In 2016 (Part 4) (Kyouka Inai, Fuyuko Yuuhi)

From Radiant Heart MUSH

In 2016 (Part 4) (Kyouka Inai, Fuyuko Yuuhi)
Date of Cutscene: 08 May 2016
Location: Mitakihara Ward
Synopsis: On a dark and stormy night...
Thanks to: Fuyuko Yuuhi
Cast of Characters: Kyouka Inai, Fuyuko Yuuhi
Tinyplot: The Game

The night seems especially dark over Tokyo Bay, despite the myriad lights shining from the buildings surrounding the water on all sides. The cloud cover hanging low blocks out the moon and the stars, but even that can’t entirely account for the oppressive feeling of floom. Perhaps it comes from the sphere of darkness, impenetrable and dense, floating above the water some distance from the piers where warehouses and jetties meet cargo ships at the water’s edge.

The ball of night suddenly gains a feature where none had existed before- points of light moving across its surface, twinkling faintly like stars in a far night sky. Then it begins to contract inwards, shrinking as the points of light spin faster and faster, until it’s gone. In its place floats a teenage girl, dressed all in black. Smoking darkness trails from the tips of her fingers, and from her eyes which resemble nothing so much as impenetrable pits, voids in her pale-skinned face. A formation of twelve black gems, crackling with negative energy, spin slowly around her head like a floating crown, a thirteenth set in the flesh of her forehead between her eyes..

Those fathomless eyes look out over the lights of the warehouses and the buildings beyond, extending as far as the eye can see away from the water. “He died so that you could live,” Fuyuko whispers to herself, her voice low. “But it was a bad trade. I’ve come for recompense. The Night demands it’s due.”

She might have moved towards the shoreline, but before she can, a faint rumble of thunder echoes across the clouds overhead. A glance upwards shows they have begun to roil, little arcs of golden-yellow lightning racing along the bottoms of the shifting mass. “Oh no..” Fuyuko whispers, mouth drawing then into a hard line.

Suddenly a brilliant flash of light sends the world into stark relief. An enormous bolt of golden lightning streaks from the clouds to impact the sea below, sending up a cloud of water and steam, and when it clears a second form floats in the air at the same level as the girl in black, though several meters distant. A figure in white and gold, with a shock of brilliant red hair.

Her eyes glow a solid gold, little bolts of energy crackling from and between them. All along her forearms, twelve gems of brilliant golden light are embedded into her coat or the flesh of her hands, tracers of light connecting them so they almost appear to be gauntlets made of lightning. A thirteenth gem sits in the center of her forehead, a mirror of the dark one on the girl across from her.

“You took the Lux gems.” Fuyuko says, her voice almost sad, resigned. “I.. was hoping you wouldn’t. You know there’s very little chance either of us will survive this. We’re.. Humans aren’t built to contain this much power at once. That’s why Aurora’s people only gave out one gem per human in the first place.”

“What did you think I was going to do?” Kyouka’s voice is angry, heated, her fists clenched beneath their glowing cages of light. “Just let you come out here and kill half the port?”

“I thought,” and now Fuyuko’s voice is rising as well, becoming shrill with anger, “That you might let me do what I need to do! You’re supposed to be my best friend, my partner! I also thought if that wasn’t enough, maybe just wanting to live would be enough to keep you out of the way! Apparently I underestimated your stupidity!”

“I am your best friend!” Kyouka shouts back at her, features rigid with anger. “That’s why I’m not going to let you do this, and why I’m willing to risk my life to stop you! Killing those people,” She flings an arm out, pointing to the lights on the shoreline, “Isn’t going to bring Kaito back! He’ll still be dead! There’s no reason to add to that!”

“There is! They don’t deserve to live when he died!” Fuyuko screams, her face twisting with rage. Darkness boils up around her in clouds, speckled with pure-white, twinkling stars. “I need to even the scales! Maybe then.. Maybe then I’ll feel like I can live with it!”

“That’s fucked up! That doesn’t make any sense.” Kyouka says, arm whipping to the side in a negatory gesture. “You’re suffering, I get it. You can’t get over it. I get that too. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stand aside and let you make people who had nothing to do with it suffer as well.”

“Then..” Fuyuko heaves a heavy, long breath. “I guess I have no choice but to go through you. The gems are going to kill you anyway.”

Without warning, the star-speckled darkness smoke rising from her hands shifts into a series of rigid-seeming, deadly spikes which fly out towards Kyouka from both sides all at once. Reacting quickly, the redhead dives to the side through the air, twisting to avoid the spikes which turn to pursue her, racing in her path like pursuing knives.

She twists suddenly, and appearing from nowhere in her hands is a long spear, her naginata but made entirely of twisting golden light. Still pursued by the spears of darkness, she turns towards Fuyuko, speeding straight towards her through the air, a snarl on her face.

The dark-haired girl’s eyes widen as if she didn’t expect this, her own spikes of darkness still flying in Kyouka’s wake as the girl heads right towards her at full speed, naginata drawn back. At the last moment, Fuyuko pulls darkness up into the form of two long blades extending from her hands, raising them in a cross motion to block the impact of the lightning-spear.

When the two meet, there’s a deafening crack, like the loudest thunder the bay has ever heard. Ships rock in their moorings as waves wash up over the shore, and people can dimly be heard screaming in the distance. The sky looks apocalyptic, roiling clouds blacker than nature should allow shot through with racing streaks of pure-golden lightning.

As soon as her blow is blocked, Kyouka is flipping up and over Fuyuko with the same momentum as one fluid motion. The dark-haired girl is forced to call off the pursuing darkness spikes lest she impale herself with them as Kyouka is now behind her. She whirls instantly, blocking another blow of the lightning spear, another deafening crack splitting the night air.

A series of blows are traded, each one producing a booming detonation and brilliant flash, the waves meters below whipped up into a frothing frenzy. The two separate as Fuyuko pulls back, her face twisted with incandescent rage. “Why won’t you just let me be happy?” She screams as she retreats a few paces.

“This isn’t going to make you happy!” Kyouka retorts, but before giving the other girl any more time to speak she rears back and throws her spear like a lightning bolt in truth, slicing through the air towards Fuyuko.

The girl leaking darkness barely twists in time to avoid it, spinning back and throwing her hand out, more knives of smoking blackness flinging towards Kyouka, who’s already moving, flying sideways to avoid the inevitable counter-attack.

Not willing to let it rest there, though, Fuyuko takes advantage of the other girl’s momentary distraction. She looks down at the agitated waves beneath them, then extends both hands, pulling upwards.

The waves beneath Kyouka split as an enormous hand made entirely of star-speckled night rises up from the ocean, easily the size of one of the ocean-liners docked at the nearby port. Huge fingers reach for the redhead, but she notices just in time, dodging to the side, only to be met by a second hand, opposite pair to the first, looming out of the water on the other side.

The two huge hands close around her, cutting her off from sight in the grip of shifting, smoking darkness.