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"So who are we taking down again? Sorry that I have to ask again, it's just you got me up super early..."
"It's 9:00 AM and this is your fifth time asking." Aki sighed out as he led the subdivision through the parking lot of the Morin Hotel, heading for the entrance. "Our target has the blood of the Deformity Devil, with the ability to manipulate others' flesh. Don't let her touch you."
"Hm. So she picks a big place, has our guys declare her a red threat to clear it out and forces us to fight her in narrow corridors..." Reze noted, her hands folded behind her back. "Pretty smart for some loony."
"The report sent in says that she has killed dozens already." Asa looked over. "So be on your guard. Don't do anything stupid."
"Aww...is my darling Asa worried about me?" Reze wrapped her arms around Asa, resting her head on her shoulder as they walked. "I'll be here to protect you no matter what!"
"Huh? She was totally talking to me!" Denji protested. "I can protect both of you!"
"I was actually talking to Beam." Asa grimaced. "He, Aki and Kobeni are the only ones here without innate ranged attacks."
"Thanks...but we should be fine." Kobeni waved over from Asa's left, walking by Aki. "I got avoiding people down to an art."
"You don't have to worry about anything! I'll protect you, Kobeni!" Power slung an arm around Kobeni's shoulders before Aki quickly wrenched it off.
"Power, don't fraternize when I can smell you all the way from over here." Aki demanded.
"How rude! I totally took a bath two days ago!" Power frowned.
"Oh my god..." Denji recoiled.
"Low tide..." Beam snarked.
"Shut up, Beam!" Power shouted as they walked through the doors, heading to an emptied lobby to look around. Denji and Beam began to fuss around with the candy bowl on a nearby table as Power looked over the front desk at the computer while Asa, Kobeni and Reze stuck near Aki.
"Hayakawa, which floor?" Asa asked.
"Eighth." Aki walked ahead. "We're taking the stairs."
"Roger. Guys!" Reze called over as she walked with Aki, Kobeni and Asa, wrangling Denji, Beam and Power into following them as they ascended up the stairs. More than several flights later, the team had made their way up to the eighth floor and stood in the hallway, Asa slumping her shoulder against a wall as she caught her breath.
"Asa, are you okay?" Kobeni asked. "Did you have trouble with the stairs?"
"I'm fine...just lightheaded." Asa took a breath before standing up straight. "I didn't have a big breakfast..."
"Asa's always been a total wipeout...she can't even handle cardio!" Power mocked.
"Shut it, Power...where is this deformed chick anyway?" Denji asked Aki.
"We'll start by checking every room on this floor...they gave me a few skeleton keys before we met up." Aki reached in his pocket and took out three keys. "Teams of two, check every room. If she's not on this floor, we'll check the others."
"Or she just left." Reze suggested.
"This place is under CCTV surveillance and there have been no signs of someone leaving since another person broke to clear this place out the other day. She's still in the building." Aki countered, walking off. "Kobeni, you're with me. Reze, stick with Denji. Mitaka, you're with Beam. Let's get this done in ten minutes."
Ten minutes of searching through rooms later, five of the squad reconvened in the hall, empty-handed.
"Did anyone find her?" Aki asked.
"Nope." Denji answered.
"Uh-uh." Beam said.
"Found a mini-bar with orange juice, lemonade and Sprite!" Power excitedly revealed. "No Breed though."
"Couldn't find anyone." Asa finished.
"Denji...where's Reze?" Aki noticed.
"Oh, she was worried about Asa so she went downstairs to the vending machine to get a water bottle." Denji answered, Asa lightly blushing upon hearing. "We have drinks here so that's not as big an issue though..."
"Why did you let her leave---damn it, we're heading back downstairs to find her." Aki made his way for the staircase only to hear footsteps from above.
"Relax chief...we have a bigger problem." Reze said as she descended from the stairs leading to above them.
"Reze...why are you upstairs?" Aki scowled up at her. "Denji said you went to the lobby."
"I tried to. And kept winding up back on this floor." Reze faced with a rare blank expression. "You said we were looking for the Deformity Devil bearer, right?"
Aki stared at her before looking to his side. "Kobeni, hold up two peace signs. I'm checking something."
