Chapter 21 – Another Conflict
Isaac continues to glare at Road as she stares back at him. She shot a twisted smile and suddenly creates her pointy candles with dark matter.
"I wasn't expecting to play with you again after that our first encounter in London," she starts, "but since you're here, I'll have my fun beating the life out of you and destroying your innocence. How would you like to be my new doll?"
She points her arm towards Isaac as her candles shoot towards him, but he quickly summons a shield around him, preventing them from hitting him. Road pushes her arm further as the candles are closing in on Isaac. He knew he couldn't hold his shield for very long since the force of the candles are getting stronger. Road frowns and lets out a sigh.
"Is that the best you can do?" she utters jadedly. Then a crooked smirk shot on her face and she says, "That's a shame; I thought you would be a worthy opponent to play with."
After a spilt second before the barrier surrounding Isaac disappears he whispers something that Road couldn't hear and the barrier reflects the candles towards Road. Her eyes widen surprisingly as she quickly dodges them. She turns to stare at Isaac, who is currently glaring at her and he shouts, "Enlighten" as a bright beam shoots towards her. She took the hit which knocks her back to a wall. Road glares back at him after noticing he left a mark her sari.
"You're going to pay for ruining my sari!" she snaps and then a demonic grin shot on her face and says, "So you did train after our last encounter. Now I'm going to have more fun playing with you."
Road continues to summon more candles and shoot them at Isaac, who tries his best to dodge, counter or block them. He also his casts some spells at her, trying to land a single hit, but she narrowly dodges all of them. She jumps behind him and kicks him in the back, causing him to drop fall and drop his book. She grabs his collar and pulls him back. She summons another candle and points it to his head. She pouts at him with disappointment and says, "I guess this was fun and all, but you didn't stand as much as a fight. Sorry Bookworm, but I win this game and I'm excited to have you as my doll."
Road is about to impale Isaac with her candle, but a small blast shot her on the side. She releases him and gets knocked to the wall. Isaac glances at the direction at where that blast was coming from and he sees Katarina with her golden mask on.
"Katarina, how did you get in?" Isaac asks surprisingly.
"I don't know, but the barrier seems to have weakened." she replies.
Isaac realises that the innocence they came for has already been destroyed and it must have been the source to why people in non-fancy clothes aren't allowed in the restaurant. He looks down and says, "I'm sorry, but I wasn't quick enough to save the innocence located in this restaurant."
"You don't need to apologize!" she snaps, "This place is still in danger because this Noah is here!"
She points over at Road, who in getting up and Isaac glances at her as well. She glares at Katarina and yells, "You're going to pay for this!"
Road summons more candles and shoots them towards Katarina. Isaac summons a shield to protect Katarina and himself. He yells "Counter" as the candles reflect off his barrier and flies towards Road. She quickly dodges her candles in grace and eyed at Isaac.
"So, you still want to play? I thought you would've given up right now." she grins sinisterly, "But that's okay, I would love to play with you AND that little girl, who just came in."
Katarina glares at her darkly as says, "I'm. Not. That. LITTLE!"
She charges at Road and tries to blast her with her lasers, but Road elegantly dodges the beams and shoots some candles at Katarina. Isaac summons a shied around Katarina to prevent her from getting hit. Road glares at Isaac and summons more candles and shoot them at him. He counters them with his enlighten spell, which hits Road. After that spell, the barrier around Katarina disappears, but the candles that where shot at her fell to the ground after Road got hit. Katarina and Isaac stare at Road as she is trying to get up. Road glares at them, panting with exhaustion.
"I am not… going to… give up yet…" she states.
She casts her candles out at them as they narrowly dodge the attack. Isaac is about to blast Road with his enlighten spell and Katarina sees a shadowy figure charging at Isaac with a board sword.
"ISAAC, WATCH OUT!" she hollers as he quickly glances at his attacker and summons a shield around him. The man who attack him takes a swipe at Isaac, but the barrier blocks him and bounces him back. Isaac glances at the man again and notice he is a Noah with white hair, with some black spots of black hair dye in it. He currently has one arm and he's wearing a grayish coat and a silver mask. Isaac can see the scar on the left side of his face.
"You! You're Allen, aren't you?!" Isaac exclaims, "No, you're that Noah who is possessing him!"
Neah glares back at him and says, "That is correct, but I am not going to stand by and watch you hurt Road!"
He lunges at Isaac with his sword as Isaac dodges it. Katarina stares at Neah and notices not only he carries the Noah genes, but he also carries a fragment of innocence located in his sword. She is surprise to see a Noah using an anti-akuma weapon, but she detects the innocence is suffering from the dark matter. The thought of it confuses her with frustration. Even the way Neah is fighting is unique. He is not just fighting with his sword, but he is attacking Isaac with his cape as well. She even him shooting death balls at Isaac.
"What cha looking at?" Road asks Katarina with a playful grin.
