Episode 5: Unidentified Demon Object
Lots of information in this episode, sorry the synopses is so long!
To make it easier, paragraphs in bold are the most important to read.
The episode starts off back in Franken Stein's lab as he analyzes Fuyumi's body, after Wolf and Mame brought her there when her legs started disappearing. Franken explains that Fuyumi is most likely disappearing because she has not only hers, but another demon mixed within her body. Mame and Wolf go to the wrong conclusion, but Franken explains that its because she shared Staz' blood with hers. Because her ghost body is "overloaded" from not being able to absorb the magical essence needed for her to aquire vampire magic, her body cannot handle it. However, Franken theorizes that if she can get another dose of Staz' vampire magic, she could quite possibly have the ability to rival Staz, and take complete control of a vampire's magic.
After this, we return to Liz's Toy Box, where Staz continues to relentlessly fight the zombie brothers time after time. The zombie brothers are really annoyed because it's getting excessive. Liz, on the other hand, is getting nervous about Staz' being there, as she has yet to tell her brother. Braz senses this, and talks to her. He knows it's not an intruder, because Liz would have executed them on the spot. However, he knows she used her privilege magic without his authorization to get the prisoner in his cell. Liz begins to cave, and says that he'll get mad if she tells him.
We then go back to Wolf, Mame, and Franken. Franken further explains that Fuyumi has a special ability that allows her to essentially turn into any demon, but only if she consumes them, similar to how she used Staz' blood. At the moment, she is a ghost, but is very able to become a vampire, and it is also the only way to save her from disappearing. If she does, not only will she stop disappearing, she will also turn into an extremely powerful monster hybrid. However, to do this, she would have to "kill" Staz. (Franken says he will continue to live on inside of Fuyumi, but basically he will cease existence.) Wolf gets very angry and refuses this answer, expecting that there should be another way to save Fuyumi.
Back in Liz' Toy Box, Braz discovers Staz after the zombie brothers bring him to see him. He shoots Staz twice in the chest, but with bullets that allow him to quickly recover his magic that he lost from battling the zombie brothers. Staz' vampire powers allow him to heal, and with this the zombie brothers realize he is the brother of Braz and Liz, and begin to give him respect as they also realize his nobility. As Staz regains his energy, he quickly gets to the point and questions Braz about the Book of Human Resurrection. Braz refuses to teach Staz, because he sees nothing in it for himself. He also questions what kind of human it is, and teases his brother about it being a woman, and questions whether she's a virgin, and jokingly says he may reconsider if Staz tells him. We now begin to the first bit of Liz' jealousy, seeing Braz cheerfully laugh at Staz's frustration, as she feels she is not cared enough by her oldest brother as he does for Staz. The zombie brothers are also surprised to see Braz laugh, and when they mention this, Liz' anger gets the best of her and she causes them to burst into flames. She's upset and refuses to believe Staz is a noble and powerful vampire, because not even he could defeat the "weak" zombie brothers. Braz tells her that Staz is in fact a pure-blood and powerful vampire, and reminds her that he is also her brother too. She hates the attention Staz is always getting, and angrily tells Braz that she herself is the one most useful to him, and more powerful than him. Braz also tells her that she is wrong about this too; Staz is the most powerful.
Liz then begins to proceed telling about how when Staz finally ran away, she thought that she would get more attention from Braz, but she was wrong. When Staz ran away, all Braz would do was look through old photo albums of Staz, and check on him in the Lower Demon World through a sketchy crystal ball he got through mail order. She also adds how Braz didn't come down to the prison to see her, but rather to come see Staz.
Staz thinks that it was stupid for Liz to lock him up in the prison because of a "silly" reason like that, and explains that similar to how he can't understand how Liz feels, she cannot understand how Staz feels, though they both have something they are desperate for. However, the answer to both of their problems depends on the same person, Braz. Braz finally agrees to teach Staz how to resurrect a human, but only if he does him a favor.
While this is happening, back in Franken's lab, Bell happily jumps through the window and joins the party. Because she wants to also save Fuyumi, she tells Mame and Wolf that there's another way to save her that Franken is not telling them about. Wolf, learning this, angrily throws Franken to the floor and demands he tell them the other way. He says he doesn't know, but Bell quickly says that the other way is simply the opposite of the first: remove the vampire from Fuyumi. Wolf questions why he didn't tell him this before, and Franken explains that there is another urgent problem he needs to take care of fast, a monster that he himself created...
