Nicolette's POV
I watched as the anouncer walked back to the stage, holding a small envelope. This was it, the moment in which Aika and Natasha win or face certain death.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have the winner-"
Kimiko's yell cut the anouncer off. "Aika! Natasha! I have faith in you!"
I glared up at her embarrased. The whole square was silent, so her scream had resounded. I was about to scold her when I heard the sound. I wiped around to see a knife flying towards Aika. It locked onto the back of the stage, inches away from Aika's face. A trickle of blood appeared on her cheek.
The square stayed quiet until someone screamed. Then everyone started panicking. People got up from their seats and started running away. Nothing seemed like it was trying to stop them.
"Oh, are you fucking kidding me?!" Kimiko yelled furiously, looking around. "We were about to win! My money..."
I looked at the stage and saw the little girls crying and screaming except for Aika who wiped her cheek, looking annoyed, and Natasha, who was running around screaming, "We're all gonna die!"
I sighed and climbed onto the stage and caught my sister by the arm and shook her. "Calm down! We're not gonna die!" Natasha stopped screaming and looked at me afraid. I let go of her and searched the panicking crowd for the source of the knife. I saw men at the back of the square, heavily loaded and looking calm.
Kimiko looked at me and I pointed to them. She climbed onto the stage and looked to where I was pointing. "I think those are the guys responsible for this."
"Mother fuckers," she said enraged. "Interupting this very important event."
The men raised their arms holding knives. "Be careful!" Aika yelled out, but the men had already thrown the knives.
Since people who were still running around, the knives didn'tget too far. They lodged themselves onto the people, who fell to the ground groaning. Aika's eyes darkened a bit but she snickered.
"That's sick," Kimiko murmured and I nodded in agreement.
"Nice! Leave them on our battle field," Aika scowled.
"Let's eat them," Natasha said.
"Yes!" Aika cheered.
Kimiko looked horrified. "Aika, what have you taught her?"
"Stay away from my sister," I said, leading Natasha away.
Aika grinned. "No, but seriously, let's fight!" she said. Without waiting for an answer, she jumped off the stage and started racing to the men. As she passed the others, she screamed, "C'mon! Let's go kick their asses!"
They stared after her confused. "What's happening?" Zach asked.
"Clearly someone's attacking," Catnip answered, looking like she was about to run after Aika.
I glanced over at Kimiko, who looked like she either wanted to kill Aika or follow her lead.
"So...?" I asked.
She shrugged. "Let's fight. They harmed people... And got in the way of my money!" She jumped off the stage and ran after Aika.
I sighed. She had a point. We were going to have to fight wether we liked it or not, because these guys didn't seem to be leaving. I hadn't brought my bow, since we were only coming to a pageant, so I could only use my powers. I made roots near the men wrap around then, holding them down and left the rest of the elimination to Aika and Kimiko.
Aika's POV
By now a lot of people were dead. Not that I'm complaining, that's less mouths to feed.
From the corner of my eyes I saw how Kim cut someone's arm off and hit the man with the hilt of her sword, making him fall to the ground. The man cried out in pain. I grinned at the man's expression. It's so hilarious how people can't handle pain, how they scream in agony. People should expect pain. It is an inevitable part of life, especially if you're a soldier.
A man that was running towards me snapped me out of my thoughts. I prepared myself to attack, and when the man was close enough, I slashed at his leg, making him fall to the ground. Ironically, he started screaming in agony. So pathetic. Was this supposed to be a man? More like a crybaby.
I stabbed my sword in his chest many times. He was probably dead by the fifth hit, but just to be sure, I stabbed his eyes out and cut his head off. I saw roots wrap themselves around his body, and he started to be dragged away. I looked up to see Nicolette capturing men with her powers, and throwing away the people's dead bodies from the battle field.
One tall man tried to surprise me from behind but I reacted in time and stabbed his chest, leaving him on the ground bleeding. "Woah," I said. "For some reason I feel weird."
While I continued to fight the bastards who attacked us, I heard Kimiko yell, "Turn back, you idiot! You're still in small mode!"
"Oh." That made sense. I transformed back into my normal height, calling my armor at the same time, since I didn't know if the clothes I had on would grow with me. "I'm back!" I cheered.
"Yay! Aika is back!" Natasha exclaimed, throwing away her own childish accessories.
"Great," Kimiko rolled her eyes.
"More men are coming!" Nicolette yelled.
Everyone's head turned to look to where Nicolette was pointing. "Mother fuckers, getting in the way of my fucking money," Kimiko grumbled.
"Ugh, more people," Catnip complained.
I saw a familiar person in the people who had just shown up. "Oh, there's the man that fed me!" I exclaimed. Then I remembered... He was supposed to be dead. I raised my eyebrows. When everyone else noticed they went quiet.
