K-On! - Shattered Dreams
By MidniteBleuCrusader
Summary: AU - After their one and only live concert was cut short, the girls of Hokago Tea Time went on their separate ways. Yui and Azusa seek to find answers as to how Akiyama Mio took over Tokyo by storm. Ritsu wants to find answers as to why she went to prison, and Tsumugi is nowhere to be found. Armed with both the powers of the Legends Guitar and the powers born within her, can Yui set the record straight? Or are the HTT gone for good?
Disclaimer: I do not own K-on or any other Tokyo Entertainment production. If I did, I WOULDN'T BE HERE NOW WOULD I?
Author's Notes: If you happen to have any questions about what's going on, feel free to ask me in a PM or in the reviews. Most likely all questions will be answered in the later chapters. And don't complain how OOC they turn out to be. It's AU, they're MEANT to be OOC.

A/N: For those who are asking, this is what they're wearing:-
Yui – Modified Listen! Outfit (with paperboy cap)
Ritsu – Don't Say Lazy! Outfit
Mio – No Thank You! Outfit
Tsumugi – Modified Listen! Outfit (without sailor hat)
Azusa – Listen! Outfit

Chapter 21: Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

The air was tense. The setting couldn't be any more perfect for either combatant. Tainaka Ritsu and Nodoka Manabe stood across each other, glaring at one another. Ritsu, in particular, had this pent-up rage that she was about to let go any time now. First off, Ritsu was locked in and beaten badly by Nodoka way back then, and now, Nodoka had hurt her friends, Jun, Tsumugi, Ui and Azusa. Ritsu clenched her fist hard, cracking her knuckles in the process. She had waited a VERY long time for this moment, and it came to her in such a fitting manner and circumstances.

"So… you enjoy every minute of this, Nodoka? Enjoy being Akiyama's little pawn every minute of your life? Enjoy hurting what you USED to be surrounded with, that being FRIENDS?" Ritsu shouted, trying to drive any insult she had into Nodoka's head, but all she did was scoff at her.

"And do you enjoy being a vagabond without a cause, Ritsu? If I just had the chance to kill you back then, I wouldn't hesitate. But of course, Akiyama wanted me to keep you 'fresh and alive' for HER to play with." Nodoka said.

"Heh, I'm reduced to Akiyama's plaything. That's so degrading, but hey, if it means getting the chance to burn your scrawny little bum, then by all means, Nodoka. Insult me more. You're going to get your just desserts right now." Ritsu said, the rage building up in her now.

"Like I'd waste my breath on scum like you, Ritsu." Nodoka stood firm, now with her scythe in hand. She got into her fighting stance and has left her glasses off, keeping her demon eyes the way they are. Ritsu just sighed, grabbing her Sais and spinning them around before assuming her battle stance as well.

"I'll tell you right now, Nodoka… I'm not gonna let a demon like you beat me. You've got the eyes all right. AND you've used your demonic powers to beat up everyone here… but that's where it all ends. Allow me to floor you right now!" With that statement, Ritsu immediately charged straight for Nodoka. The latter, however, used her range to her advantage and swiped at Ritsu with her scythe. Ritsu wasn't having any of it. She hopped over to the other side quick, making sure her scythe had fully passed and charged forward. She ignited her Sais and attempted to strike her. However, the demon in Nodoka wised up, immediately pulling her scythe back to block the blow with the blade of the scythe. The moment it clashed, the force was so strong that Ritsu's Sais emanated flames from the very impact of the clash. They continued to clash over and over again, Nodoka not letting Ritsu hit her at all. When the next clash came in, Nodoka shoved Ritsu right off of her to make some space for herself. The fire-wielder ended up skidding on the ground to the other side, showing her how strong Nodoka is right now.

"W-whoa! Damn, being a demon sure has its perks." Ritsu, however, had no time for idle talk as Nodoka had sent her mini-scythes after the drummer. Ritsu knocked the first two of them away and dodged the next two, but little did she know that she rolled right into Nodoka's path. She was alerted at the last minute, but ended up taking a straight punch right to her stomach, forcing her back a lot. "N-NGH!" She groaned, clutching the hurt part of her stomach. "O-ow…"

"Do you see now, Ritsu? The absolute difference of power between you and me?" Nodoka taunted, waving her hand of any backlash she felt punching the drummer. Ritsu, though feeling the pain coursing through her body, stood ready. Nodoka wasn't going to allow her to breathe, unfortunately. She immediately dashed right for Ritsu and continued her assault. Ritsu didn't have time to recover from her pain and just had to block anything that was coming for her with her Sais. With every clash she had to block from Nodoka, she was slowly growing weary. She took the opportunity to dodge a delayed slash from Nodoka, but it only served to slash her in her already-hurt leg. She winced at the pain, and when she tried to get away, Nodoka had stuck her foot right on her leg. "Where do you think you're going?"

