Persona BLEACHED 4: Chapter 43

Chapter 43: BABY NOW YOU'LL FEEL LIKE
January 9, 2031
South Naruki.
"...well, aren't we looking smug, Xianwu?" Zhenlong noted, Dasuke facing him while holding his sword, a smirk on his face.
"Now what would give you that idea?" the commander asked rhetorically. "Shūjo Higashikata."
"You called?" Shūjo, brushing blood off of his face, questioned.
"Rise. You noticed it, didn't you? That pillar streaking across the sky. The beacon of our hope."
"Uhh, sure. Kinda dramatic way to put it."
"You've realized it too, surely, 'my king'?"
"Hrm." Zhenlong grunted.
"'My king'?" Shūjo questioned.
"The spell has been cast. Johnathan's power has been sapped from him. Our path to victory has been cleared." Dasuke stated.
"Heeeeeh." The larger man brandished his sword. "Still so confident after all these years. And yet, your battle has not been won. Or do you not see my blade pointed at your throat?"
"All I see is a fool who needs to be consigned to the history books. You and your leader will be banished there soon enough. Come, my yakuza comrade. Help me end this tyrant once and for all."
"*Ex*-yakuza. Sheesh, you're a strange one..." Shūjo uttered.
Outside Akihabara, Ezekiel had several daggers sticking out of his arms. Crimson swords were jutting out from his back. 
"How's this guy still standing from all that?" Sahir questioned.
"It would appear that his master is not the only inhuman monster." Kenneth replied.
Sakuya, that distant expression still on her face, stepped forward, only for Ken to block her with his arm. "Hold on for a moment."
"Remove your arm. I'm going to sever that sick head from the rest of him."
"I'm wagering that's exactly what he wants. Feigning vulnerability to make your enemies drop their guard was one of the first lessons they taught us in training. Isn't that right, brother?"
"So natural that you'd remember old Winstead's teachings to the letter. You were always his star pupil." Wind gathered around Ezekiel, blowing off the assortment of blades strewn across his person. "He also taught us how to ignore pain."
"Was that before or after you stuck his skull in a jar?" Sahir spoke up.
"Ah, so you were the ones that were sneaking around my office. And here I'd thought I always kept the door locked."
"Our lockpicker is second-to-none." Kenneth replied.
Ezekiel rotates his arm, then cracked his neck. "This battle is far from over, brother."
"I'm not dumb enough to think that it is." Ken replied.
"Johnathan's might may have been drained, but he could not be farther from weakness. He was to be feared even before he obtained the tome. You have won nothing by weakening him."
"True. But we've given ourselves a chance. None of you are walking away from this."
"Let's see about that." A menacing aura surrounded Ezekiel. "Whether I kill you, or you kill me...let us mark this grand occasion with a festival of blood!"
---
The western edge of Tokyo.
"Shouldn't be too much farther now." Jin said, his group exiting Suginami.
"Thank God...my leg muscles are...spasming..." Shinji stopped to catch his breath.
"You really need to climb out of the basement sometime. I've seen mascots with better endurance." Tsutsugo said.
"Hey, so we got a plan to break Ms. Perfect outta whatever she's locked in, or we just gonna wing it?" Lin asked.
"Nine times out of ten, it's gonna be 'wing it'." Mimi replied.
"Zip it, you two. It's just a big machine, right? Shinji should be able to hack into it." Tenko surmised.
"Sure...provided I can breach the vast gulf in technological advancement between us and them...and I don't get eaten by a wolf...and my legs don't give out on me..." Shinji griped.
"Would whacking the machine with him do the job?" Rin asked.
"Y'know, do we really need to save ours? I kinda like this one better." Mimi asked.
"Seconded." Lin agreed.
"How about I just use you two to whack the machine?" Tenko responded.
"Hey...everyone hear that?" Jin asked.
"The peanut gallery? Kinda hard not to." Tsutsugo replied.
Jin leapt up, wall jumping between the two buildings before reaching the top.
"Sick reflexes for a nerd. What's your excuse?" Tsutsugo asked Shinji.
"Bite me." he replied.
On the roof, Jin looked off into the distance, towards the highway. "Hm?"
Lights were flashing near the entrance to town. Prevalent was the sound of gunfire.
He hopped back down to the ground. "Looks like someone already beat us there. Jugo, from the sound of it."
"Guess that means we'd really better hurry. Who knows how many bad guys they've got over there?" Tenko questioned.
"With our luck? Tons." Mimi uttered.
Over at the end of the highway, a bolt of lightning crashed down, tossing several transformed Wolfpack thugs over the side of the road. "Sheesh, what a hassle!" Tan griped.
"(We've been going at this for so long now. Is there no end to them?)" Kirumi, back in comb form, questioned.
"Hope the Boss is comfy in there." Jugo said. Without turning, he pointed a revolver over his shoulder, shooting a wolfman that was poking his head over the side of the highway, causing him to fall back down.
