Deadliest Fiction Wiki

A rare post-2022 Leo match without a JRPG character

Menou[]

It's me, Menou, the priestess— pure, proper, and powerful.
— Menou
Has a lesbian, so still on-brand

The woman known as Menou is a semi-clone of Hakua Shirakami, an ancient Lost One known as Ivory. She worked as an Executioner for the Church, and was trained by their best, Flare. Her role was to hunt down and kill Lost Ones who have been isekaied into the world, typically from Japan. After killing a generic Isekai LN Protagonist, she runs into Akari Tokitou, another Lost One. She tries to kill Akari, but can't because time reverses for her when she dies.

She travels with Akari towards the Sword of Salt, the only thing that can kill her. They fight various foes along the way, from a corrupt Archbishop to Pandaemonium, one of the most powerful known Lost Ones, though the weakest of those sealed by Ivory. Along the way, she discovers that Akari had been traveling back in time to try and save Menou, and that the other girl had fallen in love with her during the innumerable regressions.

Upon arriving at the Sword of Salt, Menou faces off against her mentor. With Akari's help, she wins, though she also declines to use the Sword of Salt on her friend/crush. This triggers the re-emergence of Ivory, who has become the god the Church worship. She reveals that she was Akari's best friend, and that the other girl's attachment to Menou might have started with their similarities. Ivory then tells Menou about her plan to return to Japan with Akari, potentially destroying the world to do so. Ivory then forces Akari into a coma to wait until the time when her plans are complete. Menou entrusts Akari to her assistant, Momo, and quests to stop her original.

Good day, Mr. Terrorist. I am but a humble clergywoman and ally to the Commons. Is there a problem?
— Menou
Also contains instructions on how to snark

The primary method of casting magic for priestesses is through their books of scripture. Certain passages can, if invoked properly, have unique and very powerful magical effects. These vary greatly, from creating a fortress, to creating a massive bell that unleashes crushing sounds, to summoning stakes and firing them at people, to taking creepshots. Using the Scripture takes concentration, and Menou being able to use it in combat without opening it is a sign of her prowess.

She can also throw it or just plain hit people with the five-hundred-page hardcover book with metal reinforcements.

Flare became a Master long ago. I'm the piece of art that Master creates - the successor, Flarette.
— Menou
🔪🗣️

Guiding Force is a core part of Menou's world, making up most of its magic systems. Someone skilled in using Guiding Force can invoke it to provide a variety of effects. These vary greatly, and can be anything from creating monsters to summoning bubbles. Menou has a comparatively low level of Guiding Force, but has unparalleled control over it. She is notably proficient in Enhancement, which increases her physical abilities, and Camouflage, which allows her to cast illusions to disguise herself.

In order to overcome her low levels of Guiding Force, she can tap into the Earthen and Heavenly Veins, essentially globe-spanning currents of Guiding Force. She can do this with notable ease compared to others in her world, though it still takes a lot of effort and isn't quite suitable for an impromptu use in combat.

Utilizing Guiding Force requires very high levels of concentration. Menou is only really able to focus on four Conjurings at once, and even that requires all her mental faculties.

Leave it to you, Menou. When it comes to seducing women until they can't tell up from down, you're second to none.
— Sahara
( •ᴗ✧)つ▭ι═(⁠☞゚⁠ヮ゚⁠)⁠☞
Robe
A standard Priestess robe, woven with Guiding Enhancements to improve its defensive capabilities.
Barrier
Can create a magic barrier. Barrier can is made at a specific location.
Knife
Menou's knife, a meticulously crafted weapon that contains two spells.
Thread
A thin magic thread is attached to the hilt of the knife, allowing Menou to throw and retrieve it or alter its flight path.
Gale
Creates a massive burst of wind
Coin
A simple 5-In coin, which creates a mass of bubbles when Guiding Force is poured into it. Menou has some degree of control over them.

