DISCLAIMER: CORPSE PARTY AND ITS CHARACTERS BELONG TO TEAM GRISGRIS/GRINDHOUSE. THE ORIGINAL CHARACTER, PACKER, BELONGS TO ME.
Author's Note: Thank you to everyone for getting my story up to 40,000 views. It is greatly appreciated.
On that note, we're getting very close to the end of the Blood Covered story arc. I can pretty much say with absolute certainty that the next chapter after this one will be the grand finale to Blood Covered, but as I've said before, the story will continue beyond Blood Covered and into Blood Drive.
This is by far the longest chapter in the story thus far, cracking the 9,000 word barrier. 9,500, to be exact. Cue the 'It's over 9,000!' jokes. XD
Also, this chapter does contain some graphic descriptions, so consider yourself warned.
CHAPTER 26: ZERO HOUR
(Final Fantasy IX's Boss Battle theme begins playing in the background)
BOSS FIGHT: YOSHIKAZU
Yoshiki had his eyes closed, expecting the sledgehammer to make contact with his skull, but instead, he heard what seemed to be metal making contact with something. He slowly opened his eyes, and let out a small sigh of relief at what he saw. The sledgehammer had been blocked by a blade pulsing with electricity, and the blade was held by none other than Packer.
"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to hit someone when they're down? You sure have a severe lack of manners," Packer said. Knocking the sledgehammer aside, Packer jumped, spun around, and delivered a powerful jumping back kick to Yoshikazu's chest, knocking the brute off his feet and onto his back. With Yoshikazu down for the moment, Packer glanced back at his injured friend. "You okay, Yoshiki?"
"A little burned and beat up, but still alive, just as I promised to you," Yoshiki replied. Packer nodded and turned his attention back to his adversary. Yoshikazu had just struggled back to his feet when Packer ran at him and delivered a powerful jump kick to his opponent's chest. The brute stumbled backward, trying to regain his balance. Taking advantage, Packer quickly powered up a sword attack, using Seiko's ethereal energy.
"LIGHTNING SLASH!"
Powering up Shiden, Packer lunged at Yoshikazu and slashed at him with the electrically supercharged blade. The electric slash sent a jolt of electricity through Yoshikazu's body upon contact, knocking him into the wall and knocking him senseless for a moment.
With his opponent down, Packer turned his attention back to Yoshiki, who had been joined by the rest of his group and were tending to his injuries.
"What's the prognosis?" Packer asked worriedly.
"It looks like his back has some pretty bad burns on it," Yui observed.
"Leave that to me," Packer replied, focusing his power into his right hand. "Light of the Heavens, lend me your healing aura. FIRST AID!"
A ball of green light appeared in Packer's hand, and he quickly ran it over Yoshiki's back, healing the burns. He then focused the light's aura on the cut on Yoshiki's head. The wound slowly began to heal and close. Just as Packer was finishing up, Naomi, Yuka and Satoshi showed up.
"Yoshiki, you okay?" Satoshi asked worriedly. Yoshiki looked toward him and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Packer's just healing a few injuries," he replied. Ayumi huffed in response.
"A few injuries? You almost died!" Ayumi exclaimed. Yoshiki chuckled in response, causing Ayumi to groan with frustration at him.
"Who else attacked you?" Packer asked. Just then, Naomi looked past them and screamed.
"What the Hell is that?!" she yelled, pointing behind them. Packer looked over at where Naomi was pointing. His eyes widened when he saw what appeared to be an anatomical model standing near them, eyeing them with malicious intent. Smoke was still rising from its charred skin.
"That anatomical model tried to kill us," Yoshiki warned. "Be careful. It's tough as all Hell."
Packer nodded and raised Shiden in response. The model seemed to recognized the weapon as it let out a small gasp.
"YOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUU…" it moaned in a surprisingly familiar voice, causing Packer to backpedal a bit.
"Wait a minute. That voice…" Packer mumbled, before his eyes suddenly widened, recognizing whose voice it was. "Kizami?!"
"Wait, this thing is actually Yuuya?!" Tohko exclaimed.
"With all of his skin stripped off of him, to give him the appearance of an anatomical model," Packer replied. He pointed at Kizami's head. "Look."
A massive bruise had formed on the side of Kizami's head, from where Yoshikazu had struck him with the sledgehammer. Kizami let out a spine-tingling moan in response, causing the Kisaragi group to backpedal in response. Packer shook his head with pity.
"Kizami, I can't imagine what you've gone through… but you've been a thorn in our side long enough, so I think it's time to put you out of your misery," Packer said. Suddenly, a glass dagger appeared in his hand, and in one motion, tossed it at Kizami. The dagger struck Kizami in the side of the neck, causing him to drop to one knee while trying to remove the dagger from his exposed neck. All at once, the dagger began to glow brightly. Packer looked back at the Kisaragi group.
"Time to go," he said bluntly, running past the group and out the door, with the others following suit. Kizami screamed in pain as the dagger continued to glow brighter and brighter, until it detonated. Yoshikazu's face was splattered with a crimson liquid as he stood up and looked around the room. The Kisaragi group had escaped, and the only thing that remained of Kizami was a red spot on the floor where he once stood. Yoshikazu growled in anger, gripping his sledgehammer a little tighter than before.
After running down several hallways, the group of eleven finally slowed to a walk when they were certain that Yoshikazu wasn't following.
"Looks like we lost him," Mayu gasped, trying to catch her breath.
"For now," Packer replied. "But it probably won't be long before he finds us again, so we need to get going and do what we need to do to get out of here."
"So, did you find out what we need to do to appeal to Sachiko's humanity?" Yui asked.
"Indeed we did," Packer said. "Here's what we need to do…"
Packer spent the next several minutes explaining how they could appeal to Sachiko's humanity. Ayumi scratched her chin thoughtfully as she digested this new information.
"So, we just need to find Sachiko's tongue, since we already have her plushy," Ayumi said. "But where is her body located?"
