Chapter 25: The Full Moon Drops
Later chapter is late cause of friend troubles that I won't bore you with. School isn't that fun either, especially considering I've already done two papers in a week and so far my worst subject is English. It's at least funny in a pathetically ironic way.
Sparxthehdgehog: I find it funny that you called this chapter short considering its 7,000 words. Capcom failed there because Capcom clearly didn't care about Wolf's name nearly as much as his design, as is the case with a good number of their characters in general.
LunaClefairy: No, there is nothing wrong with laughing at that, it was meant to be light humor (and succeeded better than I thought it would). And everyone's afraid of something to some extent with different reasons depending on what happened.
Delphi: Well, that sounds about as fun as the time my dog chewed up out phone cable and broke said phone when it was pulled onto the floor. And I was not delaying a 2-week later chapter for a very short scene that wasn't any different than before.
Ultimate Black Ace: I've been messing with the FM system a bit, so things aren't the same. Think about the characters I've added and it should make more sense, though it'll be explained later on anyway. Unlocking everything at once wouldn't be fair, and then I'd have no reasonable way to have them grow stronger over time. And as for what's taking Subaru since he was there…well…
The world was bright.
The lights above implanted in the ceiling still shone brightly, their heatless artificial light lighting up the area very clearly. Despite the chaos that had just wrecked the area, the lights still shined bright and clearly, uncaring of affairs below.
If anything, the area was even brighter with how the light bounced off the splintered glass that littered the floor. Pretty shards of death that winked up innocently in the light; still reflecting whatever was in front of them flawlessly.
Himeka looked up slowly from where she had buried her face in her arms, eyes looking around slowly. The splintered glass bit into her hands, arms, and exposed legs wherever she put pressure, even more trying to pierce through the fabric of her dress. The brunette winced as she tried to push herself up using her hands only for the glass to cut her soft palms.
"Ow…" Himeka said to herself as she pulled back her hand and managed to sit up without injuring herself further. After a moment she looked at her hand, grimacing at the sight of blood slowly seeping out of a small cut.
"You're extremely lucky you know."
Himeka jerked in surprise at the voice, quickly turning around to see Gemini White casually standing next to one of the only intact mirrors left. The green-skinned FM smirked at her, uncaring about the destruction around him.
"Wolf was never one for suability, so I was wondering what had been taking him so long. Imagine my surprise when I found out a mere human managed to contain him," Gemini White continued, "Yet even then it was simple to free him from that human."
"…What…what did you do to Juro?" Himeka found herself shouting despite herself. She knew what had most likely happened, but even then, when she'd seen Juro double over, yelling in pain before telling her to run in between shaking gasps…
"I didn't hurt him…" a pause as he seemed to think it over, "…physically. In fact, he hurt himself by fighting back so much. It isn't good to try and resist, if there was a conflict where neither side could win easily his mind would have been destroyed."
With that Gemini White turned to leave, mirror shards crunching with each purposeful stride away. Himeka didn't dare taker her eyes off him nor question her luck that not one, but two powerful FM life forms had allowed her to escape with little more than a few stinging scratches. She only relaxed several seconds after the white clad FM suddenly disappeared.
Though Himeka could still clearly hear chaos from outside, it was surprisingly muted and thus quiet within the ruined maze. Himeka spent another minute just sitting there, trying to process all that had happened.
Of all the people in Kodama, Juro had been chosen to be taken over by an FM life form.
Himeka wasn't the most informed or knowledgeable when it came to the aliens; her father insisting that she shouldn't worry herself over such matters as the Satellite Police clearly had it handled. She's wasn't so ignorant to believe that, but she at least trusted and respected her father enough to not object to his opinions.
What sounded like the fire alarm suddenly began blaring, outrageously loud as it reverberated in the small space. Himeka quickly covered her ears in an attempt to block out as much of the offending sound as possible, wincing as that did little to help.
After a few moments, Himeka took a step forward, glass cracking a bit under her shoes.
Subaru was doing his best to try and worm his way through the crowd outside the mall without arousing suspicion. It really shouldn't have been that hard since the Satellite Police had already set up a police line in record time and were preventing anyone from entering while filtering the last stranglers out.
Apparently Harp Note had arrived and the officers were more or less planning on trying to isolate the fighting to just the inside the building. That was fine and good, but that didn't mean that Subaru was just going to wait things out, especially since there were still people inside, hiding.
And the only reason he wasn't in there right now and helping was because some middle aged woman decided to be an upstanding citizen.
That in itself wasn't bad per say, in fact; it was a very good thing in any other situation. It just really didn't help things, espically since it'd taken him what seemed like forever to slip away from her.
