[Tokusatsu Themes, Corruption]

The wind quietly brushed against a lone green-haired girl as she walked down the streets of Equilibre. She was in a foul mood. That was the only way you could describe her, considering the steam that idly drifted from her head. And who could honestly blame her, considering what she had been through?

Natura Vert... No, Kido Mana had been forced to accept a heroic identity thanks to the machinations of the two factions that were trying to pull at her. The Light of the City and the Darkness roaming underneath both wanted her. The former because she was exploitable due to her insecurities, and the latter because her insecurities made her a perfect target for corruption and monsterization. So much so that they had both ended up trying to take control of her at the same time.

Though she managed to make them get along to an extent, the Ingenuity that they had filled her with gave her a false sense of security and worth. And that Ingenuity had now been taken away, leaving her as little more than a common nobody clinging to an identity that she didn't even want. Sure, she had the powers that the Light blessed her with... But using them wouldn't be a good idea. Using them would be leaning into the Light's influence. She hated that more than anything else.

This hate, this contradiction that had given birth to her current situation, was why she was just walking down the streets with nothing but static inside her mind. Just thinking about the circumstances that she had gone through. Wondering if she was really worth a damn. Wondering if she should just go back to being a NEET and accept that she couldn't do a thing.

"God, why can't you just think straight and stop falling into holes like that, Mana..?" The girl muttered to herself as she slowly turned a corner, planning to head home and try to clear her head there. Maybe with an environment that kept her nice and comfy would let her think without burying herself in a giant hole of dissatisfied realizations.

As she turned the corner, Mana barely caught a glimpse of somebody else about to bump into her, and did nothing to get out of the way. Her reflexes had been dulled due to her emotional turmoil, prompting both her and the stranger to fall over after making contact. "Sorry." She muttered, immediately getting back up. No need to get involved with anybody...

"Eh, it's fine. I wasn't looking anyway, kinda my fault." The one that she had bumped into spoke, with such an insincere voice as she got back up as well and adjusted her tie. "If you don't mind, I've got a meeting I need to attend. Wouldn't want to be late." She said, the quiet sun above quietly reflecting off her slightly dimmed glasses.

Mana looked towards the woman that she had bumped into, and one of the veins on her forehead suddenly popped out. She recognized the woman that had bumped into her. Oh yes, she recognized her alright. There's no way that she'd forget a face like that. A callous approach to life like that. It was somebody that had bullied her in the past. And only a bully would act this way when they didn't have somebody to victimize.

"Sayuki." Mana said, venom dripping from her lips. "So this is what you're up to nowadays? Graduated with good grades and made it into the good side of life, hm? After trampling on me like I was nothing?" She held a grudge. Of course she did, those grudges were the reason why she had isolated herself. That and her general lack of self worth.

The woman known as Sayuki blinked a little as she brushed a hand through her brushed-back silver hair, looking at Mana for a few seconds as she started to connect the dots. "Ah. Mana. How've you been?" She said, not even really registering the venom. She also didn't register anything else, just thinking it was nice to see somebody like her after so long.

"How have I been? I've been a hero. And I see you're just as unobservant as usual!" Mana shouted as she grabbed ahold of the suited woman, squeezing her hands tightly around her tie. "You're one of the ones who kept insulting me! I expected a sorry, and you just act like you did nothing wrong?! EVER?!"

Sayuki rolled her eyes. "It's in the past, Mana. We were both young. I'm different now." She explained, not even offering a single apology. "We were just supposed to be like that when we were younger. As long as we grow up and fill our role in society, it doesn't matter how we were when we were younger. That's all just something for us to move past..."

"Move past!? MOVE PAST!? YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I'VE BEEN SUFFERING BECAUSE OF PEOPLE LIKE YOU?!" Mana kept on shaking the older woman. She couldn't believe it. How could somebody like her just move past being an asshole!? How could she move past putting her down again and again and again!? It wasn't fair! Why was somebody like her just allowed to move on!?

"Are you done?" Sayuki asked, as she grabbed ahold of Mana's hands and pried her off her tie. "I really do have to go, Mana. We can catch up another time. But my meeting'll begin in about ten minutes. Please, just try and find somebody else to take your feelings out on." Just like always. Just like every other time she had tried to catch her in the act, she refused to face the facts and blew them off with an improbable excuse...

Mana was on the verge of popping several bloodvessels from the way that Sayuki treated her, before she just stormed off and let her anger consume herself. Even if she hated this woman, she wouldn't do anything foul to her. That wasn't right. Even if the Light and Darkness had been trying to pull her in either direction, she had enough of a moral core to recognize when she was about to do something she'd regret in the future.