"I didn't feed you!" Shadow Dude's voice cut through the silence.
"I thought you were dead..." Natasha said confused.
"Mother fucker, what the hell are you doing here?" Kimiko shrieked.
"Ryder, we need to concentrate." A funny looking girl stepped up beside Shadow Man, whose name seemed to be Ryder. The more I observed her the funnier she got. I couldn't help myself, so I started laughing at the girls hair. It was rainbow colored, and totally hilarious.
"Aika, be serious!" Kimiko yelled.
I shrugged, still laughing but and sprinted towards a group of men. I saw that one had camouflaged himself with the earth, so I quickly killed the normal, useless one's then stomped on him. The man jumped and Kim jumped towards him, slicing at his head off.
"Don't get ahead of yourself," she stated gravely.
"Avelyn!" I heard Ryder yell and looked. "We should stick with the plan!" He said to the rainbow haired girl.
"Wait, it's her!" Yato screamed.
Sanji frowned, upset by the memory, but he was pleased to see the beautiful lady again. "Oh," he said.
"Who is she?" Nicokette raised an eyebrow.
"The woman who attacked us before," Zach finally said.
Yato's POV
I stared at our attackers bewildered. It was her, the person who nearly killed Zach and had me fighting against Sanji. Normally I would've made a joke on how I technically owe for my relationship with Kimiko... But she clearly didn't come here to sit down and have a friendly conversation.
I used alchemy to warp directly in front of her. "I told you. If you ever tried to hurt my friends again, you'd regret receiving the mercy I gave you that day... Clearly you don't know how far I'll go to protect my friends," I said turning my arms into blades and slashing at her. Avelyn dodged every attack. Sanji was about to protest against me fighting her, but I just glared at him. He looked scared when he saw me. I guess I just wasn't in the mood. Id apologize later.
I shot bullets from my fingers using very compressed air. She kept dodging and at one point she jumped behind me, and said "I haven't come for you. My target is someone else." Then I saw who she meant. Kimiko. "Renkinjutsu warp" I said warping in front of Kimiko, creating spikes to attack the mercenary. One of them scratched her face, a small trickle of blood dripping from the wound. "Don't worry Kimiko, I'll be fine. You continue fighting the other enemies while i deal with her," I said. Kimiko nodded and went on to keep fighting, slashing any opponent in her way. I took away the spikes and jumped at Avelyn with my arm blades, relentlessly attacking "SHE'S your target?! Over my dead body!" I yelled "So be it." Avelyn replied. I slashed putting all my strength in my last shot. When the dust cleared, there she was, with a few scratches. Behind her, a hill had been cut in half by my attack. "Impressive" I said actually acknowledging her "I've underestimated you. Should I show you my A-game?" she smirked and replied "Yes, by all means"
Ryder, the man with shadow powers grunted and said "Ok I've seen enough. Avelyn you take care of our primary target. I'LL deal witth this jackass." "Wait wha-?" i began, but ryder ran at me and tackled me. As we were falling towards the ground he engulfed me in shadows "NOOO-" I reached out trying to go back to protect Kimiko. But i wasn't with them anymore. As a matter of fact i didn't know where i was.
I looked around but all I could see was darkness. Then I heard Ryder snickering "Welcome to my very own shadow realm!" he said. I couldn't see him anywhere. Then I realized, he was everywhere, he was the shadows, I was vulnerable in my position. He could attack from literally anywhere at all and there was only shadow, no floor or any materials for me to transmute. Suddenly I felt I was being hit from all sides at once. I tried backing off, but it was useless, this was his world, there was no escaping him.
"There is no escaping me. This is my world!" said Ryder. "What a dull world you've made for yourself. Ever thought of remodelling the place? Maybe some interior lighting?" I responded. "It's good trying to be funny in the worst of situations." Ryder said "While I'm here dealing with you, the pest, my partner is out there carrying out our mission. You'll never save your friends or that girl, Kimiko, our target." I snapped when he said that "DON'T YOU DARE LAY A FINGER ON HER!" I yelled. Ryder started chuckling and said "oooh it seems I've struck a nerve. Is she your girlfriend or something? Nah couldnt be. A girl like her is bound to have standards. I don't think she'd waste her time on a pathetic idiot like you" I was pissed at that point, and at the risk of looking like an idiot, i started slashing and punching at the empty in hopes of hitting Ryder. As expected, I couldnt.
