Shattering Humanity

Chapter 181: "...Only A Drop, Compared To The Bucket That’s About To Be Thrown."

With Shelly’s back kick, Isfet is now unconcious, and vulnerable to an incoming group of Icemen.

However, the Icemen aiming for the free lunch, end up walking right by the beaten woman and continue on their way to Roronora.

Just before Shelly jumps off to make her way to rejoin her group...

Katsu: "Shelly!?"

Shelly’s gorgeous blue eyes grow wide and she stumbles, falling to her face. She gets up quickly, blushing, and rubbing her nose.

Shelly: "K-K-Katsu, Wh- how did you...?"

Katsu, a pure white SeiõrShield coating him, his Anjell Eye at 2nd Stage, with his Yang aura, appears through the trees with Madame Fryer closely following.

Katsu: "As soon as I recovered from that jerk’s sneak attack, my Anjell Eye felt a huge presence of IceEyes approaching from every direction. I looked through everyone’s IceEye to see where you were and after I didn’t see you with everyone else at Roronora’s entrance, I finally found you with Hathor’s symbiote.

Why...why was she fighting you?"

The flaming sword floats by Katsu and to the original owner.

The legendary weapon carefully floats into it’s respective golden sheath, while Katsu and Shelly look down at the unconcious eye user he was referring to.

Shelly: "Apparently, her real name is Isfet, and she’s the sister in law to that guy who kicked you and started tonight’s mess.

Laban killed that guy’s wife, who was also this woman’s sister, and now they both want to kill Princess Rebekah, to make Laban live with the same pain she’s made them feel after losing someone she loves."

There’s a tremor and Shelly looks around as Katsu walks up to Isfet.

Katsu: "Don’t worry, none of them will come around here as long as I keep my ability active."

He removes both of the unconscious woman’s sleek updated HeatHolsters. After taking off his single outdated version, the Izanagi Captain puts one on his right hip, and goes to retrieve one of the swords that Shelly had kicked from her opponent’s grasp.

Katsu: "Unfortunately, I’m not strong enough yet to control this entire swarm.

I’m sorry, Shelly. I’m just not strong like you are."

Shelly: "Katsu, you don’t have to apologize! You don’t need to be strong, because I’ll be strong for the both of us! Your ability to communicate with the few aliens you can control has saved us from a lot of trouble already!"

Katsu pulls the blade from the ground and looks closely at the most advanced version of the special sword.

Even after it was stuck in the dirt for a little less than 10 minutes, the half of the blade that was lodged, is cold while the other half is still orange and hot.

Katsu: "I wonder what the time limit is on these?"

Katsu sheathes the sword while walking back to unconscious Isfet.

After removing it he holds up the other remaining, upgraded version of Laban’s combat technology to Shelly and she sheds her obsolete version of the weaponry.

Katsu picks up the knocked out Isfet, cradling her in his arms removed of all her weapons. While it’s still active, he covers Shelly’s most recently defeated enemy, in his pure white SeiõrShield.

Shelly straps the most up to date version of the SunSwords to her left hip, with the actual insperation for the weapon, Madame Fryer, sheathed and stuck to her right hip.

Katsu looks at the defeated woman in his arms with his sad green eye.

Katsu: "Shelly...where you actually going to leave her here to get eaten by Icemen, if I hadn’t shown up to make them go away?"

Shelly gets flustered and stammers to find an excuse.

Shelly: "Katsu! Sh-She- B-but I-I told her-! I-I-I wanted her to give up, because I had to get back to the group but she didn’t!

I know she has a purpose in this world too, but you and Takamagahara are mine, Katsu!...

you’re mine..."

Katsu: "You and I both know you could easily carry Taylor’s dead body weight alone, Shelly.

After knocking her out, you could’ve brought this woman back to that guy, and maybe he would feel indebted to you.

At least enough to stop involving others in his personal bullshit."

Shelly’s mouth is open with a look of guilt. Her tearful eyes are stuck on her purpose.

Shelly(thinking): *Katsu would always do this when we watched those stories.

When the story was officially done, in retrospect, he’d usually explain to me how he would’ve avoided the conflict.

I never had the heart to tell him, without any conflict or risk of losing, then there’s no story to tell at all.*

Katsu, with Isfet cradled in his arms, picks up his head, looking directly at Shelly with a disappointed Above Sanpaku stare.

