Chapter 268: Nojiko & Marianne vs Hotori

Nojiko and Marianne rode on the back of Fuza. They flew firstly back to the scorched bodies where Fuza had used his fire attack to catch the Divine Soldiers off guard and eliminate them. 

Fuza hovered over the bodies, their agonized moans echoing through the air as they writhed in pain. Their skin marred by the telltale blackened marks of severe burns. "It's a miracle they die from such an attack," Nojiko observed.

"They're strong," Marianne acknowledged. She did not care too much about them; however they were a pain to deal with, she thought. 

"But we are stronger," Nojiko declared. She looked around and saw the Shooter were all burnt, the Axe Dials on their hands also looked damaged. "It seems like those will be no use for us," Nojiko remarked. 

Marianne gazed over the scattered equipment, nodding in agreement. "Yes," she concurred.

"There should be more up the river. We fought a number of them during the battle," Nojiko remarked.

"There were also two who were chasing us," Marianne added.

"Saphir will search in the river, so the two of us will continue to scour the area around the river," Nojiko decided. Marianne nodded in agreement as she took control of Fuza and flew them upstream. They both scanned around the river banks to see the dials or Shooters. They kept progressing up the river further and further away from the Miss Love Duck.

There they spotted the group which attacked them before. They saw three Shooters on their feet. "Over there," Nojiko said. 

Marianne nodded and took Fuza down. They saw the men who were alive, however unconscious. She thought that Vivi would help them even if they were the enemy. She had a kind heart. Nojiko thought back to when Arlong attacked them and enslaved them. These people attacked us. She sighed. 

"Let's get the Shooters and leave," Nojiko said. Marianne acknowledged it and got to work. Nojiko walked over to a tree and saw a large leaf. She pulled the leaf and dragged it along the ground. The leaf was big as a blanket. She saw Marianne had taken the tree Shooters off. 

"What is that for?" Marianne asked. She looked at the large. 

Nojiko threw the leaf over them. "Just so they can survive," Nojiko replied solemnly. She added, "My gut feeling is we may be the same."

"The same?" Marianne questioned, her curiosity piqued by Nojiko's cryptic statement.

"We are both fighting oppressive people," Nojiko explained.

Marianne smiled. "Okay but whoever tries to hurt us we will hurt them," Marianne stated. 

Nojiko smiled back. "That we will," Nojiko agreed. The thought of her crew getting hurt was repulsive. 

"Looks like we have the Shooters, let's go and see if we can find more," Nojiko said. 

As they made their way back to Fuza, a blazing fireball hurtled towards him at an alarming speed. The fireball hit Fuza on its back as it screamed in pain. Its wings engulfed in fire. Nojiko saw this and reacted swiftly, and pushed Marianne to the ground, shielding her from the tense flames. 

Heat licked at their heels as the flames licked at the air. "Marianne, are you okay?" Nojiko asked. 

"I am fine, are you?" Marianne asked back. Nojiko got up and saw the flames. 

"Cloud Surge," Nojiko said as she summoned dense storm clouds to surround the area. "Rain Burst," Nojiko added as the clouds darken. It quickly poured down with rain. The rain extinguished the flames on Fuza wings and back.

Fuza looked calm but his facial expression still had signs of uneasiness. 

"So you can create clouds, the fireball took a lot of effort to create and store," a man said. 

Nojiko and Marianne looked up in the tree and saw a giant ball shaped man wearing a white jumpsuit, with a white sash. He had orange shoes and orange gloves as well as yellow sunglasses that covered up his eyes completely. He was up on a tree. 

"Another Divine Solider," Marianne remarked. 

"Who are you?" Nojiko questioned. 

"I am Hotori, above the usual ranks but lower than my brother Satori," Hotori said smiling. His smile then disappeared. "The one you took down," he added.

"You attacked us," Marianne said. 

"You are all criminals," Hotori replied. He smiled back. 

