Dragon Fantasy VII: Eternal Fire, Chapter Two

[lonewolfprincess]

“Okay, Kimiko, focus…” She took a deep breath, despite not feeling any air move through her lungs. “Just… click your heels three times, punch that thief in the face, get the others out, save the day, treat everyone to karaoke and crepes. Easy!”

Click click click.

… Nothing.

Click click click.

Nope.

CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK!

“OH, COME ON!” she screamed, stamping her foot hard into the virtual grass. “You can’t just trap me in here alone, you coward!”

“Oh?” The cool, controlled voice cooed throughout the whole clearing. “Well, if you truly insist…”

Kimiko’s gaze shot up as six familiar screams and one new one plummeted towards the earth. Kimiko could barely start shouting before a heap of teenagers landed on top of her. Most of them scrambled off of her quickly. One body lingered, though, tall, leanly muscled…

Kimiko’s eyes creaked open to the face mere inches from hers, those deep pine green eyes—

“MOVE!”

And promptly shoved him off by the shoulders, Raimundo yelping sharply as she jumped to her feet, face bright red and phantom-burning.

“And YOU!” She shook a fist at the sky. “Let us out, you hack, or I’ll—”

“You’ll what?” the disembodied voice cut her off. “Your minds are here, and your bodies are still asleep, safely… for now.”

The warriors shared looks, grim and frustrated, while Keiko shivered.

Kimiko scowled… before sighing. “Who are you, and what do you want?”

“Isn’t it obvious? What I want is for you to be out of the way. But I’m not a monster.” A soft, chill-less breeze nudged the teenagers and the polygon scenery, towards a tall, snow-capped mountain in the distance. At the voice’s cue, the numbers of a digital clock glowed white above the peak, counting down three hours. “If you and your friends can reach the top of this mountain before you run out of power, I’ll allow you a chance to leave.”

Kimiko’s glare sharpened. “And if we don’t?”

“Well… at least you’ll have played one last game together, hm?”

A chill more real than the artificial wind ran down everyone’s spines as the voice’s chuckle built and built, crescendoing into a thundering evil laugh.

Kimiko growled, biting and swallowing down the tidal wave of curses threatening to break free as the laugh finally subsided, before turning to the others.

“Are you guys okay?”

Almost everyone gave begrudging nods, all of them wearing some sort of RPG class outfit. Keiko though… Her eyes were wide and unfocused behind her glasses, still stiff and trembling and nearly as white as her heavy, green-trimmed robes. Kimiko doused her anger instantly to run and take her friend’s hand.

“Keiko?”

Keiko snapped back to ‘reality,’ shaking her head clear before giving Kimiko a faint smile.

“H-hai, daijoubu.” A deep breath… “We should… we should get going.”

Raimundo walked up to the two worried girls.

“Keiko’s right; we’ve got a major time crunch, and who knows whether that witch will wait nicely for us.” He gave the bespectacled girl a soft smile. “It’ll be okay. We’ve gotten in and out of much worse trouble than this.”

Keiko barely glanced at him before closing her eyes, going through the motions of a deep breath.

“Okay… judging by the scenery and these outfits… we’re clearly in a fantasy roleplaying game of some kind.” She gestured to her robes and heavy wooden staff. “White Mage…” Then held out a hand to Kimiko in her black dress and red coat. “Either Black or Red Mage…” Raimundo’s green cloth, light leather, and longsword. “Swordsman, obviously…” Clay’s blue-accented plate armor, axe, and massive shield. “Tank…” Tori’s flowing pink silk costume. “Dancer or Bard…” Mia’s crop-top and shorts of gray fur, paired with a bow. “Ranger… And—” She… blinked at Omi’s completely unchanged outfit, shrugging at him sheepishly. “I… guess you’re still a monk, Omi-kun?”

Omi scrunched his face. On the one hand, yes, it was nice to still be himself. But on the other… did this villain not think he was worthy of a cold costume like his friends?

Kimiko rolled her eyes. “Great… So not only is that walk gonna take forever, but we’re gonna get interrupted every other step by random enemies.”

Nothing six Xiaolin Monks and a healer couldn’t handle, of course, but every second counted.

“Orrr we could just have our trusty dragon fly us to the—” Tori blinked. “Wait… where is DJ?”



