"You let him get away with Senketsu?!"
A loud slap filled the smoking remains of the Crystal Prep Sewing Club's laboratory as Suri Polomare was knocked to the floor, wearing nothing but her undergarments. Standing over her was a girl with long, straight, dark red hair that fell to her shoulders and covered one of her dark green eyes as she glared down at the fallen girl. Her skin was a light green shade, complimented by the Crystal Prep uniform she wore, the maroon jacket and skirt over a blue-gray blouse.
The redhead placed a high heeled boot on Suri's stomach, pressing down hard as she growled, "There was still data that we could extract from him! We still haven't found the secret to how he is able to evolve! Do you realize how valuable he was to us? Not only that, you let that thief get away with a valuable member of the Sewing Club!" She pulled back for a vicious kick, sending Suri tumbling across the floor.
Tears rolled down Suri's face as she screamed out, "I know! I already told you what happened, Gladiola Nectar! I was tricked! He managed to reform the Kamui! How was I supposed to beat that?
"By neutralizing him from the start instead of running your mouth and giving him time to use his magic, and Senketsu time to awaken!" Gladiola shouted back. "Emerald Mist studied you and learned how to use you. He played you like a fool, Suri! Now, because of your idiocy, we have an obstacle to the spread of Life Fibers out there. There's no doubt that they will get in our way in the future, and it's all your fault!"
"I'm sor--!"
Strands of Life Fibers shot out from the darkness of the lab, weaving their way around Suri's arms and lifting her into the air until she was dangling with her feet just off the floor, arms spread wide to each side. She looked pitiful, her face leaking tears, drool, and snot as she trembled in terror. As she hung there, another girl stepped out from behind her, almost as if from thin air. She had long blonde hair that was tied into two enormous, poofy pigtails that widened out as they rose up, and tapered to elegant spirals as they fell to either side of her face. Resting on her head between those twintails was an obscenely large, pink bow. She wore a frilly pink short dress, and rested a matching umbrella on her shoulder. Her right eye, peering around Suri's hanging form, was a deep navy blue, and her left eye was covered in a patch that was shaped like a Neighponese kanji.
"Now now," the new arrival cooed, running her fingers along Suri's arm. A quick pinch to the neck, and the Fashion Club President's body went limp. "Let's not give her too hard of a time, Glady. I'm actually quite happy with the way things have turned out." She giggled before stepping behind Suri again and vanishing.
Gladiola's eyes darted left and right as she hissed, "What are you talking about, Nui Harime? They are our enemies, and you say you're happy that they're free to cause problems for us?"
"Of course!" Nui's voice echoed from every direction in that deceptively peppy tone. "I knew that mean old Senketsu would follow me to this planet. Heck, I practically gave him no other choice but to! I don't want him locked up and frozen while we destroy this puny planet, though." Her voice took a more manic, sadistic turn as she said, "After what he did to me and Lady Ragyo, I want nothing more than to face him in battle and shred him and any of his do-gooder friends to pieces. I'm going to gobble him up, just like he tried to do to me, and when we're done with this planet, I'm going to go back to my homeworld and finish what I started!"
Gladiola rolled her eyes, reaching a hand out into the shadows and grabbing Nui by the neck to pull her into the light. Her dark green eyes lit with disdain as she hissed, "That will be the death of you, Nui. You still have yet to grasp how different things are from your world because of our magic. That someone like Emerald Mist exists is a huge problem. Not only is he capable of weaving complex illusions with just the power of a One Star Goku Uniform, but he can withstand the power of an incomplete Kamui, and he seems to be able to erase memories too. Suri has no memory of anything after he harmonized with Senketsu, and with no signs of head trauma, that only leaves magic."
Nui's hand reached out to grab Gladiola by the wrist, squeezing tight until she was forced to let go. "I'm done with that name, Glady. I was consumed by the Primordial Life Fiber that I was born from. I'm not even the slightest bit human anymore, so I never want to hear my human name again," she said with a cheerful smile that, despite seeming genuine, did little to hide the malice beneath.
