA-CRASH!
A large impact from outside, literally right next to the school building, made everything vibrate and everyone panic for a second. Sure enough, there was a large hole in the ground in the PE track outside. It was pretty deep too, so no one could really see what was down there when they went to investigate. Due to Tamae's timing, they all assumed it was an astroid.
XXX
The temporary command centers door opened with a hiss, as Michael walked into the command center, being followed by all the Spirits he had sealed up at this point as requested.
"Alright Captain; gathered up the crew." Said Michael to Kotori in a dry voice (as an obvious jab/joke). "So what's the damage this time?"
Kotori directed their attention to the big screen. "See this?" She asked, with the monitor showing the impact at school just minutes ago.
"Yeah, the UFO crash? What about it?" Michael asked.
The main montior changed to a world map with red dots in certain areas, all across the globe. "Your not gonna believe this, but it wasn't just the schoolyard," Kotori said. "Impacts like that all happened at exactly the same time around the world."
"All happened at the same time?" Michael repeated, not trying to be funny, but taking the situation seriously. Now he wasn't a rocket scientist by any stretch of the imagination, but even he knew the probability of objects landing on earth from space at the exact same time, and at different parts of the world at the same time, was slim to none.
That's not even mentioning the fact the earth was round so unless there was a giant astroid belt around the earth, this sounded highly impossible.
"I'm no science major, but even I know astroid impacts shouldn't happen simultaneously." Said Nia.
"Exactly. Our planet is 24 thousand 900 miles in a complete circle so unless there was a large ring of astroids surrounding the earth and were all pulled by earths gravitational pole at the same time, the likelihood of those strikes is highly improbable." Origami said.
Michael couldn't help but flinch. Could these girls read his mind now? If it was true (which it probably wasn't), that's the LAST thing he needed.
"They weren't asteroids." Said Reine. "It was DEM… they were hit. As were any other Anti-Spirit Teams from other countries that merely approached her."
Michael and all Spirits (except Kotori for obvious reasons) began to get concerned. So DEM was back already, even after only a while after stealing the same type of crystal from Nia that Origami and Miku said they're bodies absorbed prior to becoming Spirits. Speaking of other AST teams across the globe, that wasn't too surprising as they had a Spirit to deal with in America ironically enough.
Wait… what Reine said… her?
"Her?" Tohka asked, which Michael was going to ask but First Girl beat him too it. After some typing sounds echoed the room, the world map changed to a camera feed of planet earth that zoomed in on… a girl?
"It's another Spirit. One I don't think anyone has encountered before. For that, we're giving her the name: Zodiac." Kotori said.
The Spirit they were now calling "Zodiac", had golden eyes with very long golden-blonde hair, in fact it looked to rival a certain princess from a certain fairytale, the hair much longer than her body which was still very much noticeable even in the zero gravity of space. She also had what appeared to be dark blue and purple bunny ears with stars on them on top of her head, also having white flowers on the back of them.
As for her Astral Dress… it sort of resembled Tohka's to an extent, having high heels attached to metallic greaves, the leg armor used by knights of old. The dress itself was almost identical to a Qipao, the skirt being divided at the edge and had constellation patterns, these same patterns also present on her gloves.
The crew, even the Spirits, couldn't help but be mesmerized by "Zodiac's" appearance. She looked to literally be out of this world.
"She's so pretty…" Yoshino said.
"And look at all that hair!" Said Kaguya.
"Baffled. How long do you think she's been up there?" Asked Yuzuru, using 'up there' to refer to outer space itself. Her word choice was pretty accurate in terms of how the rest of the team felt, for they too were baffled.
"Macho Mikey wasn't too far off calling us Aliens then, huh?" Kurumi commented.
Mike kept staring at the footage of the brand new Spirit. He would have normally agreed and also rubbed in the fact to Kotori that he was right… but this felt different. It also didn't make any sense, considering what he and Kotori's crew discovered about the girls being very close to human with Nia later confirming it. However, this new girl was in the vacuum of space, so was she a human… or had Phantom also turned actual aliens into Spirits too?
"She's been in that exact spot for the past 3 hours," Kotori said, then video footage was pulled up, showing Zodiac floating towards the same position from the live feed, but with some company approaching her. "This video is from those 3 hours earlier. DEM found her first, but we just happened to have a reconnaissance drone in the area just as she was chased here."
"Chased?" Michael asked. With that context and with the video showed, one could only assume she didn't appear above the earth, but was rather lead to it.
"So… she IS an alien?" Asked Miku.
"We're not entirely sure where she came from," Reine said. "But most likely Westcott found her with Beelzebub and deliberately had her cornered here."
