The wind pushed the fog against the rails. The metallic clatter of cranes faded into the sounds of the fight.
Lucci panted.
Blood dripped from his abdomen. His claws were stained. His coat barely clung to his shoulders. His gaze didn't falter.
Alvida spun her mace in the air. Shadows rippled around her legs. Her eyes didn't blink.
Zala moved laterally, shadow blades gliding along her arms. Her breathing was uneven. The wound on her shoulder dripped.
Mikita leaned forward. Her umbrella twirled slowly. Her shadow expanded.
Lucci charged.
Soru tore through the ground. His speed was absurd.
Alvida raised her mace in time. Lucci's left arm slashed the air. His claws struck the iron weapon.
The impact sent a short gust of wind.
Alvida slid back a meter.
Zala attacked from the side.
Her shadow blades pierced Lucci's shoulder. Blood flowed, but he spun, blocking her second strike with his hardened thigh.
Rankyaku arced out.
Zala leaped back. The cut passed inches from her face.
Mikita jumped.
Her body fell from the sky with maximum weight.
The ground shattered.
Dust rose.
The impact crushed Lucci against the metal plates.
A dull sound cut the air.
The structure beneath him cracked.
Mikita stood still for a second, anchored like a living weight.
Her shadows pulsed.
Zala watched. Her chest rose and fell.
Alvida tightened her grip on the mace.
Mikita stepped back, lightening her weight again.
Lucci was still alive.
His body sank into the ground.
His face bled.
His eyes open.
He rose slowly. His legs trembled but held firm.
His coat fell from his shoulders. The black spots of his hybrid form gleamed in the damp air.
His jaw shifted.
"Ridiculous."
His voice was low.
"I was trained before I knew my own name."
His gaze locked on Alvida, then Zala, then Mikita.
"Years of silent missions… sabotage… executions."
His claws dug into the cracked ground.
"I tore secrets from nobles, revolutionaries, entire kingdoms."
His chest heaved in short bursts.
"Never failed."
The words came out rough.
"I was CP9's pride… the name whispered in alleys, castles, fortresses."
His body slumped forward. His hands touched the ground.
"And now… dying here."
His gaze hardened. His feline pupils fixed on the three.
"For three…"
His fingers shook, forcing his body back into a fighting stance.
"…three mistakes of the world."
He took a deep breath, tasting blood in his mouth.
"I hate this."
His voice was low, almost a growl.
"This wasn't supposed to happen."
His jaw locked.
"I am Rob Lucci."
The thought lingered.
'And I'll die without taking even one of them down.'
His body leaned further forward. His claws dug into the concrete again.
"The plan was simple. Eliminate the target. Withdraw."
His body trembled.
"Not get beaten by three…"
The words caught for a second.
"…pieces of pirate trash trying to mimic real assassins."
Zala moved first. Her blades aimed for his flank.
Lucci spun.
Shigan struck on reflex. It grazed her.
Zala dodged at the last moment. Her shadow caught his hand before the second strike.
Alvida came from the front.
Her mace hit Lucci's stomach. The shadow followed the impact, shoving him against a container.
The metal crumpled.
Mikita planted her feet.
Her shadow linked with Zala's.
Alvida moved her left hand.
The three shadows merged on the ground.
Lucci tried to move his arms.
His legs gave out.
The shadow bound his knees. His shoulders. His neck.
He growled. Tried to break free with brute force.
The shadows didn't yield.
Alvida stopped two meters away.
She raised her mace with both hands.
The shadows tightened.
Lucci looked up.
'So this is it.'
The sounds around him felt distant. The weight on his shoulders was no longer physical.
'No backup. No orders. No plan.'
His jaw relaxed.
'Didn't think it'd be like this.'
His gaze fixed on Alvida's weapon. The slow motion. The inevitable end.
'No anger.'
'No fear.'
His breathing grew light.
'Just silence.'
The final thought passed quickly.
'If the Government still needs monsters… they'll make another.'
His eyes still burned. But there was no more denial.
Only exhaustion.
The mace came down with full force.
The sound was dry.
His head tilted to the side. His body went limp.
The shadows released him slowly.
Zala kept her eyes on him for a few seconds.
Mikita twirled her umbrella.
The wind blew through the containers.
Alvida lowered her mace. Her chest rose slowly.
Lucci's body lay sprawled on the ground, half-buried in twisted rails.
Blood trickled slowly.
None of the three spoke for a while.
They didn't celebrate.
The silence grew heavy.
Zala broke it first, looking at Alvida.
"Are we done here?"
Alvida didn't answer. Her eyes stayed on the fallen body.
Mikita walked to the side.
Her umbrella snapped shut.
The wind swept the fog for a moment.
The new era left no room for rest.
Or regret.
The three vanished into the next corridor of containers.
Lucci's body remained where it fell.
Alone.
---
Kamui
The space spun slowly.
The black platforms aligned. The floating windows projected still images: Water 7 silent, the Franky House in ruins, the dark interior of an abandoned bar.
