Chapter Thirty-Seven: Ossix

In a bar in Asuka...

Fujii walked into the bar, sitting down in one of the booths. A bartender woman walked up to him, smiling.

"Hi, Mr. Fujii! What can I get you?"

"Just a Queen's Revenge, please."

"Gotcha!" She hurried off to put his order in. Fujii kicked back and relaxed, sighing heavily.

"Okay, a woman is dead, there are enemies in our midst, and one of my soldiers might be their target. Typical day in the office."

He looked up at the TV, seeing Akari, Hikari, and Dachii dancing against Arata's team in the finals.

"Wow, look at them go! That's my Squad!"

He saw Dachii throw them in the air. "Ha! It seems he's getting better with the ladies! I am a great inspiration."

The bartender came back with a bottle of Queen's Revenge, pouring it into a glass for him. "Thanks, honey."

She blushed. "No problem, sir! Do you need anything else?"

"Got a number I can call? I got the latest watch!"

"Oh! Of course! Here—-!"

The TV abruptly cut out. She looked back at it, a bit startled. "That's odd."

Fujii took a shot and wiped his mouth. "I'm sure it will come back on later. Now then, about your number."

BOOM.

A loud noise was heard in the distance, shocking everyone in the bar. Fujii rubbed his eyes. "Wow, that liquor is HITTING. I just heard the LOUDEST sound ever!"

"But sir, that actually—-!"

"Now then, what time do you get off work?"

"Oh!"

Meanwhile, back at the Asuka Festival...

"Ugh...ow...my head..."

Dachii pulled himself out of the rubble of the stage, but immediately when he got up, two large, extremely bony hands clasped around him, holding him firm in the air.

"What the—-?!"

When he looked down, he saw Omari, shirtless, and the bones that were holding him came STRAIGHT from Omari's arms.

"Now, Dachii, I'm sure you'll be warmly welcomed back home! Everyone is eager to meet you!"

"Omari! What the hell? Let me go!"

"Oh right. Forgot to tell you."

A wave of black lines spread from under his eyes, and his smile was hideous. He had cracked, black teeth, that seemed to be dripping with black goo.

"My name's Ossix."

"Ossix?"

Before he could respond, the bones trapping Dachii were slashed into pieces, and Dachii fell to the ground.

"Oof!"

Marachii ran over to him, kneeling down. "Dachii! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, but what the hell is going on?"

Luca landed in front of him, two axes in his hands. "I had a suspicion those girls were keeping something hidden! This must be it!"

"You knew something was wrong?" Marachii asked.

"Of course. My senses never lie."

Ossix looked at Luca with an amused look. "Let me guess, the beast is now free, isn't it?"

"Come find out."

Ossix moved in a blur, much faster than any of the three could see. A sharp, bony blade headed for Luca's head from the right side.

"Luca, look out!"

Luca used his axes to block the blow at the last second, but he landed right into Dachii and Marachii. The entire crowd screamed and began to run.

Luca got up, calling out: "Everyone! Dangerous enemy! Leave! Leave now!"

He heard sobbing to his left, and he looked and saw Ayaka kneeling beside Jun, who was on the floor, coughing blood.

"Jun! Come on! Get up! We have to go!"

"Ayaka...run..." He was barely able to manage a sentence, as blood continued to pour out. Kiyoko got up on the stage.

"Come on! We have to get him out of there!"

"Okay! But where?"

"There's a hospital nearby! We can take him there!"

Both girls grabbed Jun and hurried away. Kiyoko looked back, seeing Arata still standing on the stage, frozen. "Hey! Aren't you coming?"

"Hell no! I wanna fight!"

He ripped off the top of his robe, stomping right towards Ossix. "Hey, jackass! Who do you think you are?"

As the girls took Jun away, Ossix turned back to look at him. "They were right. You are a meathead brute."

Arata reared back his fist, ready to punch. "Eat this, YOU BUM—-!

And then right after, he got slammed right into the nearest building, nearly collapsing it. Ossix turned his attention back to Luca, who rushed at him with his axes held high.

"Hmph!"

Holding out his arms, they both turned into long bony blades, and he and Luca clashed blades back and forth, with Ossix's speed increasing beyond Luca's.

"Time to die, wolf!"