When everything went south, Subaru had attempted to get away to some where private to transform and then fight whoever had decided to show up this time. That simple but very important plan flew out the window while he was trying manivure his way through the masses of people.
He'd tripped over something on the floor and wasn't able to regain his balance due to everyone being in his way. Yet before he could smack his face into the tile a woman had caught him and pulled him up. That wasn't bad, considering how much Subaru did not want to be trampled.
It was the fact that said woman refused to let him go after that, maintaining a surprisingly strong grip on his wrist as she dragged him along. The entire time she'd kept babbling about how everything would be ok, they were going to make it out fine. Really she seemed like she was only just managing to not panic like most everyone else and was trying to reassure herself.
Of course a good part of the nervous rambling had suddenly been drowned out when the fire alarms stared blaring; the sprinklers not going off only because there was no smoke.
"I can't believe you let that happen to you…" War-Rock muttered, not overly worried about being heard with the din around them, "You should've just shoved her off and got going, now you've just wasted time."
Subaru didn't bother to answer War-Rock, instead opting to direct the energy to trying to work his way through the sea of bodies. A feat in itself considering his less-than-impressive stature more or less made it impossible to see exactly where he was going. With each passing second Subaru was growing more and more frustrated, unconsciously using more force than necessary in order to make any progress.
Said progress was suddenly stopped as the brunet suddenly barreled straight into a person who'd also been trying to make their way through the crowd. The man ended up backing straight into another person as he stumbled, the man behind him tripping to the side until he managed to regain his balance.
"Whoa kid!" the man said as he helped Subaru stand back up, "You need to watch where you're going more."
"Uh, yeah. Thanks…" Subaru said absentmindedly, turning a bit so he could see just who he had ran into.
Subaru tried to not look surprised when the face of Detective Gorida looked back. Something must have shown on his face, because the man raised one of his thick eyebrows at him.
"Everything ok…?" Gorida asked as he looked over the boy before him. He looked relatively familiar…
"Y-yeah. Just a lot…going on," Subaru said as casually as possible.
Gorida looked at Subaru again, eyes locking onto the odd green glasses that were perched on his forehead. After a moment it clicked, "Hey, you're that kid who was at the Vista Point the night we picked up those strange readings."
"Yeah…" Subaru replied. Thankfully he managed to see a gap in the crowd at that moment leading to where people were far less densely packed, "I have to go…my…mom will be worried."
"Wait a second-"
Subaru didn't wait to hear whatever the detective had to say and quickly walked away. Detective Gorida, on the other hand, wasn't about to let the brunet get away. At the time it occurred, the incident at the Vista Point seemed like something completely random and isolated, but with all that had happened, there was a good chance it could be connected somehow. With the political and paperwork hell he'd been put through coupled with the growing number of FM life form attacks, Gorida had completely forgotten the incident and it's possible importance until he'd seen the only person who'd been involved.
Gorida quickly took off after Subaru's retreating form, ignoring common courtesy in favor for speed, "Hold up a second, I have to talk to you!"
Subaru didn't react or even show any sign he'd heard the detective over the noisy crowd, instead turning around a corner and walking out of sight. The detective didn't waste any time in following the brunet down the alley.
The detective stopped after only a few seconds when he turned a corner and saw the end of an empty alley staring back in the form of a rather imposing chain-link fence. And yet, the boy he'd been following was nowhere in sight, despite the fact that there was nowhere to run. Heck, he couldn't have hopped the fence since someone even gone the extra mile and added a spiral of barbed wire to the top.
Gorida quickly scanned the alley for any other places that the brunet could have run off to. But there were no open windows, and the one door was securely locked. There were no branching pathways of any kind, no fire escapes in reach or anything else.
There was nowhere to go.
"Where could he have gone?" the detective asked himself, half hoping that that would help him think of the answer. But nothing came to mind, the alley was a dead-end, and there wasn't even a dumpster to hind in.
Just to be sure he hadn't missed a thing, Gorida took a few minutes to walk around and thoroughly investigate the area. But there was nothing but a few pieces of litter in the alley, and there was no hole in the fence that the boy could have possible crawled through. Even after he'd checked the entire area, the detective continued to look just in case he missed something.
He knew there was a FM life form attacking the mall at this very moment, but heading back to the police line wouldn't accomplish much. If anything this was the best fight location yet; relatively isolated and already evacuated besides a few people who were probably hiding. Even if he did send his squad in, they would more than likely be throwing themselves in harm's way, and he wasn't about to put any more lives on danger.
But even then he had no reason to stay behind in this alley when he could at least help with crowd control. Yet one thing kept him behind, one simple question that compelled him to continue to search the area.
