Ch. 19 The Perfect Damsel

What felt like ages later, Saiki finally opened his eyes.

His entire body hurt like hell, and he felt like he wanted to throw up, but he was alive. So that was a good thing, he supposed. He opened his eyes slowly, trying to appear asleep just long enough to get a clear look at his surroundings. He estimated that roughly an hour or two ago he had awoken and tried to use his x ray vision to see past his eyelids, but any attempt at using a power sent waves of shocks through his body once again. He was a helpless human currently, so he was going to have to act like it.

He wasn't sure if that fully made sense, but hey, his brother was a genius. So really who was he to argue that he was capable of some weird and unbelievable things.

Through the tiniest cracks in his eyelids, Saiki made out that he was in a cage. Not even a fancy, high tech, esp user catching cage. Just a regular cage, with iron bars that were starting to look a little rusty, though still strong. It was almost offensive, but then he realized that his wrists were chained to the bars behind him, and if he attempted to move them to his head and remove the device that was keeping him so helpless Kusuke would hear him. And Kusuke would probably just click a button and listen to his screams for the fun of it.

Yes, Kusuke was in the room. Wherever they were, it wasn't a very big room. Just a dark room with a psychic in a cage and a mad scientist twirling in circles on a computer chair in front of four huge monitors that were emitting the only light. Kusuke was probably starting to get bored if he was acting this childish, Saiki wondered how long he had been out.

Taking his chances, Saiki opened his eyes a little further and tried to get a good look at the computer monitors in front of him. They all showed the camera image of the same thing.

Teruhashi.

Teruhashi strapped down to train tracks like they were suddenly in some 1930's western. She was blindfolded, and visibly shaking, and from the looks of it Kusuke had actually stuffed her into a big puffy 19th century dress. She was the perfect damsel in distress, and it was him that had brought her into this.

Anger and shame were emotions he wasn't used to experiencing at the same time, but they were weighing him down now.

"Oh! You're awake!" Kusuke's computer chair crashed to the floor as the older man rushed to the cage, gripping the bars and grinning at his brother like a psychopath, "It took you forever! I was getting so bored waiting to play our game."

Saiki blinked at him, not stupid enough to try and use his telepathy.

Kusuke's grin got smug, "What you're not gonna talk to your big brother? Even after all the gifts I bestowed upon you this year? You never would have started dating Teruhashi if it wasn't for me you know. Don't you want to thank me for that?"

Saiki glared.

"I said," Kusuke pointed a remote control at the monitor behind him, "Say thank you." He pushed a large red button near the top and Saiki watched, horrified as Teruhashi started thrashing against the train tracks, clearly in pain.

Thank you, Kusuke! Thank you! The aftershocks from his fake antenna were still hurting his brain, but he grit his teeth and fought through it, Thank you, now stop!

"Ah, ah, ah Saiki," Kusuke tapped the horn attached to his skull, "I can't hear you. What are you trying to say?"

Saiki's eyes widened. Talk? He had never spoken a word aloud in his life, he wasn't sure if his vocal cords even worked properly. Did he even know how to push air from his windpipe and create sounds? He opened his mouth, desperately trying to use his tongue and lips and create a sound, but the only thing coming from his mouth was horse squeaks, and raspy breathing. Kusuke pressed another button and Teruhashi's mouth opened in a scream that Saiki couldn't hear.

NO, Saiki stood up and pulled forward, almost succeeding in ripping the chains holding him back from the iron, but then Kusuke pointed the remote towards him, and the shocks coursing through him stopped him from being able to break free. He hung there, on the tips of his toes, opening and closing his mouth to try and form words to save her, but they just wouldn't come. Tears began dripping from the corner of his eyes. "Nnnn...ooo", It was the best sound he could make.

Teruhashi suddenly stopped thrashing and screaming, instead she was just panting heavily, recovering from her unexpected assault. Relief flooded through him, though his vision of Teruhashi was blocked a second later by Kusuke's beaming face. "You're first words little brother! My first words were the planet of Pluto is actually more similar to a meteorite than a planet, but no is a good start!"

He laughed and went to pull up his computer chair, sitting in it and then twirling again.

"Hmmm..." He hung his head back so that he was looking at his younger brother upside down every few seconds. "I guess since you managed to say something I can take this thing off and let you speak to me normally. But only because I'm the nicest big brother in the world." And just like that he dug his heels into the ground, stopping with his back to the monitor and still grinning as if this was just an average family reunion. He reached up and disconnected the horn from his skull. "Now then brother, do you have any questions?"

Where is she? Saiki ignored the pain in his skull.

"Not telling you, that's the whole point of the game," Kusuke laughed, "Next question."

What is wrong with you?

"Nothing. I'm a genius and a billionaire, I have figured out how to manipulate regular human's emotions to get them to do what I want. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just natural selection working at its finest." He shrugged and picked at his ear absentmindedly. "The only thing wrong is that I haven't managed to use all of my incredible talents to win in a game against you."

What happened to liking that I was the only one who could win against you? Saiki rolled his eyes.

"Well, it's really a win win for me isn't it? If you win against me then I redouble my efforts for the next time and therefore provide myself with something to do, and if I win, then I win. I achieve my life's purpose and retire in peace with my billions." Kusuke smiled kindly at his little brother, "I'll even fund your funeral."

You're insane.

"That's not a question. Are we done here then?"

Saiki's eyes flicked over to Teruhashi on the monitors. What's the rules of the game?