The "urgent problem" is also the favor that Braz wishes Staz to complete. The "problem" would mean the extinction of the demon race. It's name isAkimu Papladon: Artificial Demon No. 9. He is the most powerful, and greatest creation of Franken Stein's. Stein explains how his ancestor stitched together pieces of different monsters, and Stein stitched together parts of demons to make an even greater, more powerful monster, Akimu. However, Akimu believed that he needed more powerful parts that were worthy of his body. He's tired of Stein's "excuse" that he is not able to control more powerful parts, and decides to find them himself. He then uses spatial magic, the same magic that Bell uses, to escape the lab. Franken did not realize he had these powers, which was why he succesfully escaped, even in his incomplete state. This is why Franken wanted to create Fuyumi as a vampire hybrid: to have a monster more powerful than Akimu who could succesfully defeat him.
Wolf quickly makes a deal with Franken. If Wolf can defeat Akimu, Franken will fix Fuyumi the preferable way. Wolf is excited, because he has been looking for a powerful, unknown opponent, because as previously mentioned, Wolf has been very bored fighting weak territory battles. Franken gives Wolf half a day to defeat Akimu, and will keep Fuyumi alive using emergency measures until then. He questions where Akimu is, and we go to a flashback of Akimu chasing a civilian, and killing him in order to acquire the man's "fast" legs. We flash back to Braz, explaining the situation to Staz. Basically, Akimu continues to wander around, stealing body parts. Because of this, it is impossible to know just how powerful he has become since he was last seen. Both brothers know that in Staz' current state, he is too weak to fight Akimu and win. However, what if Staz regains his original powers?
Back at Franken's lab, Fuyumi finally wakes up after being given a drink of magical essence. This is the "emergency measure" that will sustain her body until Wolf can hopefully defeat Akimu. Wolf returned to his hideout to change and prepare for the fight. He shows Bell how he can seal his magic into his iron club, which he calls his "Kanebo". (Wolf actually means "Kanabo", which translates to Iron Club, but he mistakenly calles it "Kanebo", which is a popular Japanese facial cleanser, which is why Bell gets confused.) Wolf then proceeds to find Akimu.
In the prison, Vlad shows Staz a small rock, which he says was made by Staz from a huge boulder. Staz doesn't remember this, but Braz asks if he remembers when he tried to awaken Staz' powers. Braz describes that he finally did, but at the same time it was also a failure. Whenever Staz used his powers, he would collapse. However, it didn't seem like he used his powers on purpose, but it was rather a tiny vessel spilling out powers from a larger one inside of him. Braz realized that it was his fault for awakening Staz' powers prematurely, and had to seal them with the bullet that remains in Staz' heart.
Braz mentions how it must be destiny* that Staz arrived 3 days after the appearance of Akimu with a strong enough body to become a vessel for his original powers. Braz excitedly describes that if they awaken his power, Staz will once again become a powerful vampire that can easily defeat Akimu. But Staz says he's fine the way he is, much to Braz' disbelief. Staz decided that if he gained his powers, he'd have to go fight Akimu. But according to him that's way too much responsibility. He doesn't wish to raise the terms of the brothers' deal, all he wants to know is about human resurrection. Braz then demands that Liz bring out the zombie brothers. He orders the brothers to kill Staz, forcing Staz to choose whether to die, or to take the bullet out.
Wolf, on the other hand, is on Akimu's trail, trying to find him. He decides the easiest way to do it is to defeat the territory boss, so that Akimu will hear about how powerful he is, and come to challenge him. Wolf then preceeds to challenge the territory boss, a large demonic boar (Wolf calls him a pig.) However, right as the fight is about to start, Akimu tears apart the boar's body from inside, killing him, and appears in front of Wolf. Akimu can be seen with all the body parts he has stolen, meaning he is more powerful now.
We then go back to Staz, as he runs away from the zombie brothers, and goes in to attack Braz for playing dirty. As he approaches his brother, Braz snaps his fingers, sending the bullet that had been in Staz' chest for years, flying out of his body. Braz says to himself that Staz was never on equal footing as him, until now. Staz has regained his powers.
- remember this sentence! ;)
Characters Introduced
Artificial Demon No.9: Akimu Papladon