The beams projected by the skinny esper’s eyes reached three hundred thousand degrees. But though his clothes were engulfed with fire, a smile broke out on the chubby man’s face. His right hand reached in the direction of his opponent. A bright red beam sprang from a device attached to his wrist.
It plunged into the skinny esper’s forehead. He gurgled. The light died in his eyes. Smoke pouring from the hole in his head, he crumpled to the ground. A decisive victory. A murmur ran through the crowd.
“What just happened?” Sayaka asked in an emotional voice. “The tall one’s heat ray struck first.” Though she could retain her composure regardless of what straits she found herself in, the death and suffering of others was another matter entirely.
“The fastest is not always the most effective. Look.” Kyoya pointed at the chubby man, who was slapping out the fires consuming his clothes. His chest was burned, but the flesh beneath wasn’t even scratched. “He’s a defensive player. That’s where his true powers lie. The cells of his body can probably repair themselves as quickly as they’re destroyed. Like one of those regenerating hydras. Cut one in two and you end up with two. His cells must do the same kind of thing. Cut off his head, stab him in the heart, as long as some cells remain they’ll grow a new head or fill in the hole. Then he delivers the shot with the laser gun on his wrist. When fighting an esper who’s all offense and no defense, that’s enough.”
Nodding in response to Kyoya’s explanation, Sayaka looked intensely at the plaza. Another two mounted the stage. Again, a fat man and a tall guy. These two were in their twenties.
An invisible aura of death and destruction crossed between them. Without a sound, the fat one exploded from within like a popping kernel of corn. Almost simultaneously, the tall one split apart from the crown of his head down to his waist. The tall guy’s psychokinesis blew up the fat guy at the same time the fat guy’s psychokinesis cut him in two. From this vantage point, the arrangement of the tall guy’s internal organs were as visible as in an autopsy, though the surface was as smooth as glass and not a drop of blood spilled out.
The citizens of Demon City barely raised a collective eyebrow at the grisly deaths of the two espers. Certainly no one would shed a tear for them.
“Stop it, please!”
Sayaka momentarily forgot where she was and ran into the plaza, too quickly even for Kyoya to stop her. The espers and the crowd watched her utterly incongruous entrance in amazed silence.
“I do not know the reason, but you cannot continue these gruesome struggles!”
Sayaka’s plea was filled with anger and grief. Tears that did not flow when thinking about her father struggling at death’s door ran down her cheeks, glittering in the sunlight. Three lives had been lost before her eyes, and nobody had done anything to intercede, a spectacle that she could not abide.
Sayaka stood in the middle of the plaza and called compassionately, “No matter what your differences, killing each other is no solution. This must cease now. Don’t you treasure the life your parents gave you?” She examined the two gangs, and then turned to the crowd. “Why didn’t you do anything to stop it? It is a tragedy for any life to be lost for any reason. Do you enjoy watching such heartless murders take place?”
“Whaddya think? Of course we do!” came an answer from the crowd. “Quit raining on the parade.”
Laughter followed. “Take a hike, kid. Or take off your clothes.”
The laughter grew louder. A shadow like a small thunderhead stepped forward from the Hippopotamus Group. Yoshiko Kokonoe’s narrow eyes filled with cruel glee.
“I thought I recognized your face. You’re that girl from before. Hey, everybody, this one’s a Praying Mantis esper!”
A rustle shot through the throngs like a strong wind through a field. The Praying Mantis boss yelled back angrily, “Don’t listen to that crap! She’s got nothing to do with us!”
“Playing dumb, eh? Fine. You and me will settle this later. For now, let’s see her true colors.”
She nodded at one of the remaining espers. With a roar of wind, Sayaka’s blouse and bra sheared off and floated away like chaff. She shrieked and crouched down. Claps and cat calls followed.
“Stop!” she said.
She meant Kyoya, who was about to charge into the fray. But it had the effect of halting the whistles and cheers for a minute.
Sayaka stood proud and straight. The exposed upper half of her body—hands pressed against her generous chest—trembled slightly, her white skin flushing red. She was a sixteen-year-old girl. There was no way she wouldn’t feel abashed.
A muted commotion stirred the air as Sayaka lowered her hands, exposing her breasts—large for her slender frame and tinged by bashfulness—to the crowd.
Not a hoot, not a jeer. A bold act of will for such an unworldly girl. Sayaka’s strange show of determination and courage struck the hearts of the unruly onlookers.
“Is this enough to get you to stop fighting?” she asked softly. Her desire to save the lives of the espers was the only thing that kept her from fainting dead on her feet.
Commendable, Princess, Kyoya murmured to himself. Coming here was worth it after all, if for her sake alone.
Sayaka called out again, the earnest expression on her face not faltering in the least, “If this will not mollify you, then I will bare the rest as well. Please, at the least, cease your fighting.”