Dojo trembled in the dark corner of the warehouse ceiling. He only barely managed to dodge the barrage of tranquilizer darts at the start, or the grasping ninja hands. Now… now what? Now he could only watch as the unconscious teens were strapped to tables, the Kimi no Sekai screens shielding their eyes. Sure, he could probably… fend off the… dozens of very competent and durable ninja-bots… and their scary master, calmly working on a PDA from her throne… if he really really wanted to… But turning into a 40-foot-long, fire-breathing dragon tended to attract way, way too much attention these days. And, you know, the lady and her ninja-bots were scary.

So, only one course of action, really.

Holding his breath to stifle any whimpering— er, totally ferocious declarations of “this isn’t over!”, Dojo slithered out the broken windowpane and onto the roof.

“Okay, Dojo…” The dragon mused to himself quietly as he kept slithering away. “Just gotta go find Toshiro, he’ll get the police or some massive mecha army, the kids’ll be safe. Simple. Just gotta stay focused—WHOA!”

So focused was he that he didn’t notice he’d already reached the edge of the roof, and with a yelp his flightless noodle body tumbled over the side. The good news was there was something to catch his fall. The bad news was that it was a very full dumpster with an open lid. Dojo sank into the refuse with a squelch, taking way too long to claw back up to the surface, the precious air burning his sinuses with the smell of rotten fish as he gasped.

“Great, and I just had a bath this morning…”

“Brr?”

Dojo’s eyes flitted to the other end of the dumpster… as a scruffy calico cat poked her head up from where she feasted on a discarded fish head, yellow-green eyes wide as she regarded the strange creature.

“Uh… nice kitty?”

The cat stared at him, pupils widening, sniffing the fishy aroma… before she dropped into a crouch, bobtailed haunches wiggling.

“Oh no…”

Dojo screamed as he sprang out of the dumpster to bolt across the pier and into the streets of Chiba, yelling at the top of his lungs with the starving cat hot on his heels… tail, whatever!

“I’M TOO YOUNG TO BE CAT FOOD!”

As he darted past an alley, his loud calls and fishy scent attracted another small colony of cats, and they joined the calico in chasing the four-foot-long, very plump-looking lizard.

Dojo clasped his tiny dragon claws at the swarm of cats as he kept sprinting.

“Look, I’m serious! I’m all gamey and scaly and I’m pretty sure eating me’s gonna inflict a curse or two! Go find a nice rat or something!”

Unfortunately, his screaming pleas only caught the ears of dogs… foxes… even one or two tanuki as he raced by more and more alleys, and they all abandoned their scavenging to chase after what the cats clearly thought was high-value prey.

“Oh you’ve gotta be kidding—WHERE’S THAT DANG CONVENTION CENTER?!”

Almost as if summoned, a large sign pointing towards the convention center, only a couple hundred yards away, rose up to greet Dojo on the road.

“HALLELUJAH—”

The cacophony of animals behind him- were those crows now—wait, was that a bear???- reminded him he was far from out of the woods.

“Tiny noodle body don’t fail me now!”

One hundred yards… ninety… seventy… forty—ACK did the calico just swipe off a tuft of his tail fur?! Come on come on come on—

The dragon and the menagerie flew into the revolving glass door, the sheer speed of the chase spinning them around and around like a high-speed dryer, before launching the tiny, screaming dragon through the hallway’s airspace while mercifully spitting all the animals outside.

“AAAAH!” Dojo sailed through the air like a loosed arrow before beaning a mop of short black hair in the back.

Toshiro hissed, before taking in what hit him, blinking at the dragon now splayed on the floor like discarded rope between him and the convention center guards he’d been talking to.

“Dojo-san?” Toshiro bent down to the little guy. “Are you alright? Where are the others? Where is Kimiko?”

Dojo wheezed, his lungs and stomach planning a jailbreak. “I’m okay…! Just… need… a gym membership…!”

He spared a glance outside, the animal horde dispersing with disappointed growls and grumbles. … Except the calico, who gave him a “this isn’t over” glare before padding away into the night, stubby tail swishing furiously.

“N-never mind me, though!” Dojo forced the words out between gasps. “This masked lady is making knockoffs of the earpiece, a-and she knocked out all the kids and strapped them in that virtual world thingy—”

“What?!” Toshiro barely glared at the news of the plagiarism, but his daughter and her friends, in mortal peril? That lit a fire in his eyes that Dojo had only seen in Kimiko’s fiercest bouts of temper. “Then we do not have much time. Dojo-san, take me to Tohomiko Electronics Headquarters at once!”

“I’d love to, but—” Dojo wheezed again, “but between flying here and that chase… I’m a bit winded…!”

