Let's Kill Zouken!!

Julian was already a step ahead of Phillipus, having already grabbed a syringe and filled it with water from the basin. He concisely pinned and injected the worms one by one. When there were only a few left, he prepared the heart for transplant while Phillipus finished off the rest.

Phillipus sighed with relief. "Well done. I'll make sure the Master makes contact with the solution, stand by with the replacement just in case." With a rubber bulb, Phillipus pumped the mixture through the chambers and vessels of the heart, massaging each quarter then sending another viewing gem through.

Julian was more than competent, but someone in the 21st century starting as young as Phillipus himself did felt somehow... Troubling.

As soon as Phillipus dropped the heart into the water, the worm inside began to hiss and boil, letting out an unearthly shriek that the water did nothing at all to muffle.

Between the two surgeons, they managed to pick off the worms one by one, keeping it from doing too much damage. One of the worms ripped open a major artery, spraying Julian and Phillipus both with blood. With her body suspended, luckily they were able to heal it fast.

Kirei's Black Keys wobbled again, and one of them finally shattered. The other two quickly followed suit. Kirei sucked in his breath as Zouken roared and dissolved into a cloud of locust-like insects. He bit off the end of the line he was chanting and raised his hands in self-defense.

"Don't stop chanting!" Artoria shouted.

A wall of wind blocked the insects from attacking Kirei, buffeted back. The wind normally shrouding Artoria's sword had expanded and formed a barrier between them. Realizing what was going on, Kirei quickly resumed his chant.

Artoria focused, driving the wall of wind back and curving its edges around to catch any insects that threatened to flee. Slowly, it formed a sphere, catching all of Zouken's insects inside it. She was no mage, so manipulating Invisible Air in this way took a lot of concentration. It was just enough for Kirei to finish his spell.

Kirei thrust his palms out, projecting a spear of light through the Invisible Air and into the center of the insect cloud. It burst outward, washing over the insects and burning them to a crisp. They let out a horrible shriek as they dissolved in the holy energy. Then the light and wind both dispersed, leaving nothing in their wake.

At the same time, the crew in the basement finished off the last of the worms, reducing the lot of them to a black, squicky pool.

In the surgery chamber, the last of the white worms was injected with fluid, writhed and died. They plucked the last of them from Ayaka's body.

Zouken was finally dead.

When the worms in the house were finally defeated, the strike team began to put out fires as Lazarus got in touch with the surgery team to make sure everything had gone well. Avalon rushed in, checking on Mari, and finding that she was alright, helped to put out the structure as much as possible. Lazarus smiled as he received the news, "We did it! Zouken officially has nowhere to go and Ayaka is safe!" Aaron and Avalon cheered at the news, both giving Mari a huge hug.

Julian let out breath he hadn't noticed he'd been holding. He dabbed at the blood on his face and smiled at their success, "We make a good team Phillipus. Thank you for letting me assist."

Once Phillipus had peeled his gloves off, he shook Julian's hand and smiled with relief. "Please, you were the first to volunteer. Working as a team was invaluable." With a command and a wave of his hand, the glyph under Ayaka disappeared and her functions began again as normal. She would wake up after the anesthesia wore off, sore but no worse for wear.

Mari wept openly, hiccuping with sobs. She hugged the bread slices of her American Hero sandwich tight. Her father came by to give her a fierce, tight hug and a messy kiss square on the top of her head, making her whine even though she was smiling.

A clattering came towards the house as two women sprinted ahead, one wearing hospital scrubs and the other glamorously dressed in a wrap dress and designer heels, long deep blue hair flowing behind her.

"Papa!! Mari!!" Mari lifted her head and wiped her nose, then gasped.

"Aneki!! Mom!!" The women bee-lined towards the other Himeno, greeting them with hugs and kisses. The four of them chattered for a while, Hideto and his wife eventually stepping aside. It didn't take long before their body language shifted into a quiet quarrel, Mama Himeno seeming less than pleased.

"That didn't take them long, did it?" Mari laughed at her sister and shook her head.

"It never really does. Aneki, these are two of the friends I told you about! This is Aaron, he only speaks English but we get along anyways, and this is Avalon! Guys, this is my sister Nao!" A knowing smirk spread across Nao's face as Avalon was introduced. She leaned towards Mari, pinky raised.

"Girlfriend?" Mari blushed hard, but nodded, making Nao giggle and give her an approving thumbs up.

Avalon patted Mari on the back and shook Nao's hand, "Good to meet you!" she said it in Japanese, though her accent definitely wasn't the greatest. Aaron simply laughed at his lack of understanding and managed, "Konnichiwa!"

"The pleasure is mine!" Nao's English was smooth and practiced as she shook their hands. "Thank you for taking care of my baby sister." Mari rolled her eyes, then shifted upright.

"Speaking of, where's Ayaka? She's safe, right? We should go see her!"

There was much agreement, and Avalon escorted the two to the safehouse while Aaron stayed to help clean up the mess.

Ayaka was just waking up as they reached her, her skin pale, but looking not much worse for the wear. Despite all the blood and grease surrounding them, her wounds had fully healed up.

She sat up blearily and raised a hand to greet the newcomers, but couldn't really muster up the energy to say anything.

Julian brought the girl some water and crackers, and wiped at the more visible wounds with a hot wet towel. Avalon smiled down at her, "Hey there. You okay?"

Phillipus had made sure a gown would be ready for Ayaka after the surgery, and she had been given a blanket and pillow. Nao's eyes watered as she pressed her hands together in front of her mouth, lips turned up into a smile. Mari let out a deep sigh and waved back.

"Are you okay?" Nao nudged her with a hip, hissing.

"She's exhausted, don't make her answer questions!" Mari stuck her tongue out at Nao.

"Fine, nod your head if you feel okay?" Nao rolled her eyes, but let the question fly.

Ayaka smiled weakly and nodded. "He's... he's gone?"

Mari nodded emphatically. "Mm! Every last bug is squashed!!"

"And he fucking EXPLODED." Avalon assured with a small fist pump.

Ayaka let out a sigh of relief, then promptly leapt off the table and gave both a big hug. "Thank you so much. You guys have done so much for me from the very beginning." Tears formed in her eyes.

Avalon hugged her, almost tearing up, "It was nothing hon. You deserved better than what happened to you. We were just putting things right."

Ayaka wiped a tear out of her eye and took a deep breath. "So, what do we do now?"

Avalon, "Well as far as I know, whatever the hell we want."

She smiled a little. "I heard you all went to Hawaii... Extended vacation?"

"Fuck YEAH!" Mari pumped a fist into the air.

"What a splendid idea! I'll get transportation sorted for you all~" Nao started making phone calls and schmoozing her sweetie. Words like "private jet" and "towncar" were audible to those paying attention. Mari sighed and shook her head.

"Aneki, doing it up like usual..."