"KIYOSHI!!"
Aoshi's voice tore through the chaos, just as a car smashed through the mall entrance. She was standing on top, gripping her rapier tightly as the vehicle screeched into the atrium.
Kenji kicked open the car door and rushed to Kiyoshi, dragging him away from the debris. Blood dripped from Kiyoshi's face, but he managed to stay conscious, eyes wide as he watched Aoshi.
Without hesitation, Aoshi climbed out through the window and stood firmly on the roof of the still-moving car. Her eyes locked onto Pride, who floated above them, a massive orb of twisted, electrified metal pulsing between his hands.
Clenching her jaw, she pulled her arm back and hurled the rapier with all her strength. The weapon spun through the air like a silver bullet.
Pride grinned. "Hah! You thought a mere rapier could pierce solid objects?"
With a casual motion, he pulled a floating fridge in front of himself. The rapier struck it—and stuck.
"Damn it, he blocked it…" Aoshi muttered, her heart sinking.
But then… something was off.
Pride's smile faltered. "...Wait—"
The fridge suddenly exploded in a violent blast of shrapnel and sparks, sending Pride tumbling to the ground. Smoke and dust filled the air.
"What…? I didn't trigger that. I didn't make it explode!" Pride's eyes widened in disbelief. "Was it… the rapier?"
As the smoke cleared, the rapier vanished—then reappeared in Aoshi's hand in a shimmer of light.
"You've lost," Aoshi declared, stepping off the car. "Tell us where the bomb is. We might still have time to defuse it."
Pride chuckled, coughing through the smoke. "Time? You think it's a time bomb?" He pulled a small device from his blazer.
"You're wrong."
He slammed his thumb on the button.
"THIS IS MY LAST SHOWDOWN!" he screamed, laughing maniacally.
A sudden blast ripped through the air behind him—then another, and another. Explosions roared from every corner of the mall. Glass shattered, steel twisted, and flames consumed everything.
"GO!" Aoshi yelled. She grabbed Kenji and Kiyoshi, pushing them back. The three sprinted toward the exit.
At the very last second, Aoshi leapt out of the mall as the final explosion detonated behind her. The force of the blast launched them forward. Debris flew in every direction. Cuts tore across their arms and faces as they hit the ground hard.
The electronics mall was no more—just smoke, fire, and rubble.
"Is he crazy…?" Kenji muttered, coughing. "He just… blew himself up?"
"...Yeah," Aoshi said, breathless. "He lost his mind."
But inside the burning wreckage...
Just seconds after the initial blast, Envy appeared within the mall, cloak fluttering in the heat. Pride's scorched body lay motionless on the ground.
Without a word, Envy picked him up, slinging him over his shoulder.
"Don't die now," Envy muttered, vanishing into the air again. "There's something you still need to do."