"Just where did you go?"
The first thing he was aware of was the throbbing in his head, made far worse by what could only be described as a shrill wailing sound that was everywhere. It hurt, easily worse than any headache he'd ever had in his life, the pain only multiply and feeding on itself.
His limbs, no, entire body, felt like it had liquid led instead of blood running through it, but even that was nothing compared to the horrendous sound that was drilling itself into his skull. It took a few tries, but eventually Tamotsu managed to will his hands to move just enough to clamp over his ears.
It did little to sooth the headache, but at least the pain wasn't be worsened nearly as much as before. After a few seconds the blond managed to open his eyes and life his head off the ground. His blurred vision managed to catch sight of a girl running away from him and out the glass doors of the shop, quickly turning a corner and running away.
However odd that was, was quickly driven from his mind at a sudden crashing sound that somehow was even louder than the grating noise all around him. There was something that sounded suspiciously like the snarling of a rabid animal mixed into to chaos and…
"Are you ok now?" Zero asked quickly, making the blond jolt violently.
Tamotsu nearly fell when the FM spoke as he was pushing himself up, choosing that moment to exercise a few choice words as his head throbbed angrily in protest at the movement.
"Other than the concussion, I'm just peachy…What even…happened?" Tamotsu started, just resisting the urge to collapse back onto the floor, "How did I end up…"
Zero didn't give the boy a chance to finish his question, quickly leaving the red Transfer and into the boy's body. Tamotsu choked on his own words as energy suddenly surged into him, forcing Denpa-henkan in order to compensate for a normally fatal overload.
Considering that Zero was nice enough to heal Tamotsu's head wound, the blond was free from pain almost instantly, and thus free to voice his discontent at the sudden treatment, "What was that for-!" were the only words he managed to get out before having to dive away as a blue tinted blur crashed through the glass of the display window, dragging a number of mannequins with it. Tamotsu stood up quickly, looking to where the blur had crashed.
He was pretty sure his blood turned to ice when he saw the metallic work from before picking itself up.
He knew it had when said wolf turned towards him, locking its red gaze with the boy's.
"Oh hell…"
"Run. Now," Zero said sharply.
It wasn't needed, however, for Tamotsu was already leaping his way through the smashed display window, having no intention to fight the wolf in such close-quarters. As he leapt through the newly-made exit he nearly ran over a rather confused Harp Note, turning away sharply and running the other way. He heard the girl let out a startled shriek when she obviously caught sight of Wolf Forest chasing after him, but really didn't care considering the FM was clearly after him.
"Who the hell is that?" Tamotsu shouted above the alarm. He risked a look over his shoulder and saw that the FM hadn't been able to quite make the turn and had nearly fallen off the walkway. It would've been rather comical to see the terrifying wolf scrambling to pull himself back up if he wasn't so…terrifying in general.
"An FM named Wolf," Zero said.
"Creative name scheme you guys have back home." Tamotsu stopped running and turned around, feeling more up to fighting considering he was no longer suffering from general confusion.
Wolf Forest had nearly managed to pull himself back onto the ledge when Misora suddenly stepped right in front of him, a Radar Missile at the ready.
"Hi there."
"Wolf is one of the strongest FM life forms alive who's not a general," Zero said without even acknowledging that the FM in question had just gotten shot in the face point-blank and was now falling to the ground below, "He's trained specifically to cover his weaknesses."
"Fantastic. How strong we talking here?" Tamotsu asked, looking over to the other blonde and giving her a nod.
"As much sheer power and defense as Ox, but he's fast, even when not charging directly. He's also smarter, though he's nowhere nearly Cygnus' or Gemini's level, but he's not going to fall for something stupid and or simple unless enraged. And even then he's… "
"…Do we have time for this? And wasn't I on the third floor before?" Tamotsu asked, counting again just to be sure. But the result was the same; he'd somehow ended up on the second floor.
As Tamotsu and Zero talked, Wolf Forest had long ago recovered from the fall. The only reason he wasn't trying to get back up was Subaru currently trying to parry his blows with a violet-tinted Brave Sword 2, but said blade was already showing signs of abuse and ready to give out from the constant abuse it was receiving.
Seeing this, Tamotsu prepared to hop the railing at the right moment and give the brunet some backup.
Subaru grimaced as the Brave Sword 2 finally shattered, draining the card long enough he wouldn't be able to use it again anytime soon. But he didn't have time to mourn the small loss as thick claws lashed out at him greedily. Subaru leaned sharply back just in time for the claws to swipe inches from his visor face.
