Tatsumaki's heart felt like it was being squeezed, wrenching itself into a crooked shape as she realized what was going on. She froze as she saw Secter hit the ground, his head turned away from her as he landed on his side. A tiny gasp escaped her mouth, and numbness crept along through her arms like snakes tearing through her nerves. Nothing made sense to her anymore, nothing could ever make sense. Her stomach leapt into her throat as her eyes began to burn. It couldn't be real.
"Ah-" said Tatsumaki. She bent down towards Secter, tears rushing out from the bottoms of her eyes. As she approached him, she saw his chest move up and down.
"Calm yourself Tatsumaki," said Sycamore, lowering his pistol. "It was only a stun round. He'll just be out of it for a bit."
Tatsumaki crouched over Secter, rolling him onto his back. She gasped in utter joy as she saw his chest rise and fall despite his eyes being closed. Laughing, she pulled Secter up into her chest, holding his unconscious body close. Tighter and tighter she squeezed, her joy overflowing her senses as she felt his body warm against hers. Turning, her joy faded to rage as she realized that Sycamore was watching her. She glared at him, both eyes glowing with green light.
"Why," snarled Tatsumaki. "Why would you do this."
The rest of the heroes advanced towards Sycamore, each one readying themselves to fight. Blast smiled, his victory assuredly upon him. Fubuki's expression had changed from shock to horror to rage all within seconds, her brain still racing to take in what Sycamore had just done. She took a step forward, aiming to dash at Sycamore to start yelling right into his grim face. Mumen Rider ran before she did, blocking her way.
"You know why," said Sycamore. "You know what can happen now." His grin widened to encompass half of his face, tearing itself to an unnatural length as it curled down towards his chin and across to the sides of his head.
"No more nullification," said Sycamore. "I'm sorry about this Tatsumaki, and Fubuki, and Secter. But I've got a lot to prove here, and a lot of people who need to be taught just who's really in control."
"Don't!" screamed Fubuki, reaching out from over Mumen Rider's shoulder.
At once, the world went white for Tatsumaki and Fubuki. Everything, from the desert to the buildings to the heroes standing with them were rushed out of view by an explosion of bright white, encompassing all within a blinding fog. Tatsumaki fell to the ground, her arms still wrapped around Secter as he plummeted down with her. Her hand banged against the ground, a piercing sound echoing off from the corners of her brain to her ear canals. Groaning, Tatsumaki sat upright, one hand bolting to her forehead while the other remained on Secter's back to support him to sit up. Tatsumaki blinked, her vision clearing as her head ceased its pounding. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw what lay ahead.
Hundreds of feet away stood the form of a gigantic white entity, blending into the white atmosphere as it stood glaring down at Tatsumaki. Its eyes and teeth were jet black as it moved its bright fire-coated body from side to side as if trapped in a mesmerizing dance. Dozens of five-foot long teeth adorned the creature's mouth, all pulled back in a sadistic grin. As Tatsumaki crawled back from the creature, several black spines shot out from its back, stretching further and further into the white fog up above. As they moved, the vanilla atmosphere dissipated to reveal a blue sky, cluttered with clouds like any other normal afternoon. The spines reached higher and higher, the tips of them disappearing from sight in the patch of blue sky they created amongst the thick milky mist.
"Sis!" yelled Fubuki. Tatsumaki turned to her right, spotting Fubuki heading out from the mist around her. Fubuki limped over to where Tatsumaki sat, blood soaking through the left leg of her dress. Keeping a hand on her wound, Fubuki came to a stop right before she made it to her sister and turned towards the white entity, her mouth open and her eyes wide with terror.
"Fubuki…" said Tatsumaki. "What…what's happening?"
"I don't know," said Fubuki. "There was an explosion, and I think I fell on some rubble, and now…" She watched as the monstrous being in front of them shuddered, its spines having hit something high above it and retracting back towards its misty backside.
"We…we can't fight that," said Tatsumaki. "That…"
"Sycamore," said Fubuki. "It's Sycamore."
