Chapter 67

7 Klanggg! In a whirl of raven hair and a glint of metal, the staff ripped clean through two of the white robots. The third, barely dodging the blow, fired a blue cube in retaliation, but the staff’s return stroke deflected it away. “Rrrrraaaargh!” The storm of black continued, its steel ripping sonic booms as it sliced a cross in the air. The attack did not even connect with its intended target, and yet the sheer force opened an X-shaped crack in the robot’s skin before it simply split open. Landing on the ground once more, she stood up straight and allowed the blast wave to flutter her long, sleek black hair. She was the warrior woman Pawoo, beautiful and brave, and, with the Rust vanquished, she possessed once more her former terrifying skill. “Hyo-ho-ho!” came a voice. “Hell of a reach you’ve got there, lass! They don’t teach that in self-defense class!” “That’s what happens when I swing to kill,” replied Pawoo. “Master Jabi, was that the last of them?” “I do believe so. A whole bunch of ’em scampered off somewhere… Good thing, too, because they did a real number on these ol’ bones!” Jabi turned and looked over his shoulder at the battle camp positioned on the driftweed plains, where wounded and exhausted soldiers groaned in pain. The First Army stationed at Imihama had gotten off to a good start against the invaders, and at first they appeared to be winning. However, all of a sudden, the enemy developed a resistance to mushroom arrows, and the Mushroom Keepers suffered heavy losses as a result. Thus, Pawoo had made the difficult decision to abandon Imihama and fall back to the secondary field base in the north, where the Second Army was already garrisoned. “I’ll go rally the Mushroom Keepers, lassie. I’ll leave the vigilantes to you.” “Thank you, Jabi… And I’m sorry. If only I were stronger.” “Hyo-ho-ho! I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that!” Pawoo watched Jabi turn and totter off toward the Mushroom Keeper camp, then replaced her skullcap and made her way toward where the Vigilante Corps were stationed. There, she found soldiers with bodies eaten away by urbanization, groaning weakly. “N-Nuts! Nuts! Don’t die! Please don’t die!” “C’mon, Nuts! We were supposed to stay together forever, the three of us! You can’t… You can’t say good-bye now!” Hearing familiar voices from within, Pawoo entered one of the tents. Inside, she found the body of the turban shell boy, Nuts, urbanized flesh stretching all the way up his arm to his chest. Kousuke and Plum kneeled over him, weeping. “P-Pawoo!” “Ma’am! He threw himself in front of them for me! We need a cure or he’ll die! We can’t wait any longer. We just can’t!” “You’re so loud… Cough. You gotta be more polite to the governor.” “Nuts!” With half-lidded eyes, Nuts slowly sat up, leaning on his father’s harpoon for support. “Governor,” he said, cracking a wry grin. “Ten of those things are dead now ’cause of me. On the brink of total annihilation, it was me who held the line and allowed the steelcrab cavalry to escape with their lives.” “We’re proud of you, Nuts,” said Pawoo. “You’re the pride of the Imihama Vigilante Corps.” “I’m sayin’ you owe me one, ma’am. I’ve helped you, so now you gotta help me. Look after this crybaby Kousuke and this pushover Plum. When you get Imihama back…pay ’em a big wage…and give ’em a huge house to live in…” “You don’t need to say any more, Nuts; it is done. But first, you must live, because far more than money or prestige, these two need you.” “…I killed ten of ’em. I ain’t afraid to face my daddy now…” Nuts slurred his words before at last he fell unconscious into the silent arms of his two friends. The powerlessness was too much for Pawoo to bear, and she bit her lip as she watched them sob at his side. Just then, a voice rang out. “We’re under attack! New enemy approaching by air, from the southwest!” “It-it’s a snake! A giant robot snake!” Pawoo exited the tent and looked to the sky. There, she could see something long, narrow, and flat stretching out toward the camp. “Ma’am! Permission to open fire! Our hippo artillery will knock it out of the sky!” “No, wait… Something’s not right…” As Pawoo studied the ribbon-shaped object, a feeling in her gut stayed her order. “Wait, don’t fire! It’s friendly!” The army was perplexed by her words. Meanwhile, a bright-red train came into view, riding along the object at exhilarating speed. It curved in the sky and shot directly overhead before the tracks beneath its wheels ran out at last and the carriage followed