Soft footsteps echo without any sense of rhythm as the tall woman staggers through the narrow stone corridor. Her left hand traces the jagged wall as she pushes on through every single joint in her body screaming in pain simultaneously. Only the sliver of light piercing the pitch black of the cave drives her onward. The smell of iron and sweat assaults her nostrils more and more as she attempts to make her escape from this hell. A lingering reminder of the nightmare she’s just endured and somehow survived. 

 

When she came to this place it was to protect her friends and to seek justice for the loss of a mother who’d been made a pawn in the long chess game of dark forces. She’d made a deal with the monster they’d created just to ensure this survival. Now, as she sees the moonlight dancing in pools of water by the cave’s entrance, all Yuna wants is to escape. Suddenly a bitingly cold wind cuts into the wounds exposed by the myriad rips in her GDF tracksuit. 

 

The Devil howls.

 

 DEVIL YUZUKI:  <NOOOO!>

 

Yuna’s body seizes up in pain at Devil Yuzuki’s rage - she falls to one knee, breathing heavily from the exertion of her escape. She can feel her body weakening. Her heart pounds forcefully, driving her on despite the Devil’s onslaught. From under the blood drenched hair matted to her face, her eyes catch a glimpse of that silvery light again. With a fearful scream she propels herself forward, scrambling the rest of the way out of the cave. But her left foot catches the right and Yuna’s propelled face first into rain drenched sand.

 

Thunder claps overhead and the wind ceases. She’s alone. Yuna forces herself up onto her forearms, breathing heavily from the exertion. Then something - someone -  else catches her attention.  A young woman, sobbing. Their desperate eyes meet and  Yuna can see the woman’s clothing is stained with blood just like hers. Yuna crawls over on all fours, the exposed wounds getting reopened by the effort. The other woman’s arm trembles as she pleads with Yuna.

 

HITOMI SAITO: <Yuzuki.. don’t let them take.. my.. Yuzuki..>

 

Yuna pushes closer, her hand desperately reaching out to save Hitomi.

 

YUNA: <Mom?! Mom, I’m here! They can’t take me away->

 

Tears mix with blood. Yuna lunges forward, her hand just missing her mother’s and landing in a pool of freezing water instead. 

 

YUNA: <Mom, don’t leave! I->

 

Suddenly a towering figure looms over the motionless body of Hitomi Saito. Murderous eyes glare down at Yuna from underneath jagged blue face paint.
 

DEVIL MATUSMOTO: <Yuzuki.>

 

Yuna’s body shakes at the sound of Matsumoto's voice. 

 

YUNA: <NO!>

 

Her head snaps backwards and the whole scene vanishes. Where there was a blood soaked beach, there’s nothing but stacks of folders and documents. No scent of iron, just a bit of must and the citric scent of a cleaning agent. There’s no Devil of any sort - just Yuna sitting at her missing leader’s desk. Yuna’s hands tighten on the edges of something - she looks down and sees a portrait of her mother at a younger, happier time. The furisode she wears in it is just as pretty as the demure smile on her lips.

 

YUNA: <Mom..>

 

MIZUKI: <Well that’s a new one. But come on, I’m not that old am I? I’m more like your big sister if anything.>

 

Her mentor stands in the doorway, looking on with a smile that feels only slightly forced. As she watches Yuna her forehead wrinkles up, though she doesn’t give voice to the concern.

 

YUNA: <Suzumi-san! I didn’t see you there.>

 

Mizuki shrugs as she makes her way into the office, eying the cumulative documentation of every imaginable aspect of MGP stashed in this one space. Yuna taps the photo of her mother idly for a moment, then sets it down on the desk.

 

MIZUKI: <Even with all of this stuff in here, it feels empty without her doesn’t it?>

 

Yuna thinks back to all the times she’d come into this very office to meet with Aoi Tatsumaki. Every time the woman’s powerful presence had been enough to fill the entire dojo - without her, there’s just a gaping void.

 

YUNA: <Yeah. I thought that if I came in here, maybe I could find some part of her that she left behind. Something - anything - that might help me understand what happened. Or at least something that can help me become the leader GDF and the alliance needs moving forward.>

 

She sighs as she looks back to the empty chair.

 

YUNA: <I promised that everyone who went to the Shrine would come back home. I did everything I could to make sure of it - even making a deal with Devil Yuzuki. But none of that mattered - we lost Tatsumaki-san. Kasey-san is a wreck. It’s all my fault.>

 

Mizuki flips through a couple of folders out of curiosity, but soon tosses them aside. Her gaze falls upon the chair as well.

 

MIZUKI: <No one knew what would happen at the Shrine. Tatsumaki-san knew the risk she was taking going there after what happened to Kojima-san. Whatever happened to her, it wasn’t something you could’ve prevented. She knew what she was doing when she made you the leader of GDF. And now more than ever, GDF needs their leader to step up. They believe in you, just like I do.>

 

Yuna shakes her head, one finger twirling a strand of hair rapidly.

 

YUNA: <So where do I even begin? How do we move forward after losing our leader like this?>

 

Mizuki steps closer, placing a hand on Yuna’s shoulder.

