Chapter Text
Momo wished that, if the Serpo were so determined to come and pick fights with her, that they would at least pick a more convenient time to try and face her. Like not during school. Mindful, when the Empty Space manifested, class was almost done.
But it’s also just, they were so close.
They couldn't wait another thirty minutes?
Momo was going to get in trouble for dipping and it was all their fault.
“Haaaaa,” Momo breathed out in frustration, stomping her way down the hall, ready to throw spectral hands at them.
Absently, she wondered, could she reason with them?
If this was going to keep up, could they maybe schedule something?
Momo considered the thought.
Actually, it may be possible she could schedule attacks with the Serpoians. They seem like the sort who would like schedules and rules and all that.
In the back of her mind a voice rang out, sounding a bit like Okarun, that it was a stupid thought to schedule attacks with the Serpo and it shouldn't be a thing.
By a chance peek out the window, she saw them.
It was a small unit today, just two looking through the courtyard. Two that immediately sensed where she was, looking up at her on the second floor.
Momo scoffed at the sight of them.
Oh, this was going to be so easy, it was practically a waste of her time.
Not letting the Serpo wait long, Momo hurried down to meet them, not even waiting for anyone else to catch up. She didn’t even think their help was going to be needed.
Two Serpo against her?
An absolute cakewalk.
Comically, it seems the Serpo shared her confidence as they greeted with giddy smugness, “Greeting, human female.”
“I hope you are ready for an embarrassing defeat. Ha. Ha. Ha.”
The laughing Serepo barely dodged the spectral fist that slammed where they were once standing.
“Don’t count your eggs before they hatch,” Momo chastised, pulling her hair up into a ponytail.
“But we do not have eggs!”
“But we have a new weapon! And with it, we will defeat you!”
They dropped into their iconic pose, colorful eyes shining. Unanimously, they said together, “We’ll reset you!”
Not quite understanding, or caring enough to try, Momo drawled, “Yeah, good luck with that.”
Just as she’s throwing a spectral fist forth, there was a gray blur Momo saw out of the corner of her eye, rushing right at her. Momo backtracked, barely dodging the beast that dashed past. Claws cut through the dirt, rustling up a bit of dust as it slid to a stop. Momo faced the new threat, alarm shooting through her, waiting for the dust to settle, and for another potential charge.
She heard it growl before the dust cleared, and when it did, what she saw was some freakish creature. It looked like a dog at first glance, something mangey and unwell, with a long lanky body, gray skin, odd dark looking patches, and toeing that line between being bony and muscular. But what kept it from being a dog were the spines that stuck out along its back, and big bat ears, and beady black eyes.
Now, the appearance didn’t alarm Momo that much.
After a while, aliens stopped being so unnerving.
What did concern Momo was the amount of drool and froth around the curling, snarling lips.
“Does that thing have rabies?!” Momo demanded, using her hands to evade another charge. God, it was going mouth first to bite her.
So focused on the rabid dog thing, Momo didn’t care to pay attention to the Serpo aiming at her. “Serpo Mind Mangle!” the Serpoians called out, firing a force from their fingertips, only to miss as Momo dodged their hired grunt, frantically trying to keep away from the mangey thing.
“We missed!” one Serpo snapped.
“How? She was right in front of us!”
Unfortunately for the Serpo, loud enemy voices drew angry enemy ears.
In perfect sync, the Serpo barely moved away in time to flee the angry spectral swipe Momo made at them. “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” they cried out in monotone, Momo’s hand tearing through the dirt.
“How could you sic some rabid dog on me?!” Momo screeched, using her other spectral hand to keep the alien at bay, only this thing pushed against it, quills going up. Even through her spectral hand, Momo could faintly feel the prickles. Anticipating that was not good, she mainly focused on running to evade it.
With her distracted once more, the Serpo tried again.
And again it missed.
Momo wasn’t even aware that she was being blasted, more focused on evading and trying to beat back the rapid alien dog they set out on her.
Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long for another enemy of the Serpo to come join her. Though his usual, immediate help was stalled in awe.
“Is that Chupacabra?!” Okarun cried out in awe, stopping outside the courtyard, adjusting his glasses wildly as he gawked.
