A/N: Hey everyone, Master of Death and Darkness here with my second one-shot. I've actually had the idea for this in my head for quite a while. It's kind of how I imagined the fight between Tokio and Haseo would go down in volume 3 of the .hack/LINK manga prior to its release after I had read volume 2. There's a character by the name of Posaune and in the manga he apparently has a German accent. Unfortunately I'm not too good at making characters easily look like they have accents via altering their dialogues, so just imagine he has a German accent when you read his lines. Also, I may have made a few characters OOC compared to the manga, but I'm pretty sure I kept them true to how they're originally portrayed.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Project .hack/ or the .hack/Conglomerate. They both rightfully belong to CyberConnect2 and NamcoBandai.
The World.
An MMORPG originally designed by a man from Germany by the name of Harald Hoerwick and owned by CyberConnect Corporation that took the world by storm after a global disaster caused by a virus named Pluto's Kiss wiped out every electronic device connected to the internet in late-2005.
In the 13 years since its initial release, The World had gone through four revisions, including the beta which went by the name of Fragment, including Revision 1 which lasted from 2007 to 2015, Revision 2 which lasted from late-2015 to 2019, and Revision X which had just recently been released in the year 2020.
Currently within The World, just a couple days after the release of The World R:X, a young boy of 14 named Tokio Kuryuu sat in the waiting room of the Arena in the Root Town of the Ω Server; Warring City Lumina Cloth. However, this was not of his own volition. Tokio had been issued a challenge by Haseo, the current Emperor of the Arena and an infamous PKK known by his nickname The Terror Of Death.
But even if entering the Arena to fight Haseo was not his own idea, Tokio had little choice in the matter, as he needed to recruit Haseo for his mission. This mission was given to him by a girl named Saika Amagi, who had recently transferred into his school, and given him a black-labeled disc of The World R:X that somehow transported the boy himself straight into the game. Tokio had been charged with freeing a tower within The World known as the Akashic Records from a group called Schicksal, who happens to be working for CC Corp for unknown reasons. But in order to free the Akashic Records, Tokio has to find the allies of the legendary Kite of the Azure Flames and obtain their Chrono Cores, which is what led Tokio to Haseo.
At the moment, Tokio sat in the Arena's waiting room and had pulled up the stat sheets of himself and his opponent, or at least what the system would allow in the form of showing the faces of both Player Characters along with their Level, HP and SP. Tokio ran a hand through his gravity-defying red hair and sighed.
"How am I going to do this?" Tokio asked himself. "He's so much stronger than me."
As Tokio looked at the two character sheets, the one thing that stood out the most was the difference in Level between the two of them. Haseo was at Level 200, even if it was the result of a hack by a member of Schicksal, while Tokio was still at Level 1.
"I'm as good as dead if he so much as touches me. It's not like I can evade him forever," Tokio continued to talk to himself as he sighed again. "If only I could remember how I beat Trommel, then I might stand a chance against Haseo…"
Tokio let his mind wander back to the previous day when he had run into a female PC by the name of Subaru, a famous player in her own right as the former commander of the Crimson Knights in the days of The World R:1, who had requested Tokio's assistance in finding a friend of hers by the name of Tsukasa. During The World R:1, Tsukasa was an enigmatic PC that was unable to log out of the game. But now, in R:X, Tsukasa's memories had been tampered with as a result of Schicksal's assault on the Akashic Records and had forgotten that Subaru was a very close friend. During this debacle, Tsukasa had been captured by Trommel, a member of Schicksal with a PC built like a mountain and wearing a super hero-themed outfit in mixed colors of purple, pink and yellow. When Tokio had confronted Trommel to free Tsukasa, the Schicksal member had a massive power lead over the newbie due to being at Level 120. Tokio had managed to trick the lumbering PC long enough to free an unconscious Tsukasa, but was unable to move away from Trommel's oncoming attack, resulting in Tokio's HP dropping straight to 0 and knocking the boy unconscious. When Tokio regained consciousness, he was standing over a fallen Trommel.
