Chapter 11: Turning Reflection

                        After the festival, everything seems to have come back to normal; Zero is lying on Lloyd’s couch lost in thought. “Each day that passes by I feel more and more uneasy… no signs of demons or the cloaked men anywhere… Something is bound to happen soon…”

            Meanwhile, Lloyd is lying on his bed also lost in thought. “Damn, I can’t get out of my head what Zero told me about the demons after me… just because I have an odd scent? This sucks.”

                        He falls asleep, the next morning arrives, it is now Wednesday morning, another school day as any other begins, from the shadows of a nearby ally, six strange figures can be seen, they are demons with humanoid form, but their bodies are almost flat, with only one eye covering most of their head and their bodies look like some kind of clay. Lloyd and the gang appear in the school entrance, Zero tagging along before he leaves for his morning training. The demons spot the party from afar, then transform into shadows crawling towards them, once they are close enough, they touch them slightly on their leg and fingers. Once successful they swiftly take the form of Seshiro, Kyoshi, Kirisu, Zero, Yumi and Lloyd, the bell rings, now morning classes are taking place, Lloyd is deep in thought sitting on his desk. “It’s been too calm lately, something might go down soon. He said me, Seshiro and Kirisu had a different scent so, does that mean they’ll go after them as well? There are demons stronger than Rudurus or those that said “cuz” every five seconds, we should get stronger, but it’s not easy attaining more strength.”        “Lloyd, you all right?” Kirisu asks staring at Lloyd from the desk next to Lloyd’s.

            “Huh? Oh yeah.” Lloyd replies with a smile.

            “You seem kind of out of it today, you ok?” Kirisu asks worried.

            “I guess I’m just thinking too much, I mean what if we die in the next demon attack, what if…” Lloyd cuts himself off noticing a girl and a teacher come inside the classroom in a violent way, causing fuzz at the same time.

            “There he is! That’s the guy that stole some underwear from the girl’s locker room!!” A female student yells pointing at Lloyd.

            “What, what the crap? I haven’t been out of this classroom in all morning!!” Lloyd says.

                        The teacher next to the girl, a much older teacher probably in her fifty’s fixes her glasses and says. “Mister Shinsuke Mura, this girl as well as five others described a tall handsome man, pale skinned, and with long black hair going into the girl’s locker room fifteen minutes ago; one would assume it was you because of the description, there’s no one else in this school like you.”

            “That can’t be possible Lloyd’s been here the whole time.” Kirisu says.

            “I think it would be best if you didn’t come in the defense of an already guilty young man.” The old female teacher says.

            “Mrs. Roldan, Shinsuke has been in this class all morning, further a teacher with your years of experience should know better than coming into another’s class room in that rude fashion.” Mr. Norse says in Lloyd’s defense, also b***h slapping Mrs. Roldan with his words. A lot of the students also agree with Mr. Norse about Lloyd not being out of the classroom.

            “I see, well, we shall continue our search.” Mrs. Roldan says heading out the door with the female student.

                        Everyone goes back to the class with an awkward feeling still looming in the air.

            “What the hell, what was that about?” Lloyd asks with a surprised face.

            “That old lady is really stuck up and jumps to conclusions whenever a student comes with a complaint to her.” Mr. Norse says angrily.

            “Damn, that’s kind of like that Serrano teacher.” Kirisu says.

            “That’s her niece.” Mr. Norse says.

                        Lloyd and Kirisu both have a blank unimpressed look as to this new information and say at the same time. “I never would have guessed.”

                        Class is now over, Lloyd can’t shake the feeling off that he is being framed.

            “Could there be someone who looks that much like me in this school?” Lloyd asks doubtfully.

            “She did say that there was no one else in this school that had that description.” Kirisu says shrugging his shoulders.

                        Kazumi then walks by and seems a bit surprised when she sees Kirisu.

            “Kirisu! I thought you were outside, how’d you get here so fast?” Kazumi asks with a surprised expression.

            “Huh? I've been here all morning what are you talking about?” Kirisu says startled.

            “I saw you a few minutes ago outside, you looked depressed about something too.” Kazumi says.

            “Ok?” Kirisu says with a stupefied look.

            “You sure you’re ok?” Kazumi asks worried.

            “Yeah, well, we gotta get to class, we’ll talk later alright?” Kirisu says kissing Kazumi on her cheek and leaving along with Lloyd walking for a little bit before parting to their different classes.

            “First me and now you, something’s up.” Lloyd says.

            “Meji?” Kirisu asks.

            “I don’t know, but I don’t like it!” Lloyd says annoyed.

                        All of a sudden Seshiro, Kyoshi and Zero walk right in front of them.

            “Zero, what are you doing in here? You’re not supposed to be inside the school! Weren’t you exercising?” Lloyd asks very confused.

            “I was, but I decided to come here instead.” Zero replies calmly.

            “Seshiro, Kyoshi, isn’t your classes up stairs?” Kirisu asks staring suspiciously at them.

            “Yeah, but what do you care lowly human?” Kyoshi says annoyed.

            “Huh?” Kirisu tilts his head in confusion to what Kyoshi just said.

            “Zero’s here, shouldn’t we give him a tour of the school?” Seshiro suggests.

            “O…k…” Lloyd says confused.

            “Let’s leave these scums.” Kyoshi says slightly angry.

