With Thunderous Applause [Anarchy in India, Nozomi]

She was close to the core; the last few puzzle pieces that would complete the small puzzle that was Sou Yuuki, the Nightmare. Seemingly at first just a clueless kid who had had some wicked powers dropped on his head, but not in reality, oh no. Despite what he'd have you to believe, he was certainly not a stranger to power. This demonic form of his had certainly determined that that was a lie. And the way he used his powers were not so straightforward and simple. Earlier when he'd broken through Nozomi's defense with some rather deft kinetic manipulation, and as he commanded electromagnetic waves, and even now as his eyes shifted to become more focused and alert. The mere fact that this man still lived was a testament to his unexpected capabilities, and so it was time for the Quincy to take this into account. It was when her notion of him altered that she received clarity. With a new picture, the path became easier to traverse, and the shadows would be lifted. It would only be a matter of time before her eyes finally pieced it all together, and achieved absolute understanding of the person in front of them; he who tried to hide behind the pretense of an enigma. At the end of all of this, he would no longer claim such a right.

The element of earth launched first, like a bullet fired from a rifle, but with more force behind it than any man-made round could ever hope to possess. Still the attack was beaten back by mere air pressure, which was a very inefficient method by Nozomi's opinion, but well enough able to counter. The trade would be in Nozomi's favor, when she already had energy advantage to boot. Funnily enough, it appeared that even with as much pressure as Sou could manage, he could not hold in check all the force propelling that single stone. The woman watched keenly as he worked to redirect the energy around him and expel it behind him where he would cause further collateral damage on the royal site of India, clearly careless about the land he stamped upon... So came the second element, a barrage of hellfire. Sou was busy talking, trying to goad her or something along those lines. He would certainly not have enough time to finish his sentence considering the speed of the fireballs. This time he battered it away with a combination of kinetic and electromagnetic defenses, separating the fire's heat from its explosive force and dispensing of them. Again, a trade in Nozomi's favor as he had to use far more energy and effort than she did in order to launch those attacks. She even observed as the little oxygen in the area was wiped out just in case, even though she had given the attack no further heed. This was a kind of defense that required extensive knowledge and a wide range of abilities, in order to utterly wipe it out. This was him, trying to prove to her his strength, even if it cost him. He continued to think she was underestimating him, and so he wanted to prove that she was wrong.

No...

She was not wrong. She didn't underestimate him, and in fact was closer than ever to realizing his true strength, and potential. She hadn't quite figured out every trick up his sleeve, which was why he had been able to catch her by surprise before, but she more or less had guessed what he could achieve. But, he took her contempt for him as continued underestimation. He thought that because she did not go full out on him that she thought too little of him. If that was the case, then the truth was that he saw too little in her, or saw too highly of himself. Nozomi would not grant him his desire to see her full power, because it was like appeasing a small child. It was not her goal to show off—her goal was to take this land, and he was but a nuisance. And for all his power, still he did not match up against her, and she would eventually defeat him with just her base form because he did not have the means to defeat her now. Nozomi had come to this realization, and every second that passed further secured this notion; it was just a matter of when Sou would realize it himself. She looked down on him because of his personality, his attitude, his actions, and his identity.

Nozomi's third attack struck true, smashing into the boy like a wrecking ball he couldn't see coming. The elements surrounding Nozomi fronted him and sent him wildly spiraling down to the ground, smashing the capital manor apart with his impact. It was an unfortunate casualty of the battle, but one that would be repaired, as with the rest of these lands. Regarding the minor zap of electricity that Sou had attempted when he had been smashed away—he was right about it being insignificant. For, the spark was so weak and half-assed that it had been utterly annihilated by any of the four layers of elements surrounding Nozomi in a whirlwind, as happenstance. It was presumptuous to think that it would have gotten through, for it would merely be wiped away by the mere presence of such powerful forces. Now, Nozomi's arms rose and her hands opened up to reclaim the excess embers that hadn't been extinguished by Sou's extensive technique—the ones lingering on the outside of his influence. They assimilated back into the ring of fire once more, ready to be reused. The lack of oxygen did not disturb their cycle, for sphere of wind supplied it. She floated in mid-air above the battlefield and looked down, seeing the wreckage of the lands caused by the two, albeit most of it was by the fault of her foe. He would finally pick himself up out of the pile of debris, staring straight at her as he arose. They matched each other's gazes in silence for a while, and he still presumed the liberty to take his time as he simply walked his way toward her. To make matters worse, he began to speak again, causing Nozomi to point her hand above her head in response to point out the clock, which was still ticking down like an omen.

