Ayame here. SO. I am well aware it had been over a year since my last update. Truly I am sorry, but the end of this story is in sight and Phase 10 will also be uploaded tonight, with the final chapters to follow soon after. This was the original final chapter but was at least quadruple the length of what I've been posting so it had to be split. Enjoy!
~*~Previously on Leave Nothing Behind: Phase 8 ~*~
Saiduq had no idea what was going on with his charge, and went to dial Makoto on her phone when
- BLOCKED -
"No way…" he stared at his cell phone in disbelief. The letters displayed, big and red on a black screen, and the phone would not recognize any of his inputs. "How did you render my entire phone useless, Miyako Hotsuin? I did not even open Nicaea…?"
But to Miyako, his question was barely heard, only the presence of a shrill ringing noise, at first, seemingly faint, then getting louder and louder in volume until her head threatened to explode and the world around her shattered as the most agonized scream escaped from her lips.
Saiduq tightened his grip on her, "Miya-"
The lights in the park went out, bathing them in total darkness.
Leave Nothing Behind
Phase 9
Miyako stilled in Saiduq's arms as her crying died down. Yoyogi park was submerged in total blackness and Saiduq only had the dim backlight of his cell phone to make out anything with.
It was well past 1930 (when the clock function was last working he only assumed so since he last checked the time) and the sun had completely set in the sky, leaving them with the faintness of stars to see by. He could barely discern the discomfort on Miyako's face, and she wasn't responding to him. Saiduq wanted to call out to someone, anyone else, to see if another agent could come to their assistance, and was about to until he felt Miyako stir in his arms again.
She came to with an audible groan.
"Miyako Hotsuin." The man gently shook her by the shoulders, "Are you coherent? Can you hear me?"
She slowly pried open her eyelids, and blinked several times before she came to the realization that she could barely make out the shape of Saiduq's face and hair in the dim twilight. "...what? Did we lose power?"
Saiduq guided the chief to sit up unassisted on the bench, "I am not sure. You were unconscious for, I estimate at least 3 minutes. You blacked out and the lights went out shortly afterward. I tried to contact Makoto Sako over the phone, but." He holds up his cell phone for Miyako to see the BLOCKED status on the underlit screen.
"The cell phone is completely unusable?"
Saiduq nodded, a pointless gesture since she couldn't really see him too well in the dark. Miyako fumbled in her pocket to produce her own cell phone, to do what Saiduq could not, and with much frustration discovered her own cell phone displayed the BLOCKED text in red on black background.
"However I am blocking this must affect more than Nicaea." she surmised aloud, "And we have no idea if this has happened to any of the other agents here." She fumbled around to find the tablet in her coat pocket she had brought with her from base, the same kind Fumi was using to track the phones with.
"Aren't you more concerned with your physical state, Miyako Hotsuin?" Saiduq questioned, completely changing the subject, "You just collapsed after screaming in what I assume was agony."
Miyako stopped to assess her current condition. Now that she thought about it, how did that sudden migraine come on? She felt mostly normal again, aside from the anxiety caused by the phone failure and sudden blackout. "... I believe whatever that was had passed. I don't know for sure, Saiduq, but with both of our phones unable to function, we need to find Sako or another agent here. I can only fight so well with a sword in the dark."
Cue the sudden bloodcurdling scream that sounded out in the emptiness of the park, startling the two out of their reverie.
- Karamachi Plaza -
Hibiki had positioned himself behind the curtains of the stage set up for the AiHina stars concert. Not that he was actually enjoying the concert, like he would have in his civilian days, but it was the highest vantage point in the plaza where he can overlook the crowd and keep an eye out for any unusual activity.
Both Airi and Hinako had been forewarned of the possible demon attack, and even though they both looked as though they were putting all of their energy into their performance, from experience with battling alongside them Hibiki could tell they were also hyper-vigilant. As Hinako had so eloquently put it earlier, "Like hell we're gonna let something happen to our fans. Not on my watch."
