Kept you waiting, huh?
_____________________________
"I must confess... I'm disappointed in you, JoJo! I never expected that base sentimentality would have such a hold on you!"
"Tch. Long way of saying nobody ever cared about you," you growl to see if it gets him any further annoyed. "Though I can't imagine
why."
The giant yoko
snarls as a momentary flash of blue streaks through his fiery fur, and you might have found a mental weak point. "Is that what this is really about? Don't tell me you're after Tsukune because he has
friends instead of just
followers..."
"You're trying to cloud my mind, and trick me into making mistakes... but it's more apparent now than ever, that I am the only one here who sees the world clearly! You, whose pathetic idealism blinds you to the walls people raise between each other in hatred and fear of their own neighbors in this world... ARE UNWORTHY OF LEAVING YOUR MARK ON IT!"
Kuyo begins to power up for another big attack of some kind --
At that moment, a
pulse of energy ripples across the courtyard, instantly blowing out several of the smaller fires that have sprung up and staining the entire sky a thick, bloody red.
-- and then Kuyo's abruptly sent flying into and
through the courtyard wall as a furious Vampire stands in his place, elegantly winding down from her brutal kick.
It seems that if anyone's leaving a mark anywhere,
She's putting a shoeprint on that bastard's face...
"Great timing," you admit just loud enough for her to hear you. "Let's put this son of a bitch in his place."
Inner Moka spares only a passing glance at your address, but the split-second of eye contact is almost enough to set off the panic response you inherited from your animalistic ancestors millions of years ago.
"You've had your pound of flesh," she coldly replies, barely holding back a blinding rage that you can only call
monstrous. "Now this wretched
creature that dares steal from me will learn the consequences!"
Steal from her? What the hell is Moka...? She's not saying--? But she was supposed to--! Should you--?!
No! However bleak the implication may be, the cold hard fact remains that you need to bring Kuyo down before he can cause any more damage!
...at least, that's the rational argument. But if Moka's too bound up in wrath and pride right now to listen and cooperate with you, then so be it; you'll just work around her. "Then do what you want," you growl at her in exasperation, taking a moment to focus more keenly on healing yourself. "Just don't expect any differently from me."
For an instant, you can see Moka contemplating an impulse to lash out at your impudence -- but with a scoff, she turns her back on you and stalks off to the hole she just put through the courtyard wall. "Suit yourself, JoJo."
Uneasy agreement reached, the two of you march with furious intent against your common enemy -- and just in time for a pillar of blue flame to shoot into the air.
"Damn you... damn you both! Even if it means I must sacrifice my purity... I WILL PROTECT THIS SCHOOL AND THE VERY WORLD FROM YOUR DAMNING NAIVETE!"
A truly
massive foxpaw slams down through the hole, before the rest of the beast attached to it follows -- and then shrinks down to a far more humanoid form that's only about a meter taller than you are, but during which his entire body of flame turns a brilliant blue. Staring through his one good eye with
determination equal to your own, he snarls,
"I WILL BURN THE BOTH OF YOU DOWN TO NOTHING -- AND I SHALL FILL THE EMPTY SPACES LEFT BEHIND WITH JUSTICE!"
"You disgrace that word with every time you utter it!
KNOW YOUR PLACE!"
So quickly that you almost can't track it with your natural eyes, Moka disappears and then reappears in front of Kuyo, already prepared to deliver another crushing kick --
-- only for him to astonishingly, impossibly,
inconceivably catch her by the ankle mid-attack!
"Any true Vampire should have been able to remove my head the first time," Kuyo sneers as their clashing spiritual energies violently spark and rage at the point of contact.
"Hpmh, know my place...? TAKE YOUR OWN ADVICE!"
Taking advantage of Moka's shock at being so easily blocked, the fox exploits his ankle control and thuggishly swings her down against the ground --
And in that instant when Moka's transformed body is between you and him, blocking Kuyo's vision of you, you're faced with a choice of whether to risk an attack when he knows you must be looking for exactly this kind of chance and almost definitely has a counter --
A grey blur speeds past, razor sharp claws extended for the pyro maniac's face as a howl splits the air --
"WORTHLESS MUTT, ROLL OVER AND DIE!"
Only to speed directly into a white-hot flamethrower that Kuyo spits out of his mouth, before he bludgeons Gin to the ground with Moka and then literally stomps him into the dirt.
