The Point Of The Mask

"How much further is it?" The Batter asks Kasai from the bottom of a sand dune.

"I can't really tell." Kasai stands at the top of the dune The Batter's resting beneath. "Maybe another ten minute walk."

"Finally."

The pair's been wandering through these wastes for the past six hours. It's a relief to see that the village is so close.

"Do you think that's hell?"

"Maybe? We'll have to figure that out for ourselves." Kasai claps her hands together. "Alright, you ready to go?"

"Yeah." The Batter picks the last few grains of sand from her hair. "Let's go."

"Wait."

"What is it?"

Kasai points at a house in the middle of the desert. How long has that been there? It's a quaint little thing blending in with its bleak surroundings. "Should we check it ou–"

"Let's go." The Batter is consciously looking away from the house. "Now."

Kasai looks back at the house one last time before sighing and continuing the trek to the village, giving the oddity a wide berth all the while.

The Batter and Kasai stand at the edge of a cobblestone road. In front of them seem to be an endless series of stalls, restaurants, and peddlers. Yokai walk these streets. Small yokai, big yokai, translucent yokai barely more than walking shadows, humongous skeleton yokai, and even yokai who seem indistinguishable from real people. But strangely, none of them bother to look their way. Kasai reaches out an uneasy hand at the crowd, only for her fingers to phase through the yokai.

"What the–?"

"You won't get anywhere acting all coy like that." A voice. A familiar one, coming from behind. "We don't belong in this realm. It's only natural that our rules don't apply here."

"We've got company." The Batter quickly spins around, covering their six.

"I heard." Kasai sheathes her sword, priming it for combat. "Show yourself!"

Two lone figures stand at the top of a nearby dune. "Oi, Kasai! Long time no see! And by long time, I mean less than a full day!"

"It's you." Kasai whirls around to greet her.

"It's me!" Even from this far away, they both see that she's striking a pose. "The Magical Girl of Justice, Isaka Kaymi!"

"You know her?" The Batter shoots Kasai a look of sheer incredulity.

"Long story."

"And I'm Ryukko Saoka. I'm here too, I guess." The other figure folds her arms behind her head.

"What business do you have here?" The Batter's voice is stern.

"Isn't it obvious?" A flash of white– Isaka's smiling. "We're here to kill you, of course! You didn't think we would just hand you the win, did you?"

"You bastards!" Kasai levels her sword at them.

"Our orders are to give you one last chance to surrender." Ryukko extends her hand and a spear with an oversized tip manifests in her grasp. She stabs it into the sand. "So, what's it going to be? Hell or death?"

"We'll take our chances." Kasai and The Batter both speak in unison. They both look at each other in mild surprise.

Ryukko smirks. "We were hoping you'd say that." She twirls the spear before holding it in a reverse grip.

"Isaka!"

"Right!" Isaka jumps onto Ryukko's speartip. Then, Ryukko launches Isaka like a catapult flinging a boulder. She tucks her legs in and conjures a sword with a golden hilt in her hand. All the while, Ryukko chases behind her.

"Here she comes." Nakasuko readies her bat.

"I can see that!" Kasai takes a bold step forwards and meets Isaka's blade in midair with a draw-slash. Sparks fly as their swords bite into each other. There's no contest. It's like trying to cut through a boulder. Isaka doesn't even flinch. Kasai is forced to take a step back to break away from the clash.

"Oh? Is that all the Blackadder Head has to show for?"

"「Gujutsu - Slugger!」" The Batter wastes no time, launching an assault of her own. She spins her bat as she dashes, generating as much momentum as possible before unleashing it all in a single devastating strike. But before she can deliver the blow, a speartip peeks out from over Isaka's shoulder and threatens to stab The Batter in the face. She just barely manages to reverse her momentum in time– the sharp edge less than a centimeter from her eye. The Batter is forced to take a step back.

They already knew about the sheer difference in strength between them and the I-C's but seeing it firsthand is another thing entirely. Kasai grits her teeth. Still, if it's Yuki's life on the line, then she has no choice. There's no mountain she won't climb to get to her sister.

"「Gujutsu - Juuchi Yosamu.」" Blood red arcane sigils carve themselves into her sword. There, that should even the playing field slightly.

"You take Ryukko. I'll take Isaka." Kasai whispers to The Batter.

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"On my mark…"

"Tsk– Fine!"