The spines had retracted far enough to where they were visible amongst the clear patch of sky now, each one quivering as it moved. The white fog up above parted as the dark tentacles drew closer to the atmosphere, yet the mist remained in place on the ground, shielding everything that wasn't in the sky from the espers' view.
At the end of each one of the tentacles was a planet, massive colorful spheres of green and blue, yellow and red. A few of the spines had latched onto faraway moons, the enormous pale rocks crumbling as the spines wrapped around them tight. A myriad of planets and moons hung in the sky far closer to the earth than they ever should be, each one moving in sync to the swaying spines. They had come from some other places in the galaxy, and now they belonged to the Soulless.
Sycamore laughed, his voice booming out over the planet and sending the espers' hair rushing back at the sheer sound of his voice.
"You still feeling big, Blast?!" asked Sycamore to someplace far beyond the sisters. "Still think you've won, can contain me?"
"Sycamore!" shouted Fubuki.
Sycamore shuddered.
"Just…one moment," said Sycamore. "You stay right there Fubuki, I'm just gonna do something real quick." He spotted Blast and his motley group further out from the desert, all staring up in terror at him. Mumen's group was scattered all along them as well, looking just as bewildered and horrified. Sycamore laughed.
His laugh exploded throughout the fog as the spines began to twist together, turning and twining like a gigantic planetary tree. Each of the planets up above were forced into each other, melting into one form like molten iron on an anvil.
"How…how is this possible?" asked Tatsumaki. Her body was shaking, both arms firmly around Secter now as she pushed him closer into her. His limp form slumped over her, his head leaning behind her back as both of his arms crumpled past her chest and onto her lap. "The Soulless are strong as you said Secter, they're as strong as you said…"
From up above, the planets continued to melt together and reshape themselves, extending out into the sky as they turned into a colorful diamond shape. The diamond melted itself further, its reach already far beyond the length of the earth. Then, the planet-object glowed a bright yellow, obscuring it from view from any down below. The glow faded just as quickly as it began, and when it dissipated, a gigantic sword was revealed to be in its place, shimmering blue and yellow as the gases and materials within it swirled and churned in its new form.
"Who wants to do galaxies next?" asked Sycamore. He chuckled, the shockwave from his voice nearly sending Fubuki to her knees. "Kidding, kidding…"
Tatsumaki stared at the planet-sword, her mouth hanging open. Her mind was melting as she looked, her entire body quivering as the sword fell from the sky and into Sycamore's outstretched claw of fog. He raised it high above his head, the sword hovering in the sky just above the planet's stratosphere.
"Well would you look at that," said Sycamore, eying his new weapon. "Still think you can contain me, you bastard? What are you going to do, beat me up? Saw my back apart? No no, I told you I made myself into something new, something better, that you were all flawed in your heroism. You didn't need me to start that fight, you would've done it anyways! And yet you all still blame me! I didn't lose you bastards, I didn't lose…" He coughed, something within his midsection beginning to burn.
Fubuki took a step forward, her eyes trained on Sycamore. She started to limp towards the coughing monstrosity, her eyes glaring against the white fog which surrounded her. Sycamore regained control over himself as his cough subsided and he turned to look down at Fubuki. Tatsumaki saw Sycamore's eyes shift down and she lunged forward, landing on her stomach and arms as she forced herself out of shock to drag her body towards her sister. Secter fell on his back as Tatsumaki began to lurch towards Fubuki.
"Sycamore!" shouted Fubuki. "This is fucking ridiculous!"
"Please, just stay there," said Sycamore. "You'll be fine, I just have to scare the wits out of that damned group. Maybe even beat Blast up again, dunno."
"Put the sword down!" said Fubuki. "Or…back, or wherever the hell you got it from!"
Sycamore's lowered his head towards Fubuki, his face becoming the sky above her head as she flinched at the sudden onslaught of black teeth and shadowy eyes.
"Are you going to make me?" asked Sycamore. "Do what makes you feel good?"
"Sycamore…" said Fubuki. "Why? Why are you doing this?"