And with his focus broken just that much more --
so quickly that the world slows to a crawl as a golden filter falls into place
You gather yourself and
take your opportunity.
You can't believe that Moka's kick had such little effect on him, you know she's capable of so much more than that--
ORRAAAAAA!!!!
It can't just be that Kuyo's that tough! The damage you've dealt on him so far should more than prove that!
Leading in from his blind spot, you sling a fist into his bad eye! Even as the superheated atmosphere makes it torturous to even
breathe, you refuse to let up!
You're dimly aware of your ripple starting to fade... it's so hot you can barely even think on top of everything else...
ORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!!! ORRAAAAA!!!
There has to be a reason why Moka's kick did so little damage even though she's so pissed! Is she losing power just like you?! But why?!
You rain down a flurry of blows on Kuyo with everything you have!
But the world has long since resumed its normal hue, but for draining color that is your own vision beginning to waver...
As your fists start to falter, a fiery hand darts between your fists and clamps down on your throat!
"This ends now--"
"Not until you take your dirty hands off the people I love."
What?!
"IMPOSSIBLE!"
"Tsukun--?!"
HWA-TAAA!!!!
A fist
slams into Kuyo's face like a meteor with such force that the hand itself
explodes in a shower of flesh and malevolent purple aura, before almost immediately reforming into its original shape!
No... no, not
quite returning to its original shape, but rather reforming into a stronger! More muscled!
Superior form!
And not only the hand, but the entire body attached to it! With each passing moment, you can see bursts of monstrous aura
shred open your ally's body, only to immediately heal it back up stronger and fiercer than it was before!
"Moka used this power on me because she wanted to me to be safe," declares a familiar but distorted voice at once eerily smooth and raspy.
"And now I'm going to use it to protect everyone else!"
Moka's power... the overwhelming power of a Vampire...! With the amounts of blood Moka put into him, it's clearly far too much for Tsukune's human body to even contain! So much so that it has to seemingly rebuild him from the ground up just so he can withstand it!
Kuyo, for his part, isn't merely knocked some distance away and/or through an environmental obstacle or two.
No, he's been driven through the lifeless floor of the forest with so much force that his body carved a trench three meters wide and dozens of meters long.
The kind of sheer environmental damage you haven't seen since almost the start of the school year...!
Shambling to his knees with a hysterical, almost deranged laugh, Kuyo levels an accusing finger at Tsukune.
"You... You...! You could have forsaken your humanity at any time and avoided all this--!"
"You don't get it."
You'd honestly have expected Tsukune to be filled with rage at everything Kuyo's done and tried to do, but if anything your underclassman just sounds... exasperated. Pitying, even.
"Even if my being an ordinary, average everyday human always meant I was weak and squishy... it's my humanity that allowed me to make cherished friends here! Whether it's Kujo-senpai, Moka, Kurumu, Yukari, even Mizore and Gin-senpai... It's the kindness and understanding that my human parents raised me with that allowed me to make these irreplaceable bonds that mean more than anything to me. It's that goodness in humanity that's caused a Vampire and the grandson of the Vampire Killer to join forces against you!"
Kuyo staggers in a daze, as if that argument inflicted as much damage on him as the entire earlier fight combined.
"That... that's impossible! The self-serving illusions of kindness and compassion, they're nothing more than bricks in--"
Tsukune clenches a fist, and with the time bought from this conversation you regain your ability to
breathe as strength and vitality quickly return to you...!
"For everything you've done to me... to my friends... and to everyone else who's ever had to share this school with you...! I'M TEARING DOWN THAT PRECIOUS WALL OF YOURS!"
"Not just you, Aono!
We are!"
"No... no, no, NO! IT CAN'T BE! I WILL NOT ACCEPT--"
As adrenaline races through your brain, it's a race between the four of you to get in close and give Kuyo the unmitigated beating he deserves, against his concentration as he gathers his flames for another major attack--
"Try to outflank me, will you?!"
Kuyo punctuates the odd statement with a massive column of fire to his left that harms nothing but a swathe of dead trees -- before Kurumu swoops in from above and deals him a pair of slashes on his chest with her nails. "
That's for my hurting my destined ones!"
"Gahhh--! Miserable flying cretin-- gkh!"
A washtub falls out of the sky and lands on his head with enough force to make Kuyo bite his tongue as Yukari yells from behind you! "Just shut your mouth and keep it that way!"