This is clearly some evil facility made by people up to no good. The world's better off without it.
— Menou
Why yes I did use three different versions of the single most iconic image of the series. Whose iconic status also kind of underlines a lot of the sexist bullshit in anime fandoms but we're not here to talk about that.
Deceptive
As befitting Flarette, Menou is a highly calculating individual who is quite skilled at using deception in combat. She typically uses this to create openings to fight tactically, such as using Guiding Camouflage to take on the image of Flare to invoke fear, using the bubbles of a 5-In coin to create a distraction, or simply lying about her abilities to get the drop in a social situation.
Perceptive
Menou is also very good at cold reads, quickly figuring out personality traits to exploit as well as weaknesses and strengths in combat. She's trained and specialized in a style that uses this ability to its fullest to win against far stronger opponents.
Skilled Detective
When she's able to pick up a scent, she's quite adept at the arts of tailing and interrogation. She does have a harder time doing so when the party's able to obstruct her bureaucratically, but she is typically able to find her ways around that unless the authority in question is a particular blind spot for her.

Asagami Fujino[]

I really don't want to, but I don't want anyone to find out I'm a murderer either... so I have to kill you, Keita-san
— Fujino Asagami
2011 DF PLS NAME YOUR IMAGES SANELY WHYYYYYYY

Fujino Asagami was a girl from an unknown city in Japan with powerful psychic abilities. These were sealed away early in her life, causing her to no longer be able to feel pain. She lived life as a normal girl, and met Mikiya Kokotou during a middle school sports event. She fell in love with him due to his kindness at treating her injuries.

While she was heading to the hospital, she was kidnapped by a gang of delinquents. This gang held her captive, and periodically assaulted her both physically and sexually. After one of the attackers drew a knife on her, having gotten "bored" of her lack of expression, her sense of pain returned and she murdered him. The other delinquents fled, and she was helped by Mikiya, who she recognized from her middle school days.

Fujino later hunted her attackers down and killed them one by one. In the process of avenging her rape, she also killed an innocent bystander. This brought the girl's actions to the attention of Shiki Ryougi, who was determined to stop her. She managed to kill all but one of her attackers by the time Shiki caught up with her. By this point, it was revealed that Fujino had not been stabbed, but the pain in her body was that of a ruptured appendix. The two fought, but in the end, Shiki did not kill Fujino, instead taking pity on her. She used her powers to "kill" the disease inside her without harming the girl herself. Despite the growth of her powers, she decides to continue living the life of a normal schoolgirl.

BEEEEEEEEEND!
— Fujino Asagami
Just sounds better in JP. More syllables makes for a better-sounding word to be yelled in effort.

Asagami Fujino was born with the Mystic Eyes of Distortion. Due to the sealing of her powers as a child and subsequent unsealing of them as an adult, her manifestation of them is neither a pure psychic ability nor a purely magical ability, but the distinction between the two only really matters within the Nasuverse (and rarely even then). Fujino's eyes are far stronger than most other manifestations of this ability, allowing her to use it in combat effectively.

The Mystic Eyes of Distortion twist an object around an axis, the placement of which is determined by the user. Fujino can twist things counterclockwise through her left eye and clockwise through her right. Combining these creates intense torsion and shear stress, allowing her to rip things apart regardless of their strength. As this causes tearing, rather than cutting, the resulting damage is likely to be distinct enough for Menou to notice.

There are limits to this ability. They will not affect anything she considers to be incapable of bending, and they can further only affect corporeal objects. Magic and concepts are not directly affected, but can be attacked through indirect means (eg, twisting and breaking the ground a barrier is on to get around it). The ability also does not appear to take affect instantly, needing some time to travel between the user's eyes and the area they aim to affect; this travel time is slow enough that Shiki Ryougi can react to it. The ability is usually invisible while traveling, but can be made visible through other means; Shiki Ryougi's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception allowed her to see it as a red and green spiral.