There were things said that would infuriate a lesser being. There were things the boy uttered that displayed his complete and utter disrespect of the situation at hand. Nozomi's expression did not falter, nor was she taunted; in fact, more than anything, the woman seemed to be fully tranquil, as if she'd reached some satisfying realization... and she had. So when he stopped talking, she would begin, her voice amplified by some strange magic again to be carried to his ears even with the fire roaring around the battlefield. ''Mana Asthavon,'' she announced, clearly enunciating her name in a strong voice, but without tone or melody. She simply said it without inflection or emphasis. There was a pause, and then she continued speaking as if the name had never been uttered in the first place. Her next words seemed to not be related to the Demon Queen whatsoever. ''I find it pathetic that you accuse me of running my mouth when you have by far been talking excessively this entire time. Most of it has been some incarnation of you trying to stroke your ego or ridicule me otherwise. Some part of you has deluded yourself into believing this is some kind of contest. You don't seem to even realize it do you?''

The words hung in the air, as Sou seemed to finally notice the battle occurring within him. Esper seeped through his veins, and muscles, and bones like a silent venom, growing in strength the longer it took for him to discover its presence, but by then it was too late. At this point, the Esper had its fangs too far deep in him to be pulled out, but still he tried. He produced a strange element that had never been before seen by Nozomi, and yet she seemed to not be surprised by its appearance. He would ram it into the Esper, trying to smash the corruption away like a surgeon wielding a hammer. As expected, the Esper would simply devour the unique element as it made contact, and it would just disappear. His Imaginary Plasma could not be assimilated, and therefore it would just vanish into nothingness. However, now that there was no point in hiding it any longer, the Esper began to eat away at everything else as well. His blood, his flesh, his bones, his everything. The plasma would try to fight it, but it would merely be eaten away. His analogy on the battle between Esper and Imaginary Plasma was incorrect; they were not opposites. Nozomi's dark energy didn't have an opposite, for its existence was just as obscure as Imaginary Plasma itself; it was a force that consumed all to become greater, no matter its make or model. It was not any single type of energy, it was all energy. And, in order to become the antithesis of that, you had to become nothing

He desperately sought for a way to stop the Esper, throwing what he could at it. His skin would seem to glow red for a moment, but the light was snuffed out and replaced with a grim black again—it cracked, and where it cracked a molten orange shone through, like the surface of hardening magma. It was in his left arm that the Esper's final process began, causing his fingers to suddenly melt away into a gooey black tar substance, with oil-like sheen. He instantly lost feeling in them as they gradually deteriorated, and even with every sense he possessed he could not seem to see where his fingers were. There was no energy, no life, no blood, no flesh in those fingers anymore... just that liquid. This was dead matter: a substance which had mass and it had volume, but lacked anything else. It did not respond to any energy, could not manipulated nor transformed, and could not be used for anything. It was the utter waste that resulted from the complete catabolism of Esper. Not only did it remove the members of his hand from his body, but it disturbed the flow of energy in his body. As the work of Esper continued within his body, it would similarly render his energy formation nearly defunct. As he tried to overwhelm the Esper with a great bomb, it would disperse before it could even go off, because he couldn't maintain that much power at once any longer with the Esper's temperament. These effects even displayed on his True Awakening, as his wings began to melt as well, and were as frozen as the wings of a statuesque gargoyle. Pure pain enveloped him, for this was the cost of allowing Esper into one's body. He had been too reckless.

''Is that truly your goal?'' she continued, albeit the question was rhetorical. ''That's what you believe? Everyone is an obstacle to you so that one day you may defeat Mana Asthavon. No matter the consequences for your actions, or the lives that may be lost in the process. You're a fool. You probably don't even consider what this fight means, and how it will appear to the world. But the world isn't deaf, they will know the fight that's gone on here, as there are people who can see it from miles away, and eyes in the sky that can observe as well. And do you realize the story that will come out?'' Nozomi paused again, as if allowing him time to answer, before quickly sweeping that chance away from him again. ''...The leader of this country has gone missing and is presumed dead, and a demonic being has been witnessed destroying the capital city of India and its royal palace. I will go down as the hero who defeated him, perhaps even as a goddess. And as I take this country, I will be celebrated and not despised. And your legacy... you will be nothing but a monster throughout the world. Look at yourself. Look at the differences between ourselves. My goal is to create a utopia for the people of Earth, where a perfect society can thrive. Your goal... your grand ambition is to kill a woman.''