Kusuke's eyes lit up, "I knew you'd want to play with me little brother. Alright, get this." He swung around in his chair and clicked several buttons on the remote so that the monitors switched away from Teruhashi and each showed a different area in the major parts of Hidarwakibara Town. It all felt very familiar to the scavenger hunt that Kusuke had sent him on the year before. That seemed a little too easy though. Even with the horrible new antennas stuck to his head, he could whiz through those challenges. After all he had completed them already, he knew what was waiting for him, and how to achieve the goal. But Kusuke was more cunning than that... he had to remain on his guard.

"Normally, I give you challenges and time limits that you can try and outsmart me on," Kusuke swung back around to face his brother, "But we're going to do something different this time." He grinned, "The name of the game is Cowboys and Indians."

You mean the children's game that normal humans play during recess?

"Sure, I might have gotten some inspiration from that," Kusuke shrugged, "But it's mostly because of the look of the Mech fighting suits I made."

Mech... fighting suits. Saiki turned his attention away from his brother and back to the monitors. There on the screen was what awaited him. Four fights. Each most likely harder than the last, each mechanism built by his brother to destroy him, and each sporting a rather ridiculous top that made the whole thing look like a cowboy from the wild wild west. Kusuke clearly had a theme to this trial. The innocent people in the town likely had no idea the danger that was behind these metal beasts, as they laughed and took pictures with them, like they were just ordinary statues. Or modern art.

"You see Kusuo, these machines will really give you a run for your money. And inside each one is a clue to where Teruhashi is," Kusuke looked incredibly proud of himself, "Don't bother trying to read my mind for her location either, I paid someone and gave them a telepathy blocker. They took her somewhere that neither of us know the location of. But, with all my remote controlled goodies, she is still very much in danger. So I guess time is technically of the essence."

Ok, There was nothing else to do but play the game and save her, so he wanted to start now. Take these shockers off of me and let's go.

"Take them off?" Kusuke tilted his head and grinned deviously at his brother, "What are you talking about? Those have to remain firmly in place or else I will do some horrible and painful things to your girlfriend. It's only fair."

Fair? You think it's fair to make me fight four mechanical monsters while in extreme pain?

"If you weren't weakened then you would just destroy them all with a flick of your finger," Kusuke rolled his eyes, "I'm a genius, I know what's fair better than you do."

Saiki just glared, he had no options but to fight. To fight through the pain in his skull and take down the machines as quickly as possible. Alright fine, where's the first fight?

"It's right outside, my dear brother," Kusuke pointed his remote at the wall behind Saiki and it suddenly started spreading apart, with loud mechanical whirring sounds. Bright sunlight shone into the weird makeshift lab they were in, Saiki squinted a bit and when his vision finally focused he saw they were in the park.

What did you take over the bathrooms or something? Saiki sighed and his brother snickered behind him, Ok, let's get this over with, let me out.

"You can get yourself out brother. Don't try and hold onto your strength, it won't matter anyway." Kusuke clicked another button and the first mech whirred to life, lighting up and then taking loud thundering steps towards Saiki's cage.

A large metal fist crashed down, exactly where Saiki had been mere moments before. It bent, and then snapped the bars as well as the chains linking him to the cage. Being a man of action more than words, the younger of the two brothers had already snapped his chains and teleported to the other side of the mechanical beast, which immediately turned, as if sensing his presence, and began its attack again.

"Woah! Mom the statue's moving! I think they're going to do a show!"

"Really? That's amazing! Quick honey come look."

Good Greif.

He had ready forgotten they were in a crowded park. His brother was giving him a choice. Fight quickly and save Teruhashi or keep his powers hidden from the world. Saiki dodged another swing from the mechanical monster. The joke was on his brother though because he had already thought of 142 ways out of this situation, and the easiest one was already staring up at him as he dodged blow after blow.

"Hey, is that master? What kind of magic show is he doing Michael?" Chono scratched the underside of his top hat, glancing over at his magicians assistant. The two of them had set up shop in the park today to try and get some donations to their next magic performance by preforming small tricks for children, though currently their audience was much more captivated in the fight than them. Though Chono supposed it was rather normal for his master, Saiki, had been running into them frequently for several years now, and if there was ever a chance to upstage them and inspire them to work harder to become better magicians, the pink haired teen always seemed to take it. For Saiki the miracle here was that if there was anyone that would jump to the wrong conclusion (like thinking real supernatural tricks were just illusions) when seeing something truly impossible happen, it was the clueless magician, Chono, and his formerly homeless assistant Michael.

"Huh? Magic show?" A young woman near the magical duo blinked in surprise. "This is a magic show?"

Chono beamed at her, excited to have any attention at all, as most performers would be, "It must be, my master is the greatest magician I have ever met. You won't believe your eyes when you see... Uh... Whatever it is you are about to see."

Saiki almost sighed in relief at those words as he managed to slide low enough to barely miss getting his head knocked off, and the crowds murmuring turned to exactly what he needed. Prepare to be amazed, he thought dryly, gripping the ankle of the mech tightly, I owe you one Chono.

There was a flash of blue light and then the master of magic and the western theme mech vanished.

...

...

...

"THAT'S MY MASTER!"

"THANK YOU MASTER, FOR INSPIRING ME ONCE AGAIN TO BECOME AN EVEN BETTER MAGICIAN THAN I AM RIGHT NOW!"

The crowd in the park burst into uproarious disbelief at what they had just witnessed. Immediately going to their phones and the internet and talking about the fantastic pink haired magician and his incredible display. From the disguised again public washrooms, Kusuke looked rather shocked as well. Leaning against the door for support, and just downright amazed at how lucky his brother really was.

He supposed it was a good thing he had planned a second little surprise then.