Sayuki just watched as the green-haired girl disappeared into the crowds of the city. "Seems like she's still as obsessed as ever. I only told her that she wasn't as smart as she really thought she was." She muttered, shrugging her shoulders and pawning off responsibility again as she started to walk through an alleyway. The green-haired girl had taken up way too much of her time already, she needed to win back some time if she wanted to make it to her meeting.

As she started to cut through the city this way, she noticed a giggly voice following her. And though she blew it off to start, she had to wonder what it actually was. Prompting her to stop and turn around, pulling a pen out of her pocket and making sure the pointy end was facing the potential threat.

Not that it would do her any good, the woman dropping the pen as she was faced with a writhing mass of Darkness that started to wrap around her just as she started to scream...

"Ehehehe... You'll make a delicious Monster, ready to cause trouble for that girl and relight her Darkness..."

Tenebris had found a new pawn, and it was time to put her to good use.

---

Mana was still furious, even as she managed to run all the way towards the school she knew Rouge once went to. The only place she'd have some sort of comfort. Because it wasn't the same school that she had been to. Nobody would recognize her. Good, if somebody really did notice her and recognize her... Well she'd probably just get angrier at this point. Especially if it was one of the other bullies, who would probably brush off what they had done like Sayuki did.

"God." Mana muttered in frustration as she slammed her body up against a wall, trembling as the pain shot through her. This was what she deserved for not just standing up to one of her bullies and giving her what for. She folded like always. Just getting out of the way when she said she was going to be busy.

Was this really who she was? Was this weakling who had shut herself away from the world who she truly was at heart? Somebody fueled by anger but afraid to truly pull the trigger when it really mattered? That's what it seemed like, at least. She had all the ammo she needed to drive Sayuki into the ground. But instead... Instead she just let her go. Just like she let go of her thoughts on the would-be-heroine, like they were just simple pieces of trash that had to be discarded.

She didn't want to acknowledge that she was like Sayuki. She was... Better. No, not really. She just wanted to tell herself that she was. But the way that she held onto her grudge all this time wasn't healthy. It wasn't. Just because she had been hurt, was it really right for her to keep thinking of that woman with nothing but hate and disdain filling her mind? When she just walked out of the way and didn't follow up on that hatred? Did she even really hate her or was it all just feelings of complete and utter inadequacy..?

These thoughts were swirling around inside Mana's head as she slowly just started sliding down the wall. Her mind was a mess. On one side was her hatred. On the other was her inadequacy. And she stood in the middle. Stuck between them like usual. Stuck between a mind that couldn't come to terms with her being useless or the people that called her useless being the ones in the wrong. And the longer she spent looking like this, trying to fight back against her heart trying to tear itself in two directions... The longer she felt that she wasn't getting anywhere. If she just kept on doing this, she'd end up swallowed inside the violent whirlwind of emotions inside her.

"Hm? Hey, you. Aren't you one of Akane's buddies?"

Mana twitched as she suddenly transformed on instinct, leaping back to her feet as she drew her daggers. "WHO'S ASKING!?" Her single minded fury broke through her worries as she focused on what was in front of her instead of what she had to worry about in the sides of her mind. Besides, the person who was talking knew Rouge. That meant that they knew who she was. They knew what she could do. She wasn't about to let them get an upper hand on her...

The one that had spoken to her was a delinquent-looking blonde girl riding on the back of a red hued motorcycle. "Just a friend of hers." The girl said as she lifted her foot off the pedal and turned her sweet partner off, turning towards the frustrated looking heroine in the process. "Name's Musashi. You could also call me the first person to fight you guys, when it was just Akane trying her best, but that's not important."

Ah. A former Monster. By the looks of things, she had gotten over things. Just like Sayuki had. What a shitshow, Rouge was better at this than she was too. She actually had found a way to deal with her enemies. So much so that they were returned to normal and everything. "Vert. Why don't you just scram? You're Rouge's friend, not mine."

"Might be the case."  Musashi said as she slowly crossed her arms. "But you're looking just like she did after that night. When I rode to her house to try and knock some sense into her for what she had done to me, she looked miserable. I slugged her right out of it. Because that wasn't the same girl that had managed to knock me out of that funk that let me get turned."

