Mission Complete

{Date: 10/11 - Tuesday}

{Time: 6:00 PM}

I slowly began to wake up from my rest, noticing I was inside a save haven and laying upon someone's lap. I looked up, noticing I was resting upon Saito lap as she kept watch over me while Yumeji and Kikyo waited for the others outside.

Saito felt my movements, looking down at me and gently rubbed my hair. "You're finally awake...Saito was very worried about you."

I smiled at her and closed my eyes again, letting out a soft sigh then turned my head. "You didn't have to stay with me if you didn't want to..."

Saito stared down at me, gently making me look at her. "Saito stayed with you because she wanted to. Saito wanted to keep watch of your recovery since...you did use a lot of Spirit Energy defeating The Queen."

I stared into Saito's eyes, my cheeks heating into a soft pink color. I couldn't help but to feel my heart flutter as I stared at her, feeling her hand resting upon my cheek. "Saito...I...that means a lot to me. Truly..."

{Bond with Saito increased.}

{Saito's Status UP: Best Friend -> Crush}

Saito smiled at me, gently rubbing my head, her fingers gently raking through my hair. She noticed as I leaned more into her touch, her mind shifting from her Robotic Mind to her Human Mind. "You're welcome...just know if you ever need anyone to lean on, I'm here..."

I stared into her eyes, my gaze locking onto hers and holding in place. It was the way she would talk in first person with me that made my heart flutter, the way she reassured me in such a tone...I couldn't deny the tingling feelings within me for her.

"I know you are, Saito...I just wish I could give you more in return," I said softly, slowly sitting up and shifting myself to sit beside her then leaned against her for support.

"You don't have to do much for me, Hisumi...you just being alive and here is enough for me. I promise..." Saito assured, glancing at me, her cheeks heating up as she gazed upon me.

I looked at her as well, locking eyes with her and gently bit my lip, feeling my heart racing as I stared at her. We could feel the heat radiating off one another, causing us to get as close to each other as possible. I leaned into her, my eyes half-lidded as I went in for the first kiss. Saito watched me, allowing me to lean in and felt my lips gently press against hers.

As I gently kissed Saito, I heard the sliding door open, my body jolting in shock and pulling away quickly. I turned toward the doors and noticed Yumeji and Kikyo, letting out a soft sigh. Saito was a bit startled as well, her Human Mind shifting back into her Robotic Mind.

"Y-Yumeji..? What the heck..! You can't just slam the doors open like that..!" I sighed, unabke to stop blushing.

"Sorry!~ Sorry!~ We were just worried about you and wanted to make sure you were okay!" Yumeji apologized, clapping her hands together and gave a bow of forgiveness.

"We... didn't interrupt anything did we?" Kikyo asked, glancing between me and Saito with a curious gaze.

"Negative: You and Yumejidiot are fine. Saito and Hisumi were just chatting..." Saito confirned, her usual illeism speech and deadpan tone returning.

"Yumejidiot? Hey, what the heck is that supposed to mean, Android?!" Yumeji scoffed, pointing at Saito with a playful glare.

Saito's eye twitched as Yumeji called her an Android then scoffed. "At least I'm not a Third Rate B Rank..."

Kikyo and I giggled at their little banter, used to the way they would tease each other and feign annoyance at each other's comments. We had grown accustomed to the friendly rivalry Yumeji and Saito had and their teasing remarks for one another.

Yumeji stepped inside the safe haven then took her seat at the low table. "How are you feeling though? You had a pretty gnarly pass out earlier.."

I let out a soft exhale, looking at my hands and balled them into fists. "I guess I can say I'm fine, but...it's just a bit hard for me to completely say that I'm truly okay. We failed at our mission at destroying the box and who knows where Pandora is now..."

Kikyo sat beside Yumeji at the low table, staring at me with an understanding gaze. "I know you want your revenge on Judgement, but we have to take it one step at a time. Orishi told us this once, 'As long as we come out the mission alive, we take home some form of victory.'"

Yumeji nodded with agreement, crossing her arms with her eyes closed. "Mainly because of the fact of how long it may take to train battle ready Valkyrias let alone find women that have Spirit Energy."

"Mmm...I guess I'm used to they way I run missions when I was with Judgement. It was the rule of you couldn't return back to HQ until your mission was 100% complete. If you dared to even return back to HQ with failure, you would be punished," I said, shuddering at the memories of my failed missions in the past.

