Pure Colors
DGM
Chapter 14
Engage The Enemy
Allen silently yawned and stretched his arm way above his head. He sat on a Japanese shrine rooftop. Skin, Tyki, and Jasdevi were also here with him. So was the Millennium Earl, and a few hundred, maybe thousand, akuma. He-Earl- was calling them all in. His eye was annoyed to hell, but no complaints slipped past his lips. "You looked bored." Tyki told him bluntly.
"Do I?" Allen turned his head half way around to look at him. "Guess you're right. I am bored."
"We could have a practice session, if you please." Tyki muttered.
"No, no thank you."
Allen rested his head in his palm, like usual, and sighed. The thought was tempting. Perhaps a practice session wouldn't be half bad. "Jasdevi, shouldn't you be taking care of your target?" Earl asked.
Allen's ears perked up. He listened to their conversation and then Allen got confused. The went on about somebody, him, traitor and so on. The twins wee loud, naturally. However, Allen thought it through and narrowed it down to one person. Allen went back to watching the akuma gather. He tried counting them using his eye, but it was useless. They just kept coming. However, Jasdero and Devit hadn't left yet. "Os something wrong, Allen, lero?" Lero asked.
"No."
Lero was about to respond to that, but then a spiral of fire erupted and lit up the area. A giant serpent formed and started coming towards them. The Earl stayed still, but the others jumped off the building quickly and were caught by akuma. Allen stared at the Earl as flames surrounded him and he got eaten by the fire serpent. "What the-" Allen turned his head around saw a few recognizable people. "Them."
When the flames vanished you could see the exorcists more clearly and the Earl remained unscathed. He noticed his enemies quickly and gazed at the sudden nuisances and he held his coat. "Oh my, you burnt my clothes. We'll have to do something about this." he said, sounding disappointed.
Allen noticed the exorcists seemed angry and fierce, but they're appearance wasn't the best. They were all in terrible condition. What were they thinking, attacking the Earl? They couldn't handle a single Noah and they had the nerve to attack him? In all, they were the dumbest people Allen ever met. Still, Allen eyed them in curiousness. His left hand went to his pocket and he touch it, feeling his hit list card inside it. He's here. "Oh, lookie here, we got some bugs." Tyki noted with humor.
The exorcists looked like they were ready to fight and they sure were picking one. All the exorcists that could move and could fight at this point stood in front of the non-exorcists and the ones that couldn't fight. "Come down here so we can kick your asses." Lavi seethed.
"Oh, you think you can do that? I'd like to see you try." Tyki mocked.
"Says the coward." Rick responded, angry as ever.
"If you want to fight us," Devit started saying, pointing at a couple of level 3's with a grin. "You have to defeat them first."
The exorcists didn't seem to pleased and they tried passing the akuma, but ended up fighting them anyway. In the end, Rick destroyed them with his innocence after Lavi and Krory did a combo attack. Lavi spewed fire at the akuma and kicked Krory of his hammer and both him and the flames went flying towards 3's. It did some pretty bad damage to them, but it definitely didn't destroy them. That's when Rick shot his flame arrows. The two akuma blew up after that. "Well, well, what a surprise. They managed to do it. That was fast, seeing how you all must have struggled against previous level 3's on the way here." Tyki admired.
They glared at him and Tyki smirked. If they really wanted a fight that badly, then they can have it. Before Tyki could say or do anything, though, some strange demon-worms attacked the level 2 akuma holding both Tyki and Allen. Tyki landed on a roof of a small house not far from the exorcists and Allen used Lero as a rebound.
The exorcists turned their head around, recognizing that attack, and they saw a few more friends. Kanda, Marie, and Zeres. "What are you doing here?" Lenalee asked in disbelief. "You're supposed to be at headquarters!"
"We thought you might need some help. So a few days after you left, we followed. Caught up quick, didn't we?" Zeres said, grinning widely and spinning his scythe. "You look pretty banged up Rick. So much for being powerful, huh?"
"Shut up."
"Y'know, I can kick the 3's sorry ass without a problem. Piece of cake, eh? So why did you hold back? Can't you do it too?" Zeres questioned mockingly.
