Ack! I'm sorry for being late! I have a valid reason though: I WENT THROUGH MY VALEDICTORY CEREMONY!! I have now graduated from High School!!
Alleyway
It was an unofficial rule that shadowy and suspicious characters loved the alleyways.
There was a soft splash as a boot stepped into a dirty puddle. Kanda's arms were folded and his sword was sheathed, but he was prepared to draw it at anytime, and doing so would take less then a second. Cold eyes trailed over the boxes and other junk people dumped in alleyways and forgot to clean up. These were used as homes for the homeless, and occasionally hideouts for a madmen or killer.
He walked deeper into the alley, footsteps light, but not silent. Kanda was confident he didn't need to hide from the likes of Sethoro, and didn't bother with stealth. Knowing his accompanying exorcists, they would search for Sethoro, but forget the alleyways and other shady parts of town. Meaning it would be up to him to look through the more unpleasant places, and it was a task he viewed with indifference.
A rat squeaked and darted out of its hiding place, hiding in an old and dirty plastic bag. Kanda glanced to where the rat scrambled out of, and noticed the large shape crouching behind one of the boxes. He approached, and the figure shrank away. Kanda heard muffled breathing from the shape, and he laid a hand on his sword.
"Get up" He ordered. He didn't bother greeting the shape with the unofficial 'who's there', simply demanded the shape to get up. If the other person turned out to be insignificant, Kanda would leave. If it was Sethoro, Kanda would take care of him. As it was, the shape trembled, but didn't rise. A surge of irritation shot through Kanda. Scowling, the Japanese boy drew out his sword and walked forward. The shape made to run, but Kanda swung his sword forward, and the blanket the other person had been hiding under fell to the floor. A pair of frightened eyes stared back up at him from the face of an unfamiliar man.
Not Sethoro.
The thought had barely passed his mind before he heard something charging right at him. Kanda jumped and avoided the onslaught of the man he was looking, but the homeless man wasn't so lucky. He let out a scream of terror as Sethoro looked at him, grinning manically. At any other time, Sethoro would kill the guy, but when said guy turned and ran, Sethoro didn't follow. Rather, he looked up at Kanda, still grinning with too much teeth.
"You again! Why couldn't it have been the girl?"
Kanda didn't bother answering; even before he landed on ground again he moved his sword in front of him. "Mugen, Coming Apocalypse: First Illusion, Hell's Insects!"
He took pleasure at seeing the shock and terror in Sethoro's face as the insect-like creatures escaped his blade and pounced onto the other man. Linali had guessed correctly, this man had no training or knowledge of other Innocence users, thus he was not prepared to see what Innocence could truly be capable of. Sethoro slashed with his clawed glove, and Kanda knew that even if he could get rid of one insect, he couldn't deflect all of them without proper training.
The insects crashed against the other Innocence wielder, and a large explosion took over. The force of it travelled down the alleyway and blew up further on the other side, shaking the surrounding area – including a nearby park.
City Park
Lavi jumped when he felt the strong explosion. His head snapped to the source, and he sensed Mugen being activated again. Shortly after that, there was another explosion, smaller, but still powerful. Kanda must have found Sethoro, for there was no other reason for him to start using his more specialized attacks. Sure enough, as the smoke faded Lavi saw Kanda jump out and land on his feet. The Japanese scanned the smoke, looking for Sethoro or his body.
"Allen, I'm sorry, but I have to take off!" Lavi hurriedly moved to the explosion, but not before shouting over his shoulder, "Find your friends or family and take cover for a while, it's not safe out here!" He didn't wait for Allen's response as he ran forward to the explosion. Even before he spotted Sethoro he had his Innocence out and was activating it.
"Size-Shifting Hammer, grow!" Sethoro saw him just in time to see his hammer increase drastically in size. The redhead's cheerful grin as he swung the large hammer slightly unnerved the other man. The hammer smashed down on the road, sending splinters of cement and brick into the air. Yet, when that cloud of dust disappeared, Sethoro was still alive. Obviously injured and shaken, but still alive. His glove had apparently been strong enough to push him away from the ground and send him reeling back against the wall.
Lavi pushed his hair back as he moved forward to the man. Still bearing his cheerful grin and holding his overly-large hammer, the Exorcist cheerfully walked up to the other Innocence user. "Hey, don't blame me for this, but we did warn you didn't we? If you didn't give us your glove willingly, we just might end up killing you. Any second thoughts, Sethoro?" Sethoro only glared as the redhead approached, but when Lavi got close enough, the man grinned madly before smashing his gloved hand against the ground.
The ground underneath Lavi's feet shook and shuddered. Without warning cracks appeared and spread throughout the ground, splitting it apart. A surprised yelp escaped the Exorcist's lips as the ground caved in, taking him with it. Sethoro laughed hysterically, but that was his mistake as the other darker Exorcist suddenly appeared in front of him. There was a flash of silver, and a sharp pain pierced Sethoro's side.
Sethoro screamed. With amazing endurance he scrambled away and jumped to another area. He stared at his wound and held out his hand, it was red, not with another's blood but his own. He looked back at his attacker, and Kanda stared back at him coldly. From his side, Lavi walked up, still grinning and unharmed except slightly dirtier clothing.
