Game Over

Summary: While fighting an Akuma, Allen finds himself getting dragged into its ability— which puts his physical body into a deep sleep. If he wants to wake up again, then he needs to beat the Akuma at its game, which literally is a game. It wouldn't take him that long to clear one hundred levels, right?

A/N: The ability of the Akuma is to drag someone into a dream that is a game of its choice. Any harm that happens to the person in the dream affects the real body.

No idea if I intend on continuing this. Was more...experimenting, I guess.

Chapter One

"Kanda, you need to explain this a bit better. So you're telling me that this Akuma...simply touched Allen's head and he succumbed to its ability straight away?" Komui questioned, watching as the nurses around the white-haired teen examined him, but physically, nothing appeared to be wrong with him. "Then, after he passed out, the Akuma turned around and told you that the only way he would wake up is if he completed its game—and the only way to kill the Akuma was by completing the game—meaning the only way to get Allen to wake up and to kill the Akuma with the ability is if Allen completes this game?"

"Che," Kanda narrowed his eyes, glancing to the side as he gripped Mugen firmly. "Don't make me repeat myself."

"So basically, this Akuma…" Lavi stood at the side of the room, his arms folded, expression thoughtful. "Is powerful enough to create a mental world in someone's head. Are you sure it wasn't Rhode Kamelot that done this?"

"I would have known if it was her," Kanda growled. "Besides, the little bitch is too clingy to the beansprout, she wouldn't do that do him."

"Calm down Yu, I was just asking-"

"Do you want to die, you stupid rabbit?"

"Calm down!" Lenalee finally snapped, who had been sitting next to Allen's side, holding onto his hand and squeezing it gently. "All we know is that Allen is trapped in some form of ability, and the only way to cancel this ability out is by completing its 'conditions', right?"

"My little Lenalee has gotten so clever-!" Komui was swiftly shut up when Kanda punched him across the face, falling over.

"I guess you could say that," Lavi agreed, then made a gesture with his hand. "Yu, are you sure it was a Level Three? This seems quite powerful of a demon of that level."

"I never said it was a Level Three," Kanda responded irritably. "I said it couldn't be anything less than a Level Three."
"So there's a possibility of it being a Level Four, yeah?" Lavi then paused. "Or maybe…"

"We don't know how much further Akuma can evolve," came the voice of Bookman, which caused everyone to jump, since none of them had sensed the old man's presence. "From what we know this Akuma could be on a completely different level."

Komui slowly got to his feet, clutching at his bleeding nose, his expression turning more serious.

"What did the Akuma appear to look like, Kanda?"

"Human," was the Japanese's response. "The Moyashi couldn't even detect that it was an Akuma."

Silence filled the room. Allen, without fail, had always managed to detect when there was an Akuma around. His cursed eye his activated before when an Akuma was miles away.

"So was it even an Akuma?" Lenalee voiced, biting her lip. "Was there any possibility that it was…"

"It couldn't have been a Noah," Lavi reasoned. "We already know that Rhode is the only one with an ability even similar to this."

"Did it say anything else to you, Kanda?" Komui asked, cleaning his face up and then sitting down. "Anything else at all?"

"It said…" Kanda trailed off, which caused everyone in the room to tense, waiting for him to continue.

Game Over

[Name: Allen Walker]

[Age: 16]

[Gender: Male]

[Species: Human/Noah]

[Abilities: Crown Clown, Exorcism Sword, Swindler, Cursed Eye]

[Special Ability: Poker Face]

His head hurt. Slowly, Allen opened his eyes, his vision clearing to find that he was laying on a bed in a dingy looking room which only contained a bedside cabinet and a lamp. He sat up, rubbing at his temple, then tried to work out how he got there in the first place.

He and Kanda were in a small town on the north coast of Italy. There had been an increased amount of Akuma in the area, which led to beliefs that there may be Innocence hidden somewhere. Having suspected they would be there for some time, the Order had gotten them accommodation they could manage themselves, since it worked out cheaper than living at an inn somewhere.

So they had went into the marketplace, though Kanda grudged being anywhere near him, so that they could get food and supplies. Allen furrowed his brow, remembering that he had stopped at one of the stalls selling bread...and then…

He bumped into a woman. He tried to apologize for his clumsiness—

And that was all he could remember. He ran a gloved hand through his hair, getting to his feet and heading to the door, only to freeze when he heard a voice ring in his head.

[Would you like to set the time? Select Yes/No. Current time is set to 20:31.]

He blinked when he saw both options appear in front of his eyes. He tried to step away from it, but the options remained in the middle of his vision. He tried to blink them away, but it remained there. Slowly, he reached up and rested his finger on 'No', hearing a beeping noise and then it disappeared.

"I must be asleep," Allen mumbled. "Strange dream though."

He opened the door and walked out, looking down the hallway, noticing that there were other rooms as well. He glanced back at the door he came out from, noticing the number '25'. An inn perhaps? He wasn't too sure. He ignored it for now, making his way down the hallway and then stepped down creaky wooden stairs, entering what appeared to be a bar of some form, his breath pausing when he heard that voice in his head again.

[Welcome to the game, Allen Walker. Would you like to read the rules? Select Yes/No.]

Allen sighed, then reached up and selected 'Yes'. If he was dreaming, then there would be no harm in this, right?

[The main goal of this game is to complete all one hundred levels. In doing so, you will win and be granted your freedom back.]