“Okaruuun!!” Momo cried out, half frantic, half in outrage. “He’s got rabies! I can’t shake him off!”
That jolted Okarun back to reality. He cried out, “I'm coming, Miss Ayase!” He quickly shifted into his cursed form, kicking up dirt and dust in his rush to intercept the Chupacabra that was on her heels. Just as Okarun was racing towards Momo and her hunter, the Serpo had lined themselves up ahead of Momo, aiming to hit her just as she ran into their set point…
They fired just as she was about to race into their psychic attack.
Only, unexpectedly, the aggressive strangely formed human male reached that spot before she did.
Okarun was sent flying off to the side, his head jerking as the psychic attack struck his mind, bits of blood and saliva flying from his gaping maw.
Momo nearly stumbled to a stop in surprise. “Okarun!” she cried out in alarm, forgetting her hunter for a moment.
The Chupacabra snarled loudly, leaping at her exposed back.
“Get off my case!” Momo snapped, throwing a spectral fist at the alien’s underbelly and sending it flying away. Threat literally pushed back, Momo ran towards her fallen friend, frantically crying out, “Okarun! Okarun! Hey! You ok? Okarun?” She dropped to her knees beside him, reaching for his head, wiping wispy hair aside as it flared out sporadically. Okarun though laid unresponsive, maw left open to gape, eyes rolled back. His body would twitch, and from her touch, he made a sound that she wasn’t sure was a hiss or growl.
Behind them, the Serpo stood still, surprised.
“We hit the human male.”
“That is good. He is one of our threats.”
“But he's still monstrous.”
“He is. Does it not work?”
“We could still try on her, she's distracted.”
During their debate, the Chupacabra returned, pissed and ready to tear into Momo. Only the beast paused when it reached the courtyard, its beady gaze locked on Momo trying to rouse Okarun. The Chupacabra went stiffly still, ears going up in alarm. It emitted a soft whimper of fear, starting to back away, its whole body trembling as its ears went down, and quills going up defensively.
Okarun’s body twitched, one hand moved to sink his claws into the dirt, dragging through it. From the gaping maw, thick black smoke puffed out. His white hair blazed with an ethereal light, looking like a raging fire that was stirring from its embers.
The Chupacabra turned and fled, crying out in fear.
The sudden cry and movement startled the Serpo.
“You're not getting paid for running away!” one cried after it, waving a fist after the monstrous dog.
With their attention drawn away, they didn’t see Momo herself go still, gazing down at Okarun with wide eyes.
All around Okarun was an intense pressure full of rage and bloodlust. One that felt similar to Turbo Granny when they faced her, but this, this was coming from Okarun. It was seeped with his aura. And it was threatening to burn Momo in the blaze of its heat. In spite of instincts urging her to run, Momo didn’t move. She couldn’t. Something in the back of her mind, deep within the depths, knew it would be dangerous to do so. All she could do was stare as Okarun started to rouse, the soft rumbles festering into deep growls as he started to surge to life.
Okarun’s red eyes flared back to life, immediately locking onto Momo.
She couldn’t stop the flinch under his inferno gaze.
For a moment, it wasn’t Okarun staring at her.
It was the gaze of a predator.
Something wicked.
Unnatural.
Angry.
And ready to strike.
Suppressing a need to gulp, Momo barely registered whispering with a voice full of fear, “Okarun?”
His eyes flared brighter, his growl grew sharper, rattling Momo’s bones by the sound of it. One long arm lifted, coming down hard beside Momo, clawing at the dirt. The other followed, both long limbs caging around her. As he arose, coming to loom over her, his body stretching out longer than it ever has before.
For a second, it almost felt like he was going to come down on her by the intensity of his gaze.
Finally, he spoke, in that familiar deep rasp she’s come to know in this form.
“Makes me wilt…”
Momo felt a cackle of energy, her only warning as Okarun zipped away in a flash of red, nearly knocking her over in the rush. Momo whipped around to follow him, only to find he was gone. In his wake, the Serpoians were slashed in half, their legs falling to the ground in weighted heaps, their upper torsos falling into heaps of metal on the ground.
With their demise, Empty Space fell apart, returning to a bright blue sky.
Okarun nowhere to be seen.