Star

The bat dropped. A floating massive shard of glass sailed towards the Yakuza thug wielding his bat, causing him to grasp his neck in unbearable pain as it sliced his jugular vein. April nearly sacrificed her mind to create a psychic concentration that sent the glass shard flying out of her peripheral vision. With her mind paralyzed to the point of expunging its sanctity, April's psychic ability malfunctioned the more she attempted to use it to stop them from murdering Chiaki. The thought of having a death occurring in front of April proved to be too much for her to manage. April's nose bled rapidly, nearly dripping underneath her chin.

"What the fuck?" One of the Yakuza members grabbed the injured thug and applied existing pressure against his sliced neck to prevent the blood from spurting out of his vein. "Goddamn it! What the fuck happened?"

"Kill the fucking girl. She did this!" Another thug cried out, noticing April's fidgeting body flailing out of control. "What a sexy girl. Sad to say I'm gonna have to fucking kill you!" He approached April holding fiber wire tightly with the intent to deliver a decapitating end to her movement. But before he could step foot near April, the shattering sound of glass crashed from above the factory's second floor.

A sharpened harpoon attached with a flexible carbon wire plunged deeply into the attacking thug's cheek, penetrating his head with one clear stab. The thug could only make choking noises as blood seeped out of his eyes. His mouth opened widely as his jaw was rendered useless to his quick death.

As the entire room lit up in surprise over the unexpected death, the harpoon retracted back to its original sender, pulling the lifeless thug towards the second floor. His head splattered against the edge of the rusty floor. The second-floor glass windows shattered as two machines with exoskeleton-like figures leaped through. One of the figures brandished a serrated edge and dove into the thug attempting to put pressure on the dying bat Yakuza. The figure stabbed through the side of the thug's neck, piercing through and instantaneously killing him. The other machine stylishly landed beside Chiaki and shoved the chair he was bound to in April's direction to keep a distance away from the action.

"What the fuck?" One of the thugs shouted in the ensuing chaos. "Fucking shoot them!"

Riddles of bullets blasted against the two machine exoskeletons. Ricocheting sounds deflected nearly all of the bullets away, sending them flying against the factory's entrance. Bullets collided with the brick foundation and the top floor, sending some of them back to their original senders. Both exoskeleton figures lifted their heads, emitting an impervious blast of steam out of their silvery jaws. April and Chiaki watched as one of them squatted down, retracting two musical stereo speakers from its back shoulders. As the Yakuza ceased fire to reload their weapons, the machine with the speakers hanging from its sharpened shoulders equipped two energy blasters in both of its hands.

"Jam." The machine's rattling spoke as it began blasting aesthetically pleasant lo-fi techno beats from its speakers. The introduction to the song began with a piano that slowly transitioned with a quick techno beat with an unknown language's high-pitched female singing to the melody.

April and Chiaki both glanced at each other for a split second to acknowledge their position together in the corner. They watched as a Yakuza member walked slowly armed with a revolver pointed at one of the bladed machines, cocking its chamber back and firing a single round.

The bullet failed to penetrate the machine's surface and deflected off of its framework. The bladed machine stood straight up, towering over the thug. It grabbed the thug's arm and yanked it back, cleanly dismembering it from his entire body and shoving it back into his chest. Combined with its twin, both machines began eviscerating the remaining Yakuza thugs with their unconventional lethal weapons. Screams and shouts of the remaining thugs cried aloud in agony as their weapons were of no use.

"The fuck is it?" One of the thugs cried. "What the fuck? What the fuck!"

As the bass from the stereo speakers began to pick up with each beat, the machines continued their assault. The bladed machine found solace in slicing up the limbs of the Yakuza thugs reloading their rifles. Their nanosuit technology was no match for their serrated penetrating steel. The blades decimated their arms and legs like a mobile blender, leaving no trace of life anywhere.

The second machine blasted the remaining Yakuza with a golden energy bolt that pierced their nanosuits as well. With each consecutive blast of its weapons, the lo-fi beats made it to the chorus and played in tandem with the rhythm of their attacks. Their knees were hopping and bouncing to the rhythm. One blast sent a thug flying through the brick foundation of the factory's first floor, piercing through the surface and sending him colliding outside on the pavement.