He kept striking me from everywhere. Jabbing at me, and there was nothing I could do. If I defended one side he'd attack every other vulnerable spot at once. That's when it hit me "Shadows!" I said. "Yeah that's what this is. Brilliant observation sherlock." said Ryder mocking me. "Riddle me this, Ryder," I said with a smile crossing my face "What is the opposite of shadow?" I opened up my hoodie where I had an asortment of elements from the periodic table in case i needed some emergency materials for alchemy. I pulled out some tungstem, glass, a zinc nail, and a copper coin.
I immediately transmuted the tungstem and glass into a lightbulb. "Light!" I answered my own question. "And how exactly will you power that?!" Ryder asked knocking the lightbulb out of my hands. "Oh that's the easy part. A first grader could pull off the simple act of powering a lightbulb." And from my coat i took out the last component i needed, acid. I raced towards the lightbulb before Ryder had the chance to react. I connected wiring on the bulb, the copper coin, and the zinc nail, then I put the nail and the coin in the acid.
And it only produced the tiniest shimmer of light... "Hehe... that actually tickles a little" said Ryder "AHAHAHAHAHAHA" he continued laughing. Then i put the final part of my plan into action. I used alchemy to speed up the chemical reaction and electrical current, and the light shone brilliantly. "GAAAAH" winced Ryder. And he took us out of the shadow realm.
The bulb only shone for a few seconds given i didn't have much acid but it was enough to force Ryder into getting me out of there. And as he doubled over still in pain because of the light, I ran up to him and sent him flying with a fist made of tungsten.
I looked around and I was back in town square. The place was a bigger mess than when I left. It hadn't been that long since I left but It was already getting dark. I guess Ryder could manipulate the flow of time in his shadow realm, meaning he sped up time so as to buy time for Avelyn. I searched for the others everywhere when I heard voices yelling "YATOOOOO!" I turned around to be greeted by a bucket of icecream and a bottle of beer to the face and Catnip and Aika stood over me, clearly pissed off "HOW DARE YOU MAKE KIMIKO WORRY ABOUT YOU ASSHOLE?!" Aika yelled at me.
I stood up and Kimiko hugged me tightly "We were worried about you, you were gone for a long time and we've been searching here the whole time" she said "Uhhhm....How long was I gone?" I asked. Sanji said "You really don't know? It's been a whole week." That's when I reached the conclusion that Ryder sped up time in that shadow dimension... more than I expected "WAIT WHAAAAT??!?!" I yelled.
Kimiko's POV
At first, I was angry. I saw Yato jump in front of me, with Avelyn The Rainbow following him. Yato attack Rainbow and told me to move on. I wanted to argue that I could take care of myself, but it probably wasnt the best time.
I moved away, continuing to slash at anyone who got in my way. I was furious at the goverment. Not only had they got in the way of my money, but theyd killed citizens. Its there own frigging country, shouldnt they care about their people? I rarely attacked to kill, but this time, Id had it.
When I got to an opening I turned around to survey the others. I saw Aika looking crazedly mad as she always kinda had when she was fighting. Nicolette was being quite helpful, using her nature powers to stop people and clear the battle ground. Natasha... Well, she seemed about to hyperventilate, but she was doing fine too. A pile of men lay near Sanji, who looked as if he was insulting them.
I saw Yato, still fighting with Avelyn. Suddenly though, a shadow raced towards them. Out came the Ryder Shadow. He said something to Avelyn, who nodded and ran away. Then Ryder turned to Yato. And then... He was gone. I saw Ryder's shadow on the ground.
I shrieked and ran towards it. I stopped a t the edge and peered down. I knew attacking him with my sword wouldnt work, id need something else.
"NATASHA!" I screamed.
The small blue haired girl turned to me and I gestioned for her to come. She ran to me, her pigtails flowing out behind her.
"Please help me," I beggged. "Look, could you use your powers and get one of them power concealer bracelets off a guard or something?"
"Why?" She asked.
"Please! Just trust me," I told her. "I'll cover you, just focuse on getting the fucking bracelet."
She stared up at me then nodded. "Okay," she turned around and started running around.
I followed her, protecting her back, and always keeping an eye on the bastard's shadow.
Natasha squealed. "Yay! I found one," she exclaimed.
"Great. Now hurry up and give me the damn thing."
She nodded and got closer to the guard. I looked around making sure the enemy was far away from her. They were being kept busy by the guys, so Natasha would be safe.
I stared at the shadow and wondered what the shit that was. Where could Yato have gone? My anger came back once again, and I swore Id kill that bastard Ryder. Actually kill him this time.
I shouldve known he wasnt dead. Basically, his whole body was made up of his powers, he was literally a shadow. Nothing could hurt him, unless his powers were concealed. Then hed be as vulnerable as anyone else. I shouldve remembered that.
Lost in thought, I didnt see Natasha jumping around, screaming. "KIMIKO! KIMIKO! I GOT IT!"
