Tina Sprout as Zodiac Scorpio variant and the actual Zodiac Scorpio girl
***
Are all children from the American territories this bold and direct?
The question lingered in the back of his mind as he spent the day with Tina Sprout. They had played by the public fountain and wandered through countless city plazas, all while the hours slipped away until they arrived at the twilight hour—the time when demons are said to walk.
The terminator line between day and night was like a stark boundary, perfectly cleaving the fading dusk from the encroaching darkness.
"It's almost time. Have you decided on this place?" Mahiro asked, looking around. Tina Sprout had led him to an abandoned factory on the outskirts of the outer district. The environment was desolate and utterly silent, making it a truly suitable place for a final, quiet burial.
At this moment, the sun had completely vanished below the horizon, and true night descended.
With it, the Owl Factor within Tina Sprout fully awakened. All her mental faculties, previously muddled by daylight drowsiness, sharpened to a razor's edge. Her pupils gradually stained a luminous crimson, and even her voice grew several shades colder and more detached.
"...There's still some distance to go," she stated.
Mahiro casually replied, "Is that so?"
However, this nonchalant, trusting attitude only filled the girl's heart with greater sorrow and grief.
Is this man an idiot?
Just following me here so brazenly… isn't he afraid of a trap? Isn't he worried about landmines or pre-planted bombs? Doesn't he fear being ambushed and killed by me?!
This unreserved, foolish trust made Tina Sprout's heart ache with a tearing, unbearable pain. Under the pure, unforgiving moonlight spilling from the sky, she felt her corrupted self was about to be utterly consumed and exposed by that radiant light.
How defiled I am.
But… this was good. She was already satisfied.
"Thank you, Mahiro-san," she said, her voice soft but clear in the quiet factory yard. "Even though we are enemies… you generously indulged all my little whims. Thank you so much… for treating me with such gentleness until the very end."
In the open space at the center of the factory ruins, Tina Sprout finally stopped. She turned around gracefully, her skirt fluttering around her like the wings of dancing butterflies. She clasped her hands behind her back, trying her utmost to offer him one last, perfect smile.
Unfortunately, the profound sadness filling her heart and the weight of the impending tragedy made her smile less than beautiful, casting it with a heartbreaking fragility.
"Are you ready?" Mahiro asked, his tone neutral.
"Un," Tina Sprout nodded slightly, understanding that whatever fragile connection they had ended here.
The girl repeatedly took deep, steadying breaths, pulling the cold night air deep into her lungs. Then, as if trying to exhale every last bit of emotion, she forcibly suppressed those cherished feelings and precious memories into the deepest, darkest corner of her heart.
She slowly exhaled. When Tina Sprout's tightly closed eyes opened again, all trace of warmth and conflict had been erased from her gaze, replaced by a cold, battle-ready resolve.
She was ready.
"I am the Initiator, IP Rank 98, Owl-Type, codenamed 'Black Wind'," she declared, her voice ringing with formal clarity. "And I am a Mechanized Soldier of the "NEXT" Series—Tina Sprout. Although my skills are lacking… this time, I will engage you in a positional battle… to decide our victory or defeat!"
It was a rather imposing declaration of war.
Immediately after, she gave a slight, almost curtsy-like lift of her skirt hem. Three fist-sized, orb-like mechanical spheres dropped from hidden compartments. But the spheres did not fall to the ground; instead, they floated defying gravity, beginning to orbit Tina Sprout in complex, geometric flight paths.
These were XM2s—"Xianfelds"—thought-driven reconnaissance drones operated via a chip implanted in her brain. They felt similar in principle to the abilities of that girl codenamed 'Hummingbird,' but their functions were completely different, geared toward target acquisition and battlefield control.
(Unverified)
"Then, allow me to introduce myself as well," Mahiro replied, his expression becoming placid as he mirrored her formal tone.
"I am the Promoter, IP Rank 134, codenamed 'Zodiac Killer'. An Adjuster Magician from the Fourth Research Institute—Yotsuba Mahiro." He met her crimson gaze squarely. "Now… let's finish this, Tina Sprout."
"..."
A cool night breeze swept slowly through the space between them, carrying the scent of rust and dust.
Tina Sprout watched him, her gaze deep and unreadable. From his self-introduction, she had caught several pieces of information her Master had never mentioned: the Fourth Research Institute, and Adjuster Magician. It seemed different from the concept of a Mechanized Soldier, and she had never heard of this research institute's name before…
But it no longer mattered. She cast those irrelevant thoughts from her mind.
A more dazzling red light suddenly flared within her pupils as she abruptly launched herself into a series of backflips, putting distance between them!
The movement was a signal flare for battle.
