[3rd POV]
(Reze)
She couldn't believe it.
She had come to his apartment with every intention of dying.
She couldn't bring herself to kill him, so she thought she'd try anyway and hoped Jin would protect himself and kill her.
And maybe eat her, so that he would get stronger for all the challenges waiting ahead.
But no.
What happened tonight was completely unexpected for her. It was good too. Maybe too good to be true. Albeit what happened afterwards could be better. But even that, she loved every single moment.
To fight beside him instead of against him, like she was prepared to do.
Reze was raised to be a weapon; violence was not new to her. But it felt different to cause violence for him. To kill for him.
It was oddly fulfilling, not empty or hollow like when she killed for the USSR.
She wouldn't mind being a weapon for him.
But other than that, what she loved most tonight was the fresh beginning.
A new start. One without pretend this time. Her relationship with Jin had never truly happened, it was only starting.
She might have this feeling for him already, a feeling she was too embarrassed to name, but this was the start.
They'd run away.
And start anew.
...
Reze paused when she reached her apartment. It was much smaller than Jin's building, only being five floors tall.
She put her hand on the wooden door, feeling the presence that was already inside.
Someone was there.
Someone was waiting for her on the other side.
Who?
She didn't really care. Reze pulled the pin on her neck, and it was only after her transformation was done that she opened the door to her apartment.
The door creaked, and she stepped into the apartment she thought she'd never return to. The place seemed empty, but Reze knew otherwise.
There was someone inside.
She didn't call out to the invader or try to confront them. Still in her transformation and still keeping all her focus on that presence, Reze headed towards the kitchen and began pulling out drawers.
She took out important things, like a gun or a grenade, which she could add to her backpack for when they ran away. She set them down on the kitchen table. She also threw some stacks of cash there.
After some minutes had passed, the presence inside her apartment moved and came to the kitchen.
Reze turned and reached out her hand towards the entrance. Her fingers were in a snapping motion, ready to blow up the apartment, no, the whole building if that was the only way to get out.
Reze's demonic head met orange eyes.
Those eyes were oddly even more demonic.
And she found herself face to face with the worst possible enemy.
"Control Devil," Reze said.
Makima was in a similar stance to her, reaching out her hand and her fingers making a gun shape. The two women were in a stalemate where one move from either could wreak destruction.
"Jin keeps on surprising me," Makima began, her voice low and eyes piercing orange. They were not even hypnotic yellow, more red and orange like boiling lava.
Perhaps a hint of her current rage.
But nevertheless, her voice was calm, her face even calmer.
"I thought he wouldn't care anymore after he realised your lies," she said, "But turns out, you never lied to him in the first place. You weren't able to."
"Your incompetence as a spy led to the holes in my plan," Makima said.
On the other hand, Reze was anything but calm. Luckily, her transformed head was like a bomb with teeth. It had no eyes, no nose, no brows, nothing that could show how panicked she was inside.
The Control Devil.
Makima.
The guardian of Japan and the sole existence that made Japan a powerhouse that other countries rarely messed with.
She was basically Japan's equivalent of a nuclear warhead. The thing that keeps evil nations away.
The Control Devil played among the shadows, so the knowledge was not public. But higher ups from major countries were all aware of her existence and they were cautious.
Control was a concept feared by all.
And this Devil was talking about Jin like she owned him or something.
Bad news. No, it was horrible news for Reze.
"Were you the one behind all these attacks?" Reze asked, "If you want to kill Jin, know that I wouldn't stand idle."
Her fingers moved a centimetre, and sparks already came alive in the dark kitchen lit up by a single bulb.
"My aim was quite the opposite. I was offering all his enemies on a silver platter. Even you," Makima said.
And weakening the Public Safety Commission, that was also her aim. She didn't care about the loss. A weak Japan simply meant they would be more dependent on her.
And those who depend on you were so easy to control.
Like grooming a child.
"Put down your hands and kneel," Makima commanded, summoning all the power behind her, the concept she embodied.
Control.
Reze flinched, lowering her arm an inch before she snapped her fingers.
*BOOOOOOM!!!*
Half of her apartment exploded instantly, the explosion ripping apart the small house and shaking the foundation.
But when the dust settled, Makima was still standing there. Her clothes were barely hanging on. Public Safety uniforms made to survive harsh conditions were nearly destroyed.
