Aw man, thought Lubbock, taking a second to absorb the situation. Not only had the infiltration failed, it appeared somebody anticipated them coming to the palace. Also, there were the two hooded figures in front of them. I can tell these guys are good at killing—really good.
"W-what do you mean you're ordered to kill us?" stammered Seryu, desperately trying to understand what was going on. "I am a soldier of the Empire!"
"You still don't get it, Ubiquitous?" asked the cloaked female. "It doesn't matter. Like I said—our orders are to kill you."
"Who ordered you to kill us!" yelled Mine, holding Pumpkin in position.
"Actually, I've had a change of heart," said the cloaked female, ignoring Mine's question while facing Seryu. "Your body has been altered by Dr. Stylish, right?"
Seryu flinched at hearing her now deceased comrade's name before asking, "What do you know about the doctor?"
"He's someone I always wanted to meet. Unfortunately, he died before I could. I've seen some of your records, and he made quite the modifications to your body. After we kill those assassins, I'm going to dissect you—piece by piece."
"...Why are you interested in my body?" Seryu felt a chill crawl up her spine while she took a few steps back.
"It's because—" The cloaked female suddenly lunged for Seryu so fast, Mine couldn't get a proper shot off in time.
Seryu put up her guard while the cloaked figure threw a punch. Seryu gasped before the intense force sent her flying out the room and colliding with the wall. She felt the wind get knocked out of her body before hitting the floor. Such mighty strength from someone so small in stature!
"—I'm the greatest alchemist!" exclaimed Dorothea, her hood coming off.
Seryu sat there in befuddlement when the culprit of the grievous hit was a young girl.
"Why wouldn't I want to test my own modified body against some of Dr. Stylish's best work?"
"Shit!" grunted Lubbock, releasing some thread from Cross Tail to assist Seryu. He stopped when his senses suddenly alerted him. The other figure was right above with a sword in hand. Fortunately, a well-timed shot from Mine disrupted the attack and allowed Lubbock to escape. "Thanks, Mine!"
"No problem! Let's get the hell out of here!" Mine closed her eyes and focused on the current situation. She fired a powerful blast directly at the hooded figure. Mine cursed when she saw her initial attack get dodged, but the resulting blast made a great smokescreen.
"Perfect!" said Lubbock, using strings to trap Dorothea.
"Ugh, they're trying to get away! Izou!"
Izou took a stance and swung his sword with such force, the surrounding smoke dissipated. After their visibility was restored, Mine, Lubbock, and Seryu had already fled.
"They've escaped," passively said Izou.
"If they're trying to get away, they have to go through the courtyard!" Dorothea cracked her knuckles. "I hope Honest doesn't mind renovating a few walls."
VVV
The trio was running as fast as they could to the secret passage. Just when they were approaching the hallway, a whole group of soldiers was waiting. Mine didn't waste any time blowing up the roof, which made a good blockade. Seryu grimaced since she had no choice now but to take the front exit.
"What the hell is all this!" yelled Mine, running to keep up with Lubbock while Seryu was leading.
"It's a trap," answered Lubbock. "They were ready for us."
"No!" furiously shouted Seryu, "That can't be..."
"Sorry, but it's clear the Empire wants you dead."
She tried to think of a refute, but couldn't. Even for someone like Seryu, the evidence up to this point has been overwhelming. Despite her wanting to deny with all her might, it was apparent she had been betrayed. Accepting it, however, made it that much harder. Just as the fleeting trio was crossing the moonlit courtyard, Seryu fell to her knees. The weight of everything was smothering her.
"Hey!" said Lubbock. "Are you too injured from that hit you took earlier?" He came to a realization when he saw Seryu trembling and hugging herself. The shock of everything that's happened is finally hitting her. Damn it, this is the worst possible time! Lubbock was about to say something until Mine stepped up to Seryu and grabbed her harshly by the collar.
"Look, you need to suck it up, and get your ass in gear! In case you didn't notice, there's a whole army coming for us right now! Are you going to sit there and die—or are you going to fight back!"