Toshiro gave a noise between a grumble and a hum… and pulled out a tiny bottle with a cheerful golden orange wrapper, his glasses gleaming in the convention center lights.



Kimiko held out her book, swiping her finger along the page to select a fire spell.

“Crimson flames, heed my call…” she chanted in Japanese, before flinging her hand towards her target.

“Any time now!” Raimundo called out, barely dodging out of the way of an ogre’s club.

Kimiko growled. “Give me a second, these casting times are a pain!”

Thankfully the combat in this game was freestyle instead of turn-based, but their responses were still bound to the game’s physics and move sets, with Kimiko only able to access Fire through that spellbook. Keiko chanted and Tori danced to buff the teams’ defense against the heavy clubs, while Raimundo slashed, Clay shield-bashed, Mia shot, and Omi punched, slowly chipping away at the enemies’ massive health bars.

The ogres chuckled, though; they had high defense and resisted blade, bludgeon, and bow damage. The only real weakness they had was…

“Rise, dance, feed on my enemies’ blood…!” Kimiko’s eyes flared open, an orange aura surging around her. “Ravenous Blaze!”

The trio of ogres howled as the circle of flames erupted around them, blasting away most of their health with the Burning status chipping away even more until poof! All three disappeared with one last set of despairing roars!

Everyone cheered as the victory jingle rang out and the party received gold, some random bits of loot, and a very small pool of XP.

Well, everyone except for a yelping Raimundo, whose leg had barely grazed the spell’s area of effect and was now busy trying to pat out the small flame on his green linen pants before it ate away too much of his health bar.

Keiko glowed a soft sage green as she recited a chant to clear the Burning condition.

Raimundo sighed, collapsing to the ground and flashing Keiko a shaky thumbs up.

“Thanks, girl—er…” he faltered at Keiko’s lukewarm look. “Keiko-san. Thank you, Keiko-san.”

Keiko nodded curtly before starting a group healing spell.

“You’re lucky I have the mana for this, Pedrosa-san…” she said after the soft green healing waved finished spreading through the party. “We’ve been running into too many enemies, and we haven’t found any healing items.”

Kimiko summoned her character menu in the air with a flick of her wrist, glaring at the numbers.

“Not to mention we should’ve leveled up at least once by now…” Especially since they were all Level 1; one or two encounters alone should’ve bumped them up to Level 2.

Raimundo frowned over her shoulder. “Makes sense… if she disabled the failsafes, she probably rigged the challenge rating and a whole bunch of other stuff. Including the friendly fire…”

So, the witch meant for them to get wiped out by low-level enemies. Raimundo didn’t even want to think of whether that’d just shunt them back to the starting line or…

“So what do we do?” Clay asked. “We’re making as much headway as a snail swimming in molasses.”

Everyone hummed, deep in thought… and then Tori perked up.

“Wait wait wait, I think I got it! So, you know how in JRPGs, you usually get some kind of craft for fast travel, like a spaceship or a ship ship or something so you can fast travel, especially if you need to backtrack near the end of the game?” Kimiko, Keiko, Raimundo, and Mia all nodded as Tori’s hands flew around. “What if we make one?”

“Make a ship?” Omi asked. “But… we are in the middle of a forest. Aside from the wood, there is not much we can work with…”

“No no wait… I think she’s got something.”

Raimundo hummed, stroking his chin as he took in the forest around them, and in the group inventory for the monster loot they’ve received so far. Fresh Meat and Sharp Bones from those wild boars, Rough Leather from the ogres. Hm…

“Okay, here’s the plan,” Raimundo finally said, gently smacking his fist into his hand. “First, we’re gonna test out the cooking mechanics to fuel up, and then we’ll get to work. Clay, Mia, you’re on woodcutting duty; see if you can look for vines or rope too. The rest of us are gonna find lots of enemies to mug!” He punched his hand with a grin. “Keiko, how many of these do you think you need to make a balloon skin?”

He pulled out a full hide nearly his height, holding it like a matador’s cape for her to squint at.

“In real life, for this many passengers? Tens, if not hundreds of thousands.” Everyone winced. “In a game, though? Probably closer to a few dozen.” Everyone sighed in relief. “I’ll also need some sturdy thread and a needle.”

Everyone nodded, determined smiles growing on their faces.

“Okay, guys… let’s mod this game!”



Clay swung his war axe at the trunk of the tree, again, and again, and again, until the virtual pine fell over and disappeared in a shower of pixels, neat wooden logs already filling the group inventory.

