(NOW that's how it's done!) I think, reflecting on Tamashi's entrance.

Those thugs who aren't crushed under the shutter are immediately rammed by a boulder of magma, knocking them away like bowling pins. One opponent, a woman whose body structure resembles that of an animal tone, gets in front of the boulder and grabs it, stopping it in its tracks...

Only to retract in pain as her hands get scorched.

Five yakuza members, including the injured woman, charge at the boulder. The woman transforms her hands into bear claws, two men envelope their fists with darkness rhime, a third man dashes back and forth with electric tone speed to prepare for evading any surprise attacks, and the last person in the back creates bark armor and dashes forward.

Buchari!

Just before any of them make contact, the boulder shatters...

Revealing Tamashi with his arms still encased in his magma armor.

The bear-clawed woman spins clockwise and performs a horizontal slash that is blocked by Tamashi's right arm. Her claws quickly get stuck in the armor...

GA!

Giving Tamashi a clear jab to her stomach, knocking her back.

The two darkness tones advance, throwing quick punches at Tamashi. Contrary to his appearance, he easily evades all the hits with side steps, holding his arms close to his head in a standard boxing stance. Seeing an opening...

GA! GA!

Tamashi lands a horizontal counter jab on the target to his left, knocking the hit opponent into the other thug and causing them to crash into the wall.

BATAN!!!

Before Tamashi can retract his arm, the plant tone punches Tamashi in the face.

BUCHARI!!

Just for the bark to shatter. When the debris clears, the plant tone's fist is pressed against an unfazed Tamashi's left cheek.

"Amateur." Tamashi snarls...

GA!!!!

Before delivering an uppercut through the plant tone's armor.

BUCHARI!!!!!

As for the electric tone...

WWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hit them with my Darkness Bellow before they hit Tamashi in the back with a attack.

"Thanks." Tamashi says.

I nod.

(Darkness Drive: Fallen Wings!)

I take off and fly past Tamashi, who follows suit along with everybody else. I look above and fly towards a large air duct. The other five rush through and kick open a set of double doors...

Just to end up in a room with other 50 assassins.

GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA!

Our entrnce is greeted with at least 30 projectiles ranging from rhime attacks to bullets.

GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA!

Hiromu quickly counters the bullets with perfectly aimed ones of his own. As for the rhime projectiles...

"Fire Drive: Magma Armor!"

Tamashi's newly created magma armor takes all the blows.

Buchari! Buchari! Buchari! Buchari! Buchari! Buchari!

With every shot that hits his armor, pieces chip off. After the last projectile hits him, Tamashi's armor shatters. Now he looks a little bit thinner, though that's not saying much.

The projectile users prepare to fire again...

"Darkness Drive: Eclipse Void!"

I surround them in a large sphere of darkness. Aside from Tamashi and Claire, the remaining four of us rush right in. With my devil's claws, Ripperu's liquified body becoming water tentacles, Hiromu's perfect aim in spite of my darkness, and Sigka's enhanced hearing from his panther form, we quickly dispose of the majority of the fighters in the room, leaving only six standing when my eclipse void clears.

I hear more yakuza members coming from the entrance we came through. I cannot guess how many.

"You guys go on ahead!" Claire yells to the four of us as she tends to Tamashi. "I've got this!"

"Don't think you're getting past us!" one of the six opponents shouts, aiming his gun at Hiromu and the now-solidified Ripperu.

Seems they didn't notice the panther right behind them.

"Strong talk." Sigka rematks. "But I know otherwise."

The fighter jerks in surprise, spinning 180 degrees before landing and readying their gun.

But not fast enough to counter Sigka's pounce, pinning the man to the ground.

BATAN!!

"Kaito!" one of the remaining five yells, running towards the man being mauled. "Fire Drive: Lava Body!"

This fire tone woman liquifies her arms into lava and reaches out towards Sigka...

Before getting blocked by a pillar of water. Ripperu.

Ripperu returns to her clothes and takes on her sodified human form. Parts of her body are drenched in perspiration with her skin redder than usual. Ripperu looks at the lava woman, converts her arms to water...

And the two elements collide.

GA! GA! GA! GA! GA! GA!

At great speeds, the two fighters' fists smash together, creating steam and cooled magma with every strike. Occasionally, they land a blow somewhere on their opponent's body, causing them to retract in pain, but otherwise they are equal.

