Chapter 16: One Answer (Kyon)

It's hard, fighting people you care about. It hurts even more when you're trying to kill them. It doesn't matter what kind of physical injury I suffer. Every one of my attacks cut through my own heart and picks apart my resolve piece by piece.

I fire yet another Hrunting at Nagato. How many attacks of mine and Asakura's have landed? Nagato's uniform is shredded and covered with blood. The extent of her wounds is far worse than anything Asakura did back then. But even with debilitating damage, Nagato cannot stop fighting back. No matter what kind of non-fatal injury Asakura and I inflict, Nagato attacks us without pause. Asakura blocks everything that comes our way, but this is getting nowhere.

"Hmm. Even without repairs to her interface, Miss Nagato is quite resilient." Asakura stops another glowing white projectile from Nagato and shatters it. "Perhaps we should change our tactics and stop her functions altogether."

No. That is out of the question. We're going to turn her back to normal. My next arrow is going through the back of your head if you even try that!

"And what of Miss Suzumiya?" Asakura's words cause my entire body to stiffen. "Do you really think she is safe out there? She could be-"

"SHUT UP!" I scream in rage. I know. I didn't want to think of the possibility. Koizumi was already the last straw for me. No one else is dying on my watch.

"My orders were to protect you and Haruhi Suzumiya. I will not waste any time here." Her icy tone juxtaposed with her smile, Asakura uses some sort of telekinesis to bring her thrown knife back to her hand. "You needn't aid me. But you cannot stop me."

Without a second thought, I project Caladbolg and aim it with my bow right at Asakura. Yet I cannot bring myself to fire. My conscious holds me back. She is right, and acknowledging that feels like taking a knife and cutting my stomach open. I can't save Haruhi and Nagato. I have to pick one.

But how can anyone make such a choice? Is it wrong that I want to save both of them?

Biting my lips in utmost fury, I shift my aim slightly. The bow is pointed at Nagato now.

Sensing my cooperation, Asakura prepares to throw her knife at Nagato again. "I hope you remember what to do. Let's finish it."

The knife is thrown. It accelerates faster than a bullet. Nagato claps her hand in front of her, catching the knife. The knife is thrown with such force that the knife is still oscillating while trapped in Nagato's hands. Taking advantage of the opening, Asakura then slowly raised her hands, and just like before, her arms glowed all the way from her fingertips, extending into deadly white lances.

Asakura's arms close in on Nagato from both directions. Nagato jumps upwards and arcs back, dodging the attack. But this leaves her with no way to dodge Caladbolg, should I choose to fire it.

I don't want to do this. But Haruhi's face flashes into my mind, erasing all hesitation from me.

The Helix Sword strikes Nagato dead on. Asakura shields us with a force field in the same instant. Against the force of a nuclear missile, Nagato's small body is blown away like a doll caught in a hurricane.

I look away. It is hard to describe my feelings right now. I wonder if anyone could describe this is like. There are too many emotions to list. But guilt is probably the most overpowering. It crushes what little is left of my willingness to go on.

"It appears that was sufficient." Asakura, evidently satisfied, walks over to Nagato's charred body, to make sure that she wasn't getting up again. "With that much damage, she will not be able to manipulate any data."

Slowly, I approach Nagato. I kneel down beside her. Even her face was blackened, making her almost unrecognizable.

Nagato…

"Forgive me." Nagato's voice is soft, almost inaudible. "I have failed you." The same emotionless voice that I had become accustomed to hearing brought me very close to breaking down in tears.

"No…Nagato, I am so sorry." I kneel down and take her hand in mine. "I should've thought of some other way."

"My interface malfunctioned, and the cause was unknown. You were put into grave danger, and it was all I could do just to resist. This was the only solution."

Asakura places her hand on Nagato's chest. "I will terminate your interface for now, as you are unable to function. Your interface will be repaired when the Integrate Data Sentient Entity deems it to be necessary."

Nagato did not resist, and her body sublimates into little tiny globs of light instantly. The light spreads out like seeds of a dandelion, fading into nothingness. With a heavy heart, I stand back up. A cold breeze blows by, leaving me feeling even more despondent.

At the same time, Asakura starts fading away as well.