I stared at her warily, and started walking to her. "That's good. Thanks. Now gim-"
"HEY! YOU COULD REMOVE A BRACELET?" Aika screamed.
"Yeah," Natasha answered her.
Aika screamed something back about how Natasha wasnt there when SHE needed a bracelet removing. I rolled my eyes and kept walking.
I felt it before anything else. Someone was behind me. I readied my sword and was about to turn around, when I felt a prick in my neck. I let out a gasp. I knew I should move away but the pain... I couldnt move.
When I gathered my thoughts again, I brought me elbow up and swung it back. I connected with something solid and heard a grunt. The pain in my neck dissapeared. I heard the tiny sound of glass breaking and turned around.
But I felt sluggish. I looked down and saw a small syringe laying on the ground, a deadly looking drop of some purple liquid spilling onto the ground. I looked up and saw someone walking away....
My eye sight blurred and my knees felt heavy. I let my sword drop, and it dissapeared in pieces, going back to its storring space. I felt myself fall down and I tried calling out to someone. But I couldnt find my voice.
I only remembered Yato, and Ryder. But I couldn't keep my eyes open. Darkness consumed me, and I was out.
Sanji's POV
I walked slowly towards three men, ready to attack. ¨You people never learn, huh?¨ I said as I lit a cigarette. The men slashed, but I dodged every attack. I easily kicked them all in the head, knocking them out. I started kicking more and more people.
As I stared at the pile of unconcious men that was next to me, I saw a rainbow from the corner of my eye. When I turned around I saw that the rainbow was actually hair. Hair from a lady. I recognized the beautiful lady as the one who attacked Yato and me (and Zach) in the forest that one time. I also saw that she was being attacked by no other than Yato.
¨HEY! KUSO GA-¨ I tried yelling, but I was interrupted by Yato's death glare. I slowly backed away and returned to my kicking.
I cleared out an area and then started moving towards another one with more men. But as I sprinted towards them, a stream if water punched me in the face. ¨Ow! What the hell!?¨ I exclaimed.
¨Seems I was a little too WET for you,¨ said a man who seemed to be made out of water. I got up and tried kicking him, but my leg went through his liquid body.
¨Are you SHORE you want to attack? Can't you SEA you can't harm me?¨ he said.
I tried ignoring his stupid puns, but they were so stupid it was almost impossible to ignore them. ¨Don't be so SHELLFISH, be a man and fight!¨ I said.
He stares at e blankly and said, "It's... It's not cool when you do it. You should just WAVE and smile."
I stared at him, then turned around and started walking away. I felt something scratch my arm, making me bleed. "Small water bullets, you're lucky I missed," he said.
'I've had enough...' I thought. I ran towards a big muscular guy that had those power concealing bracelets, and quickly knocked him out. I stole the bracelet and somehow put it around my foot. 'As long as I hit him with the bracelet, I'll be able to strike him,' I thought. 'It only conceals my food powers anyways.'
Struggling a bit, I walked towards the water guy, who luckily didn't see I stole the bracelet. "Okay, man. Give me one chance to hit you," I begged.
He shrugged and said, "It's useless but do your best."
I smirked and ran towards him, then as I was about to hit him in the stomach, I yelled, "Power Concealing Strike!"
Water Guy was sent flying with a surprised face. When he hit the ground, he coughed up blood then passed out. I stared at him, then walked away saying, "I guess you could say... I dried you out."
There was an akward silence and I heared Zach say, "That pun was pretty lame."
"Shut up," I told him. I kept walking when I saw a familiar figure fall to the ground. I ran and saw the rainbow haired girl running away. I recognized the figure on the ground as... Kimiko!
"Kimiko!" I yelled. I ran at full speed then knelt down. I kept screaming her name but she wouldn't wake up. I checked her heart rate, then picked her up.
I heard a female voice exclaim, "Retreat!" I looked around as men started running away, I tried attacking them but I couldn't hold Kimiko's body and attack at the same time.
I walked toward everyone else, then said, "Kimiko passed out. Don't worry, I checked her heart beat. She's alive."
Everyone stared at me, then finally Aika said, "Why is your nose bleeding?"
I panicked and wiped my nose, expecting to see Yato. Then I realized he wasn't there. "Huh? Where's Yato?" I asked.
Kimiko suddenly opened her eyes upon hearing Yato's name. "Put. Me. Down," she odered. I put her down, then asked if she new anything about Yato.
"Yeah, I saw him dissapear with that Ryder dude, like if he was absorbed. I wonder if he's okay..." she responded.
I didn't know if I should feel happy or worried that Yato wasn't there to annoy me. "Meh, don't worry. I know him more than anyone. He'll be fine..."