"How did I do that? I'm certain he PKed me as I was trying to get Tsukasa out," Tokio continued to mull over the situation, having made the character sheets disappear during his reminiscence. "Tsukasa couldn't move and Geist didn't show up until after I woke up…"
Tokio's thoughts on his encounter with Trommel resumed, in which the hulking PC rose back to his feet in a rage. But Trommel was quickly defeated again, not by Tokio, but this time by a man who revealed himself as Geist, another member of Schicksal. Though Tokio didn't know if "defeated" would be the right word to use for Trommel's state, as the giant PC had literally been cut down and then turned into a pile of blocks. And all Geist had used to accomplish this was a single tarot card.
"I'm sorry, Kite. But it looks like I won't be able to rescue you or your friends," Tokio said quietly as he hung his head in shame.
"Tokio-kun…" a voice echoed through the room, catching Tokio's attention.
"What the?" the red-haired boy wondered. "I must be hearing things. The NPC at the registration desk said I wouldn't be able to send or receive private messages."
"Tokio-kun…" the voice echoed again, causing Tokio's eyes to widen slightly.
"Wait… that voice…" Tokio said slowly as a transparent figure slowly manifested a couple feet in front of the boy. "Kite!?"
The was no doubt in Tokio's mind that the figure standing before him, even if it was transparent and ghost-like, was none other than Kite, the legendary hero of The World.
"Tokio-kun, you're the only one who can save and restore The World," Kite said in a soft, friendly tone.
"Kite…" Tokio mumbled before turning his gaze back to the floor. "I can't do what you asked of me. I'm only a Level 1 newbie character going up against Haseo! I can't win in a fight like that! If he beats me, I'll probably…"
"That hasn't stopped you before, remember?" Kite cut Tokio off with a question and making the boy look up at him again. "When you rescued Tsukasa, you faced an opponent who was far stronger than you and yet you still came out victorious. And it was no different for me back in R:1 when I had to fight Skeith and the other Phases."
"But you had help back then and you had the power of Data Drain. I'm going in this fight alone and I don't have any power like that," Tokio argued without raising his voice, not wanting to talk down to the leader of the .hackers and the Twilight Knights, much less to the person Tokio considered his mentor.
"But you do, Tokio-kun. You have a unique power only you can have," Kite countered, his voice still soft.
"I… do…?" Tokio asked slowly, to which Kite slowly nodded once.
"And you're not as alone as you think you are. Even if you're heading into this fight by yourself, you still have Tsukasa. And even though we're not physically with you, Subaru and I are right with you," Kite assured the boy.
"Kite…" Tokio said as tears started to well up in his eyes. "Even if you say I have a power of my own, what good is it if I don't even know how to use it?"
"If you remember back to when you rescued Tsukasa, I'm certain you can figure it out," Kite replied with a smile.
"When I rescued Tsukasa…" Tokio quietly repeated to himself as he let his mind go back to the fight against Trommel for a few seconds, replaying the scene where the larger PC had knocked him out over and over much to his chagrin, until his eyes widened in discovery which caused Kite's smile to widen in hope. "I think I've got it. Thank you, Kite. I probably couldn't have figured this out on my own."
"Even though we only met briefly, I consider you a friend, Tokio. And friends look out for each other," Kite replied. "Now remember to stick with your talents and you'll be able to free Haseo."
"Stick to my talents…" Tokio repeated slowly before nodding once, a smile appearing on his face. "I will. And Kite, I promise I'll find a way to save you as well."
Kite smiled and nodded in return before fading away.
"I won't let you down, Kite," Tokio said with newfound confidence in his voice as he rose to his feet. "And I'm going to free you no matter what, Haseo."
Tokio then walked up to the green warp gate in the waiting room, but stopped right in front of it.
"My talents…" Tokio repeated again until he gasped in realization. "That's it! Now I should have a chance against Haseo!"
After his quick celebration, a grin spread across Tokio's lips before the boy accessed the warp gate to take him to the arena floor.
After being warped to the arena floor, Tokio saw Haseo standing directly opposite of him with a strange clown-like PC by the name of Posaune, another member of Schicksal and the one who corrupted Haseo, standing in the corner as if taking the role of Haseo's coach in a boxing match.
"I've been waiting for you, Tokio…" Haseo greeted his opponent with a dark and twisted look on his face. "I feel like ripping off your arms and legs and using them to beat you to a pulp."
