Punch, Brother, Punch Ch. 3
As the bus rumbled onward, I watched the scenery pass by. When I felt something warm against my shoulder, I turned to see that Akira's eyes were closed and she was snoozing peacefully.
My cheeks turned bright red. The fact she'd fallen asleep on me was sweet, and again, I began to wonder just what sort of person she really was. Brain Burst truly had unlocked an entire new world for me. My role in it, however, had yet to be determined.
Realizing that everyone's eyes were on the two of us, I readjusted to shake her gently. "Akira, wake up," I whispered to her. Blinking her eyes, she stared up at me through her glasses before pulling back in shock.
"Ah! My apologies, Hughes. I didn't realize I fell asleep on you."
"I don't mind. I just thought you'd be embarrassed is all. If you don't care though, my shoulder is always available to you."
Now it was her turn to be flustered. Considering it for a moment, she looked around cautiously to see if any one she recognized was on the bus with us. Then, she again rested her head against my shoulder and closed her eyes, a soft smile spreading across her lips.
For a moment, I didn't move a muscle. My feelings for Akira didn't extend very far past friendship, and I'd always assumed she felt the same. Perhaps I was a closer friend to her than I realized.
Soon after, she was asleep again. As time seemed to tick by, I suddenly felt a chill down my spine. Something was coming, I could feel it in my gut. "Burst link," I murmured. As before, my body was avatar was ejected from me. Opening up the opponent select screen, my heart nearly stopped.
Chocolate Recluse was here. Picturing him standing behind Akira with that bat made my blood boil. Without a thought, I selected his name and suddenly my duel avatar materialized into a desolate wasteland.
"What the…?" The guy cried, looking around. "Someone found me?"
"You should have kept your network off," I lectured, causing him to wheel about to look at me. His duel avatar was an ugly thing. A segmented mechanical creature with four long leg-like spines jutting out of his back. On his face were sharp mandibles as well as a weird spray nozzle, his poison.
"Who the fuck are you?"
"I'm a friend of Aqua Current. I don't take kindly to those who attack my friends."
"Wait...your accent. You're that gaijin that was with her the other day, aren't you! You bastard, I've been having to hide from the cops thanks to that stupid bitch and her meddling."
"Firstly, you were the one who approached her. I know all about you and your tricks, Recluse. Secondly, you're going to pay for calling her a bitch. I intend to drain you of every last one of your points. You don't deserve this game. As far as I'm concerned, you barely deserve to live."
"Heh...You're level 1! You can't take me on. I'm a level 4! Then again, you're a gaijin, so you're probably shit at math anyway."
3...2...1...0! The moment the fight started, I rushed him, slamming my fist straight into his face and sending him hurtling backwards. As he crashed into the ground, his body bounced like a pebble across a pond. Still, his health bar barely depleted. Damn it, I was in trouble.
"Grr, you son of a bitch, that hurt! Well fine then. Take this!" With an intake of air, he hocked what looked like an ethereal green loogie at me. Raising my arm, the poison coated it, but just as Akira predicted it didn't affect me in the slightest.
"What else have you got?" I asked, shaking it off of me.
"Come get me and find out!" With that, he turned and ran off into the wastes.
"Get back here!"
There was no time to lose. I continued to run after him, but he was quick. Worse, the rusted metal around us gave him plenty of places to hide. I paused, having lost his trail, scanning around me for any sign of him.
There! Some movement! I turned, running after the figure, only for something to suddenly latch onto my arm. "What the hell?!" I tried to pull away, and after some hard tugging, I came free from my invisible bonds, only to roll and find myself completely wrapped up in more of the invisible sticky goop.
Webs! Damn it, I'd fallen right into his trap!
I struggled to break free, but they were too strong. I was glad Akira wasn't here to see this. It was absolutely humiliating. Suddenly, the sand beneath me began to shift, until I was pulled under by a pair of hands, all the way up to my neck.