"You're really becoming annoying Sethoro, personally I don't think I'll be very upset when your death is recorded."
"You'll pay for this!" Sethoro roared at them. He stared at his hands again, before screaming louder. "How dare you hurt me! No one has ever seen me bleed before; I'll make sure the two of you die for doing so! Every single one of you!" Kanda's eyes narrowed at Sethoro's promise. He raised his sword again, but Sethoro turned and ran behind a building. Scowling, he gave pursuit, Lavi at his heels.
But when they turned a corner, no one was there. Kanda stopped quickly, while Lavi skidded to one. Kanda scanned the area with his eyes, while Lavi's head spun in every direction possible. There was no trace of their target. It was as if the man had simply disappeared into thin air. Lavi groaned in disappointment before shrinking his hammer to a more suitable size.
"I can't believe this! We had him! We obviously injured him, but how could he…?" In response, Kanda said nothing.
Behind them, on the rooftop of a tall building, Allen blinked once as he stared at the man who had, during the explosion, pulled him up a skyscraper. Tiki had a protective arm around the boy's waist even as his eyes watched the two Exorcists. Once it was clear the Exorcists wouldn't be doing anything interesting soon, the older Noah looked at Allen.
"How are you feeling?"
"A bit stunned that you suddenly appeared and yanked me up here as soon as Lavi ran off to the explosion," Allen answered truthfully. He took another bite of his ice cream cone, which he had held onto even as Tiki grabbed him up. "Why did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Stop me," Allen answered as he finally finished his ice cream. He swallowed, cleared his throat, and continued, "I'm pretty sure you knew that the Earl told me to get rid of Sethoro, why did you stop me from going after him?"
"Because knowing you, you would try to practice your Noah powers as well," Tiki answered, "And the last thing we want is for the Exorcists to discover you before you are fully prepared to use them at their maximum potential."
"Exorcists," Allen repeated, and he couldn't help looking at Lavi again. The redhead was loudly complaining to Kanda and a black winged golem, no doubt to update the others of the latest news. Judging by what appeared to be ticks on Kanda's forehead, the redhead was really irritating the serious exorcist. Lavi was either oblivious to it, or purposely doing it. "They are our enemy?"
"Yes, their very purpose to live is to kill the Earl. To them, we Noahs and the Akuma are obstacles to that goal."
Allen nodded, and the two Noahs watched as Kanda finally got tired of Lavi's talking and snapped for the others to retire and rest for a while. Lavi said something about being hungry, and the others agreed to meet up at the inn's restaurant. Kanda claimed they were wasting time, but the others countered they needed their strength. Besides, they had no lead on where Sethoro was anyways. Reluctantly, Kanda agreed, and Lavi promptly dragged the other exorcist away.
Allen shook free from Tiki's hold and walked forward to the edge of the roof. Unlike the others, he had already seen where Sethoro had gone, and knew where he would be. "Tiki," the boy said "Let me go after Sethoro. I won't use my Noah powers, don't worry. But it's about time I actually have a mission from the Earl, and I want to prove myself. If I can't complete this mission alone, I have no right to the name of New Child. Let me go finish this myself."
Tiki nodded, albeit reluctantly. In his mind, Allen was not ready for the outside world, but he knew reality was that Allen has had enough training. It was about time he faced the world, and start taking missions from the Earl.
Inn restaurant
"...And that's what happened" Lavi finished. The Exorcists had all agreed to return to the inn for rest, and Lavi had quickly updated the others about what had happened. Now they sat around a table, eating and discussing their next move. As a result, maps and paper covered as much of the table as plates and cutlery did.
This time, there was more work focused on Sethoro's movements. The maps, which the Exorcists had first used to only avoid getting lost, were now littered with Xs to mark where Sethoro's victims had been found. Squares pointed out areas where Sethoro had been seen, while two circles showed where the exorcists had engaged him into a fight. The list of victims that had came with the bounty hunter file now had names highlighted and were categorized into similarities of locations and other factors.
"Four areas of very high activity," Lavi hummed as he stared at the map. "This edge of the city, the area where we just fought him, this area here, and this one arguably at the heart of the city." He pointed out each area as he mentioned them, bringing to attention the amount of Xs. "I can't see any similarities though, can the rest of you?"
"No," Aleister answered, "They look like random areas to me."
"Nevertheless, the number of victims here are high, meaning Sethoro frequent the area often." Linali pointed out "In other words, we'll have a higher chance of catching him in those areas then anywhere else." She took another drink out of her glass. The head of the restaurant, a kindly-looking middle aged man, approached them.
"How are you finding your food?" He asked, almost anxiously. Linali didn't blame him, with Sethoro running loose many restaurants had already suffered from lack of customers. The only reason that this restaurant was still open was because it was situated in the inn, so there was still the occasional person coming in. None of them stayed long though. In fact, Linali guessed he hadn't had to make so much food in a while, as the Exorcists were all hungry and had ordered plenty.