"That's the one thing I'm not sure about," Packer replied. "Which is why we need to find the principal's office. It may have the answers we're looking for."
"The principal's office is in the other building," Naho remarked. "Come on. I'll show you the way."
Just as the group began to walk down the hallway, Packer suddenly stopped, letting out a gasp as his mind was suddenly flooded with a familiar image, given to him many times by his Future Sight…
A picture was floating in the air in front of him. On it were images of all nine members of the Kisaragi group. Mayu, Ayumi, Morishige, Naomi and Yuka's faces had returned to normal, while the rest of the group had their faces blacked out, indicating that they did not survive their encounter with Heavenly Host. Suddenly, one of the faces began to reemerge from the darkness. The face belonged to Yoshiki...
Packer grunted as he came out of Future Sight. He looked up, noticing the concerned looks on everyone's faces.
"Packer, it was the same image we've been seeing over and over again," Seiko said. "But did you notice what was different about it this time?"
"Yeah, Yoshiki was in it," Packer replied, causing Yoshiki to gasp in response.
"So, does that mean…?" Yoshiki began hopefully, though he already knew what the answer was.
"Yep," Packer replied with a smile. "Your fate has been changed, thanks to my intervention."
"But Satoshi's fate hasn't changed yet, has it?" Naomi asked. Packer's smile vanished and he let out a sigh.
"No, and neither has Yui-sensei's nor Seiko's," he replied. "It's really starting to bother me, but we'll worry about that when the time comes. Right now, we need to focus on the task at hand, and that's getting to Yanagihori's office and finding Sachiko's tongue. Lead the way, Naho."
(Corpse Party's Chapter 5 Theme begins playing in the background)
Naho nodded, and the group of twelve continued down the hallway.
As the group walked outside and began crossing the walkway to the adjacent building, they suddenly stopped in their tracks as they heard a loud scream coming from above. Suddenly, someone fell from the roof onto the ground in front of them. Blood began oozing from the person's skull. The girls shrieked and turned away, Yuka burying her face into Satoshi's chest.
"Oh, God," Yoshiki muttered.
"Wh-What the Hell did we just see?!" Tohko cried. Packer leaned over the railing to get a closer look. The man that was now lying on the ground appeared to have a goatee, and was wearing reading glasses. Blood continued to pour from the wounds in his head.
"He leaped from the roof of the building, so I'm guessing that was the principal of Heavenly Host," Satoshi replied. Packer nodded.
"Takamine Yanagihori," Packer retorted. Suddenly, Yanagihori's body disappeared, and then, all at once, to everyone's surprise, Yanagihori's scream echoed in their ears once more, complete with his body crashing to the ground with a sickening thud.
"Oh, God!" Naomi gasped, covering her eyes.
"Yuka, don't look!" Satoshi said. Yuka buried her face further into his chest, sobbing uncontrollably. Morishige stepped forward, apprehension on his face.
"So, what the Hell is going on? Why does he keep disappearing and jumping off the roof like that?" he asked, readjusting his glasses.
"Well, I doubt he can ever find rest after what he did, so he's just reliving his death over and over again," Satoshi replied.
"That's horrible!" Yui exclaimed.
"Maybe, but it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy," Packer retorted sarcastically. Just then, he noticed something shine near Yanagihori's body. "Wait… What's that?"
Satoshi and Naomi stepped closer to the railing, where they could see the shining object, dangling out of the principal's pocket.
"It looks like a key…" Naomi replied.
"When I tried to get into Yanagihori's office, it was locked, so it could be the key to his office," Naho interjected. Satoshi glanced back at the key, a determined look on his face.
"I'll go and get it," he said, jumping over the railing.
"Mochida-kun, it's too dangerous!" Ayumi exclaimed. Satoshi looked back at her.
"I'll be alright, Shinozaki," he replied. "I'll wait for my chance, then rush in and take it."
"O-Okay," Ayumi reluctantly agreed.
"Watch yourself, Satoshi," Packer warned. Satoshi nodded, and then moved into position near where the principal's body would land.
After a few seconds, Yanagihori's screams echoed in their ears once again, and his body came crashing down in front of Satoshi. Making his move, Satoshi grabbed the key out of the principal's jacket pocket.
"Got it!" Satoshi said, running back and jumping over the railing, rejoining his friends. He examined the key, raising an eyebrow at just how small it was. "What the… Man, it's a lot smaller than it looked from back there. Is it to a desk or something?" Packer took the key and examined it himself.
"Hmmm… it could still fit the door to his office, so let's head there and find out," he replied, pocketing the key. Naho walked forward, opening the doors to the adjacent building and walked inside, with the Kisaragi group in tow.
After walking four floors up the stairwell, they finally reached the door to the principal's office. Packer took the key out of his pocket and attempted to insert it into the keyhole. He slowly turned the key, and he heard a small click as the door became unlocked. Packer looked back at the others with a smile.
"We're in business," he said, opening the door.
(Corpse Party's A Haunted Room begins playing in the background)
The group gasped as they looked around the room. The walls were covered with paper and various other items. Satoshi gasped as he felt something cold brush against him, like a cold wind.
"Oof… What is going on in this room?" he gasped. Just then, a different voice echoed throughout the room.
"I didn't mean for it to happen. It was just a temporary lapse in judgement. She's the one at fault. She clearly overreacted to the situation!"
"That voice… it must Takamine Yanagihori speaking," Ayumi said.
Yuka shivered as she felt the cold breeze hit her as well.
"I'm cold…" she shivered. Packer crossed his arms, a deep scowl on his face.
"Even after what he did, he still refuses to take responsibility for it. What a waste of skin that guy was," Packer growled in disgust.
"Look at all the papers on the walls in here. There's definitely something off about this place," Mayu observed.
"Well, they did say the principal suffered some sort of mental collapse before he died," Ayumi replied.
"Well, let's find what we came here for and get out of here," Yoshiki said.
"Agreed. Start looking around for anything that might resemble a pouch. It may contain Sachiko's tongue," Packer replied.