Michael's fist clenched… here he goes again. His father making things a living hell for everyone, all in a pursuit for power. First it was modifying Mana and deliberately sent her after Kurumi, then sending Ellen to try and capture the Yamai Twins, next making Tohka go Inverse (but luckily back then the company president miscalculated), and finally nearly killing Nia after having the poor manga artist tortured for a decade. The only reason the Sister got free of that was due to him "smoking Reiryoku" and inadvertently shooting down the transport ship, which allowed Kurumi to sneak off and free her later.
Back to the video, 3 DEM Battleships closed in on the lone Spirit, also releasing combat androids. Showing no fear, or any particular emotion for that matter, Zodiac's hands had sparkles for a second akin to stars, before a large black key with gold rings on top of it along with a gold star manifested. She also spun it in her hand a few times. This was even more of a shock to those that haven't seen the video yet.
"Holy shit! She's a Keyblade Wielder?" Asked Michael in shock, as he figured that weapon only existed from an American entertainment company that tried a more mature-anime type story.
Before his question got answered, the new Spirit jabbed the key into one of the attacking androids without damaging it and turned her key… "Segva."
CLICK!
And the robot completely shut down, just floating in space. More androids closed in on her, but with speed and skill, she quickly did the exact same thing to them, those bots also shutting down the same way. From just that observation, they also assumed she had or at the very least rivaled the same swordsmanship skills as Tohka or her Inverse self.
Honesty, she moved so fast during the last bit, it was almost hard to see despite the cutting-edge technology the cameras of Ratatoskr possessed… and her shutting down of those robots without damaging them… its almost like she locked up they're processing systems or something.
"How did she do that?" Natsumi asked, as not even her magic could do that.
"So it IS a Keyblade?" Michael asked.
"That would be her Angel: Michael." Reine said. "When she touches someone or some thing with that key, she can lock it up for a lack of better words. Everything. Feelings, abilities, even memories." She explained.
"Okay." Michael said. "Her Angel have a name?"
"Michael." Reine said.
"Yeah. What's her Angel?"
"Michael."
"Yes. I'm listening. What's her Angel?"
"That IS her Angel, dummy-pants." Kotori said, remaining calm and not outbursting that.
Michael deadpanned. "Oh… this's gonna be a fun level, isn't it?" He dryly said.
"This is your Dating Sim life now." Kurumi commented again, jabbing at him.
"And why you should have caused my Game Over…" Michael said, further deadpanning. This only made Kurumi giggle. "Seriously. Glitchy really couldn't name it Roxas or something?" He added, asking no one in particular.
Though it was here Tohka of all people picked up on something usually Michael would call out. "Uh, Renie?" Tohka asked, getting her attention. "How'd you know what Mich… er, the Angel Michael did; without a scan first?"
Reine didn't normally blink… but at that moment she did. There was no scan of Zodiac or her Angel up until this point, so Reine, while no one could deny she was smart, her sudden intuition seemed very… odd.
"Yeah… how did you?" Kotori inquired further, agreeing with Tohka.
Reine did not answer right away. "… just makes sense." She finally said after nothing but silence. "If a robot is shut down, it can not follow its programing. Therefore, it'll lose any abilities it has, including any memories of command it may have received."
What she said made rational sense. It was an odd leap of logic, but the kids ran with it, seeing no issue with it. Back in the video, the 3 DEM battleships then fired huge lasers in Zodiac's direction.
"Lataib." However, she used her key again, this time to open a wormhole in front of herself. All the beams that were locked on her zoomed directly into this newly opened portal, and disappeared into it…
For about 2 seconds.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
3 new wormholes opened up on different spots, but all aiming right at the battleships, and the beams were then redirected at all of them, each attack returning to its sender and heavily damaging the attacker it hit. The ships were also completely destroyed by their own massive firepower.
Michale and the Spirits still stared at what just occurred. In addition to shutting things down, that key "Michael" was also able to redirect attacks, seeming to wherever Zodiac wanted, nor did the attacks absorbed this way lose any power. With that level of power, she seemed just as dangerous as Kurumi or an Inverse Origami.
Even Nightmare had to admit, if this girl appeared when she was on the Dark Side… not even she would stand a chance. None of her bullets could touch her, let alone affect her with such power over space. And if she fought her instead of Kotori… while it wouldn't stop her from trying, it was very much clear there would be no contest. Likewise, if Kotori had to fight Zodiac instead of Kurumi, she'd probably destroy the entire school, and STILL not have inflicted a burn on her.