Rubbing her wrist, Gladiola turned away and grumbled, "And what, pray tell, would you have me call you?"
"That's simple, silly. I am Koketsu now," she declared proudly. "Just like Senketsu, I am both Kamui and Primordial Life Fiber. We are two halves, and in the end, I will take back my true power and devour him." She leaped back to sit on the shattered console of a smoking computer. "Besides, you know as well as I do that the more these puny humans fight and struggle, the more energy we will be able to harvest from them."
"You are too prideful, Koketsu," Gladiola scolded her. "You are a fool to risk the success of our plans just for the chance to fight against Senketsu again, and I will have no sympathy for you when he inevitably cuts you down." She walked to the doorway before glancing back at Koketsu and the charred remains of the lab. "Weave Suri another Two Star Uniform and get the club back to work. It will be a while yet before we are ready to move beyond just the Sewing Club and to the rest of the school. This year's Friendship Games against Canterlot High will be our first trial run."
Koketsu flourished her umbrella over her head and tapped the tip on the ground, letting Suri's unconscious body fall. "As you wish, Glady! Oh, and say hi to your mom for me."
Gladiola replied with only a curt grunt before leaving. Koketsu, on the other hand, shivered with delight and hugged her arms tight around her body as she mused, "It's a shame we're so incompatible. I would love to know how good it would feel to wear Glady as my host."
A chill crept up Gladiola's spine as she walked down the hall. Her boot heels clicked purposefully as she moved away from the Sewing Club lab as fast as she could.
Idiots. She was surrounded by idiots. It was no secret that Coco had been the true genius behind the progress that was being made, but Suri's control over her had been a far more effective method of using her than giving the meek girl a position of power. Now they had lost that spark, and would have to pool talent from elsewhere to make up for it.
What had her most worried, however, was this Emerald Mist guy. It was very concerning. He had been a member of the Sewing Club for only about three months. In that time, with only a One Star Uniform at his disposal, the boy had managed to reach the pony transformation state and had become adept in magic.
No, that couldn’t be right. It was unheard of for a unicorn type to learn spellcasting so quickly. He had to have had a purpose from the start. He had to have known about Senketsu, and known about magic even before his official "induction" into the Sewing Club and its secrets. A magnificent act, to be sure, but where did his foreknowledge come from? Life Fibers and magic were a secret long lost, and very few could be aware of their existence.
He even flaunted the cards that he held. He was feeding them information that he wanted them to have for intimidation. As much as Gladiola hated to admit it, the tactic was working too.
He could cast advanced magic. He could lay out and execute an effective plan of action. He had allies; the ones he called brothers. He had access to Life Fibers in order to make One Star Uniforms, and now he had Coco Pommel and Senketsu on top of that. He was capable of harmonizing with Senketsu in Kamui form. He was dangerous, and he wanted them to know it. He could have just as easily erased all of Suri's memories of the encounter, but instead he deliberately removed only the battle. That was worrisome as well. Just what had happened during that time that he didn't want them to know about?
Oh what use was it to worry like this? Even with Senketsu producing them, it would take a long time for them to gather a supply of Life Fibers capable of allowing them to put up a fight. By that time, the trials would be complete, and Life Fibers would be spreading all over the world. Once Emerald Mist and Senketsu showed themselves again, they would just have to strike the nuisances down hard and fast.
As Gladiola reached the entryway to the school, she stopped. Just off to her right, in the shadows of the stairs leading to the next floor, a pair of glowing eyes opened. "Lady Nectar, we have done as you asked," the hidden man announced.
"And? What have you found out about this Emerald Mist?" she asked, not even giving the messenger a glance.
"Nothing, I am afraid," he confirmed regretfully. "There is no information on an Emerald Mist in any database. Individual searches on first name, last name, and facial recognition haven't turned up anything either."