Yumeji shuddered at the thought of being left in the outside world until her mission was complete. "By the the way...I have a question based on what Pandora said earlier...about you maybe being a clone of the original Hisumi..?"

"Yume..!" Kikyo scolded, gently swatting her arm.

"What? I'm just curious...and she doesn't have to answer me. I won't—" Yumeji began.

"It's okay, I'll answer," I said, leaning against Saito again with a heavy sigh.

Yumeji, Kikyo, and Saito all began to listen closely to me, their questions about to be answered. I closed my eyes, gathering my thoughts before answering the question.

"Alright...so yes, Judgement has worked with cloning and still do. I was their main target of experiments and sometimes I would sneak into the labs to see what they were testing with...and yes, I did see another me in one of the chambers..." I began, trying to find the right words and remember my past correctly, though it was hard due to me locking away a few memories within.

"There is another me being worked on, but I doubt it is the original me. I still believe that I am the original and he is the clone. A clone they are working to perfect and need me for. I mean, they told me when they betrayed me that they did it for my Spirit Energy for the Commander, but I feel like they also need it for my clone," I continued, looking down at my lap.

"So there is a clone huh..? That's seriously messed up...the things they would do just to get more power. I can't imagine the type of experiments you had to go through," Kikyo said, shaking her head and closing her eyes.

Saito nodded, placing a hand on my hand. "Agreement: Saito agrees that she can't imagine it either and she is a Biodroid after her expermients. It seems so surreal that a clone of you could potentially exist. That is actually scary..."

I nodded, looking up and exhaled softly. "I do know one thing though...that there can only be one of me so if they try to deploy him, I will destroy him immediately..."

Yumeji smiled at my statement, nodding her head. "And we will be with you every step of the way!"

I smiled at Yumeji, feeling a bit better then sat up as I heard someone's phone ringing. Yumeji took her phone out of her pocket then set it on the middle of the low table, answering the call. A holographic interface appeared in front of the four of us, Orishi's face appearing on the left side while we showed up on the right side.

"Girls? Are you four okay?" Orishi began, looking at us with a bit of concern, seeking confirmation from us. "I haven't heard from you all since we set you out on that task."

"Yeah, we're okay. We weren't able to destroy Pandora's Box though as she got away from us after summoning a powerful Fell Beast upon us," Kikyo answered.

"We really probably should've called you, but we managed to handle the situation!" Yumeji said, smiling brightly at Orishi.

Orishi nodded and let out a soft sigh of relief. "Good... alright. The student Council just left with Sayoko, and Liao Ru and I are coming back to you with Misao. We handled things on our end here so we should be able to—"

Suddenly, the communication cut off, leaving the four of us looking surprised. The lights around the save haven began flickering and a few screams were heard from outside. The four of us quickly got up to go check what was going on outside.

Once we made it outside, we heard a loud, hostile and beast-like roar. The roar shook the ground, large amounts of Fallen Energy pooling into the the village.

"Mommy!!" A child cried out as he fell on the ground.

The child's mother stopped quickly and turned around to save her son. As she ran toward him, a large beast-like creature turned the corner, seeing the two and went to stomp upon them.

"Yumeji!" I called out, looking at her to use her Time Dilation.

"On it!" Yumeji said, rushing forward and using a time clone to slow down time.

She ran forward and scooped up the mother and her son, moving out of the way just before time resumed to normal. Yumeji brought them to safety, the mother thanking her profusely before hurrying off.

"Hisumi... what is that thing?" Kikyo asked, readying her katana in her hand while stepping back instinctively.

"It's another...Fell Beast. This one is actually stronger than The Queen. Designed after a prehistoric creature. His name is Mammoth, an A Rank Fell Beast. I don't think we can beat this one as we are. We barely survived The Queen," I answered, clutching the handle of my katana and gulped.

Mammoth had a distinctly mechanical and beast-like design, combining animalistic features with futuristic technology. He resembled a robotic quadrupedal creature with a sturdy, aggressive stance. The head design featured prominent tusk-like extensions and sharp angles, adding a sense of power and menace.

Its body is primarily white, accented by glowing pink highlights that suggest energy circuits or a power source within. The pink light gives it a dynamic, lifelike quality, emphasizing its advanced technological nature. The armor plating looks heavily fortified, suggesting this enemy is durable and built for direct combat.