It was pretty much the same for anyone else. Origami's Metatron/Satan blasts, Yoshino's ice beams and shards, Kaguya and Yuzuru's tornadoes; they all would have been redirected in some way. As for Miku, Natsumi and Nia; their powers would probably get shut down by Zodiac before they had a chance to even use them.
As Tohka could be both close and long range with her energy balls and Sandalphon… that could be anyone's guess. Regardless, this new Zodiac Spirit was probably the strongest non-Inversed Spirit and had the strongest Spirit Powers they have ever witnessed.
To think she also dealt with any AST teams on her own as well… the American one especially, as they experienced firsthand, they were a hell of a lot more trigger-happy than the others.
"Once she dealt with them, she opened more wormholes; and where do you think those lead?" Kotori said, as the final moments of the video showed Zodiac opening portals again, absorbing the shrapnel and debris from the ships and robots she did destroy. Obviously, she sent them to earth.
"At least she cleans up after herself." Michael said, then put his hands on his hips. "Sooooo… how am I supposed to ask out an alien in the void of space?" He asked.
Kotori gave her signature grin when she was thought up an attack plan. "Don't worry, big bro. I have a plan."
"That's usually the problem…" Michael answered in a regular tone. While Kotori chose to ignore that, it did get a few giggles from Miku, Kurumi, Nia, Yoshino and Tohka. Kaguya cracked a small smile but held back, and Yuzuru retained her serious demeanor so whether or not she found humor in the statement was unclear.
XXX
The idea was to use very life-like VR. A projection of Michael would be sent to space via one of Fraxinus' flying cameras, where it'll perfectly copies his body movements and real-time audio, allowing him to talk to the space alien Spirit in the safety and comfort of the command center.
When the helmet of this VR system was locked and loaded on him, he was shocked at first, but actually liked it as he messed around once he realized what this device was. He was enjoying the other Michael mimicking his movements, which were honestly a lot better than most motion controls in gaming and didn't have any visible lag. If he didn't put this thing on himself, he would have assumed he was just looking at his own reflection.
"Sis," said Michael. "This is probably the best idea you've everhad." He complemented, still playing with his new clone. Of all the batshit crazy and out there ideas Kotori or Ratatoskr had, this was one Michael could get behind. This plan seemed pretty foolproof too, just have his likeness be projected, and talk to the lonely Spirit.
It was pretty much Tohka all over again, a Spirit being attacked and him popping up in peace to talk in a civilized manner. What could possibly go wrong?
"By sending a 3D hologram of yourself and broadcast it through one of our cameras, it'll be like your right there with Zodiac and allow you to talk to her." Explained Kyouhei.
"Oh wow! 2 Darlings'!" Miku said, impressed.
"Now Michael has an Identical Twin." Kaguya said, also impressed.
"Amazed. Its almost like he's using Kurumi's powers." Yuzuru said, as impressed as the other 3.
"*giggle*. I prefer the one on the left," Kurumi said, which was the hologram, which also caused both Michaels' to glare at her. Her statement was very ironic, considering the unevenly-cut pigtails girls own abilities.
"You always had the worst sense of timing…" both Michaels' said in synchronization. Then they looked back at each other. "I know, right?… Thank you! That's what I said!" They continued the joke by talking to each other.
"Alright, Boys; settle down before you hurt yourselves." Nia jabbed at them. Still, she and the others had to smile. Michael was enjoying this a little too much, that it came across as very silly.
Upon Kotori's command, a camera was sent to space behind Zodiac. A few seconds after that, the 3D Michael was rebroadcasted behind the space Spirit. The first thing Michael saw was her back and long hair, and this was also shown on the main monitor for everyone else, so it worked.
Mike took a breath. Let's begin our Date, as Kotori would say. "Hey. You the-…"
BLAM!
The very second Michael made his presence known, Zodiac fired an energy beam from her key after pointing it at him. The light energy covered the camera feed entirely! Michael gasped and fell on his butt because of this. Michael's instincts entered panic-mode and made him recoil with how life-like it was.
"FUCK ME! This shit is so real!" He said, getting back up upon realizing he wasn't attacked. To be fair, he DID kinda appear out of nowhere from behind a girl, and she fired an attack after being attacked herself, not knowing his intentions…
Huh… He just got a weird sense of déjà vu.
"Michael, are you okay?" Tohka asked… weird. She too had the strangest feeling of déjà vu as well.
"No! I almost got murdered!" He yelled, not meaning to but this was only because his nerves were still high.
"Awwww. You were murdered." Kurumi joked, feigning concern. Michael just gritted his teeth, holding back the over 20 comebacks he just thought up. After Zodiac comes down, he can always punish the Shadow/Time Spirit later.