"We tried avoiding confrontation, thank you." Rick said, twitching.
Zeres gave a small humored sigh and chuckle. He stopped spinning his long scythe and pointed it at the enemy. "Who's first?"
Allen gazed at each of the exorcists for a short time and then they landed on the only one he didn't know yet. The guy with the scythe. "And your name is?" Allen directed at him.
Zeres grinned, realizing he was asking him. He was staring at him after all. "Zeres Xavi."
Allen tapped his leg and Lero looked at him. The Earl watched Allen from the corner of his eyes, but didn't give Allen an order. It was up to him ti stay put or kill his target here and now. He knew the rules. "Okay, I'll play with you, Zeres, but Rick has to play, too." Allen said, smiling sweetly.
"What, lero?"
Tyki looked up at Allen with question. That wasn't like Allen to volunteer to fight. He also didn't like it when he said play. "What, you can actually fight?" Rick spat.
"I'll let you decide that." Allen smoothly responded.
Rick pointed his bow at him and an arrow materialized. "What do you say, pal? You wanna destroy him together?"
"Destroy? This is an akuma?" Zeres whisper, doubt obvious. "Sure, make sure you don't have all the fun."
Rick released the strong and the arrow went directly towards Allen, everyone watching it. It looked like it was about to hit him and he didn't try to dodge it. It got closer and closer until finally, it stopped. However, it didn't hit Allen. Instead, Allen caught it with his hand! "If this is all you can do, then you have no right in calling yourself an exorcist. It's sad, really." Allen said dully, his smile still there.
Rick's face must have been funny to Allen, because he was laughing. Rick didn't expect that. In fact, he didn't think it was possible. No one was able to ever catch his arrow. If one did, damage was dealt severely. It destroyed the akuma because then the arrow blew up right away. With impact on the akuma, at least. That, or the fire would spread and burn them to ashes. That didn't happen either. Is he really an akuma?
Allen dropped the arrowed after using his pointer finger to put pressure on it, snapping it in half. Zeres took that moment to lung forward, but as his scythe swiped him, he fell back, grabbing the umbrella with his hand and kicked Zeres in the stomach as he came swinging upwards. The kick was so strong, Zeres let go of his weapon, but the chain that linked to his scythe and wrapped around arm caused it to follow him as he flew higher in the sky then landed harshly beside Rick.
Zeres cringed and inhaled a sharp breath. He needed some air. Zeres snatched his scythe and gradually stood up. His eyes landed on Allen again and he saw he was now standing on the umbrella, laughter in his eyes to mock him. Anger fill Zeres and he leveled his weapon. "He's quick." Zeres told Rick.
"And limber. We have to be careful around him. I never thought he could actually fight or that he was good at it." Rick murmured.
"What do you mean?"
"He kept our group from reaching China as early as we should have, but he manipulated akuma into it. He didn't do a thing but tell them what to do and he stood there whenever he was in sight or he hid away." Rick informed.
"Well, we got the advantage here. It's two to one and we know each other's movements and skills better than anyone else. I'm sure we can take care of him."
"I think you're right, but it might not be as easy as that. Lavi said his name was Allen and he was just an akuma. The one the Noah protected. Though they say this, I don't think it's right. He may not be one." Rick responded sharply.
Zeres narrowed his eyes. "Cause we'll have to find out, eh?"
Allen jumped off Lero and landed on a building. Tyki used this time to attack himself he he picked a random person to fight. He started fighting Lavi, the one who wanted to fight so badly and said he could kick his ass. He thought he ought to test his words in this battle. Was he as good as he believed or was it a bluff? "You look like fun. How long can you keep up kid?" Tyki asked
"Until you're dead!" Lavi answered and took a swing at him, but he disappeared. It wasn't long until he reappeared again, but from behind. "What?"
"We'll see about that. Here, I have the advantage over you. You see, my ability allows me to go through whatever I please." Tyki told him.
Lavi spun around and tried hitting him, but he vanished again. "No, not everything."
"Oh?"
"Innocence is your weakness. You can go through innocence."
Tyki laughed. This exorcist was amusing. "You're right, but for it to work like that, you actually have to hit me."