Of course.
A long sigh escaped Gladiola's lips as she resumed walking. "One of his allies no doubt tampered with all the files so we can't track down him or his family. Worry not, I suspected this might be the case. It seems Koketsu will be getting the war she wants after all. Return home for the day."
The eyes closed, and the presence vanished completely in darkness as Gladiola stepped through the front doors and into the open air. The beginnings of a winter chill rode on the wind today, prompting her to hug her jacket closer to her body. She hated the cold.
"It's your move, Mist," she said aloud to her foe, eyes focused ahead. "When you make it, I will be ready."
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow! Sweet Sleipnir above, this hurts like a motherf--!" Emerald Mist cried out, only to have a sock unceremoniously stuffed in his maw. He was lain out on a bed, the upper part of his body naked and exposed, while his lower half was hidden beneath the blankets. For the most part, he looked fine, but his limbs were twitching frequently as pain lanced up and down his body.
Standing over him was a woman that glared down in disapproval at him before turning around in a huff. "That's what you get for being stupid and putting on a Kamui! You're, like, so lucky that muscle tears and mana overload is the worst it did to you. What would Mom and Dad think if they could see this?"
The blonde woman was a tall vision of beauty, with soft peach colored skin and vibrant pink eyes that were kindled with anger. Her attire, on the other hand, was quite plain. Just a simple beige trench coat with a pair of very out of place red heels on her feet.
Emerald coughed and gagged in reply, flailing his arms over his head frantically. The sock was lodged in too deep, and he couldn't work it out to speak. He cried out and banged his hand on the bed like crazy, but the woman was indifferent.
"You can be so stubborn, Emmy," she grumbled, fiddling with a locke of her hair. "I just don't want you, like, getting yourself killed all for the sake of this mission of yours."
A door on the other end of the room opened, and Coco entered, carrying the now basketball-sized Senketsu in her hands. The first sight to greet her eyes was Emerald laying in bed, pale as a ghost, with a sign in his hand reading "Farewell cruel world".
"Oh my gosh! Emmy!" she cried in shock.
"He's choking to death!" Senketsu shouted urgently.
The woman turned back in surprise, seeing her handiwork. Instead of being worried, however, she got angry. "Oh no you don't! You're not dying on me, you idiot!" she screamed, slamming her fist into his gut. The impact knocked the wind out of Emerald quite literally, shooting the sock out of his mouth and across the room.
Hacking and wheezing filled the air as Emerl sat up to suck in every breath he could, even though every inch of his body ached. Finally, when he caught his breath, he yelled, "God damn it, Honey! You almost killed me! Urgh--." He winced and laid back as the blow to his stomach throbbed painfully. "Son of a bitch. Aren't I in enough pain already?"
"Not nearly," Honey replied flatly.
Coco was more than a little distraught at the near-death ordeal, and the violent solution. She took deep breaths as she looked between the two in alarmed confusion. "You called her Hunny? Is she your--" she asked, her voice trailing off in uncertainty.
The question hung in the air for a second before understanding registered. The two burst into laughter, with Emerald barely managing to keep from coughing up a lung in the process.
"Me? And this old hag?" he wheezed. "Not in a million years. Ow!" His remarked earned him a smack to top of his head.
"Sorry for the confusion, Miss Coco, my name is Honey Sweet, and I'm Emerl's big sister," she explained with a cheerful smile.
"Some sister, nearly suffocating me, and then sucker-punching me in the gut like that," Emerald grumbled between spasms.
"I'm surprised you're doing so well," Senketsu commented. "Most humans would have had their bones snap, muscles tear completely free, and have a heart attack from the increased power flow you just experienced. That isn't even counting the incredible magic you all carry inside. It takes a rare person to withstand and control all that."