"It appears my time is up as well. Even with this much processing power, I cannot maintain a stable data link in this closed space." Asakura pays no heed to her gradually dissolving body. She's still smiling, like nothing is wrong.

I turn my back to her angrily. "So that's it? You just showed up to kill Nagato?"

"I think you don't appreciate the things I do for you, Kyon." Asakura sighs gently. "I did what I had to keep you and Haruhi Suzumiya alive. If Miss Nagato cannot protect you, isn't it natural to have someone else to do so? I can be summoned in the event of an emergency. That is why I am here. Just for your information, if the situation permits, I could even move back from Canada."

My jaw drops slightly at the thought of Asakura suddenly showing up back at North High. I turn around to shoot Asakura a venomous look.

"Heh, only if the situation permits." At this point, only Asakura's head remained floating in the air ominously as she faded away. "One last thing you should know, Kyon. The Integrated Data Sentient Entity has determined that a certain individual here is responsible for this closed spaced and the phenomenon within it. We cannot discern who it is exactly, but we have grasped the mechanisms behind it. If you find this individual and terminate him or her, you will be able to break down this closed space. Enjoy your time with Miss Suzumiya then. Goodbye."

After revealing those last vital pieces of information, Asakura completely vanished, leaving me completely alone. I walk forward a few steps and gaze off the edge of the rooftop. The fighting had drawn an extraordinary amount of zombies to this particular building. The zombies stumble over each other, trying to break down the front door.

I don't have time to deal with them though. The possibility of Asakura returning is a concern that I also have to set aside. Since I doubt Asakura has any reason to lie to me, my highest priority after finding Haruhi would be to track down this certain individual that Asakura mentioned. It's the only clue I've had since getting caught up in this mess. Asakura said I had to terminate that person. Killing that person doesn't bother me as much as it should; considering the kind of pain I've been forced through, I'd be more than happy to pay them back ten times over.

I sit down to think just for a moment.

If I go by what Koizumi hypothesized before, everyone at the convention is trapped here and then there's also other random realities thrown into mix. Then I have absolutely nothing to start with. I recall the list on the PDA that Koizumi showed me. Any one of those individuals could have some kind of supernatural power like Haruhi that I wouldn't know of. My power is certainly not my own, but since I never had a chance to ask, what about Shana's and Yuji's? Ruby and Stella weren't a part of the convention, and God knows how many other realities there are that are undiscovered. I could be stuck here for years before I find this person.

A familiar face suddenly resurfaces in my mind. Nara. If that video log that Koizumi and I found is showing something from his past, then he might have the ability to manipulate space and time in addition to whatever else he does. Going by that same logic, anyone at the convention who possessed superpowers before it occurred is also a suspect, but Nara would still be the most likely culprit. As mysterious as Nara is though, he doesn't seem like the kind who'd put people through suffering for no reason. Even in that video log, despite how much of a villain he appeared to be, Nara was trying to help that girl. This complicates the situation even further.

I get back up and get ready to move. I am exhausted and mentally drained, but I cannot rest yet. I can figure who is responsible later. Haruhi's safety comes first. I'll head back to where I last saw her and see if I can track her down.

…

Backtracking across all the buildings, I end up back on the street with the line of police cars. All is quiet now, and I don't see any more zombies here.

I tread lightly, in case there is something else here that I can't sense. I follow in the direction that I saw Haruhi went, near an apartment building. I turn a corner and go into an alleyway. A horrid stench greets me, likely the smell of something rotting. There is a fenced entryway left in an opened position, indicating that someone or something had been here.

"Trace on." I project a sword in my right hand, and press my back against the wall adjacent to the fenced entryway. As I do, the smell of decaying flesh becomes more and more overpowering.

Slowly, I inch towards the entrance, and slowly peek out. There is a dead body with portions of its flesh missing, lying in the middle of the path. The path leads to a flight of fire escape stairs. Two sets of bloody footprints are seen heading in the direction of the stairs. I emerge from my cover and approach the body. Seeing that there's a gunshot wound in the body's head I think it's safe to assume Haruhi came this way.

No sooner had I taken two steps towards the fire escape stairs something falls down onto the ground beside me with a large thud. Out of the corner of my eye, I see that it is a zombie. I look upwards, and see more of them falling from the rooftop of the building to my left. It was literally raining zombies. Good grief. I don't have time to deal with this.