Tokio just narrowed his eyes and braced himself for Haseo's first assault, but was unprepared when Haseo summoned a gigantic sword and threw it with ease across the arena. The sword was not aimed at Tokio, however, and instead went crashing into the wall, causing it to crumble. Tokio had turned his gaze to the broken wall in surprise at Haseo's move, leaving the red-haired boy open for Haseo's next attack as the Terror Of Death summoned a giant black scythe and charged across the arena.
"I'll tear this place to the ground!" Haseo shouted as he headed straight for Tokio, recapturing his opponent's attention.
'What's going on here? I knew Haseo was after me, but it's like he's completely lost it,' Tokio's mind raced, but he soon lost his train of thought as Haseo swapped out his scythe for a pair of short, gold-colored weapons and leapt skyward for an aerial strike.
But when Haseo landed, his weapons struck the floor and Tokio was nowhere to be seen.
"Where the hell'd you go!?" Haseo shouted.
"Behind you!" Posaune called out to Haseo, to which the Emperor slowly turned around to see Tokio completely unharmed. 'How could he move so fast? He's just a Level 1!'
'Looks like that talk with Kite was exactly what I needed,' Tokio thought to himself. 'As a gamer, my talent is my reflexes and being able to memorize character controls. So by imagining my controller in my hands, my body will move accordingly. It won't matter what stats I have with my Level, it's my gaming skill that'll keep me in this. Now I just have to get close enough without getting hit.'
"Well if that attack had hit you then this would be pointless," Haseo said. "Just what I was expecting from you… Tri-Edge!!"
'Tri-Edge?' Tokio repeated in his mind, but had no time to continue his train of thought as Haseo rushed at him again with the pair of weapons.
"Stand still and fight, damn it!" Haseo roared as Tokio was managing to dodge each and every strike of the Adept Rogue's weapons until Haseo got fed up and somehow managed to swap back to the large sword he had previously hurled across the arena.
As Haseo tried to take a swing at Tokio with the massive sword, the red-haired boy somehow managed to deflect the weapon with his leg by kicking the flat side of the blade. With Haseo now off-balance, Tokio took his chance to deliver a roundhouse kick right into Haseo's face, sending the Emperor flying several feet across the arena floor.
'This can't be happening! How is Haseo being overpowered by this brat!?' Posaune screamed in his head.
Haseo drove the blade of his sword into the ground and used the weapon to get back to his feet. Without a word, Haseo swapped his sword for his black scythe. Seeing Haseo swapping his weapons had Tokio recall a conversation with the owner of a small game store that he happened to be friends with.
"Before he was known as The Terror Of Death, Haseo was being called The Black Adept Rogue. This is a unique class that's mostly used by hardcore RPG fans since they're a very difficult class to get used to. Adept Rogues are given 4 class points to spend during the character creation and, using those points, can select two or three classes to be able to switch between. However, being able to use multiple classes makes it difficult to gain class experience for specific weapons in that it takes longer than it would for a character using that same class on its own. As a result, the Adept Rogue class is often seen as the 'jack-of-all-trades' class with no real advantage with a specific class type. But if mastered, the Adept Rogue will be able to handle nearly situation."
'Haseo's gonna have a ton of skills he can use against me. But if I can just get close enough…' Tokio's train of thought was once against lost as he had to evade Haseo's scythe by jumping over the Adept Rogue and then immediately sliding to the side to avoid the weapon.
"Stop running away from fight me!" Haseo practically screamed at Tokio.
'I've gotta try to end this now!' Tokio mentally told himself before rising to his feet and rushing right at Haseo.
"That's it!" Haseo shouted with a twisted smile on his face as he pulled back hi scythe, ready to swing it to cut Tokio in two.
But when Haseo swung his weapon, Tokio jumped and planted his foot on the flat side of the blade, forcing the weapon to the ground. With a mixed look of surprise and fury on Haseo's face, Tokio reached for Haseo with his right hand and placed it on his opponent's chest.
"What the…?" Haseo trailed off as his vision suddenly blurred.