"R-right?" Anxious, Kobeni held up two fingers each on two hands, watching Aki head down the stairs. The five watched on as Aki descended...only for him to appear behind Reze on the stairs going up.
"...Is this some type of joke?" Asa muttered, the color draining from her face. "Like...a Trick Art Museum or something?"
"Mitaka." Aki left the stairs along with Reze, regrouping with the other four. "Are there any windows in the rooms?"
"On this side of the building? No." Asa shook her head.
"Beam...sink through the floor to check the seventh." Aki ordered.
"Eh...but..." Beam began to question.
"Just do it."
Beam obeyed, phasing through the ground to go the next floor, disappearing completely into the carpeting...and emerging from the ceiling, slamming down in front of the others.
"I messed up...I got it this time!" He said as he sunk again...and fell back in the same place. He sunk again...and he fell again. And again. And again. Until Kobeni began to shake in place, releasing a scream of terror that echoed back and forth down the halls.
***
"I think I know the answer for this but does anyone's phones work?"
"No signal." Everyone replied in room 801, checking their cell devices while resting around the cramped space. Denji sat in a chair as Beam sat next to him, leaning his head on the table. Power lied down on the bed while Kobeni sat next to Asa on the next one, Reze lying down behind them. Aki stood against the wall, ruminating on their situation.
"This isn't the Deformity Woman..we don't even know what we're up against." Aki stated.
"Wait...the cell signals don't work. What about wi-fi?" Power asked.
"What are you talking about? Who are you calling to call online? Does PS have Skype?" Denji frowned.
"No, jackass...we can use one of our phones as a hotspot while everybody else goes online and sends out a SOS!" Power declared. "This jack-ass pussy was so busy hiding, they didn't even take our phones!"
"...That could work." Asa supported. "If we give a big enough message out, someone from work could see and send someone to get us."
"Power's a genius!" Beam praised. "She gets the Noble prize!"
"Damn right! I saved our asses and I didn't even need to fight!" Power grinned. "I should run for Prime Minister when I'm older."
"Is anybody here on social media?" Reze asked.
The room fell silent quickly.
"I...I was on Instagram but I lost my password." Denji quietly admitted.
"Damn it...I was just banned from Twitter last week." Power groaned.
"Let's hold on to the hotspot idea for now...it was a good suggestion." Aki sighed out only to hear the phone ring. "Is that the front desk? Wasn't this building evacuated?"
"I got it!" Kobeni hurriedly grabbed the phone off the hook and held it to her ear, listening in...before holding it out. "It's a man...he's asking for the leader. Do we have a leader when Miss Himeno isn't here?"
"Give it here! He's just being sexist!" Power demanded.
"Hand it over." Aki walked over to take the phone from her, holding it up. "Who is this?"
"I'm not important...but one of you are." A raspy voice answered. "Or rather...what one of you have inside you is..."
"Tell us where you are. We can continue this conversation in person." Aki coldly offered.
"You can come to get me if you want...I'm on the fourth floor." The voice taunted.
"...What do you want?" Aki growled.
"Nothing that should trouble you much...carve out the heart of Chainsaw Man and bring it out to the hallway." The voice commanded. "When this is done, wait thirty minutes before calling me again...use redial...the boy must expire before I release the effects."
"Hm...let me remind you, sir, that for targets listed in the red, we're allowed to kill them on sight?" Aki darkly reminded.
"Take all the time you need to consider...you have plenty of drinks on that floor." The voice assured. "However...you're on your own for food."
The tone clicked, the other line hanging up. Aki slammed the phone down, the others staring.
"What did he want?" Denji spoke up.
"He wants us to carve your heart out...must be a fan." Aki answered.
"...Okay." Reze stood up, heading for the door.
"Where the hell are you going?" Aki scowled at her.
"We're leaving...I'm not letting that weaselly asshole touch my Denji." Reze said as she opened the door, walking out.
"Your Denji?" Asa scrunched her face up as Denji blushed lightly, Kobeni and Aki following her out to watch her saunter to the end of the hall.
Tugging down her collar, Reze pulled her pin to explode her head and reform it in her Hybrid form.