I quickly plant my sword into the head of the zombie closest to me, ensuring that it would not get up again. I take off for the fire escape before the other zombies could get back up. Quickly scaling the wall of the building, I reach the rooftop.

I look around for any trace of movement. Haruhi couldn`t have gone farther than 4 kilometers. A certain street about a block away catches my attention. The pavement was littered with both human and…dog corpses. There was also a fire truck that was on fire, ironically enough. Next to the fire truck was a large building. The sign read "Racoon City Police Department".

I guess that'd be as good as any to check. Haruhi was a police officer after all, and judging from the damage done outside someone had definitely gone in there.

…

Walking over the several bodies piled up outside the entrance to the police station, I enter into the main foyer. There no was resistance from anything, no attacker to surprise me.

The most unnerving thing in a horror movie is a completely silent and empty place, just like this police station right now. The reason for that is because you always expect something to jump out at you and catch you off guard. It is this anticipation of something happening that creates tension and induces paranoia into a human being.

Cautiously, I walk forth. I hear nothing but my echoing footsteps. This place seems completely devoid of all life, but my instincts scream otherwise of course. There are several doors in this area, some on the second floor, and some on the first. Without an indicator of where Haruhi went, I have no idea which door to try. I guess I'll just pick one at random.

But the moment I decide to approach a door, I hear the sound of a something wooden being smashed to bits coming from the door to the right. As a result, I quickly make my way towards the source of the sound. I kick open the door, breaking it off its hinges and sending it flying. A sword is projected in each of my hands, ready to attack.

…..

Except it seems my presence was not needed. For behind the mystery door, I find Shizune cleaning blood off of a katana. Lying near her was a motionless corpse, having been kicked into a window which had been boarded shut, and thrown at a desk with such force the desk had broken in to two. The head had been sliced in half.

Shizune is dressed like some kind of knight, with a chest plate that left her stomach area exposed, a metal plated combat skirt and a blue cape. Even compared to the red cloak that I am wearing, that getup was rather strange. Who came up with these costume ideas?

Noticing me, Shizune quickly sheaths her katana and makes an irritated expression. She picks up a piece of paper and a pen from the broken desk. She scribbles something onto it and holds the paper in front of me.

Do you have any idea what is going on? I don't know how I got here."

Allowing my swords to disperse, I take the piece of paper and pen from her and write to her.

Beats me. I don't know I got here either. I'm looking for answers too. You were asleep in your own house before this right?

She takes the paper and pen back.

Yeah. I don't remember anything that happened before I got here.

A question came to mind.

Aren't you the least bit scared?

Shizune rolls her eyes at me and snatched the stationary back from me. Wow, I didn't mean any offense.

It's hard to be scared when I am like this. I mean, nothing really bothers you when you can just kill it with a kick to the head.

Okay, let's totally forget about that dangerous-looking weapon you've left lying against the broken table. Like that wasn't enough to kill anything that moved.

Also, I have to find everyone else. To make sure they're safe. I can't do that if I'm scared of everything that jumps out at me.

That's a fair point…oh wait I almost forgot! I use the last bit of space left on the paper.

I'm looking for Haruhi right now. Did you happen to hear anyone in here?

Shizune shake her head.

Damn it. I throw aside the paper and tuck the pen into my sleeve. I motion Shizune to follow me. But Shizune picks up her katana and tilts her head slightly, unsure of my intentions. Oh for…

I grab Shizune's hand and pull her along. I don't have time for this. I don't know what kind of expression she has right now, but I'll bet she's a little pissed off.

Something wooden smacks me fairly hard in the back of my head. I shrug it off without looking back and kept walking towards the door I was about to go through before I found Shizune.

…

I take back what I said about not having to rely on Nagato. Being with Shizune will be a big problem. She's deaf and mute, and I don't know how to use sign language. If we're attacked by anything, there goes any chance of us communicating.

Shizune's just walking behind, with a very hostile aura about her. I can pretty much hear the sound of crows circling overhead. As if dealing with a hyperactive Haruhi wasn't bad enough.

Good grief.