Now I was really in trouble. Sure enough, a small distance away, the bastard leapt up from the sand, having burrowed into it while I was trying to track him. "Look at the little fly, caught in my web. Well, little fly, if my poison won't do the trick, I guess I'll have to do it myself!" He raised his foot stomping hard on my head.
My health bar went down just a little, but my head was throbbing. Reeling his leg back, he kicked my hard in the chin, dealing another sliver of damage. Come on, come on! He struck me again and again. My head's carapace was cracked, and even at half the pain, I felt the same way I had when I'd gotten into a car accident. The doctors called it whiplash, and it was excruciating. I had to wear a brace for a week.
Still, my health bar was nearly 3/4 full. This guy may as well have been torturing me. He seemed to have the same thought. One of his spindly legs probed my head, testing it for weak spots as a disgusting hose emerged from his back.
"Well, it's no poison, but this should work nicely," he smirked. Stabbing the needle-like tip of the hose into my head, I felt something flowing into me. It was a thick goop, but surprisingly, I didn't feel any pain. When he withdrew the hose, he still had that damn grin on his face.
"Is that the best you can do?" I scoffed, despite I had no reason for my bravado. "I've taken worse hits in a pillow fight."
He didn't reply, instead, he crouched down and pat my head condescendingly, before saying in broken English, "Farewerr, Gaijin. Thanks for guiding me to Aqua Current. I've been tracking your IP since we started. See you on the bus."
No! Akira was still asleep! If he found us, he could follow her home and...I refused to let my thoughts take me any further. I tried as hard as I could to break free from the sand, but to little avail. It was then that the burning started.
I gave a synthetic cough, and a small black figure darted from my mouth and into the sand. What the hell? Recluse picked up the small thing, giving it a gentle stroke. "Look at that. The eggs have already hatched. It won't be long now."
Agonizing pain filled my head as the swarms of baby spiders began to eat me from the inside out. My health bar was dwindling rapidly as the pain reached unbearable levels. The moment it hit 0 and I shattered, I awoke in my body, grasping my head in unbelievable pain.
Hearing my distress, Akira woke up quickly. "What? What is it?" she asked in concern. "Do you have a headache?"
I waved her off, shaking my head. "I found Chocolate Recluse. He was in hiding, and I tried to fight him, but he beat me. Now he's tracked me down. We have to get off."
As I went to reach for the string to stop the bus, she pounced on me, grabbing my hand and pulling it back down. "No, don't. Let him come," she instructed.
"Are you out of your mind? He tried to bash your head in last time. I don't want this guy getting anywhere near you!"
Keeping her hand on mine, she used her free one to adjust her glasses. "This isn't something for you to be concerned about. In fact, this is precisely what my plan was."
"What?! You wanted him to come after you?"
"Yes. I suspected he would be seeking signs of my activity. While I appreciate your concern, we are the bait and he is walking right into my trap."
The bus slowed to a halt. As the doors opened, I turned to see Chocolate Recluse climbing aboard. The moment our eyes met, I saw him reach for something in his waistband. Instinctively, Akira and I both shouted "Burst Link!"
As we popped out of our bodies, we immediately opened Brain Burst and issued a challenge to Chocolate Recluse. This time, instead of a desolate area, we were in a thriving jungle.
"You know this won't end well for either of you," Chocolate Recluse growled. "I'm going to destroy you both, then the moment we get out of this game, I'm going to shoot you dead."
"We'll give you one last chance Chocolate Recluse. Surrender peacefully and...unngh!"
Before Akira could finish speaking, he spit a jet of poison into her face, causing her to cry out in pain. As she tried to get rid of the burning venom, I rushed this guy in rage. He barely managed to block my attack before I continued to follow it up with a flurry of punches and kicks.
Knocking him away, he turned and scurried up one of the trees before vanishing in the canopy. Unable to find him, I quickly went back to Aqua Current. "Current, are you okay?" I asked, remembering the rules about keeping our names secret.
"I...I can't see…" she whimpered. "It burns. I can't see!"
"How can I help?"
"You'll have to suck out the venom."
I looked at her in confusion. "What?"