Vert scoffed as she crossed her own arms. "So you're saying you're the reason why she's chipper. The reason why she keeps trying to contact me when I'm busy moping over being useless. Well thanks for that, I just don't see how that has anything to do with me. I'm so much different from Rouge, after all. She doesn't hold a candle to my abilities."

"I didn't do anything." Musashi said as she smiled a bit. Something about that girl was reminding her of her girls. They were this bratty back then too. She gave them somebody to look up to. Before she ended up driven mad by her own anger. Just like the girl in front of her. "She could recover on her own. I just gave her a little push, and then she did the rest."

Oh, great, so not only was Rouge better at dealing with her enemies and people in her past, but she was able to break past this haze over their heads too. Because of course their fearless leader with the brain of a pea who just set herself on fire every single fight was this powerful. Of course she was. "Still don't see how this relates to me. If you wanted to wank Rouge's abilities and her personality, then you should've done it to somebody that cared. Like Bleu. I'm sure she would've loved to hear all about the kind of girl she was."

Musashi just laughed in the face of Vert's continued attempt to blow her off. "For somebody that looked miserable just a few moments ago, you've really got the gusto back in you. And you say you don't care, but you're listening to me. If you really didn't care, you'd have left a while ago." She said, before pulling her leg across her dear bike once again, revving the engine a bit once she turned it on again.

Mana paused. And she slowly let everything that had just happened pour through her mind. She had interacted with a complete stranger who kept riling her up about one of her weak spots, somebody that she felt nothing but envy towards. And here she was. Not letting either her doubt or her previous pain overwhelm her. "...What was the point to all this, Musashi?" She asked, a new look burning in her eyes. It wasn't a look of hate or anything. It was a look of understanding...

"She just wanted me to talk to you. She told me that you'd figure things out on your own then." Musashi said with a grin, stretching a bit as she leaned down and pecked her bike... "Because it turns out some people just understand you better than you do. Or at least, they trust you to end up better. That's what she told me when I showed up and gave her that push. And that's what she thinks about you. She understands what it takes to push you. Because then you'll figure it all out on your own, thanks to that brain above your shoulders." The biking delinquent said, before laughing a bit. "'course I forgot to tell her that everything she told me sounded like some real weird shit but she said it with so much passion that I couldn't really get a word in. You understand, yeah?"

"Not really. But I think I get what she was trying to say." Mana said, slowly pushing her hands against her face. "She's telling me... That I really just need to go with my gut. Because that's what I always do. And it's always worked out. That's how I ended up saving them. That's how I ended up doing my best whenever I fought. Because I just tossed all my apprehensions aside and focused on nothing but the task at hand." She understood completely. Of course she did. She knew this was the answer the entire time. She just didn't want to acknowledge it. Because it was something she thought beneath her. Pure instinct was beneath somebody as smart as she was supposed to be.

Musashi nodded and nodded. "Good, looks like she got through to you then. Not that I know what the hell you're talking about, but at least she'll stop calling me." She said with a grin, before stretching a bit. "Call her. Tell her you're doing well. Then tell her to stop calling me because she's called me at midnight before and I really don't want to deal with her that late." The delinquent said, as she revved up her engine one more time before driving off.

Mana looked into the distance as the girl took off... And she laughed a little. Seriously, those two were friends? If Rouge could be friends with somebody like her, then she really did have a couple of screws loose. That would explain why she was so gung ho too...

For now though, she had something she needed to deal with. If she really wanted her doubts and her pain to stop, if she wanted to get past it and just focus on what was important, then she needed to deal with the source.

And as it just so happened, the faintest traces of Light and Darkness inside her heart were making her painfully aware of the presence of a Monster close by...

---

"That's it. That's more like it. Don't worry, you've always been this cute."

Sayuki giggled as she rubbed her hand up a woman not too different from her. Her hand having grown practically transparent as it was rendered as little more than smoke. Smoke that the woman inhaled as her eyes glowed nice and gold, nodding as her body started to shrink ever slightly and return to a younger and cuter state.

She had been doing this ever since she had been assaulted by Tenebris. Well, assaulted would be the wrong word. Made to see the world in the same exploitable way that she saw it was more accurate. That's what Tenebris had done. Made her see things as somebody like her should see it. Filled with people that she could bully and exploit into being and acting the way she wanted them to.

Which was why she was surrounded by a cute little harem of adorable girls. She wanted to see how they were like when they were her age. When she was in tune with her inner gaslighter. They really were cute. But something was missing. The crown jewel of cute. But she'd come around, wouldn't she? She had just seen her earlier today, maybe if she caused a bit of trouble then she'd come right back out....