Miku glared at the Nightmare beside her. "Must you always antagonize Darling?" She asked.
"Discrepancy. You always request for Michelle to make a return." Yuzuru said, which is something that antagonized Michael allot, and also making Miku flinch.
"Okay. I probably should have expected that…" Michael's projection muttered, the scene changing back to space with Zodiac. "Miss. I'm not trying…"
FLICK!
"YIPE!" Michael's projection was this time attacked by some energy Zodiac flicked at him from her hand. Of course, the attack passed through the projection like water. "Ma'am, if you could please…"
WHOOSH!
She took a swing at Michael with her weapon this time, which phased through the projection.
Michael: Hey! I come in pe…!
BLAM!
Michael: May I…?
JAB!
Michael: Will you…!
BLAM!
Now Michael was starting to get annoyed. "OKAY! I get Sora left you behind on a beach, but…!"
BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM!
Over and over again, Michael would try to speak, but would get interrupted by an attack to his holographic body from the Zodiac no matter how or what he said. This was getting ridiculous! Every time he opened up his mouth… bang. No questions.
It was worst than when he first met Tohka! At least with her, he was able to communicate with her as long as he made no sudden moves; Miku only retaliated once she realized he was a man; Kurumi had to be broken down emotionally; and Natsumi only caused trouble due to a misunderstanding.
But with Zodiac… he couldn't even get one word out before being blasted.
"Oh, COME ON!" Michael said. "10 GGs' in the span of 20 seconds?!" He could not get over how trigger-happy this girl was, not even giving him a moment to explain himself. The other Spirits were concerned too, seeing how overly aggressive Zodiac was. To think they did hurt Michael in small ways in the past, but never to THAT extreme.
"I thought you were supposed to be good at this." Nia jabbed at Michael to try and lighten the mood, who in turn lifted up the headgear and slowly turned to face her.
…
…
"… Go read your Bible, Sister." He then put the gear back on and focused back on the mission.
"I didn't expect Zodiac to be this violent." Said Reine. "Thankfully we went with the projection idea first."
"How Strange… Muku would have expected you'd have perished after all that." The Zodiac finally spoke for the first time, her voice a low tone. Not like when Tohka first appeared, but it sounded more… empty.
"Look at that, she talks." Michael said, needing to get that snark comment out, but it looks like he could now talk to her in a more civilized way.
Although… he couldn't help but stare at her Spirit Armor or the body inhabiting it. Now that he could get a good look at her, this Spirit was very voluptuous and buxom, small in some areas but big in others, rivaling Miku (though the Pop Idol was still notably bigger), the hair length was as pretty as Tohka's, and her huge golden eyes gave her a mysterious yet beautiful charm just like Kurumi.
He wasn't gonna lie, this alien girl was his type. That's not to say the others weren't special and unique in their own ways, but if he was being honest with his preferences…
He then cleared his throat. "Sorry I startled you… though I'm not really here." He looked around for the camera, then saw it and pointed to the item in question. Zodiac looked in the direction of it to see one of Ratatoskr's cameras. "I'm just a projection. The real me is down there." He gestured to himself first, then down to earth.
"Projection?" Zodiac asked. "How curious. I wonder why."
'Gee, I don't know…' Michael sarcastically remarked in his thoughts. "So now that we've established I can't hurt you and you can't hurt me, you mind telling me your name?" He asked her, hoping she had one and not be a repeat of Tohka. Even if she can't hurt him, she could probably destroy the camera and render the mission a failure.
"… Mukuro… My name is Mukuro Hoshimiya." Zodiac said, introducing herself upon request. Before Michael even had a chance to respond, 3 choices popped up, only this time he was able to see them as well as he wasn't out on the battlefield at the moment.
That's not all. For the first time, those Spirits who had not seen this part of the job before now saw it in real time… guess it finally explained why he would be muttering and/or arguing with himself sometimes. They of course knew Michael would rarely use these choices unless he was really stuck.
1) I'm Michael Pelham. Nice to meet you.
2) Name's Michael. Wanna skip the friend zone?
3) Michael's the name, making your body crave me is my game!
"One… We're doing One. That's final." Michael immediately said, as 2 and 3 did not feel right. This has been going on for quite a while… its like the System had a vendetta against him.
"Ignore him. Make your choices!" Kotori said, the crew following her lead. The other Spirits couldn't help but feel bad for Michael, now knowing this is what he had to deal with on top of themselves. No wonder he was sometimes stressed out.
The most popular choice was 3, which Michael deadpanned at. Of course it was… more déjà vu…
"One and Two could work, but perhaps a more bold approach is best for Zodiac." Said Kyouhei.