"It's the only way to get it out of my membrane. You can get through it too, remember."
"But...won't that mean I have to…"
"Now's not the time, he'll be back any moment!"
I nodded. Gently taking her cheek in my hand, her surface began to sizzle lightly as she winced. I placed my lips against where her face would be, and began to suck. I could feel my mouth flooding with water as well as something else.
Something that burned my tongue, assuming I had one. Turning away, I spit the venom on the ground, causing it to hiss and sizzle with the acid that had formed. "Better?"
"Y-yeah," she replied hazily. Suddenly, her focus sharpened. "Punch, look out!"
Following her finger, I turned just in time to punch him straight in his chest. Still, his long spindly legs pierced straight through me and into her. "Hehehehe. You never learn! You and your bitch together still aren't enough to take me on! I can't wait to steal your points!"
"I'll get you for that you son of a bitch," I growled, wrapping my arms around his body. He began to squirm and struggle, but my grip only tightened more. Beneath my strength, his body was beginning to crack.
"No, no, no! Let me go!" he demanded. Planting his actual foot into my chest, he kicked off of me, turning and running away as he had in the wastelands. Turning around, I found that Akira too, had vanished.
"Current?" I called in confusion.
"Don't worry about me. After him!" a voice echoed in my head.
I nodded, turning to chase him down. This time, however, I was more cautious. I wouldn't let him get the drop on me like he did last time. The moment I felt him sling a web around my arm, I snapped my fingers, igniting my hand in flames and burning them away. "Not this time," I growled, before placing my hand against one of the jungle trees.
The fire caught quickly, rushing upward to start an inferno in the canopy above us. Shaking my hand to extinguish it, I watched as he fell to the ground some thirty feet away in a smoldering heap. He was still alive, but only at a quarter of his health.
My shadow loomed over him ominously. I was eager to pay him back for every slight he'd committed. His egg-hose dashed forward, but I was faster than him. I grabbed the thing, clamping down on it and causing only a small amount of fluid to dribble out.
I planted my foot on him and with a vicious pull, ripped it free from his back, much to his agony. I hoped it hurt. I hoped it felt like I'd just ripped off his dick. Tossing it away, I raised my foot to stomp on him, just like he'd done to me.
However, the moment my weight went off of him, he leapt upward, throwing me off balance, and causing us both to fall into the jungle's watery pool. It began to hiss and bubble with the contact to my skin.
I cried out, thrashing and attempting to get back up, but he rolled onto my chest and grabbed my neck. "I'll choke the damned life out of you, you son of a bitch! When I get out of this, I'm going to kill you! I'm going to shoot that bitch first and make you watch as I fuck her corpse!"
"You won't touch her!" I screamed, grabbing his mandibles and ripping them apart violently. As they came free in my hands, I stabbed one into his shoulder, forcing him to release me as I kicked him off.
This was bad, my health bar was dwindling quickly. That's when I saw Akira suddenly rise from the water behind him. "Aqua Prison!" she cried. The jungle pool rushed around Recluse to form a suit around his body.
I could see him struggling to move inside. "You can restrain him?"
"I don't have much time! We have to wipe his memory, now!"
Just as he was released from the water, I slammed my hands down hard on his shoulders, wheeling behind him and once again getting him into a bearhug. "Current, now!"
She formed before us, her eyes glowing brightly as her body began to pulse. I shut my eyes tightly. "Memory Leak," she murmured as she grasped Chocolate Recluse's head. Just as he went to spit more venom, I clamped one hand over his mouth, causing it to dribble down his chin instead.
The acid was dissolving me, and I didn't have much time left. Just a little longer, I pleaded. A few more seconds and I'd have done my job. I'd have helped her. I still wasn't sure what to do after that. Maybe I'd wake up first and be able to shield Akira with my body. I had no doubt he'd kill us both, but I'd be damned if he got to her first.
After a few moments, he fell still in my grip. Just as my health bar depleted and I collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. My entire body was dissolving now. This was the end. I'd failed her.