What the brunet wasn't expecting was for Wolf Forest to kick his foot out suddenly, the appendage sweeping his feet out from under him. Subaru let out a gasp as he crashed onto his side harshly, the fall itself not hurting but leaving him vulnerable all the same.
Wolf Forest towered menacingly over Subaru as he tried to push himself up fast enough. The brunet froze for a second as he caught sight of the raised claws, registering that they were moving downward a second too late. The burnet attempted to scramble back and away, but it was obvious freezing up for even that mere second would cost him.
Subaru just managed to register something wrapping around his arm before he was forcefully yanked to the side. Wolf Forest let out an angry snarl as he claws only managed to dig into tile. Subaru, on the other hand, ended up landed gracelessly on his back some distance away, one arm strewn out awkwardly as his mind tried to catch up.
After a moment whatever had wrapped around his arm suddenly disappeared, freeing the appendage and allowing Subaru to stand up quickly. A quick glace to his side reviled Harp Note to be his savior. The girl gave him a quick nod of acknowledgement before directing her full attention back to Wolf Forest.
The FM pulled his claws out from where he'd embedded them in the floor, turning to face the two children with a growl reverberating from the back of his throat. Suddenly his ears perked and Wolf Forest whirled around just in time to swat Tamotsu right out of the air.
The blond crashed to the ground and tumbled before his momentum finally died, leaving him in a curled heap on the ground and clutching his stomach as he gasped for air.
"Zero Blade!" Subaru shouted in concern while Misora found herself cringing at the hit.
The blond ignored the brunet as he tried to calm his own breathing. By a stroke of sheer luck he'd been hit by the blunted side of Wolf Forest's claws, but that didn't mean the force did hurt.
Wolf Forest snorted at the boy and attempted to stalk closer only to find himself being forced to block a spiraling blue and pink blade that hummed with thick energy. Misora glared down at the FM temporarily below her with the Break Sabre being the only thing between her and wicked claws.
Subaru was suddenly behind Wolf Forest, War-Rocks head replaced with something that resembled a green bird. His entire body was tensed as he braced himself. Wolf Forest managed to look over his shoulder, red on red eyes meeting hard brown ones for a split second that lasted far longer than it should have.
Green energy suddenly burst forth from the weapon, wrapping almost possessively around the boy and completely incasing him. The next instant the boy took off as the wild energy propelled him forward and towards his target's exposed back, directly aimed at where the armor had been broken off earlier.
Subaru gasped as Wolf Forest suddenly duck so quickly that it left Misora practically suspended in the air…and right in his path.
Gravity had already started to tug the girl downwards, but her momentum won't pick up fast enough, and they both knew it. Misora reflexively cured in on herself and brought up the Break Sabre to protect as much of her body as possible. Subaru didn't even have time to think before he'd willed the card to end prematurely, the green energy reluctantly receding.
Misora saw this and also attempted to dismiss the Break Sabre as quickly as possible, the lance-like blade quickly losing its solid form. But there wasn't enough time for it to completely reform, and Subaru crashed into Misora with enough force to carry them both away.
It was a small blessing that the two landed a good distance out of Wolf Forest's range in a tangled mass of limbs. Of course, since they were still stunned by the fall the two were still clueless to the somewhat compromising position they were in.
Wolf Forest snorted.
Tamotsu, having recovered a while ago, just stared blankly, quickly abandoning his own improve plan, "…You were saying something about him not being as stupid as Ox?"
"I think you've figured that out by now," Zero said calmly, his tone sharply contrasting with the embarrassed stuttering Subaru was letting out after War-Rock had taken it upon himself to forcefully remove Misora off the brunet.
"Oh, but one more thing while we're talking about things you should know about Wolf."
The FM turned his head towards Tamotsu, glaring at the blond as he fully examined his form. Tamotsu grimaced at the look, but matched the piercing gaze with his own relatively steady one. Something that became harder to as Wolf Forest's glare became more intense and murderous.
"He hates me because my Overdrive is assumed to be stronger than his; so, being the rash and competitive FM life form he is, he's determined to fight me and prove that his is stronger."
Tamotsu's face visible fell at this, dread filling him as he realized the implications of what Zero had just said so nonchalantly.
"Ok, why the hell do all the stupidly powerful villains hate you so much? Do you just make it your hobby to make enemies or something?"
Zero didn't respond.
"So, you're Zero's host?" Wolf Forest asked even if he didn't really need an answer.
"Unfortunately. But before you decide to take out your frustrations on him, can I please trade FM life forms with someone?" Tamotsu asked deadly serious, looking over to Subaru and Misora.