The group began searching the room for the pouch. After a minute or two, Satoshi opened the desk drawer. His eyes lighted up upon seeing what appeared to be a small hemp bag in the desk drawer, completely slathered with blood. Opening the bag, he could see a human tongue sitting at the bottom of the bag, all dried up and stiffened with age.
"I think I may have found it," Satoshi declared. All eyes in the room turned toward him as he reached in and grabbed the tongue. Suddenly, without warning, he gasped loudly, and his eyes went wide. His body was completely frozen in place.
"Satoshi! Satoshi, what's wrong?!" Naomi yelled, running up to him. She reached up to shake him, but was stopped when Packer grabbed her hand.
"No, wait!" he exclaimed, noticing something familiar about Satoshi's reactions.
"What is it, Packer?" Naho asked.
"Packer, this looks similar to what happens to you whenever you enter Future Sight," Seiko said. Packer nodded in affirmation.
"Exactly. When he grabbed whatever was in the bag, which I assume is Sachiko's tongue, it must be showing him a past event that happened. Let's let it happen and see what he's shown," Packer retorted. All concerned eyes focused on Satoshi, whose mind was being flooded with a long-distant memory…
Satoshi found himself in a large room, which appeared to be underground. Standing a few feet away was Takamine Yanagihori, standing over the partially buried corpse of Sachiko.
"Every night… Every single night, the same dream," Takamine muttered. "I deeply regret what I did. I can't even truly express how ashamed I am! But how much are you going to make me suffer for it?!"
The, he started cackling like a madman possessed.
"Oh, I understand. I get it now. You're not really dead!" he yelled, his eyes wide and crazed. "You're just pretending. Bwahahahaha! But think of the position you're putting me in! I can't allow you to tell another living soul about what I did to you…" He raised a pair of sewing scissors, opening and closing them a few times. "…so I'm afraid I'm going to have to fix it so you can't ever say another word again."
With those words, Takamine reached down, opened Sachiko's mouth, and proceeded to cut out her tongue. With a sickening shnick, it fell off into his free hand. With the tongue in hand, Takamine, in a desperate craze, began plunging the scissors into Sachiko's face repeatedly.
"You like that? You like that?! YOU LIKE THAT?!" he shouted repeatedly. After stabbing her a few more times, he finally stood up, his breathing heavy and his face dripping with sweat. "If I ever see you in my dreams again, I'll be back. I'll kill you as many times as it takes."
Throwing the scissors aside, Takamine picked up the shovel and began burying Sachiko's body once more. Suddenly, Satoshi was whizzed out of the room and down the hall, a long hallway until he reached a set of stairs that led up to an entrance in the school…
"Satoshi! Satoshi!" Naomi yelled over and over, shaking his arm repeated to get him to snap out of it. Evidently, it worked, as Satoshi suddenly snapped out of his trance.
"Mochida, you're back!" Tohko exclaimed. Satoshi moaned as he held a hand to his head.
"Are you okay?! You suddenly stopped talking, and none of us could get any response out of you!" Naomi said worriedly.
"You had us worried for a moment there," Ayumi said. Satoshi shook his head to clear the cobwebs.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Sorry I worried you guys," he said weakly. Packer stepped forward with a knowing look.
"What did you see, Satoshi?" he asked expectantly. Satoshi glanced over at his green haired friend before holding out his hand. Opening it, everyone gasped when they saw that it was a human tongue.
"This… is Sachiko's tongue," Satoshi explained. "What Yoshie told us about the principal is all true. After he lost his mind, he decided he couldn't have Sachiko squealing on him to anyone, so he dug up her body and cut off her tongue."
"That's… barbaric…" Yui gasped.
"Like I said before, a complete waste of skin that guy was," Packer growled.
"Did you see anything else, Mochida?" Morishige asked.
"I think I saw where her body was buried. It seems to be inside a basement… maybe an old bomb shelter," Satoshi replied. Ayumi gasped as she remembered something.
"I remember us passing by a door that was marked 'Basement', but it was covered in talismans," she said.
"Yeah, we tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge," Yoshiki remarked.
"Then that's where we need to go," Packer retorted.
"Could we head back to the custodian's closet first?" Naho asked. "I want to meet up with Kibiki-sensei."
"Yeah, we might as well. We need to pick up Seiko's body as well," Packer replied. "Let's get going. We've got everything we need. Now we just need to get to Sachiko's final resting place after we retrieve Seiko. Let's move."
With that, the group of eleven made their way out of the room and back toward the custodian's closet.
As the group approached the custodian's closet, Packer suddenly stopped, noticing something off with the door. Instinct prompted him to reach back and pull Shiden from its sheath.
"What's wrong, Packer-kun?" Mayu asked.
"Do you guys notice something odd about the door to the closet?" Packer pointed out. Everyone looked toward the door, which was partially open.
"Curious… I could've sworn we closed the door when we left," Morishige said.
"We did. Someone's been here while we've been gone," Packer said with apprehension.
"You think they might still be around?" Yoshiki asked.
"I don't know, but I'm gonna find out," Packer replied. He raised his sword and silently ran toward the door. He pressed his back against the wall next to the door and slowly peered in. There was nobody inside the room. "It's clear."
The group walked into the empty room, upon which Seiko disconnected from Packer's body. Naho looked around with interest.
"Kibiki-sensei? Are you here?" she called out. Suddenly, there was a rush of wind, and the spirit of Kibiki materialized in front of them.
"Naho-san, there you are," Kibiki said softly. Naho's eyes brimmed with tears.
"Kibiki-sensei!" Naho yelled, running into his arms. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"
"Naho-san, it's alright," Kibiki assured. "The important thing is we've reunited."
"Yes… yes, we have," Naho sighed with happiness.
Packer looked around the room, and his eyes widened in horror when he realized something important was missing.
"No…" he muttered, catching everyone's attention.
"What is it, Packer-kun?" Ayumi asked. Packer glanced at her with worried eyes.