The drifting echo of multiple vehicles came ringing outside, nearly colliding with the factory walls. More Yakuza thugs gathered outside armed with rifles, firing from outside. April and Chiaki took shelter as low as they could. With all of the thugs annihilated from inside, both machines leaped out of the glass windows onto their assailants from outside. The lo-fi music's pounding beats rang muffled to both April and Chiaki. Both of them heard it mixed with blood-curdling screaming in tandem with the unknown high-pitched voice that sounded similar to an idol. As the sound of the music began to return through their ears clearly, one of the thug's bodies flew straight through the brick walls of the factory, landing inside bloodied beyond recovery.

The stereo-speaker machine leaped back inside to confirm the kill as more bullets ricocheted off of its impenetrable armor. "Groovy." It said, before returning to decimate the remaining thugs.

Shards of glass flew from above the second floor in front of April and Chiaki. With a squirming movement, Chiaki proceeded to drag his fatigued knees towards a glass shard to obtain it. April watched as he began to swiftly rub the rope on his bound arms against the sharp end of the shard to send himself free. One of the Yakuza thugs' vehicles detonated from outside, sending asphalt debris flying inside the factory. Chiaki ignored it and set his arms free. He proceeded to cut the rope off of his bound legs and successfully escape his captive state.

Chiaki limped towards April's bound body and began slicing through the rope behind her arms. Both of them were covered in glass and metallic debris from the factory's incoherent mess. April freed herself as Chiaki successfully cut her loose. He pulled up April's arm from the ground as the destruction from the outside began to lessen.

"Are you okay?" April sobbed, wiping her eyes with her tense and quivering fingers. The remnants of glass shards on her back still made her distressed in pain. She wiped the blood off of her nose and chin with her arm. "What's happening? What are those things outside?"

Chiaki shrugged in response. "I don't know," He said. "But I think it's on our side. It's ignoring us and killing the rest of those guys outside."

"Who are they?" April asked, raising her voice to combat the muffled lo-fi music and screaming from outside. "Who are you? Are you looking for Ryo Nakai?"

"I am," Chiaki replied in a loud tone. "Do you know him?"

Another one of the Yakuza thug's bodies was sent flying through the second floor. His head had been decapitated right off, leaving a pool of blood where his head used to be. April's eyes shut immediately as she plunged her head into Chiaki's chest to hide the gruesomeness of the machine's endless killings. Chiaki held her tightly as they both remained in the corner to wait for the destruction to end. The lo-fi music began to end, and a piano played once more to mark the demise of the assailants. While Chiaki held onto April's messy blonde hair, the shrilling sound of an electric bolt played underneath their ears.

Chiaki peeked through one of the opened brick walls of the factory, seeing the machines firing a bolt of light against the bodies to vaporize their existence completely. All of their bodies had vanished. Pools of blood had disintegrated from existence. It was as if their deaths hadn't happened at all. There was no trace of carnage anywhere.

The two machines leaped into the factory where April and Chiaki were. April squealed like a mouse before Chiaki closed his eyes. Both of the machines fired their light bolts against the remaining bodies to disintegrate the evidence of their deaths. Rays of light shimmered across the factory's walls, leaving no trace of the enemies' remains. April and Chiaki both opened their eyes to see the exoskeleton machines shrinking and transforming into what they believed to be their original state.

April was shocked to see what they had morphed back into. It was Solo and Duo, both of Star's friends who were told to keep each other safe from harm. She watched as the two children glanced at them in the corner with a grinning appearance. She released her tight grasp on Chiaki's shoulders and moved towards them on all fours with her feeble hand extended.

"No, wait!" Chiaki called. "Stop!"

April turned back to Chiaki's worried state. "No, I know them!" She clarified before turning back to the two children's idle bodies. "Solo? Duo? Is that you? Did you…"

"Are you and your friend okay, April?" Solo asked as it gazed over at Chiaki's shivering body. "We were given no choice. We had to save you. Groovy, was it not? Starrosa's singing is impeccable."

"Star… did this?" April said, finding the entire situation incomprehensible. She did recall hearing a high-pitched idol-like voice ringing from their stereo speakers, but she had extreme difficulties believing it was Star's voice. She gazed back at Solo and Duo, noticing that they had metallic exteriors after examining their steel bodies even more closely. They were the same exoskeleton killing machines disguised as little children. She also realized she was unable to read their eye's movements, as they were artificial machines with no minds. "I think I understand what's happening," She said, turning back to Chiaki. "Don't worry. You're safe now."

