To Akane’s left were a series of doors aligned on the wall. To her right, windows she had seen from the outside. She closed her eyes, listened intently. A shuffling of feet, whispers, something that would indicate a potential ambush. She heard nothing. She took a step which echoed throughout the hallway. The quiet was off putting.

“So you’re the woman who’s caused all this trouble” a voice said above her.

Akane leaped forward, spun around, her sword raised. The voice came from a speaker that was placed on the roof. She squinted her eyes, wondering where it came from.

“Do you even understand what you’ve done? When you saved Sarah in the park and killed my boys, did you think about the consequences in the slightest?”

Akane jumped up, cut the speaker into itty bitty pieces.

“I’m going to take that as a no. Well then, let me tell you. You’re going to die tonight and it’ll be your fault. Your friend is going to die, and it’ll be your fault. The town of Redrock and everyone who is defending it will be destroyed, and it’ll be your fault. Is the weight sinking in yet?”

Akane whirled around, and saw a new speaker in the middle of the hallway.

“Your power sucks” Akane deadpanned, and took a few steps towards the speaker.

The voice chuckled from the speaker, saying “You weren’t listening were you?”

“I got the gist. It was a subpar villain monologue about consequences or something. To be honest most of my attention was on how bad your power is. Speakers? That’s an F-tier ability.”

A shuffling sound was heard from the speaker, like whoever was on the other side decided to move. After a brief pause, a new voice yelled “Hey my ability isn’t spawning speakers you fucking retard! I can spawn and despawn the last object I touched within a radius ok!? I-I don’t just create speakers. Who would have that as an ability? That’s retarded, fuck you. My ability is dope. I don’t know what your ability is but I’m sure it’s wack. I hope Kaya kills you quick…...bitch.”

The voice sounded young, about mid-teens and male. Whoever it was, it wasn't Mason. Another shuffling was heard.

“Look what you did, you got him all angry. But yeah the ability isn’t mine. I wanted to pry your brain a little. Learn about just why you do the things you do but I guess you won’t humor me. Oh well, all that matters is that you pay for your actions so this is goodbye. Say hi to Kaya for me.”

“No.” Akane denied.

Without another word, the speaker in front of Akane started to dissipate, like it was evaporating in a vat of acid. The thing faded into nothing, leaving no traces of its existence behind. Akane was now alone in the hallway once again. She approached the nearest door, twisted the knob when a chill went through her body. A massive source of aura was emanating from the room to her right, an amount she hadn’t sensed when she came into the hallway. It was like whoever in there was now beckoning her to approach. Akane sidestepped so she was in front of the new door. She kicked it in.

Before Akane was the interior of a dojo. The ground was made out of hard maple wood. The ceiling was covered with long parallel rectangular lights. To her right were weapon racks full of a wide variety of weapons aligned to a dark brown wooden wall. There was everything from bows to swords to rifles. The left wall was a mural of a forest. All the trees were cherry blossoms and were drawn in watercolor. The leaves were falling off, depicting a changing of the seasons. The place gave Akane a feeling of nostalgia, the mural reminding her of the trees that surrounded her childhood home.

“Cousin, you've arrived. I apologize for James, I told him not to try anything with you. I hope he wasn’t too annoying.” a voice called out from the end of the room.

Akane saw her cousin sitting back there, her back towards her. A sheathed short sword was attached to the back of her waist. On her back was a kusari-gama. On the inside Akane was surprised, she hadn’t seen her cousin when she scanned the room. On the outside Akane’s face remained devoid of emotion.

“His personality leaves much to be desired.” Akane replied, taking a few paces toward her cousin.

“That I agree with. I also heard Raven insult you. I’ll kill him for that after I’m done with you. No one insults an Otani.” Kaya promised.

“Raven?”

“I told you James is involved in things that are unnatural. Raven’s a case in point. He’s a part of a group that partakes in demon worship. They all wear animal masks and use animal codenames. I don’t know anything beyond that. It’s not my job to know.”

Akane thought to herself that the group sounded familiar. Where did she hear that before? She’d figure it out later, right now she had family business to attend to.

“Let’s get started, Kaya. I have a time limit.” Akane said.

She got onto her knees, sheathed her blade and placed it in front of her.

