Shattering Humanity

[At the very center of Roronora City, outside of the previously named "Initiation Arena"]

There is a large white sheet covering the top/front of the old basketball arena.

The Takamagahara ambassadors, minus Dom and Jorm, along with Laban, Hathor and Princess Rebekah are standing around, waiting.

Drakaina looks worried and scans the crowd of citizens for her little brother. Her face lights up when she spots the spikey purple hair of Jorm pop out in the sea of people.

The two Izanami members jog towards the rest of the group, out of breath.

Saku with a smirk, busts their balls.

Saku: "Well gadahm, took you two long enough. Were you guys making out in there or what?"

Itsuka elbows him hard in the ribs and as usual, Saku goes down in pain.

Saku: "Oww, gahh. I friggin hate you!"

Jormy looks at his sister and smiles.

Jormungand: "Sorry Sis, that large soda went right through me."

Drakaina smiles back, blushing with her hand in front of her mouth.

Drakaina: "Don’t worry about it, Jormy. We weren’t actually waiting for long."

She moves towards her brother with a smile. Next to Jormungand, Dom chuckles with his eyes closed, rubbing the back of his head.

Dom(chuckles): "Yea sorry, all those burgers really made me have to repaint a toilet."

Drakaina walks passed Dom, with an unexpectedly hard shoulder bump to move him out the way.

Drakaina: "Yea, I don’t care."

The sister quickly examines Jorm for any damages. Jorm smiles, shrugs at Dom and shakes his head, rolling his eyes.

Laban shoots an angry look of disgust towards Dom but redirects her attention to Saku, leaning up against him so her chest presses against his arm.

Laban: "Wait til you see what the new name for the arena is, Saki!

And what I have planned for the future, for you. For us!"

Shelly has both hands on her hips, with a cocky smile.

Shelly: "Lemme guess, does the name have something to do with Saku, what his name means when translated to English, and has some sort of clever slant rhyme?"

Laban, once again gets flustered from the perfect flyting. Clear embarrassment from Shelly’s apparently precise prediction. Mostly due in part to Laban’s obvious and unrelenting obsession with the Yin Vessel.

The Don, with a defeated tone, talks without looking at Hathor.

Laban: "Hath, just get rid of the sign’s cover...please."

The "please" catches Hathor off guard, then she slightly bows.

Hathor: "Ah- as you wish, Madame Laban. Want me to transmit it to anywhere specific?"

Laban, uninterested gives a single rejection wave as she walks towards the stadium.

Don Laban: "I don’t even care anymore, honestly. Skalmönd ruined it."

Shelly rolls her eyes and shakes her head. Katsu approaches her from behind and whispers in her ear, making goosebumps appear on her beautiful porcelain skin.

Katsu(whispers): "Try to be a little considerate to her, Shell. Like how you did with Saku on our meeting day at the academy. I don’t enjoy seeing you like this towards someone actually trying."

Shelly: "She’s not ’actually trying’, Katsu. If Saku wasn’t here, she wouldn’t be acting like this to the rest of us. She’s acting like the victim, after she spoke to you like an enemy, and how she’s trying to ruin the relationship Itsuka has been working on. It’ll take more than one day of her premeditated acts of retribution, to make me believe she won’t switch up on us after we’ve let our guard down. If she’s put on the spot to commit an unselfish act for anyone but Saku, I bet she wouldn’t even try."

Katsu: "Even if she does turn on us, you just have to kick her ass again, right? As long as we’re all together, there’s nobody beating Takamagahara. We all have the ultimate trust in you to be our MVP. Our ’symbol of hope’."

Shelly blushes from the thoughtfulness from his statement.

Shelly: "Katsu..."

Katsu: "I’m not saying to treat her differently, since we all bust each other’s balls and take jabs here and there. Just, for now, try to give her the benefit of the doubt."

While the adopted siblings talk, with her only functioning optical sensor, Hathor pops off her Eyelien to 2nd Stage. A yellow aura is released and the beautiful Egyptian woman focuses on the large sheet above.

It suddenly *POPS* out of thin air.

Everyone in the group looks up to see a large, bright, sign where the crude spray painted "Initiation Arena" sign once hung.

Each individual letter carved from wood, smoothly sanded down, polished, and painted bright pink with neon strips of lighting wrapped around each letter.

"True Bloom Arena" is shown.

Even the crowd of Roronora citizens, point out the giant blanket’s disappearance and the newly designed landmark.

Laban, pulls out a remote and points it towards the sign.

