02x14 - The Ashen Reaper

[bunniefuu]

Lisa, can you please hand me my gauge?

Okay. Here you.. Go. Thank you. Hey.

Are you going to build something new for us?

Yeah. There's no telling when the evangelist cronies will pop up again.

Perfect. Thanks. That's all for today.

All right. I'm here if you need me. Sure.

Iijima has gotten away with a lot of twisted crap.

But after what Dr. Giovanni did to her,

I'm going to make damn sure those

bastards get what's coming to them.

Sounds good. We should make them pay.

Shinra. Before you started at the training academy.

You were at a Haijima facility, right?

That means you could be a spy. Oh, yeah, of course I'm a spy.

And I signed up to be one

just so I could assassinate you. Well, it's..

All over now. Come at me.

You just came at me. You're too late.

You'll never b*at the swordsmanship of a knight

king. You actually hit..

Me. Devil. You're the one who hit me first. Demon,

join the Knights of the dump table.

Shinra You really used to be at Haijima?

Well, yeah, I was there for a while.

My abilities showed up after the fire

years ago and there was a period

of time when I really couldn't control them very well.

So I got sent to a Haijima

Pyrokinesis development place and they did experiments on me.

I'll never forget how cold everyone was.

Me and the other kids were just test subjects to them.

They didn't care about anything except our abilities.

I guess it could have been worse,

but it was a bad place to be. Hey, Shinra.

Why would you do that? There's kind

of a thing I need to talk to everyone about.

Could you gather the troops? Yeah, sure. No problem. Thanks.

So what did you need to talk about?

This will be extremely hard for me to say,

and I offer my most heartfelt apologies,

but I Victor leaked was embedded with

you here at the eighth as a haijima spy.

So bombshell. No response.

We knew. What? Why blow your cover now?

I mean, you never officially joined Company eight.

You've always been with Haijima. Yeah, that's true.

Does that mean that Licht isn't really one of us?

Don't worry. As you were. Sister.

Okay. And that makes this much easier.

My primary objective in coming to the eighth

was to observe a little buddy Shinran, who's a doula, burst.

Much like the evangelist, Haijima has been

very interested in tracking down the next Adolla Burster.

And for that reason, they sent me here

to keep an eye on this one.

But Shinra had already been at Haijima.

Right? It seems to me like they let

him get away from him pretty easily. Yup.

And that's why I wanted to talk to everyone today.

Shinra After your house b*rned down, the Haijima

Pyrokinesis Development Institute took you in.

They did. I was there till I was .

When I was , I enrolled at the fire force training academy.

Now, as it happens, it's true that they were researching

a doula base at the facility where you lived.

But for whatever reason, they could never

identify your flame as being one. They just totally missed it.

Lightweight. Oh, shut up. You shouldn't be laughing, dweeb.

And that's where the problem started. Once

they figured out that they let one slip through their fingers,

they got a lot more extreme with their methods of experimentation.

And kids are getting pretty hurt.

Some to the extent that they will never fully recover,

or because Hydrium is so afraid of missing

another one like Shinra. Really? Because of me.

And now they've finally ordered me to bring Shinra back to them.

There's no way in hell we're selling out one of our crewmen.

I won't pretend this isn't a precarious situation. Most certainly is.

Obviously, thereafter is a doula burst, but this

could be our only opportunity to investigate Haijima.

None of their employees know the nuts

and bolts of the development facility, myself included.

But if we agree to go along,

we may be able to find the connection

to the evangelist that we're looking for. Hmm.

You're a spy for Haijima. So why should any of us trust you?

Hold on, Vulcan. If what he's telling us is true,

then I can't just leave all those kids there to suffer.

Captain Obi, I'm down with this. Part

of being a hero is keeping children safe.

Shinra, don't rush into this. It'll be three

years before the truth about Amaterasu gets out.

Do you think the evangelist is going

to sit back till then and do nothing?

We can't waste time by playing it safe.

She still has my brother, Inspector leaked.

We need to know whose side you're really on.

Are your loyalties still with Haijima, or are they with us?

Honestly, I'm on both sides. I signed

up with Haijima so I could look for the truth.

But right now I'm leaning towards the eighth.