Kaya turned around, got into the same position as Akane. They sat about a dozen feet away from each other. Kaya reached behind her, removed a kusari-gama, and placed it in front of her knees. The blade’s chain was quite long, easily capable of allowing Kaya to attack Akane from any place in the room.

Kaya and Akane stared at one another, neither one blinking. Their full attention was on one another.

“I don’t want to do this,” Kaya said.

“Neither do I.”

“It’s not too late to go back.”

“We both know it is.”

“You’re right cousin...you’re right. But before we begin...can you please take off that cowboy hat? I cannot take you seriously right now.”

“No. The hat stays on during fights.”

Kaya sighed, said “Really?”

“Yes. The hat is cool.”

“...And the hand drawn badge?”

“It’s cooler than the hat.”

“Very well then. Let’s get this duel started. I, Kaya Otani, do hereby challenge Akane Otani to a duel to the death in order to preserve the honor of the Otani clan. Do you accept the challenge?”

“I accept.”

“The duel may begin. Good luck, cousin.”

Akane grabbed her sword, got to her feet, and swung it at Kaya in one swift motion. The sword hit nothing but air. Akane looked around and realized that her surroundings had changed in that brief instant when she attacked. She was now in a forest, surrounded by cherry blossoms. The sky was a bright blue and not a single cloud was in sight. She looked down, saw she was standing on tall green grass. There was a light wind, causing the leaves of the cherry blossoms to gently float past her. As beautiful as the sight was, Akane could tell her environment was artificial. Everything was slightly blurry, looking like they were in watercolor. She looked at her sword and saw that the watercolor effect did not apply to herself, she looked the same as always. It was like she clashed with the artstyle.

Akane took a step forward, asked “Cousin, did you just transfer me into the-”

An explosion erupted at the base of Akane’s foot, launching her into the air, over the trees. Akane spun midair, regaining control of her body. In the air she took in her surroundings and saw nothing but cherry blossoms in all directions. She landed on top of a tree, jumped to the ground.

She looked around, trying to figure out where she could take a step. If there was one mine, there was bound to be more.

“To answer your question cousin; yes, I’ve transferred you into the mural. You weren’t there when my ability and warclass awoke were you? If my target is directly in front of a piece of art, I can capture their body inside it. I myself can come and go into any drawing I wish. It’s a very useful ability for an assassin in the thief warclass. It ensures I always fight in my preferred environment.” Kaya’s voice answered in the distance with a faint echo.

Akane knew that she was throwing her voice as it was a standard skill taught to all Otani members. That meant Kaya wasn’t where the voice came from, which helped narrow down where Akane should go though not by much. Then Akane’s mind thought of something drastically more important than figuring out where her opponent was.

“Wait a minute. Does that mean you could transfer me into a comic?” Akane questioned.

“I-I what?”

“If you put a comic in front of me, could you put my soul into a comic book? Answer me Kaya!”

“Y-yes?”

Akane took a deep breath, said “Cousin, is there any chance you’ll give up and join me instead?”

“And abandon the family, and my mission? I can’t do that.”

“When I beat you, I’m going to be sadder than I ever would’ve imagined.”

“Good thing you’re not going to beat me cousin.”