"Because," said Sycamore. "I…I saw all of you. Surrounding me, like predators, like vultures, so eager to prove what a failure I was, so eager to ignore all that I had done…just, I don't know, stand the hell back already! You know you shouldn't have gotten involved! And all the other heroes know what they were doing was wrong, not me! They're the flawed ones, them!"
"Sis!" yelled Tatsumaki, her voice strained as burning tears ran down her face. "Get back! Please!"
"It's alright," said Fubuki. "He won't hurt us."
"No, I won't hurt you," said Sycamore. "Blast and some of the others are a lot more tempting."
Fubuki scrunched her nose. Turning her head up, she reached down towards the bottom of her dress and began to pull it up, farther and farther against the side of her leg.
"What on earth are you doing?" asked Sycamore. "Is that-"
There was a gash along Fubuki's leg, wide enough to fit several fingers into. It leaked blood down past her thigh-high socks to her knee, warm and thick. She winced as she looked at it, stinging pain still emanating at where the stone from earlier had cut her open.
"Oh," said Sycamore, wilting. "I did that, didn't I…"
"And here I was thinking you said everything would be alright," said Fubuki. She lowered her dress back over the wound, prompting a lurch from Sycamore.
"I told you not to get involved!" said Sycamore. "Just…ah fuck it, I'm sorry Fubuki. Fuck…" He squinted, his unusual form shuddering. "I didn't mean to do that."
"I know you didn't," said Fubuki. "Which is why what you're doing now, is a complete farce. Absolutely no reason for any of it. You're not going to actually hit anyone with that thing, not a chance in hell. You don't want to hurt me, or my sister, or Secter, or even anyone else, you know there's no point, you know it just makes you look bad, you know that it's not really you."
"Stop this," groaned Sycamore. "Please."
"No," said Fubuki. "I'm tired of you threatening people, or scheming against people when you have no reason to. You don't need to tie that identity of yours to your self-worth, a little humility won't kill you. And what you said earlier, about me doing stuff to make myself feel good? You still believe that about me?"
Sycamore's eyes dropped to where Fubuki held back the blood from rushing out from her leg. He dropped his free hand to his midsection, rubbing his shifting claw over it.
"No…" he said. "I don't…"
"You're afraid, even still," said Fubuki. "When there's no reason to be. Just because humankind doesn't extinguish itself, doesn't mean that you're a complete failure. After all, you don't even want that! You'd be devastated if anything that bad happened to me, or sis, or Secter, now wouldn't you?"
Sycamore gave a tiny nod, his eyes burning.
"Fubuki…" said Tatsumaki. "Sis…"
Fubuki turned back to her sister and smiled. Tatsumaki's face was embalmed with fear.
"It's ok," said Fubuki. "I've got this."
Turning back, Fubuki's expression turned from that of a dear friend to one of dead seriousness.
"You're lashing out because it was too much," said Fubuki. "I know, you really don't like groups being against you. And you made that…saw your back comment? Sycamore…you still haven't moved on, this persona you've made is still steeped in the Nothing, it's not who you are and it's not what you really want to be. That's what I really meant about changing, it's not a quick process, it's about slowly healing and moving on…"
"That…that's right," said Tatsumaki. "Sycamore, she's right, listen to her, none of this is easy but it can still be done, trust me, I know."
"I just…find it so hard that you're still willing to give me a chance," said Sycamore. "Look…look at me now, you're right, aren't you Fubuki? I'm parading around just to scare you all for no good goddamn reason. You…you're right." Sycamore's eyes went wide, pallid, afraid. "You're right. And that's…that's fine, we can…still keep going, can we?"
"We can," said Fubuki. "And I'm willing to give you another chance, but keep in mind you have disappointed me. I…I hate to say it but I won't lie, I promised to be honest to you, to treat you normally, remember? I'm disappointed. But that doesn't mean I've given up on you, far from it. Just put the sword back, we both know you're not going to do anything with it."
Sycamore winced, his body retreating up into the sky around Fubuki. He twisted his mouth into a frown made of sharp black teeth.