As tough as her words seemed, Lubbock could tell Mine was trying to encourage Seryu. Whether it was because Mine was warming up to her, or she was that desperate, was too hard to tell. Despite Mine's passionate monolog, Seryu fell back to her knees as if she didn't hear a single thing that was just said.
Mine was about to explode with rage. "You're nothing but a coward!" Before Lubbock could do anything, Mine slapped Seryu hard enough for the sound to echo across the courtyard.
"Mine!" yelled Lubbock.
"She deserved it!" snarled Mine. After taking a deep breath, she spoke in a more controlled tone. "Just leave her there. Right now, we need to—" Mine gasped since Seryu tackled her to the ground in the blink of an eye.
"Who are you to speak down to me when you're nothing but an assassin!" yelled Seryu, pointing her tonfa guns directly at Mine's head.
"Stop it, Seryu!" exclaimed Lubbock. His request fell on deaf ears when he could tell Seryu had no intention of moving. He felt helpless as his worst fear about this mission was happening.
"What are you waiting for! If you're not going to do it, then get off!" Mine was putting on a tough act, but it was obvious she was terrified.
Seryu's expression didn't change when it looked like she was about to pull the trigger.
"Don't do it!" shouted Lubbock, close to whipping out some strings to bind Seryu.
Whatever was going to happen next was interrupted by a loud noise that sounded like a wall getting smashed, making the Teigu users turn their heads. Dorothea ended appearing along with Izou.
"That wasn't a good shortcut," added Izou.
"We're here, aren't we?" snarled Dorothea before turning her attention to the bickering group. She tilted her head while inspecting the weird scene in front of her. "Whatever you guys were...doing, you should just give up now. Every single exit in this place has been locked down."
You have to be joking, thought Lubbock. We wasted too much time! Lubbock put aside his thoughts on escaping and focused on the current situation, which was getting past Dorothea and Izou.
Mine took this opportunity to push Seryu off of her. She elected to see if Seryu would retaliate, but she just sat there. After she secured Pumpkin, Mine didn't waste any time firing at the duo.
Dorothea snickered while she and Izou dodged. "Up close, the Teigu called Pumpkin can be dodged easily by those who can read it's trajectory," she said.
Izou then rushed Mine quickly with his sword in hand. She only had a second to defend with her gun before Izou's sword came down. The recoil knocked her back several meters.
"Crap," said Lubbock, about to help Mine until he saw Dorothea approaching his direction. He prepared himself, but it was unnecessary because she went right past him without even a glance. She's going for, Seryu!
"I'll keep her alive—barely!" said Dorothea, baring her fangs for a bite.
Seryu saw her coming but made no effort to move. She decided if she couldn't serve the Empire with honor like her predecessors, maybe this would be easier after all. Her lifeless eyes stared at the ground while bracing herself for what awaited. A part of her even hoped if she willingly went along with Dorothea's experiments, she could be part of the Empire again.
"Giving up? Fine by me!" Dorothea lunged at Seryu while getting ready to bite. She was only inches away when her momentum suddenly stopped. Once the alchemist moved, she realized what had caught her. "Strings?"
"Yep," answered Lubbock with a cocky smile. "I let out some thread before you arrived here."
"You son of a—" Before she could finish, Lubbock harshly pulled on the strings, which catapulted Dorothea in the other direction.
"Not bad, huh?" asked Lubbock.
Seryu couldn't help but feel impressed at how he prepared something like that so quickly without anybody noticing.
"You can't just give up when you feel helpless. You're Seryu Ubiquitous—show these bastards what justice is!"
Seryu looked directly into Lubbock's encouraging eyes because his words began to resonate with her. She didn't pay much attention when Lubbock said to find her own justice, but now she was beginning to realize that's exactly what she should do.
"Don't forget you have a pair of goggles to return. Although, I wouldn't mind seeing how they looked on you first, hehe."