{Warning: Enemy ahead is too strong. Please retreat to a safe area!}

"We can't retreat though! If we run away, the villagers will die. We have to stay and hold him off until Orishi and the others arrive!" I said, glancing at Genesis.

"But Mammoth is too powerful! Mammoth is ten times stronger than you are! You'll die in one hit!" Genesis warned, hovering in front of me.

I grit my teeth and stared at Genesis, keeping my hand upon my katana. I glanced behind her then got into my stance. "Then I'll just use my Perception. Fell Beasts barely have any Perception as they are made as weapons of destruction. We just need to lure him out of the village!"

Genesis saw my resolve, sighing softly as she just wanted to keep me and my friends safe. "Stubborn just like your mother... alright. I will give you the best route to lure Mammoth that will lead to your path intercepting with Orishi's. You need to head toward the mountains where Misao's shrine is located."

I noticed the holographic map that Genesis displayed for me with a red dot showing my destination. I nodded at the map then looked at my allies. "Yumeji, Kikyo, Saito, we're leading Mammoth toward the mountains. We will meet Orishi half way! You go forth, I'll taunt him into following us!"

The three nodded and ran forward, leaving me behind to taunt Mammoth. I stared at him then awakened my Fallen Energy, pointing my katana at him, blasting him with a bolt of black lightning.

"Come at me you failed Mammoth..." I taunted then ran forward rushing toward the mountains.

Mammoth's body began to shine red and he turned around quickly, his body destroying a few buildings as he did. He let out a roar and chargef after us, his steps thumping along the ground heavily.

I looked back, noticing Mammoth chasing after us and launching orbs of Fallen Energy at us. I began dodging the orbs and ran into the forest. Yumeji and the others followed me, the four of us rushing through the forest at once. Mammoth hopped forward and rolled into a ball then spindashed through the forest, taking down multiple trees at once, causing them to fall in our path.

Kikyo noticed Mammoth speed past us and looked surprised. "This thing can spindash?!"

"They made him to be a mix of a Tank and Speedster, but he's mainly a tank! Dodge those trees!" I called out, sliding under one of the trees then vaulted over another fallen tree.

We began evading the falling trees that Mammoth caused, using our Perception to the fullest to predict if we had to slide under or jump over. Mammoth appeared in front of us, spindashing ahead but we split up just in time to evade his attack.

We left the forest and noticed Orishi, Liao Ru, and a third woman with them. Orishi noticed us as well, pointing at us and ran toward us then noticed Mammoth appear behind us. She rushed ahead, summoning her sword and her battlesuit appeared upon her body, fiery energy forming around her body.

She let out a bellow, slashing in a wide arc and released a fiery cutting wave at Mammoth, the wave hitting him and knocking him back. "Liao Ru! Misao! Let's take this beast down and be done with this mission!"

Liao Ru rushed forward, summoning her gauntlets then stopped Mammoth's charge, grabbing hold of his tusks and spun him around with her immense strength then slammed him down, allowing Misao to appear above him and slice his head clean off with one blow. Mammoth's body dispersed into Fallen Energy, floating into the sky back to return to Pandora's Box.

"Whoa...in just three hits they dealt with Mammoth easily..." I said in awe and noticed the three making their way toward us.

"Are you four okay?" Orishi asked, glancing at us and made her sword disappear.

We nodded quickly, still in awe of how quickly they handled Mammoth. We noticed Liao Ru and Misao walking toward us as well, taking our first look at Misao and her appearance.

Misao was a tall, fair skinned woman with long pink hair, reminiscent of the cherry blossoms. She wore her miko attire, which was primarily a shrine maiden's robe and under skirt with a purple scarf around her neck and a fox mask on her side.

She also carried a white katana with an angel wing hilt, the blade glowing golden when near Fallen Energy. She had a Stigma on her forehead, but it was unfamiliar to me so I couldn't make out what it was.

"Alright, if you're alright, we should be heading back to St. Fraskia before Judgement gets any more ideas to attack us," Orishi said, calling Star Shooter to our location.

With that, our mission was complete with Misao and her village saved from Judgement and the Fell Beasts causing ruin to the District. I couldn't take my eyes off Misao, very curious about her since I couldn't even sense her power level. Since she was strong enough to defeat Mammoth in one blow, I could tell she had to be an S Rank Valkyria.

Once our battleship arrived, we boarded it and took off to the skies. We began to fly back to St. Fraskia, returning home before any other dangers decided to arrive.