With a sinister chuckle, Hotori's laughter filled the air, his tone dripping with malice as he taunted his adversaries. "I will take you both down," he declared. "My brother and I made a bet to see who will get to their target first, he has one but I have two," Hotori continued. "Two easy prey," he boasted.

Nojiko looked and asked, "One? Who else are you after?"

"You will meet her soon, in the afterlife," Hotori said. 

Marianne and Nojiko glared at Hotori. Marianne took her Yellow Gun out from her waist. She took it with her when she got the Impact Dial. She aimed the Yellow Gun and fired a diced shaped bullet at Hotori.

The bullet went towards him at full speed. Hotori smiled and raised his hand at the bullet. There was an explosion and a large black cloud. Hotori started laughing. As the smoke cleared, Marianne and Nojiko saw he took no damage. His smile widened. "You fools," Hotori said as pressed the button on the Impact Dial and led out a shockwave towards Marianne and Nojiko. 

Marianne raised her arm, swiftly activating her Impact Dial to absorb the incoming shockwave. The force of the impact sent ripples of energy coursing through her body. She struggled to contain it all within her Dial. With determination etched on her face, she gritted her teeth and braced herself against the relentless force, her muscles straining with the effort. Nojiko moved to her side, and lent her support to keep Marianne from being pushed back.

Together, they stood firm as Marianne absorbed the last remnants of the shockwave into her Dial, a triumphant smile graced her lips. "We have one as well," she remarked proudly.

Hotori kissed his teeth. "So what?" Hotori said. He then pointed his other hand, showing his flame dial. He then pressed the button and a flame ball was released. 

"Rain Blast," Nojiko said as she concentrated and created a cloud on her hand. It then released a torrent of rain at the flameball. The attacks collided with each other causing a massive steam cloud to be developed. 

Hotori used his Mantra to try to locate them. He saw Nojiko about to attack. His eyes widened. Nojiko still had clouds nearby which she created previously. She saw where Hotori was. "Lightning Barrage," Nojiko said as the cloud further darkened. A lightning bolt came out of the cloud towards Hotori. 

Hotori recoiled in agony as the searing bolt of lightning struck him. A guttural scream tore from his lips as the electricity coursed through his body. He was paralyzed with pain as he plummeted from the tree, his body convulsing as he crashed to the ground below in front of Marianne and Nojiko. 

Hotori's breath came in ragged gasps as he struggled to regain his composure. The scent of burnt flesh lingered in the air. His vision was disorientated. The pain got worse until he lost consciousness. Hotori's last thoughts were that he lost, she was strong. 

"You are amazing," Marianne said to Nojiko with sparkles in her eyes.

Nojiko smiled. "It was a team effort," Nojiko replied. 

They high-fived each other. "We should get back now," Nojiko added. 

"Let's take his dials," Marianne said. 

Nojiko agreed. They took his Flame Dial, Impact Dial and his Shooters.

They turned their attention to Fuza who looked injured. Marianne looked a bit sad. "Let's see Kaya and give him some bandages," Nojiko said.

Marianne nodded. "Yes, that is a good idea," Marianne replied. 

"Fuza, can you fly back?" Marianne asked.

Fuza moved its head and nodded. "Should we walk?" Nojiko asked. Fuza flapped his wings. 

"Looks like it wants us to fly back with it," Marianne said. Nojiko nodded. They both got up onto Fuza and flew back to the Miss Love Duck. Fuza was struggling to fly straight however they could see the Miss Love Duck. Fuza just made it. It dropped Marianne and Nojiko off. 

Fuza, his massive wings spread wide, hovered gracefully above the Miss Love Duck. With a deliberate movement, he pointed in a different direction, drawing the attention of Nojiko and Marianne. "Do you want to go there?" Nojiko inquired..

In response, Fuza nodded. "Okay, but don't you want to get treated?" Marianne interjected.

With a low, rumbling noise, Fuza made it clear that his priority lay elsewhere. "It wants to go there," Nojiko said.

"Okay, go there and thank you for everything," Marianne said. Fuza took off and went away. Marianne waved it off.