Yamato stationed himself closer to the back of the crowd, nearest the entrance to the Tokyo Skytree, where he could keep watch on anyone and anything that may enter or exit the building. A good number of JPs agents were scattered among the crowd, but not enough in close proximity that could alert any of the concert goers that something was amiss. Hibiki had even enlisted the help of Nitta and Shijima to help keep watch - why, he did not know since the agents already present were more than sufficient - or perhaps they were already going to be present at the concert and Hibiki just wanted the extra pairs of eyes. He supposed one could never have too much help.
Just then, his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. Kanno's number appeared on the caller ID, and he barked a quick "Chief Hotsuin" into the receiver.
"You'll never guess what happened, Chief." Fumi declared, in her usual roundabout way of getting to the point - though it had to have been important enough that she call him directly during the mission. Kanno was stationed in the command center, monitoring the Skytree barrier for any additional fluctuations or unusual activity, as well as keeping track of all of the agents with Miyako and Sako at Yoyogi Park. He let her continue, "There have been reports of a wide scale blackout in the northern half of Shibuya, which happened at approximately 1930, about 10 minutes ago."
Yamato was no fool. This did not bode well for Sako and her team. "How is this affecting the search party in Yoyogi?"
"Ya know, it's strange. I've tried calling both Makoto and Chief Miyako and both go straight to voicemail. I know their phones aren't off because I can still see everyone on the radar. Makoto is still positioned by the entrance, and various JPs personnel are staged around the perimeter of the park, all stationary. Chief Miyako and Saiduq are still near the central southern side, away from everyone else, and haven't moved in a while. I think the blackout is slowing everyone down considerably."
That was understandable, however Yamato knew that something wasn't right. Surely they had flashlights and their phones to see by, right?
As if Fumi could read his mind, she added, "I don't think anyone over there has access to Nicaea right now, either. All 22 phones are offline, including Saiduq."
It was at this point that Yamato knew he was wasting time in Karamachi plaza. The threat was most certainly in Yoyogi, with his sister.
Fumi spoke again, ignoring the silence on the other line - she knew Yamato was ruminating on this information. "While I believe that Chief Miyako and Makoto are competent enough to handle themselves, without Nicaea, they're gonna need backup-"
"We've no one to spare." Yamato interrupted her, "We've kept the majority of our agents here in the plaza to keep the civilian's safe. And Miyako can fight without the use of Nicaea-"
He was cut off by the sudden sound of glass shattering. He didn't immediately respond when he heard what sounded like Fumi dropping her cell phone on the tile. He listened intently to random shuffling noises, footsteps pounding on the floor, and heard shouting in the background. "Kanno? What is happening down there? Report."
A loud metallic clanging came out of the receiver and Yamato had to hold his phone away from his ear to keep it from hurting. It was then he felt it, a massive disturbance in the Dragon Stream surrounding the Tokyo Skytree, like a cold and prickling pressure against his skin. Had the barrier fallen? "Kanno?!"
Another clattering sound. "...sorry Chief, I had dropped my cell, but you or Hibiki need to come down to the command center, like, right now, it's kinda crazy down here right now!"
Yamato hung up. He didn't need nor want to hear her explanation for the racket when he was close enough to the entrance to investigate himself.
Hibiki could see Yamato's trademark messy silver mane, as he towered over the average person in the crowd he was pretty easy to see from the stage where he was keeping post toward the less populated area of the plaza. So of course Yamato made sure Hibiki made eye contact with him as he turned to leave. Hibiki wouldn't stop his chief. He pretty much figured that something was happening elsewhere to cause Yamato to leave Karamachi Plaza in such a rush.
Airi also spotted Yamato's hasty departure from the back of the crowd, and spared a concerned glance from her keyboard in Hibiki's direction off to the side of the stage. He waved her off, a gesture indicating that everything would be okay. Yamato entrusted him with the plaza because he was more than capable of protecting it on his own. And he wasn't alone - there were more than enough JPs agents here, plus Daichi and Io were close enough to the stage he could count on them to help out if the situation were to escalate. They could handle anything.
You probably don't want to know why it took me so long to get back to posting my work. However, someone had given me pointers about posting that I will take to heart for future fics so that there aren't huge lapses of time in between my updates.
The next chapter will be up shortly. I'm trying to bring closure to everyone involved in this mission!