Two of the remaining four fighters, who look to be brother and sister given their matching black hair, height, pale skin, and a few other traits, rush past Ripperu and the lava woman, towards Hiromu, Tamashi, and Claire.

Doesn't anybody notice I'm upside down on the ceiling? They shouldn't have left an open air vent.

"Come forth my hall!" the two exclaim in unison.

Ice rhime radiates from their bodies, engulfing the entire room. The walls and floor instantly freeze over with ice so clear, we can clearly see our own reflections.

And classical music starts playing. Specifically, a piano solo. Damn, I find classical music so fucking BORING!!!!

"Mirror hall!" the two siblings declare.

They hold hands and close their eyes.

"Ice Drive: Ice Reflection - Mirror clones!"

We hear the sister's voice first.

Fractions of my heart forever fall.

Till there is nothing left to collect at all.

I look to the shards and see myself, but is this really me?

Please tell me, who do you really see?

Parts of the room begin to fill up with mist. In the mist, ice clones of the siblings, matching the originals down to the slightest detail, begin to come out of the walls and floor. Within seconds, dozens upon dozens of clones are in the room, each creating icicles for spears.

I look at Ripperu. The colder temperatures seem to slow her down.

Then I look at Claire.

(Guess...it's her turn.)

I drop down from the ceiling and fly towards the doors we came through.

"Leave these bastards to me!" I say to Claire. "Show them what a real army fights like!"

Claire looks at Hiromu, who nods to her. She smiles.

"Plant Drive: Spore Clones - Stachybotrys!"

FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Claire spins counterclockwise as fast as she can, exhaling thick clouds of spores into the air. Sections of the room's ice gets covered in spores, causing some clones to stop spawning. The remaining airborne spores cluster together...

And take on Claire's body structure, albeit without clothes. It can only replicate Claire's body, nothing else.

(This is embarrassing...) Claire thinks, blushing.

"You fight with spores?" one of the siblings says.

Claire blushes even more.

(Yep.) I think. (She fights...with sex.)

Considering that spores are a form of asexual reproduction, Claire's clones are possibly the most realistic clones around. They are based directly on her genetics, after all.

(But that isn't even what makes Claire so special.)

Now, the brother's voice is heard.

Please hold my hand, feel my warmth, and show that you are here.

Listen to my heart. Know that I am near.

Give your answer, reveal yourself, and show me how you feel,

Show that you and our love aren't reflections, but are real.

Sigka turns back to his human form and returns to where Hiromu and Claire are, giving the clones more room. And for good reason.

Fighting any of the clones is near suicide.

Once all the spores have created clones, Claire's clones are outnumbered four to one. But that isn't anything to be concerned about.

Claire's clones charge towards the real siblings, and the siblings' clones counterattack.

One clone goes straight through, just to get cornered by 12 ice clones. And the clone only smiles. The ice clones all thrust their icicles through Claire's clone...

But the clone remains unfazed.

Ice can shatter, but the spore clones cannot be destroyed that easily, as these silhouettes aren't one solid object, but a collection of millions of smaller spores. What's more...

So long as some of the spores remain, these clones can repair themselves by reproducing more spores from their bodies.

Two of Claire's clones jump into the air and kick two of the ice clones away from the impaled clone, causing them to drop their icicles. Claire's clones pick them up and skillfully wield them like spears, stabbing at the joints of the other ice clones, causing them to fall apart into many pieces. The impaled spore clone grabs two icicles from its body and uses them like blades, slicing apart many of the ice clones at once with a single stroke. None of these clones are as strong as the originals, nor are they as durable, but they can still hold their own.

After seeing many of their clones get destroyed, the siblings start to summon more from the clear sections of the room.

But some of Claire's clones get there first.

Pan!

And with the snap of Claire's fingers...

DO!

One of her clones explodes in a cloud of spores, covering the ice with them, blocking off the ice that would respawn more enemy clones.

Pan! Pan! Pan!

DO! DO! DO!

With every exploding clone, the ice in the room gets covered with more and more spores. By the time the last ice clone is destroyed, there are no more respawning from the ice.

"That's...impossible!" says the brother with trepidaion. The remaining two yakuza members, who have yet to make a move, just stand there, stunned by fear.

The siblings let go of one another's hands, and look around for more ice to use. By the time they look back towards Claire and the others...