Hiroki had given up trying to coax Axl into speaking to him after a few minutes of prodding. No matter how many times he asked, Axl just shook his head again and again, refusing to say anything. Yet despite his refusal to say a thing, the grey FM still looked like he desperately wanted to say something, but he kept his mouth pressed closed in such a thin line it practically disappeared.
It bothering Hiroki a lit, but he wasn't about to force Axl to say anything when he was so terrified of something. It was easy enough to see that Axl didn't want to talk about it, didn't want to talk, period.
Especially considering Axl refused to look him in the eye, looking so much like a guilty human child it wasn't even funny.
So Hiroki decided to let the FM think to himself for a few minutes as he made his way to the store his father had asked him to check out. Maybe after that quick trip he'd be willing to talk about it…
Axl felt like dying.
No, he felt like killing himself, if only to relieve this horrible feeling.
It was a terrible, wretched feeling that made him sob the moment Hiroki left him alone. It was cold and unforgiving as it clawed at his core, making phantom whispers remind him of what he'd done.
He'd lied to Hiroki.
Normally, if he lied he'd be punished horrible. But this time Hiroki was innocent to the terrible thing Axl had done, and instead the raven-haired child looked at him with only worry and concern. Hiroki hadn't been able to see the lie, and only saw that Axl was distressed and asked him what was wrong, what he could do to help.
And that hurt worse that any punishment.
But he was scared.
He was terrified.
Terrified of fighting, of seeing any more FM life forms, to be trapped forever, hurt, spat upon, and looked down upon. He didn't want to ever suffer, to do such a terrible thing again, to hurt andripandtoreandenjoyedseeinghimsuf-
One hand rested over the X scar on his chest, lightly touching it just enough so pricks of pain flashed through him. The ugly thing protested sharply as he increased the pressure, the pain growing more and more intense as it built in on itself. Finally Axl removed his hand as he let out a tiny whimper as the pain faded, leaving his body quivering but his mind at least a bit more coherent than before.
"You know what to do if anyone ever gets in your way, correct?"
"…No…" Axl replied to the memory, shaking his head. "I…I do not."
Axl sighed as he felt the panic and fear slowly drain away, leaving him feeling dull and empty. Except for that one emotion that continued to claw at his core as it filled in the space left by the emptiness.
Guilt.
Axl curled up even tighter.
Hiroki realized something was wrong when he spotted a crowd by the mall. It wasn't like he was even planning on going to the mall, but the convenience store he needed to go to was only a block or so away.
His natural curiosity didn't even need a nanosecond to kick in, and the raven haired boy was walking over to the edge of the crowd. Some people decided to leave before whatever was happening decided to get worse and likely leak into the streets again.
"Hey, hey you!" Hiroki shouted to one such man. When the man didn't respond and just continued to walk away, Hiroki let out a sigh before picking another target.
"Hey, what's going on here?" Hiroki asked as he walked up to a random young couple.
"Apparently there's been another attack, and it's in the freaking mall this time!" The man said with obvious hate.
The woman clinging to his arm frowned at that, "But at least this way the Satelite Police are able to keep it isolated."
"And who knows how long that'll last?" The man said with a scoff, "Everyone knows that they can't do shit anymo-OW! What was that for?"
"Don't use such language around kids, I've told you this before!"
"…You mean the same kid who's walking away from us?"
Hiroki would've snickered when he heard the man let out another yelp as his girlfriend smacked him again if he wasn't in such a rush to get away. It was easy enough to slip around a corner and to almost be instantly alone. And even then he really didn't care if anyone heard him talking; there were far more interesting things to ogle at a few hundred feet away.
When the lid of the Transfer was flipped open Axl didn't look up like he usually did. Instead, he shrunk in on himself more. He'd been keeping a part of his attention directed on the outside world, so he knew that Hiroki had found out.
"…Why didn't you tell me there's an FM life form attacking so close by?"
Hiroki kept his voice carefully leveled with only a bit of his frustration actually leaking in. As much as he wanted to whine loudly at Axl for this, he knew that even doing that was likely to make the timid FM regress even further.
Axl flinched like he'd been yelled at anyway. Just because someone's voice was calm didn't mean they weren't angry, "…I…I-I…."
Hiroki could easily tell that Axl wasn't overly keen to reveling his reasoning right now. And asking any more would probably just make the entire situation far more stressful that it needed to be so…
"Ok then, let's just Denpa-henkan and go and help them…already…?"
Axl was slowly shaking his head no over and over again, looking down so he could still avoid Hiroki's gaze. Hiroki was baffled. He wasn't sure what suddenly brought this on; Axl hadn't had a problem Denpa-henkaning before.
"Eh? Why not?"
