Chapter 21 - Three Ways to Break

Three Ways to Break
Naluri turned off her flashlight and her helmet monitor, plunging the area into darkness. She and Haruki stayed near Konata, in complete silence. They could hear blurred talking and growling in the distance, coming from the direction they had come from. They waited, very impatiently, for the noise to fade away. As it did, Naluri moved out, pulling Haruki's hand behind her. Once they reentered the room with the electric floor they took a left into another room, The Green Mile. In the middle of the room was a kneeling Reimu, tied by ropes lined with spell tags, a single dim light source above her.

"Hakurei Reimu?" gasped Haruki with amazement.

"Wait. You know her?" questioned Naluri, racing up to the not immediately obvious glass panels in between them and Reimu.

"Yeah, from Touhou, right? And Marisa too. I recognised a lot of names on the list but they're all fictional characters!" Haruki looked up at Reimu, "So who is this really?"

"You're considered a fictional character in my and Konata's worlds," pointed out Naluri bluntly. She went round the side of the cell to find out that the cell door had been left raised, allowing free passage in. She rushed in and knelt in front of Reimu. Reimu's open eyes were devoid of life and she was covered in drool, a seal stuck to her forehead. Naluri took hold of the bottom of the seal. "... Do you know what this seal does? Is it safe to remove?"

Haruki walked behind Naluri, "... No idea." He decided not to ask questions to allow Naluri to concentrate.

After a pause, Naluri pulled the tag straight off Reimu's forehead. However, nothing happened. With a scowl, Naluri realised it was the seals on the ropes that were imprisoning her. Summoning another Subtle Knife blade, she cut the ropes binding Reimu. Reimu suddenly blinked, regaining consciousness. "Reimu?" called Naluri, putting her hands on Reimu's shoulders, "Reimu? Are you okay?"

Reimu circled her head round, her muscles most likely aching and her vision beginning to focus. She suddenly noticed Naluri directly in front of her and fear set on Reimu's face. With a sudden motion, she brought up her arms, throwing off Naluri's grip on her shoulders and gave Naluri a strong headbutt in the forehead. Naluri fell back in pain, her helmet rolling off her head from the impact. Reimu suddenly sat on Naluri's abdomen, wrapped her hands round Naluri's neck and began to strangle her. "Why can't you just leave me alone?!" screamed Reimu, her eyes closed and sobbing away. "Stop shooting me! Just go away!"

"Rei- Rei-" gurgled Naluri, unable to speak. She took hold of Reimu's wrists and tried to pull Reimu's hands away from her neck but the shrine maiden's physical power vastly outmatched Naluri's.

"Why do you all hate me so much?!" continued Reimu, tears flowing down her face, "I just want to go home! I just... I just want to go home..." She cried loudly, "I... I never want to see any of you ever again! I just... I just want to live... I'm not going to allow anyone to take that right away from me."

"Reimu!" shouted Haruki, grabbing Reimu's arms and attempted to pull her away, "Come back to your senses!"

Reimu looked up in shock at the newcomer, "Haruhi..." She stumbled backwards, releasing Naluri, who gasped for air. Reimu shook her head in horror at Haruki, "All hope is lost... It's all over."

Haruki put his hands up, "Reimu, I'm not going to hurt you. Please trust me."

"No!" screamed Reimu, scrambling away from Haruki, "Stay away from me! I just want to live! Just leave me alone!" She turned around to crawl away further but hit her head on a transparent pane of the cell wall. She collapsed on the floor, forming a ball, crying her eyes out, "I just want to go home..."

Haruki ran up to Reimu and knelt next to her, "Reimu! We're here to help you!" he pleaded but Reimu had fallen asleep, her sobbing continuing. She was broken, her former self in pieces. Naluri realised Reimu had evicted all natives from Hawaii to escape her fears. "Naluri!" called Haruki, "We need another plan. Reimu won't be able to help us." He turned to see Naluri drawing on the death list with red pen.

She stood up, "... Let's go."

Upon exiting the building, they noticed the drop pod was missing. Naluri made her way to the dock, Haruki silently following behind. "Hold onto this," she ordered, passing her helmet to him. She summoned a pony bottle and put it in her mouth. Before Haruki could reply, she dived into the water. A few seconds later, a large black object shot out of the water landing on the ground with a crash.

"The batmobile?" mouthed Haruki, surprised. He had spotted the hoverboard attached to the underside of the car before the car landed.

Naluri climbed out the water back onto land, now of course dripping wet. She was carrying the portable gravity lift that had been incredibly useful during the past few hours, the lift successfully blasting the vehicle out the water. Making her way to the vehicle, she noticed the windows were cracked. Summoning another Subtle Knife blade, she cut a hole in the driver seat window and inserted her arm through, unlocking the car door. She opened the door and turned on the engine. The rocket propulsion on the back of the car roared to life. "We're good to go," she stated, "Get in the back." Haruki did so without a word as Naluri let out the air in the tyres of the batmobile. Once she was done, she got in the driver's seat. She slammed on the accelerator, the car shooting back towards the water. However, instead of sinking, the car hydroplaned, driving on the water's surface, and as the vehicle had rocket propulsion, like KITT, Naluri had effective control of the batmobile on water. Naluri drove as fast as the batmobile could go, in a northerly direction.

After a minute or so in silence, Haruki opened his mouth to speak when Naluri's helmet in his hands began to beep. It started playing a video on the monitor. "Err... Na-"

"I've seen it," answered Naluri, continuing to look ahead.

Haruki watched the video. He frowned, "Doom?"

"...I present the planner behind these atrocities, the cause of all our pain, Hatsune Miku!" declared Doom next to a guillotine, in the video as Magneto walked on with a floating Miku. Haruki watched the guillotine blade come down on Miku's neck, black smoke erupting from her burnt out circuits. Doom continued his speech, "And now the one that locked down our lives, enjoyed knowing our darkest secrets, shackled us to the workbench, the Enforcer of Law, Rin!" Rin was walked onto the platform, clearly operational. She was put under the guillotine. "Any last words?" asked Doom.

"Oh my, it's time for a snack," answered Rin in jest. The blade came down creating a clean cut. Miku and Rin were broken, their body in pieces, their lives gone with them.

"The rest of the Vocaloids and UTAU are needed to further our development, to preserve our freedom, our liberty and our unity. Latveria will extend a helping hand to anyone and everyone who suffered under the tyrannical rule of the three kingdoms. We will do our best to support and nurture our recovery as unique individuals allied under one true purpose. We are who we are. No one has the right to decide that but ourselves!" The crowd roared with approval.

When the transmission, there were a few seconds of silence before Haruki spoke up, "Who's next?" Naluri passed the list over her shoulder to Haruki who looked at it. He saw that Miku's and Len's names were crossed out in red. Even if Rin wasn't physically broken, she was most definitely heartbroken.

Naluri gritted her teeth and glared out the cracked windscreen in front of her with anger. Sasaki had not interfered, the transmission being exactly as she remembered it. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel. She was not broken, determined to see this to the end.

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