                        They leave in a bit of a hurry, both Kirisu and Lloyd a bit confused.

            “Didn’t you get like a weird vibe, like something isn’t right just now? I mean, Kyoshi sounds kinda… racist all of a sudden; he’s always so cheerful and calm, he’s acting like most Satsume’s are towards humans.” Kirisu says with a suspicious expression.

            “Yeah…Not only that, Zero shows out of the blue at times, but he usually has a reason.” Lloyd says.

                        They part halfway; still things seem awkward, in their respective class rooms Lloyd going to the second floor, only a few minutes pass until Lloyd then sees a guy that looks exactly like him out the window, sniffing a pair of panties as he walks.

            “What the hell?!” Lloyd says staring at this man in disbelief.

                        A girl from the class next door is looking out the window; all of a sudden this fake Lloyd jumps up to the window.

            “Hi there, what’s your name cutey?” The fake Lloyd asks smiling.

            “Oh, Lloyd!” The female student says.

                        The door opens, with the real Lloyd standing right across the class room, the fake Lloyd stares back.

            “Who the hell are you?” Lloyd asks irritated.

            “Huh? Two Lloyd’s? Ahhh!” The female student runs out of the classroom quickly.

            “Crap, there she goes… I try to keep away of being like you, but nothing seemed to change.” The fake Lloyd says as he walks towards Lloyd waving no with his finger.

            “Under all this stuck-up personality of yours you hide something dark, dark feelings.

            “I know who you are now; you’re who I really am inside.” Lloyd says with a grin.

            “You finally found yourself; this is a great time for a fighting chance.” The fake Lloyd says also grinning.

                        Lloyd and the fake grab each other by their shirts and yell at the same time. “What I am now is how you really are!”

                        They let go of each other, Lloyd charges his fist with wind, then punching the fake sending him flying through the window, the fake gains his balance in midair and lands on the ground, smiling and mocking Lloyd’s power.

            “Damn!” Lloyd says jumping out the window running after the impostor, the fake enters the school, Lloyd runs after him, as he runs down the hallway he encounters Kirisu.

            “Kirisu, why are you here, weren’t you in class?” Lloyd asks puzzled.

                        Kirisu seems different; he looks less emotional, like an empty shell of the person he usually is.

            “I already know enough, so f**k it.” Kirisu says in a low voice.

            “Okay……But hey, listen! There really is a guy that looks like me! He just came in a moment ago! Have you seen him?” Lloyd asks.

            “I am not sure; anyways I’m going to go meet up with Zero and the others, so I’ll see you later.” Kirisu says walking away.

            “Ok then?” Lloyd says with a confused look.

                        Lloyd keeps running and the weird vibe from before comes to him again, he’s also uneasy that Kirisu is acting so depressed. Lloyd spots the fake running outside once again, Lloyd reaches him, the fake Lloyd is standing right in front of him looking at him with the same cocky smile the real Lloyd usually has.

            “What took you?” The fake Lloyd asks smiling.

            “Screw you!” Lloyd says furiously.

                        The fight begins with some of the students looking out the window. Lloyd begins with a punch to the face, but this seems to hardly affect the fake, Lloyd sees this and decides to pack another one with a fierce wind surrounding his fist, he punches him once more, but the fake Lloyd braces himself and takes the hit without much of a problem. Lloyd can’t understand what is happening and thinks to himself. “What, what’s happening, why isn’t he going down?!”

                        The fake Lloyd then hits Lloyd in the chest leaving him out of breath and very weak.

            “His punches…they’re stronger than mine?” Lloyd asks himself pressing his chest in pain with his left hand.

                        Meanwhile Kyoshi is inside his classroom writing down in his notebook, he raises his hand and asks. “Excuse me Miss Serrano, I need to go to the bathroom, may I excuse myself?”

            “Yes you may Kyoshi.” Ms. Serrano says winking at Kyoshi.

                        Kyoshi walks down the halls until he finds the bathroom, but there is a sign that says out of order.

            “Just my luck, I’ll just have to go to the next building, maintenance might be working with the water lines in this building. I’m pretty sure the bathrooms in the next building are not out of order.” Kyoshi says to himself.

                        Kyoshi walks outside to get to the other building and on his way he spots Zero.

            “Hey Zero, why are you here? I thought…” Kyoshi cuts himself off spotting next to Zero, Kirisu, Seshiro and a guy that looks exactly like himself. Kyoshi keeps calm and ventures to ask. “Who’s that guy?”

            “ I am a copy of you Kyo.” The fake Kyoshi says calmly.

                        Kyoshi is shocked to this, suddenly all eyes are on him, Kyoshi then throws a fire blast to stop them, they back up, but still willing to take Kyoshi on.

            “I’m not sure if I can win against four people… I’ll have to run away for now!” Kyoshi thinks quickly then running away, as he runs he stumbles against Kirisu, Kyoshi then uses another fire blast, Kirisu then materialized a big black shield protecting himself. He uses the same shield to try and grab Kyoshi, Kyoshi back flips evading the grapple from Kirisu’s power, Kirisu then asks. “What’s your problem, you could have killed me!!”

            “You were trying to kill me just now too.” Kyoshi says with a serious expression.

            “I just went to the bathroom, how am I going to be taking a piss and trying to kill you at the same time?!” Kirisu asks.