The momentum from his run caused Tokio to dash right past Haseo, but the boy ended up losing his footing and tumbled across the arena floor. Haseo place a hand over his chest as he slowly turned around to face Tokio.
"What the hell did you do to me!?" Haseo shouted, but then a quick gasp escaped his lips as his body went stiff.
"What is going on?" Posaune wondered as he looked at the two combatants. 'Haseo must have struck Tokio when he got close, there's no other reason the brat could be down. He wouldn't be able to survive a single hit from Haseo. But why is Haseo just standing there?'
After having touched Haseo, Tokio's vision had gone black and various images started to appear in his head. These images were not his own, however. They were Haseo's memories.
"This feels so… familiar," Tokio said in his mind as the images floated around him. "Yeah, the same thing happened with Tsukasa after Trommel knocked me out…"
"Haseo!"
Tokio spun around, trying to find the source of the voice, but was unable to as another voice called out Haseo's name, followed by another, and then another. Soon all Tokio could hear were various voices calling out Haseo's name.
"Please… Help me free Haseo!" Tokio called out to the voices.
In an instant, the voices stopped. The images of Haseo's memories began to slowly disappear, confusing Tokio. But then, within the black void, a set of three red orbs lit up. Tokio felt as though someone or something was staring at him with a burning intensity. Then he felt as though his body from the neck down was being crushed.
"What the…?" was all Tokio managed to get out.
"You desire to free my User?" a deep, demonic voice rumbled.
"I… I do!" Tokio answered the voice. "I need to free Haseo so I can ask him to help restore The World! Kite sent me—"
"Kite…" the voice rumbled, cutting Tokio off but then continued after what sounded like a scoff. "Very well, I will lend you my power until my User is freed."
"Thank you!" Tokio said with a smile. "But wait, who are you?"
"My name…" the voice rumbled as the three red orbs slowly faded away. "…is Skeith!"
"Wh-What the!?" Posaune shouted in shock as he watched Tokio slowly rise to his feet. "But that's impossible! Surely Haseo struck him, so how can that brat be standing!?"
A beeping sound had caught Posaune's attention and the clown looked at the digital screen in front of him. What Posaune saw nearly caused him to freak out.
"Impossible! His Level…" Posaune said, his PC body trembling as Tokio's current Level was being displayed as JP*?d:g±A. "It's off the scale!"
Once Tokio was back on his feet, he slowly turned around to face Haseo. But the look on Tokio face and in his eyes had change and become darker, almost as dark as Haseo's during the arena match.
"What the hell's going on?" Haseo demanded, his vision returned to normal.
"This is the only way to set you free, Haseo," Tokio answered, his voice monotone as red patterns began to appear over his body.
"That's… What is that?" Haseo questioned, but Posaune's eyes widened in shock.
'Impossible! How is he able to summon him!?' Posaune shouted in his head.
"Ī ze… Koi… Koi yo…" Tokio said, almost like he was chanting something. "Ore wa… Koko ni Iru! Sukeisu!"
To the spectators of the match, nothing of significance happened to Tokio outside of his body gaining a red glow. But to Posaune and Haseo, Tokio had been replaced by gigantic black monster with three glowing red eyes.
"What the hell is that thing?" Haseo wondered, his eyes widened.
"He summoned it… He summoned it…" Posaune repeated over and over with fear evident in both his voice and his eyes, but was able to calm himself down. "Well, this may have taken an unexpected turn, but it's always good to make sure you're prepared for the unexpected." 'Though I certainly wasn't expecting this.'
As Posaune began to type away on his digital keyboard, Haseo was having a staring contest with Skeith.
'Why does it feel so… familiar?' was the one question running through Haseo's mind, as odd as he thought it was.
Before another thought could enter Haseo's mind, a massive red scythe appeared in the dark creature's hands with a small-scale version in Tokio's. The Adept Rogue barely had time to dive away as Tokio and the creature swung their weapons downward at the corrupted Emperor, effectively splitting the arena floor in two.
"Just what the hell is going on here?" Haseo asked himself as his eyes trailed the large crack in the floor. "How can anything be strong enough to do that?"
Skeith and Tokio pulled their scythes from the ground and prepared to attack Haseo again.
"And execute!" Posaune shouted as he pressed the final button on his keyboard.