"Seiko's body… Where is Seiko's body?!" he yelled. Everyone looked to where Seiko's body had been lying and gasped. The space it had been occupying was now empty. Kibiki released Naho from their embrace and walked toward Packer with sad eyes.
"I'm sorry, Packer. There wasn't anything I could do," Kibiki said sadly, causing Packer to set his glare upon the black-haired man.
"What the Hell do you mean?" he growled.
"While you were gone, I was waiting patiently for your return, when I heard footsteps outside of the room, so I hid and waited for the steps to pass," Kibiki explained. "Instead, they stopped at the door. It opened… and in walked a very tall man with a sledgehammer."
At that, Packer's eyes narrowed.
"Yoshikazu," he growled.
"I'm not exactly sure why, but he walked over and picked up Shinohara's body and carried it out of the room. I have no idea where they could be," Kibiki said.
"Do you think he may be heading for the underground, where Sachiko is?" Ayumi asked.
"Perhaps," Packer replied. "If that's the case, we'd better hurry. We need Seiko's body if we're gonna be able to utilize the Vivification spell. Ayumi, can you show us the way back to the basement door?"
"I believe so. Come on!" Ayumi said, running out the door. The rest of the Kisaragi group was quick to follow suit. Kibiki and Naho continued to stand there, a look of hope on their faces.
"You think they'll be able to get Sachiko to apologize for her actions?" Naho asked. Kibiki glanced down at her and nodded.
"Yeah, I do," he said. Naho nodded and looked toward the door.
"I think so, too," she agreed. Kibiki let out a small sigh.
"Safe journey, everyone…" Kibiki murmured softly.
(Corpse Party's Chapter 5 Main Building 2 theme begins playing in the background)
As the Kisaragi group ran down the hallway toward the basement, Packer promptly reached back and unsheathed Shiden, the electricity running up and down the blade as he ran.
"What does Yoshikazu need with Seiko's body? Why would he take it?" Naomi asked.
"I don't know, but whatever the reason, it's anything but good," Tohko replied.
"Which is all the more reason for us to catch the son of a bitch and get her body back," Packer growled. "You're sure you know where the door to the basement is, Ayumi?"
"Yes, it's just down this way, at the end of this hallway," Ayumi confirmed. But just as she said this, the group came to a screeching halt. "Well, it's at the end of this hallway, but continuing down this way seems to be impossible."
The floor of the hallway had collapsed, leaving a massive gaping hole in the hallway, making passage impossible.
"So what do we do now?" Morishige asked. Packer glanced to his left, and noticed a door that appeared to lead into an adjacent classroom.
"Looks like we'll have to go this way and hope it leads to a part of the hallway that's still intact," he said, walking over and sliding the door open. He glanced inside, and could see that it appeared to be an ordinary classroom. As he was about to walk inside, Ayumi ran up and grabbed his hand, stopping him.
"Hold it!" she exclaimed, causing Packer to look back at her in confusion.
"What's wrong, Shinozaki?" Yoshiki asked. Ayumi's face was contorted with concern.
"There's something in this room…" she said cautiously. Packer looked back into the classroom. From his vantage point, he could see nothing out of the ordinary. Seiko poked her head out of Packer's body and shot a skeptical glance in Ayumi's direction.
"Are you sure there's something in this classroom, Ayumi-Chan?" Seiko asked, unsure of her friend's intuition. Ayumi nodded vehemently.
"There definitely is. Something is very wrong with this classroom. Be very, very careful," Ayumi warned. Satoshi stared at Ayumi for a second before shifting his focus over to Packer.
"What do you think, Packer?" Satoshi asked.
"I don't really see anything unusual about this room yet," Packer began. "But I'm gonna go with Ayumi's instincts on this one."
"What makes you say that, Packer-kun?" Mayu asked.
"Ayumi has a strong spiritual sense in this place," Packer replied. "If she says there's something out of the ordinary in any sense of the word, I'm gonna take it to heart." He gripped Shiden's handle a little tighter as he slowly stepped into the room, circling slowly, taking in every aspect of the room. Seeing that it was all clear, Packer signaled for the others to come.
"So far, so good," Yoshiki remarked. Packer looked around and noticed a door leading to another room along the side wall.
"That could be our ticket to bypassing the hole in the hallway. Let's check it out," Packer suggested. Walking over to the door, he slid it open and took a peek inside. What he saw made him realize why Ayumi was alarmed about this room. "Guys, you might want to check this out."
The others came into the adjacent classroom and gasped in horror. Chills began to run up and down Ayumi's arms as she took in what she was seeing. On the floor of the classroom were what appeared to be strange markings, shaped in the Star of David encompassed in a circle.
"What the Hell is this?" Yui asked incredulously.
"This room seems to be set up for… black magic or witchcraft, or something," Ayumi explained.
"The markings on the floor seem to resemble a summoning circle," Packer observed.
"You think some of the people in this school were practicing black magic?!" Yui asked.
"It's a possibility, but I can't say for certain," Ayumi replied. Packer walked across the room toward the south door and slid it open. He glanced to the right, and noticed that they were back in the original hallway on the other side of the hole.
"Hey, we've made it to the other side of the hallway, so let's get going and get to that basement," Packer announced, stepping out into the hallway. Yoshiki, Satoshi and Morishige were the first to join him, but just as the girls were about to reach the door, it suddenly slammed shut, locking them in.
"Huh? Why did the door just close?" Yuka asked, confused. The other girls let out a gasp as they realized what she said.
"Oh, no…" Naomi whispered in horror.
"What the Hell?!" Yoshiki exclaimed, running up to the door and beating on it with his fist. "Shinozaki, Nakashima, Suzumoto, Yuka, Kirisaki, Yui-sensei!" he shouted.
Ayumi ran up to the door and began beating on it as well.
"No… God, no!" she shouted as she began to panic. "Kishinuma-kun! Open the door!"