                        All of a sudden the four fakes run out of the corner to find Kirisu and Kyoshi, Kirisu then sees his and Kyoshi’s counterpart and quickly comes to the conclusion of what they might be, Kirisu then makes his barrier disappear.

            “Oh so this is why you attacked me!” Kirisu says.

            “Now I think I understand.” Kyoshi says.

            “I don’t think you understand anything yet.” The fake Zero states.

            “You won’t get out of this place without losing a limb at the least!” The fake Seshiro says.

                        Kyoshi then uses another fire blast bigger than the last ones, they all dodge, but because of the fire blast the fire alarm system goes off, Kirisu and Kyoshi takes this moment to run away.

            “I’ll go after them; you guys keep looking for the artifact and the other Yumi.” The fake Seshiro orders.

            “What should we do?!” Kyoshi asks.

            “Don’t know, but they look strong, so we shouldn’t face them just yet.” Kirisu suggests.

            “You’re saying that by appearance?” Kyoshi asks.

            “No. It’s just a gut feeling, keep running!” Kirisu replies.

                        The school is now being evacuated; Seshiro comes out of his class room along with his teacher and the rest of the students, and he then decides to wander off to look for his friends. He finds them outside in the courtyard, but what he encounters is the clones.

            “Hey guys, the schools being evacuated, what are you doing here?” Seshiro asks.

            “We know that wretched human.” The fake Kyoshi says.

            “Huh? What the-?” Seshiro stares shocked at Kyoshi, Seshiro then notices Zero and asks. “What’s Zero doing here, weren’t you training?”

            “You talk too much.” The fake Zero comments.

            “I’ll take care of this.” The fake Kirisu says stepping in front of Seshiro.

                        Seshiro stands his ground and waits for him to make a move; the fake Kirisu throws a punch, Seshiro quickly evades.

            “Kirisu, what the hell?!” Seshiro asks.

            “I am tired of all this, I just want to find that stupid artifact and be done with it.” The fake Kirisu says in a low voice.

            “This isn’t the Kirisu I know… I don’t know what do about this… that’s not the dialect he speaks with either. Why are they all acting like this?!” Seshiro thinks to himself.

                        The fake Kirisu then goes in for another swing hitting Seshiro hard on the left shoulder as he tries to evade it.

            “Damn…That strength, I don’t think I could handle more of those.” Seshiro says evading the next hit; Seshiro makes a wall in the hallway blocking it completely, but the fake Zero punches it with his fist, the ice shatters into millions pieces, Seshiro sees no other option, but to run.

            “What’s wrong with them?! I can’t handle all three!!” Seshiro says to himself running away as fast as he cans.

                        Meanwhile Lloyd is still fighting his fake counterpart, with the fake still having the upper hand, Lloyd tries using his wind powers many times now, but it has no effect, somehow his fist are the only thing that seem to do probably little to no damage. The fake then hits Lloyd and in the process knocks him down; out of the blue Zero charges in as fast as possible and yells. “Lloyd, use your power!!”

            “It hasn’t worked!” Lloyd shouts.

            “Do it!!” Zero demands.

                        Lloyd used his power, still not having any effect against the fake, Zero then charges in and hits the fake Lloyd as hard as possible, the fake falls on the ground and flees. A few seconds pass, the real Kyoshi and Kirisu appear running, they stop once they see Zero and Lloyd.

            “Use your power!” Zero orders.

            “Oh s**t, it’s him again.” Kirisu says.

                        Kirisu and Kyoshi burst in their powers, Kyoshi engulfed in flames and Kirisu with a black barrier around him, they both ready themselves to fight, but Kyoshi then notices something and says. “Wait and minute, there wasn’t a Lloyd clone with them; maybe that’s the real Zero.”

            “Alright, it’s you guys, let’s go!” Zero says walking away.

            “Wait! What’s going on, you seem to know something Zero.” Lloyd says.

            “It’s too much to explain now; I’ll tell you a bit after we find the real Seshiro and Yumi.” Zero says stopping and turning around.

            “The real Seshiro and Yumi? So there are more?!” Lloyd asks.

            “Yes, Kirisu and I saw our clones or whatever.” Kyoshi says.

            “Actually, I haven’t seen Yumi or a Yumi clone anywhere.” Kirisu says scratching his head.

            “S**t.” Lloyd says annoyed.

                        At that moment Seshiro runs out of the corner, quickly heading towards the party and saying. “Hey, you won’t guess what happened! These clones that look like us attacked me, I was able to escape, luckily.”

            “Seshiro, good… now what's going on Zero?” Lloyd asks turning to Zero.

            “Hold it, use your ice powers Seshiro.” Zero says.

            “I’m kind of tired I was just escaping from the clones; I'm kinda out of energy.” Seshiro says gasping.

            “Then just make a small shard in your hand.” Zero says staring at Seshiro suspiciously.

            “I’m sorry, but I’m really tired.” Seshiro says still gasping.

                        Zero then grabs his large broadsword from his back and throws a diagonal slash down at Seshiro.

            “Stop!” Lloyd and Kirisu yell at the same time.

            “Zero!” Kyoshi yells.

                        Seshiro evades the attack, but Zero rapidly makes a roundhouse kicking him against the wall shattering it with his back.

