“O.M.G, he’s alive, Finral!”

“Huh? Oh, he is.”

“Good morning, buddy. How ya’ feeling?”

These were the greeting, he’d received the moment he awoke, though barely clinging onto life. He was still feeling a bit groggy, but he mustered what energy he could to ask, “Why are you guys so close to my face…”

I’m sure you’ve figured, but the one currently being bombarded by two bright faces, is Tenshi.

“I hate to ask when you’ve just awoken…” said Finral while dodging the question entirely. “...But do you mind sharing how you and Rin got in such conditions?”

“Yeah, I will… IF YOU GET THE HELL OUTTA MY FACE!!!”

*PUNCHH!

***

This story takes place around 10 hours ago. A little before Halter’s sudden attack.

While Akuma was enjoying the springtime of his youth, Tenshi was busy fighting for his life.

The seals around his soul, closing him off from using Hoshi were frustratingly stubborn, but Rin made it her life’s goal to get rid of them.

“*Pant! *Pant!”

Within that large biome of ice and snow, you could hear heavy breathing and could see two people. The bigger one was laid flat in the snow, desperately trying to catch his breath, while the smaller one sat on a lump of snow off to the side, awaiting his recovery.

“So how…long…do you plan… on bullying me?” Tenshi asked, pausing in between each word to catch his breath.

“Oh stop your whining. You're lucky I’m even giving you breaks.”

“You just started giving me breaks!”

In case you forgot, all humans have their souls barricaded in a way by chains. Rin was attempting to break these chains by “overcharging” them though combat.

(This shouldn’t be taking so long!) Rin thought, frustrated at their fruitless progress. (I’ve been beating him senseless and healing him back from the verge of death for hours now, and I haven't broken a single seal. Is something preventing his from breaking?!)

“…Let’s rest for a while, Tenshi.”

“Aye- Aye, Captain.”

They rested for 30 minutes give or take until he showed up.

*BOOM!

To their side, something had crashed into the ground, scattering piles of snow everywhere. A cloud of dust appeared around whatever had fallen, obscuring their ability to see it. Luckily, the wind began picking up, clearing the cloud of smoke, dust and snow. It was then, the two realized this was no object.

Standing in the middle of the sudden boom, was a man. Or maybe it was just in the form of a man.

His most noticeable feature was that despite being in the coldest environment located on earth, he wasn’t wearing a shirt. And the torn up cheap cloth on his legs could hardly count as pants. His rugged, unkept hair hugged his lower back and was the color of dirty obsidian with one noticeable golden streak coming down the middle of his face.

His skin was mostly the color of cotton with patches of brown here and there. Honestly, he looked as if he were a failed human experiment.

Science experiment or not, the two could almost taste the evil that oozed out his body. His malice felt like razor blades flying across your skin. Like a blizzard of sharp snow flying down your back.

“Kyah-Kyah-Kyah… Which one of you shall Cain ultra kill?” He questioned, speaking in third person as if gone mad.

“Tenshi. Stay back. This guy is on a whole other level from anything you can imagine.”

Tenshi turned to face Rin, a bit confused at what she just said. “The hell are you talking about?!”

“You haven't been able to unlock your soul yet. And to be honest I don't think that would help much. This is an Asura. A sin from humanity.”

“An Asura?! Like the ones you told us about?”

“Who else, genius!”

Rin raised her hand to the air and created a shotgun. Then she dashed to the mysterious foe. With elegance, she swam around him and kept her next move unpredictable. She was confident this threat was much stronger than her, but more than that she was confident in her speed. And for good reason. Cain couldn’t seem to track her movements.

But as she aimed the gun at the foe, something strange happened.

“Ahh man. You're a fast one, aren't ya? And that gun. It's sooo pretty… Cain wants it… CAIN ULTRA WANTS IT!!”

"!"

"Empower: Desire" Just then, Cain lifted his hand and summoned his own shotgun. A shotgun that looked exactly like Rin’s. And that wasn’t all.

In an instant, he appeared behind Rin and whispered:

“Gotcha…”

Then he pinned his shotgun into her back and… well you know the rest.

*POWW

The bullets drilled through her insides and came bursting out the front. Her body flopped to the ground but was caught by the layers of snow. Due to the snow’s color, you couldn’t really see her blood but trust me when I say; she was at death’s doors.

“Kyah-Kyah-Kyahhh! Cain wants more! Cain ultra wants your life!”

He pointed his shotgun to Rin’s head and attempted to pull the trigger. But just as he did, the gun vanished. Not just his, Rin’s shotgun also seemed to have vanished.

(What just happened?) Tenshi thought.