Emerald nodded and said, "Yeah, it wasn't easy, but it was worth it. I know that normally only a human infused with Life Fibers should ever wear a Kamui." He looked to his sister and added, "I spoke to big bro Tender Care a bit ago, and he says as long as I get rest I should be back on my feet in about three days."
Coco brightened up at the news. "Oh, that's really good to hear," she chimed in. "I feel really bad that you went to all that trouble just for me."
"Don't worry about it," he reassured her. "Me putting Senketsu on had nothing to do with you. We could have gotten away just fine, but I wanted to vent some built up frustrations."
"Yeah, well if you pull something like that again, then the after-effects will be the least of your worries," Honey scolded him.
"Okay okay, sis," he relented, raising a hand as though to shield him from her disapproving glare. "No more Kamuis for me. Message received. Still, we do need to find someone to wear him. We won't stand a chance without Senketsu on the field."
"That won't be possible for quite a long time," Senketsu pointed out.
Coco looked down him in her hands, confused. "What do you mean by that?" she asked. "Weren't you able to take form just before?"
"Only barely," he explained, his eyes sliding side to side along his spherical surface in what amounted to a shake of his head. "There was just enough Life Fibers present for me to recreate the most basic parts of my structure. I would need many many more to fully restore my power. On top of that, I can't start producing any significant number of Life Fibers on my own until I have even more still."
Emerald nodded in agreement. "Yes, when the Sewing Club had you in containment, they extracted almost all of your Life Fibers and fed them to this world's Primordial to convert them. They left you with just enough to keep you alive for retrieving the valuable data in your memories. In your current state, you'd probably only be able to create enough Life Fibers for a single One Star Uniform in about a week."
"That's about right. I'm pretty useless in my current state, and I'll need to be a lot stronger if we want to be able to even come close to mass production," Senketsu admitted.
"Oh, I wouldn't be too worried about that," Emerald grinned slyly. "You'll have more of a head start than you think before the day is through."
"What?"
Almost is if on que, the door opened again, and a man in a long white coat entered the room, pushing along a wheelchair. The man had skin as white as a sheet and a rats nest of curly brown hair. Everything from his thin glasses to the gloves on his hands screamed doctor.
Stitched onto the hem of his coat was a symbol of a stethoscope wrapped around a heart as though listening to itself beat. As the man pushed the chair around and next to the bed, Honey stepping aside. Senketsu noticed a black trenchcoat -- all of them sure seemed fond of long coats -- folded up on the seat. In plain view on the back of this garment was another symbol, this one a dark green shield with a crack running over halfway down its center, and lines of fog embossed on the shield's surface.
An emerald mist? Clearly something of meaning to Emerald himself. Senketsu silently wondered at the the purpose of these symbols could be. For that matter, what was with their names? Not that he was much better, really, since his name translated to Fresh Blood.
Emerald took the coat and wrapped it securely around him before pushing the blankets off. With surprising ease, Honey helped him out of bed, bearing most of his weight and moving him into the chair.
After a bit of pained adjustment to his new positioning, Emerald smiled up at the man and said, "Thanks a bunch, Tender. You're the best. I don't care what the rest of our brothers say about you."
Tender simply rolled his eyes with a smile and pushed the chair along to the door.
"Honey, could you please take Coco to her room before you go to work?" he asked as he was wheeled along. He looked to Coco and added, "I want you to take a little time and really think about whether you want to help us or not. If you do, you will eventually be in even more danger, but if you don't, we'll keep you hidden from Crystal Prep until this fight is over."
Coco nodded in understanding and passed Senketsu on to Emerald as he passed by. Honey joined her at her side, taking the girl's hand and beaming.
"Don't you worry, Emmy," she assured him. "I'll make sure she's all taken care of before I leave."
Emerald nodded gratefully, and just before leaving he added, "By the way, be sure to give Dandy Trapper and Quite Tidy my best, okay?"
"Will do!" she called after him before the door closed.
