Battle to the Tower

Tanaka-San and Raphine headed to the tower after we were split off. The fire seemed to direct them down a particular path in the same manner that it had for Trash-Chan and me.

"Otaku-San, should we be following the path of the flames?" Raphine said as they charged down the pathway.

"I don't think we have much of a choice. I'm sure they would react if we broke out of the path," Tanaka-san replied as he ran alongside her. The fire that engulfed the city not only seemed to create paths where we were being led but seemed to move and adapt as they walked. At any point in time, the fire was always the same distance away from them. If they walked a little closer to the fire, it would slide slightly away from the direction they walked. At the same time, it would slide somewhat closer to where they walked away from. Only the path forward was open. The way behind them would close up now and then as they walked.

"This smells like a trap, though," Raphine said cautiously.

"It most certainly is. We just have to fight through it!"

"Hmm, I guess your right. To get back to Trash-Chan!"

They ran around a corner and into an open building.

"Stop right there," A voice shouted.

"Yes, if you want to proceed. You will have to get through us!" another voice shouted.

Two waifus stood at the entrance. One was a blonde hair waifu with white robes, and the other was a blue hair waifu with blue robes.

"The power of the heavens will stop you now!" they shouted together as they put their fists into the air.

Tanaka-San and Raphine ran past them and out another door back onto the fiery streets. They continued to run down the streets.

"So, Raphine-Chan, what do you like to do for fun?" Tanaka-San asked as they continued to run.

"Is this the time to be asking stuff like this?"

"I just thought I'd make some small talk."

"Oh, I see. That's a good idea," Raphine quickly agreed.

"I love watching anime in my free time."

"Hmm, I can't say I enjoy that. I prefer more outdoor type things."

"Like what?"

"Oh, hiking, fishing, and archery, of course!"

"Fair enough, I personally have been enjoying very bare-bones camping as of late. Of course, it was more out of necessity at first."

"Bare bones camping?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure what else to call it, but I took a liking to just heading into the woods with nothing but clothes on my back, and plenty of anime downloaded on my phone and just enjoying the wilderness.

"Otaku-San, I think something was off in that sentence..."

"Yeah, I took a liking to it recently when I tried it out for the first time."

"Oh, did you try camping without supplies?"

"Yeah, I went on a journey and didn't take anything with me. It was a mistake at first, but I think I might enjoy it now. I kept having to stop at wifi hotspots to download more anime, though..." Tanaka-San's voice trailed as he spoke. He was starting to realize that something was off with his style of camping. "So, you enjoy the wilderness too?"

"Yes, I enjoy long walks in the woods in particular."

"Do you think coming from an isekai has influenced your enjoyment in any way?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you came from a fantasy world but probably were thrown in the city after the labs. I imagine that the shock was a lot given your background."

"I see where you are coming from, but waifus have a certain understanding about this world as well as knowledge of their world."

"How does that work?"

"I don't know. They don't tell us that."

"I guess it makes sense that they wouldn't."

"You seem rather interested in waifus, Otaku-San."

"Oh, by the way. Why are you calling me Otaku-San?"

"Would you rather I called you Otaku-Kun, like Trash-Chan?"

"You're just mimicking Trash-Chan then?"

"Is that a problem?"

"I suppose not."

They kept running down the path the flame seemed to lead them. The duo rounded a corner and emptied into a large open courtyard. It was a paved area with a few trees and benches laid out. In the distance, they could see the road leading out of the courtyard. The tower in the center of the city was right in front of them. It was a straight shot to it.

"Well, there's the tower. Let's go!" Raphine cheered. She was about to break off and run to the tower when Tanaka-san spoke up to stop her.

"Wait, let's wait a moment."

"But Trash-Chan, and the Main guy, are waiting for us."

"They will be okay if we wait a minute longer. We have more space here, so we should take a moment to rest and think of what we will do when we get to the tower."

"Aren't we going to beat that guy and his waifu up?" Raphine asked with her head tilted to one side.

"We will, but we need a plan to go into it. Your arrows weren't as effective on her before, and I'm sure that Trash-Sensei will have trouble with her too. It would help if I just knew who she was."

"You don't know?"

"It hurts my pride as an otaku to admit it, but I don't even recognize her. I could try searching for fire waifus, but I'm sure it wouldn't help. I almost wonder if she's from wherever Trash-Sensei originated from..."

"That's an interesting conversation those two are having," a voice yelled out. A large metal shoe smashed into the ground in front of the two. They leaped back to avoid it as the foot pulled out of the ground. A waifu in an orange metal armor pulled her foot back. Several other waifus stepped forward. One wore blue armor, and another wore red armor. Tanaka-San recognized them, of course. They were from a show which created mechanical suits out of ancient materials. The girls' dance styles powered the suits, and they incorporated them in their fighting.