Note that the additional Clairvoyance and weakened eyesight she develops after the bridge fight will not be in effect here, as Fujino will be pulled from before that.

She's my kind. We'll definitely try to kill each other the very moment we meet.
The sane response to Shiki Ryougi ambushing you
Desperate
Convinced she's dying from a knife wound, Fujino's a very desperate and cornered individual. She doesn't hesitate to use her powers to their fullest, most lethal extents, and will not allow any threats to her plans.
Murder is Fun :)
Fujino comes to enjoy the act of killing people during her quest to avenge herself. She strongly denies this, though her protestations don't quite fool others who have seen her in the act or in combat, where she sports a happy smile.
Surprisingly Stealthy
She is able to go unnoticed for quite a while during her killing spree, despite her very obvious clothing and MO. It's unclear if this is due to her own abilities, the general bystander syndrome, or Araya Souren's interference, but it should still be mentioned.

Scenario & Voting[]

Fujino is sent in by the Wolves to try and throw some additional chaos and disorder into the DFederal elections, thereby making additional openings for Doom, or some of the other power brokers in New Latveria, to create inroads to influence policy. She has already successfully committed a few murders, drawing the attention of the DFPD. Menou is assigned to track her down and stop her.

Essentially, Fujino needs to successfully make her kills of politicians while Menou has to stop her from making those kills. Fujino has no information on the schedules or guards of her targets, simply their names and appearances. Menou has no information on who exactly Fujino is hunting, save for any connections she might glean from the already-murdered targets.

  • Menou will be as she is just before the attack on the Iron Chain base near the end of Volume 3.
  • Asagami Fujino will be taken from just before the bridge fight with Shiki Ryougi during the third Kara no Kyoukai movie.

  • Please have at least couple paragraphs as to who you think will win and why
  • Evaluating the warriors used based on a different canon or different point in their timeline as given will invalidate a vote
  • I have the final say on whether or not a vote counts
    • Contact me via Discord if you think I made a mistake with vote counts
  • Only votes on this blog will count.
  • Rebuttals can reduce a vote by a half point or more.
    • Counter-arguments can restore the vote to full
  • Rebuttals will not be accepted less than 48 hours before the close of voting, save for the following:
    • Should a vote be made less than 48 hours before the close of voting, rebuttals will be accepted up to 48 hours after the close of voting, and the voter waives the right to defend their vote to restore it.
  • Votes made less than 24 hours before the close of voting (or close enough that I can gauge this to be their intent) will count for half at most.
  • If I have reason to believe a vote isn't being made in good faith, it will remove a point from the warrior(s) you are voting for.
    • If you're stupid enough to try game this, further penalties will be applied to your vote at my discretion.
  • ago)

Battle[]

Ch. 1[]

“And so, Mr. Stark, do you have anything to say to the charges from the Fire and Lead Party that Olivier’s policies are too weak on the Wolves?”

“I say the good ‘Senator’ understands business and capital far less than he thinks,” he answers with a smile, “We see progress not through monopoly, but competition. Does he believe he’d even have the chance to preach his ideals if New Latveria hadn’t popped up? Well, given the fact that he’s trying to get the Users to put a thumb on the scale, I’d say he thinks he might have.”

“That’s a very serious accusation, Mr. Stark,” the reporter says as the crowd roils and seethes.

“You only need to look at his most recent endorsement,” Tony says with a laugh, “The Serpent, champion of the RFC. Man’s a good fighter, it’s true, but remember: the RFC was created and funded by Beast directly. Further, I have it on decent authority that the Serpent is one of the Adventurers connected to a User – Beast himself – in much the same way as Leo and Marshall are. Note how those two are staying above the fray, even when asked? Go on, dig into that bit. See if your bosses will let you publish.”

Tony gives a conspiratorial wink, seemingly aimed at the reporter but also signaling the grey-haired boy. The political strategist puts a hand to his ear, whispering a couple lines to a few members of the crowd. They started a chant, which is quickly echoed and swells to a roar.