Before anyone could wonder what Posaune was up to, Haseo found himself doubled over and groaning in pain.
"Haseo!" Tokio called out from within Skeith. "Hey, why won't you do anything!?"
Skeith was unresponsive as Haseo's body began to convulse. The Adept Rogue reached out with his right arm, the claws from the glove scratching against the arena floor. But as Tokio watched, he noticed something was spreading from the glove and began to cover Haseo's body.
"What's going on here?" Tokio wondered, but then gasped as the substance that was spreading began to take shape and solidify, taking the form of dark, jagged armor around Haseo's body from the neck down with a pair of long, black tails protruding from his backside and lashing against the ground like whips.
"There it is! Absolute perfection!" Posaune shouted gleefully at the transformed Haseo. "Haseo… B-st Form!!"
"W-What's this turn of events, ladies and gentlemen?!" the arena's commentator shouted into his microphone. "Haseo… It's like he's transformed into some kind of monster!"
The new Haseo let out a feral, bestial roar and then made a crazed charge right at Tokio and Skeith.
"Do something!" Tokio shouted to Skeith, but then felt his right arm move on its own. "Eh?"
All of a sudden, Tokio's body began to move on its own, as if Skeith was controlling him, and knocked Haseo away with the scythe. Unfortunately Haseo was able to land on his feet and soon dug his claws into the ground.
"Now what's he up to?" Tokio wondered.
His question was soon answered as Haseo let out another roar and thousands of large swords materialized behind the corrupted PC.
"That's…" Skeith's voice rumbled in Tokio's head. "Demon Blade Summons!"
Before Tokio could ask what Skeith was talking about, all of the swords launched themselves right at Tokio and the Avatar. But Skeith was quick to counter as he held out his scythe and begin spinning it, with Tokio forcefully mimicking the Avatar's movements, using the weapon as a barrier to deflect the barrage of swords. But once the swords had fallen, Tokio and Skeith noticed that Haseo had disappeared.
"Where did he go?" Tokio wondered as he looked around.
Unfortunately for Tokio, Haseo's new form had given him a massive increase in speed and thus allowed the corrupted PC to appear behind Tokio without detection. In Tokio's moment of weakness, Haseo thrust his right arm forward… and pierced it straight through Tokio's body.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Tokio screamed out in pain as Skeith howled, as if feeling the same pain as Tokio.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it looks as though Haseo has literally ripped right through Tokio!" the commentator shouted into his microphone, which got the crowd cheering for Haseo.
"Kill that runt! Rip him apart!" were some of the cheers coming from the spectators.
Haseo quickly pulled his arm out of Tokio's chest and let the red-haired boy and the borrowed Avatar fall to the floor, Tokio trying to cover the hole in his body and he writhed in pain.
'It hurts… It hurts!' Tokio repeated in his head over and over. 'Kite… I'm sorry…'
"Get up, Tokio!" Tokio heard a voice shout over the crowd's constant chanting.
'That voice…' Tokio slowly willed his body to look up towards the crowd and saw Tsukasa with her hands cupped by her mouth as though trying to amplify her voice.
"Don't give up now, Tokio!" Tsukasa called out.
'Tsukasa's right… I can't give up…' Tokio thought to himself as he slowly pushed himself up. 'Skeith… You still there?'
"Of course I am," Skeith answered, the Avatar's voice full of anger.
'Tell me... How did you plan to free Haseo?' Tokio asked the Avatar as he struggled to stay on his feet.
"Data Drain," Skeith answered. "But now that we've been damaged, it'll take some time to charge it. We won't be able to fight back."
'Damn it… So how are we supposed to—' Tokio cut himself off mid-thought before glancing towards Tsukasa in the audience. 'It's our only shot. Let's make it count.'
"Come on, Tokio! You can do it!" Tsukasa found herself cheering, but then stopped as a ringing sound caught her attention. "Mail?"
Tsukasa opened up a digital screen to access the new mail she had obtained, almost gasping at the sender and the message it contained.
"Help me…"
"Tokio?" Tsukasa wondered before sending a reply, quickly getting one back from her injured comrade.