But Makima herself stood there, completely unscratched.
But somewhere in Japan, a random citizen died a brutal death.
The Control Devil had signed a contract with the Prime Minister of Japan long ago. In return for her loyalty towards Japan, she had every single life of the citizens behind her fingers.
Even if she died, her death and injuries would transfer to a random Japanese citizen and she would remain completely fine. Unless you kill every citizen of Japan, you can't kill Makima. There was simply no way.
"You're pathetic," Makima said, her face annoyed.
How many times had her attempt at controlling failed? It was almost like she wasn't even the Control Devil anymore.
Makima had the ability to control everyone she saw as inferior to her. Coupled with her superiority complex, it was a ridiculous ability.
But her powers had flaws. For example, she couldn't control those whose heart and loyalty already belonged to someone else entirely.
These people were so obsessed and loyal that they weren't even independent beings anymore. Someone with a knight's honor loyal to their country, or someone who was madly in love with someone else already.
But even these had their limits. It was not like these people would be completely unaffected by her control.
Unless they had both.
"You latch on to the first person that threw you a bone," Makima said, "You poor, pathetic girl,"
Horribly manipulated and groomed since young to be absolutely loyal. That was Reze. A product of a government program called 'Secret Room,' where the USSR experimented on children to turn them into living weapons.
But that nurtured loyalty never really latched on to the USSR.
Now it held on to Jin.
And then the heart of a teenage girl with her first love.
Reze had both attributes that could resist Makima's control. And they already belonged to someone else.
"Do you really think Jin shared your crooked feelings? You were just an amusement to him. A dog he entertained. A background in his life story," Makima said, speaking harshly with a stoic voice. That somehow made it worse. Like she was an emotionless narrator that only spoke the truth.
"He belongs to me. So stop your delusion, and kneel," Makima said again, her eyes glowing in the dark room.
*BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!*
Another explosion right at her face. This time, the explosion tore through the room, destroying the apartment completely.
Makima was completely naked now, her clothes turned into ash.
As the dust settled and rubble stopped falling, Makima emerged from the smoke. Her face was completely deadpan except for showing one emotion.
Annoyance.
Reze tilted her head.
"You're jealous, aren't you?" Reze said, making Makima freeze in place.
"You know, I asked him to run away with me," Reze said, "And he accepted,"
"He said we'll run away in the morning. He sent me here to pack my things," she said.
"There is no place in the world where I won't find you," Makima said fast, "You are wanted by the Soviet and Jin is wanted by the whole world. There is nowhere you can run in this world when the world is after you."
"Yes," Reze said, "I realised that now. Perhaps I was a little naive thinking we could run away from it all,"
Makima took a breath. She hated how everything was going. She barely had any control over the situation. Frankly, the fact that Reze was still alive was already so wrong.
She should be dead.
Jin should've killed her.
But humans were such fickle things. Hard to control like her dogs. Their hearts were easily swayed by emotions like dogs were swayed by treats and scents.
And Makima could not understand it at all. Both feelings from Jin and Reze were something she didn't expect.
"But I won't give up," Reze added.
Makima cringed, her eyebrows knitting in frustration.
What was she going to do? She was ill prepared. The Control Devil, at its concept, was not of destruction like the Bomb Devil was.
Makima was strong only through the contracts and the people she controlled. She could kill Reze right now, but it wouldn't be easy.
It might spiral into a mess that involved everyone. The government, Jin, the whole world.
Even in the anime where Makima killed Reze, she did so by ambushing her and using the Angel Devil's power to subdue her before she even transformed.
In terms of pure firepower and combat effectiveness, Reze with her Bomb Devil was at the very top of this universe.
And here she was, fully transformed and ready to explode into action. Quite literally.
"This will be your last opportunity," Makima said, "Pack your things and run away. Live your life as you want. But stay as far away from Jin as possible,"
"Didn't you hear? I told you, I wouldn't give up," Reze said.
Makima's eyes pierced through Reze. And under that stalemate, Makima's body slowly dissolved, turning into little rats that ran everywhere in the apartment.
And then she was gone.
Silence, but Reze did not undo her transformation even when she no longer felt a presence.
She sat on the counter of the remaining kitchen and thought deeply about what she was going to do next.
..
..
[Take my whole gallery]
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