"Ah God it hurts," said Sycamore. "My stomach, it's roiling. Feels like it's going to explode…" Tears, black and massive, almost the size of cars, started to roll down his face. "Ah, I feel like screaming! I don't know what to do with myself Fubuki! What have I done?!"
"It's ok Sycamore," said Fubuki. "Just calm down, relax. It's ok, I promise. We'll figure this all out, but I need you to be in your regular form, ok?"
"Change…change back…"
"That's right."
"You don't…you don't need to do this Fubuki, you really don't need to reach out. I see what you're saying, I've lost, there's no hope for me anymore."
"Sycamore, what I'm saying is not that you've lost, but that you've made a mistake. A mistake that can be remedied, pretty easily to be honest. There's still plenty of hope for you, come on now, I know you can be a really sweet guy."
"I shot Secter, hurt you, and terrorized the whole world," sputtered Sycamore. "Why…why did I feel I needed to go this far? Why? What's the point? I was ok with being wrong with the heroes not fighting, I was ok with it from the start? Why couldn't I see that?"
"Because you were brutalized, and like you said, not used to friends," said Fubuki. "Too used to losing them, one way or another. But this place isn't like that, and I know you still care about all of us. It just takes time to readjust, everything was too fast for you and you had trouble handling it. But now, now we're extending a hand to help, right sis?"
Fubuki looked back, silently pleading to her sister that she'd agree. Tatsumaki pulled herself a bit closer, twitching her nose.
"Sis…" said Fubuki.
"Yeah," said Tatsumaki. "I'll help. I'm beyond angry, but I haven't given up on you either Sycamore. You seem…genuinely broken up and guilty over all this."
In fact, it was beyond that. Sycamore's heart was twisting in utter pain, his brain searching out for any possible ray of hope to bask in, any rung that would let him climb the ladder out of the abyss of despair…
He found only one. The shimmering of the light from his body across Fubuki's face and hair. She extended a hand.
"See?" she asked. "Now please Sycamore, go back to normal. Put the sword away. We can get better together."
Tatsumaki's eyes widened.
The white vanished from view, the desert and surrounding cities reappearing again. In an instant Sycamore was back to his original form, the planetary sword no longer in sight. Sycamore stared down at the ground as Fubuki jolted upright at the sudden change in the environment.
"Is…is everything back to normal?" asked Fubuki.
"Yes," said Sycamore, his voice low.
"And…no one was hurt, right?" asked Fubuki.
"Just…just you," said Sycamore. "All the other heroes were knocked back into the city, or were teleported to some spot within it."
"Sis…" said Tatsumaki as she reached Fubuki's side and laid a hand on her back. "You…you did amazing out there, I don't think I would've been able to do that."
Fubuki smiled.
"I learned a thing or two," she said. "Not just from Sycamore, but from you and Secter too. Sometimes it helps to just listen."
"I'm…proud," said Tatsumaki. "I…ugh, I'll help with this, sorry if I'm still hesitant, but…"
"I understand," said Fubuki. "Completely. But while I know you're upset, I really need your help right now."
"I'll help," said Tatsumaki. "Just…give me a moment, alright? I want to make sure Secter's really ok."
"Alright," said Fubuki. "He looks alright, I really hope he's ok."
"He's fine," said Sycamore. He sniffed, tears still streaming down his cheeks but by now were but tiny glimmering streams as opposed to the massive boulders of liquid they were earlier. "I…I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am."
"It's alright, you're admitting it," said Fubuki. "Your guilt, you feel bad over this. Don't worry, we'll help you out, get things right."
"I just wanted to be…something better," said Sycamore. "But I couldn't even get that right."
"You're certainly better than people like the Commandant," said Fubuki. "You're without a doubt a good person to me, just afraid and hurting."
Sycamore sniffed again. He clenched his teeth together as he started to fall into a soft wave of sobbing.
"Sycamore," said Fubuki, reaching out towards him with one arm. "Come over here, it'll be alright. We can be friends, this doesn't have to be a fight or a competition anymore."