It was an innocent and completely valid question, but it seemed to strike something within the FM. Axl buried his head further as if that would somehow make it all go away, muttering something under his breath so quietly Hiroki wasn't sure he'd heard anything.
"What did you say-"
"I-I don't want to fight!" Axl suddenly shouted loudly and with far more force than seemed possible.
"…What…?"
"F-Fighting…T-That's what…we'll…do…" Axl seemed completely at a loss for words, fumbling and looking down shyly. He peaked up at Hiroki again, "And…a-and…well…"
"S. just don't fight," Hiroki said simply, ignoring the look Axl was giving him.
"B-but…"
"I'll do the fighting so you shouldn't have to worry about that…Yeah, if you don't want to fight at all; I'm the one who's actually doing the real fighting, so you don't have to worry about even that!" Hiroki continued, seeming to be talking more and more to himself, "So, does that sound good?"
"…B-But…"
It took Hiroki a moment to realize that Axl was talking, but as soon as he did he shut up and gave the FM his full attention. Axl fidgeted a bit and looked away, his hands unconsciously weaving together as tightly as they could until the rings stopped him.
"But…w…well…" Axl peered up from under his helmet just enough so he could gauge Hiroki's reaction, "…you…you getting…h-h…hurt b-bothers me even…more…"
Hiroki blinked at those words. But a moment later a rather cocky grin split his face, "Hey, you don't have to worry about me! As long as I'm Axl Trigger nothing can really hurt me, cause then I'm super strong! So stop worrying so much, don't think so much!"
"D…Don't…t-think?" Confusion was obvious now.
"Yeah, sometimes you've just got to act and go with your gut or with whatever seems right! If you think too much you'll never do a thing!" Hiroki said cheerfully, not noticing how Axl was suddenly deep in through at that. The child-like FM was afraid of those implications, of what acting out could cause….and yet….
"…O…O-Ok…" Axl said with a small node.
Hiroki nodded in return, "Good."
It was at about this moment one of the windows of the mall suddenly exploded.
Despite their initially shaky start, it was obvious that Wolf Forest wasn't going to last much longer. No matter how strong the FM was, it was still a three-against-one fight, and extremely one-sided the moment they managed to throw together a plan.
Wolf Forest had a serious grudge to settle with Zero, and, when given the choice, would go after Tamotsu over any of the others. The blond wasn't overly thrilled about being the target of an insanely powerful creature's wrath again, but he made the best of it.
'Making the best of it' more or less boiled down to acting as bait, a temporary distraction, or both, no matter how much Zero attempted to glorify his new position. But Tamotsu couldn't deny how effective the tactic was, so the two had reached an impasse.
Wolf Forest growled in annoyance as Subaru rained weak blasts down on him from the second floor railing. They did pretty much nothing to the wolf, but it served as a distraction and annoyance all the same. The FM even stopped his attempts to cleave Tamotsu in half as he pulled to a spot, raising one claw to block the annoying blasts while keeping the other ready.
Misora fired a Shock Note at the FM, but Wolf Forest seemingly heard the attack and turned sharply. Ignoring the tiny blasts Subaru continued to pelt him with, Wolf Forest tore the electric blue notes apart.
"He's learning quicker and quicker," Tamotsu noted absently as he turned so he was facing Wolf Forest again.
Subaru, having jumped so he was nearby, looked at the blond in confusion, "What did you say?!" he called over the screaming alarm.
"I said-! Oh forget it…" Tamotsu didn't feel like dealing with the annoyance anymore. Without even having to look at what he was doing, he separated the blade into the twin Recoil Rods. A flick of his wrists later and two of the alarms were suddenly silenced.
It was far from quiet, but it was at least easier to hear, "I said he's learning quicker and quicker."
Subaru gave Tamotsu a look that clearly asked if such extreme actions were really necessary. The blond ignored him and focused his attention back on Wolf Forest.
"He may be catching on to our plans easier, but it's a bit too late now," Zero pointed out, referring to Wolf Forest's slightly panting form.
Wolf Forest's energy hadn't waved more than a little, but his armor and suit had taken an obvious beating from the various hits all three of them had managed to land. They weren't much on their own, but eventually even the smaller hits started to add up.
Not that the damage was all one-sided mind you, but the three managed to help each other avoid most of the more serious injuries. Misora had taken a particularly nasty cut on her upper back, Subaru nearly had the arm with War-Rock on it cut off, and Tamotsu had just taken the basic damage one takes when they're running away from a metal wolf three times your size.
A few recovery cards and/or the use of some energy and the injuries were closed up at least good enough to no longer be a deterrent. Wolf Forest had also used some of his own energy to heal and truly detrimental hits he'd taken, but he'd ignored the smaller ones and was starting to pay for it.