He approached the large, coffin-like machine. "I dunno about blastin' this thing open. We'd probably just wind up hurtin' her."
"(That's the last thing we would want, but what else can we do?)" Kirumi questioned.
"I'm really not good with computer stuff. I'd just end up smashing the keyboard." Tan said.
"Never fear." Lin chimed in, the group arriving. "We brought you a nerd."
"I'm never speaking to you people again if I don't die here." Shinji griped.
"Woah, they pried ya outta your hole, chief? How'd they swing that?" Jugo asked.
"...and who's this now?" Tan observed the younger Rin.
"You're..." she looked at him.
"Oh, this is, um...this is Rin Kubo. The *other* one." Tenko answered.
"She's...?! Well, what do you know. The hair should've been the giveaway. Hey there, kiddo. I'm Hyōtan Kubo. You can call me Tan. The 'other' you's my little sister." Tan replied.
"So she's still got her big brother, huh..." Rin uttered.
"Yeah...and no. It's a long story. But that's for the after party. Right now we've gotta break our Rin out of that thing."
"You wouldn't happen to know a shortcut to break that thing open, would you?" Jin asked.
"Not a clue. Most of us were kept in the dark about this thing." Rin answered.
"Guess that means me." Shinji walked up to the controls. He looked over his shoulder, having heard growling. More wolfmen climbing up. "...I'm gonna die here."
"I'm getting *really* sick of wolves, now." Tsutsugo griped.
"Same here, and I'm a dog mom!" Tenko agreed.
"We'd be in serious trouble if Fuba was anything like this." Jin added.
"I'll never complain about him eating grass again when this is over." Mimi affirmed.
"Y'all are nuts." Jugo shook his head. "Shinji, you're gonna have to hustle, partner."
"On it yesterday. I really hope they didn't booby trap this thing..." Shinji replied.
Tan looked at the sword in the other Rin's hands. "Hunh..."
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing. Just got a dash of nostalgia. Let's kick some wolf tail, eh, little sis?"
Rin hid her face. "Don't call me that, please."
"Sore spot. Got it."
"(Don't know how to feel about that. All this love you've got...you're lucky, other me.)" she thought.
---
"Gonna need to put more work in than that, Grandma." Johnny taunted, evading a strike from Bobbi's axe.
"More work...like this?" She formed a number of frozen spikes, pointed straight at Johnny.
"Ooh, scary. Except, y'know...I can just do this." 
The spikes came down towards Johnny, only for them to quickly melt before ever making contact with him. The leftover water froze again, hovering around him before touching the ground, then rising back up and completely encasing him in ice.
Flames erupted, freeing him. "Someone never learned how elements work."
"Oh, I did. Because I didn't skip classes, unlike a certain someone." Bobbi retorted.
Commander Max quickly appeared in front of Johnny. "Pop quiz: water plus lightning equals what?"
He charged electricity in his fist, then delivered a hard punch to Johnny's abdomen, catapulting him into a building with a large explosion.
Before the duo could react, Johnny leapt from the smoke, smashing the ground in front of them, which caused an eruption of flames. As Max was sent back, he corrected himself in midair, only for Johnny to leap up, knee him in the abdomen, grabbing him by the head, then tossing him into a nearby bus stop.
Bobbi came for Johnny's neck, freezing her hand into a sharp edge, but it melted before she could stab him. "Dumb skank!" He grabbed and tossed her into Max, who was still lying prone.
His armor sparking, Max raised his head. "Ugh...Bobb, get out of here. I can take it from here."
"Like hell...I'll stab him eventually, I swear..." she responded.
"He'll never let that happen. Go on. I'll beat his ass myself. And if I can't, someone has to take my spot as Commander."
"Now you're talking garbage. If you're meeting the reaper, I'm going right next to you. That was always the deal."
Johnny coated his hands in fire. "Works for me."
"Butt out, asshole." Bobbi replied.
"Always so prickly, always so secretive. The same story since you two were in your bedwetting phase."
"Don't play the sob story angle, John. We were the ones who wanted in on whatever you did. You were always too busy setting the neighbors' trash cans on fire." Max retorted.
"Ha, too true. Maybe that wasn't the best idea, thinking about it now. I coulda let you tag along. Then we'd be leading this party together. Wouldn't that have been a hoot?"
"The thought of it makes me want to vomit." Bobbi replied.
"Why bring the mayhem here, John? These people have nothing to do with our fight. This isn't their war." Max asked.
"You brought your mini-me to our neck of the multiverse, Maxie Pad. His people started messing with my work. I'm nipping this little problem in the bud. Take 'em out before they can take me out. Easy as that." Johnny replied.
"So you're gonna kill millions of people because they *might* cause you problems? I get that right?" Bobbi responded.
Johnny held up his hands, putting the color of his flames on full display. "I've got half a tank, sissy. Half my damn force is in the grave. Was I wrong to think I might be in some trouble?"