The orange waifu put one leg in the air and began to spin in a circle. She leaped from the spin across toward Raphine and delivered a kick to her. She stumbled back, and the orange waifu began to turn again on her toes.

Raphine grabbed the Darius bow. She pulled back the string and shot three golden arrows. They split in the air, and one arrow flew to each of her opponents. The orange waifu simply spun and gracefully leaped out of the way of the arrow. The blue waifu tapped her feet to make loud clacking noises. Then she kicked the oncoming arrow, shattering it in the process. The red waifu simply shuffled her feet and grabbed the arrow in her hands. She spun around with the arrow and then redirected the shot back to Raphine.

Raphine ducked to avoid her arrow as it whizzed past her head. She drew her bow again and fired a shot at the blue waifu.

With a flurry of taps, the waifu's feet seemed to catch fire as she gracefully avoided the arrow. She spun and kicked a ball of fire at Raphine. Raphine leaped to the side as the ball flew past her.

"Otaku-San, I think we are in trouble!" she said as she began to hide behind Tanaka-San.

"Hey, don't use me as a shield! We just have to run if you can't take them down!"

"Oh, your right!"

The two attempted to break off in a sprint, but a giant mechanical foot smashed into the ground in front of them. They turned to look at the trio. The orange waifu's armor appeared to stretch off her leg and grow into the giant foot that blocked their path.

"I guess it couldn't be that easy," Tanaka-san muttered.

"What- what are we going to do? My arrows didn't work at all!" Raphine began to panic.

"Raphine, calm down. We can do this," Tanaka-san said in feigned confidence. At this point, he was not sure how they were going to get out of the situation.

"Oh! I see! We just need to beat them in a danced battle!" Raphine said with a palm-fist tap.

"What gave you that idea?"

"I bet you're secretly an amazing dancer that can outperform them!" Raphine said with a confident thumbs up.

"Unfortunately, the only dance I know is the macarena," Tanaka-san said while looking away.

"Oh, that's no help at all..." Raphine let her head hang as she realized they were in trouble.

The waifus looked back and forth at each other. They exchanged glances then shrugged.

"You know, we were only instructed to take your waifu. We don't have to hurt you if she just comes with us," the orange waifu said while pointing to Raphine. Raphine looked around and then pointed at herself with a confused look. "Yes, I'm talking about you!" the orange waifu exclaimed.

"Um, I'm not Otaku-San's waifu. I just met him in the woods," Raphine explained.

"Would you just accompany any stranger you would meet in the woods?" the orange waifu asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Well, I mean, they gave me food..."

The orange waifu shook her head. She looked back and forth at her companions, who had no comments to make.

"Alright then, would you come with us?" the orange waifu asked in a friendly tone.

"Hmm, I don't think I will," Raphine quickly replied.

"We will give you food."

"Sorry, but I will have to decline," Raphine said as she struggled to resist the offer for free food.

The orange waifu shook her head and cracked her knuckles.

"Alright, I guess we will just beat you and drag you back."

"Oh, Raphine, I think you made her mad," Tanaka-san commented.

"Oh! Did I?" Raphine asked with her hand covering her mouth.

"Can't you tell... never mind," Tanaka-san turned to the trio of waifu's, "Why are you three even doing this? Do you want to serve that guy?"

"It's not like we want to do what he says... but that fire waifu is too powerful. She beat us with ease... I mean we're standing in the middle of a burning city that she set on fire! We couldn't fight her!"

"I admit she is strong. And I don't even recognize who she is, but we do not plan to give in to her. Raphine, do you plan to fight with me?" Tanaka-San said.

"Sure, thing Otaku-San."

"You're a fool then, and you won't even get past us at this rate." The three waifu's took stances.

"Otaku-San, she might be right. I don't know how well my arrows will fight against them."

"That may be true, Raphine, but I intend to go down fighting. Juyo-San and Trash-Sensei will be able to take care of the rest."

It should be noted that at this point, Trash-Chan and I were wandering in circles throughout the fiery city. We were arguing whether we should take a left turn or right as Tanaka-san made a confident statement that we would take care of the rest.

The fight resumed between Raphine, Tanaka-San, and the trio. The trio of waifus began a series of dances. At the ends of their feet, they launched a series of attacks that seemed to fly off in the form of colored energy at Raphine and Tanaka-San. The duo receiving the attacks each jumped out of the way from the blows.

Tanaka-San rolled on the ground while avoiding the blows. He somersaulted and was back on his feet. Raphine simply leaped to her side. As she jumped in the air, she fired off a barrage of golden arrows. They were either blocked or dodged by the dancing trio.