"I agree. Her Happiness hasn't moved at all yet, so it should be safe." Said Munechika.
"Should? Be safe?!" Michael asked.
"I concur. 3 will help us draw the line, gauge her reaction and plan accordingly." Kyoji agreed with Munechika.
"Come on, big bro. It's not your gonna die," Kotori said and would have continued if not for one of the Spirits speaking up.
"Um… could Darling choose another choice instead?" Asked Miku, which honestly surprised everybody in the room, including herself. She didn't know why she suddenly spoke up, for she had no issue with a new girl added to the harem… at least, part of her did.
"There! See! Even she gets it!" Said Michael, though part of him had a feeling there was another reason for Miku's out-of-the-blue objection. More specifically, a more intimate reason. While Miku still made advances on the other girls (excluding Kurumi despite her looks), when it came to him, she seemed more defensive as of lately. He had noticed this sudden change ever since they shared a night…
Yoshino looked a little indecisive, but eventually gave her own opinion. "I… I agree." She said. "Maybe option 1… would be the better choice." She suggested.
"Exactly!" Said Yoshinon. "Or we could let Michael follow through with the command." The rabbit added, mischievously. "Besides, we all know any boy would want to do more things to a body like that."
'And I'm gonna make wabbit stew when we get home…'Michael thought. Natsumi looked like she was gonna say something, but backed out. If she was in her adult form, she probably would agree with the little puppet.
Kaguya, and even Yuzuru to a smaller degree, began to get flushed cheeks and look shy and a little embarrassed (Kaguya more-so in both instances). "Um, maybe… I don't know, try resetting them or something?" Kaguya suggested, sounding brave but looked down towards the end of her sentence.
"I…!" Surprisingly, Yuzuru almost blurted something out, without saying a phase beforehand. Of course she stopped herself once she caught it, doing the same thing her twin did. "… Confirmation… maybe flirting with her isn't the best idea." She finally said, sounding a bit more like herself but still a little out-of-character.
The others that 'rode the same boat' with him also expressed themselves in similar fashions, though more visually. Tohka, Origami, Kurumi, etc.
"Enough!" Kotori shut the conversation down before anyone else could add to it, despite the fact she also had mixed feelings about this herself. Especially since Michael gave her that massage… then one thing led to another… "Michael, just ask her the question." She stated, shaking off her own thoughts and remained professional.
Michael did not answer right away. "… you guys enjoy this, don't you?" He asked the main Ratatoskr crew and Kotori specifically.
"How curious. Do all humans mutter to themselves often or is it just you?" Mukuro said, having seen the projection of Michael aimlessly talk, but she could tell it was not to her.
"It's uh, kinda my thing," Projection Michael excused, then proceeded to use option 3, which was even more awkward considering she was his type. "My name's Michael Pelham, and…" he took in a breath to mentally prepare himself. "Your totally out of this world, and I'm gonna make your body crave me!"
…
…
…
"Hum." Nothing… Mukuro gave him nothing… there was no change to her demeanor at all. Its like she was staring into his very soul. He expected SOME kind of reaction: be it flirty, shyness, or repulse… but he got nothing. It honestly freaked him out a little bit, and the people back at command. "Michael, huh?… Like my Angel?… Interesting…" Aside from that robotic compliment, Muku gave him nothing.
"Is there anything? What's her Happiness? Someone give me something!" Kotori said.
"Nothing…" Hanko said, shocked. "There's nothing. No Happiness, no emotional shifts… there hasn't been a single change since contact."
"Nothing… She hasn't reacted at all." Origami said. This surprised her as she normally doesn't show her emotions unless Michael is in the facility or a sensitive subject for her is brought up.
"Astonishment. How did she not react to any of that?" Yuzuru asked. When it came to her and her sister, she was the more serious one of the two, but even she would show emotion when the right cords were struck.
"This is why I fly solo…" Michael muttered, then focused back on Mukuro. Looks like this was another Tohka level, but on Veteran Difficulty considering her 'shoot first, ask later' mentality. Thinking back to how he got Tohka to open up, perhaps the same logic applies.
"Look, I'm not trying to flirt with you, ok?" Michael said. He got no reaction out of her yet, so he continued talking. "I'm just trying to understand you. So I can help you." Still no reaction from Muku, but she did blink and he seemed to have her undivided attention. "I know a girl just like you… several girls actually, who were all alone and had no one to turn too." The girls back on the surface watching this play out felt their chests warm up, hearing the conviction in Michaels voice and knowing he meant every word he said… especially Tohka, who knew he was talking about her first, and folded both her hands over her heart.
This girl Mukuro… all alone in space… was just like her.