(Corpse Party's Unavoidable Tragedy theme begins playing in the background)
"I'm trying, but the damn thing won't open!" Yoshiki shouted. He began kicking at the door, trying to bust it down that way, when suddenly, the room began to shake. The girls screamed as the earthquake got stronger and stronger. Then, all at once, the floor began to give way. Yui and Ayumi were barely able to dig their fingers into the wood of the floor, while Naomi, Yuka, Tohko and Mayu were fortunate enough to be near the edge to grab a hold and pull themselves up onto what amounted to a small ledge.
"Shinozaki!" Yui shouted, barely hanging onto a small hole in the floor with her good left arm. Ayumi was just below her, at the edge of the floor and close to falling into the abyss.
"Shinozaki!" Naomi, Mayu, Tohko and Yuka shouted from the ledge, unable to grab either Yui or Ayumi.
"Shinozaki, quickly, grab hold of my leg! Climb up my body!" Yui shouted. Ayumi looked up at her, tears in her eyes.
"Yui-sensei… no…!" Ayumi cried.
"QUICKLY!" Yui shouted. Ayumi grunted as she grabbed Yui's leg and began climbing. Yui began to gasp as the strain of holding both of them with one arm was becoming too much to handle.
'I… can't support both our weights with one arm for much longer… My fingers are…' she thought. She glanced back at Ayumi, who was still trying to make her way up.
"Hurry, Shinozaki! You'll fall in, too!" Yui shouted.
"I… I know!" Ayumi shouted. She looked up and saw Naomi, Tohko and Mayu reaching for her with outstretched hands.
"Come one, Shinozaki! Just a little further and we can grab you! Then we can pull Yui-sensei up once you're safe!" Naomi shouted, desperately trying to reach Ayumi's hand.
Suddenly, Yui could feel her grip start to falter, and fear began surging through her, expecting to lose her grip at any moment.
'My fingers… I can't… hold on…' she thought fervently. She knew there was only one way that she would be able to support both herself and Ayumi. Gritting her teeth, she slipped her broken right arm out of its sling, reached up and grabbed the hole in the floor with her right hand. Searing pain began running up and down her injured arm, causing her to scream in agony.
"Yui-sensei!" Ayumi screamed. Tears were streaming down Yui's face as the intense pain flooded into every nerve in her body.
"Rrrrnnngghh… Come on… you're almost there…" she gasped painfully.
Summoning every ounce of strength inside of her, Ayumi pulled herself up just enough for her to grab onto Naomi's hand. Mayu and Tohko clasped onto Ayumi's wrist, and together, pull her up to the safety of the ledge. Suddenly, the room began to shake once again, and Yui began to lose her grip once again. The girls looked down in horror as they attempted to reach their beloved teacher.
"Yui-sensei, hang on!" Ayumi shouted.
Meanwhile, outside the room, Yoshiki was continuing to kick at the door when Packer suddenly gasped as his Future Sight activated. After a few moments, he came out of it, his face white as a ghost.
"Seiko…" he began.
"I saw it, too. We need to hurry and break down that Goddamned door!" Seiko shouted. Packer nodded and cracked his neck and fingers.
"Everybody stand back," Packer declared, causing Yoshiki to stop and stand aside along with the other boys. Packer put his arms out and began to gather a ball of flame into his hands. After he brought his hands together to form a giant fireball, Seiko injected some of her ethereal essence into it, turning it into a cyan blue fireball, begging for release. When the fireball reached full power, Packer pointed it at the door.
"MYSTICAL FIRE!"
Packer unleashed the enhanced fireball at the door. The frail wooden door was no match for the fireball's tremendous power, as it shattered into splinters on impact.
Inside, the girls shielded themselves with their arms as the door exploded. Packer peered over the edge, his face turning white upon realizing that Yui was dangling above what appeared to be a bottomless pit.
"Packer-kun, Yui-sensei needs help!" Ayumi shouted.
"I'll help her up! You girls get to safety!" Packer commanded. Keeping themselves up against the wall, the girls slid their way toward the door. Yoshiki was at the doorway to help pull them to safety, while Packer worked his way to the edge, trying desperately to reach Yui. "Come on, Yui-sensei! Reach up and grab my hand!"
"I can't… it hurts too much!" Yui screamed, the pain in her arm continuing to throb.
"You've got to try! Your life depends on it, and I need to get you out alive, remember?!" Packer shouted.
Tears of pain filling her eyes, Yui gazed up at Packer and nodded. Using her injured right arm to support her weight, Yui reached up with all her might to grab Packer's hand, their fingertips just brushing up against one another.
"Come on… just a little more…" Packer said, trying to encourage Yui. Just as he was able to grab her hand, she suddenly lost her grip with her right hand, and she screamed as she slid down the broken floor to the very edge, where she was barely able to dig her fingers into the wood to keep herself from falling into oblivion. Her breathing became ragged and panic was running through every vein in her body. She tried to lift herself up once more, but she had no more strength in her injured right arm. It dangled uselessly at her side.
The earthquake was beginning to get stronger and stronger, and the floor wasn't the only thing at risk of collapsing. Bits of the ceiling began raining down upon them. With her strength fading, Yui looked up and made eye contact with Packer. The look she gave him sent shivers down his spine. It almost looked like… she was giving up, and his memory flashed back to the Future Sight he received only seconds before.
Then, his eyes widened in horror as Yui finally lost her grip and began to fall into the abyss below…
"NOOOOO!" Packer shouted, instinctively jumping after her. Somehow, he managed to grab her hand, and at the same time, stabbed the broken floor with one of his glass daggers, saving the both of them from falling to their death.
"Seiko, give me a hand," Packer said, straining to hold onto Yui. Seiko focused her ethereal energy toward Packer's arms, and with the enhanced strength, was able to lift Yui up to where he could wrap his arm around her waist. "Yui-sensei, move around to my back." Carefully, Yui moved to where she was hanging off of his back, her good arm wrapped around his neck.
Suddenly, the earthquake began to get stronger, and Packer glanced up at the ceiling, noticing that it was starting to give way under the intensity of the earthquakes.