Katsu: "Come on Shell, get your head in the damn game."

Shelly puts her head down, closes her eyes to fight back tears. Feeling guilty, she is about to apologize, but when her azule blue eyes open to look back at Katsu, she is stunned.

A smiling MamMon DæMon, with her hood up, is now standing behind Katsu. The DæMon’s blue eyes peering at Shelly’s from over his shoulder.

Shelly: "Katsu, look out!"

The Yang Vessel gets confused and slowly turns around to see the formidable woman he had met just a few minutes earlier.

Katsu: "Oh, there you are... here ya go!"

He holds out the unconscious woman but the enthusiastic captain is ignored.

Between Shelly and MamMon, the two sets of slightly different shades of blue eyes, are more locked in on each other than any EyeEngagement has ever been. They are scolding each other, while Katsu comedically looks back and forth between the two of them.

MamMon DæMon: "It’s a pleasure to finally meet you again, Skalmönd."

Shelly goes to grab her katana and Madame Fryer comes out once more from her short rest.

Shelly: "You better not make any sudden movements towards Katsu!"

MamMon DæMon: "Don’t worry, Skalmönd.

Trust me, there is nothing I would love more, than to kill you right here, but I’ve been working on my plans for the past three years now and I would rather see them come to fruition.

It’s only a matter of time before one of my sisters attempts to seize this land, but before then, I would like to have my own military of pawns willing to die from my leadership and fear my overall power."

Shelly: "So, you’re the one woman Saku and Laban were talking about earlier, huh?

’Herfjötur’, was it?

You’re only aiding those two misguided people in their revenge on Laban, because it benefits your own plans in the end. Just like your youngest sister, your obvious selfishness will be your downfall.

I’ll put you in check next!

According to Saku, you’ve taken control of our home city too?

I’ll be taking that back, so don’t get too comfortable."

MamMon DæMon breaks eye contact and lets out a loud hearty laugh to the sky. The back of her hand hovering over her mouth.

MamMon DæMon: "Oohhhtoootoootooo!

We’ll see about that, Skalmönd. Please, don’t believe for a second, that my ability is anywhere near as abysmal as the Final Born.

Your boyfriend here seems to have high hopes in you, it sure would be a shame if you let him down."

She finally takes Isfet from a smiling Katsu.

He gives a single wave with the hand he cut for their handshake and Shelly can’t see his Above Sanpaku stare going through MamMon.

Katsu: "Remember, you better show up..."

With the familiar smile back on his face, Katsu turns and makes his way to Shelly.

The blue eyed women give each other a few more words.

Shelly: "What, you and your sisters don’t plan on jumping me like you did to my Valkyrie grandmother?"

MamMon DæMon: "If you must know, a few centuries after defeating you, my sisters and I had gone our separate ways.

They refused to conform with me as the head leader of the DæMon clan.

Even after I created SeiõrShots and taught them all the technique.

Even though I was the one who thought to rebel against our mother’s clans.

After all I had done for them, they still refused to comply with my terms."

Shelly smirks, feeling more confident now knowing she doesn’t have to fight the entire clan at once.

Shelly: "Hope you know, like all the bad decisions your mothers made, that ultimate decision you DæMons made to split up will be your downfall. I know I can take you all individually."

MamMon DæMon: Hmph.

For over 1,000 years, I wondered if that final SeiõrSpell you launched was just a failure...

...or something unprecedented.

To be completely honest, I was hoping for the latter."

With his back turned to the DæMon, Katsu lets a smile escape.

Katsu(thinking): *If anyone has any hope in Shelly at all...*

Shelly is also smiling a wide toothed grin from the confession of her next enemy.

Katsu (thinking): *...she will pull through in the end.*

Shelly: "I promise not to disappoint you, and especially not Katsu.

Oh yea, and let the guy who hurt Katsu know, I’m getting mine back in blood. He better be ready to apologize to both of us."

MamMon DæMon: "Your vagabond trash talking is an indication of your uncontrollable nerves, Skalmönd. Hehe, I think I said that when we defeat you the first time."

The DæMon turns, carrying Isfet away into the darkness while saying her goodbyes.