The winds started to blow hard as Sayuki struggled to keep her form. And once the winds stopped just as suddenly as they had begun, she came face to face with a familiar looking green girl. A girl who now wore her armored outfit to appear as combat ready as possible. A girl who really should just give up at this point and accept that life wasn't as easy as she wanted it to be.

"Ahhh... Mana, there you are." Sayuki giggled as she slowly licked her lips. "Why don't we get to know each other again? I'm sure that you've still got such a cute side inside of you. A cute side that I'd loooove to bring out..." She really just wanted to exert control over her again. It wasn't hard to tell, considering the people around her.

Mana shook her head a bit as she drew her daggers. "It's not Mana. It's Natura Vert! The Winds of Understanding!" Vert cried out as the winds started to swirl around her. "I'll make you understand! How much you've hurt me! How much you've been avoiding the truth! And I'll make you understand what I think!" She shouted from the depths of her heart, the winds growing more and more visible thanks to the traces of green energy being tossed about.

Sayuki just giggled. What was this girl talking about? She didn't remember anything like that. All that she remembered was having lots of fun with cute girls like her. "Oh, silly Vert... You'll understand once I get my hands on you." She chimed, ignoring the fact that she had been actively hostile as she waved for the multitude of cute girls she had subjugated to go on the offensive.

Seeing these civilians controlled in a different manner compared to normal, Vert sliced the blades of her daggers against one another to kick up a sudden gust of wind that turned into a heavy green haze, perfect for her to hide within. "Vert Visage!" She cried out, as her form split into several identical versions of herself, all of them disappearing inside the haze as they started to spread faster than the eye could keep up with.

"Ahaha..? You're a lot of cuties, Vert? That's great, that means I can remind you all what it's like to be a good friend of mine..." The smoky gaslighter giggled more and more as her good and cute minions moved through the haze to try and find the true versions of the green-haired heroine. So she could get ahold of her and put a haze over her mind so she would be just as cute.

It didn't take long before several of those versions of Vert were captured, each of them being held by up to four different girls. They were struggling like mad, just like the genuine article. Such an impressive power. Sayuki definitely wanted that one under her control so she could make so many more of herself that could then love and take so many of those cuties into her arms...

One of the Verts seemed to be calmer than the others. Watching Sayuki carefully. Having a grin on her face even though she was in the arms of danger. That one had to be the true one. Even though she could just as easily be bait. But Sayuki didn't think to worry about bait. She just wanted a cute friend under her thumb like before.

The calm Vert started to tremble as Sayuki put her gaslighting hands on her face. The gas slowly but surely pouring into her. "We've always been friends, you know? The very best..." The giggling mass of smoke was seeping into this version of Vert. Slowly but surely slipping into her brain to make sure that she'd believe everything that she wanted her to believe. She couldn't fight against the girl, she couldn't try to escape. As long as they were here together, the Gaslighter would keep trying to worm her way into her and make her hers and hers alone...

Which was exactly why she found herself shocked when Vert suddenly burst into a dense burst of smog, with the other versions doing just the same. They were decoys! But how? Clones, of any sort, shouldn't be this durable. They should just be easy to pop, like two of her cute minions could squeeze them between her and end up making short work of them. So why were these different!?

As Sayuki the Gaslighter looked around to try and find another Vert, all that she got to see was how each and every one of her minions were downed one by one. Not only that, but the hazes that had claimed them and turned them younger was quickly drawn from their heads, returning them to their true forms. Forms where they weren't Sayuki's friends. Forms where they had managed to escape her influence.

"No... That's not supposed to happen, they're supposed to be mine! Mine, mine, mine!" Sayuki cried out as she started to grow denser, her human features degrading as she became little more than a puffy ball of fury. She would trap Vert, she would make her controllable and make her unable to get in the way of her plans ever again! That would stop her from being such an awful friend!

Vert smirked from within the green fog, calling it all back at once and revealing the small horde of copies she still had at her disposal. "How's it feel to be exposed, Sayuki? Exposed for the bully that you've always been?" She cried out, twirling her dagger between her fingers. Oh, she felt absolutely satisfied with this.

"Who, me? I've never been a Bully! You've just been too soft! If you were like me, then you would've been able to take it!" The victim blaming started to pour out from the Gaslighter as she flew straight towards her target. Her subversive tactics had devolved at this point. She just wanted to get rid of this presence that was stabbing her in the side. She wanted to be in control. She was the only one that mattered, and everyone else should just listen to her or get out of there!