"Everybody get back...I don't know how much dust and debris I'm going to kick up with this. I usually avoid doing this in narrow spaces..." Reze warmed as she held her palm out and concentrated. In a second, a massive explosion blew a hole in the wall, forcing Kobeni to cover her ears as Aki wrapped his arms around her, blocking her from the dust cloud with his back. Reze walked forward, heading into the dark hole uncovered by the now open wall. Almost blinded by the pitch black path she created, she continued to move ahead before finding another wall in her way. Holding out her palm again, she blew that wall open too, stepping out to breathe in the fresh air...only to find herself on the other side of the hall. Denji and Power were sticking their heads out, looking at her from the room. Reze could see the wall on the other end had resealed itself already. Looking behind herself, the wall in the rear was already repaired. "...Maybe we need to make a Twitter account?"
***
"Drinks!" Beam said, coming in with more bottles to hand over to the gathered five.
"Everybody fill up but don't treat this as a meal...I'm not planning on staying here for the rest of the day." Aki said as Beam handed him a Sprite. "Especially in this outfit..."
"Kobeni's setting up a LINE account. She's going to try to contact someone from Kyoto." Denji said as Kobeni tapped away on her phone.
"Does she know somebody in Kyoto?" Power asked, pulling away the lemonade bottle from her lips.
"Michiko Tendo...she's in the First Division there." Aki absent-mindedly answered.
"How do she know her? Is she her girlfriend?" Reze casually asked.
"Reze! Don't ask private questions like that!" Asa harshly scolded.
"G-girlfriend?" Power blinked.
"She's not...we haven't been seeing each other too often but..." Kobeni's cheeks lit up. "I don't know...if she sees me like that yet..."
The room fell deathly silent before Denji, Reze and Asa crowded around Kobeni on the bed, making the young woman feel even smaller.
"Have you two been to each other's place yet? What do you usually cook each other?" Denji queried.
"What happens if you two move in together? Cats or dogs?" Reze frantically inquired.
"What are her thoughts on AI?" Asa quizzed.
"I-I've been to her place...we had Salmon Eggs...Eggs Benedict." Kobeni gulped before she continued. "I think it's too soon for us to live together...but if we had to have a pet, I'd like a dog, I'd guess? And...I don't know how she feels about AI...but I know Mister Kurose hates the art made by them."
The three regarded Kobeni with awe as she discussed her paramour while Aki looked at the lack of signal on his phone. Meanwhile, Power knelt on the bed, petrified like she was hit with a spell by a heartbreaking wizard.
"Wait...she's on! And she recognizes my name!" Kobeni announced, typing frantically as she answered. "Trapped by Devil...report falsified to trick us...spent all day in hotel's eighth floor...HELP HELP HELP!"
"...Can you send an SOS that doesn't make us look like bitches though?" Denji complained before Asa swatted him on the back of the head. "Ow!"
"She's answering...she's going to call Makima! She says that she'll make sure they send a group for us!" Kobeni cheered.
"Yahoo!" Beam shouted as the others began to celebrate, Aki breathing out a sigh of relief.
"We'll going to be out of here before midnight!" Denji declared.
***
The next day, around noon, Reze lazed on bed across from Denji as Beam sat with his head against the mattress. Asa lied down on the other bed with her face on the pillow as Kobeni stared up at the ceiling next to her. Aki slumped next to the nightstand while holding onto the hotel phone, still responding to the other line.
"Yes, it's the eighth floor...yes, this place has an eighth floor...that's where we are, yes." Aki tiredly answered, rubbing the bags under his eyes. "I heard him say fourth floor...yes, the fourth. If you can't find him there, he lied because that's what he told me. Yes...yes...yes, we are still in the building. Do...do what you can. I'll try to...relay it to the others."
Aki clumsily hung up the phone, knocking it off the nightstand as the others looked over.
"Fucking hell..." Aki groaned out. "Either our benefactor has a passive ability that lets him hide himself in different rooms no matter where they look or...our guys are shit at finding one person. Either way, they can't get to the eighth floor without him."
"Hungry..." Beam moaned out.
"We got a week before that becomes a real problem, Beam. Hang in there." Aki said. "Though, at this rate...we're not going to have any real strength left to fight him with."
"I hear that...you guys made me wash off my Funk Layer." Power exited the bathroom in her now damp work uniform. "Honestly, you guys should be used to my musk right now...you didn't have to throw me in the tub!"