            “My, my.” The fake Seshiro says cleaning the blood coming out of his mouth. “Looks like you’re the smartest.”

            “Hmm!” Zero remains on his guard.

                        The fake Seshiro stands up from the ground and then runs away to regroup with the other fakes, Zero violently throws a lightning bolt at him with his left hand, but the fake Seshiro evades running away completely.

            “We have to find the real Seshiro.” Zero says.

                        Seshiro then comes out of the corner of the hallway; he’s still panicking and unleashes a surprise ice attack, spikes of ice come from the sides of the walls. Kirisu quickly notices and raises his black shield around himself and the others.

            “Seshiro, stop, we’re the real ones!!” Zero shouts.

            “You can’t fool me, I won’t fall for that! Seshiro says.

            “Seshiro enough, don’t make me hand you your a*s.” Zero says annoyed.

            “Seshiro stop, why do you think we’re not attacking you?” Kyoshi says.

            “Seshiro, quit it or I’ll kick your a*s just like three years ago!” Lloyd shouts.

                        Seshiro hesitates from using his attack.

            “I’m going to put down my barrier, but you have to promise you won’t attack.” Kirisu says.

            “Alright.” Seshiro makes the ice spikes from the wall disappear.

            “We have to find Yumi too.” Lloyd says walking towards Seshiro.

            “She won’t be hard to find.” Zero says casually.

            “What do you mean?” Lloyd asks warily.

            “Looks like you haven’t noticed, but anyways, let’s go to the rooftop, I’ll find her there.” Zero says walking up the stairs as the party follows behind.

                        The school is still in a panic because of the fire alarm, many students and teachers are in front of the school, the fire department arrives and enters, a few minutes pass, one of the firefighters comes out and walks towards the principal.

            “Principal Hageta, we didn’t find any fire, false alarm I guess.” The Firefighter says shrugging his shoulders.

            “Hmm, in that case I’ll have to send everyone to home, we better be cautious, we don’t want any students messing around the school grounds.” Principal Hageta says.

                        In the meanwhile, the party arrives at the rooftop; Zero begins to explain the situation.

            “So what's going on?” Kirisu asks.

            “The copies of yourselves that you just fought are actually shape shifting demons, they are called Kambios, a new powerful rare breed of demons.” Zero replies.

            “More demons…it’s been quiet for the past few days.” Kyoshi says.

            “Why didn’t my attacks work against my clone?” Lloyd asks.

            “The Kambios copy the personality and appearance of a person right down to their scent, I think even some shards of memories of the person as well, and when they copy they attain the person’s physical strength adding it to theirs which is almost twice as strong as the person they copied. However, they can’t copy the natural power or Spirit Force of the person, but they build immunity against the power of the one they copy. I couldn’t sense them either, when they are in their real form they don’t have any type of scent because they lack identity, but these types of demons are rarely seen even for a Kaizer.” Zero explains.

            “But how did they transform into us?” Kyoshi asks curiously.

            “The only way they can transform into what it wants is touching the subject for it to work and in our case; they touched us without us noticing. The only way for it to copy another person is with the only ability it’s got besides copying people, their shadow transformation ability that allows them to become shadows and quietly sneak on a person and be able to touch them.” Zero further explains.

            “Question, why would they touch us, of all people?” Seshiro asks.

            “Simple, they search for subjects that have higher Spirit Force in the area, and in this case, that’s us.” Zero replies.

            “So that’s why you asked us to use our power, and that’s how you were able to tell apart the fake Seshiro since he also had his scent.” Kyoshi says.

            “But the Kirisu clone is off; he doesn’t act anything like our Kirisu.” Seshiro comments.

            “You’re wrong Seshiro…That Kirisu is acting like I was a few years ago when I fell into a deep depression; he is acting like a shadow of my former self.” Kirisu says.

                        Seshiro looks at Kirisu, he then notices; his personality at that moment is exactly like the fake Kirisu.

            “I hurt some people when I was younger and even now I regret it every day, he must have gotten those memories.” Kirisu says with a saddened expression.

                        Everyone looks at Kirisu knowing there is more to the story.

            “Haha, don’t look at me like that, I’m fine, that’s all in the past now, haha.” Kirisu says with his right hand behind his head.

            “He’s not the only one acting this way, the fake Kyoshi is acting weird as well.” Seshiro says with a puzzled expression.

            “Yeah, like all racist and s**t.” Kirisu says.

            “Well… yeah, that’s how I used to be before meeting Seshiro…” Kyoshi says lowering his head in shame.

            “It’s not abnormal, Satsume’s naturally are like that, they hate humans.” Zero explains.

            “Okay, Zero know it all, how do you know so much about them?” Lloyd asks warily.

            “I am a demon hunter after all and I’ve fought one of these before.” Zero replies.

            “I heard one of them say they were looking for an artifact in this school.” Kyoshi says.

            “The Kirisu clone said something similar to that.” Seshiro comments.

            “I don’t know anything about that.” Zero says calmly.

            “So what should we do?” Kyoshi asks.

            “We gotta find Yumi! You said you’d find her Zero.” Lloyd says looking at Zero.

            “Yeah, give me a second.” Zero says closing his eyes; he feels a powerful Spirit Force away from the school.

            “She’s not here, she’s in the city.” Zero says opening his eyes.