MamMon DæMon: "I’ll be sure to relay the bulletin board information to Esau.

Oh, and make sure you don’t do anything too reckless tonight that might ruin the fun I have planned in three days.

Bye-Bye, Valkyrie Queen and Vessel of Yang."

Katsu and Shelly watch the DæMon disappear into the dark and then the adopted siblings look at each other, with a nod.

The two start running in the direction of Roronora, out of the woods.

Once they exit the treeline, they can see a small separate horde of Icemen making their way towards the rest of the giant mob.

From the higher ground of the highway, where they’re standing, Katsu and Shelly can see the front of the overwhelming ice alien crowd. The front of the suffocating Iceman wave, is only 100 yards away from the entrance where their group last was seen by both of them.

Shelly squints and pans her vision over the highway filled with a sea of Icemen.

Suddenly, she spots a couple of decapitated Icemen flying into the air and a smile spreads across her cute face.

Itsuka, with her crystal purple SeiõrShield, jumps high in the air with both her SunSwords unsheathed and cross slashes two Icemen down. She does a spinning slash clearing more of a path.

Katsu’s face brightens up as well after seeing his friends are safe. He focuses on the area where Itsuka, Dom, and Jormungand are leading the pack, taking down enemies for Drakaina, Laban, and Princess Rebekah piggybacking her mother.

With his Communication Eye of Wisdom, the Yang Vessel clears a path for the friendly group.

All the Icemen in the shoulder to shoulder march, who had seen the group of humans and were going to attack, turn back in their original direction.

With Katsu’s ability, his friends are basically invisible to the ice aliens and the ocular symbiotes they host.

The sudden disinterest confuses the human group, until Shelly uses her hands to make a megaphone and call out to them in the dark.

She flashes her Golden Pink SeiõrShield on and off to attract them.

Shelly: "OOOOIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!"

Itsuka turns to the loud call first, a look of relief sweeps over her face when she sees her two reliable partners, but then a look of melancholy washes over her for some reason.

The Izanami Vice Captain turns to the group she was in charge of leading by default, and points to the Izanagi Captains.

The friends group together under the edge of the highway forest. Out of the way from the steady moving mob of Icemen.

Shelly and Drakaina hug each other, but from the way Itsuka quickly wraps her arms around the Izanagi Vice Captain next, the blonde Ace can already tell something is wrong.

The platinum haired Izanami Vice Captain is slightly shaking and won’t break their embrace.

Shelly: "Itsuka...w-what’s the matter? Are you okay?"

Off to the side, separate from everyone else, Dom and Jormungand are watching the growing army of carnivorous, violent aliens marching passed them, completely flooding the highway.

Dom(whispers): "Yooo..."

Jormungand: "I wouldn’t even have guessed this many Icemen had landed in total to begin with. All these monsters, are they really going to bulldoze an entire city?"

The sweating Dom doesn’t take his eyes away from what he’s witnessing.

Dom: "This is nothing like Son Goku City, dude. It’s not daytime so Tay or Saku wouldn’t be able to give us SunSeiõrShields. Even if we all did have that buff, the small mob the three of us wiped out back then, is only a drop, compared to the bucket that’s about to be thrown on Roronora.

Roronora City is twice the size of Son Goku City, but it has no chance once those giants start demolishing and stomping down everything."

Jormungand turns to look at Drakaina. His sister is looking concerned about having to give bad news.

The young man then turns and from the tree line, he looks up at the bright October moon...

The moment Jormungand’s IceEye focuses on the bright moon, it pops off to 2nd Stage on it’s own, and a moon silver aura starts emitting from the symbiote.

Jormungand(whispers): "Big.

...Bro.

...Saku?"

Katsu has narrowed eyes once he notices Jorm has now been drawn into Saku’s mysterious new ability.

Katsu(thinking): *Yep, and of course he’s already using THAT.

Whatever, this will only make you look more like the uncontrollable villain by the end of the night, but for now...*

He pans the small group of girls, and looks confused.

Katsu: "Wh-where...?"

He continues to look around at Rebekah and Laban having a moment alone, crying and both nodding in agreement at each other.

Katsu: "Where is...?"

He finally comes back to looking at Itsuka holding Shelly tight.

Katsu: "Where are Saku, Friend, and Princess Kawaii?!"