She watched him, the suffering being, as he still defied the Esper. Power welled up inside him, causing the air surrounding him to violently twist and turn. It was not as strong as he would have it, however, not even being able to put out the fires throughout the area around the Rashtrapati manor. So he didn't want to talk anymore, then fine. The way he was charging his energy in such a powerful singular move even with the Esper corrupting him within suggested that this was his final effort to take her out. She watched as hundreds of plasmatic missiles surged out from his body and honed in on her. Together they formed a screen of light with barely any room to maneuver through them, and had many properties about them meant to counteract methods of evading them or defending against them, but Nozomi cared not for them. She stood completely still as the light of the projectiles began to fade in mid-flight, dying down like a flame losing fuel. As they had been launched, they would leave Sou's body not without traces of Esper, which was enough for her to destroy the plasma with. The screen of light dissipated and left nothing between her and Sou once again. With his fury he unleashed a tremor of electricity through the ground and sent bolts of lightning upwards, back into the palm of his hand. If she had been in a lighter mood, she might have chuckled as she drew the similarities between him and Zeus as he wielded his spear of lightning.

But instead, she just looked at him with that same look of pity. She watched as he tried to launch the great spear at her, only to have his arm freeze up. Spikes of darkness spontaneously grew straight out of his arm, making it feel as if his arm had turned to stone. And just as with his wings, his right hand would begin to melt away into the essenceless dead matter. Consequently, his lightning would be released from his grasp and returned to the ground from whence it came. By now, his left arm would now have melted from the elbow down, while his wings were but dripping stubs. He was dying, slowly, but surely. But still, she saw him trying to pull more power from the depths of his body, trying to find an answer in the darkness but failing to do so. ''Stop.'' she called out with a voice that shook the desecrated lands. The four elements of fire, water, earth, and wind surrounding her would all explode outwards into the atmosphere, just before a great flash of light shone from her body. It came with a great booming thunder, rumbling so loudly that it vibrated deeply within Sou's chest. When the brightness finally died down, the clear sky was seen to be have been replaced by a thick layer of clouds again, and rain began to fall as appropriate. The fires were put out by the sudden downpour and both the blood and the dead matter began to be washed away from the shattered landscape. Nozomi was now not ten meters ahead of Sou, with the clock above her head that was ticking down from twenty seconds.

''You still think I am underestimating you, and you are trying so hard to show me your power. You stare reality in the face and try to call it a lie, and think with sheer stubbornness that you can defy it. You do all of this, and still wish for me to take you seriously... why would a goddess ever stoop down to satisfy the naive pleas of a child? I only pity you. You're but a dumb ox who was granted power by a misguided deity; a toddler with a gun. You know how to fire it, but you do so recklessly that you'd end lives on thoughtless whims. You don't deserve the power you possess.'' As Nozomi spoke that final word, Sou would feel something shatter within him and induce excruciating that would knock any normal out into unconsciousness. Not only that, but he would be numb from the neck down, no longer able to feel even his own spirit. Both of his arms were gone now, and a hole had began to open up from the center of his chest where his wings had been on his back. The clock had struck ten seconds now, and Nozomi continued to speak. ''Did you ever truly think you could defeat Mana? Did you think that even if you succeeded, that all of your sins would become undone? She took any chance of victory away from you a long time ago; she broke you, and now you are nothing but a cruel monster and a villain. Your final form reflects the demon within.''

Just before the clock was going to dip below one second, Nozomi would raise her hand upwards and enclose it into a fist. Her action caused the clock to stop, but it was so close that Sou could feel in his mind that the abyss was encroaching upon him—Esper was its name. Nozomi stepped forward until she was within arm's reach of the Nightmare, and spoke in a whisper to him. ''I'll give you one last chance. You can say anything you want, to try and convince me of your quest. Why should you be allowed to roam free?''