"Packer, that ceiling's gonna give way soon with us still under it," Yui warned. "Any ideas on how we can get back up?"
"Yeah, I've got an idea," Packer replied wearily. "But it's gonna be extremely risky, because it involves using an element I'm not very proficient in."
"We don't really have much of choice, Packer," Seiko retorted. "If it's key to our survival, then we've gotta take it, and we'd better take it pretty damn fast!"
Packer exhaled, knowing that Seiko was right, but was still worried that his inexperience with using the particular element he was thinking of using could come back to bite all three of them. Powering up the spell he intended on using, Packer braced himself against the broken floor, using the dagger as leverage, and pushed off of it, leaving himself and Yui in midair. Knowing that he had scant seconds to react, Packer quickly pointed his hands downward toward the abyss.
"HYDROBLAST!"
All at once, two powerful streams of water began bursting from Packer's hands. They continued to fall into the abyss, until the water pillars hit the bottom of the pit, slowing their decent and eventually began to push them back up toward the ceiling. As soon as they were level with the door, Packer braced his feet against the back wall and pushed off, using the water pillars as a sort of pole vault to move himself and Yui toward the exit at a high rate of speed. The ceiling finally began to give way, and came crashing down just as Packer and Yui made it to the exit in the nick of time. They slid across the floor and finally come to a halt near the wall, both breathing heavily.
"Packer, Yui-sensei, you guys okay?!" Ayumi yelled, as the group ran up to them. Yui finally sat up, sweat beading her forehead.
"Yeah, I think we're okay," she replied with a weak smile. Tears of joy in her eyes, Ayumi gave Yui a giant bear hug, while Yui let out a small sigh of relief and wrapped her good arm around Ayumi, stroking her blue hair gently. Satoshi and Naomi eyed Packer worriedly, seeing him continue to lie on his side.
"You okay, Packer?" Satoshi asked. After a few moments, Packer finally sat up, continuing to breathe heavily.
"Yeah, just a little tired," Packer replied weakly.
"So am I. I think we need to disconnect for a bit," Seiko replied just as weakly.
"Probably not a bad idea, at least for the time being," Packer agreed. Seiko's spirit re-emerged from his body, letting out a grunt as the pain in her neck returned with a vengeance.
"Damn, Packer, that Water spell you used was draining on you AND me. What was that about?" Seiko asked.
"Like I said, my skills using the Water element are a little lacking," Packer explained. "That doesn't mean I can't use Water spells effectively, but I just don't have the same kind of training in water spells that I do in other elements, so it takes a bit more focus and power for me to use them effectively…" He glanced up at Seiko with a lopsided smile. "…even if I have help in powering them up."
Seiko crossed her arms and gave him a goofy cat-like smile.
"Well, then…" she began with a grin. "Looks like you've still got some training to do, eh?" Packer chuckled and shrugged in response. Seiko let out a seductive giggle. "You know, there are some other things I know that I could train you in, if you know what I mean…" She waggled her eyebrows at him, causing his face to turn a deep crimson when he realized what she was referring to. The rest of the group let out a small laugh as they watched Seiko tease their green-haired friend.
Clearing his throat nervously, Packer got back to his feet, helping Yui back to her feet as well. After taking a moment to assist Yui in placing her injured arm back in its sling, Packer suddenly gasped, and his eyes went wide as his Future Sight activated once again…
A picture was floating in the air in front of him. On it were images of all nine members of the Kisaragi group. Mayu, Ayumi, Morishige, Naomi, Yuka and Yoshiki's faces had returned to normal, while the rest of the group had their faces blacked out, indicating that they did not survive their encounter with Heavenly Host. Suddenly, one of the faces began to reemerge from the darkness. The face belonged to Yui...
Packer grunted as he came out of Future Sight. He glanced up at Yui, and a small smile on his face.
"What is it, Packer?" she asked.
"I saw the vision I've been receiving again and again," Packer explained. "This time around, you've been added to it, Yui-sensei."
Yui let out a huge sigh of relief, as did the rest of the group.
"So, that's seven of us down, and two to go," Morishige added.
"Yep… and they're going to be the hardest ones by far," Packer replied, glancing over at Satoshi and Seiko.
"Maybe, but I still have faith that you'll be able to save them, Packer," Naomi said with a smile. Packer smiled and nodded, grateful for her support.
"Well, now that that's out of the way, how about we get going?" he asked.
"Indeed. The door to the basement isn't that far away," Ayumi said, taking the lead. Together, they walked down the hallway toward the basement.
(Corpse Party's Chapter 5 Main Building 2 theme begins playing in the background)
At the end of the hallway, they now found themselves standing in front of the door marked 'Basement'. As Ayumi had described, many charms were covering the door. Packer walked up and tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. Stepping back, he powered up a spell and launched it at the door.
"SACRED FIRE!"
The fireball struck the door, but to his surprise, the door remained intact. He glanced back at the rest of the group with a confused look.
"Well, shit," he muttered. "How are we supposed to get through this door?"
Suddenly, something in Ayumi's pocket began shining brightly, eliciting a gasp from her diaphragm. The others were caught off guard by the sudden light emanating from Ayumi as well.
"Shinozaki, what's going on?" Yoshiki asked, perturbed. Ayumi reached into her pocket and pulled out the object emitting the light.
"It's the power stone Yui-sensei gave me," Ayumi realized. "But why is it reacting now?" Yuka let out a small gasp as she remembered something.
"I saw something like this not too long ago!" she exclaimed, drawing all eyes to her. "The stone seems to react to doors that are plastered with protective charms, just like this one!"
Packer looked back at the door, and noticed the talismans were vibrating violently.
"Ayumi, hand me the power stone," he said. The bluenette walked over and handed the power stone to Packer. Taking a cautious step forward, he pressed the stone against the door. All at once, there was a reaction. The door shook violently, and the power stone shattered in Packer's hand. Then, the door stopped shaking, and the talismans burned away, allowing Packer to slide the door open. Peering in, he could see a flight of stairs leading downward into the basement of the school.
