Black★Zero

Chapter 7: Light the Fire of Our Resolve

Staring up at the target Ninja Zero Two struggled to hit with the cannon, Saya asked, "Enemy?" Behind her, Magician's voice said, "She's likely the mastermind of everything." Her voice weak, staring up at the crowned other self on the cliff she explained, "She's responsible for the spell that resulted in this mess. The knowledge she must possess is dangerous... With the right tools, she could irreversibly disrupt your world." Still smiling, the crowned woman closed her golden eyes and raised up her exposed right hand with the black ring on the middle finger now. There was a flash of gold light before a one-handed broadsword appeared in her grasp from nowhere, which she immediately hurled straight at Ninja Zero Two. Suddenly appearing to knock her aside just in time, a split-second later the air filled with clouds of dust as it impaled Black Rock Shooter in the ground through the chest with force strong enough to create a shallow crater.

Getting up onto her hands and knees, as Ninja Zero Two looked back in shock at her lying in a pool of black blood with a faint blue glow, blurring between Zero Two and Rei their form almost seemed as though it would completely destabilize as she screamed aloud, "MATO NEE-SAN!" Grabbing hold of her fallen cannon as her blue eye flame blazed to life though, Black Rock Shooter raised it up almost unfazed, only gritting her teeth as her cannon barrel glowed bright with steadily building energy. Unleashing a charged energy mass from her cannon that looked like a blue comet as it shot up at the woman on the cliff, still only smiling in amusement she responded by pulling her two-handed broadsword from the ground now to cut it down, swinging the weapon with just one hand.

Disappearing in the aftermath of an earthshaking explosion, the unknown other self soon cleared the dust clouds with another swing of her sword as she telepathically called out, "You can't heal with a foreign object in the way, and that is only one of your many weaknesses Black Rock Shooter. You are neither an exception to death nor immune to pain. If killing you proves bothersome, I could always just torture you for eternity." She deflected a shot from the Infinite Range Maid next, smiling undeterred as she glanced at Black Gold Saw and Ninja Zero Two and added, "Prepare yourselves, humans and denizens of this world alike. You are already just one move away from checkmate, and soon you will all bow before your King." With that, she turned to walk through a hole in space and vanished.

Black Gold Saw approaching as Black Rock Shooter laid there struggling to pull the sword loose, Saya offered, "Hold still, I'll get it out." To her surprise though she quickly raised her cannon at her now, still gritting her teeth as she kept pulling on the sword in a way that seemed a bit desperate. Like a gear falling into place, feeling as if she had never really seen Black Rock Shooter before until now, Saya slowly remarked, "Pain... You always attacked anyone who came too close. If I'd only thought about it, I can't imagine how many approached you just to harm you in a world like this." Making a silent apology to Gold Saw, with a sympathetic tone she added, "Even for a counselor, that kind of distrust isn't something that can be so easily undone. You can point that at me if you feel scared, but I'm not just taking it out for your sake. If you can't trust an ally of Mato, you may as well shoot."

Stepping forward Black Gold Saw quickly pulled the sword out without incident, and Black Rock Shooter's cannon fell to the ground as she extinguished her blue flame. Crawling towards where she laid, Ninja Zero Two was trembling with her head down, only repeating aloud, "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." Seeing that Magician had passed out again, Saya held more concern for her as she remarked, "She healed the moment it came out. I think she's just worn herself out." Then noticing the tears falling from her face as she continued to creep along in an endless loop of apology, she quickly called out, "Hey! It's alright Rei, she's-" Clearly not listening as she dragged herself across the blood covered ground around her, she fell forward with her head on Black Rock Shooter's arm and one of her clawed hands trying to hold hers, still apologizing.