            “How do you know? I can’t feel her Spirit Force.” Seshiro asks staring at Zero doubtfully.

            “You guys are hopeless, no use explaining it to you guys, let’s just go and find her.” Zero says walking away.

            “The schools empty now so only they must remain; we should get some weapons and come up with a strategy.” Lloyd says following behind Zero and the party.

                        They all go to their homes to get their weapons and also to strategize a plan, as Kirisu arrives in his apartment he finds Kazumi standing in front of the door.

            “Kirisu, where were you?” Kazumi asks worried.

            “I was at school, something wrong?” Kirisu asks.

            “You weren’t there during the evacuation, are you okay?” Kazumi asks worried.

            “I'm fine, don’t worry, but I will be honest to you, more demons have popped up, the Kirisu you saw earlier that you said looked depressed was a shape shifting demon.” Kirisu replies.

            “What!? What happened?” Kazumi asks even more worried.

                        Kirisu opens the door to his apartment and explains everything up until now.

Kirisu’s apartment is surprisingly clean, a twenty inch TV in the living room, the living room is white, the walls have a few paintings, there are also the light brown couches and a table with a lamp next to it, there is a rug in the middle of the living room between the couches and the TV. Next to the living room is a glass door to a small balcony looking out the city and the kitchen right in front of the small living room. Kazumi sits on Kirisu’s couch.

            “Oh my God! So Yumi is somewhere in the city? Everyone is going to fight those monsters?” Kazumi says with a worried expression.

            “Yeah, pretty much all that… Don’t worry about it too much, we’ll look for Yumi and kill the demons.” Kirisu says sitting down next to Kazumi.

            “I hope so…” Kazumi says worried.

            “But tell me, did you want to tell me something?” Kirisu asks.

                        Kazumi then lowers her head as if something is still bothering her, like she has something stuck in her mind that she wants to say.

            “This is the first time you’ve actually come to my place isn’t it?” Kirisu asks smiling.

            “Yes.” Kazumi replies in a low voice.

            “Haha, well don’t expect much.” Kirisu says standing up from the couch. “Excuse me for a minute.”

                        Kirisu goes to his room which has a simple king sized bed with brown sheets, there is also a laptop on a table next to the bed. Kirisu opens his closet which has a few shirts and pants; there he reaches for his sword in the upper part of the closet and takes his gun that is in a shoe box. He walks out of the room heading through the hallway reaching the living room once again.

            “Make yourself at home, you can grab a drink from the refrigerator if you want, don’t be shy.” Kirisu says smiling at Kazumi.

            “Ok, thanks, nice sword by the way, its Lemurian right? Kazumi asks.

            “Haha, thanks, yeah, it’s called Akai Kitsunebi, part of a twin blade set.” Kirisu replies.

            “Red fire fox in Lemurian huh.” Kazumi says observing the sword.

            “Yep.” Kirisu says.

            “What about that gun?” Kazumi asks.

            “Oh, this is a caster gun, short for spell caster that is or SP model, the handgun is an F.A. Socom.” Kirisu explains.

            “You know a lot, you sound like a military geek or something, hehe.” Kazumi giggles.

            “I’m out, take care.” Kirisu says getting close to Kazumi and kissing her in the mouth.

                        Kirisu then opens the door of his apartment, Kazumi then says before he walks out. “Kirisu, I want you to train me.”

            “What?” Kirisu asks turning around shocked.

            “That day when those people tried to take us hostage I felt so helpless, but you, a stranger suddenly came out and tried to save everyone, I never gave much thought to this kind of thing, but the way this city has been lately I hope you could help me to be able to defend myself.” Kazumi says.

            “Kazumi…Do you really think I’m that strong?” Kirisu asks.

            “You took on Lloyd and came out alive from last demon attack so I am assuming you are strong.” Kazumi says.

            “Hm…This is all too sudden, I never expected a sweet girl like you to ask me something like this, but oh well. We’ll begin training tomorrow; I’ll get you a sword or something, but first we’ll start with bokkens.” Kirisu says winking at her.

            “Thank you Kirisu.” Kazumi says cheerfully.

                        Kazumi stands up and walks towards Kirisu, she hangs on to his arm before he leaves, he then turns around and she gives him a kiss on the lips, before he leaves she says. “Please come back unharmed, alright?”

            “I will, how about I make dinner for the both of us when I come back?” Kirisu asks smiling.

            “I’ll be waiting.” Kazumi says. “Huh? Wait a minute I don’t live here!!”

            “I told you make yourself at home.” Kirisu says with a smile once again.

                        In the meantime everyone gathers outside Lloyds place, everyone ready with their weapons.

            “Question, is it possible for us to take out our copies ourselves?” Kyoshi asks.

            “Yes, it’s possible, but the quickest way to kill them in this situation before things get out of hand is for us to kill each other’s copies.” Zero replies.

            “Wait, what about Yumi?” Lloyd asks worried.

            “She’s somewhere in the city.” Zero says.

            “We have to find her, what if she’s in danger or something happened to her?” Seshiro says worried.

            “She’s fine, I can feel her Spirit Force, let’s just concentrate on our impersonators for now.” Zero says calmly. “But as you all know I am the strongest therefore whoever takes my copy should know they might die.”

                        Everyone looks at Zero, remembering the fight against Rudurus. Kirisu raises his hand and says. “I’ll take him on!”