"A-agh! D-damn it…!" She groaned, trying to break herself out of this. Nodoka had that sick smirk on her face once again, thinking of every little possible thing to torture her prey.

"I guess Akiyama really did a number on that leg of yours… I wonder if it's possible to break it any further." She said, dragging her scythe to signal her intent. Ritsu had to think up of any escape plan she had. But the screeching of metal dragged across the floor was hindering any thought she had at the moment. "Perhaps I'll chop this leg off right now." When the sound stopped, Ritsu knew she raised her scythe. It was her only opportunity, but it was worth it.

"Not on your life!" Ritsu quickly used her free leg to roll herself over and kick Nodoka in the stomach, causing her to fall back. She quickly kipped-up, ignoring the pain in her hurt leg and then dashed right for Nodoka again. It forced the scythe-wielder to go back on the defensive. This time, Ritsu's recklessness paid off, as she kept swinging for any opening she could find. Nodoka kept blocking, but she was being pushed further and further back, and with the slightest of openings, she managed to scratch Nodoka's face with her Sais. Nodoka leapt back the moment she felt it, feeling her face, and subsequently the blood flowing from the wound. She looked at the blood on her fingers after touching it, but she only grinned from ear to ear.

"Well… it's been awhile since someone had done this… making me look at my own blood… hehe… I'm so happy to have found a GOOD opponent now after all these years… Hell, Yui couldn't even cut it. I applaud you, Ritsu." She said, glaring back at the drummer. "You're actually WORTH fighting… but unfortunately for you…" She shut her eyes again, and when she reopened them, Ritsu could see that her eyes were VERY much different, or as different as it was before. "You're going to be nothing more than a freaking meat pile once I'm done with you!"

"That's…!" Before she could even speak, Nodoka had disappeared and then reappeared in front of her to give a swift knee to her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. Her speed had increased tenfold. As for power, the fact that Nodoka had sent Ritsu flying into the school wall with a straight punch to her face was any indication that it had increased tenfold as well. Ritsu smashed right into the wall, cracking it. She slid off of it and fell to her knees. Nodoka did not relent, unfortunately. With her speed, she was immediately all over Ritsu, pinning her right to the wall and dishing out blow after blow on her. Ritsu felt every blow like a wrecking ball kept smacking into her repeatedly. With every punch she took, it was breaking her further and further.

Nodoka immediately wound up one final punch and hit her right in the chest. The blow ended up causing Ritsu to break the wall and crash into the school, with her body bouncing off the shoe lockers, landing face first onto the floor.

"Hmph… is this all you can offer, Ritsu? If so, you disappoint me more than I already thought you could." She said. She then moved for the place where Ritsu landed. She couldn't see a thing in the dust, so she waited for it to settle. As soon as it did, her smirk quickly faded. Ritsu's body wasn't there. Only an outline of her done in ash was there. "Tch… annoying little cur…" As she examined the area, she noticed small red spot next to it, followed by a few more down the hallway. Ritsu's blood dripped all over the floor as she made her escape. This was just icing on the cake for Nodoka, as she followed the bloodstains. "Such a fool… it won't be long before you're dead, Ritsu."

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Sure enough, the drummer continued trudging along the long, empty hallways. The word 'hurt' was an understatement right now. Her whole body was in pain more than anything else. The damage Nodoka did was more than substantial. She felt as if every bone in her body was broken, making the pain way more than she could take. She had to use the walls for leverage, pulling herself to get away from the wreckage as quickly as possible. To add on to the pain, she was bleeding from her head and her already-hurt leg had reopened its old wounds. "Gah… I definitely did not expect this…"

As if she didn't have enough to worry about, she heard a loud screeching noise, like as if nails were being dragged across a chalkboard. This time, Ritsu knew Nodoka was tailing her, and her scythe was being dragged across the floor. Ritsu had to hurry. If Nodoka had caught up to her now, she'd be dead before she knew it. She continued staggering along. Her only hope now was to be able to reach her classroom to regroup and come up with a plan.

Slowly but surely, she was getting there. The screeching, however, wasn't planning to stop. Ritsu kept going, or as fast as her body allowed her to go. She could hear the various chuckles echoing from the dead hallways, along with some taunts.

"There's nowhere to run, Tainaka Ritsu. You're going to die here, with ALL your friends!"

"That's what you think, idiot." She cursed under her breath. She finally made it to the classroom, shutting the door and barricading it with various tables. The pain, however, prevented her from exerting herself too much. She quickly got onto the teacher's table to come up with a plan. Dying wasn't an option for her. "All right… Nodoka's demon powers just got that bit more troublesome to deal with…" She ran through all the options she had, slowly healing herself with a heat source. She definitely wasn't going to face her head on lest she wanted to be buried under 6 feet of concrete. Any attempt to sneak up against her was out of the question as well, considering she can just blast through any trap that Ritsu would place.