Suddenly, my eyes opened and I was once more on the bus. Chocolate Recluse's hand grasped the metal object. Grabbing Akira, I roughly threw her to the ground before jumping over her and waited to feel my body riddled with bullets.
However, nothing happened as I heard frantic cries of two undercover police officers. Turning to look back, I watched as they jumped from the front seat, restraining him as he thrashed violently.
"Where am I? How did I get here?!" he demanded, struggling with the police. They continued to wrestle with him until they managed to pin him to the ground and handcuff him.
"What just happened?" I asked in utter confusion.
Akira gave a sly smile, reaching up to adjust her glasses. "Something of a double-whammy," she explained, trying her best to pronounce the American colloquialism. "I drained his memory. Just as you dissolved, I defeated him, causing him to lose the last of his points. Now he will not have brain burst, nor will he recall our identities. What's better, the tip I sent anonymously to the police seemed to pay off. Thank you, Hughes, for all of your assistance in this matter." Her eyes shimmered beneath the lenses. "Also, you are still on top of me."
"Oh, sorry," I apologized quickly, standing up and offering her my hand. "Are you okay?"
She nodded silently, and once the police had forced him off of the bus, we continued on our way down the road. When we reached our apartment building, the two of us stared up at the doors.
We hadn't said a word since the incident, but she'd spent the entire ride with her head on my shoulder. I'd never really noticed how cute she was before. Still, the thought on my mind was not a cheerful one. I knew what was supposed to come next. "So," I whispered softly. "This is it...isn't it?"
She looked at me perplexed. "It?"
"You're going to wipe my memories now, right? You can't have me knowing your identity. It's too dangerous. I helped you defeat the guy you struggled with, so you don't really need me anymore."
"So that's why you've been so quiet," she noted. "I'll admit, I was worried about this moment for quite some time."
"I get it."
"Oh?"
"You're my friend, Akira. You know that? Even if you have to wipe my memories or delete my Brain Burst, I hope you know that I'll never stop being your friend."
A soft smile crossed her lips. Without a word, she took off her glasses, staring up at me with her beautiful eyes. Wrapping her arms around my neck, she leaned forward and placed a soft and affectionate kiss on my lips.
I was completely stunned. My arms wrapped around her waist and I kissed her back. Never before had I expected this to happen, but with the way she felt against me, I didn't care if this was a dream or real. I didn't want it to end.
Still, eventually our lips parted, and in a husky tone, she purred, "Burst link."
I blinked for a moment. I'd spaced out while we were standing in front of the apartment building. Turning to regard her Akira beside me, I frowned. "So this is it, isn't it?"
"It?" she asked.
"You're going to wipe my memories now, right? You can't have me knowing your identity. It's too dangerous. I helped you defeat the guy you struggled with, so you don't really need me anymore." When she didn't say anything, I gave a soft sigh. "You're my friend, Akira. You know that? Even if you have to wipe my memories or delete my Brain Burst, I hope you know that I'll never stop being your friend."
A big smile rested on her face. "I know," she said. "And I'm not wiping your memories, or your brain burst. I enjoyed working with you, Hughes...I mean, Zach."
A sigh of relief left my lips. Thank God. For a moment, I was scared she'd actually do it. It was bad being forgotten by my friends. The last thing I wanted was to forget the only one I had left.
"So...Accelerated World Police, huh?" I asked. "Somehow, I think it will all work out."
"You're a little rough around the edges. Don't think I forgot that you originally got your butt handed to you by Recluse."
"Hey! So did you!"
A soft giggle escaped her lips. "All the more reason I'm happy to have you around. Sleep well, Officer Zach. We have school tomorrow after all."
"You too, Officer Akira. I hope you have sweet dreams."
Giving me a wave, she skipped up the steps with more joy than I'd ever seen from her and vanished inside. For a moment, I stood there, when I realized that the smile she wore had found itself on my face too. Maybe I wasn't so alone after all.
"Well I'll be damned," Scarlet Rain hummed as Akira entered her apartment. "Seems you did a pretty good job of training that know-nothing after all."