            “Kirisu!” Kyoshi says surprised.

            “Kirisu, are you sure?” Zero asks.

            “Heh, of course I’ll come out unharmed.” Kirisu says seriously.

            “You shouldn’t get too cocky, you might jinx it.” Seshiro remarks.

            “Alright then, I’ll deal with the Seshiro clone.” Zero says.

            “I don’t really want to fight, but I have no choice… I’ll take on the Kirisu clone…” Kyoshi says sighing.

            “I’ll take Kyoshi’s copy.” Lloyd says snapping the joints from his hands.

            “I’ll take Lloyd’s-” Seshiro is cut off by Lloyd.

            “But wait a minute; Zero didn’t say a while ago he fought against one before?” Lloyd says suspiciously.

            “I did, and the fake me was insanely strong and fought just like I did, but since I’m already strong myself, it was possible for me to slay him, and I said we’d take out each other’s fakes because we would have the advantage of using our elemental powers against them and therefore dispatching them quickly before they kill anyone using out identities.” Zero explains.

                        They leave; the sun is now setting as night is at hand, the clones finally find their artifact in the middle of the school, they make a hole and extract a mysterious box with many strange designs on it, suddenly a flaming Phoenix appears from above, the fake Lloyd throws it at the Phoenix as it caches the box and flies away into the distance.

            “Lord Rupert will be pleased.” The fake Kirisu says with no emotion.

            “I’m sure He will be too.” The fake Seshiro says.

                        Meanwhile Yumi is walking towards Lloyd’s house lost in thought. “Hmm… I wonder if he’s there. I hope he didn’t lose my history notebook.” She keeps walking; the fake Yumi appears in front of her. “What the crap? Who are you?”

            “I don’t have to answer that for you already know the answer.” The fake Yumi says coldly.

            “Another demon I bet.” Yumi says indifferently.

            “I’ve been looking for you.” The fake Yumi says.

            “Then come over here, you found me.” Yumi says signaling the fake to come over to her with her index finger.

            “I’ll kill you and take your place as the real Yumi.” The fake Yumi says walking towards Yumi.

            “As if.” Yumi says coldly.

                        As Yumi’s confrontation is at hand with her clone, all the fakes are sitting in the school yard, the real ones appear in front of them, with a rather evil grin the fake Zero speaks out. “Well, a while longer and we would have gone after you.”

            “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a Kambios. You, you were summoned by Him weren’t you?!” Zero asks angrily.

            “Him? Ohhhh Him, hehe, no, I don’t serve the man that’s on your revenge list, I serve another summoner.” The fake Zero says observing the real Zero.

            “Another?!” Zero widens his eyes.

            “You’ve killed thousands of demons, yet you have been wasting your time trying to kill only one person, but your strength is still no match for him.” The fake Zero says mockingly.

            “I will not let you play with my friend’s mind, I-” Kirisu is cut off by the fake Kirisu.

            “Friend you say? Can a man who has killed nine hundred ninety nine humans, deserve to have friends?

                        Everyone around Kirisu becomes shocked to this new information; Kirisu is suddenly stunned that the fake said that out loud, he then lowers his head and replies. “Shut up.”

            “Why should I, because it’s the truth?” The fake Kirisu asks showing no emotion.

            “Enough chit chat, fight already, damn it!” Lloyd says irritated.

            “I was thinking the same thing.” The fake Lloyd agrees.

            “Shut it fakey!” Lloyd says annoyed.

            “Eager, aren’t we. Alright, present weapons!!” The fake Seshiro says.

                        Suddenly the clones take out their weapons, all different from the weapons the party has.

            “What, where they get those swords?!” Seshiro asks taken aback.

            “This one’s memories said, the kendo club president is a sword fanatic and stores his swords in his office.” The fake Lloyd says brandishing a B*****d sword

                        The fake Zero takes out a Claymore; the fake Seshiro a Greatsword, the fake Lloyd unsheathes a nodachi Lemurian sword which is five feet long, the fake Kyoshi takes out a Briquet sabre and Kirisu a rapier. Unexpectedly a black platform appears under the fakes, it is Kirisu who uses his barrier, and he then launches them to five different parts of the school as far as possible from each other.

            “Alright, everyone take your opponent, don’t let them get out alive, kill them, they’re demons, impure beings from the depths of Hades and we’ll escort them with our force back to very pits of hell!!!” Zero shouts quickly jumping to the fake Seshiro’s direction.

                        They all split up to fight the copy they chose; Seshiro goes off to fight the fake Lloyd.

            “This time will be different from our fight three years ago; we won’t end up in a tie like last time.” Seshiro says staring at the fake Lloyd seriously.

            “Haha, you seem to be forgetting I’m not the real Lloyd.” The fake Lloyd says with a smirk.

            “He acts too much like the real Lloyd, even the smirk and witty attitude, right down to that laugh, can I really kill him? What am I thinking? The real Lloyd is not far away from here, what was I saying? To kill a demon, you have to become a demon? I guess tonight’s the night.” Seshiro thinks to himself.

                        The fake Lloyd is the first one to make a move, wielding his nodachi in the same Kamikaze style of the real Lloyd, he then charges towards Seshiro and crosses swords with him, Seshiro then asks. “You use the same Kamikaze style as Lloyd!”