"Believe me… I know what its like, being a lone wolf… fending for yourself and whats dear to you because no one else will do it for you. But if you let me, I can help you. Maybe you'll become a part of the pack, ya know?" Michael said, giving a differently worded speech he gave to Tohka but it held the same meaning. Mukuro put a hand under her chin as if thinking…
…
…
…
Mukuro: … that's nice, I suppose.
"Seriously?" Michael squeaked. He, the crew, and the other Spirits were dumbfounded. Even though all that came directly from Mikes heart, this girl literally spoke like a robot, no emotion or feel in her voice at all ads if it wasn't even worth her time.
It didn't just make him stunned at her attitude, but Michael also felt sorry for her. At least with Miku, she retained emotion (anger and sadness) after her situation with the media; Nia closed off herself to others and got a little fired up upon being confronted over it (granted Kotori's bright ideas pissed her off even further); Natsumi was bullied and preyed on constantly which made her self-conscious; and Kurumi was coping with all the lives she had taken since becoming a Spirit because her Angel gave her no choice (though she did have a night terror with the mention of a name Sawa).
Mukuro?… There was nothing. Not a condescending smile, or even a distasteful frown… something incredibly severe must've happened to her, some kind of deep emotional trauma that screwed up her brain.
Regardless if she didn't show any emotion, Mukuro continued her end of the conversation. "Mister?… Why did you come all the way up here to see Muku? It doesn't make any sense." She asked, which was very ironic considering Tohka asked a similar question when they first met… maybe he was getting through to her, she just didn't use emotions to portray them?
That… or aliens didn't have/use emotions.
"Okay, here's the truth:" Michael said, preparing to just give it straight to Muku. Perhaps if he was straightforward, then maybe she'll open up a bit. "I've been going around for almost a year, seeking and helping Spirits out, just like you." He said.
For the first time thus far, he saw a hint of what could be emotion from Mukuro. She blinked and cocked her head to the side upon giving his answer. It wasn't much, and her Happiness still did not increase even by 0.1%, but it was a start.
"I'm part of an origination called Ratatoskr that save Spirits. And I've already saved 9 of them… 10 if you include that one made by the love of the others…" Michael explained further, mentioning a 10th Spirit in a lower tone. His openness did retain Mukuro's interest, so he kept talking. "Yeah! My life's been one crazy situation after another. Had to clash swords with one of them, play a guessing game with another… oh! Even had to fight through a giant blizzard one time!" He reminisced about past adventures to Mukuro, who appeared to be interested in the stories to some extent as she had not broken eye contact yet.
"Long story short, I can somehow seal away their powers, therefore allowing them to live in peace. They can take them back to varying extents, so its not like I'm hogging them all to myself." Michael finished.
"… I see…" Mukuro said. "So there are others like Muku, who've you've assisted?"
"Yeah… don't worry, they're great people… if a little weird, but that's what makes them them. I'm sure you'll like them." Michael said. "So now that you know, would you mind…?"
"I refuse." Mukuro said immediately when the decision came to her head, cutting Michael off as if reading his mind. "While Muku understands your desire to help her… I don't need you to help me… I am perfectly content with floating up here in the void of space… among the stars, away from everyone else."
Now she had some similarities to Miku, who at first had no intention of giving up her powers. "But what about DEM or the AST? Do you want them to keep coming after you?" Michael asked. "As long as you stay here, your at risk of being attacked again."
"Those hunks of scrap metal?… They were hardly worth the bother." Muku responded.
'Well, she's not wrong…' Mike thought, as this girl certainly had more than enough power to fight all of them off, witnessing it himself both from the video and VR-to-face. "But ya gotta be lonely, right? How long has it been since you've seen another person?" He asked, trying another route. "Why not come down to the surface with me, just for a while?… And if you don't like it, you can come back here."
While Mike attempted to compromise further, Muku spoke up again. "You misunderstand, being alone doesn't make Muku sad in the least." She said. "Muku feels nothing. Not loneliness, not sadness; nor anger, happiness or excitement. Not even love does she feel…" The Zodiac continued. "I saw no need for those emotions, so Muku locked them away."
That last bit of information made Michael swallow, and the others further astonished. Obviously, she was talking about using her own power… on herself.
"W-W-Why would do that?" Michael couldn't help but ask. This sounded worse than he thought, this poor girl had a literally locked her self up from the rest of the world… but why? What would make someone go that far?
Now she had a similarity to Origami, always remaining stoic around other people, but in Angels/Devils case she found him and bonded with him. Sure they broke up, but rekindled their love later on. If anything, Michael had more of a reason than anyone to do that, and he may have ended up like Muku if he didn't find the other Spirits first.
