Courageous

As Ookuma closed her eyes and began to monologue, Mao immediately hurled the knife she was cutting the cake with at Ookuma's neck.

STAB!

Ookuma's eyes shot open in shock as she felt a sharp pain in her neck. Then she felt another as Mao punched the knife lodged in her neck, shattering it to bits and sending her flying. A demented smile appeared on Ookuma's face as she stared at the enraged Mao before her.

"So, that's how it is! Very well, your death will work just as well!" Ookuma dementedly smiled as she and Mao charged at each other. "Did you think I never accounted for a betrayal!? Well I always did since the day you were born! But I'm so glad it happened now. Now I can use your death to solidify my rule!" Ookuma dementedly screeched as she punched Mao in the face.

"YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! I'LL KILL YOU!" Mao screamed as she slugged Ookuma in the gut.

"Are you trying to surpass me? How greedy, but you are spoiled. I should have microchiped you years ago, but I thought you had begun to submit to you fate. I would have allowed you to live at my side and become President of the House of Councilors should you have obediently behaved."

"I DON'T WANNA HURT THE WORLD!"

"It is the will of I.L.U.-"

"F*** I.L.U.! I'LL KILL EM ALL TOO!"

"So, this is a betrayal then. Did I not tell you that those who betray I.L.U. are to be subjected to the most inhumane executions imaginable?"

Mao stopped for a moment giving Ookuma an opening to kick her in the left rib cage. Had Mao not been secretly training to build up her strength for 10 years, that blow would have downed her and led to her death. Ookuma expected this too. However, she had made a grave oversight 10 years ago that led to Mao using her training to tank the attack and deliver a lightning fast roundhouse kicking her in the neck sending her to the ground in pain. The initial blows Ookuma had received at the start began to ache and immobilized her in pain as Mao pinned her down and began beating her to death with all her strength.

As Mao beat Ookuma to death, a recap of Ookuma's courage speech from earlier played on the TV.

"Be COURAGEOUS and refuse to give into degeneracy!"

Splat!

The pool of Ookuma's blood began to get bigger.

"BE COURAGEOUS, and boldly take a stand for what is right!"

Splat!

"BE COURAGEOUS, and fight back against violence and injustice!"

Splat!

Ookuma glared with fury through her bruises as Mao punched out the last of her teeth. She angrily mustered her strength to try and bite off Mao's hand with her gums as she chocked on her teeth.

"BE COURAGEOUS, and scoff at the petty scorn and insults the vile and DESPERATE opposition will hurl at you."

Mao simply countered by shattering Ookuma's jaw with her other hand, instantly releasing her trapped hand.

"No, NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! HOW COULD SHE HAVE GROWN STRONGER THAN ME!? I MADE SURE TO MEDIATE HER EXERCISE SO SHE'D ALWAYS BE WEAKER THAN ME! NO! I'M GOING TO BECOME PRIME MINISTER! I'M GOING TO BECOME HEAD OF ILLUMOUS! I'M GOING TO RULE THE WORLD! WHAT HAPPENED!?" Ookuma frantically thought as she moaned in pain and terror, and gazed up at a wrathful Mao pulling back her fist for the finishing blow.

"BE COURAGEOUS, and hold your head high with pride knowing that you chose to be courageous and walk the path courageousness."

SPLAT!

Ookuma's eyes twitched rapidly as her body began to go limp and her brain guts began to leak out of her thick skull onto the floor. Mao then hurled the TV remote at the TV, shattering it. She then dragged Ookuma's barely living body to the kitchen and grabbed a sharp knife and began hacking at Ookuma's neck. Ookuma meekly moaned in pain as tears began to pour out of her eyes as her head was crudely severed. Even then, Ookuma still barely clung to life.

"No, how could you!? I was going to become Queen of the world," Ookuma meekly thought as Mao grabbed some things from the cupboard before dragging her head and body into the bathtub.

Ookuma's eye twitched as Mao drenched her head and body in cooking oil before lighting a match. A meek, but somewhat loud scream escaped Ookuma's shattered jaw as she was incinerated to death in a sea of fire. Ruchi Ookuma was finally dead. Mao however didn't celebrate until barely any ashes remained of Ookuma. Then, she let out a victory scream, before heading back to the kitchen to grab a knife.

"I've gotta get out of here, but I can't just run out covered in sludge. ...!"

A wave of panic suddenly overtook Mao as she realized I.L.U. would now be hunting her down. She frantically ran back into the bathroom, stripped, and hopped in the shower. She then began shaving all the sludge colored hair off her head and body until she was completely devoid of hair. Cuts and scrapes littered her now porcelain smooth skin as tears began to pour out of her eyes as she gazed at herself in the mirror.

"Not a trace of sludge anywhere on me. Finally! I'm sludge free! ...! Shit, I better rip my eyelashes out too. I can't risk being identified!" Mao thought.

Once she was done, she ran to the living room and reached for some money on the table, but stopped. "Mao, every bill can be identified with a serial number," Ookuma's voice echoed in her mind.

Mao fearfully retreated and begun spreading flammable liquids all throughout the house. She refused to wear any clothes, both out of hatred that her mother picked them and fear that they could identify who she was. She did however, smash open Ookuma's safe and grabbed a case full of incriminating SD cards Ookuma had in it.

"That piece of shit kept these for a reason. Pretty sure it was to ensure none of her stooges would turn on her. I can't let these burn. Just hope there's nothing about me on them," Mao thought as she shoved the SD case securely into her breasts.

