"No One Signed Up to be a Hero"

The Virus stood up and clasped the blazer collar around her tighter. "Who's Andromeda?"

"She's an acquaintance of mine," he said quickly.

"Destructum!" Andromeda shouted and Neptunite barely blocked with her halberd, as well as using ice to heal the immediate huge gash caused by Andromeda. Andromeda's sword did still completely destroy the houses nearby, casting them in a dark purple glow before they crumbled to rubble.

"She used ice to heal herself? what kind of maniac uses ice to heal wounds?" Vince blurted.

"I wonder if I can do something like that," the Virus said.

He looked at her curiously, noting the adoration in her eyes.

"All the other contestants have been wiped out!" the other ... Subdivision Mage shouted making a enormous, blinding beam of light.

Andromeda deadpanned. "I'm aware, I eliminated most of them--" she commented using a barrier of her own to fend off Neptunite who was instantly thrown through a brick wall, shattering it.

"ouch..." Vince winced.

"I'm Keiko! it's just you, me and Neptunite in this war now!" Keiko yelled summoning another beam not that Andromeda looked that put up on. Although the wind was throwing off her attacks.

"oh--" the unnamed Virus said "is it a war?"

"no shes just over dramatizing things, it's a killing game," he remarked insensitively.

"Oh what a horrible thing!" She gasped.

"you know, you just made me reevaluate my life decisions at this moment," he smiled weakly at the girl covering her face, no doubt so she wouldn't see anyone die.

'I guess I got dehumanized to it all, a while ago I would have probably reacted the way she did. But I can't live in that bliss now. However... someone like this girl, needs to be protected, so I better do something if it becomes necessary.'

After a few moments, she peeked at him curiously.

He steeled his resolve, and braced himself unaware of the reiryouku building up, a physical manifestation from forming a strong goal he unintentionally set for himself.

"I Keiko will be victorious!"

"And then Neptunite will kill you for taking out her opponent," Vince muttered.

The Virus looked worried but she wasn't sure who for.

When it looked almost as though Keiko had an upper hand Vince intern decided to interfere.

"Hey that's --" he started.

In his hand was the mallet Mami had carried. It was surprisingly light. 'Can I really use this..?'

'You wanted to fight didn't you?'

"Oh a weapon! You can help your acquaintance now!"

He looked at the Virus's gaze of admiration. Hmm, they really needed a name for her...

'Time to find out,' he thought jumping downward onto a set of stairs he was sure weren't under the second floor window's balcony. But maybe he hadn't seen them. They were already crumbling to the battle. He used them to support his leap in the air and a thought occurred to him that he had no clue what this weapon did.

"Andromeda!!"

The girl in question looked up and grasped what he wanted to say before Vince said it. She jumped into the air, grabbing the Virus by the arm in the process.

Keiko yelped indignantly. But her gaze rested on the hammer Vince was using.

"--Earth Breaker!!" He yelled then slammed it against the ground, causing glowing pieces of Earth to rain down on everyone below.

Keiko shrieked "No Way!!!"

"Somehow-- I get the impression-- that it sounds cooler when a girl says it," Tsumijuichi remarked panting heavily. The oversized mallet flickered like it wanted to vanish.

"no I was to be the one to avenge Mami.... I was to be the one to kill her in this game or she was the one to kill me ... It was what made life more interesting.." Keiko vanished without a trace, her orange and white magic circuits forming into a hemisphere, then following soon after.

Neptunite looked unconscious from the last attack but not being thrown into a wall.

"Huh looks like that Neptunite girl will recover" he remarked absently.

"What do you suppose the reward is now that you won the killing game?" Vince asked.

"Hey that's the same doll as before!" pointed Vince.

"Doll?" The Virus asked confused.

Andromeda flew after it, her companions running close behind. They chased the doll circling various buildings to a clearing with dozens of bodies and dolls.

"What the hell--?!" Vince asked. He looked like he was going to be sick.

"Oh are all of you victors then?" The girl Kiara Sumire asked innocently. As if she was taking a stroll.

"Didn't one of the Water Elementals kill you?" Andromeda raised a eyebrow.

"You didn't?" Vince asked surprised.

"I don't fight Summoners," was the simple reply.

"Oh that was a disposable body. We'll just keep coming, there's never any shortage of dolls," Kiara remarked.

Andromeda had a brief 'what- the -absolute- fuck' expression before morphing it to boredom.

"So you're weak. A bore. You harp on others powers and strengths mocking their deaths."

Vince had a sudden vision a memory of when he first saw Andromeda and witnessed that enormous sword of mass destruction.

"Miss Virus Jump up seriously!" He jumped up to a house with a balustrade, notably behind Andromeda and this out of her estimated range.

"I don't understand," she blinked. But she did climb her way up, joining him on the roof.

"Andromeda is going to destroy everything, we should get up out of here," he said.

"Armored Blade of Calamity!!" Andromeda yelled abruptly and everything within immediately range, namely the dolls turned purple and began to crumble.

'Her sword?' Now much closer, Vince understood that Andromeda was summoning her sword and various others smashing and shattering them to pieces. Pieces which flew to her sword making it much larger at the same time he could feel a hum of power. She was charging it.

'I'll spare us the trouble and just wipe them all out.' Andromeda thought. Kiara was quickly using her dolls to make a shield.

"No need to waste the time," with utter efficency she swung the sword and following a huge explosion a giant scar on the ground reminiscent of a crater was all that remained of the army of supposedly infinite dolls.

"No! My- my precious dolls!" Kiara shrieked. She fell to her knees a few dolls next to her reaching out to comfort her.

He would have found the moment cute if he hadn't seen her ripping out the girls' magic circuits and placing them in a doll which then took on the deceased's appearance.

But at the same time...

"If we let you go, would you respect that all life is sacred and find a place to reside peacefully? Basically be imprisoned but still free to go places?" Vince asked after looking at the Virus's despondent expression.

"Not at all! I would not change a single one of my actions." Kiara stated, not doing herself any favors.

"okay bet," he remarked monotonously and Andromeda swung her sword. The even larger shadowy purple sword returned and Vince flinched hearing the unpleasant sound of wood splintering indicating she crushed the girl. When she lifted the blade he found her remains had disappeared. Even the crystal fragments everyone has been dropping so far.

"that's.... this ending doesn't make me happy although the battle is mostly over," He commented looking remorseful. Andromeda tilted her head. She at first looked confused but now she looked bored. As if the ending was anticlimactic in comparison to the movie itself.

The Virus on the other hand, just looked sad. Her red eyes carrying a forlorn expression in them.

"Sorry about Andromeda killing --" he stopped and realized he killed how many girls...?

'Uh-?' Vince looked unwell as the realization began to sink in.

"Ho ho ho! Thoth was right! This is where the amusing fight is happening," a woman's voice laughed from her perch on a non lit street light that miraculously wasn't broken.

"huh? whoa! Who are you?" Vince asked and seemed to recover quickly.