"It's excellent," she answered, and the others agreed. The man looked at the papers they had spread out on the table.
"Are you all studying for something?"
"You could say that," Lavi grinned, "We are, after all, studying Sethoro's movements."
"What?" The man's eyes widened "Don't be crazy! Do you know how many older, more experienced adults have tried to go after him? He can't be beaten! You'll die if you try to go after him!" He looked at Aleister, who seemed to be the eldest in the group, and addressed him, "Do you seriously think your scheme will succeed?"
"Yes," Aleister answered. Spotting the man's name tag, he continued "Don't worry about us, Mike. What those older, more experienced adults lacked in dealing with Sethoro was the power of certain weapons. We of the Black Order have that knowledge and experience."
"But…"
"I'm finished," Kanda placed his chopsticks down. He stood up and looked at the others, "As we concluded, there are four areas of very high activity. I will take the one near the edge of the city; the rest of you choose your own areas and check them. We will see if anything turns up then. If, by chance, one of us meet Sethoro we will alert each other through our golems." Leaving some change on the table, Kanda left.
"Well, you all heard the man," Lavi chuckled. "I call for the heart of the city!"
"Do you have any preference, Aleister?" Linali asked. When the man shook his head, she pointed at the area where Lavi and Kanda had earlier engaged Sethoro in a fight, "This one is for me then."
"I'll take the last one," The group finished their food and stood up. Aleister paid for their meal, and Mike, after getting over his shock and disbelief, returned with change. Afterwards, the Exorcists split up and headed for their own areas.
Underground Sewage System
The tunnels were dark, and the water stank, but for Sethoro this was the least of his concerns.
He tore off strips of his clothing to bind the fresh wound. They quickly stained red, but at least the bleeding stopped. He glowered and glared "Damn them all, other Innocence users hum? So they're the Exorcists that those Noahs have warned me about. Curse them…"
"Ah, but that is why I told you not to think they were boring!" A girlish voice sang. Rhode bounced into his vision, twirled and hopped in front of him. The girl smiled maliciously at him, "Looks like you've gotten injured."
"Shut up!" He roared at her, but she only laughed at him.
"If you had joined us, we'll give you more tips, we would have made you more powerful," She chirped. "But no, you decided to be all mighty and refuse. Well, now you see what our enemies are like. They obviously are stronger then you."
"What do you know about them?" Sethoro snarled, "You can't beat them even if you tried!"
At those words, a strange gleam entered Rhode's eyes. The girl stopped bouncing about the place and sneered at him, "Oh really? Do you truly think that?"
A sudden shudder went through the murderer, and she continued.
"You really think I can't kill? Let me tell you something, Sethoro, I have killed before, and yes, Exorcists have fit into that category. In fact, I killed one just a few days ago." A cruel smile spread over her lips "Said Exorcist was, in fact, a partner of the female Exorcist currently running around, trying to catch you."
Sethoro's eyes widened as he stared at her. Those dark eyes gleamed at him, and even without their terrifying golden glow, they were malicious. Those were the eyes of one who would kill, like him, but she was more refined in her killing. He simply liked to take life; this girl would like to see her victims truly suffer first. She fed off suffering, not death.
In ways, she was closer to 'pure evil' then he was.
And Sethoro finally realized that, had Tiki not been there earlier, she might have killed him before he even touched her.
He shook his head, no, to follow her, no matter how much power he could gain, would mean giving up his freedom to some fatso with bunny ears. He happened to quite like his freedom, thank you very much. What's more, he liked being able to beat anyone who dared insult him.
"You get so worked up over such a small wound. How inferior you humans are, if it had been us, we would have recovered and kill our attacker already."
The arrogance and offhand way she said those worlds boiled Sethoro's blood. Despite his wound, he lunged at her.
"Shut your mouth!" His fist dug deep into the floor, creating another crater, but Rhode had already lightly dodged the attack. She continued laughing, a high cold laugh that spoke volumes in arrogance and malice.
"You damn brat!" He continued, but she was no longer in his sight.
"You're lucky Tiki stopped me! Otherwise, I would have killed you already! Remember this, Sethoro, the only reason you're currently living now is that someone else has been ordered to finish you off! And you won't be able to beat them! You're not powerful enough!"
"I said shut up!" He roared angrily, but there was no more answer from the female Noah. Only her laughter remained, echoing in the tunnels and sending ripples over the water.
Important Points:
- Kanda and Lavi has revealed to Sethoro what real Innocence is capable of
- Lavi completely missed the fact that Allen and Tiki know each other and are Noahs
- Despite his reluctance, Tiki has agreed to let Allen go after Sethoro himself
- The exorcists are once again splitting up, this time to areas that are almost guaranteed to have Sethoro
- Sethoro has been using the underground sewage tunnels to his advantage, hence why he could 'disappear' quickly
- Rhode has killed exorcists before, one of which is Linali's partner during one of their missions
- The only reason Tiki and Rhode are letting Sethoro live is because they are leaving him to Allen, so they won't harm him themselves
-Dances- Repeat after me, I have graduated High School! Next chapter of my life, the prestigious University of British Columbia!!