She then lit a match and set the house ablaze before leaping out a window and charging into the forest.

"SHIT SHIT SHIT! WHY'D I TAKE THESE SD CARDS WITH ME!? I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S ON EM! AND IF SOMEONE CATCHES ME WITH EM... I GOTTA RUN!" Mao frantically thought as her legs carried her into the woods.

There, exhaustion finally began to kick in. Mao frantically began burying herself with dirt in an attempt to hide.

...

Reika drove stealthily through the night as she headed for Ookuma's house.

"Ookuma's definitely behind these recent scandals. I know it's risky to approach her place, but if I can catch her now, her electoral-...!?"

Reika's eyes widened as she stared at the burning house in front of her. "Ookuma's place!? I don't see anyone around, is this a trap?" Reika thought as she drove up and examined the place.

"The hell!? Why's her place up in flames!?" Rika trembled as she arrived.

Reika turned and immediately noticed Rika. "Komachi, did you, no. You clearly just got here," Reika nodded.

"How'd you assume that?" Rika grumbled.

"You don't appear to be covered in soot nor dirt. That and your expression of shock is genuine."

"Is that bitch dead?"

"I don't know. Though I imagine- ...!"

Reika's eyes widened as she noticed a set of footprints and some broken glass."Could it be? Komachi! In the car with me now!" Reika ordered as she threw open her trunk and frantically attached a sweeper to the back of her car.

"Hold up, doesn't that device erase footprints-"

"Yes, and if the footprints belong to who I think they do, we need to save her at all costs!"

...

Mao began to lose consciousness as her stomach growled. "No, I haven't even eaten anything good. I just escaped," she groaned as she lost consciousness.

Shortly after, Reika uncovered her and stared in disbelief. "Still alive, looks to be a woman younger than Ookuma. My hypothesis was right!" Reika thought as she picked up Mao and brought her to her car.

"A girl? ...!? Oi, she's-"

"I know. I hope this isn't a trap, but if it isn't, this might truly be the end of Ookuma!" Reika thought as she sped away.

"No, I don't think it's a trap. I'm a killer so I can tell. She just killed someone for the first time in her life. Could it actually have been Ookuma!?"

"That's what I'll be confirming. Now we need to get this girl somewhere safe."

...

"Anything?" Reika asked as Shiori finished examining Mao.

"No chips in her head or anywhere else. Has a bunch of fractures though. She also had THIS hidden in her cleavage" Shiori grumbled as she slammed an SD card case on the table.

"Then I think she's safe. I can house her in the adjacent apartment yes?"

"Take the secret passage though. I have no idea who this is, but I can tell she's probably surrounded by danger. As for you Ri, baby looks fine. Your arms though will need some healing so no cooking till they're healed."

"Can she still clean?" Reika asked.

"Yeah?"

"Perfect. Now Rika, I'll need you to do something important while I watch over her..."

...

Ookuma's minions, clad in plain clothes, opposition garb, and even some Ryokoma merch, marched down the street carrying torches.

"Alright, make sure people see us angrily marching towards the house. It is out in the wilderness a bit so we need to let people know we're heading there," a woman named Sayuri Benise stated.

Rebelle smirked and began filming as the group began marching and shouting jeers at Ookuma. "One final push. The election's a few weeks away so this will be the sticking point that nets Madam Ookuma those remaining crucial seats she needs to get a majority. Then, it's game," she thought.

As the group reached Ookuma's house, they immediately stopped in shock. The house had already been burnt down.

"Uh, what do we do?" one minion asked.

"Hmm, perhaps she set the plan off early? This is unlike Madam Ookuma though," a senior member stated.

"I see tire tracks. Perhaps she drove off?" another mused.

"We might want to disperse. Madam Ookuma's car is still here. I guess she had to change the plan at the last minute. Act as though we did just burn the place down. Ah, that must be the new plan. Fear not, I believe I know why Madam Ookuma did this. I shall explain later. For now, head back," Benise ordered.

"I think I get it too. She's gonna act like she was burnt to death in the house, then she'll courageously emerge covered in "wounds" and bandages. No wonder you're a genius. Though I wonder why she set the plan off early. Hmm, perhaps Korosekai launched an attack. If so, that's even better. Now we can dump all this on her," Rebelle thought.

Once the group was gone, Rika lowered her binoculars and cautiously approached the burnt ruins. "Shit, this better not be a trap. If I get caught this will be it. But I need to confirm it. If that piece of shit truly is dead, then things will truly begin to get brighter," she thought.

Rika was garbed in a dark gray hazmat suit and carried a backpack with her. Once she reached the house, she pulled out a device and began scanning the floor.

"Hmm, no signs of an underground area. I can also see the safe. Looks like it truly was smashed in," Rika stated.

"Good. Now check the bathroom," Reika responded through the earpiece Rika was wearing.

Rika nodded and approached the bathtub. She then pulled out an instrument from her backpack and shoved it into the drain.

A few minutes later, a big smile spread across Rika's face as she began to tear up. "She's dead. That piece of shit is dead!" Rika said as she bagged up Ookuma's remains that she had fished out of the drain.

"Excellent. Then my hypothesis was spot on. As for the remains, bring them to the coordinates I'm about to give you..."

...

In a small apartment, Reika removed her headset and set it down before taking a hidden passage to another room. There, she stared at a sleeping Mao.

"Looks like she's been through a lot. I'm glad Stitch was able to grab all this stuff I requested. Now, let's see how she reacts to it," Reika thought as dawn began to crack and Mao began to wake up after her eventful night.