Akane took a step, felt her heel slightly push down onto a mine’s button. Akane backflipped away as the mine exploded. When she finished she felt her other foot push down another mine. Akane leaped forward, hearing the mine go off behind her. Her cousin had turned the entire place into a minefield. Akane knew she had to deal with the mines all at once, otherwise she couldn’t traverse. She took out her tanto knife, cut her forearm. A light trickle came down her arm onto the ground below. The blood then started to spread out in all directions, digging itself into the dirt. Explosions started to go off all around Akane, like the forest became the victim of an artillery barrage. Trees started to fall over due to the force. Akane remained still, her body unmoving as her blood sacrificed itself to activate the mines. Suddenly Akane felt a presence behind her. She spun around, felt a kick to the face which sent her through a tree into an area her blood hadn’t cleared of mines. Akane bounced back up, and saw the blade edge of the kursari-gama fast approaching. Akane raised her sword, deflected the incoming blade. It landed at the base of her feet then retreated back like it was a fishing line being reeled in. Akane ran after it but after a few steps, felt her foot press down on another mine. She instantly jumped back, raised her arms to block the dirt from the explosion. She lowered her arms, felt something wrap around her left leg. Akane looked down, and saw that the kursari-gama was responsible. It was pulled, making Akane fall to the ground. Akane was then pulled across the dirt, and the next thing she knew, she was suspended in the air, everything upside down. Akane traced the kursari-gama’s chain, saw that it was over a tree’s branch. Kaya had used her weapon like a trap, making Akane feel like a captured animal. Kaya appeared in front of Akane, punched Akane’s face before she could raise her arms to block. The powerful blow made Akane sway far back, like she was a pinata. As Akane was coming back towards Kaya she swung her sword but Kaya easily ducked under it, countered with a kick to the back. The attack sent Akane forward at a greater velocity, making her now feel like she was on a bizarre swing set. She took advantage of it, before she swung back towards Kaya, Akane cut the chain with her sword which resulted in her soaring into the air. Akane was once again above the trees, thinking she had a brief respite. However something jumped from the ground below. Akane looked down, saw her cousin had jumped straight towards her in a straight line. Akane tried to attack but Kaya was too quick. She kicked Akane in the gut, making her go even higher up as her insides felt like they were hit by a wrecking ball. As Akane fell back down to earth she thought to herself that Kaya had gotten strong. A part of her was proud, another part deeply concerned. She remembered how weak Kaya was when they trained as kids so to see the growth made her proud. However, it prevented her from seeing Kaya as her enemy.

Akane crashed through some trees, hit the ground with a loud thud. She got up, raised her blade. She was in a completely different part of the forest, seeing that the damage that had been done to the forest was no longer visible. Akane forced some blood out of her arm, sending the blood out to detonate any mines while she could. Kaya was going to find her soon, it was an inevitability. The forest may as well be her home turf given that she’d gone through so much effort to turn it into one large booby trap. The blood dug through the ground but Akane saw no explosions go off. Did things not go as Kaya planned? Did she only booby trap a single part of the forest? It made sense, given that the forest appeared to go on forever. Before Akane could come to a definite conclusion she saw three ninja stars come at her. Akane dodged them, hearing them hit the tree behind her. A rustling was heard from above. Akane looked up, saw Kaya drop from the tree, trying to cut her with a short sword. Akane dodged it as Kaya landed in front of her. Akane was starting to understand her cousin’s fighting technique. She was a thief, so her attacks consisted of feints within feints within feints. Kaya lunged at Akane but midway through the attack she redirected herself, turning the lunge into an elbow uppercut. Akane dodged that as well by leaning back and, taking advantage of her heels, threw a side kick. The kick slammed Kaya’s head into the tree, temporarily dazing her. Akane followed up with a punch to the face which sent Kaya back a dozen feet. Kaya bounced on the ground once, landed upright and threw a smoke bomb at her feet.

“You’re holding back.” Kaya’s disembodied voice claimed, sounding a tinge angry from the smoke.

“No I’m not” Akane said, trying to see if she could make out the outline of Kaya’s body. She couldn’t.

“Yes you are. You haven’t used your ability against me at all.”

“I’ve used it.”

“Against my mines but not me. Stop holding back, cousin. If I killed you knowing you didn’t give it your all I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

Akane hesitated, not sure what to say. While Akane’s mind was distracted, Kaya emerged from the smoke, short sword in hand. The two entered a pure sword fight, their blades constantly clashing, the contact echoing throughout the watercolor forest. Kaya was on the offensive, trying to close in the distance while Akane jumped back to prevent it. Akane’s katana was ineffective at close range, a fact they both knew.

Akane was starting to find it very difficult to keep Kaya at bay. The mobility of her cousin was remarkable. She would make her think she was about to strike one way, only to redirect the attack. It was as if Akane was fighting a very deadly and unpredictable ballerina. It was even possible that Kaya’s agility surpassed her own. Akane was beginning to get cut. The wounds weren’t serious, only cuts across her arms or face but they were beginning to accumulate. She’d have to change tactics if she wanted to survive. Akane started to use the environment to her advantage. To block incoming swings from Kaya’s sword, Akane jumped behind a tree, allowing it to take the blow. It didn’t stop Kaya in her tracks, the sword went through the wood like butter. It did slow her down, however slightly.

“Come on, fight back!” Kaya yelled, frustrated by her cousin’s focus on defense.