Katarina glares at her, ready to blast lasers at her. Neah glances at Katarina and lunges at her. She quickly dodges his attack and stares at him directly.
"How are you able to use the innocence considering you're a Noah?" she asks.
Neah lunges an attack at her, which she gracefully dodges and he replies, "Because my host was born with this innocence."
He takes another swipe at her, but she dodges again. She glares at him as she dodges every hit that is thrown at her and asks, "How could you let that substance force your innocence to do evil? It's destroying it and it sickens me!"
She blasts him with her lasers causing him to push back, but he lands on his feet and answers, "It's called Dark Matter and the Millennium Earl placed it on me against my will. Damn bastard doesn't know that this matter is hurting me as well."
Katarina eyes widen as she heard the name "Millennium Earl". She knew she had heard that name before as pictures of a beautiful redheaded woman flashes in her head. She also sees a fat man standing before the woman and pictures of her suffering and dying.
'Mother' Katarina thought.
She shakes her head, pushing the thoughts away from her and resumes her fight with Neah.
"Katarina, don't go too hard on him. We need to bring him back to the order." Isaac informs Katarina as she is still in battle.
She gives Isaac a puzzled look and asks him while dodging Neah's attacks, "Why do we need to bring him back? He's working for the fat man who killed my mother!"
"He is not just a Noah; he was once an exorcist, who was kidnapped by the Noah! Does it seem that he wants to work for the fat man you mentioned?!" Isaac asks.
Katarina stares back at Neah, remembering him calling the Millennium Earl a bastard and saying that he put the Dark Matter on Neah against his will and he's suffering from it. She could see Neah is getting exhausted for every attack he throws at her.
"Neah, just turn yourself in." Allen demands as he places a hand on Neah's shoulder, "I don't want you to harm my fellow exorcists or suffer more from the Dark Matter."
"If I do that, Allen the shock collar would go off." Neah replies while looking down.
Allen turns Neah around to make him face him as he says, "It's better to let the collar shock you than it is to suffer from the Dark Matter harming my innocence. If you're planning to defeat the Earl, we must keep my innocence because it can help us defeat him."
Neah stares back at Allen, who nods at him.
Neah stands still, panting and not moving a muscle. He doesn't know what to do if he should listen to Allen or keep fighting. Isaac and Katarina just stare at him, wondering he's not fighting back. Road is wondering the same thing and asks, "Neah, why aren't you fighting?"
He had another choice in hand and asks her, "You destroyed the innocence located in this place haven't you?"
Road nods but wonders why Neah asks her that.
"We did what we came here for. Let's head back." he demands, "We're too exhausted to keep fighting."
Road nods as she summons her red and black checkered heart shaped door. Neah is about to head towards the door until a barrier surrounds him, trapping him and prevents him from moving forward.
"You think we'll let you escape, Neah?!" Isaac exclaims as he held the barrier, containing Neah.
"Let them take you, Neah." Allen's voice echoes in his head.
Avoiding to be shocked by the collar or attacking the shield, he stares at Road. She stares back as she sees her lover trapped in a barrier and then she glares at Isaac yelling, "I will not allow you to take my precious Neah!"
She summons her candles and shoots them towards Isaac. He dodges the attack while managing to keep his barrier up, but Road has another trick on her sleeve. She smirks evilly and snaps her fingers while her candles turn towards Katarina, who is unaware and nails her to the wall. One of the candles hit her mask, causing it to deactivate her innocence.
"KATARINA!" Isaac exclaims as he witness that scenario.
She struggles to break free from the wall, but it was no use. Road walks up to her, summoning a candle to point at Katarina's face. When Road got to Katarina, she holds her chin, forcing her to face her. Katarina glares at her as Road stares back. Her hand moves from Katarina's chin to her cheek and then she touches her scarlet hair and pets it.
"Your face is so beautiful and I love your hair colour. How would you like to be my new doll?" Road asks with an evil yet playful grin.
"Let her go!" Isaac demands Road.
She turns back to face Isaac, giving him a sinister smile and says in a playful voice, "Let's have a deal Bookworm, if you can release Neah I'll spare your little friend and let her go, if you don't release him then she will suffer the consequences."
"LITTLE?! YOU DON'T LOOK AS TALL AS I AM! WE MIGHT EVEN BE ABOUT THE SAME AGE WITH ME BEING A TAD OLDER!" Katarina exclaims.
Road stares back at her and says, "I may look as young as you, but I appear older them I look. I am actually the eldest Noah right after Lord Millennium."
She summons more candles and point them towards Katarina, turns back to Isaac and asks, "What is it going to be Bookworm, are you going to let her live or die?"
Isaac glares back at her as tears peak from his eyes. He then looks at Katarina at her predicament then stares at Neah, who is standing still inside the barrier. Isaac sighs and murmurs to Road, "You win," as he releases the barrier, letting Neah go.