"Muku wants to remain alone… keep things away from her heart lest it break… why she lives in space where none can reach her…" Mukuro said, giving a vague response, but the part about her heart possibly breaking was a possible freudian slip. Whatever happened to her… it must have been serious to the point she felt no choice but to not only lock herself away, but fly away to infinity and beyond, away from any and all forms of contact.
"… that's bullshit." Michael said. "Why would you torture yourself like that? Don't you want to be happy?"
"It isn't up to anyone else to decide what Muku wants, least of all, someone like you." Mukuro said, still devoid of emotion. At this point, some of the other Spirits began to dislike her. Her robotic tone came across as rude, and whether or not she meant to be was debatable. "Muku is perfectly ok with her current living conditions."
"… I don't believe you." Michael said. "You said you locked yourself away, so how do I know if that's how you truly feel?" He asked her. This caused another head cock in his direction but not much else. "Please. Just come down to earth for just a few minutes, and if you still feel the same way, then I'll drop it."
It was hard to read Mukuro, but she did think about his proposition. "… Alright," she began. "For arguments sake, lets say I took you up on your offer. I come down to the planet for a while, and I let you seal my power…" Mukuro then was silent for a moment, letting her words sink in. "… What then?"
Her question not only took Michael by surprise, but so did everyone else watching. When it came to the other Spirits, usually they'd give in after seeing how far Michael went for who and what he believed in, some Spirits taking more time than others. But when they did finally accept the terms and smooch with Michael, letting their powers get sealed… they never thought of anything beyond that. It was just them giving into the developed feelings they gained from being around him, then living with him in a huge house.
"If I allow you to seal my powers, what can you offer Muku in exchange for them?" The Zodiac continued her question. Michael really had to think about that, not expecting such a question to be asked as he's just been sealing Spirit after Spirit for the longest time.
"Well, for starters, you can start over. Maybe have a normal life." Michael said. "You'll have plenty of food, support, a soft place to rest your head." He added some more points.
"But what of those machines, DEM as you called them, attack Muku while she's defenseless?" Mukuro asked another question, which gave Michael pause again. Again, the others never bothered with a game of 20Q, they just allowed themselves to be sealed. "Can you guarantee Muku will be safe?"
Michael did not respond for several seconds. "… Of course." He promised. "I'll protect you. And the others will protect you too."
"But didn't you just say you sealed away all they're powers?" Mukuro asked, which came across as her being doubtful despite her emotionless demeanor. "And even if they can receive them back, it's only in short bursts determinant of their skill level, correct?"
Michael flinched at that… that was technically a good point. The girls were in fact weaker than they should be, with the exception of Tohka, who recently gained the ability to take back all her power; and Kurumi, who always had the inherit talent of taking back as much as she needed at any given time, though she had admitted the more she tried taking back, the more concentration it required.
"So by that logic, doesn't that make them weaker in comparison? Doesn't that put them in more danger, being able to only use a small portion of their abilities?" Mukuro continued her point.
"I… that's not true!" Michael defended. "We fight for each other! We fight WITH each other!… I'd die trying to protect them, even if their combined powers completely break my body!" He said with gusto and conviction. This was all true for they fight alongside each other all the time, and there have been times Michael felt his body break down or close to it from all the Spirit Power he uses.
"Yet if you never sealed their powers, they wouldn't have to rely on you for that protection, nor would it put you in harms way doing so." Mukuro spoke again. Hearing her statement made Michael freeze. "If they had full access to their powers 100% of the time, wouldn't that mean they would be that much safer? Furthermore, if you can't get to them in time once they reach their limit, wouldn't all their powers have prevented them from getting hurt?" She spoke with pure logic from all the information she was given. "Well, Michael?… How can you claim I would have a normal life… if yours is constantly in danger?"
…
…
…
For the first time in his life, Michael could not think of a single thing to say in return. At least against Daddy Vader, he went off on him once he realized it was the older mans fault but this time… he was getting nothing. He had no come back. No rebuttal. Not even a snarky comment to snap back with.
"I… I…" Michael said… that's all he could say. He was left utterly speechless. Was it really true?… Was Sealing the powers of the others all a big mistake?
"You're just like any other human Michael, full and riddled with hypocrisy…" Mukuro said. "Taking in the power of Spirits… completely disregarding how they must feel after the fact." She added, and it was here the other Spirits really started to dislike her. Her robotic and emotionless way of speaking came across as extremely rude or coming from a morally-superior standpoint. Whether or not she meant it that was unclear, but her lack of emotions wasn't helping.