"It was that or throw you down the stairs." Aki grouched, earning a glower from Power. "Unprofessional...I apologize. This is a longer mission than I'm used to."
"If you could be one other person, who would that person be and why?" Reze asked Denji.
"That's easy...Tenchi!" Denji smiled. "For the harem."
"Why are you two so cheery?" Power demanded. "You're in the same smelly boat as the rest of us!"
"Oh, I've had training to deal with situations like this. It's going to take more than starving to break me." Reze explained.
"I used to go without food all the time when I was a kid...I mean, I could afford it, I was just, you know...distracted." Denji added. "All an empty stomach does is make me sleepy."
"Besides, if me and Denji die, we can just be revived when our bodies are found." Reze pointed out.
"Reze, don't talk about dying." Kobeni tiredly chastised.
"Ah, I'm sorry...that was very insensitive." Reze clapped her hands together. "Forgive me...you can eat me if you want?"
"Please be quiet." Asa's muffled voice came from the pillow.
"How are you feeling, Asa?" Denji called over.
"Dead." Asa replied.
"Hey, keep your spirits up! I know what will cheer you up!" Reze grinned. "Whoever goes the longest without food, I'll take on a date!"
"...Asa, can't you turn this whole room into a weapon? Maybe the floor?" Power questioned as Reze pouted. "Maybe that'll get us out."
"I can't transform anything I don't own...or that doesn't belong to me." Asa lifted her head to glare at Power in exhaustion. "This room isn't mine...I didn't even pay to be here. And I usually share it with other people."
"What the hell kind of half-assed power is that? You can turn Kobeni into a shotgun but you can't transform a room?" Power insulted. "Weaksauce..."
"That was different! Kobeni is my friend!" Asa snapped back, Kobeni flinching slightly from her voice. "It's not just about owning someone or something...it's about being attached!"
"So if you feel like something's yours in any way, you own it? What a crazy way of thinking..." Power argued. "Should have just brought Himeno...she could probably get a ghost to help us out of here..."
"If you're so damn useful---" Asa moved over Kobeni to get off the bed...and faceplanted on the floor.
"...Don't fight, guys. Conserve your energy." Aki ordered. "It's a matter of time before they send someone to deal with this. They mentioned Makima was on an away assignment but she should be back soon. We need to stay calm..."
"Hungry..." Beam moaned out.
"Shut up." Aki intoned.
***
"Beam...Beam...stop it." Aki, holding a bottle of orange juice, tiredly ordered as he slumped against the wall near the phone, Power desperately holding a pillow in front of herself to fend off the young man's jaws.
"Hungry...hungry!" Beam growled out as he chomped at the cushion.
"I don't get eaten by guys, numbnuts!" Power shouted back before Denji chopped Beam in the head, knocking him off the bed and to the floor.
"Didn't think it would take this long before we started trying to eat each other..." Denji drowsily said.
"Is Asa still in the shower?" Reze asked, a tinge of concern in her voice.
"Huh...hold on..." Kobeni weakly dragged herself off the bed and lumbered over to the bathroom, opening the door...only to scream in horror and drag a naked drenched Asa out into the room, the latter offering no resistance with half-lidded eyes. "SHE'S NOT MOVING!"
"Is she breathing?!" Denji panicked as Aki moved over to feel her wrist.
"There's a pulse...it's weak but it's there." He answered. "Go get her a drink."
"That's only going to delay things...we have a bigger problem." Reze spoke in a lower tone. "Asa...can you hear me?"
"Yes..." Asa slowly answered.
"Did you eat anything a couple of days ago...before we came in here?" She asked.
"No...I overslept and I left in a hurry..." She croaked out.
"Ah shit...she's going to starve!" Denji shouted before grabbing Beam's cheeks. "Open your mouth, Beam!"
"Ah..." Beam groggily opened his jaw for Denji put his finger on his teeth.
"Now bite down!" He ordered.
Beam obeyed, munching down and biting off Denji's fingers as the others looked on in appall.
"Now spit it out...no, goddamn it, don't chew it!" Denji tried to wrench his mouth open as the others traded uneasy looks.
"Denji...what are you trying to do?" Reze questioned.