Mia grinned from the top of another tree, before a movement in the bushes caught her eye, and she pulled on her already-drawn bowstring more to snipe a growling plant monster in its single eye. The critical shot took out all of its health, and with one last snarl it poofed into a fraction of an XP, two gold, and… two units of Sturdy Vines.

“Whoo!” “Yeehaw!”



Omi gulped. “Of all the monsters, why did this game have to include something so… evil?!”

The bright pink squirrels were only the size of large dogs, but their big red eyes shone with a sugary-sweet malice as they chittered at the tiny monk.

“Aw, deep breaths, sweetie, we’ve got this!”

Tori flashed Omi a grin before launching into a spinning dance, soft polygonal clouds swarming overhead to drop perfectly circular snowflakes around them.

Heavy blocks of ice formed around Omi’s fists, but instead of hurting, the rime made him feel stronger. He looked up to see glowing letters and numbers above his head: “+10% Ice Damage.”

With a grin and a loud cry, Omi launched himself at the squirrels, pummeling them with an abandon that made Tori flinch a little as they poofed away to grant them more Leather.

“Uhhh… great job, little guy?” Tori said through a worried smile. “Note to self, have Mia mediate on this too…”



Raimundo lunged at the car-sized spiders, slashing one, two, three times, before leaping away just as Kimiko finished her chant.

“Ravenous Flames!”

The horde of arachnids shrieked, burning down to 0 HP even more quickly than the ogres had. Once they were vanquished, the victory jingle chimed and the heroes were rewarded with three units of Fine Silk, the picture showing it spun neatly into spools.

“Hey, there’s your thread, Keiko—urgh!” Raimundo winced, clutching his arm. Right, he’d almost forgotten about that Poisoned condition.

Both girls winced, and as Kimiko ran over to brace him, Keiko quickly cast her Status Removal spell.

“Are you okay?” Kimiko asked as the soft green magic washed over them both.

Raimundo gave her a soft smile… that quickly turned into a smirk.

“Didn’t realize I worried you that much,” he said, ready to waggle his eyebrows before she dropped him onto the way-too-hard grassy ground. “Oof!”

“Please try to take this a little more seriously, Pedrosa-san,” Keiko groaned with an eye roll, a little too much steel in her voice.

Raimundo and Kimiko exchanged looks, before the Shoku Warrior lifted himself to one knee.

“Sure, of course. You know, first-name basis is fine, if it’s cool with you. I’m not gonna be too picky about the honorifics either.”

“I…” Keiko’s gaze flew down and away, posture stiff. “If… you insist.”

The Fire and Wind Dragons shared a look again. Kimiko finished lifting Raimundo to his feet before walking over to her.

“You know, I think I saw some more of those ogres that way, Keiko. Maybe we can snag them while you rest up, Rai?”

She didn’t even need to flash Raimundo that “hint hint” look; he was already giving her a thumbs up before she finished asking.

“Yeah, sure thing. I’ll just enjoy the view…” Then he flustered, not meaning that one to sound flirty. “Y-you know, the graphics and stuff with the scenery.”

Kimiko rolled her eyes with a light smile as she led Keiko away.

“Okay, spill.” Kimiko crossed her arms at her best friend, voice dry but still calm and soft. “I thought you said you and Rai were even.”

Kimiko sighed, hands trembling as they held her staff tightly.

“I-I know… A-and I want to put it behind us, honest, but… he’s been flirting with you all day and I…”

Kimiko blinked wide eyes. “Wait… are you… jealous of us?” Did Keiko have a crush on her this whole time?

“Wha—no! Not… not like that, at least, I swear! I don’t…” She didn’t think she could feel that way for anyone, not even for her best friend. But that was too hard to explain, and it didn’t matter right now. “I just… I’m worried.” Her deep brown eyes shone. “He hurt you, Miko-chan…”

Oh… Right. The last big phone conversation they had, right after Raimundo trapped Wuya back in the puzzle box. Right after the world was plunged into darkness, ten thousand years compressed into the longest week of Kimiko’s life on this side of the space-time continuum, and by the boy who’d been her second friend ever.

“Yeah… yeah, he did.” She couldn’t deny that. It wasn’t even the last time he hurt her, just the biggest.

“I thought I could forgive him too, because you did, but…” Keiko shook her head and took a deep, quivering breath. “But I think… I’m even angrier at myself…”

“What?” Kimiko grabbed her hands. “Why?”

