A shabby Ursus middle school.
For days already the campus had been an improvised prison: Reunion squads had herded every pupil inside, locked the gates and posted guns at the walls.
Food dwindled, tempers snapped; killing and looting burst out in corridors where lessons used to echo.
The grain store was torched—no one quite knew how they had crawled through the crazed hunger that followed.
Now, after the Catastrophe's impossible dispersal, Reunion patrols had withdrawn.
On the weed-choked athletic field the students stared up at the black-and-gold figure that still hung in the brightening sky.
Rosa—once a well-groomed noble girl, now cheeks smeared with soot—whispered, out of breath.
"Sonya, do we move?"
Sonya, war-hammer braced on her shoulder—Sonya, the uncompromising leader of the Ursus Student Self-Government Group—narrowed her eyes.
"We go have a look. Anyone with guts, follow me."
She strode for the gate without another word; a handful of friends clattered after her.
Many more shrank back, thinking only of flight while the city lay stunned.
Sonya spared them a glance—disappointed in the cowards, quietly heartened by the loyal few.
…
Down in the ruined streets Dobermann stood frozen, still staring at the blank sky.
"A Catastrophe… just vanished?"
From the instant that man—Tatsuki—had rocketed upward, less than a minute had passed before the storm that could have scrubbed Chernobog off the map had simply dissolved.
Sunlight felt unreal on cracked pavement.
High above, Tatsuki flexed his shoulders; Redemption Wings had already sipped the first draught of new faith.
He drifted down, Chaos Wings folding away; suddenly he looked almost approachable.
No one rushed to speak. Against someone who could erase a Catastrophe, caution was sanity.
Even so, Amiya stepped forward—still pale, but steadier than before.
"Tatsuki-san, I'm Amiya. As Rhodes Island's leader, thank you—truly—for saving us and Chernobog."
"Thanks noted," he answered without fuss. "I collected my own profit, too."
He smiled—this little Cautus was adorable. "Such a young commander; extraordinary, Amiya."
"N-no, sir, it's only because everyone on Rhodes Island helps," she stammered, ears flicking with shy delight.
Beside her, Croissant poked Exusiai in the ribs and muttered. "Exusiai, is that really the bloke who blew the sky up? He looks easy-goin'."
"Tatsuki's super chill." Exusiai hopped forward, slung an arm round his shoulders. "How's our show?"
"Brat," Tatsuki snorted, pinching her cheeks till they puffed.
The horseplay bled the tension from the air; trusting Exusiai, Penguin Logistics lowered their guns.
Exusiai made brisk introductions: the wolf-eared swordswoman Texas, the Vouivre shield-baker Croissant.
Texas watched in silence. Lately Exusiai locked herself in her room half an hour at a time, then dashed straight for the showers—odd.
She had never seen Exusiai so genuinely close to anyone. What kind of being erases a Catastrophe with a snap?
Amiya's curiosity won out. "Tatsuki-san, may I ask… your race?"
Ace glanced at Dobermann and Liskarm—How did fear turn into small talk so fast? Both shrugged.
"Human," Tatsuki replied lightly.
"Human? But aren't we all human?" Amiya tilted her head.
He pointed at the hooded Doctor.
"That one's similar to me."
"Me?" The Doctor—bundled head to toe—tapped her own chest. The voice was unmistakably feminine.
"Hold up," Tatsuki frowned, direct as ever. "Man or woman?"
"In fact… I'm a woman," she said, visibly embarrassed even inside the hood.
"…Fine." If Terra wanted a woman under that coat, Terra could have one.
Amiya knew the Doctor lacked any beast-trait at all; now human sounded broader than she thought. She opened her mouth to ask more, but new pressure rolled down every street.
Scorching heat and biting frost swept from opposite directions; along two other avenues swarmed armed masses—one a faultless phalanx, the other a rag-tag horde.
"Reunion's back—shields forward!" Dobermann alarmed.
Tatsuki's eyes roved the newcomers.
A tall silver-haired woman, black cloak billowing, dragon horns glowing red—Talulah—air around her rippled with furnace heat.
An albino Cautus in white coat—FrostNova—advancing within a halo of rime, Yeti Squadron treading ice behind.