            “Humph, of course, did that surprise you that much?” The fake Lloyd asks still smirking cockily.

            “No…unlike Lloyd, you lack one thing and that’s his power!” Seshiro yells pushing him back with brute force, he then makes many ice columns all around them surrounding at least a range of two hundred feet. On the ground, Seshiro and fake Lloyd jump on them as if they are stepping stones, Seshiro then thinks. “I know Lloyd’s moves; I never let the real one know that, so the demon has no knowledge of that, this is going to be easier than I thought and by making this he won’t be able to use his Kamikaze style effectively and I’ll have the advantage.”

                        The fake Lloyd then jumps from the highest column to the one Seshiro is at and makes a strong downswing from that height; Seshiro quickly makes an ice column with a sharp edge to hit him in midair. The fake Lloyd uses his downswing to break the sharp column in half while falling down then using the ice columns side to repel himself jumping high up.

            “You may not have his wind power, but you’re resourceful like him.” Seshiro says.

            “Enough stalling, this one’s memories say you’re holding back.” The fake Lloyd says.

            “Fine, I’ll get to the main event now, Ice Release!!!” Seshiro shouts.

                        Seshiro closes his eyes and a blue aura begins to surround him and freezing mist suddenly covers the whole area, Seshiro having a tight grip on his Requiem; his Spirit Force becomes more intense as his power begins to grow even more making some columns crack because of the pressure of his Spirit Force. Cold white mist begins surging out of the icy columns cracks.

            “This is more like it!” The fake Lloyd says smiling.

                        Seshiro opens his eyes and charges towards fake Lloyd; he makes a vertical slash with all his might, the fake jumps to another pillar evading Seshiro’s attack which shatters his own ice column in pieces. Abruptly, fake Lloyd also makes a vertical slash on Seshiro, but Seshiro blocks with his sword and as their swords cross, Seshiro’s intense blue aura begins to freeze fake Lloyd’s nodachi, the fake quickly jumps back and hits his sword with his fist thus shattering the ice around his sword. Seshiro takes this moment to attack once more, but the fake evades the attack, barely feeling the cold mist through his body as he evades, the fake then makes an horizontal slash that strikes Seshiro near the hip, but Seshiro quickly patches it up with his own ice, he doesn’t flinch or seem to care about his wound. Seshiro keeps concentrating on the fight, the fake Lloyd jumps in midair charging ahead towards Seshiro, Seshiro then readies himself to block, but unexpectedly the fake lands a two feet away making a surprise horizontal slash, Seshiro makes an ice wall instantly to defend himself from the attack, but the assault is so strong it cuts through the ice wall, cutting up Seshiro’s knee.

            “Crap!!” Seshiro says in pain.

            “What's wrong, you wanna to give up?” The fake Lloyd asks smirking.

                        Seshiro’s Spirit Force begins to become more intense, Seshiro then jumps up in midair and when he’s slowing down he makes an ice platform to jump even higher up, then yelling. “Ice Devastation!!!”

                        All of a sudden many giant ice spikes materialize around Seshiro, they then begin to fall simultaneously; the fake Lloyd manages to block almost all of the giant spikes until one of the spikes thrust fake Lloyd’s right leg thus making him unable to move from that same spot.  Seshiro then charges with great force and speed, descending from the sky, but when Seshiro is about to deliver the final blow from above, fake Lloyd throws his nodachi towards Seshiro therefore making Seshiro lose balance landing about five feet away from fake Lloyd. The nodachi comes falling in fake Lloyd’s position, but when the sword is about to thrust fake Lloyd, he catches it right on time holding the edge of the sword with his left hand. Seshiro charges once again making vertical and horizontal attacks over and over until fake Lloyd’s blade is completely covered in ice, fake Lloyd backs up and hits his sword once more to shatter the ice, the blade shatters as well. Fake Lloyd is shocked to what just happened, for a moment he stares at Seshiro.

            “What's wrong, you wanna to give up?” Seshiro asks then charging in once more; fake Lloyd punches with his fist Seshiro’s sword on the side the split second Seshiro makes a vertical slash sending it flying the opposite direction, fake Lloyd then grabs Seshiro by the neck wanting to strangle him, but Seshiro covers his own right arm in ice making an arm blade thrusting fake Lloyd’s chest. The fake Lloyd let’s go of Seshiro in pain falling on the ground and dying quickly turning to sand. The next fight is Kyoshi against fake Kirisu; they are facing down one another, both look like they are analyzing each other, Kyoshi then thinks to himself. “I have never fought Kirisu, but this fake is using a rapier, not a Lemurian sword, that isn’t the stance he used against the last demons, can he know a second fighting style?

            “Hurry and use your battle high, you won’t be able to beat me if you don’t.” The fake Kirisu says with no emotion in his face.

            “It’s not something I can simply activate whenever I want…” Kyoshi says.

            “Then you will die, you are just a coward when not in that state.” The fake Kirisu says staring at Kyoshi.

            “I’m no coward; I just have a really strong reason why not to fight…” Kyoshi says slightly angry.

            “Excuses…” The fake Kirisu says.

            “I really don’t care what a demon with fake emotions, fake feelings and fake personality has to say, we came to fight so pick up your sword and come at me with all you’ve got, and I’ll show you I am not a coward.” Kyoshi’s expression changes, serious and determined to fight.