“PUPPET! ARMSTRONG! PUPPET! ARMSTRONG!”

Tony scans the crowd with a somewhat critical eye. The chant wasn’t bad – only two words, but four syllables was more than the usual. Robin fiddles with his earpiece, giving instructions to another. Likely the poster artists; if he’d already thought of how much better the accusation would be as an image, so would the kid. His eyes land on one person, still and silent, the schoolgirl standing out from the crowd in a way she wouldn’t have before.

The reporter also listens intently, scribbling a few words on a notepad as Tony extends his hands, shushing the crowd. His left arm twists and bends, and he dives out of the way as the mysterious force shears it off. He taps the arc reactor on his chest with his remaining hand, activating his armor which covers the wound as he rises.

“Fear not, friends! Armstrong’s assassin missed the mark, just like their handler’s policies! Calm yourselves, my armor will staunch the bleeding.”

“I believe the official line is that this is from the Wolves, sir?” the closest reporter asks, fresh respect in their voice and bearing. This was going to backfire; he could show strength in the face of adversity.

“You only need to look at the facts. They target only Tyrion’s little gang as well as us in the PFPP. Either Armstrong’s pulling the strings with all the subtlety of a charging bull in heat, or there’s exactly one party the Wolves think will help them. They – ”

Tony’s accusations cut off as his neck twists and shears, splattering blood over the stage. The crowd bays in anger, the businessman’s words taking root and growing into a certainty. None of them notice the girl in an indigo dress slipping away, clutching her side as she grimaces. Asagami Fujino leans against a wall in an alleyway, pulling out a burner phone and sending confirmation to her mysterious handler. The message comes back, short as ever. The words “good job,” with a “thumbs up” emoji, followed by another name.

She grits her teeth as her appendix screams anew, the knife edge of pain ripping through her gut. As is typical for this twisted city, negotiations with DF General Hospital were quite rapid about how it would treat New Latverian dead, but much slower for the living. Her handler assured her that they had connections – the ability to fool records so that she could get treated for her condition. What was a few temporary dead in exchange?

She stumbles out of the alley, making her way towards a safehouse.


Pete Wisdom stands in his office, looking at a trio standing in front of him. A man and a woman, both wearing white, and a teenager in indigo-and-yellow robes. He picks up a set of three folders, moving deliberately towards them.

“As of today, the three of you are members of the Execution Department. With the New Latverian threat raising its head, we need people like you. Happy to kill for the greater good, whether that be because of belief in our laws,” he says, nodding at the white-clad pair, “or simply because they know they have to because no one else will,” he continues, nodding at the girl.

The three nod back, and the younger raises her hand, with a questioning look. Pete nods at her.

“How public is this department?”

“It’s on a need-to-know basis. And as of right now, there’s exactly four people who need to know. Officially, you’re simply part of the DFPD’s Intelligence Division. Master here will be your official direct supervisor,” he says, pointing at the man in white, “But you report directly to me and to no one else.”

He looks at the trio, who all nod in assent, before handing each of them a folder.

“Good. Master, Pupil, here’s your assignments; I want these leaks stopped. Menou, stay for a second. Yours just got a bit of new information that’s not in the file.”

“Sir,” Menou says, nodding and looking through the file as Master and Pupil leave. Various images, mostly of gruesome deaths, litter the initial page. The names of each victim is listed next to their corpse, followed by their political affiliation. Her eyes fall on the latest, Tony Stark. The entire precint had watched that one in the coffee room this morning, so that particular incident is likely as fresh in her mind as it is in his.

“I’m guessing from this he was off the mark about Armstrong?” she asks.

“Maybe. Maybe not. We’re still not entirely sure.”

“Can’t we use Kadingir to catch whoever’s doing this?”

“If only,” Pete says, face twisting as if he had just bitten into a lemon, “Most of the requests relating to New Latverian activity are getting stonewalled. If I can find out who I’ll wring their neck, but that’s part of Pupil’s job. Tony’s at DF General; he claims to have noticed something, but will only talk to a DFPD officer directly. That’s your starting point.”