"You said it yourself! We can just be revived anyway!" Denji stuffed another finger in Beam's mouth. "Asa can't die!"
"You're going to feed her yourself?!" Power dropped her jaw as Kobeni covered her mouth. "Denji, you're losing it!"
"Don't feed her your fingers! Just give her your blood!" Reze shouted. "That should keep her steady!"
"You've all lost your minds..." Aki groaned out through his weakened mouth, closing his eyes...before he snapped them open, realizing what he just said. "Hey...how much do you guys think a place like this costs?"
"Huh? The hell does that have to do with anything?" Denji demanded, trying to shove his severed finger past Asa's lips.
"Just guess...how much does this hotel cost?" Aki asked again.
"I dunno...a million dollars?" Power shrugged.
"Really? I think a place like this, what with all the controversies, would only cost around a hundred thousand dollars, if that much." Aki suggested.
"That cheap? There's no way." Reze frowned.
"I'm serious. Say...when we get out of here, how about we buy it together?" Aki offered.
"Eh...Aki, are you feeling alright?" Kobeni felt his forehead with the back of her hand. "Do you have a fever?"
"We can buy it now...let's pool our money together and buy this place." Aki breathed out. "Kobeni...go get Asa's wallet out of her pants in the bathroom so we can ask her."
"Aki, we can't---" Kobeni paused, looking at the barely conscious Asa slowly blinking on the floor before catching on to Aki's plan. She ran for the bathroom door. "I can...I can chip in too!"
"Are you two crazy? Asa is literally dying!" Power protested.
"Asa's a big part of this...you see, Makima has a share in this hotel's company so she practically owns it already." Aki leaned forward to Asa on the floor, Kobeni returning with her wallet. "If you put your money down, add it to our pool...I will put your name in the contract that will allow us to buy this building. You'll own it the second your money hits the floor."
"...How the hell does that make sen---" Power began to complain before Reze covered her mouth, muffling her.
"...I will?" Asa questioned in delirium.
"On my parents' graves." Aki promised.
"Then...I accept." Asa said. "How much do I have..."
"Around 100,000 yen..." Aki said as Kobeni dumped out a couple of 1,000 yen bills with loose change. "Congratulations. You own Morin Hotel."
"Then...then I can..." Asa swallowed painfully before clutching at the floor. "Morin...Hotel...Sword..."
The entire room disappeared, a large blade falling to the ground as the group began to plummet. Reze tugged down her collar, pulled her pin and exploded in mid-air, blasting up at the ground, roughly cushioning their descent with a sudden burst before the squad hit terra firma in front of shocked PS personnel...and one more who screamed as he fell from where the third floor was.
"Guys!" Himeno entered the dust cloud with Tendo, the latter holding her sleeve to her nose as she waved away the smoke as they looked over the collapsed team. "Aki...are you alright?"
"Where is he..." Aki tiredly asked, unmoving on the ground.
"He...hey!" Himeno looked behind her, a small bald man attempting to flee with a noticeable limp only to be kicked in the face by a sluggish Reze, who breathed heavily before falling to her knees.
"This guy...Eternity Devil blood..." She panted out. "Recognize him...from an incident in Siberia papers...early 2000s..."
"Secure him now!" Himeno ordered, the other agents running over, including Tendo, to properly restrain the unconscious man. "She should be here any second..."
"You mean Makima?" Denji stumbled to his feet, gesturing with his head. "Because she's here now."
Makima walked into the space of where the building was, immediately removing her jacket to lay it over Asa's naked form before scooping her up into a carry.
"Send in the emergency services for everyone here...and him." She ordered as she walked past Himeno, not sparing a single look for anyone else as she walked off.
"Makima...I made a sword..." Asa dazedly said as Makima took her away.
"I know...I'm very proud, Asa." Makima smiled down at her as she left the others behind, the others staring after them...with Reze walking over to join them.
"Reze...you okay?" Denji asked.
"I'll live...that's Makima?" The bomb melted off of Reze's head.
"Yeah...don't spread it around but she and Asa are related or something." Denji yawned out. "I need a meal..."
"You don't say..." Reze gazed after Makima's back as she carried away her child, noting the flash of genuine fear on her face when she saw Asa's body.
Perhaps...she was given the wrong mission?