"Wolf can't possible hold out much longer," Harp said via their ear pieces so she and Misora wouldn't have to abandon their vantage point on the third floor.
"No matter how strong he is, he can't fight off all three of us at once!" Misora added a bit smugly, more than happy with the turn of events.
"Even if he isn't showing it, Wolf is obviously exhausted. If we keep this up for just a bit longer, he'll be forced to withdraw if he doesn't want to take any permanent damage," Zero added, taking in the ever-so-slightly sluggish movements of Wolf Forest.
"Bah, why bother doing something like that? One of you distract him and we'll finish him off in one hit!" War-Rock exclaimed brashly.
"The only Swords we have left are Tidal Edge and a basic Sword Card, and nothing is really strong or accurate enough," Subaru pointed out.
Wolf Forest seemed to have had enough of the plotting against him and charged the two males. Subaru immediately dove away from the angry FM with as much hast as possible. Not that it was needed, considering he wasn't the target.
Tamotsu had just enough time to plant his feet down and ready himself before the metal wolf was upon him. The blond gritted his teeth as Wolf Forest attempted to free his claws from the awkward way his claws had been trapped. Tamotsu had managed to more-or-less weave the relatively thin rod through Wolf Forest's claws in such a way that they had been stopped.
There was no way the blond was going to win in a contest of strength however, as could be seen by how he was being slowly pushed back. But Zero knew that that wasn't the goal, "Ready?"
The blond didn't say anything but the sudden burst of green energy from the joints of the typically invisible seams on the rod was answer enough.
The next few seconds were ones where Tamotsu didn't think and simple allowed and trusted his body to react properly in a way that didn't get him seriously injured. A quick flick of his wrist had the transforming Tripple Rod already half-way wrapped around the claws by the time it was the Chain Rod.
Wolf Forest could feel the energy starting to eat its way through his claws and attempted to pull free with a harsh tug. Yet that only worked in Tamotsu's favor as he pused off from the ground and flipped over Wolf Forest's head. The Chain rod briefly left his hands as he turned so he was still facing the FM.
He smirked as he grabbed the short handle of the Chain Rod once more, letting gravity do the rest.
Wolf Forest let out a shout and began struggleing even more as he realized just what was happening. His thrashings only made it worse however, and with both arms strung up this time in even stronger stuff as they were pulled back at an angle that was not natural.
Falling to the floor with a crash, Wolf Forest thrashed angrily on his back in his bonds, the Chain Rod already beginning to crack. Tamotsu backed up from the obviously angry FM, very glad that Zero had told him to let go at the right moment or else he would've been crushed. Now if only…
The nearly invisible wires suddenly lashed outwards, wrapping around Wolf Forest like a spider web so he was even further pinned and hardly able to move. Misora landed lightly on Wolf Forest's armor, looking down at the trapped FM. With his arms strung above him and the wires wrapped around him winking dangerously in the artificial lights, he didn't look nearly as dangerous as before even with the glare he was giving her.
He was so intent on apparently trying to set Misora on fire with his eyes alone, he never noticed Subaru until the boy way right there. And by the time Wolf Forest had snapped his head in the brunet's direction, he was already gone, Misora having taken him away with her as she used a quick Machine Gun String to maneuver away.
Wolf Forest let out a guttural growl and finally, finally, managed to snap the Chain Rod that had been holding his arms captive. Several of the hair-thin wires that were nearly cocooning him also gave way, even more breaking as he worked his way free from the trap. Wolf Forest was so busy growling insults at himself for falling for practically the same trick twice and this time letting it actually work that he didn't notice the little innocent yellow sphere that had been placed right in the dip of his armor around his neck.
"He's not that smart," Tamotsu said with a smirk as he watched the resulting explosion that shattered all things glass nearby.
The noise must have been nearly deafening, but the three hardly even flinched as the excessive noise was accounted for and the world grew slightly muted. Misora frowned as she watched the explosion, slightly worried, "That seemed way to easy this time."
"Or he's not all that he's cracked up to be. Or we've already gotten stronger than him and we just overwhelmed," War-Rock said smugly, earning an eye-roll from Harp.
"Or it isn't over yet," Zero deadpanned.
War-Rock looked back to the ground floor and immediately saw what Zero was talking about. Through the clearing veil of smoke, Wolf Forest still stood in a sloppy battle stance as he glared death up at the six.
But his once bright and deadly-sharp armor was a dulled and chipped with random cuts and dents, small chunks missing here or there. Ragged and strained breaths sent shudders throughout his body ever few seconds and his tail hung nearly limply behind him.