Simultaneously, flashes of light erupted from the dark, gaping windows of the surrounding factory buildings. The very atmosphere vibrated with a subtle pressure. His Sharingan eyes clearly captured the countless projectiles tearing through the air toward him. Not from one direction, but from all around—thirty-six points of light, a coordinated web of fire designed to completely block all his escape vectors.
And the bullets kept coming.
The Gatling guns mounted in the windows continuously spewed forth empty yellow metal casings that clattered to the floor inside. The rapidly rotating barrels clearly identified them as M61 Vulcan aircraft cannons!
So this is what she meant by a 'positional battle'?
In the less than 0.01 seconds it took for the thought to form, a brilliant, shimmering light of psionic particles enveloped his body.
"Scattering Mist."
All the bullets whistling toward him were silently disintegrated into metallic dust within a one-meter radius of his form. On the surface, it looked like countless pebbles being thrown into a still lake, creating endless, overlapping ripples in the air around him.
But strangely, the trajectories and intended impact points of these bullets held no truly fatal intent. They were all aimed at his limbs or the ground around him, forming a cage of suppressive fire rather than a kill zone.
Did they still want to capture him alive, even now?
Or…
Mahiro suppressed the useless speculation in his head. In one fluid motion, he drew his CAD and pulled the trigger, aiming not at Tina, but at the flashing muzzles in the dark windows.
Mahiro suppressed the useless speculation in his head. In one fluid motion, he drew his CAD and pulled the trigger, aiming not at Tina, but at the flashing muzzles in the dark windows.
"Hyōka." (Frozen Fire)
Click-clack! Click-clack!
As if suffering a catastrophic mechanical seizure, the Gatling gun barrels that were spinning at thousands of rounds per second a moment ago were forcibly frozen solid the next instant, their mechanisms locking up completely. The electrically driven Vulcan cannons all fell silent, their relentless roar cut short in a symphony of dying mechanical groans.
When he turned his head, Tina Sprout had already vanished from her initial position.
"A second wave?"
He glimpsed two more flashes from the corner of his eye, appearing in the gaps between the surrounding buildings a full 1.5 kilometers away—still an absurdly long-range sniper shot.
Yotsuba Mahiro didn't even bother to fully turn. He simply waved his hand backward, and the "Night Demon" dagger materialized in his grip, its blade effortlessly slicing through two high-velocity depleted uranium armor-piercing rounds that came flying from an awkward, nearly blind angle.
However, the distant sniper nests were not Tina Sprout's location; they were merely automated, long-range operation modules. Mahiro confirmed this after a quick psionic scan disassembled the remote-controlled rifles into their component parts.
At the same time, he heard a familiar, high-pitched buzz from his left and right. It was those small, orb-like drones—the Xianfelds.
Since these reconnaissance units had appeared, it meant—
Tap—
A faint, almost imperceptible footstep suddenly sounded directly behind him.
Immediately after.
Swish!
Tina Sprout appeared from the shadows of the night like a phantom materializing from the darkness itself. Her crimson eyes glowed, dispelling the gloom around her as she burst forward with explosive speed. She pulled nearly invisible piano wire from her black combat gloves, the strands shimmering in the moonlight like a deadly cat's cradle. With swift, agile movements, she closed the distance, attempting to loop the wire around Yotsuba Mahiro from behind.
"Victory."
"Mada mada." (Not quite.)
Both their voices rang out almost simultaneously.
The moment the razor-sharp piano wire was about to snare his neck, Mahiro suddenly dropped his center of gravity, pulling his head back just enough for the wire to whistle past his throat. Using the momentum, he then lunged forward, his hand shooting out like a viper's strike.
His fingertips weaved through the crisscrossed strands of the wire trap, finding their mark on Tina Sprout's neck.
And with that grip, he slammed her down toward the concrete ground!
BOOM!
A crater erupted where she impacted. Dust and debris immediately billowed out in a cloud. The powerful impact created a visible shockwave of air that blew the accumulated grime off the factory floor in a circular pattern.
Tina Sprout's seemingly fragile body was slammed with immense force into the unyielding concrete. The heavy blow to her back forcibly expelled all the air from the girl's lungs in a pained gasp, and the intense whiplash and impact temporarily whited out her vision. Although he had used significant force, it was nothing compared to the superhuman durability and recovery ability possessed by a Cursed Child. However, it was more than enough to incapacitate Tina Sprout for a crucial moment.
"Gohun... gehoho... As expected of the person I like, Mahiro-san..." she choked out, struggling to draw breath. "You're… truly amazing."
Whether it was the positional siege warfare or the close-quarters combat, she had lost utterly and completely.
Master... Tina has failed...
She was not, nor could she ever be, a match for Yotsuba Mahiro.
But this was enough.
Her pale, slender arms fell open and drooped naturally to her sides, splayed out like Jesus nailed to the cross. She had abandoned all resistance, silently awaiting the final judgment of her fate.
