Chapter 36: Preparation
Masamichi is sitting alone on the outskirts of Champion City. Gakuganji appears in front of him.
Gakuganji: So this is where you are hiding.
Masamichi: Not exactly hiding. So they've sent you to kill me.
Gakuganji: Honestly, I tried to explain to them that you would never do something like that.
Masamichi: Yeah, but they never listen do they? They always try to get rid of problematic individuals. First Kevin, Steve, and now me.
Gakuganji: Can you blame them for Kevin or Steve?
Masamichi: Hehe. Not really. But we have to deal with their likes sometimes.
Gakuganji: I'm sorry. I will tell them you surrendered.
He moves towards Masamichi.
Masamichi: Who said anything about surrendering?
He takes out a sword and stands up.
Masamichi: I am not dying yet.
Gakuganji: So you're gonna make this tough on you.
Masamichi: Reminds me of the time when I first joined. We used to fight all the time.
Gakuganji: Let's have our last battle.
A few minutes later, Panda walks by and finds Masamichi on the floor and Gakuganji holding him at sword point.
Gakuganji: Good bye friend.
He stabs him with the sword, killing him. Panda immediately rushes towards him. Gakuganji prepares to fight him but he doesn't attack, passes by him, and stands in front of Masamichi's inventory.
Gakuganji: You're not gonna fight me?
Panda: I know you were following orders. You were friends with him. It's nothing to be angry about. But it is a tragedy that we lost so many good allies in such a short period. Dark times are ahead. We need everyone we can get.
Gakuganji: …
Zenin HQ:
Naoya: So you're alive?
Maki: It must piss you off so much.
Naoya: Wrong. I actually didn't care. But why are you here? Did Jesse send you? Or Megumi? You're their servant now?
Maki: I don't have time to waste on you.
She walks towards the storage. As she opens its door she finds Ogi sitting inside.
Maki: Ogi.
Ogi: There are no weapons here Maki. I knew you would come here so I shifted them.
Mai: Why did you come? You idiot.
Mai is lying on the floor.
Maki: Mai!
Ogi takes out an enchanted sword. Maki takes out her enchanted sword in response.
Ogi: Do you know why I couldn't become the head of Zenin even though I was more experienced than Naobito?
Maki: Because you're a worthless piece of shit?
They both attack each other and their swords clash.
Ogi: Because both the players I trained, turned out to be failures.
Ogi attacks her and she blocks his hit, then swings her sword to attack his torso but he deflects the strike. She parries his attack and quickly attacks him but gets slashed instead.
Ogi: You failed to read my move. It proves how worthless you are. Both of you. I wasn't behind Naobito in any aspect. Except for the players we took under. He trained his brother who turned out just like him while I trained 2 incompetent sisters who couldn't even use commands.
He walks up to Mai.
Ogi: So now it's my job to remove those failures.
Maki: Mai.
Mai: Destroy…everything.
Ogi stabs Mai, killing her.
Maki: …
Ogi: At least you gave a fight. Mai here couldn't do shit compared to you. She easily lost to me. When will you understand? Girls can't play video games.
Suddenly Maki runs past him and holds Mai's bow that had fallen from her inventory in her hand.
Ogi: How did you…
Ogi already got slashed as Maki passed him.
Ogi: (That speed…Toji…)
He moves to attack her but Maki slashes his head, killing him.
Maki: Let's destroy everything then.
Unknown Zenin: Master Jinchi! Maki has gone insane.
Jinchi: What do you mean?
Unknown Zenin: She killed Master Ogi. And is now attacking members of the Zenin one by one.
Naoya: She killed Ogi? How is that possible?
The Zenin forces attack Maki outside the HQ on the hillside. She attacks them one by one.
Zenin Soldier 1: How is she moving so fast?
Zenin Soldier 2: I can't see her.
She quickly slashes one of the players. One of them attacks her but she deflects his strike and stabs him. She kicks another player's sword away then stabs him too.. As 2 players attack her from behind she jumps over them and slashes both of them at the back. Soon the entire first team sent to restrain her gets killed. Jinchi arrives with 2 skilled players. They both attack Maki from opposite directions. Maki ducks to dodge one's attack and blocks the other's hit with her sword. She quickly slashes one of them. The other attempts to stab her from behind but she grabs his sword and stabs him. She kicks him away. She blocks an attack from behind by the first guy and stabs him, killing him. The other guy attacks again but she deflects his attack. He falls to the ground.
Maki: Pathetic.
She steps on his sword to prevent him from picking it up then stabs him, killing him. Suddenly she gets trapped in a spider web spawned at her legs.