Sticking with you guys instead of them

could get me closer to my goal.

Sounds to me like you're not really

on anyone's side but your own.

Very perceptive. Shinra. I can't let you go to Haijima

on your own. It's too dangerous.

So that means I will be sending

all of Company eight on this mission? Yes, sir.

The investigation of Haijima starts now. Roger.

Okay. Not too cool. This is a combat test.

Are you ready to get started? Kurono.

Uh huh.

So Nataku you want to go around with Uncle Reaper? Uh, sure.

So this is his third combat test. Huh.

I know he's kind of a bonus from the incident,

but please try not to break him.

All right, You may begin.

Come on. Uncle Reaper needs you to try out this experiment.

Can you tell me something, Uncle Reaper?

I want to know when I can go back home.

You know what this symbol represents? The Grim Reaper.

You won't go home alive. And since

this is the third time we're doing this, I'm done playing around.

Which means you're going to have to get serious,

too, or you're going home in a body bag.

So show me what you can do. Your real power.

My stars. Oh, yeah. Get fired up.

You got this. I mean, the bug

chose you, didn't it? Show em all.

What being hot blooded really means. It's in you.

That fiery spirit.

Oh, I feel the fire.

year.

Like it. You're just like a sh**ting star.

Let that fire keep burning hotter and hotter. Yeah.

Now let it out. Make it explode. I know you got it in you.

Give me a ra ra ra.

Flame output intensifying. However, no adolla burst detected.

His mental state is becoming unstable. Some kind

of PTSD. What now? Do we stop?

Well, from the stories I've heard, Shinra

kusakabe's a burst finally sparked during combat. Keep going.

And if this kid breaks, he breaks.

It would be a shame, though. Uh. Ooh.

Get up. We're still not done here.

Look, this is Uncle Reaper's job, You understand?

So I'm going to need you to help

me do it right now. On your feet.

This is hard to watch. I don't

get how he can go through with it.

Yeah, apparently to him, this is his dream job.

His skills are good enough to be part of a real combat unit.

But from what I understand, he requested to stay here.

Just so he can pick on children.

His right arm is totally carbonized from Torosus,

but he still can't get enough destruction.

So he's out of his mind. Then

his abilities are off the charts.

They say he could even keep up

with the captain of the seventh.

All right, Colonel. We're done.

Nice work in there, Kurono.

Yeah, very impressive. But doesn't b*ating up kids

make you feel a little weird?

Punishing the weeks. My favorite thing to do.

And the weaker my opponent, the smaller my risk of getting hurt.

That must be why you're willing to follow orders from your superiors.

You're really getting under my skin. Do you

not realize when I say the weak

that I'm talking about you as well?

And I'm incredibly good at crushing weak people like you?

Sorry about that. He doesn't understand. Didn't mean to do that. Oh.

Rumor is Shinra Kusakabe will be coming here.

I expect that he'll be going a few rounds with me.

He is amazingly weak after all.

I appreciate you coming, Shinra. Don't mention it.

When you first brought up the facility,

it made me think of someone I saw there.

This guy being treated for severe tephroseris.

I could never forget what a psycho he was.

Uh.

Stop. Harry. Come. Stop.

You guys get to have all the fun.

It's just not fair. I want to play too.

That sounds like Cyrano to me. He's

got quite the reputation around that place.

Just like Captain Sheneman of the seventh

is often referred to as the mightiest.

This Cyrano guy seems to have the lock

on being called the maddest pyrokinetic.

We're here. Any memories coming back? Was this the place?

Oh, right. They do change the locations

of their labs from time to time.

Keeps away those prying eyes..

Because they know what they're doing is

totally messed up. Let's go in.

Picture Leaked Chief Researcher. Applied Pyro Kinesiology Lab.

We've been expecting you.

Have you noticed yet?

What do you.. Expect? Of course, security..

Is going to watch us like hawks.

They may as well just say you're not getting out of here.

Be told I'm pretty stoked about getting

to see such a shady place firsthand.

Whoa. Are you sure you should be saying that out loud?

I'm kind of get k*lled here anyway.

You won't on my watch. I promise I'll protect you.

Even though you may be a Haijima

spy. You've helped me out before.