Lavi soon became frustrated dealing with Tyki and while he fought him, the others dealt with the akuma. Chomesuke would often move the regular humans around along with Lenalee and Miranda to protect them as Kanda, Marie,Krory and Bookman fought. It had been sudden, but all the akuma in the area had morphed together and created a giant akuma. With this, their struggles began, for Bookman and Krory.
That left one more group. Allen and his opponents Rick and Zeres. Rick would shoot his arrows at Allen and in defense, Allen caught them, broke them, or easily dodged them. Zeres would try to get a hit on Allen from behind or when he thought he could catch him off guard. Whenever there was an open area for Zeres to attack, Allen protected somehow. He would catch the scythe or move aside. Sometimes Zeres tumbled into his partner and other times he got smashed around. Allen's kicks and punches were hard and firm. They could be deathly if he got him in the right spot.
Deciding he had enough humiliation from being bounced around, he used his chain to swing his scythe around, pulling back when he needed to. He was able to control where his scythe went-up, down, left, right, diagonal, if it did circles or not-but it was pointless. Allen never got struck. Rick tried attacking Allen close up, but only got thrown away.
Rick and Zeres crashed into walls and through them. They rolled around on the ground or off the buildings. They had rough landings and falls. The two would bump into each other or go flying across the place. One time, Allen managed to split them up and attacked them until they found each other. During that time, he beat Rick up more, making his previous injuries worse and creating new ones while he was at it. Zeres cuts and wounds were soon equivalent to Rick's.
They didn't mind all this. It was part of being in a fight, but what angered them the most was that they didn't land a single hit on him! When they came close, he made another move and got out of it, hurting them more. Sometimes he disappeared from sight and came back, but behind them. He was just that fast and they were that slow. This fight was ruining their pride. "Dammit!" Zeres shouted.
Rick stood beside him, panting, aching, bleeding. Zeres used his scythe for support as he heavily breathed in and out. Allen stood about 10 feet (three meters) away from them. If there was any blood on him, it was theirs. He hadn't a single scratch, but his intent was obvious. He was trying to kill them. Now they understood why he said he would play with them. That's exactly what he was doing, toying with them. They didn't even know if he was trying or not. To them, he didn't give much effort at all. They on otherhand were giving all their effort. "Hey, Zeres." Rick muttered.
"What?"
"Why don't we try something else?"
"What do you mean?"
"I've been using four arrows and fire. You've been using you're scythe. We can improve that. It might weaken us in the end, but we'll be stronger in the meantime."
"What are you suggesting?" Zeres asked, eyeing Allen carefully. "We use the next stage of our innocence?"
"Yeah."
"I know you can do that easily, but it's hard for me to keep my scythe like that for long."
"You can make your scythe look like anything. It depends on what your emotions are and how linked you are to it. It changes form when you're furious, embarrassed, happy, or sad, but that doesn't make it any stronger than the next. You have to go further than that. That's the next stage. It will also change form due to your emotions, but it becomes more deadly. You don't even have to use your scythe." Rick explained quietly, making sure Allen couldn't hear.
Allen started walking towards them. They were whispering to one another and he didn't need them to form a plan. He wanted to speed this up. He couldn't use his innocence, so he relied on his instincts, speed and strength. It was easy to do this with these two, especially here, and since they couldn't make a plan without telling the other or screwing it up. "How long do you think you can keep it that way, Zeres?" Rick asked.
"I don't know. Maybe three minutes, maybe 10. Right now, I wouldn't bet on either of them or inbetween." Zeres murmured.
"All I need is two minutes. Can you keep it that long?" Rick asked.
"I can try, but I'm not promising anything."
"Okay, I'll I need you to do is attack him. Just make him back away. Keep his fighting to a minimum. If he tries to hurt you, then hurry and back up or defend the best you can. When I give the signal, run away from him. I don't wanna risk hitting you. Alright?"
Zeres nodded and stood up and picked his scythe off the ground. Rick jumped about a yard or two away from him and Allen stopped in his spot. They made a plan. He could tell. A breeze blew by and Allen felt their auras change. The air around them changed. Their innocence glowed. "War Barrage: A Thousand Seals." Rick said, holding his arms out. His innocence morphed and became a bright citrine color and five arrows materialized as he pulled the string back and held it there. He closed one eye and aimed at Allen. "Activate."