Not that he planned to stop fighting anytime soon.
"Wolf is dangerous because his instincts for self-preservation are lacking," Zero explained evenly. "He's willing to go beyond not just his host's limits, but his as well."
Wolf Forest finally seemed to feel steady enough to attack, lowing himself down onto his haunches once more, preparing himself to leap up.
"It's stupid considering his odds, but admirable in some ways." Zero purposely ignored the irony of his own words.
"This is going to be too easy, there's no way he can win now!" War-Rock added, more than prepared to end this fight. Subaru grimaced but, long ago resigned to his fate, also readied himself, Misora mirroring his movements.
"This fight is already over, isn't it?" Tamotsu asked even though the answer was clear.
"Well, we can't have that, now can we?"
There was just enough time to register that someone else, someone different, had spoken before the lights suddenly turned off all at once. It didn't spontaneously turn pitch black considering the high windows arcing above and allowing light to flood it. But the shift in light was still noticeable and the sudden shift from the constant wailing of the alarm to near-silence in comparison was jarring.
"What!?"
"Up!" Misora nearly shouted, still adjusting to the sudden drop in noise.
It was easy to see what the blonde was talking about, considering that they were standing casually on the load-bearing beam near the center that had and assortment of advertisements handing from it.
Gemini White gave them a smug look when he saw that they'd finally noticed him, shifting just a bit so he could see them better. Gemini Black looked like he wanted nothing more than to not be here right now if the annoyed look on his face was anything to go by, the glare he directed at them seeming to lack something. The twins were standing oddly close to each other, supporting an odd ball of white-ish light between their hands.
"Three against one isn't very fair, is it? So I figured it'd be best to…even the odds," Gemini White continued, seeing that he now had everyone's attention. With great flourish, the FM turned away from his twin and held out the glowing sphere of energy.
"How long has he been there?" Subaru asked, not liking the fact that no one had noticed him.
No one answered, still trying to figure out just what his plan was this time.
"And besides…I've always wanted to see the two supposedly most powerful Overdrives fight," A tip of his hand and the ball of light fell down, far slower than it should have been.
Zero had been observing the light closely the entire time, wondering what it was. He'd assumed that it had been an attack of some kind, but only after the light began it's slow decent in the dimmed building that he realized what it looked like.
"Get rid of that light now!" Zero shouted, hoping to spur the others into motion.
Gemini White watched with contempt, smirking as he saw the sudden flurry of movement to destroy the light. But being situation directly above Wolf Forest, he could already see the violent changes that had overtaken the FM, rapidly changing his body and overtaking his mind.
Gemini Black suddenly tensed, the sound of something heavy hitting the beam just behind him. Even with the nozzle of some type of cannon (he really didn't care which it was) less than a foot from the back of his head, Gemini White turned around casually, only a bit surprised to see Rockman standing there.
"You three are far too slow."
Subaru looked down as he heard a howl below him, eyes widening at the sight of a red Wolf Forest launching himself off the floor and straight up. The FM flew past Misora and Tamotsu, the two having been about to attack the light, and kept going, one claw rearing back. With a howl he sliced the light to shreds, continuing his path upwards and already selecting a new target.
Subaru froze as his eyes locked onto the FM's, a shiver running up his spine at the sight of pupils dilated to the point they disappeared, no other emotion but pure, sheer bloodlust shown.
Gemini White and Black leapt off the beam, Subaru quickly flowing their lead and tking his leave. The sound of air being rapidly displaced was his only warning before the brunet found himself freezing, even as his body continued to follow the arc of the jump. Subaru his head as quickly as he could, and instantly regretted it.
The red Wolf Forest loomed less than a foot away from him, claws that were nearly as long as he was tall already moving to slice his body to pieces. The FM's jaw had opened as wide as possible, glinting fangs sharper than knives only a few inches from Subaru's neck, the gap quickly closing. And dilated eyes still managed stare back up at him, red as blood.
Only the beginning of a scream managed to escape his lips before it was abruptly cut off as a deafening bang suddenly echoed through the mall.
A second later a limp body crashed through the window, flying upwards for a few moments in a psudo-flight before gravity sunk its claws in and dragged it back down.
So, there were some parts I re-wrote like 5 times because of sudden shifts in character that wouldn't make sense yet and just plain not liking what I'd written. Figured I'd delayed this long enough (again) so I decided to just stop the re-writing and get on with it. Ah well, next chapter is obviously more fighting.
Also; because of school my update rate will be far slower obviously. It may take me several weeks to update (as you've seen) but I promise to not make you wait months and months on end for one update unless something extreme happens.