Kōzaku Mitori

She had just broken out of the suffocating cage that was the Juvenile Reformatory.

The grime and wounds of her flight were still fresh on her body.

Yet all her attention was fixed on the figure in front of her—Dolly, a being she had created with her ability Liquid Shadow.

Dolly was a life‑form of controllable liquid metal: the warped embodiment of Mitori's longing for her dead best friend, Dolly, and of a hatred carved into her very bones.

Dolly was the weapon with which she would take revenge on this dark city that had swallowed countless innocents—including her only source of light.

"Dolly, it's not enough… nowhere near enough!"

Mitori's voice was hoarse and suppressed, brimming with grief and rage.

"We have to destroy more—make those high‑and‑mighty monsters feel pain!"

Just as she was about to take the next step, Musujime Awaki appeared out of nowhere, with Mugino Shizuri and three others right behind her.

Their arrival instantly put Mitori on guard.

She snapped around, violet pupils contracting like a beast's, full of wariness and hostility.

"Who are you?!"

Her throat was parched, so her voice rasped, but it carried a sharp edge.

Awaki hopped lightly down from an overhead beam, clapped her hands, and spoke as if introducing a game.

"Relax—we're from the Board of Directors."

She stressed the three words deliberately, then gestured toward Mugino's group.

"These ladies are the response specialists assigned to clean up the damage you caused today.

"As for me, I'm just the driver—won't lift a finger~"

She spread her hands and stepped back, the very picture of a spectator.

"The Board… of Directors…"

Mitori chewed on the words as though she could grind them to dust.

A tidal wave of hatred swept away her last shred of reason; bloodshot eyes, teeth grinding audibly.

"You again—you damned parasites!! Dolly—!!!"

Her hysterical scream rang out.

At the intersection, the liquid‑metal figure "Dolly" screeched like tearing steel.

The massive body pivoted toward Mugino's team and charged like an out‑of‑control beast, power enough to level buildings.

"Engage!"

Mugino's gaze turned razor‑sharp; combat mode.

"Roger!"

Kinuhata Saiai moved first.

Her small frame exploded into motion, krypton‑armored suit flaring blue.

She met Dolly head‑on.

"STOP! Ultra—Heavy Pressure!"

Boom!

Her armored fist smashed into Dolly's torso.

The forward rush halted; the struck metal solidified and dented, only for surrounding liquid to slide in and refill it.

At the same time blistering heat bled through the armor, making Saiai grunt while smoke curled from her fist.

"Tch—so hot, and super annoying!"

She changed tactics, using the suit's extreme mobility to circle Dolly at high speed, hammering joints and supports to break its balance and limit movement.

Each hit rang like clashing steel, spraying glowing droplets.

"Frenda! Disrupt it!"

Mugino held fire—Meltdowner's power was vast but hard to confine in a narrow street when the target had to be captured alive. Annoying work.

"Got it—piece of cake!"

Frenda Seivelun grinned, fingers flicking across custom explosives on her belt.

She chose not the big bombs but several small devices packed with cryogenic agent and sticky gel, and lobbed them with surgical precision.

"Freeze up! Get gooey, sweetie!"

They landed along Dolly's path and at its joints.

Fssss— White vapor burst out; frost spread over the metal shell.

It wouldn't freeze the creature solid, but it slowed the liquid flow drastically.

Splop splop splop! Glue bombs burst, covering Dolly in viscous goo and further binding its limbs.

The liquid‑metal monster gave a silent roar, motions growing sluggish and heavy.

Leaning against debris with eyes closed, Takitsubo Rikō suddenly opened them, gaze razor‑sharp and locked on Dolly.

"Core is in the chest, a little left of center. Field flow chaotic but core stable. Disrupt it, Mugino—then it'll be immobile."

Her ability could pinpoint the AIM‑diffusion field node that kept Dolly together.

"Understood."

A cold gleam flashed in Mugino's eyes.

She raised her right hand; an unstable green particle stream—Meltdowner—coalesced at her fingertip.

"Behave yourself!"

She thrust her finger forward.

A hair‑thin emerald beam lanced out like a scalpel, avoiding non‑vital areas and striking the chest core Rikō had marked.

Zzzzzzt—!

No thunderous blast, but Dolly's body convulsed violently, as if its spine were ripped away.

The liquid metal shrieked, boiling and churning; the glowing silver dulled to a murky gray.

Its form sagged and collapsed, melting like wax.

"What?!"

Mitori's eyes widened in shock.

Her ability had failed!

~~~

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