The foxman growls in irritation, only for his good eye to widen in
fear as he looks up and realizes how close you, Tsukune, Moka, and Gin all are to reaching him now.
"I... I won't... back off, all of you!"
He sweeps an arm in front of him as white-hot flames race towards you all--
--only for them to impact against and destroy a hastily-built wall of ice before they can cause you any sort of harm, and even from the distant back row, your lover's thoughts are as clear as the rising panic on Kuyo's face!
Kick. His. ASS!
Kuyo opens his mouth...
"It... can't be--! There's no way that... the truly evil one... was it me all along?"
You slide into position on Kuyo's left side, while Tsukune takes up a position exactly opposite you on his right, crimson eyes glimmering with a resolve you can't help but admire... and then you both unleash absolute holy hell!!
ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!!!!!
ATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATAT!!!!!!
ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!!!!!
ATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATAT!!!!!!
ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!!!!!
ATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATAT!!!!!!
OOORRRRRAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!/HWA-TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!
Vampiric and Hamon-infused fists
crash into Kuyo's face from either side, before you both back off and Gin slides up in front!
AWWWOOOOOOOOWOOOOOOWOOOOO~~~!!
With a furious howl, Gin lays into the battered bastard with a frenzied barrage of slashes from his claws, before leaping out of the way as Moka drops into his place!
"For the very last time...
KNOW! YOUR! PLACE!"
The elegant trueborn vampire warrior hammers Kuyo first with a savage kick to the ribs! Then a rising kick to the chin! And finally an axe kick to the shoulder that craters the very earth beneath him!
A black, blue, and bloody beaten form twitches and whimpers in the dirt; Kuyo can only tremble in agony, his fires completely extinguished.
"It's time to finish this once and for all," Gin snarls as he steps close, and that might be the first time since you've met the overly horny mutt that you're in agreement with him.
Gin swipes down with his claws to cut this living nightmare out of your lives... only for Tsukune to catch him by the wrist and stop him.
"No, senpai. The killing stops today."
"Tsukune, do you even remember what caused all this?! That bastard tried to murder you -- and if not for Moka, he
would've!"
"If I killed or let die everyone in this school who tried to kill me, eat me, or who targeted my friends... then it wouldn't be a school anymore, just a graveyard with a bunch of visitors. You remember that includes you too, right?"
The werewolf stops cold at the reminder, before trying to wrench free with a snarl. "It's not
just you, he killed your predecessors! Roasted them all alive right in front of me! And he's caused more misery
beyond us than anyone even knows!"
Tsukune's crimson gaze slides from the irate Gin, to your clenched fists, before he then looks behind you... and you suddenly realize that the formerly rioting students have followed and formed up around your group, watching intently.
Waiting... for an execution.
The execution you came here to stop is still on track, with the only difference being that prospective 'killer' and 'killed' have changed places.
Tsukune narrows his eyes, and raises his voice enough to be heard. "You know what, you're right. This
is bigger than just me.
So how about it, everyone? Should we kill this sick bastard for everything he's done?!"
The surrounding student body roars in approval with a deafening
"YES!!"
After a split-second of surprise, Tsukune
sneers at the response, for the first time seeming to fit the image a Vampire in spirit as well as form.
"So that means nobody can ever learn from their mistakes, right?! How's that gonna work out for all of you?!"
This time, his only answer is
dead silence. Even the proud Inner Moka looks away in hesitation.
"I refuse to believe that treating each other as enemies and killing them is the only way this ends! Because that kind of mindset is how people with the best of intentions eventually end up like HIM!"
Tsukune looks up at you with hopeful eyes, praying his senpai will back him up...
"C'mon, don't give anyone the chance to make him a martyr..."
...while Kuyo remains limp in his crater, utterly defeated and unable to fight back even if he's still conscious.
[]You're not happy with letting Kuyo walk away from this. In fact, you despise the very idea. But with a cooler head, you have to admit that Tsukune has a point in that just putting him down like the mad dog he is in front of everyone like this will only reinforce the culture of fear he created. Is that really what's best for the students?
[]In so many other circumstances, you might agree with Tsukune... but Kuyo was
right in that most people aren't so quick to change who they really are. Is teaching the student body a valuable lesson in compassion really
more important than making sure that Kuyo won't be able to come back and claim revenge again?