She let out a slight laugh, which was weird because she wasn't smiling. For reasons she didn't know, she felt really happy hearing Lubbock say that. It sounded like a compliment her father would give her, but it was different. Seryu was feeling something she couldn't really put into words.
"Now get up, and let's get out of here together." Seryu was about to nod until a shout made her flinch.
"Lubbock, watch out!" yelled Mine at the top of her lungs.
The world seemed to stand still while Seryu sat on her knees, gazing at the scene before her. Lubbock's face went from a smile to absolute terror when Izou's sword protruded out of his chest.
"You were so focused on raising your comrade's morale, you dropped your guard," said Izou. "You have earned my respect, Lubbock of Night Raid." Izou pulled out the sword, making Lubbock start falling towards the ground. He took a look at Seryu, and then another face popped up in his vision before he hit the ground.
"Najenda—"
The world began moving again while Lubbock's lifeless body rested in front of Seryu. She was feeling so many emotions, she thought she'd have a heart attack. All she could do was stare at the dead body of Lubbock in silence.
"Lubbock!" shouted Mine, tears in her eyes. "You damn bastards!" She fired an extremely potent shot that made Izou retreat before a giant explosion erupted in the courtyard. It all looked hopeless while she stared at Seryu, who might as well have been a statue.
Is this the end? thought Mine, looking up at the pale moon. Actually, there seemed to be a bird-like figure too—a bird-like figure she recognized.
"It's him!" exclaimed Mine, causing Seryu to look up and see Run swooping in.
He landed quickly before looking at the scene in front of him and hypothesizing what happened. "The palace is in an uproar. I'll fly us out of here."
"Right," Mine agreed while still letting her tears fall. She allowed Run to grab her before he turned his attention towards Seryu.
"Come on, Seryu."
"..." She took one last look at Lubbock's body before going to Run.
The trio flew off, making the palace move farther and farther away. Mine could've enjoyed the flight if it wasn't for the current predicament. Once again, she's allowed one of her fellow comrades to get killed right in front of her. She felt nothing but intense hatred.
Seryu, however, would stare at anything that happened to cross her lifeless eyes.
"I take it you left Koro back at the outskirts?" asked Run. Seryu gave a slight nod while still looking away. "We shall retrieve him and head back to the meeting spot from there."
The trio finally exited the Capital while the infiltration was, without a doubt, a failure.
VVV
"They've truly escaped this time," said Izou, sheathing his blade. "Shall we chase them?"
"There's no point," answered Dorothea, still smarting from being catapulted. "They have nowhere to go, and we already killed one of them." Dorothea approached Lubbock's lifeless body and harshly removed Cross Tail from his hands. "One of the most versatile Teigu in existence. This is just what I need..."
"Hey!" said a high-pitched voice. Out of nowhere, a young girl in a pink uniform popped up while sounding disappointed. "Aww, I didn't get here on time."
"Where are the others, Cosmina?" asked Izou, ignoring the young girl's whining.
She adopted a bubbly tone when she answered. "Those guys are out raiding another hideout. At least, that's what they're telling everyone!" She proceeded to laugh as if it was a joke.
"They'll never change," stated Dorothea. "It won't be long until people start to realize those busts are really their excuse for helping themselves to the civilians. Not that anybody could do anything about it."
"Hold on a minute..." said Cosmina, looking at Lubbock's body. She approached and took a good look at him. "He's cute! Can I borrow him?"
"He's dead you know..." added Izou.
"Oh, that's fine!" Cosmina started drooling while her face glowed red. "It takes a while for a body to lose its warmth." Dorothea and Izou looked away, which made Cosmina pout. "Don't ignore me! Meanies!"
Meanwhile, Dorothea was smiling in excitement at the prospect of meeting Seryu again. I'll make you my special test subject. Until then, try not to die.
VVV
Now that all the groups had completed their trips, it was time for them to reunite. They were all going to arrive at different times since their respective journey's varied in length. An interesting thing to note is the way they all approached the meeting spot. The first group to arrive was Leone and Chelsea.