its ballistic trajectory to a clump of driftweed, where it crashed and exploded in a ball of flame. As the members of the Vigilante Corps watched in shock, there was a Thud! as an enormous steelcrab landed directly beside Pawoo and raised its pincers in triumph. There, on his back, was the Mushroom Keeper with hair of burning fire; the breathless, terrified jellyfish girl; and, of course, Pawoo’s dearest brother, Milo Nekoyanagi, dripping with sweat. “That’s the last time I do that! Making a railway out of mantra is just too much!” “My fault, my friend. I never expected the other end would not yet have been restored. But look! Here we are! All’s well that ends well, don’t you think?” “Easy for you to say!” “Milo!!” Milo turned toward the overjoyed voice of his dear sister. When he saw her, his face lit up, and he jumped down from Actagawa to embrace her. “Pawoo! Thank goodness, you’re okay… Hey! You’re not wearing your bra again!” “I’m glad to see you, too, Milo. What an entrance that was. We very nearly shot you out of the sky!” “Heh. But that was all part of the plan as well. Look!” Milo pointed to Actagawa, who pranced atop a small hill and raised his greatclaw high. Atop his back, arms folded, his cloak fluttering in the wind, was the dashing figure of the Man-Eating Redcap, the Mushroom Keeper who became a god. “A-Akaboshi!” “The Man-Eating Redcap?!” “The Mushroom Keeper has descended to Earth like a falling star!” Seeing him standing there in all his glittering glory sent the allied forces into an uproar. The most fervent voices among them came from the Shimane detachment. The priests of the Wizened sect, led by High Priest Kandori. “Lord Kusabira’s incarnation is here! Lord Akaboshiii!” “Ha-ha!” At Kandori’s command, the entire platoon kneeled before their god. The soldiers, demoralized by their losses and the exhaustion of combat, felt their spirits returning, and they erupted into cheers at the legendary hero’s flashy entrance. Red Tirol pointed at the sight and laughed, hopping up and down in excitement. “Look, Milo! The plan worked! They’re absolutely captivated by him, and all he has to do is stand there! …I’m sure the man himself is not enjoying it, but Bisco will just have to bear with it.” “T-Tirol!” shouted Pawoo in surprise. “There is something strange about you. I knew it!” “Pawoo, it’s hard to explain. Basically, she’s not Tirol, but…” “We can worry about that later, Milo,” Red Tirol said. “It seems there are many wounded here. We need to reverse the urbanization.” “You know a way to do that?!” asked Pawoo. “Even Milo’s medicine has no effect.” “There are only four people in the world who can erase the City Maker. And the only one of them who will help you…is me.” At Red Tirol’s indomitable smile, the red mark on her forehead began to glow. “The White Apollos are simple assembly-line products. They don’t possess my clearance level. I can reverse their changes with no more than a touch.” True to her word, the red-eyed Tirol visited every tent in the camp, and with a single touch, brought hope back to those who had given up on life. Always leaving with the words, “May Lord Akaboshi’s protection be with you,” she gave the impression it was his divine power that saved them, and soon the camp’s morale was at an all-time high, bristling at the miraculous work of their Mushroom Keeper savior. “It worked! Thanks to Bisco’s charisma, everyone’s feeling happy again!” “I wonder if we overdid it, though. I feel sorry for Bisco. He doesn’t like being worshiped.” At that moment, the man himself stepped into the tent where Milo and Red Tirol were chatting. He yelled, “I’m gonna freakin’ kill you, Tirol!” Clinging to his legs were several elderly priests, each begging for Bisco’s divine favor. After managing to shoo them away, Bisco grabbed Red Tirol by the throat and dragged her into the center of camp. “Whoa, Bisco! She’s just a girl. Don’t be so rough!” “Shaddup. She’s been spreadin’ her lies all over the camp! People have been tryin’ to stroke me, throw money at me… It’s pissin’ me off! I think it’s ’bout time we got Amli to send this spirit packin’!” “Ow! Ow! Please don’t tug on my braids!” With Red Tirol still in his grasp, Bisco strode over to the Kusabira sect’s area of the camp and entered the largest tent. “Hey, Amli! I brought you the patient— Hmm?” “Brother dearest! You’re just in time! The rest of us are here.” Sitting inside the tent were Amli, Raskeni, Pawoo, Jabi, and High Priest Ochagama. It was quite a colorful cast. “Ah, everybody’s here,” said