"Because YOU brought them here, idiot! What part of that don't you get?! Does your brain really function that differently from ours?" the commander questioned.
"You and this whole conflict are just as nonsensical, John. And you'll both be ending soon. And it'll all be your own fault." Bobbi added.
"Fat chance of that." Johnny wielded his rifle. "Freikugel!"
He fired a shot of energy, that flew straight towards Bobbi. Max quickly pushed her out of the way. The shot connected, striking him in the left eye. The protective covering of his helmet was shattered, and he fell over.
"MAX!" Bobbi tended to him. The spot where he'd been shot was still smoldering.
Johnny cocked his rifle again, pointing it at her. "Your turn."
Before he could shoot, a sound caught his attention. "Was that a...whoosh?"
He glanced away for only a moment, but when he turned back, Bobbi and the Commander were both gone. "What in the...?!"
Back at the medical tent, Bobbi and the wounded Commander suddenly appeared. "Wait...how did...?"
A doctor stuck his head out. "C-Commander O'Donnell?! Everyone, get over here, now!"
Several medics filed out of the tent. "What happened, Judge O'Donnell?!" one nurse asked.
"He took a hit from Johnny's rifle. Where's Letty?" Bobbi responded.
"Dr. O'Donnell left for the front lines a little while ago!"
"Probably better she doesn't see him like this. Get him back upright, and fast. I'm heading back out."
"But Your Honor, you've been wounded, too. At least let us tend to you first!"
"No time. The one that brought me here's probably already gone back to fight Johnny alone. What is that hothead thinking..."
Back at the battle site, Johnny leaned against a light pole, hands in his pockets and whistling to himself. "Thought I heard a 'fyoooom' just now. What's wrong? Can't look me in the eye?"
Another rushing sound. Someone appeared across the street. "I might never get the slime outta my eyes if I do."
It was Anna. Intensity filled her gaze.
"Well, well, well...there's Daddy's little angel." Johnny sneered.
---
Earth-013. 2015.
The lights abruptly turned on. The room itself was white, accentuated by just how bright it was. There was a single table, separated in two by a transparent panel, a chair on either side.
On the side reached via the entrance, Bobbi sat. On the other side was Sonia, head in her hands and garbed in a gray jumpsuit. There were bags under her eyes, as she looked up at her friend.
"...you want to tell me what happened?" Bobbi asked in a concerned tone.
"...you were there, Bobb. Half a' the Bronx is gone, ya can piece it together for yerself!" Sonia responded.
"How did it get like that?"
"...I don't remember."
"Bullshit. You're not that doped up."
Sonia looked away.
"I know it's been rough goings since Johnny---"
Sonia smacked the panel. "DON'T."
A guard pulled her back into her seat as she pointed at Bobbi.
"Don't say it...don't you say his name...!"
"Alright. Alright. I won't say it." Bobbi put her hands up. 
Sonia slumped into the chair. "...where's my Anna?"
"She's alright. Letty's with her in the lobby."
"I wanna see her."
"Only if you tell me why 164th and Jerome is covered in rubble."
Sonia continued to avert her eyes. "...you saw it, didn't ya? It's all over every corner of the internet. He's gatherin' up every single joker with a bone to pick with the Defense Force. Our lives are gonna be a livin' hell cuz of him. I thought him goin' AWOL was the end of my torture, but now here he is, flauntin' his plans for the world to see."
Tears began to form in her eyes. "All the years I put up with his crap, seein' that smug mug again just...I lost it, Bobb. All that bastard does is take...and take...and take...until you're nothin' but a flamin' pile of bones. I can't deal with another second of him. How's that monster keep findin' people that just do whatever he tells 'em to..."
"Charisma is a signature of a psychopath. I'm sorry you had to suffer through all that. I know better than anyone what he's capable of."
"Yeah, well, it don't excuse blastin' buildings, do it? How long am I lookin' at?"
"....."
"Bobb...how long am I gonna be in here for?"
"I'm sorry, Sonia. But...the issue is more than just destroying buildings. I've watched you degrade for years now. I should've done something sooner. Maybe then it wouldn't have come to this."
"The hell are you talkin' about?"
"You've been diagnosed as bipolar. The doctors all agree that it's likely from the years of abuse you had to deal with. And it probably explains why you reacted to his broadcast the way you did. The meds you were given weren't just to dim your powers."
"So I'm crazy, is that it?"
"I didn't say you were--"
"Ese comemierda gets to run around doin' whatever the fuck he feels like, and I'M locked up for bein' crazy?! Are you fucking joking?!"
A wave of energy began to heat up around Sonia's hands. The guards quickly grabbed her and sat her back down.
"Enough!" Bobbi ordered. A frustrated Sonia soon simmered down.
"So I'm gonna be in a box forever, is that it?"
"I didn't say that."