"Alright, let's get this over with," Packer declared. Pulling Shiden from its sheath, he walked slowly down the stairs with the rest of the group in tow.
As they reached the bottom of the stairwell, everyone glanced around at their surroundings. The underground rooms appeared to be an abandoned bomb shelter rather than a basement.
"An underground tunnel system… Who would've thought there'd be something like this beneath the school?" Satoshi inquired.
"So, if we follow these tunnels to the end…" Naomi began. "Won't we end up in the place where Sachiko killed those three children?"
"Yeah, and where Sachiko's body is buried, too," Satoshi replied.
"Which is where we need to go," Packer interjected.
"But how will we figure out which room it is?" Mayu asked.
"The murderer, or rather, the man who kidnapped the three children, Yoshikazu, supposedly hanged himself in the same room," Satoshi explained. "So if we can find any evidence of his death, we'll know we're in the right place."
"And what an awful place it is…" Naomi murmured.
"Indeed," Packer agreed. "Let's get moving."
At the first intersection, the group turned right, and down the hallway, they came across two tables set up on either side of the hall, and positioned on top of the tables were several severed heads, eliciting a gasp from most of the Kisaragi group. They looked further down the hallway, and were stunned when they could see three sets of tables lined up in the middle, left and right side of the hallway, all containing severed heads.
"Ulgh… What the Hell?!" Satoshi gasped. "All these heads, just… lined up like prizes…"
"Or trophies," Packer interjected.
"God…" Naomi shuddered. Yuka gripped her brother's arm a little tighter.
"I can't believe Sachiko would allow Yoshikazu to do this to so many people," Ayumi said with a shiver.
"These don't look particularly old, either," Satoshi replied. "I think they're victims of the curse who got trapped here, just like us."
"What kind of sick person would take the time to line them up so neatly?!" Naomi spat out angrily.
"I would imagine this is Yoshikazu's handiwork, considering Sachiko is the one who likes to collect tongues," Packer replied.
"He certainly seems… obsessive compulsive," Satoshi observed. "Someone who takes pride in his 'collection'. Not someone I'd want to meet, that's for sure…"
"Yeah, something I've had the unfortunate pleasure of doing multiple times over," Packer said grimly.
After bypassing the tables, they came across a door on the left further down the hallway. Packer slid the door open and peeked inside. The room was covered in a veil of darkness, but the smell was overpowering.
"God, what is that awful smell?" Yui asked, covering her nose. Packer's eyes narrowed as he recognized it.
"The smell of rotting flesh," he replied, causing the others to gasp. Extracting a dagger from his uniform, he tossed it into the room, where it stuck against the far wall. The dagger began illuminating a bright light, and what the group saw within was nothing short of appalling.
"Oh, my God!" Seiko gasped. Naomi, Yuka and Mayu had to turn away to prevent themselves from vomiting.
"Good lord," Morishige muttered in shock. "What the Hell happened in here?"
The floor of the room was covered in a deep, pool of blood. Numerous bodies were floating in the crimson mass.
"It's a dead pool," Packer said. "I imagine this is where they dump people's bodies once they're done with them."
"That's horrible!" Ayumi exclaimed. Packer quickly glanced around, looking for something in particular.
"What are you looking for, Packer?" Yoshiki asked. Packer let out a sigh of relief.
"I was expecting to see Seiko's body in here somewhere, but I don't, so that's a positive… I guess," Packer replied.
"Can we get moving, please? I don't want to be anywhere near this room for much longer," Naomi said, holding a hand to her mouth to keep from gagging. Packer glanced back at her and nodded.
"Alright, let's move," he said. Closing the door, he led the group further down the hallway.
As they rounded a corner to the right, someone suddenly shot into view and ran right into Packer. Packer grunted from the force of the hit but only stumbled backward, while the person was knocked off his feet. The person looked scared and was breathing heavily, but began to calm down when he noticed the group of people in front of him.
"There's… other people down here…?" he muttered in shock. Packer glanced down at the young man, recognizing him almost instantly.
"You must be Taguchi, Kibiki's cameraman," Packer said, causing Taguchi to gasp in response.
"How do you know who I am?" he asked. Packer let out a sigh.
"I'm sorry to say this, but Kibiki and Naho are both dead," Packer replied. "They both succumbed to the power of this place, and their spirits basically explained the gist of the situation."
"No way. Kibiki-sensei AND Naho-san?" Taguchi muttered, still in a state of shock. "It's just not possible…"
"Anything's possible in this dimension, unfortunately," Packer replied sullenly. Taguchi looked up at the green-haired young man, now full of questions.
"Why are you here?" he asked.
"I'm here to get the Nine of Kisaragi Academy that you see behind me out of here," Packer explained. "If I don't succeed, the entire planet will be consumed by this dimension. Is Sachiko's body down in this bomb shelter somewhere?"
"Yes," Taguchi replied. "It's down at very end of this hallway. It is a bit of a long walk, but once you get to a room that has a very tall man hanging from it, you're there. May I ask why you're going there?"
"We have reason to believe that we can appeal to Sachiko's humanity and get her to apologize for her actions," Packer continued. "If we can do that, we'll be able to escape from this place. But before that, I need to revive one of my group, and in order to do that, I need to find her body. Have you seen someone that has a similar uniform to the one the girls are wearing, with brown hair styled into two curls?"
"No, I can't say that I have…" Taguchi began, until Packer's words began to sink in. "Wait, did you say… revive one of your group?"
"That would be me," Seiko replied, popping out from behind the group, waving to Taguchi. His mouth dropped open, stunned at seeing a spirit walking with other people, but what also had him nervous was the fact that this person seemed somehow familiar to him…
Naomi glanced down and noticed that Taguchi had dropped his video camera. She walked over and picked it up, handing it to Taguchi.
"Here, you dropped this," Naomi said, handing the camera back. Taguchi accepted it graciously.