"Friend is a strong word," muttered Tatsumaki. "It'll take me a long time to forgive you for shooting my Secter."
"I understand," said Sycamore. "I wouldn't forgive me either."
Tatsumaki's eyes went softer, and she let out a tiny sigh.
"But I haven't given up on you either," said Tatsumaki. "Let's just all cool it, alright? We can work this out."
"Exactly," said Fubuki, smiling over at Sycamore. "We-"
A yellow burst of energy flew past Tatsumaki as a loud boom went off in the air. It tore right through Sycamore's midsection, his eyes growing huge as he stumbled back from the impact. Gasping, Sycamore fell to the ground.
. . .
Secter's eyes fluttered open. Above, the sky was blue, but below, the area was white. His head feeling ready to explode, Secter sat upright, keeping one hand glued to his forehead.
Tatsu… he thought. Where's Tatsu?
Moaning in pain, Secter struggled to pull himself to his feet, every inch of his body aching with the effort. As he brought himself to a standing position, he spotted Sycamore standing just ahead, staring downwards. Squinting, Secter rubbed at his eyes. Right in front of Sycamore were Fubuki and Tatsumaki, one of whom was bleeding from the leg. Rage starting to build, Secter looked up just in time to see the remnants of some odd white fog far up in the sky finally dissipate.
Power… thought Secter. He shot me, Fubuki's hurt, and was using a power! What the hell does he think he's doing!?
Secter stood in shock for a moment before flinging his hands to his back and dashing forward. He ripped his shotgun out from behind him and pointed it at Sycamore as the Soulless gazed to the ground. Mouth peeled back in a vicious snarl, Secter pulled the trigger and watched as a burst of elimination energy tore through Sycamore and sent him sprawling to the dirt. Sycamore's gun fell free from his suit and clattered along the dirt, sliding several feet away.
Fubuki and Tatsumaki turned to Secter, their expressions drenched in shock. Secter's eyes were wild, his hair coated in dust from his dirt nap. His breathing turned heavy, heart and chest pounding alike as Secter glared down at Sycamore with every ounce of hatred he could muster.
"What did he do," said Secter.
"Secter!" said Tatsumaki. "You're up!"
"Secter, it's ok," said Fubuki, panic rising in her voice. "He didn't hurt anyone-"
"He just shot at me, and when I woke up, he was doing something with his powers," said Secter. "You two don't know, if he wanted he could tear your minds to pieces in an instant or worse."
"He didn't," said Fubuki. "Just got…heated."
"Stun…round," gasped Sycamore, one hand over the yellow oozing hole in his chest.
Fubuki ran over to Sycamore, propping him up into a sitting position as yellow blood streamed from his mouth. Sycamore's eyes were affixed on a point far away.
Tatsumaki put a hand on Secter's arm, tugging on his sleeve as Secter tightened his grip on his gun.
"Secter, it's ok," said Tatsumaki. "It's ok Secter, Fubuki talked him down. It's ok."
At Tatsumaki's voice, Secter's arms drooped, his eyes turning soft.
"Alright…" said Secter. "Alright…" He turned over to Tatsumaki, who returned his look with shimmering eyes.
"I was so afraid," said Tatsumaki. "For a second, I thought you were dead."
"I'm…ok," said Secter. "Head hurts, but I'm ok." Tears forced their way through his eyes and onto his cheeks as he saw the darkened streaks along Tatsumaki's face. "I'm ok."
Tatsumaki leaned up and hugged him, with Secter pulling her close so tight that she gasped as she first made impact into his body.
"Sycamore!" said Fubuki, her hands shaking as she placed them over his injury. "Just stay with me, alright?"
"No," groaned Sycamore. "I understand, I get it. I would kill me if I were you too, just get it over with please…"
"No," said Fubuki. His words terrorized her to her core, and she pressed harder against his wounds even as they seeped blood over her fingers and hands. "You don't deserve this. You really don't Sycamore, please don't think like this, it's not all over for you…"
"I don't even know anymore," said Sycamore. He coughed, sending a stream of blood onto the desert sand below. "I don't know what to do…"
"Just relax," said Fubuki. "That's it, that's all you have to do. Don't worry about anything else, we'll get you back on your feet."