"Then spit it out! What are ya gonna do to me?"
"We have to have you in a secured location. Even if we were to sufficiently treat you, with your power set, the risk of a repeat outburst is too high. I wish there was more I could do, but this is for your own good. And Anna's."
"...can I see her now? Before you throw away the key."
Bobbi turned to the door. "Bring her in, please."
Led in by an attendant, in walked four-year old, freckle-faced Anna. Bobbi sat her on her lap.
"Aye, mi calabasita chiquitita. ¿Como estas?" Sonia asked.
"Bien, Mami. ¿Puedo abrazarte?" Anna asked.
"No puedo, mi amor. Hice algo muy malo. El diablo me enfermó. Ahora tengo que irme por un tiempo." Sonia couldn't hold back her tears.
"¿Por que?" Anna began to cry herself.
"Por favor no llores, mi amor. Voy a algún lugar para mejorar. Todo estará bien."
Anna put her hands on the glass. Sonia put one hand up against hers.
"Recuerda una cosa, calabasita. Si el diablo alguna vez se te aparece...hacerle pagar. Para mi, y para yo. Él debería estar en esta caja, no yo."
Sonia's hands began to spark again.
"Get her out of here!" Bobbi ordered.
The guards took hold of Sonia. Bobbi quickly moved Anna away from the sight.
"Mami! ¡Mamiiiii!" the girl panicked.
"I love you, little pumpkin! Never, ever forget that!" Sonia called out.
The guards led Sonia out, as Bobbi consoled Anna. "I'm sorry, Anna. It'll be okay. Uncle Max and me are gonna take care of you until your mommy gets better."
"Mamiiiii..." Anna sobbed.
---
Mami never got better.
The meds took care of a lot. But her power made it too dangerous to let her out. I didn't get my hug that day. Or for the next sixteen years. 
Sixteen birthdays, Christmases, Thanksgivings. I couldn't touch my mom. Just a glass wall.
My fam treated me good. I grew up happy. Or...happy as I could get without my mom there. Deep down, all I could think of was how much I wanted to set things right.
Even if I couldn't make Mami better, I could do what she asked me to that day they took her away. 
I could make the Devil pay.
---
"Oh me, oh my. Look how big you've gotten." Johnny said. "Before I forget, how's Sonia doing? Last I heard, she was in an icecube, living off happy pills."
"Mami's pain is no joke! You put her in there, with all the shit you did to her!" Anna responded.
"I did? Boy, I oughta put that in my dating profile. 'I'm the kinda guy that can make women *crazy*'."
"Everythin's just one big joke to you, ain't it? Super easy when ya don't have consequences to deal with, eh? I had to grow up without a mom and gits starin' at me whisperin' about me bein' 'the traitor's kid'. Don't talk to me all friendly-like when ya ain't been a dad to me from Day One."
"Aw, don't be so critical, Annie! Really, your ma was crazy from the start. Had nothing to do with me. I just gave her a little extra push. Serves her right for keeping you away from me. You're all I think about, y'know. How about you drop the whole 'Angry Latina' act and come party with me?"
"You really are outta your mind! On what planet am I ever gonna join up with you?"
"I can tell with one look. The whole military industrial style don't suit you. It's all so stuffy and regimented. I mean, it's been how long and they haven't let poor Sonia go free?"
"It's for her own good."
"That what they spoonfed you to believe? C'mon, Annie. Plenty of crazies get to walk around living normally. They're keeping her locked up cuz they're afraid of her. They're afraid of her snapping one day, and then the headlines would all be playing the blame game. All they care about is their rep. Ya could've had your ma by now if the suits didn't wanna keep her in a cage."
"Quit feedin' me that bullshit! You're nothin' but a murderous, lyin' piece of crap, and I'm tired of hearin' your voice!"
Anna took out a pair of black earbuds, and plugged them in.
Johnny cocked his head as she pulled out her phone. "So what, you're muting me now?"
"Yeah. And if I'm gonna be runnin' ya into the dirt, I'd better have a good soundtrack to it."
She pocketed her phone. She moved her goggles from atop her head, to over her eyes. The music began, as her eyes lit up in intensity.
"'I'm hanging on to the other side~, I won't give up til the end of me~!'"
Flames sparked around her legs as she got a running start. She burst forward, and as Johnny blocked with his arms, she delivered a rapid series of kicks. As the song and the blows continued, Johnny was pushed back, his feet dragging along the ground.
"'Welcome to the mind of a different kind~/ Where we've been growing slowly~/ Think I'm an 11, but I'm at a 9~/ Guess you don't really know me~/ Running from the past is a losing game~/ It never brings you glory~/ Been down this road before, already know the story~'"
The sequence pushed the two eastward into Ueno in the Taitō ward. Johnny was now pinned against the side of a building, as Anna changed gears, from kicks to punches.