Riser watched in silence.
Kalifa stood to his right.
Arms crossed. Expression neutral.
Her presence was constant, but weightless.
The Mangekyō Sharingan spun slowly.
"I'll fetch them."
Kalifa looked at him without moving.
"You're going to them personally?"
"All four are alive. They did well."
His golden gaze fixed on the Franky House image.
"Time to bring them home."
Kalifa kept her eyes on the projection.
"Will you tell them about me?"
"Not now."
He turned his hand.
The space opened in a spiral.
The Kamui's distortion enveloped his body.
Kalifa remained, motionless.
The platform spun slowly, returning the Kamui to silence.
---
Franky House
The fog still brushed the entrance steps.
The back gate was open, the interior dark and silent.
Franky's body lay still in the back of the corridor.
Zala leaned against a wall, wiping blood from her arm.
Mikita sat on the edge of an iron bench, her umbrella propped beside her.
Alvida stood near the entrance, her mace resting on the ground.
Kaya cleaned an arrow, sitting on a crate.
The sound came first.
Like air folding.
The shadows stirred.
Zala raised her face.
Mikita adjusted her umbrella without haste.
Kaya stood slowly.
Riser appeared in the middle of the room, silent.
His black cloak settled with him.
The Kamui closed soundlessly.
The four looked.
None moved.
Riser stood in the center of the space.
His golden eyes passed over each one.
Zala wiped her blade and sheathed it without a word.
Alvida exhaled slowly.
"Mission accomplished."
Riser didn't reply.
He walked to Franky's body.
His gaze lowered.
The chest was open. The shadows had receded. The arrow still lodged in the center.
He bent slightly.
His hand touched the metallic chest for two seconds.
His palm glowed.
A faint, contained heat emerged.
Black runes on his glove lit up in orange hues.
The metal under his hand creaked.
Franky's body began to warm.
Thin spirals of smoke rose.
The armor's edges warped. The shirt crackled. The smell of burnt oil filled the air.
Riser didn't look away from the point he pressed.
The heat intensified.
Flames appeared under the body.
Silent, focused, no sparks spreading.
The shadows around didn't react.
They watched.
The fire grew slowly, without fanfare.
Franky had no flesh. No muscles to burn, only internal structures, cables, welds, and the core in his chest.
The blue glow in his chest flickered.
Then faded.
The fire consumed him entirely.
It left no excess smoke.
No strong odor.
Only fine ash where a weapon and a dream once lay.
Riser withdrew his hand.
The ground beneath the body cooled in seconds.
He turned his back.
"Well done."
Mikita watched him closely.
Kaya didn't take her eyes off him.
Riser turned.
"All four of you, come with me."
Zala clenched her fist but said nothing.
Mikita lifted her umbrella.
Kaya stepped closer.
"You're taking us to the Kamui?"
"Yes."
"All of us?"
"Yes."
Alvida rested her mace on her shoulder.
"Now?"
"Now."
He turned his wrist.
The Kamui opened again, swallowing the surrounding air.
The shadows reacted first, as if recognizing the command.
Riser waited.
The four stepped into the fold without hesitation.
The space closed.
The Franky House stood empty.
---
Blueno's Bar
The walls were cracked, but the ceiling held.
The yellow lantern light flickered with the wind.
Nojiko drank at the back.
Her coat tied at the waist, her shirt open at the neck. Her eyes half-closed.
Her glass was half-full.
Across the counter, two bodies.
Kaku, slumped on a broken table, his shirt still stained with dried blood.
His neck marked by a blade's strike.
Further back, Blueno, collapsed against the wall.
His shadow still etched on the floor, Mikita and Zala's final signature.
Nojiko tipped her glass.
She swallowed the contents.
Set the glass on the counter.
Stood.
Walked slowly to the bar's door.
Her left hand pushed the wood.
The breeze hit her face.
The smell was salt and blood.
She took a deep breath.
"So they did it."
Her body relaxed for a second.
Her eyes narrowed.
"The problem is what comes next."
She closed the door.
The bar returned to silence.
---
Kamui
The floor beneath the girls' feet was smooth, dark, still.
The main platform felt alive, but soundless.
Riser stood ahead.
Zala held a firm stance.
Mikita looked around with curiosity.
Kaya adjusted the arrows on her back.
Alvida still gripped her mace.
Kalifa appeared on the secondary platform.
The four saw her.
The silence stretched for three seconds.
Riser finally turned his face.
"You'll work together."
Kalifa stepped down.
Her heels made no sound.
Kaya glanced at Zala.
Zala watched Kalifa silently.
Alvida shifted her shoulders.
"She's with us?"
"She is now."
Kalifa stopped beside Riser.
Her eyes cold.
No words of justification.
Acceptance wasn't requested.
It was imposed.
The Kamui spun around them.
Riser raised his left arm.
"The next orders will come soon."
The shadows around the platform intensified.
The center of that new world expanded slowly.
And the new core was complete.
For now.
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