"Freedom back?" Allen looked confused, then pressed on the words, watching as more text appeared.

[When your see gears turning in the left-hand side of your vision, the game is saving. Please wait until all new changes have been registered to ensure nothing corrupts.]

"Okay…" the white-haired teen shook his head, none of this even making sense to him as he tapped the words again. More text appeared, though the only thing that was on his mind was when he would wake up from this.

[Any damage you receive in-game will transfer to your physical body. They must be tended to in game for them to be tended to on your physical body. Dying in game will result in death to your physical body.]

Allen stiffened, staring at the words in thought. For a dream, this was being pretty detailed. Heck, usually Allen didn't dream anything unless he was having a nightmare about Mana. He continued on.

[Once you complete the tutorial, you will be able to invite friends to join you on your journey. They will only join you if they accept the invitation, however.]

He snorted. He pictured trying to invite someone like Kanda to this bizarre dream of his. He could picture the swordsman trying to swat away the writing that refused to leave his vision, then attempt to draw Mugen on them. He couldn't help but laugh.

"Like hell I'd invite BaKanda," he then let out a pout, clicking on the writing again. "Besides, if this game was actually real, he'd have such an advantage. I mean, he heals fast. Lenalee and Lavi might play though…"

[You can access Help and Guidelines in the drop down menu. Now it's time to continue the tutorial, good luck player!]

The writing then disappeared, Allen blinking in surprise when he heard someone calling over to him from the bar, ushering him over.

"New kid!" his voice was gruff. "Good thing you finally woke up. We thought you were never going to wake up after being attacked by that demon!"

"Demon?" Allen rushed over to him, eyes wide. "Do you mean an Akuma? Where is it now?!"

"Geez, calm down kid, someone else came and saved your bacon," the man responded, causing Allen to blink. It must have been another Exorcist...but who…? He was quick to shake his head, reminding himself that this wasn't reality. That he probably ate something nasty that was making him dream all of this. "He left a message for me to tell you, for when you woke up."

"Eh?" Allen blinked, resting his hands on the bar's counter, furrowing his brow. "What was his message?"

"He said," the man then slid a piece of paper in front of him. "That he would be waiting for you on the outskirts of town, that he'll tell you about the demon who attacked you."

Allen took the piece of paper and thanked the bartender, then left the bar, looking up at the night sky. True, it had told him that the time was just past half past eight… he stared at the piece of paper, which looked like a hastily drawn map. It showed Allen where he was, then showed him where he was meant to head. He followed the winding streets, shaking off the woman that tried to drape themselves over them, passed people who were gambling and smoking in the middle of the street. He eventually came to a clearing, which was dimly lit by lamps. He squinted, before he felt his blood turn cold.

In the middle of the clearing was a body, covered in blood. He rushed over to him, trying to help the man up, noting that he was wearing an Exorcist uniform, but he had no idea on who this man was.

"Ah...you finally made it kid…" the man said. "I was going to tell you about the demon who attacked you...but it came back for revenge on me...I underestimated it…"

"Hang on!" Allen tried to find the source of the blood, getting his white gloves coated with the crimson liquid. "Just...give me a minute, I need to stop the bleeding—"

"It's too late for me," the man murmured. "I'm infected...I'm going to die."

As he said this, Allen saw the pentacles start to spread across the man's skin. He immediately recognized it as the Akuma virus, which caused him to grit his teeth.

"Behind you...you need to run...kid…"

Allen whipped around, feeling his side being pierced, gasping softly as he felt blood soaking through his coat. His cursed eye activated, showing him the soul of the Akuma in front of him. It was only a Level Two, he could deal with it with this kind of wound…

"Crown Clown!" immediately, his Innocence activated, charging towards the Level Two, which looked like a mix between a horse and a...sponge…? With sharp blades attached to its legs. He slashed his clawed left hand down, taking it down in one hit, before falling down to his knees and clutching at his side, hissing softly in pain.

"...I knew it...you're one of us...kid…" the man spoke quietly, but as Allen turned around to look at him, his skin had turned black. "...everything is up...to you…"

When the man turned to dust, Crown Clown deactivated, Allen slamming his hand off of the cobbled ground.

"Damn it!"

[You have completed the Tutorial. Enter the drop down menu and select 'Items' to find and access your medical supplies, along with other useful resources.]

Allen's vision blurred, reaching up and hitting the small arrow in the top right and accessed the drop down menu, his breathing heavy. Was this a dream? He couldn't tell, but this pain felt very real.

He hoped to god that it was a dream.

Game Over

"It said that any injuries the beansprout obtained within this game would appear on his physical body," Kanda spoke, everyone's attention now on him. "It also told me that once he finished some 'tutorial' or some bullshit like that, that he would be able to invite people to play the game with him if he so desired."

"So we can help him?" Lenalee looked hopeful. "I hope so-"

"It sounds like something the Akuma would implement to drag the rest of us into its ability and trap us," Lavi murmured. "There's no guarantee that Allen will even be able to leave this 'game' if he completes it—"

Everyone's attention turned to Allen as he gasped, his back arching— only to see his side burst open and witness blood soak through the white medical shirt he was wearing.

"Allen!"

"Shit!"

Kanda furrowed his brow. He didn't know if the Akuma had spoken the truth, but Allen had just sustained an injury without anything physically touching him. This game…

They could only hope that Allen survived long enough in this game to invite them in.