"Finally!" shouted Leone, dropping all the heavy luggage on the ground and releasing Lionelle. Due to the huge amount of walking while hefting all those bags, her legs felt wobbly. On the other hand, Chelsea was prancing about while snacking on her lollipop.
"That was a nice walk; it did wonders for my cardio."
"I'm not teaming up with you anymore..."
After that, it wasn't long until the group of Tatsumi, Akame, Wave, and Kurome arrived later that day. Chelsea and Leone couldn't help but feel awkward while they walked in like they were best pals. Akame and Kurome were sharing a piece of meat—probably excavated from a Danger Beast they killed—while Wave and Tatsumi were joking around like brothers.
"I take it you guys had a pleasant trip?" asked Chelsea.
"It was horrible and pretty good at the same time," answered Wave.
"...What?"
"We'll tell you when everyone gets here," said Tatsumi.
"While we wait," began Leone, licking her lips, "Why don't you two share some of that with me?" Leone turned to look at the sisters and found they were gone. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she found out they had sneaked past her and found their way inside the bags.
"Look, Sis!" yelled Kurome. "Cookies!"
"I found the special beef jerky I was saving!" exclaimed Akame.
"Don't eat everything!" yelled a frustrated Leone.
The last group to arrive was Run, Seryu, and Mine. Unlike the two groups that came before them, they didn't say anything. Instead, Mine used the opportunity to let out all the frustration she was feeling by pinning Seryu to the ground and hitting her repeatedly. Seryu didn't move and took all the punishment Mine was giving her.
"Mine!" yelled Leone, restraining her in a bear hug while she was sobbing and her knuckles were beginning to bleed. "Calm down!"
"It's her fault Lubbock died!" An odd wind swept past everyone.
"Lubbock's...dead?" muttered Tatsumi.
Akame and Chelsea were stunned and Leone looked angry. "What the hell do you mean Lub's dead!" snarled Leone. "What happened!" Leone turned to Run, who averted his gaze.
"I'm afraid I don't know the details of the infiltration either. By the time I arrived, he had already passed..."
"Damn it!" yelled Tatsumi, hitting the wall. "How much are they going to take from us!"
"I didn't even tell him he was right about Najenda..." murmured Chelsea, crossing her arms.
Akame didn't say anything while her hair concealed her expression. Kurome put a hand on her shoulder and smiled considerately, handing her a cookie. Akame couldn't help but feel better because of her sister's attempt to cheer her up.
"What happened, Seryu?" gently asked Wave, kneeling down close to her.
"I already told you!" yelled Mine, getting aggravated again. "If she just listened to us, none of this would've happened! Just let me kill her already!" Mine tried to struggle out of Leone's grip to no avail.
"That won't solve anything!" countered Tatsumi, trying to console her.
"So what! Lubbock's dead because of her and—" Mine fell to her knees. "—she took Sheele from us. Just let me kill her already..." Everybody felt uncomfortable since the mood turned exceedingly heavy.
After a minute, Akame spoke. "Let's talk about what happened to each of us after we've had a chance to rest."
Everyone agreed while the day quickly turned to night. After the fire was started, they collected some food from the bags and sat down around the flames. Unlike the first night when they all sat apart from each other, they sat in a circle with the exception of Seryu, who opted to sit near the cave's entrance with the unresponsive Koro. Nobody said anything while Tatsumi tapped Wave on the shoulder.
"Now is a good time," said Tatsumi.
"Why don't you say it?"
"It should be you."
"Okay." Wave stood up, which focused everyone's attention on him. "Everyone, after I say what happened, I have a proposition for all of you."
"Proposition?" repeated Leone. "Like what?"
"I'm starting a team, and I'd like you all to join." Leone, Chelsea, Mine, and Run concentrated their attention on Wave. Even Seryu found herself wanting to listen to what he was saying. "It's a team with a purpose destroy corruption—no matter where it dwells. I call it...Nocturne."