"Mmhm." Akira would normally have been greatly bothered by the fact that the young girl had just let herself into her apartment, but after what had happened outside, she was on cloud nine.
"You like this guy quite a bit then."
"He's a wonderful friend."
"That's not what I meant."
Akira straightened. Adjusting her glasses, she turned around to face Yuniko who sat cross legged on her couch. "If you have something to say, say it...Red King."
"Are you prepared to go through this all over again?" she asked. "Seriously, just join the Red Kingdom already. We already work close together. There's no reason why you can't. We may even be able to get you back all those levels you lost."
"Not interested," she growled.
Yuniko smirked. "All right, well maybe I'll just go talk to him then. After all, I'm sure he'd be greatly interested to find out that you've been lying to him." As the Red King opened the front door, Akira quickly rushed over there and slammed the door shut before she could leave.
"Why are you doing this?"
"What, you think you're the only one who can teach him anything? I'm sure he'd be curious to hear that there was a Red King before me."
"I had nothing to do with that!"
"Oh? I doubt that. After all, you were still part of the Nega Nebulous then, right? How precisely did Black Lotus manage to escape the other kings that were there again? I mean, it just seems so unlikely that she'd be able to get away from all of them without a little bit of help. It's bad enough for you to be stuck at level 1, but imagine if he were a higher level. Or even better, what if he joined one of the kingdoms and it were to get out? Do you think they'd use Judgment Blow on him? That'd really put a damper on your relationship wouldn't it?"
Akira's chest tightened. She didn't realize anyone had known of her involvement. She'd been so careful. She wiped all of their memories. She even went to find that monster and let it drain her of all her levels so that she'd stay under their radar. So long as she was level 1 and stayed far away from them, they wouldn't be able to get rid of all of her points.
"What do you want from me, Yuniko?"
Yuniko shrugged her shoulders. "Don't know yet. For now, I'll settle with you keeping your nose out of my kingdom."
"You gave us permission for that hunt."
"Maybe so, but what was I supposed to do? Deny you while all of my subjects were watching? Have to keep the rapport somehow, especially with my age."
Akira trembled there. "Please, don't do this. I am begging you."
"I won't, under one condition."
"Name it."
"You and your...friend...join the Red Kingdom. I'm having some concerns about the other Kings. War is coming despite our non-aggression pact, I can feel it in my bones. I need all the help I can get. I can't afford to be nice."
Aqua Current frowned as Yuniko opened her door once more. This time she didn't move to stop her. "What if I can't convince him to join?" she asked.
Scarlet looked at her. "Not my problem. I seriously doubt that you won't be able to though. Just flash those beautiful blues of yours and I'm sure he'll gladly tag along with whatever you ask." Stepping outside, she paused, turning back to look at the bodyguard. "Just think about it, okay? Let me know when you've made your decision."
Closing the door behind her, Akira sighed. Sinking against her door, she buried her face into her knees. This was not the way she wanted things to go.
The next day, I straightened my school uniform, and stepped outside. Akira already stood just in front of my door, waiting for me. "Good morning," I greeted cheerfully.
"Good morning."
It felt as if the joy from our victory yesterday had worn off completely. Gone was the smile she'd flashed me that could melt hearts. As sad as I was to see it go, I knew that nothing could really last forever.
"Listen, Hughes...we need to talk."
"Okay," I said slowly. "What do you want to talk about?"
Her gaze fell to her shoes as she shifted her weight back and forth. "I'm afraid, we can't be friends anymore," she whispered.
"What? Akira, that's not funny."
"It's not a joke."
My heart was pounding against my ribs. I'd never felt pain like this before. "What did I do wrong?" I demanded.
"N-nothing! It's not like that, it's just…" her words trailed off as she tried to come up with a way to explain. "You deserve better," she finally murmured. "I'm not a great friend. Haven't you ever realized that no one else spends time with me? There's a reason for it."
Crossing my arms, I stared at her expectantly. "I don't buy it."