A mountain-like Veteran—Patriot—marching at the head of Shieldguards whose steps struck the rubble as one.
On another street, Sonya leading her handful of hammer-wielding students, faces set in grit.
Every major name in the Chernobog chaos converged at once.
And among them Tatsuki's gaze lingered longest on Talulah—the dragon-blooded girl, or perhaps the darker Black Snake coiled within her.
Or rather, her spirit belonged to the will of the Black Snake, Kashchey—a being profoundly curious about the gods and behemoths of this land. Some called him the Will of Ursus; others whispered Malevolent God.
Tatsukiand Talulah sized each other up in silence, the latter instantly recognizing him as the one who had shattered the Catastrophe from the heavens. "You... what are you?"
Talulah's lips curled, though the voice carried the Black Snake's ancient knowledge. "An immortal? A deity? Or perhaps—"
"I am human." The interruption hung in the air like a challenge.
Talulah's eyes narrowed. Human? The concept was absurd. No human could annihilate a Catastrophe—this wasn't humor, but blasphemy against the natural order.
Amiya's warning cut through the tension. "Tatsuki-san, be careful! She's Talulah, leader of Reunion!"
"Thanks for the heads-up," Tatsuki chuckled, ruffling Amiya's hair. The girl didn't flinch, instead rising on tiptoes as if drawn to the golden warmth radiating from him. To her empathic senses, he felt like kindness incarnate—someone who could embrace the world's fractures without breaking.
Dobermann and the others exhaled in relief; having Exusiai here as Tatsuki's friend, plus his obvious fondness for Amiya, marked him as ally rather than enemy. More importantly, his power made resistance unthinkable.
FrostNova and Patriot remained statue-still, knowing this was no place for underlings to interfere. Sonya's frosty gaze catalogued enemies—Reunion's insignia made loyalties obvious, but the disappeared Catastrophe and the grotesque herd corpses demanded caution.
"I'm curious," Tatsuki tilted his head, "You've seen my power. Why approach me?"
He spun the question like a knife. "Do you think I can't kill you, Talulah? Or should I say... Kashchey?"
Flames erupted as the stolen body tensed. Talulah's murderous glare only amused him.
"Showing me killing intent? Good." Tatsuki crooked a finger. "Come here."
As Talulah advanced step by forced step, FrostNova side-eyed Patriot's stolid helmet. "Old fool." The situation was volatile—between the vanished Catastrophe, Mephisto's atrocities, and now this...
"Observe. The situation. Do not. Act rashly." Patriot's halting speech betrayed no emotion, though crimson flickered behind his visor.
Talulah stopped before Tatsuki, her borrowed face contorted. "What have you done to my body?!"
"Your body?" Tatsuki's laugh was downright obscene. "You're a squatter in someone else's flesh and you're asking me that?"
He extended a hand toward Ace without looking. "Dagger."
The instant the blade touched his palm, Talulah snarled. "What are you planning?"
"Killing you—" he tested the edge, "—though I'd hate to dirty my hands. Killing the Black Snake, to be precise."
Their eyes met. Through Talulah's pupils, Kashchey saw his death in those glacial blue irises—true, final oblivion.
"Look out!"
The warning came a second too late. Patriot's halberd was already mid-flight when Tatsuki glanced up. The massive weapon screeched sideways like a deflected bullet, embedding itself harmlessly into the earth with a ground-shaking.
BOOM!
"Daddy!" FrostNova cried as Nearl gasped. "How—?!"
"Leader. Must not. Die." Patriot's voice carried across the battlefield. "To kill her... I will. Advance!" Shieldguards stomped in unison, but Tatsuki just grinned at the towering Wendigo.
"Easy, big guy. I don't want Talulah—just the parasite in her head. You understand, don't you? Last of your kind."
The ensuing silence was broken by a blade's SCHING! behind Tatsuki. Without turning, he caught the Emperor's Blade's wrist mid-lunge. "Sneak attacks now?" he sighed, even as his other hand drove the dagger through Talulah's forehead.
The masked assassin screamed "Talulah! Run!"—until Tatsuki muffled her with an almost lazy grip.
No blood. No gore. Just Talulah's dying "NO—!" cut short as her eyes glassed over, the body slumping like a puppet with severed strings.
...
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