“Got it, sir. I’ll protect our city, don’t worry,” Menou says, theories clearly running through her mind already as she heads out the door.

“She really is so much like you, isn’t she?”

He leaps into the air, startled at the sudden voice. He turns to see a man in a mask, wearing a long-sleeved shirt and cargo pants, leaning over his desk and looking at the personnel files. He recognizes the intruder fairly easily; there were few in the city’s upper echelons who cared to check on him, and fewer still who would change their voice so for dramatic effect. That leaves one person, whose good side Pete Wisdom is very much not on.

“Leo,” he hisses.

“A fundamentally good person, who does the dirty work so that better people don’t have to. Yes, I can certainly see why you decided to recruit her.”

“Here to tell me to stop?”

“Not at all; you know how the saying goes. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”

“I’m not…”

“You can lie to yourself, Pete, but not to me. You saw the DSFB and wanted a slice of that for yourself. A team you can point at all the shady little problems this city has. But without a way to guarantee loyalty, you need more than one. Task Force X. The Execution Department. Who knows how many more?”

“You think this is so that I can put them against each other? A way to take out elements that get too close to my secrets?”

“Isn’t it?” Leo asks, looking up at the mutant. His voice lowers to a conspiratorial whisper, which still somehow reaches Pete’s ears, “I won’t tell Elijah if you don’t.”

And suddenly, Pete was alone in his office once again. He sighs, walking around to his desk. At the very least, he knew someone approved of what he was doing. Even if he had to shove who that someone is to the back of his mind.


Tony Stark waves at Olivier Lenheim as the prince walks out of the inventor’s hospital room, a fresh rose in a vase by his bedside. From most politicians, this would have been a stunt. A show to the media that they look after their own. From his friend, the gesture is sincere. That honesty and unwavering belief in others is what had drawn Tony to his side, and is what ultimately keeps his loyalties. A knock on the door snaps his attention back to the room.

“It’s open,” He says, pulling on his watch and sliding his newly-gauntleted arm under the blanket. The door opens, and a young girl walks in. She has an indigo robe on, the skirt slit high enough that he could see the glint of a metal sheath on her thigh. She opens the book she’s carrying, displaying a DFPD badge.

“So, ‘Menou,’ why’d they send a kid?”

“Because this investigation is classified, and I’m trained to handle covert stuff.”

“Oh, right, right, you ‘anime’ people and your improbable ages,” he sighs, gesturing to the one chair in the room not overflowing with get-well gifts. “So. Armstrong? New Latveria? Collaborators?” he continues as she sits, her book glowing faintly.

“As I said. Classified.”

“Ah, so you don’t know,” he says, studying her reactions. Or, in this case, a startling lack thereof. Whoever trained her did a bang-up job.

“I was told you had information for me?”

“Indeed,” Tony says, making a note of the singular, “When I was giving my speech, the crowd was reacting pretty well. ‘Cause I’m good at that sort of thing. All of them except this one girl. Young, dark purple hair, red eyes.”

“Your type?” Menou asks sardonically, clearly skeptical of his ability to see that much detail of one person in the crowd.

“Nah, not for at least a decade on her end. I think she was around your age… actually, change the color of your hair, lengthen your chin a bit, and you might even be a dead ringer. As I mentioned, she was the only one who didn’t react to a word I said, which made her stand out. Lost sight of her after my arm got ripped off.”

“Ah, so it was tearing,” the girl says, eyes narrowing.

“Yeah, felt like one part of my arm was being twisted one way, and the very next part the other. Worst case of Indian Rugburn I’ve had since I was a boy,” Tony says, laughing, only to stop as the priestess gives him a confused glance. “Ah, right, of course you have no idea what that means. Anyway, so, that happened.”

