Chapter 10

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Recap: Shinji Mizukira's 2 subordinates - Rei and Keri as well as the kidnapping racket members - Rio and Gai have died after a bloodlusted violent brawl. Matsumi is ready to take on the boss, suppressing his inner trauma while Dan, Naomi and Akihito train him.

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Dan, Naomi, Akihito and Matsumi are prepared to take down the boss, with Matsumi being extremely anxious and hesitant in many ways. They gather around in his room, just planning possible scenarios.
Matsumi: "I'll finally get to watch a powerful guy squirm, huh?"
Akihito: "Don't get too excited! This ain't a normal enemy. If you're going to equate his difficulty to mine or Puffer's, he's going to make short work of you in seconds."
Dan: "Matsumi! From the swimming pool to the water manipulation, you gotta use everything you've got in this."
Akihito: "But since majority of his mansion has been wrecked, do you even think that you would find it there Dan?"
Dan is sweating in stress as well.
Dan: "I-I don't know! We'll have to gamble."
Matsumi: "Whatever the thing you guys spoke about is, I'll just make short work of that boss and you're gonna be the one to get it."
Akihito: *thinks* "This overconfidence in him....it's really really bothersome."
At the wrecked mansion, the assistant lady to the boss is the only other person there besides him.
Assistant: "So, boss! What would you like me to do about the damages?"
Shinji: *sighs* "High renovation charges! Nothing you can do."
Assistant: "And about the kidnapping queen?"
Shinji: "She may have escaped my grasp for now, but trust me she'll be hunted down sooner or later."
Assistant: "And why is that?"
Shinji laughs hysterically.
Assistant: "Um....boss?"
Shinji: "Have you ever heard of the Hermit's Death Match?"
The assistant is absolutely oblivious to the name and gives a confused look.
Assistant: "No boss! I....I wouldn't know."
Shinji: "It's beyond obvious that everyone's going to get there. And the prize....it's something to die for."
Assistant: "Uh....ok?"
Shinji: "We're probably going to be visited by a few rats soon. But the one I'm really really eager to meet, is the one who killed 3 of my subordinates."
Assistant: "Boss! I thought you always hated Puffer."
The boss laughs again.
Shinji: "Yeah! It's obvious, he was too unlikeable but somehow his powers were pretty useful. And if this other guy was able to kill him, he'll certainly be fun to crush and use as a plaything in the Hermit's Death Match. Don't you think?"
Assistant: "Y-Yes boss!"
The assistant leaves the boss. As soon as she goes to her room, she removes her wig and reveals silver hair and her voice turns more high pitched. Turns out, she was the same lady with gen-EC powers who battled Izumi. She puts on some fancy violet lipstick and removes her french maid outfit, stripping down to her extremely controversial attire - a leopard print bra and panty. She throws her uniform to the side, not caring about anything.
Assistant: "I just simply hate wearing clothes."
She then giggles, as if she were upto something.
Assistant: *thinks* "You're quite naive and foolish, Shinji Mizukira. Don't think that you are even worthy of matching the power holders in the Hermit's Death Match. You weren't even able to decipher me, the guardian angel's direct underling - Panacea Argenteau. There are so many snitches and moles in NEX, it's just unbelievably ridiculous." *laughs*
Panacea then takes out a pendant from her drawer and puts it on her neck. Suddenly, outside of the wrecked mansion Shinji sees none other than 2 infamous men - one being the snitch Dan and the other being an unknown face to the boss.
Shinji: *thinks* "Huh? So they've shown up, huh? Just 2 of them? And holy shit! Dan's there too."