"'It's time to face your fear~/ Cuz when the time has come and gone~/ I'll be the one to carry on~/ So you can throw me to the wolves~/ Cuz I am un-de-feat-a-ble~!'"
Anna switched again, thrashing Johnny with several sweeping, blazing kicks. With him still reeling, she brought her fist up one inch away from his chest, gathering more kinetic force into it, before delivering one final punch. "WATAAAAAA!"
He was sent straight through the building.
Anna took her earbuds off, surveying the damage inside. "...I know that didn't kill you, asshole. Quit playin'."
"If you insist." Johnny appeared behind her.
"Wha--?!"
He grabbed her by the throat, and hoisted her up. His jacket was in further tatters, with clear bruising all over his exposed chest, the most apparent being the spot where he'd just been struck.
"You are a *vicious* little brat, ain't ya? A real chip off the ol' block! Who says nurture wins out over nature?"
"Fuck off! I ain't...ngh...nothin' like you!"
"Ohhh, that look in your eyes tells a different tale, Annie. All that piss and vinegar, there's no hiding it. You want to *savor* this. It's the only thing that's been running through your skull for years. So c'mon, little pumpkin. Let's take this as slow as you want."
Her eyes went wild. Energy gathered in her legs as they waved in the air. "Don't. Ever. CALL ME THAT!"
She kicked at him, and he released his grip. She struck him twice more, before he managed to grab her leg mid-kick. "Let's go for a spin!"
He spun her around, and flung her into the side of the building. She tried getting up, but he kicked her in the abdomen. He picked her up and pinned her against the wall. 
"You're a hundred years away from winning, kiddo." He headbutted her, then punched her with a fist coated in fire.
She looked him in the eye, then spat in his face. He wiped it off. "You definitely didn't get spanked enough when you were little. You're just as uppity as your mommy. Wanna see what I gave her every time she got mouthy?"
He raised his hand, still coated in flames. Before he could strike, a shot rang out. A blast or energy hit the ground beneath Johnny, sending him skyward. He landed in the street.
"Grr...what the--"
A beam of electricity fired down and struck where he sat, pushing him away even further. Anna looked up. Perched at the top of the building across the street was Jess, in her dragon form. "Are you hurt?" she called out.
"Ngh...I'm fine...just a...real funny feeling in my ribs..." Anna replied, grabbing at her stomach.
"Hang on. I'll get you to a tent."
"Jess, no! I have to...I have to finish this..."
"You won't be finishing anything except yourself. I'll fly you out and then--"
Three shots. Bursts of fire hit Jess squarely in her underbelly, shocking Anna.
"Ngh...ugh..." Jess fell from her perch, landing on the streets below.
"JESS!" Anna, still in clear pain, ran to her, as she reverted to human form.
"Urf...damn...sorry...got careless..."
"Tsk, tsk. Took you brats all of five seconds to forget about me, huh?" Johnny emerged holding his rifle, smoldering. "Now that's just plain sloppy."
"How the...hell is he still standing? Even without the spell, he's a monster..." Jess uttered.
"Bastard! Do you gotta go after everything I care about?!" Anna yelled.
"I'm your dad, Annie. My job's to take a gun to anyone trying to sweep you off your feet. I'm just ballsy enough to pull the trigger." Johnny sneered.
"I'm gonna pound ya into nothin'...if it's the last thing I--" Anna got up, clutching her abdomen.
"Yeah, yeah, if it's the last thing you do." Johnny hit her with the side of his rifle, knocking her back down. "All it is is wine, wine, wine with you brats. 'Waaah, you sent my mommy to the funny farm, waaah you shot my mommy in the hand!' Y'all ever consider that maybe I did you a favor by getting rid of 'em?"
The sound of a rifle being prepped echoed. Still on her back, Jess pointed it at Johnny.
"Really, sweetie? A sniper at close range? Is the lizard king really that bad at training, or are you just that desperate?" he scoffed.
"You don't get to criticize my dad's parenting when you just assaulted your own daughter." Jess responded.
"Eh, fair enough." Johnny kicked away the rifle, then grabbed Jess by the head. "I'll just mail him your corpse."
His attack was interrupted by something floating past his face. "Wuzzat now? A snowflake?"
More of them started to trickle down from the sky. Temperatures began to plummet. Ice began to form over the streets and buildings.
"Really, sissy? You want to go another round that bad, after last time?" Johnny questioned.
The heel of a boot hit the edge of a nearby building. Johnny turned to it. 
"Oh...I see. How thoughtless of me. I wasn't fighting 'you' last time, was I?"
Bobbi had discarded her jacket, and was wielding a pair of axes in each hand. Most notable was the color in her eyes--or rather, the lack thereof. Her entire expression exuded coldness.
"I was hoping we could go a few extra rounds...Frost Queen."
---
The O'Donnell bloodline is said to have been among the first to be blessed with the power of magic.