Strangely, the two heard a quiet yet smug laugh coming from under Cain’s body.

“I know your secret…” Rin said as she coughed blood. “…You can copy the traits of others. Since your gun also disappeared, I assume you can only use your copy as long as your opponent is using their original!”

Despite being buried in snow, Rin was brimming with confidence. Almost like she had won. Almost. Cain shoved his foot on Rin’s head and held his hand out to face her.

“Kyah-Kyah-Kyaaa! You talk too much. And Cain doesn’t want that...”

Then he did something that would shock both Rin and Tenshi.

“…Empower: Desire.”

He summoned a one-handed shotgun. The very same one.

(But how? This guy wasn't supposed to be able to do that! But the fact is he did. Somehow, he did.)

The man began chuckling, which turned into laughter then even that turned into full blown howling. His feet sunk deeper into her face, and he was edging the trigger with his finger.

Rin’s expression filled with despair. She was at a complete loss. (But how?! How can he do that?!?)

The echoing laughter faded, leaving a tense silence as Cain zeroed in on the woman beneath his foot. “Bye Bye, ultra woman.” he sneered, his finger inching back, poised to pull the trigger. Time seemed to stretch, each second dragging out like an eternity, but in a heartbeat, her life, teetering on the edge, was miraculously extended. With a fierce determination, the wounded Tenshi unleashed a powerful right punch aimed squarely at Cain’s face, shattering his moment of triumph -or interrupting his feat, on might say.

Though he managed to deflect the blow with his palm, the impact sent him staggering back a few steps.

“Sorry for the wait. Those injuries you gave me took a lot longer than normal to heal.” Tenshi said, stepping over her body as he braced for combat.

“Wha-What are you doing? You were supposed to leave?”

“Rest up Rin. I’ll take it from here.”

“Tuh… As if! You’d die in seconds without me...” With a slow motion, she rose from the ground, blood gushing from the wounds that marred her body. Suddenly, her hand ignited with a brilliant blue glow, and from thin air, a standard pistol materialized, aimed directly at her own head. “...Tamashi Empower: Vitality.”

*POW!

In only a few moments she was brand new -sparkling even- and ready for round 2.

***

“The rest is as you expect. We were completely overwhelmed. The worst part is, we couldn’t even figure out how his ability worked.”

“Woooow! So, you got your ass kicked too... Man, these Asuras guys sure are powerful.” Akuma added while a bump poked out his head from Tenshi’s earlier punch.

“Powerful bosses you say? Oh, we’ve barely started the game, boy.”

“Hm?”

“Tsk-Tsk-Tsk. I guess I could tell you.”

(What’s the point of acting so smug… Wait. I know this plot line!)

“Is this where you tell us how op we’d be if we really locked in on winning? Because we have some latent potential we aren’t tapping into?!”

“Oh, heavens no! You two are weak as hell.”

(Ouch.)

“…Yeah, I’m not fighting all 3 of them, so we’re leaving. Besides. This planet is a lost cause.”

Akuma was the first to question this absurd statement. “Wha-Huh-HUhHH??” He scampered. “The hell do you mean ‘we’re leaving’?” I mut say, he made a killer Finral impression while saying that last part.

“Yeah… No amount of training is gonna help you two. Not here at least. And I’ll be damned to solo a fight against those three.”

“Solo?! W-We can help!”

“Yeah right. The only help around here was when I saved your ass from Halter.”

(Dammit. He… He’s not wrong…)

“Well. There’s nowhere else to go.” Tenshi interjected. “Everywhere on Earth is ruined.”

“Earth? …I’m taking us to a whole new world!”

“…………”

“…Eh?” they questioned in unison.

“You heard me. We. Are. Leaving.”

“W-What about Alice?”

“Not only do I not know who that is. I hardly care.”

“Y-you!”

“Hahaha. I’m just joking with you, pal. Don’t worry your big head. I’m gonna take every survivor on Earth and teleport them with us. That includes your girlfriend. I highly doubt she’s one of them though.”

“What was that last part?”

“Oh nothing.”

“Even assuming most of earth has been wiped out, Isn’t that way too many people?” Tenshi questioned. “How does someone even do something like that?”

“Hahaha! Did you forget I’m the overpowered old sensei from manga!”

(This guy... I see where Rin gets it.)

“…So, you’re about to show me some secret device for doing it right?”

“How does he keep doing that..." Finral muttered to himself. "Yeah, yeah. You spoiled the surprise Akuma my boy. Come with me I guess.”

Tenshi tried leaving the bed to tag along with them, but Finral advised him to stay. He said it was best for him to wait until Rin woke up. With his wounds, it’s a miracle he's even alive. And we can only pray for Rin.