However, Yotsuba Mahiro had already released his grip on her neck. He was now simply crouching beside her, reaching out with a single finger to gently brush a smudge of dirt from her cheek.
"Nee~ Miss Tina~" he said, his tone light and teasing. "Your panties are showing~ And they're black! How daring of you~"
"...."
Although she heard his words and a fierce blush instantly spread across her cheeks and down her neck, she made no move to cover herself or stir. She kept her eyes tightly closed, as if shutting out the world, and whispered with heartbreaking finality:
"Mahiro-san… I've lost. So… next… please kill me."
She repeated the same plea from the night before.
"Do you want to die that much?" he asked, his voice losing its playful edge.
"...I am just a tool," she stated, as if reciting a fundamental truth. "A tool that has failed its mission… has no value in continuing to exist."
"So that's why… you haven't shown a shred of killing intent since this began? Even with all those machine guns, every single bullet's trajectory was deliberately deviated from my vitals?"
She gave a slow, undeniable nod.
The reason she had prolonged their "decisive battle" until today was not because she believed she could win. From the moment her mission failed last night, she had already sentenced herself to death. She had simply wanted one more day—one more day to create as many happy, human memories with Yotsuba Mahiro as she could.
And she had succeeded.
The first time she ate takoyaki from a street vendor.
The first time she stayed awake all day without relying on caffeine pills.
The first time she played in a public park like a normal child.
The first time she had someone she liked, the first time she experienced the fluttering heart of a girl in love, and the first time she stole a kiss.
It was also the first time she had ever truly felt… like she was living.
With so many precious "firsts," she felt her short life was now complete.
However, at the very end, she allowed herself one small, selfish wish: for Yotsuba Mahiro to be the one to personally end her life, and to take her body to the Seitenshi to claim the bounty. This was the last thing she could do for him, and the only form of repayment left available to her.
Therefore—
"So, Mahiro-san, please… I beg of you… kill me."
She opened her eyes, her luminous crimson gaze meeting Yotsuba Mahiro's dark, unreadable pupils, letting him see the firm, unwavering resolve to die within them.
Seeing that absolute determination, Yotsuba Mahiro gave a slow, solemn nod. He raised his CAD and gently, almost tenderly, pressed the cold, hard muzzle against the center of Tina Sprout's forehead.
[Tracing individual information body change history. Commencing analysis—]
Feeling the chilling touch of the metal and seeing the unwavering resolve on Yotsuba Mahiro's face, Tina Sprout closed her eyes, a profound sense of peace washing over her.
This is good…
Compared to being coldly 'disposed of' by the Master… dying by Onii-chan's hand is already the greatest mercy I could ever receive…
"Sayonara, Mahiro-nii…" she whispered, a final, serene smile gracing her lips. "Tina… loves you the most."
"Sayonara, Tina Sprout."
A brilliant, concentrated flash of psionic light erupted from the muzzle, streaking through the night sky like a fleeting meteor, its incandescent glow momentarily banishing the surrounding darkness.
....
BANG! BANG BANG!
The heavy metal dissection table was slammed with all of Sumire Muroto's might, causing the flasks and beakers on it to jump and clatter precariously.
"What a farce! What kind of sick joke is this?!"
Sumire Muroto, the undisputed queen of the hospital basement, shouted with uncharacteristic vehemence, the hem of her white lab coat flapping as she paced back and forth in the sterile morgue like a caged animal. This was the first time Yotsuba Mahiro had ever seen the doctor so emotionally unhinged. Usually, no matter the catastrophe, she would deal with it with a lazy, almost bored demeanor. But now, she was genuinely, furiously enraged.
It was the fury of betrayal.
To be precise, she had been betrayed—by former colleagues, by people she had once fought alongside in the name of science.
"An Rand!" she seethed, spitting the name like a curse. "I never thought you would sink so low! To think that you, one of the Four Sages, would stoop to this! It's utterly unbelievable!"
An Rand was the 'Master' Tina Sprout had referred to, the former highest authority of the American branch of the Mechanized Soldier Project, 'NEXT,' and Tina Sprout's nominal Promoter.
However...
"Is it really that surprising?" Mahiro commented idly, leaning against a counter. "If I recall correctly, that Albrecht Grünewald fellow fell from grace quite early on, didn't he? So this just makes one more."
Since Scorpio's invasion of the Tokyo Area, Sumire Muroto had already deduced the shadowy leader behind the Five Wings Syndicate. It was that bastard, the chief of the Four Sages himself!
"This is different!" Sumire Muroto waved a hand in exasperated dismissal. "That bastard Albrecht was never a man of principle to begin with! But I never, ever expected An Rand to sell even the most basic conscience of a physician to the devil! How can I not be furious?!"