Scholars do not know for certain when the mages and witches of old imbued normal humans with their gifts, but the oral history of the Irish nobility dictates a 16th century lord, Ciaran Ó Dómnaill, who could call upon the elements with his hands. The clan grew in influence throughout the following decades as its heirs were born with similarly potent elemental strength, and many of them also proved to be partial to acts of brutality. By the mid-1800s, however, most of humanity had gained the ability to wield magic, and so many more would rise to challenge the O'Donnell authority. It was then that it would change from a noble house, to a military institution.
By the time the Planetary Defense Force came into being during the early 1950s, the family had uprooted from a ravaged Europe and moved across the sea to New York City. With its long history of military prowess, it was no surprise that the first commander of the nascent United States branch bore the O'Donnell name. For the next thirty years, Edward O'Donnell built a reputation as a fierce authority figure, representative of his long bloodline in many a way: control over the elements, an affinity for battle and warfare, and most daunting of all, an inhuman capacity to withstand punishment.
This capacity was exemplified further by his son and successor as commander, Wolfgang. It was following a brutal battle against a terror cell, a dagger jutting out of his left eye, that he repeated the motto embedded on the O'Donnell coat of arms, a mantra that can also be found on the New York branch's emblem: "'Gáire Bás'".
Laugh at death.
Wolfgang would father three children: Johnathan, Maxwell, and Barbara. The first among them, Johnathan, was a devil seemingly from birth. Delinquency gave way to brutality, but it was this monstrous strength that made him so efficient in battle, and earned him the nickname 'Searing Blaze Johnny'. The second, Maxwell, was less fond of battle, but was nonetheless gifted with great strength and intellect. It was he who would eventually succeed his father as commander, and his growth as a fighter eventually garnered him the name 'Stormstrike Max'.
But if there was any one name that could rival Johnathan's in terms of inspiring fear among agent and enemy alike, it was not his. That would be his twin, Barbara, known to all as 'Frost Queen Bobbi'. Before she would take on the mantle of judge, she would dole out punishments on the battlefield. Icy, lethal, piercing. Those were the words most associated with the look her eyes would take on whenever she resolved to end a fight with deadly force. None could ever figure out if the cold feeling of dread they experienced whenever she was around was caused by her power, or her presence alone.
Some would say that it was this instilled fear that kept Johnathan in line for so long, before his eventual ouster and founding of the Wolfpack. The two had never come to blows during those early days, but agents often debated what would win out: the Searing Blaze's sheer refusal to die, or the Frost Queen's cold-blooded lethality.
Many amongst the Wolfpack and Defense Force alike hoped they would never have to find out.
---
"'There ain't a whole lot I fear.'" Johnny thought. "'But the feeling those eyes give me...'"
He traded glares with Bobbi, looking down at him with those cold, judging eyes.
"'...it's like I'm looking into the face of Death itself!'"
"...Jessica." Bobbi spoke, a distinct lack of emotion in her voice.
"...! Judge O'Donnell?" Jess asked, having been released from Johnny's grip.
"Can you still fly?"
"I...think so."
"Take Anna and go."
"No way...!" Anna griped.
"Anna." Bobbi glared at her. "No objections. Take her, Jessica."
"Tch..." Anna clenched her fists.
"When Johnny is dead, I'll ensure Sonia is the first to know. Leave. Now."
"Heh." Johnny smirked.
Jess transformed, and hoisted Anna onto her back. "Let it go, Anna. It's not an argument you can win."
"....." Anna looked down.
Jess took flight, and departed as quickly as her injuries would allow.
"...you aren't stopping them." Bobbi said.
"They'd just be getting in the way. That's really why you shooed them off. You wanna hack me to pieces without any distractions. The feeling's totally mutual." Johnny replied. "Course, I could always blast them outta the sky from here. Lævateinn makes me a pretty damn good shot." He pointed his rifle skyward. "Orrrrr..." He shifted it towards the opposite direction. "I could aim it a couple miles thataway. Betcha I could blast your little mermaid's salty brains out of her skull from here. Wanna place a bet?"
Bobbi suddenly moved right in front of Johnny, putting an axe up to his neck. "I will kill you. Before you can ever touch a hair on my Candice's head. And if you even think of pointing that piece of junk in her direction again, I'll ensure that it comes slower than I already plan on making it."
"I love it when you talk dirty. Know what'll make this even saucier?"
With his free hand, Johnny punched Bobbi in the stomach. To his surprise, it bounced off without her so much as flinching.
"Eh...?" 
Bobbi responded by kicking him in his chest, sending him a few feet away.
"Oof!"
"You probably haven't realized it yet, given the nature of your power. But I've frozen everything in the immediate area. Myself included." Bobbi replied.
"The hell are you on about? I don't see any ice anywhere--"
Johnny noticed that his hand had turned completely blue, and was trapped in a thin layer of ice. "?!" His chest, too, had been frozen.