We passed through some kind of a reception area after the first door, but there was nothing there. I throw open another door. And all of a sudden, a pungent smell pierces into my nostrils, nearly making me gag. It was the smell of something rotting along with the distinct smell of iron. I crouch down a bit to conceal my presence. The doorway leads to a hallway lit only by the light of the moon. I can hardly make out anything asides from the blood-stained floor.

Despite my reluctance to go out, Shizune walks past me into the hallway without a moment's hesitation. I'm tempted to call her back…except she wouldn't hear a word I say. I summon my bow and arrow, and nock the arrow to fire. I follow behind Shizune slowly. The smell grows strong, coming very close to overpowering me.

The echoes of Shizune's footsteps stop abruptly. She stands completely still like a marble statue. I stop as well, unsure of why she stopped moving.

In an instant Shizune dashes forward, leaving a ghost trail behind her. She's about four steps away from where she was standing, with her katana out of the sheath. I'm at a loss for words, because I didn't even see when she drew her sword.

Slowly, Shizune sheaths the sword, exhaling gently. Something falls from the ceiling, and splatters onto the floor. Whatever it is, it's been sliced and diced into pieces. I can make out some teeth and claws, but that's it really.

"Err…" I scratch my head, because I'm unsure what to make of the situation.

Shizune jumps back behind me and slide tackles me, kicking my legs out from underneath me.

"Hey!" I yell in protest as I start falling backwards.

But as I fall back, a bloodied claw comes out of nowhere. The claw makes a sideways swipe that barely missed my face. I land flat on my butt. My mind's not processing what's going on.

I hear the sound of a sword being drawn, followed by two high-pitched ringing sounds and something else hitting the ground. I quickly get back on my feet and ready my bow again. Something leaps out at me from the shadows, and I direct the arrow at its center of mass. It's freaking impossible to see anything in such terrible lighting. Whatever I hit makes a sound that's a mix between a screech and a squeal. Shizune steps in front of me and slices the air in front of her twice. Then there's the sound of more body parts hitting the ground.

The moonlight illuminates one of the body parts. It was a head, shaped like a human's. But it has razor sharp teeth, and its brain is covering its entire face. Some kind of…monster…

I gasp involuntarily. My legs lose their strength momentarily and stumble back. It's a pretty grotesque looking thing. Would you blame me for being startled by it?

"Okay…that's…really…" I fumble for words.

I sense something charging towards me with unbelievable speed. I twist my body around and thrust another arrow that I had just projected forward, spearing the creature through its throat. It croaks, and its body falls limp. I kick the creature's corpse back, utterly disgusted by its appearance.

Sheathing the katana, Shizune turns to face me. She looks pissed. Again. The look on her face says "how could you not have noticed? If I hadn't done anything we would've been dead."

Well excuse me for not having night vision and not being able to communicate with you without words!

I give her a cheeky look, unable to express my frustration with words.

Shizune's expression turns extremely hostile. Her hand reaches for her sword again. Hardly able to contain my own anger, I project a broadsword in my right hand.

But when we thrust our swords forward, our weapons do not strike each other. Our swords are instead plunged into the flesh of more monsters, which just happened to be trying to sneak up when we apparently had our guard down. The creatures dropped down the ground dead.

I cast aside my sword, and it disappears from existence. Shizune turns around abruptly and kept walking forward again. Yeah, she's definitely pissed, and I doubt her mood will get any better.

I kick the corpse of one of the monsters to vent my own frustration. If only Hisao were here, maybe then we'd actually have some semblance of teamwork. Actually, I might even be better off just leaving Shizune to do her thing and go find Haruhi alone. Why do I have to work with her anyway?

But regardless, I keep walking.

….

Chapter 16: Situation Critical (Nara)

Okay, we're almost at the point Ellie marked. One problem though.

"So, how do you plan to get past all of that?" Hisao's a little stumped for a solution too.

We managed to get to a tram stop or something. The path to the marked coordinate is on the other side of the tram stop, and we've got one big problem. If we were to descend down the stairway and try to cross to the other side, we've got about a zillion zombies down there blocking our way. Well okay, not a city's population worth, but enough to kill us both if we were foolish enough to try and force our way through. Also, the stairway on our side is clogged with rubble from an explosion of some kind. If we drop down, there's no getting back up for Hisao. I doubt that even with the module he has he can scale a wall without anything to hold on to.