He pulled his right arm back for a killing strike, but he had to put it up to block right as Dachii punched him.

"Take that, crazy bone-man!"

But the impact only made him slide back a few feet, still standing upright. He turned his arms back to normal and laughed.

"Wow, Dachii. That's all you can do? Maybe we've got the wrong PERSON."

"Good! So GO AWAY, you FAKE FRIEND!"

He cracked his neck, laughing even harder. "Oh, we can be friends, alright..."

Then he held out his arms again, and they formed gauntlets made of bone. "It's just your old friends will have to DIE!"

He charged at them, jumping into the air and preparing to strike. Dachii got into a low stance and both their punches collided, sending Luca, Dachii, and Marachii all flying back.

BOOM.

When they got up, Marachii pointed at the fleeing citizens. "We should go too!"

Dachii nodded. "Yes, I agree! I very much agree!"

Luca just spit out a tooth, which regrew immediately. "We can't. We run, he'll kill civilians in pursuit of us. It seems he's after Dachii."

"Why ME?"

But Luca didn't have a chance to respond as Ossix walked toward the group, a big smile on his face. "Three versus one, and you're all still on the ropes? That's sad."

Luca shifted into his werewolf form, running at Ossix. As he unleashed a flurry of slashes at him, Ossix put his hands up to block every time, remaining unharmed before kicking Luca back.

Luca shifted back. "Looks like we're gonna have to attack him together. Let's take him."

"Wait, that's a bad plan!"

"I'll go heavy this time!" Luca shifted into his gorilla form, dropping the axes. Ossix jumped up and landed right in the middle of the three, and Luca punched him a few times before he got flung into the air.

Ossix dodged an uppercut from Dachii as well, punching him right into a building. "Ow! Gosh, that hurts."

Marachii took a breath to calm himself, then he held up his arm. "Cannon, GO!"

His arm transformed into a massive gun with a giant muzzle at the end, and he shot a giant plasma blast at Ossix, who side-stepped it with ease.

"Heh. Better control, I see!"

Marachii unleashed a few tendrils from his back, which slashed and attempted to strike Ossix, but he grabbed one of them and slammed him into the ground.

"You're a human, so I don't wanna hurt you TOO bad, but you're IN THE WAY."

He heard a thud behind him that got his attention. "YOU THOUGHT THAT HIT WOULD DO SOMETHING? YOU'RE SO DAMN WEAK IT ISN'T EVEN FUNNY!"

Arata charged up a fist, while Ossix lifted an eyebrow in response. He punched the guy directly in the face, causing a massive shockwave, and it made him stagger a little before he landed on his feet.

"Nice hit! Now it's MY turn!"

He doubled the size of his gauntlet, and punched Arata right in the stomach, making him cough and throw up.

"Low...blow...!"

Arata fell to his knees, and Ossix returned his gauntlet back to its normal size, and the lines running across his body got longer and longer.

Dachii limped his way back to the stage, with his hair messed up. "Oh...great...now YOU'RE here!"

Arata glared at him and laughed. "This is easy..."

Ossix summoned a bunch of bony hands from his arms and wrapped Dachii, Marachii, and Arata in them.

"...work..."

"Time to take you boys to my FAVORITE SPOT!"

Luca, now back to normal, tried another attack, but Ossix grabbed him as well, and he quickly disappeared with all four boys, moving so fast he couldn't even be seen.

Meanwhile, on another side of the Asuka Festival...

"Hurry! The hospital should be this way!"

Ayaka and Kiyoko hurried with Jun in tow, who was still coughing blood. On the way, they bumped into a girl, knocking her over and nearly dropping Jun.

"Hey! Move out of the way, he's badly hurt!"

But Ayaka noticed who it was. "You!"

Hikari rubbed her head, standing up. "What the...? What happened?"

"He got stabbed! He's about to die! Can you heal him? Please?"

"Well, this is serious, but I can try—-"

"Okay, do it!"

Hikari put one hand on Jun's chest, and a pink glow emitted from her hands, enveloping his body. Immediately, the wound began to close, and Jun coughed a bit more.

"Did it work? Jun?" Ayaka asked, nervous.

"Ugh...I don't...feel...dead...anymore..."

"Oh, thank goodness!"

As Kiyoko and Ayaka hugged him in relief, Jun struggled to get more words out.