"Don't buy what?"
"This. This whole thing! In one night you went form 'I enjoyed working with you' to 'We can't be friends anymore.' It's all a load of bullshit. What's wrong, Akira? If something is troubling you, you have to tell me. We're friends, that's what friends do."
Her eyes held a deep sadness as she shook her head. "We're not friends anymore, Hughes-san. My problems aren't yours anymore. They never have been." With that, she turned on her heels and left.
The 'san' honorific stung a little. I wasn't chan or kun anymore, I was just a person passed on the street. Respectful, but little else. "Burst link," I whispered, causing time to freeze. I rapidly challenged her to a battle, causing her to appear before me.
"Hughes-san, what are you doing?" she asked flatly. "You can't beat me in this game. I've been doing this far longer than you have."
"I don't care," I snapped. "Our friendship is worth fighting for! If you don't believe that then fine, you can try to beat me to a pulp, but I'm not letting this go! If I beat you, you have to tell me what's wrong."
"And if I beat you…?"
I couldn't believe her. She was really insistent on not being friends anymore. How could she possibly toss me aside so carelessly? "If you beat me, then I only have one request. Wipe my memory, so I don't ever have to remember the pain you put me through."
I couldn't see any emotion in Aqua Current's features. If my request bothered her, she didn't show it. When the timer started, I expected her to charge me, but instead she ran to the banister of our apartment building. Planting a hand on the rail, she leapt over the edge, falling the full hundred or so feet to the bottom.
My eyes widened. Was she trying to kill herself?! When I went to the edge to look over, I saw her hit the ground with a plop before reforming and looking up at me. Damn it! Her body really did prevent any sort of physical damage.
I knew I couldn't possibly mimic that action. If I tried that I'd break on impact. "Seriously?!" I shouted down at her. "That's so cheap!"
Without a word, she turned and ran for the entrance. Looking outside of the now crumbling building, I could see another one, just a little lower with about a six foot gap. Well, here went nothing.
I ran towards the gaping hole, diving from it and rolling just as I hit the next roof over. She'd just made it out of the building, as I grabbed a nearby fire escape and slid down the ladder. I could feel the heat in my palms building up toward inferno range, but still I didn't ignite, thankfully.
Upon hitting the ground, I could see her turning to see if I'd jumped from the banister as she had, allowing me to get the drop on her. Just as she turned forward, I dove on her, tackling her to the ground in a foamy struggle.
I pinned her down as the acid sizzled over us both. "Enough!" I growled. "Why are you doing this, Akira?"
"It's not any of your business," she shot back before melting into a puddle and reforming away from me.
"Damn it, I'm not going to let you get away!"
"You don't have a choice," she argued.
"There's always a choice!" I began to throw quick jabs at her, but she managed to stay just out of my reach. Every now and then, she'd hurl a slosh of water at me, sending the acidic foam over my body before I shook it off.
The timer was still counting down and both of our special bars were nearly charged. I put on an extra burst of speed. If I could start an echo combo on her, it'd be no time at all until she lost the match.
However, just as her bar charged up, she suddenly held up a hand. "Torrential downpour!" she cried.
What? I looked up, just as the sky opened and from it a heavy rain crashed to the ground. Visibility went from perfect to nothing in the blink of an eye, and worse I was now covered in acid. My health bar was dwindling, and hers was regenerating quickly.
I sank to my knees, my legs already dissolved to the point where I could no longer stand. "Why?" I pleaded. "Just tell me why you're doing this?"
Leaning down in front of me, she stared deep into my eyes. I knew then, she wasn't going to answer my question. "I'm sorry, Hughes-san. Perhaps I am being selfish, but I cannot grant your request. I won't wipe your memories of me. Good bye."
Before I could question her further, my HP dwindled to 0 and the match ended. When my eyes opened, Akira was already gone. I slammed my fist into the ground with a cry of anger. Was I ever going to be able to win a match? That's when I realized the reason Akira didn't want to be friends anymore. I'd never really been any use to her at all.
To be continued...