The boss jumps down and lands inflicting an electrical blast, creating a crater on his ground. The 3 of them stand near the boss' fountain garden.
Shinji: "So, Dan! Didn't bring your lovebird around?"
Dan: "Doesn't matter! We need to get that thing."
Matsumi: "Just go in there, I'll hold this guy back."
Dan runs inside, however he gets stung by Shinji's tentacle projections. He lays on the floor, writhing in pain.
Matsumi: "That's not normal. So this guy's got some interesting powers huh?"
Shinji: "Say, how'd you manage to kill 2 of my subordinates huh?"
Matsumi: "Maybe I should just show you how."
Matsumi throws water droplets at him, firing them like bullets. However the boss is quick enough to dodge them.
Shinji: "And I'm also wondering where that mute bitch Naomi is."
Matsumi: "Doesn't matter, keep going."
Shinji spawns tentacles and projects them at Matsumi, but the latter dodges them. Matsumi goes into a recent flashback wherein after defeating Puffer - Naomi, Dan and Akihito take Matsumi to the same swimming pool for his underwater training. Naomi is attacking Matsumi underwater using only her fast swimming skills, causing him to actually suffer damage. However, at one point the shark therianthrope figured out that his purpose wasn't to attack her but to defend himself using his instincts by dodging as it was the only form available. As a result, he was able to confuse Naomi by dodging and then strike back. It was a proud moment for Dan and Naomi, as he had finally learned something valuable.
Shinji: "Don't like it, do you?"
Matsumi breathes heavily, throwing more water droplets at him.
Shinji: "Seriously? The same thing over and over? Come up with something new."
Dan on the other side, tries to get up and walks inside the mansion as his injury has healed.
Matsumi: "Hey Dan! Just go in, won't you?"
Dan speeds up his walk and almost makes it to the main door.
Dan: *thinks* "Almost there....just gotta keep moving...."
However his efforts were in vain only to be stung by tentacles again.
Shinji: "Don't think you'll recover from that, Dan! I know about your species and how you recover."
Dan glares at Shinji, extremely suspicious as if the boss was now an extremely important and significant threat personally to him. However in time, Matsumi manages to aim droplets right at the boss' face, inflicting some damage.
Dan: "Ahh! Good one!"
Matsumi: "Thanks for being the distraction, now I can have fun with this weak thug of a boss."
Dan: "Yeah sure Matsu....."
Suddenly an electric shock devastates Dan on the inside, making him writhe around similar to Akihito.
Shinji: "Now you can't take his name or mention him in any form no matter what. Unless of course, you wanna die from electrical surge."
Matsumi: "What kinda power is this?"
Dan: "Matsu.....AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
More electrical surges build up inside Dan, causing him to hurt a lot.
Matsumi: "HEY DAN! DON'T SAY ANYTHING, JUST GET THE HELL IN THERE!"
Shinji: "Hmph! Not that you're going to figure out or anything - but if you wanna see my true form just try to come at me with full power."
Matsumi: *thinks* "Akihito! What's taking you so long?"
Matsumi charges at Shinji, trying to fight head on. However this was a bad move, as the tentacles spawned by the boss keep pursuing him and getting in the way - damaging everything from nearby trees to the ground itself. A dodging session goes on between Matsumi and Shinji. The electrical tentacles are becoming more and more of a menace.
Matsumi: *thinks* "Those are some sick powers, just when and how am I gonna execute the plan we had?"
However on a positive note for Matsumi, Dan has made it into the mansion and is struggling to climb the stairs. He has to climb all the way to the second floor, as it was instructed by Akihito.
Dan: *huffs and pants* "Those electrical shocks weren't normal, they were probably programmed in some way to respond to a certain set of brain signals."
He keeps struggling to walk upstairs while Matsumi faces off against Shinji with extreme difficulty, unable to land hits.
Meanwhile in the mansion on the 2nd floor come out Akihito and Naomi from the tub.
Akihito: "Naomi! You must grab that thing and just bring it to Dan as soon as he gets here. Dan may be injured by the boss, but his self healing process should help."
Naomi looks everywhere, in every cupboard and drawer.
Akihito: *thinks* "We better find it quick! I have to help Matsumi too."
In Akihito's hand is a bottle with light pink liquid inside it.
Akihito: "Naomi! I think we should take the risk and search the boss' room itself."
Naomi searches the boss' room only to fail at finding their target object.
Akihito: "N-No way! Don't tell me the boss figured out something....."
A pleasant female voice comes from behind them, it says "looking for something?"
Akihito and Naomi look back, only to see Panacea. Panacea however has big glaring eyes, as she is shocked to see them.
Akihito: "And um....who would you be? Why are you dressed like that?"
Naomi is confused, but Panacea is shaking and jittery. Akihito on the other hand is flabbergasted at their enemy being barely clothed.
Akihito: "Were you....newly hired or something? I've never seen you before."
Panacea: *sternly* "To answer your question, I pretty much hate clothes. So mind your own business Norihito!"
Akihito: *thinks* "No way! She knows my name."
Panacea: "And you...YOU KILLED MY FAMILY AND BURNED MY VILLAGE, DIDN'T YOU BITCH?"