Zeres took a few calming breaths and stood still, closing his eyes. "Heaven's Door: Graceful Reaper."
Allen jumped on to a building and watched from there. Zeres weapon turned into a bright green light of energy then it reconstructed itself into another scythe. This one was light sapphire and emerald colored and the blade was long and cured more than before. There were a few spikes poking off the top and behind the blade. There were dull, except the one on top, and wouldn't cut you unless he dug it deep down in someone's skin. Instead of a chain connecting to it this time, it was a like green fabric with a mixture of blue and violet. It actually looked like a fairy's wing, but long and narrow. It wrapped around his wrist. The image was truly heavenly. Despite his outfit, he really did look like a graceful reaper. If Allen didn't know better, he might've even been mesmerized.
Zeres opened his eyes and charged forward. Allen was caught off guard by his instantaneous speed. It improved by a great deal. Rick stayed where he was and Allen was put on defensive to keep himself hurtling through the sky. Zeres matched Allen's own speed right now and since he had the weapon and Allen wasn't armed, Zeres had the advantage right now.
Allen jumped back, flipped, moved to the side, and went all over the place. He was tying to find out how to get around the scythe, but as long as Zeres control where it went if he let it go, he couldn't do much. He had to be careful and not get too close. Just as Allen got an idea, however, Zeres struck him and he went flying into a wall. His right arm got grazed, but it wasn't that bad. Only a bit of blood was spilled.
Allen dodged the scythe when it was thrown at him and he grabbed the rod and Zeres froze. If he pulled, Allen would follow it. His mind went blank, but he stayed alert to whatever he might do in the meantime. "Now, Zeres! Throw him in the air!" Rick shouted.
Zeres grabbed the thread and yanked, but forced it up with a great amount of power. Allen ended up losing his grip and Zeres pulled his scythe back and hopped away until he was beside Rick. Allen's eyes widened when Rick released the string and the arrows came flying at him. The five arrows multiplied and continued until they were hundreds, no, a thousand! Some of them were affected by fire and some were not. All he knew was that he was in the air and had no way of repelling them. If he got hit, he'd die for sure.
Allen noticed no one was looking at him and his opponents couldn't see him. Should he use his innocence? He shook his head. He looked around and spotted an akuma that wasn't combined with the others or fighting yet. He signaled it to come over and it sped over to him. The akuma grabbed him and moved Allen to a rooftop, but Allen's cheek had gotten cut and the blood drizzled down his face. "Leave now, before they see you." Allen ordered the akuma and it left.
Allen used his thumb to wipe the blood off his face, but it continued to bleed anyway. He didn't mind and decided he should finish them off while he can. "Come back Tyki, Allen." the Earl ordered.
Allen and Tyki stared at him with aggravation. "But it's getting fun." Tyki said.
Allen didn't protest, but he silently complained in his head. The complaints soon disappeared from both the boys when they saw the Earl's hand. A black sphere was forming and their eyes got bigger. Without another word and without hesitating, they started running over to their leader. It took a few seconds with the speed they used, but when they got there, the sphere got bigger and bigger until it took out Edo. Smoke hovered in the air and blocked their vision. It began to clear up, but to their great, great surprise, they discovered living exorcists.
Allen counted them and named them off. Kanda, Daisya- he had joined them when Allen was fighting, Rick and Zeres, Miranda and three regular humans along with Bookman and Krory, Lavi, Marie, and . . . . . Lenalee! They all survived! All of them! That was impossible! The Earl used his own powers himself.
Allen put those thoughts aside and stared at Lenalee. He had recognized her, but a crystal encased her. It was there in plain sight, glowing. The Earl must have some special thought in mind just like Allen did. The rest soon caught on.
Without a given order, Tyki and Skin hurried over there. Allen looked at the twins and then at Earl. He had this uneasy feeling, but was overjoyed, excited, he felt exhilarated! And he didn't even know why. Allen didn't waste another moment and rushed in.