“All right. Thank you,” Menou says, the glow around the book fading as she rises, “I swear to you, we’ll find the person who did this and stop them.”

“Eh, it’s not really that big a deal. I lived.”

“You’re in the Revival Ward, Mr. Stark. By definition, you didn’t.”

“True, I died, but I’m also still alive. Confusing place we live in. Good luck with the search, but if you actually want to help me out then reduce the observation period so I can get out faster.”

“As you well know, Mr. Stark, victims of a murder are to be kept under observation until their killers are caught. Stopping your assailant will help in exactly the way you want.”

“Fine, fine. Keep me posted, at least.”

Ch. 2[]

A girl with purple hair weaves through a crowd, walking at a brisk pace. Her occasional hiss of pain draws a momentary glance or two from passersby, but she was just one more person suffering in the city. A rather damning indictment of its general character, certainly, but she shoves the thought to the back of her mind.

She hears the sounds of cheering, likely the rally she had been trying to locate, down an alleyway. She swerves into it, foot skidding on a slimy patch as she enters. She barely twists out of the way of a fire escape ladder, only to crash into the wall of the building it’s attached to. She stops cold, shivering as sheer agony screams from her appendix, nearly drowning out conscious thought.

She retains just enough rationality to bite back a yelp of pain, not wanting to draw attention to herself just before killing a target. As her vision returns she spots a disheveled man in a filthy, once-white coat, sword at his waist, reaching out a hand as if to help her.

A portion of her power leaks out of her eyes in panic, ripping a chunk out of the floor in front of him. The man backs off, hands in the air, as she collects herself.

“Sorry,” she mutters, rushing past him.

A few steps take her through the other side of the alley, spotting a brown-haired girl in a black school uniform standing on a stage, the scales of the Prosperity Front emblazoned on the large monitors angled to either side. The idol singer walks around the stage, holding a microphone, stand and all. Her voice and infectious energy whips the crowd into a frenzy, the mass of people making it difficult for Fujino to position herself.

“And give it up for today’s speaker!” Rise shouts, “Ashelia B’Nargin Dalmasca!”

She plants the microphone down in the center of the stage and steps to the side, sweeping her arm to draw the crowd’s attention to the gap between the two screens. The Dalmascan princess walks out, waving, and Fujino seizes her chance. A small, imperceptible distortion flies through the air as she slips away from the crowd. Moments later, the rally erupts in screams and chaos as Ashe’s head falls, ripped off her torso by an invisible force.


Rise sits on the edge of the stage, normally energetic demeanor muted. A mug of formerly-hot chocolate sits beside her as she looks out at the crowd, or what remains of it. She spots her boyfriend, who seems to be speaking guardedly to another girl. A twinge of possessiveness runs through her, which she shakes it off as he turns, waving her towards him.

She hops down from the stage, weaving through the crowd. As she nears, however, she grimaces, feeling a familiar pain in her head. Her eyes dart around, spotting the one thing she fears: a man wearing a mask, a maroon long-sleeved shirt and cruel smile visible in the audience. A force invades her mind, dark burning tendrils seeking and finding her darkest thoughts then insistently ripping them to the forefront of her mind. The power, burning and almost resentful, forcibly rearranges her thoughts and doesn’t even let her cry out in fear.

And then, suddenly, the feeling fades. An icy chill runs through her as she feels a different force, a little clumsy but still firm, wrap around her mind like padded armor. It cuts off the assault, giving her a brief respite. It still felt… eerie, though less so due to its clear care for her wellbeing. The feelings vanish as abruptly as they appeared, a quick glance showing a figure in a green hoodie gesticulating at the first.

Deciding it’s better not to think about this, she finishes weaving through the crowd and wraps her arm around Yu’s. A little tighter than usual; she did need to display some indication he was taken. The other girl, dressed in indigo robes that accentuate her athletic figure with her chestnut hair in a ponytail, gives her a quizzical look.

“Rise, this is Menou with the DFPD.”