                        The fake Kirisu stands his ground, holding the rapier up waiting for Kyoshi’s move, Kyoshi unsheathes his long sword, engulfing it in flames, the flames of the sword glow, lighting up the night. Kyoshi charges in rage towards fake Kirisu, Kyoshi jumps in the air making a front flip and at the same time a vertical slash downward, but the fake easily evades sidestepping. Kyoshi turns around making a three sixty degree horizontal slash completely covered in flames, but fake Kirisu uses the rapier to block, then sliding Kyoshi’s sword to the side, Kyoshi swiftly makes a roundhouse kick hitting fake Kirisu right under the jaw levitating him six feet in the air, Kyoshi slides under fake Kirisu still in midair almost falling to the ground and kicks him sending him higher into the air still stunned. Kyoshi then takes advantage of this and jump after him kicking fake Kirisu numerous times in the back, unexpectedly fake Kirisu thrusts his rapier into his own stomach and at the time thrusting Kyoshi’s left leg consequently making him stop kicking him and both falling onto the ground, as Kyoshi is about to hit the ground very hard with his back he makes a back flip in a split second landing perfectly, but loosing balance afterwards because of his injured left leg. Kyoshi kneels on ground in pain, on the other hand fake Kirisu falls hard on his back because of the injury, Kyoshi then thinks to himself. “I guess I have the advantage, but man that stung!!” Kyoshi’s index finger turns red in heat, then poking the small hole on his left leg thus stopping the bleeding.

            “I guess you’re not all talk after all!” The fake Kirisu says taking out the rapier from his stomach.

            “And I guess you’re the one that’s all talk!” Kyoshi says slightly annoyed.

            “Don’t push your luck!!” The fake Kirisu says charging towards Kyoshi and does a diagonal slash, but Kyoshi easily evades and kicks the fake right in the face hence pushing him back a little. The fake Kirisu then throws his rapier with the edge facing Kyoshi, Kyoshi kicks the rapier upward while fake Kirisu punches Kyoshi in the face knocking him down on the ground as he jumps and catches his rapier thrusting it in Kyoshi’s hand.

            “Uhhhggg…” Kyoshi grunts in pain.

            “Like I said, don’t push your luck.” The fake Kirisu says emotionlessly.

            “He’s doing what Kirisu would do, but I haven’t known him long enough to know what his next move will be. He has the same emotionless face, but because of that I can’t predict all of his moves.” Kyoshi thinks.

                        Kyoshi bursts in flames making fake Kirisu back off because of the intense flames, Kyoshi stands up and changes stance only this time he holds his sword with one hand, when unexpectedly a huge powerful wave of intense fire comes out of Kyoshi forming a giant phoenix.

            “Flame Rest!” Kyoshi shouts.

                        Fake Kirisu is speechless when he sees such a powerful Spirit Force coming out of Kyoshi, the giant phoenix made of flames attacks fake Kirisu, but fake Kirisu dodge rolls out of the way of the blazing flames of Kyoshi’s phoenix and once again he throws his rapier at Kyoshi only this time thrusting his waist making Kyoshi dispel his phoenix. Kyoshi takes out the rapier out of his waist and throws it to the side, fake Kirisu makes many front flips towards his sword, but Kyoshi throws many fireballs at fake Kirisu, as fake Kirisu makes his front flips towards his sword he jumps high in the air evading all of Kyoshi’s fireballs air and landing on the ground picking up his rapier. Fake Kirisu uses his free hand and back flips away from Kyoshi’s intense attacks, Kyoshi then raises his right hand up and says. “Double Flame Attack!!!”

                        Crimson flames engulf Kyoshi’s sword, Kyoshi unleashes fire waves with sharp edges; fake Kirisu evades the first one, the second one looks like it’s going to hit, but he quickly evades it. Fake Kirisu slowly walks over, holding the rapier up to his face.

            “I’m not sure what he’s up to… but I better do something fast.”

                        Kyoshi makes a wall of fire around himself, fake Kirisu stands still for a moment, Kyoshi once again flames up his sword, his fire growing more and more intense, Kyoshi quickly unleashes fire blasts through the firewall, amplifying his fire blasts power into a large beam of fire. Fake Kirisu is no more than a few feet away, he sidesteps in an instant, the blast doesn’t hit him directly, but it burns off his shirt and the tip of his hair. The firewall vanishes, fake Kirisu sees an opening and runs to Kyoshi at full speed pointing his rapier in direction of Kyoshi’s chest, Kyoshi quickly blocks it, the rapier slides, going through his ribs, Kyoshi takes the opportunity of this close encounter, Kyoshi quickly notices an opening in fake Kirisu’s throat and slides his sword quickly chopping fake Kirisu’s head off, he then turns to sand. Kyoshi exhales deeply and falls on the ground on his knees, then he thinks to himself. “That’s strange; I didn’t end up in battle high … maybe I didn’t feel so threatened… It was for the best I think, though I would have killed him much faster…”

Reviews

[Felipe]

great chapter man, i wonder what kyoshi's battle high is, i hope the other defeat their fakes, i am also worried for Yumi and LLoyd, keep it up man!

[Angie Diane♥&hea..]

Good chapter. I liked that you left it at a cliffhanger. I can't wait to read more to see what happens. I am excited to see it. Thanks for sharing. :)