"Finally begun to notice? It's really quite simple. I've lowered the surrounding temperature to such a low degree that simply touching my body would freeze you where you hit me. Everything--the buildings, the streets, me--has been coated in ice. They're just cold enough to where you can't perceive it as ice."
"Oh, that's horseshit! If it was that cold, how come I can't feel it? And why can I still move?"
"Credit your own flames. If your elemental affinity was anything else, you'd be a block of ice right now. And it also comes down to my own mercy. I want to savor every last second of destroying you. And besides..."
Her eyes unchanging, Bobbi smiled. "Killing prey isn't as fun when it's standing still. Don't you agree?"
Johnny, grinning, lit his hand on fire, defrosting it. "Now you're speaking my language!"
The two began to trade intense, brutal blows. Johnny kept his fists aflame, preventing them from freezing as they made contact with Bobbi's axes. She ceased blocking, slashing repeatedly at him as he dodged. Ice formed in the wake of her attacks, suspended in mid-air.
She swung her axes down on him, but he barehanded them both, before setting them ablaze, melting them. He took a swipe at Bobbi, but she jumped away. Taking the curved ice forms her attacks had created, she tossed one at Johnny, pinning him against a wall. More ice sprouted out from the impact, puncturing his hands and legs. "GRRAGH...!"
As soon as it hit the air, the blood froze. Bobbi walked over, then broke one of the crimson icicles off of his leg. "You won't bleed out. Your trip to hell won't be that easy." She reformed the edge of it to a sharper state. "Why don't we start with cutting out that devil's tongue?"
"Heh...know what I've got to say to that?" Johnny took a breath, and blew out a stream of fire from his mouth. Bobbi jumped back. As she did so, he launched another stream of fire, which grazed her side. 
He heated his body up, breaking free of the ice containing him. "Well look at us, actually bleeding a bit."
The spot where Bobbi had been struck was now frozen, the part of her uniform immediately covering it burned off. "Our kind doesn't let a few cuts and bruises slow us down."
"So, you're not shy about us being the same when broski's not around. Y'all wanna say I'm the worst the old Irish hen house has ever produced. And maybe I am. But you're standing there with a chunk of your side missing, trying to stab me with my own frozen blood. You're a beast, as feral as me. Only difference is the badge."
"Do you hear me arguing? What does maintaining humanity matter during a fight to the death? I'll become as cruel as necessary if it means bringing you to an end." Bobbi morphed the red icicle she was holding into a sharpened blade, attached to her wrist. "And I still intend to stab you with your own blood."
"I ain't gonna give you the chance, sissy. That frosty covering you've got might be handy, but it ain't got much in the way of aesthetics. Lemme show ya what *real* armor looks like."
Flames erupted from beneath him, and when they subsided, he emerged encased in black-and-red, metallic armor. Spikes poked out of the shoulders, as well as his knuckles. The Wolfpack emblem appeared prominently on the chestplate. On his ankles were a pair of broken, black shackles: the one on the left was inscribed with the name 'Leyding', while the right cuff was inscribed with 'Dromi'. The eyes glowed a dreadful red.
He adjusted his wrists. "Y'all ain't the only ones with fancy toys."
"Looks to me like you stole Max's design."
"Call it an inspiration! The 'Tyr-Jerk' Mk. 3, built for ultimate, unparalleled collateral damage!"
He rushed in front of her, his left arm lighting up red. "LET'S GIVE IT A TEST RUN, EH?!"
He swung his arm, and despite her guarding, the brute force of it shattered her weapons, the hit squarely targeting her abdomen. The frost that had been shielding her broke apart into crystalline particles. She went flying into a building.
Across town in South Naruki, Candice became alarmed. "Mother...!" 
"Hold on a second, Candice!" Barbara warned.
Before she could leave, Zhenlong blocked her path. "Going somewhere?"
He was immediately met with a hard jab to the face from a leaping Shūjo. "Eyes over here, freakshow!"
The draconic overlord, unfazed, stared him down. "Yours is the gaze that's directed to the wrong spot, human."
With one arm, he swung his blade with enough force that it sent everyone close flying back.
Outside Akihabara, Ezekiel, wind circling around him, slapped the side of his sword against the palm of his hand. "My, my. I believe that is the sensation of your hopes fading away."
Ken and Sakuya, both cut and bleeding, were breathing heavily.
At the edge of town, Shinji frantically worked on the containment unit's controls, as the others fended off the Wolfpack.
"Can't you go any faster?" Rin demanded.
"Can't you be a little patient? I'm trying to learn centuries-worth of advancement in a couple minutes!"
"I don't think the patient approach is gonna work, pal!" Tan responded.
He began to bring his sword down, but one of the wolfmen clamped down on his shoulder, causing him to lose his grip. The charged-up blade hit the ground, causing a massive burst of electricity that broke apart the road beneath it. The strike damaged one of the pillars supporting the highway, and soon, the road and all the burnt cars dotting it began to crumble and fall to the earth below.