“Senpai, I’ve already answered a lot of their questions.”

“I only have three. The first is if Ms. Dalmasca was brought in through some private route?”

“Yeah. We’re not quite as… blasé about this as Tony. The only time she’s been visible today was just before she was killed, and we were on careful lookout for anyone who seemed aggressive.”

Menou scribbles a few things in her oversized book.

“Second, did you see a girl with purple hair? She was likely acting oddly, though perhaps not… aggressively.”

“A girl with… yes, actually. She was near the edge of the crowd.”

“I’ll need to see the stage for the third question. Please, follow me.”

Rise nods, letting go of Yu’s arm and grabbing his hand instead. He gives it a firm squeeze and her a reassuring smile as they follow the DFPD agent. Rise feels herself blush; the man somehow knew exactly what she needs exactly when she needs it.

The young couple trails the Executioner through the police cordon and up to the back of the stage, where she stands near the chalked outline and blood splatter. Menou squints, seemingly trying to picture something, and points straight ahead.

“She was standing about there?”

“I think? Only really caught a glimpse of her.”

“Hmm…” the priestess says, and starts to give off a faint glow before continuing, “I see… a homeless man in a white coat. He might have been closer. Thank you both. You’ve pointed me in a good direction.”

“Happy to help.”


Fujino stumbles into her safehouse, closing the door and sighing. A thunk next to her ear makes her jump, eyes opening wide to see a familiar face up near her own and a knife embedded in her door.

Shiki.”

“Yo.”

“Why are you here?”

“Why do you think? I know what your powers look like.”

Fujino gives a resigned sigh. Not a whole lot of point in resisting stuff when Shiki has you at knifepoint.

“I’d hoped you’d continue staying out of things.”

“Normally I would… wait. Is that what you’re doing this for?” Shiki asks, looking at the killer’s abdomen.

“And so what if it is?”

Shiki sighs, deflated. She pulls the knife out of the door, stepping aside and allowing Fujino to enter her apartment. As she does, the other woman opens the door, stepping outside.

“Less interesting.,” she says, closing the door.

Ch. 3[]

A silver-haired man in a simple shirt and pants, cloak draped over his back, stands somewhat awkwardly on a heart-shaped stage. Chalis chuckles, nodding in thanks to the brown-haired schoolgirl who had put her in touch with Tyrion. The Stacked Deck hosting a political rally was amusing enough, but having the stiff, formal Dooku clearly trying to ignore his environs to deliver a speech was even more so.

“I can’t tell if that Rise girl is a genius or insane,” Blados grumbles, her brand-new head of security listening with half an ear while looking around the crowd. Someone from the DPFD had mentioned to look out for people with purple hair, which given the cornucopia of hair colors in the city was far too vague.

“Well, she certainly has a grasp on PR in politics,” Chalis says, “The novelty of doing a speech in a brothel will keep the Prosperity Front’s name on peoples’ lips, and they’re showing their pro-business stance by working with one of the largest around. I might even be able to buy a competitor with this profit.”

“That’s all well and good, but… hmm…”

“Wouldn’t the brothel angle turn people away? Dear Blados, all that matters is that people recognize you. They won’t actually care what you’ve done, so long as they remember your name and… you’re not listening to me, are you?”

“Spotted someone. Also scanning the room intently. Indigo dress, yellow mantle, ponytail. Over there,” Blados says, gesturing with his chin before remembering it’s concealed under a scarf, and nodding instead.

“Hair isn’t purple.”

“She has a knife on her thigh.”

“That’s an issue. Let’s…”

Their conversation cuts short as the sound of breaking glass draws the attention of every single person in the room, the accompanying siren blaring over the stunned silence. Blados quickly reaches behind the desk to the panic button as Chalis’ mouth hangs open in shock; that glass had been specially rated to stand up to the full brunt of Godzilla’s Atomic Breath and a full-power Railgun. At the same time.

