The Strategist, the Hell Raven, and the Starpiece (Option C)

[Clownpiece]

A strong breeze kicked up from the savannah around the village, blasting Utsuho’s face with air heated by her nuclear attacks. Below her, sprawled out and shrivelled up against the glassed sand below, lay many charred corpses, burnt to death by her ultimate fusion. A large grin spread across the hell raven’s face as she lowered her left hand back to her side. It looked like that was the last of them.

This still wasn’t enough. She swivelled around from her lofty position in the air, desperately searching out any possible stragglers. Figures swarmed about through the streets, young, old, dusty, and pristine, but none of them were the raiders that had called for a retreat. Rising up even higher into the sky, away from the tumultuous, heat-driven winds below, she continued to fervently scan the ground. Four vehicles eased into her sight, the four jeeps that they had ridden here in. One lay, twisted and horribly burnt from her onslaught, while a second across the town stood smouldering. That still left two perfectly intact, and seemingly free from any bandits. So it truly was the last of them.

“Gah!” Okuu let out an involuntary, frustrated grunt, her mouth falling into a frown as she descended back to Aadibah. Nuclear reactions continued to rage within her body, creating a surge of energy and excitement. She was still eager to blast some more outlaws into piles of radioactive coals. Her feet planted into the ground with a crunch, shattering some of the glass that the sand had melted into. The young youkai took in a deep breath, lowering her output to below normal levels. A small shiver of cold wracked her body as the nuclear furnace diminished in heat.

Calm...

“Well that was somethin’ else,” a voice from one of the bystanders broke through Utsuho’s concentration. In an instant, her power levels spiked right back up.

“I know, right!” She turned on her heel and immediately leapt over to meet the person who had said that. In a single bound, she had cleared the distance and skidded to a halt right in front of an older looking man, standing right next to who was presumably his son. “They didn’t stand a chance against the awesome power of my ultimate energy!” In the face of her boundless excitement, the man was forced to take a step back, lest he lose his balance from her invasion of his personal space.

“Er...” the man mumbled, searching for something to say, but was unable to find anything before being ushered away by the white-armored figures that flooded in.

“Now...” Aadibah stepped towards Okuu as the last of the bystanders were escorted away by the Stormtroopers. “What in the actual hell was that?”

“Well!” she cheerfully spun around to face her new-found companion. “That was the power of nuclear fusion, gifted to me by Lord Yatagarasu! As you saw, nothing can stand up against the ultimate energy!”

“I mean, how did you do that?” Her bright blue eyes stared deeply at Okuu, probing her for answers.

“It’s just a power I was gifted,” the hell raven repeated, lifting her left hand up and cupping it, palm facing upward. Nuclear reactions surged forth through her arm, hydrogen fusing in her palm to create helium, bringing about intense temperatures that formed a ball of pure plasma. “I swallowed Lord Yatagarasu, the god of the sun, and he bestowed this ability upon me. Dominion over the very atoms that make up our world!” Aadibah’s eyes continued to probe Okuu’s face, trying to find any possible deceit hidden there. This was just too impossible for her to believe.

“That’s...”

“Or perhaps you’d like a bigger demonstration!” the hell raven crushed the plasma ball in her left hand, dispersing it, before lifting said arm back up, pointed towards the sky. “I call this move, ‘Shooting Sun’.” Nuclear power rushed through her arm, coursing up and coalescing into a ball of energy floating just above her raised finger.

“That’s enougha that,” one of the white-clad figures immediately stepped over and forcefully lowered Utsuho’s arm, breaking her concentration and forcing that ball to dissolve as well. Turning to Aadibah, the figure took off his helmet, revealing a vaguely familiar face. Was this the guy that was with her earlier? “We’ve dicked around long enough, time to get moving. The rest of the troopers will clean up this mess.” On a silent cue, four more of the soldiers broke away from the group that was working on righting the mess, and began making their way to somewhere in the town.

“Oh! Can I come with!?” Okuu wasted no time in asking, voice eager as she jumped right up into the soldier’s personal space, staring up at him with eager eyes.

“Er...” despite his size, he was forced to take a step back from the youkai’s assault. His eyes flicked over to Aadibah for a brief moment, but immediately hopped back to Okuu. “Top secret business, that’s a no go.”

“Please!” she pushed forward even more, as if that would change the answer. “I don’t even need to know what the business is! I just wanna come with.”

“Just... hold on a moment, let me ask my superior,” he reluctantly gave in to her pleas, if only to get her to back off for a second. Slipping his helmet back on, he took a few steps away and began talking to someone. While waiting for him to wrap up his business, Utsuho turned back to Aadibah, who had been quietly watching their exchange.

“So just how top secret is this anyway?” the hell raven asked. It must be incredibly secret if they didn’t want a god’s power with them.

“I don't know,” she answered, shrugging, “They picked me up because they needed firepower.”

“Oh, perfect!” A wide smile crossed Utsuho’s face. If they needed firepower, her nuclear energy would be the perfect thing for them. “So any other reason you’re with them?”

“Not really,” she kept the same neutral expression, “I’m new here, like you. I met a man who helped me get used to this place, and came here from another verse, as they call them. The soldiers threw me in jail, thinking I was a scout. This is what I need to do to be released.”

“Huh,” came the simple response. The young youkai stared blankly, retreating into her mind for a moment, before quickly perking back up. “Well the faster we work, the faster you’ll get free! Let’s get moving!”

“Hold up,” the voice of the soldier stopped Okuu before she could even do anything, as he stepped back up to the pair, the helmet back off. “You don’t even know if you’re coming with or not.”

“Well what’s the word, then?” she hopped right back up to him, eager to go.

“I talked it over with Gary,” he responded, “He saw what you did to the raider’s and their jeep. You’re free to accompany us, but you’ll be as in the dark as Aadibah.”

“Yay!” the hell raven cheered, springing up and nearly tackling the soldier to the ground as she wrapped her arms and legs around him in a full-body hug. The only thing that kept him upright was a quick flap of her wings correcting the balance.

“Guh...” breath was driven from his lungs, and a moment later he wheezed, “Get off of me!” His hands pressed against her waist, and she was forcefully pushed off of him. “And none of that shit!”

“Got it!” she said with a voice full of childish determination as she landed back on the ground, feet planting solidly into the sand.

“Anyway...” he took a moment to catch his breath, eyes darting between Aadibah and Okuu. “My name’s Tony, you’ve already met Aadibah, and we’ll get you introduced to everyone later.”

“I’m Utsuho Reiuji, but you can call me Okuu, everyone does,” she introduced herself.

“Alright, Okuu,” Tony said her name once just to get it in memory, and turned to the part of the village the other soldiers had gone to. “We’ll get both of you a radio and a gps and then we’ll be on our way.”

“Whe-” Utsuho began, but was immediately cut off by the soldier.

“You don’t need to know. Do what we say, don’t disobey, and don’t ask too many questions or we’ll dump you off in the middle of the desert."

“G-got it!” she hesitantly accepted. Taking a step forward, Tony began to lead the way, and the two primes followed.