Akane didn’t respond, only continuing to block Kaya’s attacks. Kaya felt like her cousin wasn’t taking her seriously, only toying with her. Kaya had spent hours planning the battle. Painting the mural on the wall, going into it to plant traps throughout, thinking of contingencies for every conceivable scenario yet it appeared it was all for naught. Akane for some unknown reason refused to use her blood ability, the ability that had turned the family against her. The ability that only manifested in the Otani clan once in every 3 generations. Kaya should be fighting for her life right now, right on the brink of death, only to achieve victory through her cunning and luck. Yet Kaya currently had the upper hand. Akane was losing, sooner or later Kaya would find an opening to deal a critical hit. It was an attack that was only available to her warclass, thieves. By countering their opponent’s attack perfectly, a thief can inflict an attack that does double or even triple the amount of damage. It was an attack that could end fights instantly. The chances of pulling off a critical hit were random yet Kaya always had a feeling when one was imminent and right now, she had that feeling.

Kaya began to slow down the speed of her attacks, hoping to bait her cousin into countering. It was coming, a feeling that gave her goosebumps. If her cousin didn’t want to take this fight seriously, then she’d end it here and now. Not only was the critical hit imminent, they were about to step over another trap. Akane had assumed they were in a part of the watercolor forest that wasn’t booby trapped. That was a mistake. Kaya had ensured the entire forest was booby trapped. Despite how it looked, there was an end to the forest, a blunt field that stopped one from moving forward. Akane did not know this which Kaya took into account. All part of her meticulous planning. Kaya stopped abruptly, lowered her sword. Akane stopped as well, then dashed forward, her sword raised above her head, about to descend on Kaya. Kaya launched an attack of her own. She swung her sword upwards, like an uppercut which collided with Akane’s blade with enough force that the sword flew out of her hands. Kaya was now ready. Kaya roundhouse kicked Akane in the chest, causing the latter to be knocked off her feet. The blow sent a rippling effect through Akane’s body. Her entire body had a painful spasm, something Akane did not expect to come from what appeared to be a standard kick. She thought she could take it, she was wrong. Time slowed down to her as her body flew back. She had felt such a feeling before but that was usually due to her intense concentration. Here it was the opposite. Her mind became fuzzy, she forgot where she was, what her mission was. All she felt was pain in every muscle of her body. In this slowed down state Akane witnessed her cousin appear next to her, then chop down on her stomach. Akane’s body went from flying through the air to going through the ground in an instant. After going through the dirt she felt her body being punctured, like she had landed on spikes. The sensation was enough to make time flow normally again.

In Akane’s peripherals were bamboo spikes. She looked down, and saw that large bamboo sticks were sticking out of her stomach and right leg. It was obvious what happened to her. She was knocked into a spike pit. The pain from landing on the spikes hit her like a wave. Her stomach stung from the puncture. Her injured leg recoiled but couldn’t move because of the spike.

“Surprised cousin?” Kaya asked.

Akane looked up, and saw her cousin peering down into the trap.

“A bit.” she said, coughed up some blood.

“You should’ve taken me seriously. This isn’t a sparring match like when we were kids.”

“I know.”

“We’re in a deathmatch.”

“I know.”

“I’m fighting with the intent to kill.”

“Yes I’m well aware cousin.”

“Then why aren’t you going all out?” Kaya yelled at her.

Akane paused, seriously thought about it, then said “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“Nope.”

Kaya’s face became visibly frustrated.

“So what, you're just gonna let me kill you?”

“No. I can’t die.”

“So you’re going to kill me?”

“No.”

“W-what?”

“I can’t lose here, yet I do not have the desire to kill you.”

“Why not? I’m threatening your life. Is this fight just a joke to you?”

“No. You’re very strong Kaya; stronger than I could’ve imagined. The family taught you well. But when I see you, I have no desire to kill. I’m a hero now. I’m only supposed to destroy villains. You’re not a villain. This is a problem.”

Kaya was surprised, wondering to herself if the fight should continue. The possibility of ending the fight peacefully entered her mind. Then she was reminded of the family. It would bring them shame and condemn her to do such a thing. She shook her head.

“If you think you’re going to talk me out of this fight it’s not going to work.”

“That’s it Kaya! I shall turn you good. Just like in the comics when the hero makes a villain an ally through the power of friendship.”

“...I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You need to read more comics, cousin. It’s good stuff.”

“Ok I’m done. If you’re not going to take this seriously then this fight ends now.”