Options dwindling, Ritsu was nearly about to lose any hope of defeating Nodoka… that is, until she looked at her reflection on the cracked window, immediately noting the hair band she's always wearing on her head. She touched it with both hands, but was contemplating on whether or not to take it off. "…what other choice do I have? But then… if I do use it… ugh…" Now, she was at an impasse with herself. The hair band served as a limiter for her fire powers. With it on, she was limited to summoning flames through her hands and she could ignite her Sais with them. With it off, however…

"No, no… there's gotta be a way to beat her." But before she could make a decision, the doors had blasted open. Nodoka was right there, her punch blowing the doors right off. "Shoot…"

"Found you…" Nodoka said, in a near creepy manner, staring at Ritsu with those demonic eyes. "I'm not stupid, Ritsu… I know you'd be here, licking your wounds. And you picked a fine place too… for you to die, that is."

"Sorry, Nodoka… but…" Once again, her hand crept up to her hair band. This time, without any hesitation, she yanked it right off. "I'm not planning on dying here." With Ritsu's hair band off, slowly, the drummer felt a surge of power flowing through her veins. "Oh yeah… how's THIS for a burning sensation?" She said, as her body slowly lit up. From head to toe, she herself was slowly igniting. And within a few seconds, her whole body lit up like a human torch. "Now you're gonna get a taste of RAGE, Nodoka!" She yelled, sending out a whole stream of flames her way, just about 5 to 10 times more powerful than it was originally. Nodoka took the full brunt of it and was blasted right through the wall, hitting another wall as she flew. Ritsu stepped out of the classroom, looking at the downed Nodoka as she slumped against the wall.

"A-agh… such… power… h-hehe… So… Rage Ritsu has appeared."

"Yeah, she has. And she's going to make a human barbeque out of a certain bespectacled little wimp." Ritsu insulted, grabbing her adversary by the throat. Just touching her was already burning her neck. Ritsu immediately threw Nodoka right threw the same wall she tossed Ritsu through earlier, sending her back out onto the courtyard. Ritsu slowly approached her, but Nodoka was having none of it, as she backed away from Ritsu. Unfortunately, she ended backing up to the feet of the 4 people she kicked about earlier.

"Oh, no…"

"I think that's enough from you." Tsumugi, the eldest of the 4, said. Being the master of the Earth element, she summoned vines. They wrapped themselves around Nodoka to keep her held tight. The demon tried to break free, but these vines were tougher than she thought. To make matters worse, Azusa's naginata was pointed right at her already bruised and damaged neck. The odds were already stacked against her, so it was more in her best interest to stop resisting.

"Well, you guys got out of your damn rut." Ritsu said, holding her hair band and placing it back at its rightful place, which led to Ritsu being back to her limited state again.

"And it took YOU long enough to finally do something about this one." Azusa said, almost trying to demean Ritsu.

"Shut it, Azusa. It only took me a whole bunch of beatings but hey, we stopped her. Speaking of…" The drummer went closer to Nodoka, and in her hands were a pair of glasses; Nodoka's glasses, to be exact. "Do me a favor and keep that demon form to yourself." The moment she slipped them on, Nodoka's demon eyes slowly turned back to normal, and in the process, since she had used too much of her power to face Ritsu, she quickly passed out, forcing the 4 to catch her before she fell to the floor. "Phew… that's one demon I don't need to deal with. You four better get her back to Yui's place. And make sure she DOESN'T escape." She ordered, glaring directly at Azusa as if she did something wrong.

"…Yeah, yeah, we'll make sure." Azusa said, taking hold of the unconscious Nodoka.

"Ritsu-senpai, you're headed to help my sister, right? Please… bring her home safe." Ui asked of the fire-bringer.

"Don't worry. If anything, I'm going there to smack the living Hell out of Akiyama."

"Then let me come with you, Ritsu." Tsumugi stepped forward. Usually, Ritsu was adamant on keeping her targets to herself, but this is more of making sure Yui's safe. As a fellow bandmate, Tsumugi wanted nothing more than her leader's safety.

"Hey, me too! I need to make sure Yui-senpai doesn't hurt either." Azusa did the same. Ritsu just shrugged.

"Eh, why not? If anything, we can provide any backup Yui might need. Come on! Let's get there before anything bad happens to her!" Ritsu said. Quickly, she turned and ran in the direction of Akiyama Towers with her friends in tow.

With one battle finally settled, it was time for Yui to finish her part… but at this rate, will she be able to?

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To Be Continued

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