She sees a glow coming from the girl Blados had mentioned as the shutters start to drop, and she hits his shoulder and points. Thinking quickly, he tosses a Spark Shurkien, the tool separating and stunning her with a bolt of electricity. Half a second later, however, Dooku’s chest bursts in a shower of blood. Blados catches Rise’s eye, and the girl directs the evacuation as he goes to grab their potential perp.

“So,” he asks, planting his sheathed nodachi firmly on her stomach, “Who are you and why are you trying to kill politicians?”

“Menou. And I’m with the DFPD, trying to save politicians. Something you just screwed up.”

Blados shoots Chalis a glance, and the woman nods, calling up the couple DFPD regulars to check. He continues as she speaks, “And why did a ‘DFPD officer’ decide not to disclose they were working a protection detail?”

“Less chance it’ll leak. Also this was a pure hunch, nothing more.”

“Even if you’re worried about a leak, did you consider that other security will see an armed person casting magic at a VIP currently under attack? If you’re truly a member of the DFPD…” Blados trails off, looking at Chalis again, who nods, “well, they’re clearly not selecting for intelligence anymore.”

“Well, if you’re done obstructing a DFPD investigation…” Menou says, only to gasp as Blados presses on the nodachi, its metal-tipped sheath digging into her abdomen.

“ID.”

Menou looks at her Scripture, and then back at Blados. The man nods, and she opens it, displaying her DFPD badge.

“Warrant.”

“This is an active crime – ”

“Warr. Ant.”

Menou simply glares in response.

“Return with one,” he says, lifting his sword and glaring as she scrambles out the door.


Asagami Fujino rests against the wall of DFederal East’s library, the largest publicly available resource of its kind in the city. She closes her eyes for a second, letting the relief and exhaustion wash over her as her painkillers act. She forces her eyes open as the waves of endorphins, no longer lessening her pain, threaten to carry her off to sleep.

She smiles at one of the dozens of black-clad librarians, who nods and looks away, seemingly having confirmed her health. Fujino makes her way to one of the numerous quiet rooms, entering and locking the door behind her. The frosted glass prevents those outside from seeing as she takes out her phone, confirming the identity of her next target before accessing the internet.

A series of quick queries gets her what she needs; despite the threat to their lives, it was also campaign season. These politicians couldn’t afford to cower at home, not if they wanted to show they were strong enough to lead this warlike place. And this one, in particular, would have no reason to believe they would be targeted.

Fujino nods, having committed all the necessary information to memory. She closes her internet browser, hurrying out of the library.


“Next in line, please,” a Dantalion says, looking curiously at a brown-haired girl in blue robes, with a yellow mantle over her shoulders. She opens the large book by her side, displaying a DFPD badge as well as a warrant, alongside a small sheet of paper. The Dantalion waves her to the side, another one taking her place.

“How can we help you?”

“You’ve heard of the recent politician killings?”

“Be a pretty poor keeper of knowledge if I hadn’t.”

“We got a tip that someone matching the suspect’s description was seen leaving here a little bit ago. Have you seen anyone similar to this?” she asks, pushing forwards a piece of paper. Dantalion picks it up, reading it over and trying to recall if they had seen the girl described.

“I’m not quite sure what an appendix ‘straight up trying to uninstall itself’ looks like, but there was a purple-haired girl here who was acting like someone in chronic pain having just taken painkillers. She used one of our quiet rooms with a computer.”

“Can you take me there?”

“Certainly,” the Dantalion says, one of her male bodies coming by and gesturing for Menou to follow. He leads her through the library, weaving through the bookshelves, students, and citizens to come to one of the rooms on an outer wall. He waits outside as the woman walks in, tapping on the keyboard for a few minutes before running out, muttering a brief word of thanks and looking extremely worried.

Curious, he looks inside. The browser history is open, with a page for Fire and Lead’s big rally tomorrow. The headlining speech was none other than Armstrong himself.

“Well. This might get interesting.”

Ch. 4[]