Kaya reached behind her, took out a grenade.

“I know we just got reacquainted but I’m going to miss you Akane. You should’ve heeded my warning back in Redrock. Goodbye.”

Kaya pulled the pin and dropped the grenade into the pit. She whirled around, traipsed away from the pit. An explosion occurred in the pit, resulting in flames erupting out of it. Kaya could feel the heat on her back. She let out a sigh. It was over. At least she thought it was before something crashed in front of her. Kaya leaped back, sword drawn. In front of her was Akane, smoke coming off of her body and….small?

“Ow.” Akane deadpanned.

“W-what just happened?” Kaya sputtered out, completely baffled.

“I freed myself, then used aura to protect my body from the explosion.”

“No, I can put that together. What I want to know is: Why are you tiny?”

Akane looked down, realizing she wasn’t wearing her heels.

“....You just had a growth spurt?”

“No I didn’t. Why are you so small? You’re older than me this makes no sense.”

“I’m normal height. You’re just tall.”

“Akane everyone in our family is tall.”

“My grandma is small. I got the curse from her.”

“We have the same grandma! She only looked small because her bad back made her bend forward.”

“How is grandma?”

“She passed away three years ago. Wait stop trying to distract me!”

Kaya took a breath, recomposing herself.

“Does this mean you’re going to fight back now?” she questioned.

“Yes. I will fight with the power of love and friendship. If I can’t use words, I’ll use actions. ”

“What does that mean?”

“I’ll make you join my side; with my fists.”

Akane rushed at her cousin. Kaya, still thrown off by her cousin’s change in size, wasn’t prepared for Akane’s attack. Akane performed a right hook into Kaya’s ribcage. The blow made her stagger. Akane followed up with a high kick to the other side of Kaya’s ribcage. Kaya collapsed onto her knee. Now eye level, Akane threw a punch, hitting Kaya square in the nose, resulting in her rolling across the floor for 10 yards. With Kaya temporarily away, Akane decided to get her weapon back. She looked to her left, saw her sword lying 20 yards away. To get it back she summoned blood from her stomach wound and sent the blood blob towards the sword. The blood grabbed the sword like an adhesive, travelled its way back to Akane. She picked the sword up by the handle, then sent the blood back into the woods as soon as she saw her cousin running towards her. Kaya began swinging, aiming low to accommodate her opponent’s new height. Akane blocked each blow, her fighting ability unaffected by her shorter stature. In fact Akane was more nimble than before. Akane deflected a swing, slid underneath her cousin’s legs. Akane then launched herself into Kaya’s back, using her body like a small cannon. The attack sent Kaya into the branches of a tree but Kaya recovered in midair, landing gracefully onto a tree branch. Akane cut the base of the tree, making it fall over. Kaya jumped off the tree before it touched the ground, landing behind Akane. Akane spun around, ready to continue her attack when Kaya threw another smoke bomb, concealing her position.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish. But I’m not betraying the family for you.” Kaya’s disembodied voice stated.

“If you’re saying that then that means I haven’t punched you enough yet.”

“You have a childlike nai-AHHH!” Kaya screamed from the smoke.

Akane ran into the smoke, first seeing the outline then the full view of her cousin. Kaya was stuck in place as red spikes jutted out of her legs. The blood Akane had sent into the forest had done the trick. Kaya wasn’t the only one who could use traps. Akane continued to run at her cousin, increasing her speed. Kaya looked up from her legs, saw Akane coming towards her. She put up her arms in defense. The blood that had ingrained itself into Kaya’s legs sprouted out of them, attached itself to Kaya’s arms, pulled them down.

“Hiyaaahhhh!” Akane yelled as she dive kicked Kaya in the chest.

The blow sent Kaya through half a dozen trees, one tree slowly falling after another. Kaya was no longer in Akane’s sight as she got to her feet. Akane followed the path of fallen trees, using them as a guide to Kaya’s position. Akane got to the last tree, saw her cousin laying on the ground. She wondered to herself if Kaya was knocked out. Akane took a step towards her, felt her foot trigger a tripwire. A bamboo pole outfitted with spikes came around a tree, straight towards her face. She leaned far back to dodge. The spikes grazed her forehead, resulting in her forehead stinging. She got back upright, and saw that her cousin had disappeared. Akane then suffered a blunt blow to the back of her head, sending her towards the ground. While collapsing Akane twisted so she could land on her back. On top of her was Kaya with her short sword out.