"I need you to buy me some time… Find a way to hold Haseo off…"
"But what can I…" Tsukasa trailed of before gasping sharply in realization. 'It's the only thing that'll work.'
Tsukasa then closed her eyes as an archaic circle appeared beneath her feet.
"This plan of yours better work," Skeith told Tokio, almost as a warning.
'I'm hoping that, too,' Tokio thought in agreement. 'Now let's charge this thing.'
Skeith moved Tokio's right arm and aimed it straight at Haseo as data panels began to slowly appear over Tokio's arm and taking on the form of a cannon. As Tokio and Skeith were busy charging the Avatar's Data Drain, B-st Haseo took the opportunity to charge at his two defenseless targets.
But the Adept Rogue was quickly repelled as a large, golden, dumbbell-shaped creature appeared above Tokio and Skeith and fired tendrils from its gelatinous body at the corrupted PC, forcing Haseo back.
"Now what?" Posaune asked in frustration as he looked at the creature that had recently appeared. "Hold on, that's Tsukasa's Guardian. That must mean…"
Posaune began to look around at the many spectators until he spotted a familiar Wavemaster with a look of absolute concentration of her face.
'Found you…' Posaune thought to himself as he laughed a little.
'Skeith, how much longer?' Tokio asked the Avatar.
"Not much more," Skeith answered. "But that Guardian won't be able to last much longer."
Tokio watched as Tsukasa's Guardian was able to keep haseo's attention away from him and Skeith. But as Skeith had said, it looked like the Guardian would have to be called back soon if Haseo continued his relentless assault on the creature.
'Damn it… Hurry up!' Tokio mentally begged the Data Drain, despite how useless doing so may have sounded.
"Oh Tokio!" the red-haired boy heard someone call out to him in a sing-song voice. "I suggest you give up now and let Haseo kill you, if you don't want anything to happen to your little friend, that is!"
Tokio turned his gaze in the direction of the voice and saw Posaune with a devious smirk on his face. But he wasn't the only person Tokio saw…
"Tsukasa!" Tokio called out to his comrade, who had once again found herself captured.
"I'm sorry… Tokio," Tsukasa apologized weakly.
A loud shriek rang in the air a moment after, catching Tokio's attention to see Tsukasa's Guardian had been defeated and slowly vanished from sight.
"No!" Tokio cried out.
"If you don't want anything to happen to your friend, then I suggest you give up," Posaune threatened. "Otherwise I'll destroy her PC body and take her Chrono Core!"
Tokio grit his teeth as he weighed the options in his mind. On the one hand, if he could free Haseo then he'd have a powerful ally. On the other, Tsukasa was his friend and he had made a promise to Subaru.
"Don't stop now!" Skeith's voice rumbled loudly in Tokio's head. "Haseo must be freed at any cost!"
'I… I…' Tokio struggled to give an answer. 'I can't—'
Before Tokio could give Skeith his answer, the arena floor erupted in an inferno of blue fire that separated Tokio and Haseo.
"Now what's going on?" Posaune growled, getting more and more frustrated that Tokio hadn't been killed yet.
"Where did this fire come from?" Tokio wondered as he heard what could only be described as a growl from Skeith.
The fire slowly died down, Tokio was able to make out the shape of a figure standing in the center.
"Who's that?" Tokio wondered in awe.
Once the flames had completely disappeared, the figure that was in the fire could be seen wearing a patched-together outfit make of brown, yellow, orange and blue and had long, messy azure blue hair under an oddly-shaped hat and a strange symbol made of the same blue fire that had previously enveloped the arena hovered inches from the figure's back. Staring at the figure, Tokio thought it looked familiar.
"Is that… Kite?" Tokio wondered.
"No, not exactly," Skeith quickly answered. "It's an AI created by Aura based on Kite's design. Azure Flame Kite."
"How did that PC escape!? I'm certain I had it contained!" Posaune shouted with surprise.
Haseo growled at the newcomer, but Azure Flame Kite didn't move an inch. Believing this to be an opening, Haseo charged at the AI, ready to cut this new opponent to shreds with his claws. But just before Haseo reached his target, Azure Flame Kite summoned a black, three-bladed weapon to his hand and blocked the corrupted Emperor's attack with ease. Tokio was in awe at the speed in which this AI had managed to defend itself without losing its ground. Even though Haseo's attack had been blocked, it didn't stop The Terror Of Death from trying to force his way through. This only resulted in Azure Flame Kite summoning a second weapon and using both to deflect Haseo's attacks.