She presses a button and the strip lights glow bright pink and flashes in patterns bright enough even during the cloudy afternoon.

Now acting like the emotionally hurt one, Laban puts the remote and both hands in her pockets. She mumbles as she gets closer to the stadium.

Don Laban: "...Two sleepless weeks, all on my own, carving and painting every letter. I had my best construction crew mount and secure them, but each letter was made by my own hands."

The Don takes her hands out of her pockets, exposing her cut up and splintered hands.

Shelly looks at Katsu, while he looks back at her, raising his eyebrows and shoulders. Impressed.

Saku looks up at the newly named dome, speechless.

Itsuka is standing next to him. She looks back and forth between the new sign and Saku. Finally looking at Laban, who is clearly upset, but Itsuka sucks her teeth.

Itsuka(under her breath): "So where’s that same energy, huh? I really shouldn’t have any sort of pity for this woman."

She looks back up at the beautifully designed carvings, then back at Laban as her ’rivaling general of love’ drags her feet towards the entrance.

Itsuka(to herself): "But I do."

Laban gets to the double doors with her head down. From behind her, Itsuka talks loud enough for her to hear.

Itsuka: "Not bad, DaeMon. I didn’t know you had a artistic side to you."

Laban doesn’t turn around.

Don Laban: "Don’t try to flatter me, daughter of Iôunn. You also had a part in this gift to Saki-...Saku. Since most of the trees I used were the ones that fell, after I flew through them from your punch on the highway."

Saku’s eyes narrow, displeased, from hearing Laban say his real name for the first time. She flinches and cringed not using the nickname she’s given him.

Don Laban: "I get it, there’s no actual reason for any of you to trust or accept me, since I am admittedly only doing all this for Sak-...u’s sake. I can comprehend and accept all that. I’ve made a fool of myself, because I’ve never had this feeling of true love before. Like a stereotypical teenager, I thought love at first sight did exist."

Itsuka bites her quivering lower lip, remembering her mother and father.

Don Laban: "I’ve only forced a ’relationship’ with Zoram and thought feeling this way was something special. Turns out, it’s just the unnatural emotional imbalance, passed down emotional traits of both my Valkyrie mother, and my Völva mother. This will be the last thing I’ll show you all. Your supplies are in here, Skalmönd. I’ll have Hathor help you transmit it all to your sanctuary and then you can leave with one of Sak-...u’s portals."

Saku starts to walk towards the DaeMon. Itsuka puts a hand out, but doesn’t pursue him.

Itsuka: "Wh- wait, Saku..."

Katsu, from behind Shelly, doesn’t take his eyes off his contemporary force.

Drakaina and Jormungand watch the pitiful DaeMon, while Dom pulls out his to-go bag and bites into a burger.

Dom: "Wait, I want to get these burgers in the Demon District, so Taylor can enjoy them too. Hey, Saku, see if we can get one of those fast food restaurants in Sanp-!"

Drakaina punches him in the back of the head, making him choke on his burger. Drakaina gives him an angry back fist to the sternum, a lot harder than the friendly tap Jorm gave him earlier, and the food unlodges from his throat to the ground.

Saku approaches Laban, arms length away. While at the entrance, her hands on the opening bar, Laban keeps her back turned.

Don Laban: "It really was the most effort I’ve put into anything that wasn’t solely intended for my own happiness. Just naming something isn’t hard to do, but I knew, for you to be happy, I would have to put in the work. I’m so naive, I truly thought, this would be the act of retribution that made you fall in love with me, Sak...u. Forgetting, that even when someone does their hardest work to achieve a goal, it doesn’t mean the goal is for certain in the end. That is the true meaning of existence in this universe."

Saku doesn’t say anything or move closer while Laban vents her true emotions in front of everyone.

Don Laban: "I’ll always be here for you Saku. You are MY one true God and you will always make my womanly heart bloom with love. Whenever you do your monthly visit, the supplies and food will be in here. I won’t bother you anymore.

I’m not in any position to ask for promises, but if anything, I hope seeing the name of this stadium, acts as a reminder to you of my true feelings."

A hand lightly pats the top of her head and while turned away from everyone, Laban’s expression turns to a tear filled surprise. The hand lightly pats and then slowly pets her black silk hair.

Saku: "Good job, Laban. Thank you.

I’ve been waiting to hear your true feelings, out loud and in sincerity. Thank you for proving me right in the end. I’m proud of you."

Itsuka watches quietly, while blushing in slight jealousy but allows Laban to have her moment with the Yin Vessel to calm her emotions down.