"Thank...you ...but your friend...is in danger..."

Hikari's eyes widened. "Damn it!" She immediately rushed into a nearby building, pulling Akari out. "What? What's wrong, Hikari?"

"We have to go, now!"

BOOM.

A cloud of dust could be seen in the distance. Makoto came out of the building, slightly confused. "Where are you two going? We haven't processed your coins yet!"

"We'll get them later, damn it!"

As they both prepared to leave, Jun grabbed Akari by the arm. "Princess...whatever he is...he isn't a Voltian...or a human."

"Okay."

They both headed toward the noise, and Ayaka watched them go, a look of worry on her face. "I hope those boys are alright! I've never seen anything like that guy before!"

Meanwhile, in a shopping mall in Asuka...

Arata, Luca, and Marachii got tossed through the ceiling of a shopping mall, and everyone stopped doing what they were doing and stared.

"The hell?"

"Did those boys just fall through the roof?"

"One of them is that human from the Tryouts!"

Then they looked up and saw Dachii being dangled through the roof by Ossix, who looked down with a hint of amusement.

"You see, Dachii? Look at all these vermin, shopping like if they aren't spawn of the devil."

"Look, just let me GO!"

"I gotta better idea. Watch THIS."

Dozens of bony tendrils came out of his back, almost like spider legs. People watched in horror as they began to descend. A janitor stormed toward them.

"Hey, humans! Why the hell did you break the roof? Now I have to call this in, you damn idiots!"

Ossix stared down at him, condescendingly.

"Oh. You do that, then."

"Huh? Who you talking to—?"

Ossix's tendrils moved so fast and carved the man into pieces in just a few seconds. The entire crowd screamed and ran.

"Run!

"It's a monster!"

"Go! Go!"

Marachii and the others stood up. "This is bad! This is bad! Where's the General? Or the Princess? We have to save my brother!"

Ossix snapped his fingers, and his bone tendrils began slicing through dozens of Voltians who tried to flee. Arata growled and charged up his entire body.

"You wanna kill people? Then DIE!"

He used his shockwaves to propel himself towards Ossix, as Dachii tried to squirm away. "Wait, wait, WAIT!"

But the punch never landed, and everyone saw Ossix now down in the MIDDLE of the mall, bones still attacking nearby civilians.

As Arata landed on the ground, Luca summoned his axes again. "We need to protect the people AND Dachii!"

"I KNOW!"

Ossix directed his appendages at Luca and Arata as they rushed him. Luca used his axes to deflect the bones, while Arata powered through using his shockwaves.

"TAKE...THIS.!"

He pulled both his arms back and unleashed a powerful shockwave that forced Ossix to put his hands up to block. When he put his arms down, he was still standing, only having moved a few feet back.

"Weak. And you're considered strong?"

Luca did a little chuckle. "It got the job done."

Ossix looked and saw Dachii was now on the ground, sitting behind Luca, cracking his arms. "Thanks, do we run now?"

"Actually? Yes."

As Luca, Marachii, and Dachii turned and took off outside the mall, Arata scoffed. "Come back, weaklings! Military Soldiers don't run!"

But he saw even more appendages appear from Ossix's back and arms, becoming sharper and sharper with every step he took.

"Aww, hell."

Arata charged up his body and used the shockwaves to catch up to the others in no time. "Find a way to kill this guy!"

Luca looked back, as Ossix started to use his extra limbs to walk like a spider. "No clue. Any ideas, Dachii?"

"Uh, no? He's the one trying to get ME! You guys figure this out!"

"Marachii?"

"Don't look at me! I'm no fighter!"

Arata growled again. "Idiots!"

But Ossix stopped when he heard a loud sound coming from his right. He turned his head to see a GIANT energy blast, as big as the buildings around it, sliding through the street, and it hit him head-on.

"Oh, great."

He got launched into a building, and as he used his limbs to get out, he saw two new members join the battlefield, both back in uniform.

"Sorry, guys. We're back now," Akari stated, as she prepared to launch another blast.

Ossix simply laughed. "Great! The whole squad can die together!"

Then his body shifted, and his entire frame became wrapped in bones, forming bony armor around himself, including his face.

With one arm now turned into a bony spike, he motioned for them to attack. "Come, Princess. Come and die with your friends."

—-