“I just… he and the other monks… even with everything you’ve gone through, they’ve been there for you. And I haven’t…” Keiko sniffed, pushing up her glasses to wipe away tears even if they weren’t real. “I could’ve called you in secret, or tried to visit somehow, but no. I had to be a perfect daughter whenever you needed me most. And now…”

Keiko gasped as Kimiko flung her arms around her shoulders, but the stun only lasted a few seconds before she clung back just as desperately.

“I’m sorry too.” Kimiko pulled back to cup her face. “I put you through a lot too, didn’t I?”

And not just all the apocalypses… They were each other’s only friends before the temple, and who knew how much tighter Keiko’s mother’s grip had become in the last few years.

“Look, I’m the one living in a temple with a flying dragon and a gajillion magical gadgets in the basement.” Kimiko gave a soft smile as she offered her pinky finger. “Once we get out of this, unless the world’s actually ending? I promise I’ll visit more, at least once a month. We can get coffee and crepes.”

“What?” Keiko shook her head. “No, I can’t just pull you away—”

“Oi.” Kimiko shook her head with that gentle smile. “I’ve helped save the world at least a dozen times by now. I think I’ve more than earned coffee hangouts with my BFF once a month.”

Keiko gave a watery chuckle, a tiny smile finally blooming.

“Then… yeah, I promise too.” She linked her pinky with Kimiko’s.

The girls smiled warmly…

“Hey, girls!” Raimundo called out, waving an arm in the air. “Hate to interrupt, but looks like we’ve got ninety minutes left! We should meet up with the others.”

The girls gasped and stood up hastily.

“R-right! Let’s get going, arigatou, P—er…” Keiko took a deep breath before giving him a hesitant smile and a light bow. “Arigatou, Raimundo-san.”

Both Dragons smiled as Keiko turned towards the clearing, Raimundo sidling up to Kimiko.

“Good, seems like you two patched things up.”

Kimiko raised a coy eyebrow at him. “Yup. Aaand how much of that patching up did you eavesdrop on?”

Raimundo cocked his head at her with that same easy smile. “Eavesdrop on what now?”

Kimiko searched his face… before giving up.

“Never mind. By the way, you don’t mind me visiting Japan a little more often, right?”

“Hmmm, I think your mighty, gracious, and ridiculously handsome leader might allow that.”

Kimiko chuckled, giving the “mighty, gracious, and ridiculously handsome” leader a light sock in the arm.

“Thanks. Really…” She shook her head before her smile could grow too sappy or she gave in to the stupid impulse to kiss him on the cheek. “Now come on, you dork, before the others get into more trouble.”

Raimundo chuckled as Kimiko darted off ahead after Keiko. He was glad to see her happy… It eased the knot growing in his heart, just a little.



Thankfully, what would normally be at least a half-hour trek around the bay to Tohomiko Tower was only a five-minute flight on dragon-back.

“Whoohoohoo! Have-I-said-thank-you-for-that-turmeric-drink-yet-Toshiro?” Dojo asked, for the fourth time in the last five minutes, giant body vibrating ever so slightly as the tiny man hung on tightly. “I-mean-we-have-this-one-tea-blend-at-the-temple-with-turmeric-and-ginger-and-cinnamon-and-ginseng-but-this-turmeric-concentrate? WHEE-I-haven’t-felt-this-energetic-in-fifteen-hundred-years-baby!”

Toshiro wasn’t sure whether to be terrified or keel over laughing that his afterparty prep drink turned out to act like three energy shots for the dragon.

“I’m glad to be of help, Dojo-san!”

Toshiro hopped off swiftly as Dojo approached the front doors of the tower, sprinting as quickly as he could through security.

“Tohomiko-sama?!” The security guard on duty startled out of his seat to give his boss a proper bow. “What are you doing back so early?”

“No time!” Toshiro sprinted across the moving walkway, the tiny, jittery dragon at his shoulder. “Kimiko is in trouble! I’m heading to the Armory!”

“H-hai!” The guard hastily bowed again as Toshiro dashed into the elevator, still thoroughly baffled as he dialed into his walkie-talkie to alert the rest of the security team. No way were they letting their boss’s daughter stay in danger while they sat on their hands, or letting him run off after her alone for that matter.

“Wait-wait-wait, you have a full-blown armory?” Dojo asked as the elevator ascended, the turmeric wearing off every so slightly.

