Part 56: Haku-Men: Story 03

...Ugh! This is...

He knows immediately that he is not in the present world. The air is wrong. The color is wrong. But if he isn't in the present world...where is he? Did the existential substantiation fail and throw him into the Boundary? Or was the whole experience nothing more than a dream he'd had, floating in the Edge?

As if in response to his curiosity, everything around him began to distort...

...Hey! What the hell are you doing!?



...Ah, the Grimalkin. Where am I? What has happened?
You gotta be kidding, you asshole! Your damn ego is causing all sorts of causality drift! It was going so well, but you just had to screw it up, didn't you?
...Then I am again inside my will?

The stabilizing process wasn't the issue...It was his own ego. His powerful ego had rejected Kokonoe's objective recognition of his own existence, trapping him on the other side of the Edge.
So, yeah, all this stuff is in Hakumen's head. He's really still chilling out on the Edge. Kokonoe hasn't been able to bring him into the real world yet because he's literally just too big of a dick.

Well, now that you're here, the rest's up to you. Just do it...



...
...Hm?
I see... My will...it is all around me... And here, before me, is my origin...
Who the hell are you supposed to be, wearing that weird mask...? Get out of my way, or you'll get hurt.
Ah, yes... My genesis...the beginning of my endless journey to defeat every last one of you! Ragna the Bloodedge, you are first!
Huh...? What the hell are you talking about...? Cut the crap and just get out of my way!



I will not withdraw! I will never withdraw! Even if you were an illusion of the Boundary, my blade exists only to banish demons like you from the Earth!
Tch... I have no idea where you're goin' with this... What, you really wanna fight me? I can guarantee you're gonna be sorry, you masked bitch!
I am ready for you, Black Beast. To destroy evil, I must defeat it at the root, and that root is you!
So, Hakumen calls Ragna the Black Beast here. The only Black Beast we've heard about is the one that destroyed the world like 100 years ago. The same one that Hakumen fought and killed 100 years ago with the other Six Heroes.




Unlimited Hakumen gets a few improvements, probably the most notable being that all his specials besides distortions now only cost 1 star. Which means those high-damage attacks he used to have to spend 3 stars to do, he now only spends 1. His counter also changes to become a slash that sends him across the screen, and get gets a few new mini-combos off of his standard A attack. His counter distortion now also sends his slashing across the screen regardless of where the opponent is and if they actually hit him with anything. And, of course, he gains meter twice as fast.

So, as for the match, Hakumen is really scary to Ragna, being that Ragna has the second lowest health score in the game. Ragna has the advantage of being faster and better in the air, though. The pressure he can apply is also nothing to laugh at, so it seems like a better idea to hang back and try to keep him out while building up meter. Once Hakumen has enough to do some real damage then is a good time to try going on the offensive.



God...dammit...
...

What tears he had have dried up long ago, and he no longer even has eyes to cry from...but to be reunited with the man he once called "Brother"...He opens his mouth to speak..
It was pretty blatantly hinted at in Jin's ending and all of Hakumen's thoughts earlier, but this is the actual confirmation that Hakumen is Jin. Or, more acurately, WAS Jin.

Except they both exist at the same time now right now. So who knows what's up with that.



I shall bend the world--the past and the future--to my will. Now rest in peace, Ragna the Bloodedge... Ragna my brother...
Hmph...so the crybaby's acting all big now... You cheeky bastard...



...

He can feel his will twisting him, but there is one more thing he must do to ensure his existence in the present world.

He must deny himself.

It will be his atonement for kill his own brother...



I deserve no redemption! May my soul forever atone, encased in this undying shell--Sankishin Susano'o!



Next update I'm gonna tell you about some REAL SHIT.

Rare footage of Hakumen unmasked:

Click here for the full 856x480 image