"You're too kind..."
"I'm really not," said Fubuki. "I think just about anyone would do this, but I'm even more inclined because I like you Sycamore. I'm not going to let you die, that's insane." She turned back over to Secter, panicked and enraged at the same time. "I could use some help over here!"
"Oh, right," said Secter, stiffening. He ran over to Sycamore and Fubuki, examining the wounds under Fubuki's stained hands. Tatsumaki followed him over.
"We're going to get you some help," said Secter. "But shit…I think I'm out of bandages."
"You don't have medical supplies?!" asked Fubuki. "Sycamore, don't…don't you keep some on you?"
"Suit," said Sycamore, his voice choked with blood and phlegm from the crying and internal tearing. "In the suit. Shotgun probably destroyed most of them."
Fubuki's darted her free hand into Sycamore's suit, the other pressing against his wound. One hand soaking wet with blood, Fubuki found a lump of bandages in one of Sycamore's inner suit pockets and tore them free, raising them above her head as she got them out of his suit.
"No need…" said Sycamore. "You don't have to…"
"We're going to," said Secter. "You made some mistakes, but we're not letting you die."
"Why?" asked Sycamore.
Secter sighed.
"Please Secter," said Fubuki. "I know…he's not the greatest person, but he's hurting, and he…didn't hurt anyone himself. He's just afraid."
"I know," said Secter. "I know. He's having trouble getting away from how things used to be."
"I…can try," said Sycamore. "Fubuki…she's right…you're right Fubuki…maybe I just need time…"
"That's it," said Fubuki, her voice slinking over Sycamore's face like cold rain. "Just relax, it'll be ok, it'll take time, but it'll be ok…"
Tatsumaki's shoulders sagged at the sight of Sycamore's oozing mouth.
"Alright," said Secter. "Keep still for a second Sycamore."
Secter reached down and wrapped the first bandage around Sycamore's torso, the inside layer of the gauze glowing as it went to work on the wound. Two more bandages later, Sycamore had a series of wrappings around his wound as he lay down on the ground.
"He'll need something more substantial," said Secter. "Bleeding too much. You have any serum or anything?"
"Hotel," said Sycamore. "Go and teleport, I sure as hell won't stop you."
"Alright," said Secter. "See you in two seconds."
He disappeared from sight. In the distance, a crashing sound could be heard, like a car crashing against a brick wall.
"What was that?" asked Fubuki.
"Probably Metal Knight or Blast getting out of some rubble," said Sycamore. "They'll be here soon, probably to yell at me."
"We've got your back," said Fubuki. She glanced over at her sister, who was standing with her arms crossed. "Right sis?"
"I…yeah," said Tatsumaki. "I'm angry, but I'll back you up, especially since my sis is vouching for you."
"I know you're mad," said Sycamore. "I understand, I would be too. And I'm very, very sorry."
Tatsumaki sighed, her arms dropping to her sides.
"You didn't have to do all that," said Tatsumaki. "Yet you lashed out anyways."
"Fear, I was afraid…" said Sycamore. "Was pointless and stupid of me."
"It's…alright," said Tatsumaki. "I've…destroyed and hurt things out of fear before too."
"But you changed," said Sycamore. "You are a fine person now, you and your sister and Secter are the finest people I've met."
"…Thanks," said Tatsumaki. "You don't seem too bad yourself, just went through a lot of really bad stuff."
Secter reappeared in the midst of the trio, a bundle of glowing bandages and several neon syringes in his arms.
"Alright, I'm back," said Secter. "Let's get to work here."
Secter propped Sycamore up with one hand, poking a needle near where Sycamore's wound was. Tatsumaki and Fubuki watched as Secter went to work before turning around at the sound of impending footsteps. From the city around them came Blast and his group, most of the members covered with dust and bruises. Mumen Rider and his followers stepped out next to them, each one glancing around in confusion.
"What the hell was that?!" yelled Blast. "Did you see that?! He was going to kill us all!"