Dom recovers from Drakaina’s assault and looks at his captain consulting another cute girl.

Dom: "Damn Saku, you need to show me what kind of dance Daisuki showed you to make it rain all these bitc-!?"

Drakaina, once again, throws a viscous haymaker to the back of Dom’s head, officially knocking him out before he can get out the rest of his unnecessary comment.

Laban turns around slowly, and her tear filled Eyelien EyeEngages with Saku’s Anjell Eye. A wet trail from a tear, is on her cheek under the blue eye that matches Shelly’s.

Saku: "I’ll admit too, I was wrong when I felt like I had an idea of what you had to do to atone for yourself. But now I actually do know and I was also being irrational. I didn’t know you were capable of doing something so amazingly creative and thoughtful like this, just for me."

Laban hangs on to every word of wisdom from her personal "God", her mouth agape.

Saku: "But now I’ve realized, you were right earlier, about your mindset towards atonement and the bigger picture of someone’s unselfishness. If you’re doing good deeds for others around you, even if it was just for my acceptance, I’m okay with that. Cuz sooner or later, you’ll realize the happiness you’re feeling isn’t just because of your feelings towards me.

Making others happy in general, that is the actual fuel towards being happy in this existence. If we’re all content and helping each other in the end, who am I to reject your methods? Just promise me two things, here and now, Laban."

Itsuka’s eyes look on in a panic, while Laban nods.

Don Laban: "Anything, Saki!...Saku."

Saku: "1st, promise me if I die, you won’t go back to that ugly, oppressing dictator, using fear to get her people to comply with her demands."

Don Laban: "I promise! I really do!"

Saku: "Good and the 2nd promise... please don’t call me Saku ever again. You’ve psychologically conditioned me already, so anything else just sounds wrong coming from you."

A snowflake falls from Laban’s Eyelien, they disengage and Saku turns around to look at Shelly and Katsu, but before he can do anything else, Laban grabs the SunSword from Saku’s hip, surprising everyone witnessing.

Shelly grips her katana on her back, Madame Fryer unsheathes herself, and Itsuka grips one of her SunSwords.

Saku turns back to face the DaeMon but goes silent seeing Laban, without hesitation, put the back of her left hand and wrist, against the red hot blade. Her sizzling skin can be heard and Drakaina hides her face behind Jormungand.

Dom pulls out another burger but gets disgusted from the act, he looks at the burger for a moment then slowly puts the burger back in the bag.

Dom: "I- I lost my appetite."

Laban’s entire hand becomes engulfed in flame as Saku grabs the DaeMon’s hand holding the handle of the burning sword, pulling it away from her. Parts of her burning flesh stick to the blade and burn as is tears off from the muscle.

Saku sheathes the SunSword back in it’s place.

Saku: "The fuck are you doing?!"

Shelly(under her breath): "She’s a legitimate psychopath, what else did you expect?"

The blonde beauty suddenly remembers her first and only clone. As well as the clone’s dramatic actions in the moment.

She blushes while realizing her hypocrisy.

Meanwhile, Laban doesn’t even flinch from pain. In a badass way, she quickly flicks her wrist, extinguishing the flame, splattering some blood on the ground, and revealing the disgusting, unsettling damage done.

There are disturbed faces on everyone except Katsu, Saku, and Shelly.

Katsu’s eyes narrow and he watches the Don closely.

Katsu(thinking): *Now if it gets in her eye and there’s a mood killing moment of comedy, that means there’s nothing to worry about, but if it misses her eye and she doesn’t react...*

He looks over at Jorm and Drakaina. Drakaina is shaking behind Jorm, crying behind her brother.

Laban’s head is down while pledging her allegiance to her Lord.

Don Laban: "Even if my Eyelien heals my largest organ faster, and it protects me from blood poisoning, the scar that’s left will be proof of my loyalty to you..."

She lifts her head and with her eyes wide, Laban smiles, a slight tilt to her head. Her charred, blood squirting, and burned hand next to her face. The graphically horrific injury squirts blood across her face.

It gets in her right Eyelien, however unlike either of Katsu’s unusually detailed concerns, she doesn’t flinch anyway.

Katsu looks surprised because of the outcome and moves his gaze to Saku. The Yin Vessel is emotionless, looking at Laban’s hand.

Katsu’s nose twitches in anger.

Katsu(thinking): *Sakuuuu!!!!*

Don Laban: "...It will be proof of my loyalty to you, until the day I die...My...Sa-kiii."