The ground was now black and glassy. It was easy to move across and easier to get there. He didn't run into anyone, thankfully, and got over to Lenalee in no time at all. When he got there, he stood in front of crystal structure. He watched Tyki who fought Kanda and Skin who was crushing Lavi's skull. He couldn't see anyone else in the area and he reached out to touch it and Lenalee stared at him through it. When he gently touched it with his left hand he slightly jumped. He wasn't sure what, but it felt like something went inside him, probing him. It was strange.
Lenalee eyed Allen in silence. He was examining the crystal and her, but his face wasn't as cold as it has been lately. It was almost that of a child admiring something he's seen for the first time in his life with utter amazement. She wasn't sure if she should be worried or not. Right now, he didn't seem dangerous at all. "Get away from her!" Lavi shouted, swinging his iron hammer.
Allen slid across the glass-like surface and his side was hurting pretty bad. When he tried to get up, Zeres put scythe to his throat. It was back to it's normal silver and black image with that chain. Rick stood above him and his innocence was back to normal as well. Allen saw Skin unmoving near Lavi and Marie. He guessed it had to o with somebody's innocence. Tyki was still fighting. It didn't take long for the rest to gather around and Allen laid there calmly, still staring at Lenalee.
Within a minute or so, Allen surprised Zeres when he pushed the scythe away from his face and quickly stood up. He got beside the crystal again and stood there, emotionless, all eyes on him. "Get away from her, or you'll regret it." Daisya threatened.
General Tiedol appeared and walked to the front of the group. Allen wondered when he got here. He hadn't known a General was in their presence today. Who was targeting him again? Skin. It's too bad he can't move right now. "Who might you be?" General Tiedol asked.
Allen couldn't believe he just asked that. How stupid could this old man get? Didn't he know he was an enemy? "Why does that matter?" Allen asked, voice as soft as silk.
"Because you seem to know exactly who we are. It's not fair, is it? That you know and we don't know a thing about you." Tiedol responded. Was he really a General? "That, and I rather not fight you when we're so close to our friend there. Who knows what might happen."
Now Allen saw his point. Anything could happen right now? "I believe you are the akuma I've heard about. They call you Allen, right? I find it strange a Noah would protect you and give you a name, even call you by it. I could go on, but I think you get what I'm saying. The whole idea is fishy." Tiedol commented.
Allen didn't reply. He only stood there in front of Lenalee. He knows the Earl would want to see it, but what should he do? There was too many people for him to fight and his previous opponents were angry. They wanted to kill him. "How did you live through that!" they finally blurted out.
Allen smiled. "You should be grateful."
"And why is that you bastard!"
"Because you both struggled in our fight. At any given moment, I could've killed you. When you did that last attack, it caught me by surprise. No matter what, I would've gotten through it and I was going to kill you. You both thought I was going to die or be too wounded to fight again. You couldn't even see me. If not for my orders, you would've been dead by now and your innocence destroyed." Allen said.
They furrowed their brows and grounded their teeth. He was right. If they compared their power to them, he had been much stronger. He could've killed them, but he played with them for his own entertainment. "Let me out! Let me out right now!" Lenalee shouted, hitting the crystal wall.
Allen turned his head and touched the crystal. "You sure you want out?"
Lenalee glared at him. He didn't react at all. He continued to wear his confident smile and it bugged her. "You can get her out?" Bookman asked.
"I can try. If I can't, Lord Millennium will happily do so, or Master Skin over. Whatever you did to him won't hold him back long." Allen said.
Rick was getting angrier and so was Zeres. They felt like he was still mocking them. Rick stepped forward and grabbed Allen's shirt and pushed him up against the crystal. "Can you or can you not release her?" he growled.
"How am I supposed to know? I've never tried before." Allen said, shrugging.
Zeres held the scythe up to Allen's throat once again and Allen used his hand to gently push it away. "That's not wise. You should put it away." Allen recommended.
"You clearly don't get what kind of position you're in." Rick grumbled.
"Oh, but I do ." Allen said.
Rick was enraged, red with anger. "You're so annoying!"
"Am I?"