 

MIZUKI: <It’s hard. After what happened to Angel Kandori-san, I wasn’t sure how I could ever keep wrestling. I felt like - I should’ve done something. I should’ve protected her out there. I’ve run through that night in my head a million times, trying to find one thing I could’ve done differently.>

 

YUNA: <Did you ever find an answer?>

 

MIZUKI: <There never was one. Even if there was, I couldn’t go back and change what happened. You can’t change what happened at the Shrine. All we can do is move forward and make the most of what we have. For me, that’s ensuring that you’re as ready as you can be for the next battle in this war. I need to ask you something personal.>

 

Yuna hesitates for a moment as flashes of her exit from the shrine play out in her mind again. Blood, searing pain, the sensation of something psychically stabbing her mind. It’s enough that she starts to reflexively spasm again. A gentle squeeze of the shoulder brings her back to the present, and at last Yuna nods to her mentor.

YUNA: <Go ahead. I’m open to any help you can give me.>

 

MIZUKI: <That.. Devil Yuzuki.. has she turned up since you returned?>

 

Yuna hesitates again, prepared for the sudden onrush of a migraine. A moment passes, then another. Nothing. It’s been this way ever since she returned from the Shrine.

 

YUNA: <I’ve heard nothing. Before we went to the Shrine, every single day she was louder and louder in my head until I couldn’t hear anything else. After she failed there, she’s been quiet. It’s almost like she’s gone.. Or broken..>

 

Mizuki nods slowly in response, a gentle smile starting to form on her lips. Suddenly there’s a low rumble from the other side of the office wall - someone’s in the ring. 

 

MIZUKI: <Good. Devil Yuzuki is powerful, but she doesn’t have anything close to the power of Yuna Saito. Everything that you’ve accomplished here has been because of you, not her. Never forget that.>

 

Yuna’s about to respond as her confidence begins to arise, but then there’s a crash in the ring. She looks to Mizuki, Mizuki looks to her and they both shrug. The clock on the wall shows it’s still early for anyone to be here training; Yuna turns on her heels and marches out to investigate the noise. After turning the corner from Tatsumaki’s - no, her office - Yuna’s surprised to find a spirited battle between Vex and Hoshi Sato. A smile crosses Yuna’s lips as she climbs onto the ring apron herself. Time to get back to work.

 

Hoshi falls back from a dropkick, and Yuna immediately reaches down to tag herself in. She explodes through the ropes to close the distance to Vex, who’s just getting up from the dropkick. At seeing Yuna she staggers back a little.

 

YUNA: Vex-san, it’s good to see you. How’re you doing?

 

Vex doesn’t answer right away either, her eyes avoiding contact with Yuna’s. 

 

KASEY: To be honest, Yuna, I don’t even know anymore. How do we even move on after what happened at that weird island? No one’s even looking for Tatsumaki! Then there’s whatever happened to you when Devil Yuzuki.. happened.

 

Of all her teammates, Kasey’s the person she’s grown closest to, the one teammate she can confide in without hesitation. To see her confident friend mired in turmoil pains her deeply. With everything Kasey’s been through recently, from witnessing Tatsumaki’s disappearance to the war with their warped former teammate, it’s understandable that she’d be in a bad place. So the leader of GDF puts on a warm smile much like Vex once did for her in a time of doubt.

 

YUNA: We focus on what we can do. We’ll find out what happened to Tatsumaki-sensei in time, but right now it’s out of our hands. I still have nightmares about what happened. But worrying about it doesn’t change the fact that our war is still going on. Shuko MURDER-gun are still here, and they’re going to do everything they can to get their pound of flesh at Pillars of Creation. Tatsumaki-sensei would want us to keep fighting, to win this war.

 

Kasey holds her hands behind her head and sighs as she looks up into Yuna’s eyes. The Japanese woman nods towards a framed unit picture hanging on the wall nearby.

 

YUNA: What we can do next is simple: we get our friend back.

 

In the front row, standing next to a kneeling Yuna, is Hiromi Takeda.

 

KASEY: Yuna, I’m not sure there’s enough of her left to save.

 

Yuna stares at the cocky smirk on Hiromi’s face. 

 

YUNA: It might not seem like there is, but I believe she’s still in there. Under all that viciousness and rage is still the girl who annoyed me to no end by proclaiming herself the chosen one. When I first came here, she was my roommate. At first she drove me up a wall, but after a while her confidence grew on me. Ever since they took her, there’s been this weird emptiness in my beating heart. 

 

Kasey’s eyes are drawn to the photo as well. 

 

KASEY: I miss her too. It’s my fault they took her and twisted her into their ‘perfect weapon’.

 

YUNA: Hey, you can’t blame yourself for what happened. Besides -

 

Yuna’s lips curl up into a confident smile of her own.

 

YUNA: There’s no such thing as a ‘perfect’ weapon. If I can break through the power of Devil Yuzuki, we can break the conditioning they put her under. It doesn’t matter how dangerous Shuko MURDER-gun’s lineup is, there’s a prize far greater than any championship on the line. We’ve already hit them hard with Maya-san dethroning their general, Shino-san helping Tatsumaki-sensei defy ‘destiny’ and you retaining at the Shrine. Now it’s time to take back what they stole from us. What they stole from Hiromi-san.

 

She spins around to be face to face with Kasey again.

 

YUNA: Even if it takes time to break her free of KANZEN, I’m not giving up on her. I will lead from the front lines, suffer all the punishment they can inflict on my body, just to see that smile again. I’m not resting until she’s finally home. 

 

Yuna touches her fist to Kasey’s, her full spirit focused on one goal: saving Hiromi Takeda.