There was a moment of silence as Tender pushed Emerald and Senketsu along, making their way down the hall and to a large elevator. As their ride started down, Senketsu spoke up. "So what did you mean when you said that I'd have a head start?"
"Did you forget already?" Emerald asked back with a smile. "We had enough Life Fibers to create twelve One Star Uniforms, and there's a lot more where that came from."
Senketsu's eyes swivelled around on his surface to look up at Emerald. "Really? That has me rather curious too. How did you manage to get your hands on these Life Fibers?"
With a subtle stop and a soft chime, the Elevator doors opened, and the two of them were guided into a huge workspace filled with men and women running to and fro. They toted boxes, pushed around huge bins full of envelopes, and drove forklifts that carried huge crates full of who knew what. All of them moved about in a strangely clockwork chaos, each knowing their exact place in what at a glance seemed a total frenzy of activity. They seemed to be taking their various packages to conveyor belts that fed into the walls and vanished from sight, and at the far end of the room from the elevator was a single set of sliding steel doors. Any way you looked at it, this was a sorting room for mail.
"I inherited one of the largest shipping companies in the area from my father. Well, I guess technically Honey owns it until I'm old enough to officially take over," Emerald explained as they made their way forward. "It's a perfect cover, since we get a lot of the enemy's outgoing Life Fiber shipments passing through here. We just skim a bit off of the top, perfectly repackage them down to the last detail, and send them out none the wiser."
A perfect cover indeed. As long as Life Fibers needed to be moved from one place to another, this was the perfect place to be. So long as they didn't take too much, and repackaged perfectly every time.
Soon they reached the center of the room. People walked around them in a dizzying hurry in every direction as they went about their duties, and as they passed, Senketsu noted the gold uniforms, trimmed with dark blue, that all of them wore. Every uniform bore the words "Safe Skies Deliveries" on their backs.
The incessant racket of activity continued on until a piercing horn resounded through the hall. At the noise, all of the employees stopped what they were doing, turning to look at Emerald. Taking a deep, labored breath, Emerald looked around to all of the employees. He spoke as loud as he could manage as he announced, "My friends, and all of my brothers, the first step in our fight against the Life Fibers was a huge success. I have safely retrieved Kamui Senketsu from enemy hands, and in time he will be one of our strongest allies."
He took Senketsu in his hand and held him aloft for all to see. This got a deafening roar of approval from the crowd as they relished in a victory. His tone turned serious, however, as he continued, "I know it may be hard to believe that a Life Fiber would fight its own kind; to trust it with our fate. Many of us have already lost precious family and friends to the enemy in the last half year. All of it lost for their twisted goals for the Life Fibers. However, I can assure you all that it's true. I've seen the proof."
He set Senketsu back down on his lap and spoke with no shortage of fire and passion. "While undercover, I got to see the memories of him saving his own world from destruction. I saw his resolve to end the scourge of Life Fibers wherever he went, and that led him to this planet. Now that he is free, we can take back our world! We can restore Harmony!"
The last cheer was tame compared to the next. The building practically shook as feet stomped and voices rattled the air.
While the crowd carried on, Emerald gave Senketsu a little tap and said, "You should say something too. You're the one we're placing our hopes on."
"No pressure, right?" Senketsu chucked dryly.
"Not like it's a big change from your days with Ryuko," Emerald pointed out with a knowing grin. "You two thrived on pressure."
"Fair enough," Senketsu admitted. He hovered up into the air, drawing the attention of the crowd and silencing them before he spoke. "I want to thank you all, and especially Emerald Mist for rescuing me. I'm glad that now, instead of being used to destroy this world, I can fight back. I owe my life to you all, and I will die before I let this planet fall. I promise that to all of you!"
The cheers continued, and Senketsu lowered back onto Emerald's lap. "Well, now you've met everyone. It's time to really get to work," the boy grinned. “Next stop, the ‘All You Can Eat Life Fiber Buffet’....or basically, storage.”