We definitely would hate to lose you back at the eighth.

Wow. That's nice to hear. At least

I can die happy. Don't even think about it.

What I wouldn't give for you to have heard that, Joker.

I may have to leave you for the eighth.

I can't let Joker be the only

one putting his neck on the line.

That's why I wrote that ridiculous report

to rankle the top brass and get some juicy dirt on Haijima.

I'm more than willing to exploit the

goodwill of the eighth and Shinra.

If it means getting my hands on the truth.

Welcome to the Pyrokinesis Development lab. We're glad you're here.

And the kids will be so happy.

Do you really think those kids you're

torturing in there are going to be happy?

I understand you want to meet the

children ASAP. Well, come on in.

Hello? He's so funny. He's great. I want to try, too.

So you see, our job is taking

care of kids who don't know how to control their abilities.

I requested to visit with the boy

you took in after the Hoshimiya incident.

But it was denied. Is it possible

for me to see how he's doing?

Oh, you must mean Nataku, since he's

somewhat of a special case. He's not at this facility.

Help me. Oh, please. Link, darling. Want to go home? Nautical.

You had one. Yeah, there's no doubt.

Not at this facility. I'm not buying that crap. He's here.

They're hiding something for sure. I think

we should play along with him for

a while and see what we can dig up.

Mm.

Crewman Kusakabe, we appreciate you allowing

us to observe your adolla burst.

This will be a simulated battle test, if you don't mind.

Back in a cold, empty room again.

The whole thing gives me chills right down to my soul.

They're treating me like a subject. Some kind of lab rat.

Stripping away my humanity, baring my teeth with this weird smile.

I look forward to working with you today.

Don't be a waste of my time.

I'll never forget those eyes or that look

of staring down prey. I knew he was here.

I remember you. I used to see you around the lab years ago.

I wish I could have played with you back then.

Now look at you. All grown up.

I wanted to devour you when you were

a scrawny and clumsy little thing.

Why the hell wouldn't they let me have

a go at you when you were still a kid?

You're nearly as tall as I am these days, huh?

Yeah. But I can almost smell the.. Weakness on.. You.

Oh. You have the strength of a grown man.

It's really too bad you couldn't stay

weak and pitiful. What a shame.

Can I get started? Of course. Ready? Kusakabe.

I can't wait to kick this freak's ass.

His tephrosia is way worse than I imagined.

Is that why he's putting out all that black smoke?

Right hand eclipse.

Oh.

He kind of swung his fist, but it didn't land.

He didn't use much force either. Did anything touch me?

As weird as it sounds, I think it was the smoke.

I need to figure out what he's doing so I can counter him.

I can't just keep taking hits, though.

I'd better use my rapid.

He was able to block that. Well, how about this?

How can he react

to rapid if this is the first time he's seen it?

You've been torturing the children here, haven't you? That ends today.

Come on, Shinra. We need you to show us that a dollar burst.

I'll show it to you. All right.

It'll be the last thing you see

when I come over there and kick your ass. Well, that's terrifying.

What's the deal with that black smoke?

It's no big secret. Once I tell you,

it still won't do you any good.

This black smoke links with my senses,

allowing me to detect the smallest vibrations in the air.

That's how I reacted to your speed att*cks.

You know, throwing weak little kids around

is a lot of fun. You should see them fly.

I think you would get into it, too.

Screw you. I'll hit him. With so many

change att*cks. He won't know what's happening.

His firepower grows with each spin. Yeah. Let's freaking go.

His smoke solidifying.

Eclipse Vale.

Did he concentrate that smoke to make weapons?

You're not done yet, though. I would

absolutely love it if that were all it took to destroy you.

Okay, Kurono. That's enough for today. We've gotten plenty of data.

Wait a second. . What the hell

is he doing? Room temperature is rising.

But then the more I wear you down, the more I enjoy this.

Let's keep going.

Researchers at the lab

rush into the chaotic test site and little nataku has changed.

A strange lady gets in the way of the eighth.

And to top it off, the white clad show up again.

What else is going to happen?

Next time on Fire Force. Season two

Episode A three way melee returned

to the great Flame of Fire LatAm.