"Oh great, here comes the idiot," said Tatsumaki.
"Here we go," said Fubuki. "Sis, you got my back?"
"Of course," said Tatsumaki. She stood as tall as she possibly could next to her sister, eying the wary and enraged heroes who came to approach them. Ghosts out of the dust, each member of the groups turned from darkened silhouettes to clear versions of themselves as finally all of them came into view.
The two sisters strode forward as Blast turned to his group and began to rant. Sycamore winced at his voice.
"He will make them try to kill me," said Sycamore. "Can't say I totally blame them now."
Secter bit off a section of bandage, wrapping it around Sycamore's torso to cover the bloody wound entirely.
"Not like he can do anything," said Secter. "And don't worry, we'll talk him out of it."
"He's a threat!" yelled Blast from a few meters away. "You all saw!"
"He didn't hurt anyone seriously," said Tatsumaki. "He just got afraid."
"I'm a bit bruised," said Darkshine.
"And he nearly destroyed the planet!" yelled Atomic Samurai. "Did you fucking see what he did?"
"But he didn't," said Tatsumaki.
"And he never would have," said Fubuki. "I swear it."
"Oh yeah, like we're going to trust you," spat Blast. "Worthless bitch."
A fire burned behind Tatsumaki's eyes. Even if it killed her, she swore she was going to murder this man right here and now.
"You better watch your fucking mouth Blast, most of this is your fault," said Tatsumaki.
"Oh?" said Blast. "And how so?"
"You were the one trying to kill Sycamore in the first place!" yelled Fubuki. "You struck the first blow!"
"We can't even fight Sycamore…" said Mumen Rider. Glancing over at Sycamore, Mumen Rider frowned as he noticed the bloody Soulless staring down at the ground. "And he looks…injured, and…guilty."
"He feels terrible, and has paid for it," said Fubuki. "He even did less damage than Blast did, and wants to make up for it."
The arguing went on as Sycamore listened, grunting as Secter finished his medical handiwork.
"Ugh," said Sycamore. "Now I just want to sleep."
"You're going to have to wait a bit," said Secter. "And by the way, where the hell did you get a stun pistol?"
"Military police," said Sycamore. "Rare model though. Usually only works with a headshot, which I guess explains why there were so few. Got stun and kill function…"
"Huh," said Secter. "Never seen one."
"I'm sorry for shooting you," said Sycamore. "I…wanted to scare them. With a power. For some reason, I thought it would…empower me somehow, but I just made myself out to be an asshole."
"Yeah, you kinda did," said Secter. "And I was terrified to wake up to see that you had done something, I know what Soulless are capable of. But it's alright. You regret what you did, I don't think you'd ever hurt anyone let alone kill them, and at least you're pledging to stop all this craziness. We'll help sort this out."
"Thank you," said Sycamore. "You are all too kind to me…I'm not used to it."
"I know," said Secter. "But you better start soon."
Secter stood up from Sycamore, shaking his head.
"Alright," said Secter. "That'll do. You ready to get Blast to fuck off?"
"Yeah," said Sycamore. "That sounds good."
. . .
Secter kept his hand on Sycamore's back as he shambled over to where Tatsumaki and Fubuki stood. Blast glared at him the whole way he moved.
"So," said Blast. "There you are."
Sycamore coughed, yellow blood splattering against the back of his teeth and out onto the ground. A dotted pattern of bright drops appeared on the sand below.
"I…apologize," said Sycamore. "I…acted like a fool. Scared…got scared…"
"He's not going to hurt anyone," said Secter. "He just acted out of fear, you guys ganged up on him too much and he lashed out."
"Acted out of fear, just like you Blast," said Tatsumaki. "Imagine that."
Blast sneered at Tatsumaki. She gave him no hint of an expression, her eyes as dead as he was to her.
"Everyone, listen," said Fubuki. "Sycamore…is way too strong for any of you to fight. And there's no reason to fight him, he really has done a lot of good for the world!"
"I didn't know he was that strong," said Garou. "He started fucking with the solar system, for fuck's sakes!"