Road smirks sinisterly and says, "Good move" then she touches Katarina's head, causing her to lose her conscience as the candles that bounded her disappears. Isaac rushes over to Katarina as she fell to the ground. He holds her and notices she didn't respond when he calls her name. He glares at Road and asks, "What have you done with her?!"
"Nothing really," she lies, "But she is still alive as promised."
She skips to her door that she summoned and calls Neah it's time to go. Neah nods his head and follows her, but out of nowhere, sheets of paper captures him, causing him to fall on the ground and bounds him to move. Road turns around to see what seems to be the problem as the newcomer enters the room. He has long blond hair tied up in a braided ponytail, two spots on his forehead, wearing a stern face. He is none other than Howard Link and he is the reason why Neah is bounded on the floor.
"Sorry Noah, but Mr. Walker is not going with you." He says.
Road glares directly at Link, raises her hand and summons a lot of candlesticks. Isaac turns to her, readying his book while still holding Katarina. Link is putting himself in a fighting stance to, then Neah yells, "Leave without me Road, I don't want you to get hurt!"
Road shakes her head and whines, "I'm not going to leave you!"
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine!" he says, "I just don't want you getting hurt! Just go!"
Road stares at him with teary eyes as Neah nods at her. She lowers her hand as the candles disappear. She walks to her door then she says, "You may have won this round exorcist, but next time you wouldn't be so lucky."
She takes a glance at Neah and then she walks through her door whispering, "I will come for you, my love."
The door closes and it disappears after Road left. Link came up to Neah and lifts him with his arms bridle style. Isaac stares at him and asks, "Who are you?"
Link turns to the teal hair man and answers, "Howard Link."
"Why are you taking Neah? Who sent you?" Isaac asks.
Link looks at him sternly and says, "We're on the same side boy, I am from the Black Order."
He glances at Katarina, who is resting unconscious in Isaac's arm and asks, "That girl, is she alright?"
Isaac stares down at her. He sees that her eyes are still open with no expression. Her body is limp and dull.
"I'm not entirely sure," he replies, "But she is still alive."
Road walks down the hallway bleakly and went to the Millennium Earl's quarters to report about her mission. The Earl notices that Neah didn't return then he greets Road.
"Good evening, Road. How was your date and mission with Neah?" he asks, "Speaking of Neah, where is he?"
Road looks down with a sad expression and starts off by saying, "Well, the good news is we successfully destroyed the innocence within that restaurant, but the bad news is Neah is taken by the Black Order."
The Earl's expression didn't change, but it's hard to read his face because he always wears that creepy wide smile, even when he's sad or angry.
"Oh Road, I'm very disappointed in you. How can you let them take our beloved fourteenth away?" he asks.
"We were exhausted and a bit outnumbered when they caught him. He asks me to go without him to save myself because we know we can't win in that state, but I manage to trap one exorcist in her dreams and maybe she can be a good use for us." Road states.
"How so?" the Earl asks.
"She would make a good spy. I've notice this exorcist sees a lot of things that no one else could see." Road notes, "When she observed Neah in our last battle, she noticed the black matter toying with his innocence. It seems similar to Allen's left eye, but better and I'm surprised that she saw the innocence suffering. With those eyes, she could help us find the heart."
The Earl's smile widens and says, "Excellent work, Road. We'll make her spy on those pesky exorcists to see what they're planning and if what you said about her eyes is true then she'll find the heart in no time."
Road smiles but still feels ashamed that the Black Order took Neah away.
"You must be down when they took Neah." Earl states the obvious, "We'll get him back another time, but you look exhausted and it's getting late. How about you take a rest for now?"
Road nods and walks out of the room, hoping that Neah's going to be alright. When she walks to her room, she looks at the mirror and sees that her sari that Neah gave her is ruined with burnt marks from the Isaac's enlighten spell and Katarina's laser eyes. As she sits on her bed, Road knows it is time for her to play with Katarina in her dream that Road trapped her in.
Triforce: Hey guys, thanks for reading. Yay, I got my computer back!
Allen: Huh? Was your computer missing?
Triforce: What? No, my computer was getting fixed and I had to use the family computer at the time.
Lavi: Is Road going to the same thing to Katarina like she did to me?
Road: What do you think, Bookman? I think it would be fun to play with her in the dream I trapped her in.
Lavi: *gasps* You're planning on it, are you?!
Road: *giggles evilly*
Triforce: Okay, I'm ending this conversation before you guys spoil the next chapter. (To Readers) The poll for what story I should make next is still open. Yaoi, DGM/SSB X-over and Blue Exorcist/DGM X-over are tied first with two votes. Fire Emblem/DGM X-over is in fourth place with one vote and the other choices are dead last with no votes what-so-ever. Make sure you vote. If you have any questions, ideas or future story requests.
Lavi, Road and Allen: Please Review!
Disclaimer: I don't own DGM.