“Not bad. But when it comes to traps: I can’t be beat. I’ve memorized the location of every trap I set. No matter where this fight goes, I’ll have the advantage.” Kaya said, breathing heavily.

Kaya raised her sword above her head, began the motion to plunge it into Akane but stopped halfway through. Kaya could not see it but behind her two thick lines of blood had emerged from trees, sticking themselves to Kaya’s arms. It was as if two people had lassoed Kaya’s arms from the trees and were now yanking the lassos back to prevent Kaya from moving.

“You were saying?” Akane asked, getting up.

“Deceptions within deceptions within deceptions isn’t it?”

“I understand how you fight, meaning taking countermeasures into account was easy. Are you going to be good now?”

“No! What is up with your line of thinking? What do you even mean by good?”

“Join me and leave the family behind. It’s clear to you and I that the family isn’t what it used to be. Where there was honor, there is now greed. Look at what they make you do. My father never would’ve allowed such a mission were he alive. The family doesn’t deserve you Kaya, they deserve to rot.”

“You make it sound like I can abandon what I’ve spent my whole life training to do. My whole purpose is to serve the Otani clan. Did you forget that the sub-branch of the family exists solely to serve the main branch? It is literally the reason I was born.”

“No I didn’t forget. But once my father was killed, I stopped caring about how the family does things. You’re your own person Kaya. You can make your own decisions. And the decision you should make is leave them behind. Perhaps even joining me becoming my friend in the process.”

“If-and I’m saying if purely as a hypothetical-I did join you, I’d only get killed later. They’d know I abandoned my mission and would hunt me to the ends of the earth. They would’ve done the same had they known you survived all those years ago.”

“Kill whoever they send. They’ll get the message at some point.” Akane said like what she proposed was the simplest thing in the world.

“It’s not that simple! Eventually they’ll send the family’s highest ranked members. Hell if it gets bad enough your brothers would come after me personally.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll kill them for you.”

“You’d what?”

“You’re family cousin, they’re not. If they came after you I’d kill them. ”

“Even then it wouldn’t end. It’d never end.”

“Hmm. Suppose I’ll just have to go to Albium and kill everyone then.”

“Are you insane? You’d die before you even set foot inside the estate!”

“No I wouldn’t.”

“Your confidence scares me.”

“Can’t be that hard. I just have to go in and kill everyone I see. Besides, how tough can the elders be?”

Kaya shook her head in pity at her cousin’s ignorance.

“Your proposal is insane. Sorry Akane, but there’s no way I can leave the family. You’re going to have to kill me.”

“Why? I made it clear I don’t want to”

“Because it’s an official duel, remember?.”

“Yes but I don’t care about the rules the family makes. I don’t have much time left, I have to get back to my friend. This isn’t over Kaya. I’ll come back for you. And I’ll convert you with the power of friendship. But for now you need to go to sleep.”

Akane raised her sword and Kaya tried everything in her power to escape but it was fruitless. Akane’s blood kept her arms firmly in place. Blood oozed out of Akane’s leg wound, travelled upwards, encasing Akane’s blade in blood. The blood then hardened so much so that the sharp sword became a blunt instrument. Akane leaped into the air, far above the trees. As she fell to the ground she threw a vertical slice.

“BLOOD BAT SLAM MARK 2!” she yelled as the blade slammed onto Kaya’s head, driving it straight into the ground.

Kaya’s body was flat on the ground motionless, all traces of consciousness absent. Akane stood over her cousin, breathing heavily. With the fight over, the adrenaline that had been coursing through her body wore off and severe pain came over her body. Only now was Akane aware of the damage she took, especially that critical hit. Akane stumbled onto her knee, coughed up some more blood. To help heal, all of the blood that was outside of her body rentered it via her wounds. It helped her recuperate a bit. She got back onto her feet, then walked away to go recover her heels, hoping they hadn’t been destroyed.

Akane went over to the bamboo pit, saw her heels at the bottom. Blood came out of her stomach wound and retrieved them. She put them on and felt better to be her standard though unnatural height. Shortly after putting them on, Akane’s environment changed in an instant. She was no longer in the watercolor forest, but back in the real world. She had expected to see her cousin unconscious before her but that was not the case. Kaya’s body was absent. Akane tried to sense her aura but couldn’t. She knew what happened. Her cousin must’ve regained consciousness while Akane got her heels and hopefully let her out of the painting. Akane smirked to herself. She made progress with Kaya.