She didn't get far before another copy of Vert stepped in front of the gassy villainess, putting up a barrier of wind that kept her from pushing much further. A barrier that was then replicated again and again and again by the other versions of the green-haired heroine who started to circle around the Gaslighter. All while the villain cried out in frustration at everything falling to pieces.

"You've always been a bully! From the moment that we met, you tried to make me do your homework! And you kept telling everyone that I had been the one who messed up your chances as a result! You gave a girl who was two years younger than you homework for your grade, of course I couldn't solve it!" Vert cried out as she took a step closer to the winds swirling around the villain. All while her confidence was at an all time high.

"No! I just wanted to give you a taste of what school was like! And when you couldn't handle it, well I just wanted you to quit before you ended up getting into more problems! I was protecting you! I was trying to help you and make you avoid more humiliation!" Gaslighter cried out again and again, digging herself deeper the more she spun between these layers of wind that were stopping her from getting anywhere. Her screams and her cries were getting more frantic by every passing moment. She wanted to break free, but she just couldn't. No matter how much she tried to force herself past these winds..!

Something about hearing these excuses, that she had heard a million times before while she was still experiencing this bullying first hand, through the filter of desperation... It was liberating. It was exactly what she needed to hear. But she needed to make sure that this came to an end. "Have you thought for a moment about how it hurt me? Have you even come close to thinking about how you could've hurt people with how you talk?! Listen to yourself, Sayuki! LISTEN AND REALIZE WHAT YOU'VE BEEN DOING!"

"I WAS RIGHT TO DO ALL OF THAT THIS, VERT!" The monster doubled down and screamed from the depths of her being as she managed to find one way out. Upward! She quickly started to stretch up as she tried to slam her dense smoke body straight down into the one that kept insinuating that she had done wrong things. She had to prove her wrong. She had to prove that the right way forward was through her way. Through her gaslighting!

Vert saw her trying to escape. And she just grinned, as she tossed her daggers into the air and let the winds circle around her fist. "VERTVIND!" She shouted, a burst of whirling winds firing straight up as it engulfed her daggers and stretched far far upward.

The effect was quickly replicated by the winds that tried to keep the Gaslighter shut, a tunnel of swirling winds extending further and further up until it was pulling her along. The winds were causing her to scream more and more as everything was being spun out of her control. Just like she used to spin everything into her favor. Her favorite tactic had been used against her...

"VEEEEEEERRRRTTTT!" Sayuki the Gaslighter shouted as the part of her whirlwind tunnel slammed against the one that Vert had made with her fist,forcing her to head straight towards the daggers meeting at their clashing spot. And the second they made contact, the winds tore her apart completely. With just a few powerful winds and a set of dangerous daggers, the Monster had been ripped apart and returned to normal, with her human form gently falling to the ground below.

Vert watched. And she just smiled as the winds died down, letting herself detransform as Sayuki gently hit the ground, not intent on doing her any more direct damage. Not after she had thoroughly enjoyed coming to terms with how she had been bullied...

"Why..." Sayuki muttered as she looked up at Mana, trembling a bit as she came back to lucidity. "Why didn't you... Why didn't you finish me..?" She couldn't understand. Why was she spared? If the girl hated her that much over what she had done to her, then...

Mana's smile curled into a grin. "Because I understand that this isn't just to settle a petty grudge. It's to save people. And as much as I hate you, keeping you from dying is probably more important." She explained, that snide grin turning into a smirk. "And by letting you stay alive you get to stew in what you've done."

Before Sayuki had the chance to counter, Vert made her grand exit. Leaving the former bully laying on the ground, the thoughts of what she had done flowing through her mind. Only one thought remained inside her mind. Maybe she should've been nicer to Mana, if this was going to happen. Maybe she should turn a new leaf, and show her what for.

Nah. She still hated her. Fuck that little gremlin....

---

"The light in this city... It's taking a new turn..."

Standing atop one of the tallest buildings in Equilibre, a girl with red hair and multi-colored bangs quietly looked down at the city below. Watching threats get unraveled just like before. Strange, she thought she had saved those girls. Why were they still fighting..?

Had they... Had they found a way to be at terms with themselves, and still fight using the powers Lumiere brought them..?

As she slowly let the reality of the situation dawn on her, she heard a single knock on the door leading up to this roof, and she turned towards the source. A redheaded girl, just like her.

"Natura Rouge..."

"Just Akane, actually. How about we have a chat, Shiro?"