“Well… ‘full-blown’ might be a bit strong…”

Toshiro chuckled nervously as the elevator opened to reveal a vault door. His fingers flew over a keypad, and the heavy vault doors opened with a hiss, cool vapor pouring from within. Dozens of sword stands lined the walls, each holding a pristine blade. At the wall at the very end of the room, a suit of armor stood ready.

“Oooooh!” Dojo’s eyes widened and his little claws flailed as he hopped up to get a better look. “Now this is what I’m talk—wait…”

The dragon squinted at the dozens of blades. Dozens of… thick, varnished blades in shades of brown.

“Wait a minute… are these all bokken?”

“Un,” Toshiro answered briskly as he began donning his kendo armor, quietly noting that he’d need to either lose a few pounds or get a bigger breastplate.

“You’re going to go after some crazed mastermind with an army of robot ninjas… with a wooden sword?”

“Well, of course,” Toshiro said with deceptive gentleness as he adjusted his caged helmet around his head. “I want to maintain a little restraint.”

Dojo blinked in shocked silence, not sure whether to be flabbergasted or very, very terrified.

“Ah, and I know just the one…” Toshiro smiled as he walked up to one with a deep red varnish, lifting it reverently in both hands before practicing a few strikes and blocks against the air. “Hari-san… I’m relying on you tonight.”

“Aaand he’s talking to the sword, joy…” Dojo shook his head as he muttered under his breath. “Toshiro, pal, my main man… I love that quirky sense of humor and get-up-and-go of yours… but uh, just one little question… Have you ever held a sword outside of a video game?”

“Oh, only a few times…”

Toshiro’s smile and voice were as sweet and gentle as ever, but with an edge Dojo had never heard before. And as the two of them went back to the elevator, Dojo’s eyes found a cabinet he’d overlooked… and his jaw dropped as the doors closed.



“There.” Keiko wiped her brow after putting the last stitches into the balloon. “Normally I’d have no idea if this would hold, but this is a video game, so…”

Raimundo gave her a grin and a thumbs up. “Great job!”

Clay, meanwhile, gave one last grunt to tie the logs of the raft into place, smiling at Omi, Mia, and Tori for helping him.

“Platform’s all set here!”

“Perfect!”

The group tied the mouth of the balloon to the corners of the raft, then scrambled on in a tight fit, grabbing the balloon to lift it up and open. Raimundo… almost held out a hand to Kimiko to help her on, but stopped beyond a twitch of his hand.

“You ready, Kimiko?”

Kimiko nodded, aiming her spell towards the balloon.

“Enduring Blaze!”

Lower, steadier flames burned up from her hand, “warming” the air and gently inflating the massive balloon to everyone’s cheers. Keiko and Tori both cast buffs to give Kimiko’s flames more power, and then…

“Whoa!” Everyone clung to ropes or logs or each other as the raft hitched at going airborne, cheering as the ground grew smaller and smaller and the mountain peak grew closer and closer. And with an hour and fifteen minutes to spare…

Raimundo grinned the whole ride over, only barely stopping himself from stealing his usual amount of glances at Kimiko’s fire and her bright, confident smile, and once the mountain peak came into range…

“One, two… THREE!”

Everyone hopped onto the miraculously flat plane of stone at the top of the mountain. … Too flat. And too wide. Almost the perfect dimensions for a boss battle.

“Well, well, well…” The smooth voice from earlier chimed, a razor-thin edge of rage lacing her voice. “It seems you’ve arrived after all, and in record time. Although… it would have been more impressive if you hadn’t cheated…”

“Oh, shut up!” Kimiko shouted into the empty air. “Like you’re one to talk, you old hag! You’ve done nothing but cheat since you sent those ninjas to crash the presentation!”

The voice chuckled smoothly. “Perhaps… but as you’ve proven, when the game is unfair, it’s better to change the rules in your favor.”

Keiko, who’d been trembling this whole time, suddenly closed her eyes and shouted at the top of her lungs.

“That’s enough! You promised you’d let us go if we came here, so… keep your word on that, at least! Please!”

The voice laughed even more. “Oh, my dear girl… I believe I said I would give you a chance to leave…”

Everyone growled as Keiko winced. “Then… then show yourself! Or are you afraid you can’t win fairly at this either?!”

An icy silence held the mountain for a few seconds.

“How bold.” The black-suited figure in the white mask appeared on the mountain, hand rising to her face. “But you of all people should know better than to talk to me like that, Keiko.”

She pulled the mask away… and everyone’s eyes narrowed at the smirking face with cold, dark brown eyes.

“You know, I really wish I was surprised…” Kimiko seethed, “… Sakurada-san.”