"Ugh, is there a cable or rope somewhere we could use?" I scan the tram stop quickly.

"Even if there was, do you think you could get to the other side without something to secure the rope?"

"Damn it all!" I kick the railing in front of me.

"Well, hang on." Hisao walked to the overpass that connected both sides of the tram stop. He examines it closely.

"What's up?" I walk over to where Hisao was standing and follow his line of sight.

"Well, this overpass is the only solid piece of material connecting both sides right? If we scale across it, we can bypass the zombies altogether."

I pause for a moment. Yeah, it's workable. But…

"How are you going to scale this? Do you see a belaying line and ice axe lying around? Not that it would work on concrete but…"

"Well, I was hoping you'd get something from Haruhi's superpower pack that would let us do it." Hisao sighed in disappointment. "That plan is shot without something to keep us attached."

I was thinking that too, since the Ninjutsu module would allow me to walk on the wall without any problems. But I can't carry another person while doing that because the weight would cause the technique to fail from an excess bending moment.

"Well, let me think on this. Maybe I can find a sharp object that can pierce concrete." I cycle through my memories to see what parts of my Projection Magic module would do the job.

"If I may, I believe a set HF Machetes would be more than sufficient to secure a firm hold in the concrete. You should be able to use them as holds and rock climb to the other side."

Ellie activates my module and brings a set of machetes into my hands.

"Ellie, these are…" They looked so generic that I forgot I even had these things.

"Perfect, correct?"

Damn right they're perfect. I throw the machetes to Hisao. "These'll work. See those buttons on the handle? Pressing them will cause the blades to vibrate at high frequencies, which will let you stab them into the concrete. Release the button and the blade will stop oscillating."

Hisao looked at the machetes in utter dejection. "I don't get a choice, huh?" He exhales deeply, making no attempt to hide how bad he thought this idea was.

Hisao climbs over the railing and stabs both machetes into the wall. Slowly, he moves towards the other side of the tram stop. He alternates between his right arm and left arm, always having one machete inside the concrete arch. He'll probably be over to the other side in no time.

A massive roar blows away my hopes completely. As I turn to face the source of the roar, I come face to face with a black trench coat wearing Tyrant, who just emerged from the entrance on our side of the tram stop.

"Son of a…!" I immediately switch to my Ninjutsu module with a sinking feeling at the pit of my stomach. Was this the one that Aigis had been fighting?

The Tyrant charges forward, attacking with a sideswipe. I duck the hit, and the Tyrant's fist strikes the wall.

"Fuck!" Hisao slides from his holds; his feet are dangling just out of the reach of the mob of zombies blow him.

"Shit! Hisao!" I glance behind me. Hisao's slid down a good half a meter because of the shockwave caused by the Tyrant's punch.

"Rasengan!" I compress air into my right hand, forming a rapidly spinning ball of densely compressed air. I shove it into the Tyrant's chest, and the compressed ball of air expands and strikes with the force of a tank shell.

The Tyrant smashes hard into the wall behind it, causing everything to shake violently.

"Dude, I'm begging you! No more fucking shaking! Please!" Hisao yells frantically to me.

Hisao's slid down even further, and the zombies' fingers are grazing the soles of his shoes. Anymore and he's a dead man.

"Oh fuck…!" I need to clear that mob out somehow.

But the Tyrant gets back up and charges at me again, its arm raised in a position to punch through my skull.

"I'll disable any ability capable of causing shockwaves. Hisao should be fine as long as he doesn't slide any further."

I'm out of options. I have to stall the Tyrant without using any sort of powerful attack. Shit, I can't even begin to describe how scary this is. This is like trying to fight a lion with both hands tied behind my back.

"Lighting Blade!" I step forward to confront my enemy who is less than a meter away from me.

A blade of electrical energy surrounds my arm with a high pitched cry like that of a thousand birds. I aim a strike towards the massive fist of the Tyrant as it roars at me.

My entire body is trembling with fear. What chance do I stand against this thing if it beat Aigis?

I really don't want to die…!

To be continued…