The blue waifu jumped forward in front of Tanaka-San. She began to furiously kick on the ground, her feet making sparks of energy as Tanaka-san put all his effort into dodging. Raphine didn't fare any better. The orange waifu spun on her toes and began moving in Raphine's direction, like a top. The orange waifu crashed into Raphine, who barely managed to block the attack with her bow in what looked like a blur. The waifu stopped spinning as her leg smashed into the bow with enough force to shake the ground around them.

Raphine didn't get a chance to attack back. The red waifu immediately grabbed her by the hands and began to spin around with her. The red waifu let go, and Raphine was sent spinning into a wall that caved in around her. She collapsed onto the ground for a moment as the world seemed to keep spinning.

The blue waifu began her furry of attacks on Tanaka-san until he was finally hit with a blow. He was sent flying back and tumbled into the ground. The trio stopped their attacks and looked at the two that were now on the floor.

"Finally, he's pretty good at dodging," the blue waifu commented.

"It doesn't matter; let's just bring this one back," the orange waifu said as they turned to Raphine. She had pushed herself off the ground and was now using her golden bow to support herself.

"Look at you; you can barely stand," the orange waifu said while shaking her head.

"I won't quit. You will have to knock me out and drag me away," she said with a shaky voice.

"I suppose we can do that; it would just be easier for you to comply, though," the red waifu said with a sigh.

"No stop," Tanaka-san managed to say while lifting his head to look at the trio.

"He's not knocked out?" the orange waifu said in shock.

"Whatever, just ignore him," the red said as she began to walk to Raphine.

Just then, a deluge of bullets began to storm down in front of the red waifu, stopping her in her tracks. Everyone looked to the sky. A waifu was flying in the air with a mecha-plane armor on.

"Bristol Beaufighter?" Tanaka-San said.

Beaufighter immediately swooped down over the trio and began to rain bullets down on the trio. They jumped out of the way as she flew over them.

"Who is that?"

"Why is she here?" The trio was not sure how to take the unexpected person.

"I am willing to let you three walk away from here if you like. I only have business with the man in the tower," Beaufighter said sharply.

"That would be nice, be where we would walk to? There's fire everywhere!" the orange waifu retorted.

"I have trouble thinking you three would be stopped by flames so easily, but if you insist on fighting, I can take you down," Beaufighter replied firmly.

Tanaka-San pushed himself off the ground and began to hobble toward Raphine. The trio stared into the sky at Beaufighter. Then, she disappeared from view. The trio started to look around frantically.

"Where did she go?" the blue waifu shouted. They all pressed their backs close together and began to look around for Beaufighter.

"One of her abilities allows her to turn invisible while visibility is reduced in the sky, and right now, the sky is full of smoke," Tanaka-san commented as he helped Raphine on her feet.

"You two, just wait a moment..." the orange waifu said while looking around.

In the sky, a shadowed form appeared and shot a missile at the closely bunched trio. They tried to react to it, but only the orange waifu was fast enough. The other two were hit by the explosion and rolled across the ground several times. Each was out cold with swirls in their eyes.

The orange waifu bit her lip as she frantically looked around the sky. She was not paying attention as an arrow was shot into her side. In an instant, her right side from her waist to her shoulder was encased in ice. She spun to look at Raphine, but another arrow flew into her. This time the arrow exploded, and she was knocked to the ground. She laid unconscious.

"Well done," Beaufighter reappeared and landed next to Raphine and Tanaka-San.

"Haha, thanks. I was having trouble hitting them with this bow; I wish I had my own."

"We should be thanking you for your help, Bristol Beaufighter, but what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in the gacha fountain?"

"You can just call me Beaufighter. I was in the gacha fountain the first time I was in a draft, but I decided to make my challenge since this is the second time. Little did I realize that guy would be interfering with this draft."

"That guy?" Tanaka-San said.

"Yeah, I will have to take care of that one," she said while cracking her knuckles.

"Do you know who he is?" Raphine asked with intense interest. Beaufighter sighed.

"Unfortunately, I do. That doesn't matter right now. I originally planned to fly to the top of the tower to confront him, but that fire one kept me away. I need to figure out how to get into the tower now."

"We are planning to go to the tower, why don't you just come with us? We can all attack together!" Raphine said cheerfully.

"Raphine, I don't think she would just..." Tanaka-San began to say something.

"Sure, why not." Beaufighter agreed.

"That was quick," Tanaka-San said. "Are you sure you want to join a bunch of strangers?"

"We're all in this burning city together."

"Hmm, fair enough."

A tune played briefly in the air after this happened. Even far away, Trash-Chan and I could hear it play. I pulled out my map and looked to see what had happened. Bristol Beaufighter had been added, and a plane icon had appeared by Tanaka-San and Raphine. I ignored it and slid the map back into my pocket. We had bigger fish to fry.