"I'll leave you with this: if Muku is not left alone, she will take action." Mukuro said, still emotionless but it sounded like a threat. She then raised her key, the rings on it jingling. "And will use her Michael, to halt this planets rotation."
Michael's eyes went wide… she really didn't have that level of power, did she? If she did and went through with it, that would cause a multitude of problems; the most notable one being one side of the planet will get too hot and become like Mercury, and the other side will get too cold and rival the planet Pluto.
Mukuro: Farewell, Michael…
CLICK!
And with that, the emotionless Spirit jabbed her key directly into the camera lens, turned it, and the feed and audio immediately cut out, before finally showing nothing but static… the camera itself had been locked. Everyone just stared at the buzzing static on the screen, gobsmacked at what just happened. Of course, the Fraxinus crew attempted to get the camera back, but it was not responding to any command. It would likely end up floating in space for the rest of its life.
"… she wasn't serious, was she?" Tohka asked, the Princess having come to love this planet and everything about it. It blew her mind to hear it could literally stop spinning in an instant.
"… is there anything we can do?" Asked Origami.
"Maybe if we leave her alone, she won't do anything?" Natsumi suggested.
"Even if we don't… what about DEM?" Kotori (although she was recovering from her own shock) brought up. "If DEM does beat her, Westcott will probably do the same thing he did to Nia. But if he can't, Mukuro will respond anyway." The Ifrit let that last line sink in for a minute before responding again. "We have no choice… Michael has to seal her powers too."
The others turned to Michael…
…
…
…
…
Only to find he has not moved since Mukuro 'hung up' on them, nor has he taken off the VR equipment… he was just standing there…
"… Michael?" Tohka called him.
…
…
…
No answer. "… Darling?… Are you okay?…" Miku asked him this time.
…
…
…
Still no answer. "Boy?" Nia chimed in, and she got no response from the Spirit Sealer either… something was wrong, and she nor anyone else didn't need Raziel to see it.
"Come on! After all the rejections you've gotten, NOW you get butt-hurt?" Kotori asked him, using snark on purpose (and as a few spirits did not immediately accept him at first) to try and get a reaction, though she still had a planet to protect so it was only half serious. But even SHE got nothing from him. Not even a head snap in her direction.
"MICHAEL! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?!" Kotori snapped, getting aggravated from her big brothers silence and walked toward him.
CHOP!
She did a karate chop on the back of his head, but he didn't even flinch. "MICHAEL!" Having enough, she stomped around him to get in front, and yanked off the headgear. "THE HELL'S YOUR…?" She stopped talking immediately, and her expression softened from annoyance to a gasp.
Michael's eyes… they looked dead… almost like Muku's… He was looking at her, but not looking at her if that made any sense. "B… Big Bro…?" She asked in a kinder voice. All he did was slowly turn around, as if not bothering to acknowledge her, and took slow steps that echoed off the walls.
"Um, Michael?" Tohka asked again, sensing something was wrong, but was not answered.
"Michael?" Yoshino looked at the older teen as he walked, but he didn't react to her either even he cute head and pretty eyes followed him.
"Micheal, are…?" Kaguya reached for him…
WHOOSH!
"Whoa!" Kaguya backed off. Whether as a react or on purpose, a strong current of air blew the moment her fingers made contact with him. Although he did stop for a moment due to the girls touch, he continued walking off after a few seconds.
"Michael, what's wrong?" Yuzuru asked, this time missing her signature one word beginning phrase entirely, but was not given an answer.
"Darling! Wha…?" Miku attempted to ask her number one fan, reaching over herself but more quickly than Kaguya did out of concern, but ice encased him just as she was about to touch him. She of course pulled back, and again he begin walking after a few seconds as the ice recalled itself.
He was just a few feet from the door when…
GRAB!
He still didn't react, but he did stop moving. It was shown Kurumi had phased into the floor via her shadow power at some point, and a hand arose back up from a shadow pool at the same time and place Michael would be in but next to him. Kurumi arose back up herself a moment, showing she was grabbing his arm with her REAL hand and not one of her many Clones. She was also looking at the side of his face, keeping eye contact with him even though his eyes were not contacted with hers.
"Mikey… please…" Kurumi asked, sounding like she was begging. And while she normallt sounded sensational most of the time… her she sounded genuinely concerned. She also gently squeezed. "Talk to us."
…
…
…
All Michael did was turn her own power against her, making his arm become shadowy so he could phase right out of her grasp. He finally left the room, the mechanical door opening with it's signature hissing sound, and all the Spirits were shown watching him leave, knowing there was nothing they could do to stop him. His steps still echoed, his back now turned to them…
Michael… he looked awful…