Allen reached out and gripped Zeres scythe. He kicked Rick and he fell down. Allen pulled Zeres innocence away from him and tripped him. The innocence immediately deactivated and it became a single medal rod. Allen dropped it on the ground and put his foot on it and put pressure on it. "It might be in your best interest to know I am very capable of destroying innocence. Understand what position you're in?" Allen responded coldly.
"Akuma shouldn't be able to handle the slightest touch of innocence. It hurts them unless they hold significant powers." Tiedol explained.
"I'm aware of that."
"And you look nothing like an akuma."
"We do wear human skin, remember?"
The crystal started glowing and blinded everyone and Lenalee fell to the ground. Allen bent over and forced her to stand, but not being too rough. He was actually very gentle. He put her in front of him and held her throat with his gloved hand, smirking. "See? You didn't even need me to release her? Nevertheless, I can't hand her over to you." Allen said.
"Then I'm afraid we can't let you go." Tiedol said.
Lenalee tried to elbow him and succeeded the first time and he lightly groaned, but only she heard. When she tried again, he grabbed her wrist with his free hand. "I'd rather not have to hurt you right now, but if you push me to do so-"
"Shut up. I don't care what you say or what you do. If we can't handle you, alone or together, then what kind of exorcists would we be? It's our job to fight you and we'll see it through til the end and we'll go home together." Lenalee yelled.
Allen didn't say a word after that. He was too stunned. Then he found some words. "Why? Why fight when you know you're not even in the same league as them? When you're outnumbered? When they can kill you at anytime? Why fight? Why fight for this world? You could just leave and live you own life until it does come to an end by the Noah?" Allen asked, his head lowering and his body was shaking. With anger? No one knew. He could be laughing for all they knew. "There's no point."
"Because the war hasn't been decided yet. As long as there's still hope, as long as we can still fight, and we still have our comrades by our sides and the one who risked their lives and the ones who died trying to help our in our minds, we'll never give up. Because we still have a chance. No matter how small it is." Lenalee said.
Lenalee winced. His grip on her wrist was tightening and he had a better hold on her throat, slightly squeezing it. It hurt, but she could still breathe. He wasn't choking her and his body was still now, but he wasn't acting like he was earlier. "Humans are stupid and pathetic. They have no meaning and they only care about themselves. They have committed sin after sin and it continues to grow. The outcome of the akuma birth is proof of that sin. In my opinion, there's nothing in this world worth saving." Allen raved.
"You're wrong!"
Allen could pinpoint a single person except Lenalee. Several of them had shouted that. He definitely pressed it this time. "Why would you think that?" Tiedol asked.
Allen didn't answer. He was supposed to be playing an akuma. If he answered in his opinion then he would fail and they would know. An akuma was programmed to think like that and to kill, to evolve.
Allen heard a footstep behind him and was about to turn around and see who it was, but then someone seized him and tightly locked their arms around him. His arms were forced to his side and couldn't attack from behind or from the front. He was picked up off his feet and the arms around his chest got tighter. It was going to crush him and he couldn't breathe easily anymore.
Lenalee fell down and she stared at Allen, endeavoring to get free. He kicked his feet and moved his head from side to side and tried headbutting Krory, the person holding him. None of it worked with the way he was being held. Krory let go of him with just one arm and pulled his head to the side and sank his teeth in Allen's neck. He drank Allen's blood. It didn't take long for him to know the taste wasn't that of an akuma's and it was disgusting, but he had to make sure Allen couldn't fight back. He stopped moving around and his body went limp. His vision wasn't clear and he felt fuzzy. Then he passed out.
Krory released him and turned around, spitting out whatever blood he could, almost choking. before he let go of Allen, he gave him some of his blood back, but it wouldn't make a difference. When he bit Lavi once, he became dizzy over a tiny loss of blood. "What's wrong Krory?" Lenalee asked.
Zeres picked up his innocence and put it in a black case hooked to his belt and leg, so it wouldn't jiggle. Krory eyed Allen for a minute with sad eyes then turned away. "He's not an akuma. . . . . He is a human."
Okay! Long chapter here and I hope you all enjoyed it. I know I say that after almost every chapter, but I really mean it. Anyways, sorry for the late update. I know it's been almost a month, but I assure you, I'm not done with this story.
Please review.