"You need to focus! The Data Drain is almost ready!" Skeith told Tokio.
'But what about Tsukasa?' Tokio questioned the Avatar.
As if sensing Tokio's thoughts, Azure Flame Kite managed to send a flash mail to the red-haired boy while still holding off Haseo's attacks.
"Once you're ready, I'll rescue your friend," Tokio read the mail to himself. 'Alright, let's keep going, Skeith!'
"Just a few more seconds!" the Avatar said as the cannon finished forming and was now charging energy.
Haseo's anger and frustration continued to build as the AI continued to block his every attack. With his rage reaching its peak, the transformed PC's eyes started to glow red. Then, in a surprising move ever since Haseo started his rampage after transforming, the Adept Rogue backed off from his attacks.
"Now what's Haseo doing?" Tokio wonder aloud.
"Stop getting distracted!" Skeith warned his temporary User.
Though Haseo had backed off, Azure Flame Kite didn't let his guard down. The AI didn't dare risk launching an attack of its own in case Haseo or Posaune decided to pull something. He didn't have long to wait, however, as Haseo was soon surrounded by a burning aura and suddenly vanished. Azure Flame Kite's eyes widened slightly in surprise and glanced around while staying in front of Tokio and Skeith as their shield.
"Where'd he go?" Tokio questioned as he also looked around for the missing Adept Rogue.
"Above us!" Skeith's voice rumbled.
Tokio quickly looked up to see Haseo diving towards him and the Avatar, ready to strike with his claws. As much as he wanted to move out of the way, Tokio knew that it'd make the Data Drain take longer to charge. And the fact Skeith was preventing the red-haired boy from moving any part of his body with the exception of his head didn't help any. Tokio closed his eyes tightly as he braced himself for Haseo's attack. But he would soon find that to have been unnecessary as Azure Flame Kite lept into the air and used his blades to block against Haseo's claws, earning a feral snarl from the transformed PC, before flinging the Adept Rogue down towards the arena with a crash that shattered some of the flooring.
"It's ready!" Skeith notified his temporary User. "And we have the perfect opportunity!"
Tokio quickly turned his attention to the AI that had aided him, "Please, help Tsukasa!"
Azure Flame Kite merely nodded before dashing towards Posaune and the captured Tsukasa, causing the Schicksal member to scream from surprise.
"Not a step closer! I'm warning you!" Posaune tried to threaten the AI.
But it was a failed attempt as, with a quick swipe of his weapons, Azure Flame Kite managed to cut off one of Posaune's arms while freeing Tsukasa at the same time. Posaune stumbled backwards with a scream, staring at where his arm had been detached.
"Tokio, jump!" Skeith ordered.
"Right!" the red-haired boy acknowledged as he and the black Avatar leapt high into the air.
"We're only going to get one shot, so don't mess this up!" Skeith warned. "I will not lose my User!"
Without a word, Tokio repositioned his body in the air so that he and Skeith were looking down at the arena, catching a glimpse of Haseo trying to free himself from the rubble that resulted from his crash. The temporary User and Avatar then aimed their right arm, now resembling a cannon due to the data panels that had been generating during the charge, directly at the center of the arena.
"Here goes nothing!" Tokio shouted as he and Skeith moved their left hand to brace their right arm. "Data Drain!!"
Firing from the data cannon was a black, spherical mass of data that sped down towards the arena like an anvil falling from the sky. Haseo had managed to pull himself out of his crater and looked up at the impending blast with a snarl. Azure Flame Kite had managed to erect a barrier of blue fire around the arena to keep itself, the unconscious Tsukasa, and the spectators safe from the Data Drain blast while also keeping Haseo locked in. The feral PC held its ground as the sphere closed in until it struck, the blast engulfing the entire arena.
Tokio was panting heavily, having no idea using the Data Drain would be so exhausting. Skeith, however, scoffed at the boy's current state, but said nothing of the matter as the Avatar forced Tokio and itself to descend to the arena once the smoke caused by the Data Drain had settled. Much to Skeith's pleasure, Haseo had reverted to his original form and was sprawled on the floor.