Chiaki proceeded to move out of the corner, limping in his legs and arms. His previous injuries proved to be too hefty on his system, forcing him to collapse on the shattered silver tiles. April caught him in time as Solo and Duo gathered around them.

"I…" Chiaki feebly whispered. "Thank you, whoever you are."

"April Springwell," She acquainted herself with an angelic grin. Even with injuries, April remained an affectionate and generous angel for Chiaki's view. "You're going to be okay now, don't worry. I know Ryo. He's safe."

Chiaki gasped a deep breath before closing his eyes. His brown tomboyish hair fluttered in the breezes rushing from outside of the brick walls. "Is that so…" He whispered. "I'm glad…"

"April!" A familiar high-pitched voice called from the entrance of the factory's door. Star's cyan hair gleamed in the snowy light from outside. She sprinted forward and embraced Solo and Duo as April watched their interactions accurately. She then toppled onto both April and Chiaki, holding them close. "I'm happy you're okay. I missed you. You saved me, so I needed to do the same."

"Star…" April stroked Star's hair and softly pressed against her cheek. "Tell me the truth, Star. Did you send Solo and Duo to save us? They were talking about your singing. What exactly did you do?"

Chiaki watched as Star gently embraced April once more without replying to her question. He had a solid hunch of how Solo and Duo were able to destroy his assailants, but he chose to keep quiet to not interrupt their reconciling moment. Star cried aloud as she clutched April's upper body affectionately. "I'm sorry," She said. "I had to. I didn't want you to be hurt. I'm sorry..."

"Shh… I understand, Star," April comforted, having a second guess about Star's hidden ability that seemed to connect strongly with Chiaki's vibe. While April and Chiaki's hearts never stopped pounding quickly from the bloodied sight of people perishing, they fought to obtain control over its terrifying sight. Instead of perpetuating the question to create more tension in their short-term involvement, April switched to a more consoling manner to avoid being dolorous to her protective efforts. "You know, I can sing too, Star. If that was you singing on the speakers, I'd love to hear you again sometime."

Star approved April's request. "Okay." She agreed.

April cleansed her tears with her fingers as Solo and Duo watched their reunion from a distance. Chiaki patiently understood what April was doing to repress Star's fear over what had happened. Instead of interfering, he stood up and summoned his strength to move towards the factory's entrance. "We have to get out of here before the police show up," He said. "I can't let anyone catch me here."

April stood up with Star clinging to her torn wintry clothes. She held onto Star tightly. "You can come with me back to my estate," She said. "Ryo will come back to visit sometime. I'll treat your wounds too."

Chiaki turned around, having no choice but to accept her request. He didn't know April particularly well, but she could tell that she was a kind individual from her outward appearance and generosity. He glanced over at Star with a hidden suspicion about her abilities but chose not to speak about it. He then turned to Solo and Duo, who was seen both standing idly like their machine counterparts. "Okay," He said. "I just hope I don't burden you and your family."

April chuckled. "Don't worry, I live alone," She indicated, patting Star's cyan hair. "Come with me, Star. Bring your friends too."

"Okay…" Star mumbled, pressing her forehead against April's thighs to keep her close.

The five of them made their way out of the factory as bystanders began to approach the factory from faraway. The citizens of the Virgo District believed that there was only a massive car crash that occurred to create the destruction in the abandoned factory. No traces of enemies remained. Certain civilians began conversing with one another, asking each other if they had caught the action before its crash. As minutes passed, several news station vehicles piled up with pictures being taken amidst the chaos. Interviews were conveyed among the people asking for more evidence or information.

The morning snow was clearing up, and the sun was rising to mark the middle of the day. As April watched Star hold her hands, she began to feel the stinging pain of the glass shards behind her flare in more pain. She clenched her teeth to resist the burning strain before focusing on returning home. She glanced over at Chiaki limping slowly beside her while Solo and Duo held him tightly to deter him from falling. She had a million questions rushing through her mind regarding Ryo and his true identity. Whatever vital information she wanted to know, she knew she would receive it later in exchange for Chiaki's sanctuary.

Star's eyes alternated to face her friends, where she joyfully smiled to acknowledge their struggle.