Ryukko whispers to Isaka. "Let's do this together. On my mark…"

"Mark!"

"Mark!"

The temporary calm explodes into outright violence. Isaka and Ryukko charge boldly forward, Ryukko stabbing with her spear as offense and Isaka deflecting the incoming strikes like a solid wall. They blitz a hole into Kasai and The Batter's defenses, separating the two. They try to regroup but their enemies' attacks are relentless. There's no time to even breathe. Every single hole in Isaka or Ryukko's defenses is immediately shored up by the other. They battle in perfect harmony, as though they can read each other's minds.

Though, even perfect strategy can be undermined by dirty tricks. Kasai reaches into her pocket, pulls out a fistful of sand and throws it in Isaka's eyes. Her arms fly upwards on instinct, leaving her body unguarded.

"「Iaijutsu - Absolute Cut!」" Kasai vanishes before reappearing next to The Batter. Two lines appear, both along Isaka's shoulders. Then the lines grow into cuts, then the cuts grow into gaps. Her severed arms fall to the ground, still twitching.

"Isaka!" Ryukko flicks her eyes at Isaka, overcome with panic, leaving herself open to The Batter's assault.

"「Taijutsu - Special Homerun!」" The Batter drives her bat directly into Ryukko's jaw, aiming to incapacitate via concussion. Only she miscalculates and instead takes her entire face clean off. It doesn't come off naturally, like how flesh is torn. Rather, it simply slips off, as though her face was just a ceramic mask. Because it is.

The illusion blinks away all at once. Where Ryukko stood now stands this horrible mechanical abomination wearing Ryukko's features like makeup. Where she had skin, it has porcelain. Where she had flesh, it has pistons and gears, where she had a heart, it has a beating red gem.

"–?!" Both The Batter and Kasai are unable to hide their horror.

The Batter levels her bat at the monster. "The hell?!"

It calmly walks over to where its mask fell and dons it. The illusion of a flesh and blood Ryukko returns, draping itself over the monster like a dress.

"Busted~ Looks like you've found out our little secret." Isaka slips her foot under her severed arm, kicks it into the air, and catches it with the stump where her arm used to be. In an instant, her flesh reknits itself together, healing unnaturally, without leaving so much as a scar. She reaches up to her face and removes her own mask, doffing the illusion and revealing that she too is a monster of porcelain and metal. The unnatural healing's true nature is revealed as self-repairing machinery welding itself back together autonomously. Cogs and gears interlock back together in perfect clockwork tempo.

"What have they done to you?!" Kasai starts backing away.

"Made faster." Ryukko takes a step forward.

"Stronger." Isaka takes a step forward.

"Hardier." They both take a step closer while leveling their weapons at their enemies. "Better."

"Yeah, yeah, run your mouths all you want." The Batter brazenly takes a step forward. "The one who lets their guard down is still the loser."

"What are you doing?" Kasai grabs The Batter's shoulder and starts pulling her back. "We can't win this."

"Get your hand off me!" She fights Kasai's grip. "If we run, we die, If we fight we die!"

"Think about your sister for a half-second! She's waiting for you to come get her and you're talking about dying?! We have to at least try to get away!"

"You should listen to your girlfriend." Ryukko smirks as she advances. "Hell is not a nice place to be."

"Kh… fine!" The Batter hisses at Kasai with barely controlled fury. "If we split up, we might have a chance at surviving."

"If I don't make it out of this, tell Yuki I'm sorry."

"If I don't make it out of this, tell Shosuko she needs better taste in clothing."

"Tell them that yourselves." Looking over the I-C's shoulders, the two notice a small jeep parked on the top of a dust dune. Two girls get out of the car. One with lengthy silver hair and one with short blonde hair. "To you two fine ladies, I say Dobryj Vyechyer!"

"That's how we say 'Good Evening' in Russian," Silver interjects.

"..." The two gracefully bow at both Kasai and The Batter. They're unsure if they should bow back.

"Klara?" Isaka's everlasting cheery demeanor is shattered completely. It's replaced by a wariness. One that's made all the eerier coming from her. "Is that you?"

"And to my former colleagues, I say Prashai!" Blondie spreads her arms and black lightning aggregates at her palms. Untold billions of volts concentrate into two balls of pure tesla.

Silver closes the jeep door behind her and slings a tube-shaped party popper over her shoulder. "That's how we say 'Farewell' in Russian."