She stopped her pacing, her eyes blazing with remembered conviction. "Back then, we swore an oath together, before we completed the mechanized soldier projects for our respective nations! We swore that before we were scientists… we were doctors!"
Sumire Muroto could still vividly recall the Hippocratic Oath they had all taken then—
'I will keep myself from all intentional ill-doing and all seduction, and especially from the pleasures of love with women or with men, of bond or free.'
"And at that time," she continued, her voice dropping, "whether it was Rentaro, who had lost his limbs, or Hiruko Kagetane, whose internal organs were rapidly failing… both were in states where they would have died without our intervention. Even so, we still respected the individual's wishes! We remembered our reverence for life!"
Her fists clenched. "We knew better than anyone that science could perform miracles, turning decay into wonder, but it was not omnipotent! Science is the original sin borne by humans who ate the fruit of knowledge; all scientists are the descendants of Cain, who first committed the sin of murder!"
She looked at Mahiro, her gaze intense. "The four of us were doctors and scientists. We were once proud of this dual identity, but we also understood more deeply than anyone that scientists are the most sinful people in the world."
She slammed her hand on the table again. "But now?! First, Albrecht Grünewald breaks his oath, performing modifications for the Five Wings Syndicate, continuing the cursed New Human Creation Project in the shadows! And now An Rand sends innocent children, one after another, to the operating table to be turned into weapons! What happened to them?!"
Watching her former like-minded colleagues betray their shared principles one after another, how could Sumire Muroto, as one of the last standing Four Sages, not be consumed by rage? She felt a profound, burning shame at even sharing the same title with them now!
"It's utterly disgusting! If I could, I'd spit right in his face!" she declared, finally collapsing back into her swivel chair with a huff. Even her alluring long legs, sheathed in their signature ultra-thin black stockings, trembled with residual anger.
Seeing this, Yotsuba Mahiro took a moment to appreciate the view of those stockings before propping his chin on his hand and offering a consolation.
"Yare yare… I think it's actually quite normal," he said philosophically. "People's hearts are as fickle as a snake's. When faced with immense power or profit, many can't hold onto their original intentions. Or, those who try to hold on encounter some… traumatic accident along the way, leading to a complete personality shift. It's a common trope."
He gave her a lazy smile. "And I don't think you, Doctor, need to waste your energy being angry. After all, I'll be taking action soon. Whether it's Albrecht Grünewald or An Rand… none of them will escape."
Hearing his words, Sumire Muroto, who had been raging and wallowing in shame, suddenly stilled. She looked at him, her sharp eyes narrowing. "Are you planning to move against them?"
"Of course," Mahiro shrugged, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Only those with the resolve to be shot are qualified to pull the trigger. Since they've decided to make an enemy of me, they must also be prepared to be eliminated. I have no interest in letting my enemies live freely and without consequence."
From Tina Sprout's information body, he had already extracted all the intelligence he needed. She had been sent by An Rand to the Tokyo Area to assassinate both the Seitenshi and him. And the one who had hired An Rand, while Tina didn't know for certain, could easily be inferred to be the President of the Osaka Area—Sōgen Saitake. Not to mention that Sōgen Saitake was also a member of the Five Wings Syndicate, bearing the five-wing tattoo of a high-ranking cadre.
Not a single one of these people would be spared.
As for Tina Sprout herself…
She was currently in this very cold basement morgue. She was sitting on a metal gurney in the corner, though a more accurate description would be that she was curled up there, looking small and lost.
The good news was that although Yotsuba Mahiro had publicly announced Tina Sprout's 'death,' he had not actually killed her. Instead, he had used his magic to safely deactivate and remove the lethal bio-chip implanted in her brain, creating a perfect illusion of her demise for her Master's sensors.
The bad news was that a girl was standing opposite her at that moment.
A girl with beautiful, short blue hair, wearing nothing but a simple white cotton surgical gown that was too long for her, its hem dragging on the cold floor. She didn't seem to care. From beneath her fine, straight bangs, a pair of captivating wine-red eyes peered out, staring intently at Tina with a deep, unnerving curiosity.
Just by seeing those eyes, Tina Sprout knew with primal certainty. This child, like her, was a Cursed Child!
But the problem was, for some reason, she felt an overwhelmingly powerful sense of oppression radiating from this girl. It was like meeting a natural predator—a suppression that came from her very bloodline. Her every instinct, her subconscious, was screaming at her to get away, to flee from this girl immediately.
Why…? Why is this happening?
She had never felt this way when facing Mahiro-nii. She hadn't even felt this when facing the strongest of her 'sisters'—
Rita Sōtsuki, IP Rank 21, codenamed 'Pluto', had never evoked such a visceral, terrorizing response.
It was as if this blue-haired girl could end her life with a mere thought, without even moving a muscle.
So terrifying…