Milo as he caught up. “Hope, why don’t you sit at the front?” “Okay. Thank you.” Red Tirol took her seat, while Milo went over to Bisco, still in shock, and tugged on his sleeve, sitting the two of them down beside her. “Hope. This is everyone.” “Thank you very much. I’ll take it from here.” “It’s thanks to you that we’ve been able to regain our strength. However, our weapons…” “Hold on! Hold on! Hold on!” yelled Bisco, leaping from his seat as the conversation threatened to leave him utterly lost. “What the hell’s going on?! What’s with this ‘Hope’ thing?” Everyone turned to him and stared with blank expressions. Then they turned back to Red Tirol. “Hope, have you not explained anything to Bisco yet?” asked Amli. “I wanted to, but… No, you’re right. I can’t keep lying to him,” said Red Tirol, admonishing herself under her breath. She mopped her brow before turning to face Bisco with newfound determination. “Bisco,” she said. “I’m afraid I must apologize for deceiving you all this time. You see… I am not Tirol.” “Whaddaya talkin’ about? If you ain’t Tirol, then how come you look exactly like her?!” “My name is Hope. I took over Tirol’s body in order to lead you and Milo here. To defeat Apollo and save Japan from the threat of Tokyo.” “…” “This may be Tirol’s body, but her consciousness is dormant. Right now, the permissions to her physical form are under my control.” “That…that’s disgusting! You sicko! Just ’cause she’s asleep…!” “No, Bisco! You’ve got it all wrong!” “Get the hell out of her body, you freak!” Bisco’s hair flared with rage like an inferno as he grabbed Hope by the collar. Raskeni and Pawoo had to work together to hold him back, and even those two powerful women could barely restrain his monstrous strength. “Mr. Bisco, sir! Please calm down! Hope is our friend!” “The Founder has watched over our evolution since ancient times,” added Ochagama. “It is because of him that we are able to strike back against Tokyo!” But while Amli’s and Ochagama’s protests only seemed to agitate Bisco further, Milo walked over to Bisco and clapped him on the shoulders, as if calming a mad horse. “Stop!” he said. “You have to explain things simply, in two sentences or less, if you want Bisco to understand!” “Milo!” Bisco roared. “You’re sidin’ with this psycho as well?” “Listen to me, Bisco. You need to understand two things. One, Hope is the soul of one of our ancestors; he’s here to teach us how to defeat Apollo.” “…” “Two, Hope went into Tirol’s body to cure her after she was shot by Apollo. Right now, Tirol can’t speak to us, but she’s okay, I promise.” “…The soul of one of our ancestors? Hrmm? You mean, like, a guardian spirit?” As Bisco considered Milo’s words, his hair settled down, and he gently lowered Hope to the ground. “So what you’re tryin’ to say is… Apollo shot Tirol, and to stop her from becomin’ a city, this guy possessed her…?” “That’s right, Bisco! You’re so smart!” “Right…” Bisco appeared to think some more, chin in his hands, staring at nothing. Then at last he nodded, convinced, and without a shred of the anger he had just displayed, sat himself down on the floor once more next to Hope. “Sorry about that. You said you took over her body, so I just made assumptions. If you’re an ancestral spirit protectin’ your descendants, then that’s a whole ’nother story.” Bisco helped Hope sit down and flattened out the creases in his clothes apologetically. “You shoulda said somethin’ earlier. If I’d known you were an ancestral spirit, I’d have treated you kinder.” “W-well… I wasn’t quite sure you would trust me, you see…?” “You didn’t think I’d understand two simple sentences? Heh. I’m smarter than you think, Hope!” Bisco laughed uproariously while Amli looked on at the scene in shock. Beside her, Raskeni was trying her hardest to keep her chuckles to herself. Pawoo sighed, her head in her hands, and turned to Jabi. “Master Jabi, are all Mushroom Keepers such…faithful believers in souls and spirits and the like?” “We ain’t all as cracked as Bisco, if that’s what ya mean!” “Hey, you two! What’re you mutterin’ about over there?!” yelled Bisco, his arm around Hope’s shoulders, as though they had been the best of friends all along. “You wanna know how to beat those robots, right? Well then, listen to Hope, ’cause he’s got a plan!” This time it was Milo’s sister who seemed about to blow over, and Milo diplomatically sat between them to try to calm her down. Now, everyone’s personal feelings aside, the war council was ready to begin. They only awaited Hope’s word.