"I…never would've…hurt anyone," said Sycamore. "I could've killed you all…without that damned sword…but I wouldn't, I wouldn't."
"He's in no position to hurt anyone now anyways," said Secter. "I'm about as strong as he is, and can cancel his powers out."
"What?" asked Blast.
"Yeah, get used to it," said Secter. "Actually, I'd much prefer it if you fucked off."
"Don't want to stand, hurts," said Sycamore. "Want to sit down."
"Alright," said Secter. He guided Sycamore to the ground, frowning as Sycamore winced while he stretched his legs forward to sit. Sycamore plopped onto the ground, every breath a labor of monumental pain for him. He sat facing the opposite direction of Secter, his eyes still distant and grim.
"Everyone, just go home," said Fubuki. "We're done here."
"No we aren't," said Blast. "What about Sycamore? What do we do with him?"
"We've got him," said Fubuki. "He's a friend."
Sycamore chuckled at the words.
"I'm quite a bad one," said Sycamore. "Quite a bad one."
"He's trying to get better," said Tatsumaki. "He comes from…a bad place."
"I don't give a shit where he comes from," said Blast. "We have to…we have to come up with a plan."
"No prison will hold a being like that," said Metal Knight. "He must be studied."
"He's not going anywhere," said Secter. "We have him under control."
"And how are we supposed to believe that?!" said Blast.
"Because we stopped the attack in the first place," said Fubuki.
Sycamore chuckled as both groups stared at Fubuki in surprise.
"She…is really special," said Sycamore. "You should listen to her, hell, both sisters, and Secter far more often. Ahhhh, fuck…my chest." He clutched at the front of his suit, scratching at the bandages that adorned it.
"We have it under control," said Tatsumaki. "So Blast, you can kindly fuck off to wherever the hell you came from."
"You…" said Blast. "You…"
"I just want to rest," said Sycamore. "I don't want to hurt anyone, I don't want to destroy anything. Right now…I know all I can give you is my word, but that's all…that's all I can give you. It's all I have."
"And Tatsu, Fubuki, and I have no reason not to believe him," said Secter. "There's not much you guys can do here, we've got it under control."
Blast's eyes filled with rage, his fists clenching.
Sycamore is hurt, thought Blast. Maybe I can take him?
"Don't try it," said Secter. "Or I'll kick your ass."
Blast blinked his way out of his rage, turning over to Secter.
"Did…did you just-" said Blast.
"Yep," said Secter. "Now get the hell out. You and all your friends."
"Secter's the one who downed Sycamore," said Tatsumaki. "You mess with us, you mess with him."
"That's right," said Secter.
"Is that so…" said Metal Knight.
"Everyone, let's just…" said Mumen Rider. "I…I don't even know."
"No one was ready for this," said Accel. "But I can see that Sycamore is out of our league. If you guys have him controlled, then I'm leaving."
"The whole solar system…" said Garou. "Ridiculous…"
"I am sorry," said Sycamore. "I swear I wouldn't have hurt anyone, I was just frightened at the prospect of losing who I was to a big group all attacking me…though now I see I had my own flaws."
"Let Sycamore be," said Fubuki. "Just go home."
Murmuring amongst Mumen Rider and Blast's group. No one knew what to do. Blast stared forward at Sycamore, his eyes bursting with fear.
He is greater than I ever imagined, thought Blast. They are beyond me.
"Getting tired of seeing your face Blast," said Tatsumaki. "Go away."
"Seriously, a lot of this mess was caused by you," said Secter. "There was no fucking reason at all to antagonize Sycamore."
"Secter," said Sycamore.
"And furthermore, you were an asshole to all my friends, and to Tatsu," said Secter. "The hell is your deal?"
"Secter," said Sycamore.
Secter turned to look down at Sycamore.
"Look," said Sycamore. He pointed in the direction behind Secter, his hand quivering.
"What is it?" asked Secter. He turned around.
Off in the distance, standing alone in the desert, stood a single Soulless. It grinned as Secter made eye contact.