Zenin Player: Master Jinchi! I trapped her. She can't move. Kill her.
Jinchi rushes towards her and attacks her with consecutive sword hits. She deflects all of them. She breaks the web and kicks him in the face. She then slashes his legs, bringing him to his knees. Then slashes him a few times, killing him. Her sword finally breaks.
Zenin Player: Master Jinchi…
She picks up another sword, rushes towards him, and stabs him.
Naoya: How cruel.
Naoya instantly rushes towards her and attacks her. She deflects his attack but he manages to stab her.
Naoya: (You are not Toji.)
She attacks him but he gets away. Then instantly he circles around her and strikes her from behind, knocking her into a wall. He again rushes towards her and she gets away from him but he catches up to her and strikes her again. He rushes towards her to stab her with full speed but Maki dodges away and grabs his hand. She pulls him towards her and stabs him.
Maki: I am not holding anything back anymore. You think you can get away with killing my sister.
She then strikes him, knocking him from the cliff.
Maki: Fall down from the heights of your delusions and ego. A girl beat you.
The next team of Zenin players arrive to fight her but she kills all of them one by one. She then retrieves Mai's inventory and walks out of the HQ. She finds Momo outside and hands her Mai's inventory. Momo starts crying.
Momo: I told her not to go alone.
Maki starts to walk away.
Momo: What will you do now?
Maki: Destroy Everything.
Maki later visited every major Zenin HQ, killed most of their higher-ups, and looted their storage.
Megumi: Remember. Kevin got kicked out of Jujutsu Pros for indiscipline. You shouldn't mention to anyone you're from Jujutsu Pros or he might run away.
Player: Will he even join us?
Megumi: Everyone else said he is good for nothing. But Jesse says he is stronger than him. We might need him.
Guard 1: Hold it right there.
Megumi: We came for the fight. He is registered for today.
Guard 2: What is his name?
Megumi: Player.
Guard 1: That's a dumb name.
Guard 2: He is on the list. Alright.
Megumi: Ok so we're in. Now just as we discussed, you fight here and try to get as much attention as you can. You might get an audience with Kevin if you gain enough popularity. Talk to him then. Meanwhile, I'll try to find another way inside.
Player is escorted inside a room by the guard.
Guard 1: Most of the matches today are scripted so it will take some time. You're the only unscripted match today. If you perform well, you might get to meet the boss.
Player: Oh? What do you mean scripted?
Guard: The boss organizes fake matches to entertain the audience. That's how he earns. Then there are unscripted matches that test real strength of real players.
Player: Got it. (So looks like there is a chance for me to meet him directly.)
Player waits for his turn. Suddenly he gets called.
Announcer: ON ONE SIDE THERE IS A NEW ENTRY, A PLAYER NAMED…uhm PLAYER! AND ON THE OTHER SIDE, EVERYONE'S FAVORITE, PANDAAA!
Player: Huh?
Panda: Hello Player.
Announcer: BEGIN!
Panda rushes towards Player and strikes him with his wooden sword.
Player: Damn.
Panda: Good. This way it will feel less scripted.
Player: Scripted? What are you doing here anyway?
Panda: I'm a regular here. Earn some extra this way. Me and Kevin were pals before he got kicked. How do you think Jesse found where he is?
Player: Oh?
Panda: Now just defeat me and you might get to meet him.
Player: Alright.
Player jumps and kicks Panda on his head. He attacks with his wooden sword but Panda blocks it. Player kicks him, followed by a sword strike in the face. Panda strikes back but Player dodges it and strikes him again. Panda again tries to attack him but Player strikes his sword so hard it flies away.
Panda: Uh oh.
Player then lands consecutive hits on him until he accepts defeat.
Announcer: PLAYER WINS!!!
A guard walks up to player.
Guard: Boss invites you to meet him.
Player goes to meet Kevin.
Kevin: Nice to meet you…Player. Cool name.
Player: Thanks.
Kevin: Panda is one of our best fighters you know. And you beat him just like that. What do you say? Wanna work with me? I can create so many scripted fights around you. You're gonna love it. And you'll be paid of course.
Outside the building, Panda meets Megumi.
Panda: So what now? Player is meeting Kevin.
Megumi: We need to find a way in ourselves. In case something goes wrong and Player fails to persuade him.
Panda: I've hung around here a lot. I know the places where we can sneak past the guards. There is an entrance through the roof. It can lead us straight to Kevin's room. The guards aren't much of a problem. The only one that can give us trouble is Kirara. She is Kevin's friend. She practically always stays with him. So she will be inside with them too. So no problem.
Megumi: Let's hurry up.