Akihito looks at Naomi and gasps. Panacea is throwing a fit of rage, and Dan still hasn't made it to the second floor.
Akihito: "Wait what? I mean.....is that for real? I didn't know Naomi was such a.....WAIT HANG ON! HEY LADY, THAT PENDANT, WHERE'D YOU GET IT?"
Naomi falls to the floor in a daze, her eyes filled with tears and her heart pumping loudly. Panacea is pissed and taunts them by pointing to the necklace.
Akihito: "No way! Naomi, NAOMI SNAP OUT OF IT, THAT'S THE PENDANT....THE PENDANT DAN WAS LOOKING FOR ISN'T IT?
However she tries to convince herself that this isn't her objective and struggles to get back up. Dan is still struggling on the stairs, even though his electrically inflicted scars had repaired. To make things weirder, he starts undergoing extreme pulsating in his brain the closer he is to the second floor.
Dan: "OH! OHH GOD WHAT IS THIS SENSATION?"
Matsumi and Shinji's battle goes on and on with nearly the same outcomes and tactics. The electrical tentacles spawned by the boss are wrecking havoc everywhere while Matsumi can only dodge for the timebeing.
Matsumi: "Holy shit! Now I don't think you became a boss for nothing."
Shinji: "You came here for something, didn't you? Isn't Dan going inside just to get that thing?"
Matsumi: "Yeah! And he's going to find that lovely possession of yours."
Shinji: "Hahaha! My personal assistant up there, she really doesn't mind making short work of people on my orders. I've always kept her as a secret even from my own squad."
Matsumi: "We'll see about that!" *thinks* "What am I even saying? Obviously he wouldn't leave that valuable item unguarded. If Dan and Naomi don't step up and if Akihito doesn't show up on time, I'm doomed."
The fight continues. Meanwhile up on the 2nd floor, Akihito confronts Panacea.
Panacea: "Stay out of this, punk! You don't even have an arm, you're not worth crushing either."
Akihito: "Go ahead and try me!" *thinks* "Let's just hope I'm able to make it on time."
Suddenly Naomi shoves Akihito to the side, walking towards Panacea. The lady with the valuable pendant is getting angrier and in the mood to go wild, even more evident when she is already half-naked.
Panacea: "You're gonna pay!"
Naomi takes a fighting stance while Panacea rips off the floor, thinning it into ribbons and firing them at Naomi. Naomi dodges the ribbons, jumping back only to realize that it was useless for the strips won't stop pursuing her.
Akihito: "Um....do you need help here?"
Panacea has tears in her eyes, and is ready to break down and scream anytime. The look in her eyes was terror mixed with sadness. Naomi then stops suddenly, letting the ribbons strike her as blood gushes out of her body.
Panacea: *sobbing, shaking* "You-you took them on purpose because you knew you'll just regenerate, right?"
Naomi spouts blood.
Akihito: "Naomi! HEY LADY LET GO OF HER, WE'RE HERE TO TAKE DOWN THE BOSS!"
Panacea glares in tears at the seaweed mossform, trying to catch him with ribbons but he counters using his seaweed.
Akihito: *grunts* "So strong! Is she a gen-EC or something? No way!"
Suddenly Naomi with determination bearing the pain releases herself from the ribbons. She lifts her fist and charges at Panacea despite being heavily injured.
Panacea: "Why you...."
Akihito uses his seaweed to hold back Panacea's ribbons and allows Naomi to do her thing. Consequently, Naomi's fist suddenly looks like it's glowing red and punches Panacea in the gut. Taking advantage of Panacea's blind rage, Naomi snatches the pendant and runs away.
Panacea: "The pendant.....THE PENDANT! I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU GO WITH....."
Akihito holds her back.
Panacea: *growls* "You think you can hold me back?"
Akihito: "I'll do more than just that!"
Panacea and Akihito go toe-to-toe with each other, with Akihito being thrashed around for the latter half of their fight. Meanwhile, Naomi hurries to Dan with the valuable. After knocking out Akihito temporarily, Panacea runs to Naomi trying to get her possession back. The enemy lady spawns ribbons, projecting them all at the pendant thief. Naomi is feeling pain despite the regeneration, and is almost close to Dan. Dan nearly makes his way to Naomi, struggling with the aftermath of the electrical impulses, and after several minutes of resolve they finally come face to face.
Dan: "Naomi! You look.....exhausted!"
She throws the pendant at him.
Panacea: "I'M NOT LETTING YOU GET THERE!"
Panacea's ribbons manage to reclaim the pendant and are now about to stab Naomi, and Akihito re-enters the scene behind them soon after.
Akihito: "OH SHIT! LOOK OUT!"
Her ribbons are about to strike Naomi, but suddenly Dan stands as the obstacle and lets the ribbons attack him.
Dan: "Naomi! I won't let you suffer anymore pain."
Panacea's ribbons are about to strike Dan, however as if there were a barrier protecting him - the ribbons crash a few inches before reaching him and break into shards.
Panacea: "W-What?"
Akihito: "No way! Dan you too?"
Dan opens his eyes, and is just as shocked as everyone else.
Dan: "What just happened?"
Panacea tries hitting him back but her ribbons keep breaking into pieces a few inches before they hit him.
Akihito: "Are you.....a power user?"
Dan: "I...I don't know!" *suddenly realizes* "AKIHITO! GO DOWN THERE NOW, WE'LL TAKE CARE OF HER."
The seaweed mossform cooperates smoothly, running downstairs in full throttle.

TO BE CONTINUED.......


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