"My User is finally free," Skeith said with what Tokio could've sworn was relief. "Our pact is over."
Once Tokio touched down on the arena floor, Skeith faded away as a faint trail of red data coding floated from the boy to Haseo.
"I… I don't believe it…" the commentator said slowly into his microphone. "Haseo has been defeated! Our new Emperor is Tokio Kuryuu!"
Much to Tokio's surprise, the crowd was cheering for him instead of being against him like they had been for the duration of the match. The volume of the noise also seemed to be just what Haseo needed to wake himself up.
"What happened?" the Adept Rogue asked with a groan as he pushed himself to his feet with a hand on his head.
"Ah, Haseo, you're alright!" Tokio said to the silver-haired PC with a smile. "Thank goodness."
"Huh?" Haseo wondered as his attention was drawn to Tokio. "It's you!"
A memory of Haseo's first meeting with Tokio flashed in his head.
"You're that kid who was getting the shit kicked out of him in the alley," Haseo remembered, which caused Tokio to facefault, but Haseo smiled a bit. "Thanks, I guess. It feels like I was having a bad dream."
"You're welcome," Tokio said as he got back up to his feet. "But I did have to borrow a bit of your power to bring you back to your senses."
"Yeah, I can tell," Haseo said quietly as he looked down at his left hand before looking around the arena. "Now then, where's that bastard who messed with me?"
"Damn, I almost forgot about him," Tokio said as he also started looking around.
Unfortunately the two of them were unable to find Posaune anywhere within the arena. When Tokio questioned Azure Flame Kite, the AI just tilted its head with Tsukasa doing the same, having also been woken up by the loud cheering.
"Looks like he got away," Tokio sighed.
"Damn it!" Haseo growled, clenching his fists.
"But I'm sure we'll end up running into him again," Tokio said, catching Haseo's attention again. "I doubt Schicksal will give up on trying to get what they want from you or from Tsukasa. But as allies of Kite, don't you think we should work together?"
Haseo momentarily placed a hand on his head, as if trying to recall a memory.
"I don't know who that is…" Haseo said slowly. "But what I do know is that you were right. Shino is safe. And I have some others that I need to find as well, make sure they don't get targeted because of me."
"If they're friends of yours, then I'm sure we'll run into them eventually," Tokio assured the Terror Of Death. "Kite gave me an important mission, but I also plan on saving him just as I saved you. If you and your friends could help, I'd be grateful."
Haseo couldn't help but smirk before holding a hand out to Tokio, "Alright then. I'll lend you my assistance."
"Thanks!" Tokio said with a smile as he shook Haseo's hand.
"Hey!" the two boys heard Tsukasa call to them. "That other guy's disappeared!"
Haseo and Tokio took a brief look around and noticed the AI that had assisted him was no longer in the arena either.
"Oh well, I get the feeling we'll see him again," Tokio shrugged.
"You too, huh?" Haseo said as Tsukasa walked up to the boys.
'Perfect, now I've got Haseo on my team,' Tokio thought to himself victoriously. 'Just hold on a bit longer, Kite. I'll keep my promise and save you.'
Unknown to Tokio and his two comrades, Azure Flame Kite was looking down at the group of three before vanishing in a small blaze of blue fire.
A/N: And there you have it, my take on the fight between Tokio and Haseo. First off, the chant Tokio says when summoning Skeith can be roughly translated as "That's it... Come on... Come on... I'm... right here! Skeith!". Also, if anyone reading this has read the manga, you may notice that Alkaid is missing from this one-shot. Yeah, I wasn't able to see a way to add her in when I was working on it so you'll have to forgive me for that. As for what happened to Posaune, it pretty much remains the same as in the manga; he has a run-in with Geist and the latter destroys Posaune the same way he destroyed Trommel. Only difference is that Schicksal didn't get Tsukasa's Chrono Core. I really wish they'd have continued with this manga cause from the preview it looked like volume 4 would've been really cool centering around Orca and Balmung. Anyway, that does it for me.
Please rate and review, everyone!