One of her clones is already right next to them.

"Goodbye." Claire calmly states.

Pan!

DO!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" the siblings cry out...as the spores cover their bodies. On their skin. In their eyes.

And these are Claire's stachybotrys spores. More specifically, spores of stachybotrys chartarum, or "black mold". Mold that causes major irritation to the respiratory system, eyes, and skin. It isn't deadly, but quite painful, with the symptoms kicking in immediately.

This is what makes Claire so special. Molds. Mushrooms. Ferns. Despite being a plant tone, she has control over all spore-producing entities, from plants to fungi to bacteria. Since bacteria and fungi are closer to animals than to humans, one would likely consider spore control to be more of an animal subtone power. But this likely isn't the case because animal tones really can't transform into spores, as spores aren't fully developed animals. But Claire's subtone is more deadly, because the spores, when inhaled, have the same effect as the fully matured spore-producing entity the spore originates from, as though the victim directly injested it.

The voices of the siblings performing a duet echo throughout the room.

I'll tell you what I see in you, but what do you see in me?

Am I different? Can you set my heart free?

Take my hand and guide me to the place that I belong.

And we -

GOFU! GOFU!

As the siblings start coughing, the hall goes down, and the ice melts. Thank the Rhoken that damn classical music stopped too.

GOFU!

Claire lets out a cough herself, albeit a weaker one than the siblings. That's also the downside of Claire's subtone or, more specifically, her spore allergy. If she uses a certain type of spore long enough, she'll start to feel the effects too, so she doesn't have a natural immunity, as other plant tones do.

"What? What h...!?" the lava woman asks...

Before getting hit clean in the face by Ripperu, who has regained her speed now that the ice has melted. The lava woman is punched straight into the wall, gasping for air.

Giving Ripperu the chance to barrage the woman with a flurry of punches.

"AH-TATATATATATATATATATATATATA!!!!!" Ripperu yells at the top of her lungs, punching.

GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA!!!!!!

"WATA!!"

GA!

BATAN!!!!

She ends up punching both fists into the woman's face, knocking her unconscious.

The remaining two yakuza members, fucking scared out of their wits, just shake and stare at us.

"Who...no, WHAT are you!?" the frailer of the two asks.

I'm amazed...

At how easily I got above them.

"Your worst nightmare." I reply coldly...

BATAN!!!!

Slamming their heads into the ground with my devil's claws.

I land, deactivate my fallen wings, then look down at the people I've hit.

(These are the feared yakuza? They're a joke! Although their faces when they saw me were fucking pricelesss!)

I hear the sound of more thugs coming. Claire turns to the entrance from where we barged in.

"Plant Drive: Spore Cloud - Psilocybin!"

FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She sprays a thick cloud of spores around the door. When she finishes, she falls to her knees, holding her head. Seems these spores are taking effect too.

I look over at Ripperu and see that she's worn out too. She's covered with bruises. Claire looks over to her, gets up, then kneels next to Ripperu.

"Plant Drive: Spore Cloud - Ganoderma."

Ffffuuuuu....

The spores around Ripperu begin to show immediate results. Ripperu starts looking calmer, and her breathing isn't as labored. While Ripperu's wounds haven't exactly healed, I've been exposed to that type of spore before, and I know that it at least makes the pain go away for a while. It's meant to be a mild sedative, after all.

Tamashi looks over at the girls.

"Hey! What about me?" he asks.

When Claire finishes with Ripperu, she gets up and walks over to him.

"I'll give you a special treatment..." she says, smiling.

...

"Get your fat ass moving, damn it!" she orders coldly.

I forgot she could make such an intimidating expression. Then again, I forgot that she used to be in a biker gang before getting beaten and reformed by Hiromu.

Tamashi quickly gets up in fear and salutes her.

"Yes maam!"

I don't know how many of these weaklings are left, but we've got a mission to do.

"Let's go!" I yell, flying further in with my newly created fallen wings.

The others nod to each other and follow suit.

Eventually, we come to a corridor with stairs leading downwards and a hallway to the right.

This is where we part ways.

"Remember the plan!" Sigka yells as he, Hiromu, and Ripperu head that way.

"We know already!" I yell as Tamashi and Claire follow me downwards.

We will rescue Togo!

We will rescue Oren!

And we will make this Hunter bitch, the skank who hurt my Mydrea, PAY!!!