“I’ll be back, cousin. I promise.” Akane said.

She strode toward the door, stumbled a bit from the pain but quickly recomposed herself, leaving the room.

Akane went through the hallway, regrouping at the spot where she had last seen Warren. After a few seconds of standing alone Warren appeared from the door across from her, his clothes a bit scratched up and his body covered in minor bruises. It was essentially how Akane looked, though covered with more cuts.

“You’re late,” Akane declared.

Warren sighed, said “By how long?”

“About 3.67 seconds. You should’ve given us more time if you were gonna be late.”

“Right I’ll keep that in mind for next time.” Warren concurred, annoyed by Akane which he knew would happen. “You fought whoever you were talking about before?”

“Yes. And I have begun the process of turning them good.”

“So we have an ally?”

“No. I said ‘begun’. It’s not finished yet. They’ll come around eventually.”

“Alright.” Warren said, too tired to figure out whatever Akane was talking about.

Akane noticed something on Warren’s back, asked “What’s that?”

Warren took the grenade launcher off his back, opened it so Akane could see the grenade inside the large barrel.

“Got this off one of the council members I fought. Think it can come in handy.”

Akane stared at the weapon, her eyes wide.

“It’s cool. Can I have it?”

“No.”

“Please?”

“No.”

Despite being denied, Akane reached for the weapon only for Warren to pull it away, put it back on his back.

“I said no!”

“But we’re friends. Friends give friends weapons when they ask for them.”

“No they don’t, focus. Right now we need to get to the second floor. Did you see stairs in your hallway?”

Akane shook her head.

“Alright then we jump through the roof onto the next floor. Mason is sure to be-”

“Hey hey hey no need to do that now.” A voice said from behind them.

They spun around, saw a speaker had appeared in front of the fountain of Vienna.

“A lot of time and effort was spent to build this place. I mean it wasn’t my money or anything but still I’d appreciate it if you didn’t go about destroying everything. There was a reason why you two fought in rooms that didn’t allow the fight to span throughout the entire house. By the way Marshall you owe me money for the wall you broke. That’s not cool. Anyway I think you two have proved yourselves so no need to worry about trying to find me.”

A ding sound came from behind. Once again they turned around, saw an open elevator where there had previously had just been a wall.

“Go right on in. It’ll take you to my study. I’ll be waiting.” the voice said, coming from a speaker that appeared above them.

Akane jumped up, punched the speaker in, landed next to Warren.

“Want to jump through the roof just to piss him off?” she proposed.

“No. The way the rooms can move means he might lead us on a goose chase. Let’s just go along for now. Once we see him we attack.”

“The rooms can move?”

“Yeah. It didn’t happen to you?”

“No. Just got attacked.”

“Guess he only likes playing games with me. Come on.” Warren said, motioning for her to follow him.

Together they entered the elevator. The door closed on its own. Warren looked at the control panel, saw that the buttons weren’t numbered but instead had strange markings he couldn’t recognize. One of them was glowing indicating it was pushed. They felt the elevator begin to move. First it went up, then they felt the sensation of it moving to the right. Generic elevator music began to play.

“Are you ok with your injuries?” Warren asked, his eyes remaining fixated on the elevator’s door.

“I’m fine. Only had to use about 25% of my power. You?”

“I’m a bit beat up but I’m good. It could’ve gone worse for a two on one.”

“Impressive. I expect no less from my friend.”

“Thanks.”

Akane put her arm out, her hand in a fist.

“Friendship fist bump. Come on.” she said

“Why?”

“For good luck. We need to maximize our friendship and in turn our power.”

Warren looked at her, wondering if she was serious. Of course she was.

“Warren please. For the friendship.” she begged.

Warren relented, returned the fist bump.

“Yes.” she whispered to herself.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

The elevator stopped. If Mason was being honest, he would be in the room they were about to enter. A mixture of excitement and anxiousness filled Warren’s gut. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

“We got this” Akane assured, picking up on Warren’s anxiety.

Warren nodded. The door of the elevator slowly opened. Whether he was truly ready or not, his final battle was about to begin.