"Aw, shit...!" Lin uttered.
"Everyone grab onto something!" Tenko called out.
Everybody braced for the fall as the highway collapsed.
"No no no no no no no!" Shinji panicked. Rin grabbed him.
Within seconds, the road they'd been fighting on had turned to rubble. Everyone tried getting to their feet.
"Ugh...is everyone alright?" Jin asked, slumped over a piece of rubble.
"I'd raise my hand, but I think my arm's broken..." Tsutsugo groaned.
Rin got up, using her sword for support. "You're heavier than you look."
Shinji was near-catatonic. "I'm in hell. I'm dead and this is hell. It has to be."
"We're not dead yet, Poindexter."
She looked to the machine, which had fallen along with everything else. To her amazement, it had barely been scratched.
Making matters worse, the Wolfpack thugs began to rise back up, shaking off the fall.
"This is never gonna end..." Mimi griped.
"We've gotta get Rinnie out of there..." Tan stated.
"Well Four-Eyes ain't gonna do it, so what else can we do?" Lin questioned.
"....." Rin pondered. 
Images from that night in Naruki flooded back. The sight of those horrible wolves, destroying everything and everyone she loved.
"(It really is just like back then...I wasn't strong enough then...but now...now I have to be!)"
She turned to the machine, and started hitting her sword against it.
"H-hey, what are you--?!" Shinji questioned.
"What I should've done from the start! I'm tearing this thing open myself!" she replied.
"Even if you do get it open, who knows if Rinnie could get hurt?!" Tan asked.
"If she's as strong as you all say she is, then she'll handle it! I'm sick and tired of things going wrong and not having the strength to fight back! So I'm gonna do the right thing for the first time in forever!"
"Kid, you're gonna exhaust yourself bashing that thing over and over! Let me--"
"Stop talking like my brother! It's so annoying! Togie...always talked to me that same way. No matter how gloomy I'd get, he'd always have the right thing to say. And he always said we got powers for a reason. Well I've got my reason! So shut up and let me break this thing!"
Her hits became more frenzied.
"Break!"
The wolves began to close in.
"Break!"
Dark energy covered her blade, more than had ever materialized before. She drew it back one last time.
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
She swung it down, and with the full force of the sword, an explosion of energy was kicked up.
As the dust cleared, she crumpled to her knees, panting. Everyone picked their eyes up to look. The wolves cautiously held back.
A hole had been carved into the machine. And a figure stepped out from the shadows.
Earth-013's Rin looked up at the woman standing before her, who knelt down in front of her. "Rin, I presume?"
"I...yeah."
"Hi, there. I'm Rin. Nice to finally meet you. Thank you for freeing me. It was getting stuffy in there. We have a lot to talk about, you and me. But...there's work to be done first."
She looked at the Wolfpack goons. She increased her pressure. Horrified, the wolfmen fled.
"Thank you for holding the fort, everyone. I'm glad to have so many capable friends around me."
"Please don't make me gag." Mimi mumbled.
"I, uh..." the younger Rin mumbled.
Her older counterpart knelt back down, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I know about your struggles. I understand your pain. More than you probably think. Before I go, I just want you to know one thing."
She hugged her younger counterpart. "You're loved. And it will get better. No matter how dark it gets."
The younger Rin, her shell finally breached, began to tear up.
"Take care of yourselves." the older Rin got up. "I'm going to finish this, once and for all."
She looked up to the sky. "Bankai." She began to glow. "HENSHIN!" Her armor materialized around her. Energy manifested behind her, resembling fiery, moth-like wings. With a burst of power, she flew off.
"Wow..." the younger Rin watched in awe.
The sudden spike of energy caught the attention of everyone around the city.
Almost in unison, the Ashen Artisans smirked.
In South Naruki, Zhenlong cocked his head. "What was that...?"
Kibō, back to his feet, responded. "As my friend Kat would say...you're so *fucked* now."
Atop Tokyo Tower, Cindy caught sight of what looked to be a comet, soaring through the sky. "Sis...what is that?"
"Such power...I think...that is the one we've heard so much about." Emily replied.
At the tower's base, Ibuki's fight soundtrack kicked in. "Oh yeah, baby. This is the one."
"'So baby, now you feel like Number One~/ Shining bright for everyone~/Livin' out your fantasy~/The brightest star there's ever beeeeen~!'"
In Ueno, Bobbi was slumped against a building. Johnny had his rifle pointed at her head.
"Any last words, Frost Queen?"
She looked up. "...yeah. Heads up."
The "comet" crashed down behind Johnny. He looked over his shoulder to look.
"Hello again, Johnny O'Donnell. Let me introduce myself properly this time."
Clearing out the smoke from the impact, Rin took a fighting stance. 
"I am Applerider Ringo Kubo, protector of Tokyo. I'm here to destroy you."