"Oh, thank you…" he began, but when he looked up at the person who had handed it back to him, his face went completely white. "Ahhhhhhh…."
Naomi looked at him with a confused expression as he scrambled to his feet and ran away from the group.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHH!" Taguchi screamed, running back down the hallway from where he had come from. Everyone in the Kisaragi group had confused expressions on each of their faces, especially Naomi's. Packer scratched his head, not exactly sure what just happened.
"Uhhhhhhhhh… ooooookay," Packer muttered in confusion.
"So… what just happened?" Satoshi asked.
"I have no idea," Naomi replied, absolutely flabbergasted. "He just looked at my face, and then… he…"
"He certainly seemed to be pretty jumpy," Yoshiki interjected.
"It might've been my fault as well," Seiko said sheepishly. "Talking to a spirit isn't exactly something you do every day."
"Come on, we should make our way through here as quickly as we can," Satoshi suggested. "Weird things seem to be the norm down in these tunnels."
"My thoughts exactly," Packer agreed. Gripping Shiden a little bit tighter, he led the Kisaragi group further down the darkened tunnels.
After traversing the tunnels for several minutes, the group came across another open doorway, this time on the right side of the hallway. With Shiden at the ready, Packer peered inside, but much like the dead pool room, he couldn't see a thing. Packer walked further inside, and was hit with the same smell as the other room, only much stronger. The others walked in as well, and several of them gagged at the overpowering smell.
"Ugh… What is this place?! The smell is even more overpowering than before…" Satoshi gasped. He felt along the wall, searching for the light switch. He finally found and flipped it, flooding the room with light… and immediately wished he didn't. "Oh, my lord…"
Blood and various bits of meat and viscera caked the walls and floor of the room. In the center was a table with various restraints. In one corner was another table with various instruments, and in another corner was what appeared to be a large wardrobe. Next to the wardrobe was a sink that had splotches of blood on it, and hanging over it was a metal rack, with chains and shackles dangling from it.
"What the Hell is this room? What was it used for?!" Naomi exclaimed.
"It almost looks like… a dissection room…" Packer muttered in disgust. Satoshi walked up to the table in the middle of the room and examined it.
"The table sure does have a lot of blood stains on it…" he whispered.
"I imagine this is where quite a few people met their deaths," Packer observed.
As silence gripped the room for a moment, a rhythmic sound suddenly became audible. It almost sounded like… heavy footsteps along the dirt floor. Everybody present gasped.
(Corpse Party's Something's Coming begins playing in the background)
"Someone's coming!" Satoshi whispered.
"What do we do?! The footsteps are getting closer!" Naomi gasped.
Then, all at once, they heard someone scream. Packer gasped upon recognizing the voice.
"That sounded like Taguchi!" he said. Then, he heard what sounded like an angry howl, followed by a loud thunk. Packer's grip on Shiden became even tighter.
"What on God's green Earth was that?!" Yoshiki asked.
"I think that was Taguchi, and I'd say he just met his end at the hands of Yoshikazu," Packer replied grimly. His eyes then shot toward the entrance when the footsteps began again, and they seemed to be heading in their direction.
"Naomi, Yuka, under the table! Quickly!" Satoshi ordered, sliding himself underneath the table. Naomi and Yuka quickly did the same, with Seiko following suit. Packer looked around and spied on the instrument table in the corner.
"Over there!" he ordered, pointing to the table. Together, Packer, Yui, Ayumi, Yoshiki, Tohko, Morishige and Mayu crouched down behind the instrument table and waited.
The footsteps continued to get louder, until they were right outside the room. Packer barely peeked over the table to get a look and gasped. Walking into the room was none other than the big brute himself, Yoshikazu. In one hand, he was dragging the corpse of Taguchi along the ground, and he had the body of what appeared to be a young girl slung over his left shoulder.
Stopping in front of the wooden table, in clear view of Satoshi, Yuka, Naomi and Seiko, who were hiding underneath the table, Yoshikazu dropped the girl off of his shoulder and onto the ground in front of them. Their eyes widened when they realized who it was. Naomi opened her mouth to scream, but Satoshi quickly covered it with his hand. Tears ran down Naomi's face as she watched the body of her best friend lying in front of her.
After dropping Seiko's body on the dirt floor, Yoshikazu picked up Taguchi's now deceased body and put it on top of the wooden table. He then walked over to the instrument table, where Packer had ducked back down behind and urged everyone to remain quiet. The brute picked up a pair of scissors and grunted as he walked back over to Taguchi's body. Opening his mouth and grabbing his tongue, Yoshikazu proceeded to sever Taguchi's tongue from his mouth. It came off into his hand with a sickening shnick. With another low grunt, he tossed Taguchi's tongue into a bloodied bucket that was already filled with hundreds of other human tongues.
Packer and the others with him slowly peeked over the instrument table, and watched as Yoshikazu took Taguchi's body and threw it off the table roughly. It landed over on the south side of the room near the entrance, blood pouring from Taguchi's mouth. Setting the scissors down for a moment, Yoshikazu knelt down and picked up Seiko's body in his arms. Naomi was trying her best not to scream, and the ripples of fear began to flow through Seiko as well as she realized what was going to happen.
When Yoshikazu turned around, Packer's eyes widened as he realized who the girl was… Seiko. Everyone sucked in a breath as they realized what Yoshikazu intended to do.
"Oh, my God…" Ayumi whispered. "He's gonna cut off Shinohara's tongue…"
"And that would ruin any chance of using the Vivification spell on her. We've got to do something!" Yoshiki whispered back.
Yoshikazu placed Seiko's body on top of the wooden table and picked up the pair of scissors. Packer could feel his anger begin to boil as he watched Yoshikazu open her mouth and pull out her tongue. Packer squeezed his eyes shut, trying to hold back the intense rage that was building up inside his body.
With one last grunt, Yoshikazu lowered the bloodied scissors toward Seiko's tongue…
Author's Note: Oooh, another cliffhanger… XD