Hoo boy, finally knocked this one out. I was tearing my hair out trying to figure out how to go about this chapter. But regardless, I hope you guys enjoy this one. Thank you all!
Chapter 19
Out of all the locations in Old South, Royal Gallery Mall could be considered the most lively place to be. The massive layout of the building made it a popular location for meetings or gatherings of every type, much like malls in the real world. It's reputation as a hangout spot made it a sort of home-away-from-home. Rumors even circulated around Glocken that the mall's large rotunda was often used to host clandestine tournaments where the winners won anything from cold hard cash to extremely rare weapons to even favors from the more prestigious members of the playerbase. No matter what time of day you visit the mall, there's always something going on there.
Which made its current state all the more unusual.
The parking lot was one long stretch of no man's land. Every car that used to sit there as cover was now up against the main doors or around the immediate area, pressed bumper to bumper, creating an effective wall that several Yokai members were standing behind. Others were patrolling the makeshift barrier and one more was standing on the roof, sniper rifle in hand. No lights came through the windows or the tall glass pane above the front doors designed to let the sunlight inside. There was no way to know who was inside or what was waiting for us when we got in.
"The entire place is a killing ground. Things'll get nasty real fast the second they spot us," I said, lowering the binoculars I was using. Serena parked us a good distance away from the mall, in a narrow side street that fed into the main road. The edge of the mall's parking lot was just on the other side. "I think we can agree that a straight fight should be a last resort."
"So what are you thinking?" Serena asked. I chewed on my lip.
"Maybe we can trick our way in? Pretend you got me prisoner and they'll let us through."
"Did you know that was the plan from the start? Nue told us Yanari caught you, so Ikuchi sent me and some other guys in this truck to go pick you up. Then you, y'know, killed everyone," Serena said. "If I'm the only one coming back with you, they'll get seriously suspicious. They don't trust me, remember? I'm an amateur at this game. There's no way they'll believe I caught you. You're way out of my league."
"I think that's the first time a girl's ever told me that," I said.
"Wow," Serena said, drawing out the word and looking magnificently unimpressed. "But seriously, they won't buy it. Not in a million years. They know what you can do and they know I'd rather be doing something that doesn't involve shooting people. I'm no good at it."
I had to admit, I hadn't thought of that. Serena's distaste for GGO had to be obvious to everyone in Yokai. She wasn't the most skilled shot either, by her own admission. If she marched me right up to them and said she subdued me alone, she'd raise a forest of red flags.
"Can we disguise ourselves?" Rei asked from the backseat. "It's a mall with a lot of clothes, right? We can sneak in, change our appearance, and get to Ikuchi."
I turned to face her, brow furrowed, "Can you even get out of that suit you're wearing?"
"Uh huh. You can change my clothes, my body type, even my face to whatever you like! It's all up to you, Master," she said.
Serena whipped her head around, brow furrowed. "Woah, Master? What's with the weird roleplay?"
"It's not weird at all!" Rei said, crossing her arms over her chest. "It's Master's role to be my master. I'll serve him to my full capabilities."
"So...it's still roleplay," Serena said mildly.
"No, it isn't," I insisted, probably a bit more forcefully than I needed to. My ears turned a bright shade of red. Stupid embarrassment reflex. "It's complicated and not important right now, so we'll save it. Rei, I'll remember that for later, but I don't think it'll help us now. We'd have to get in first and all the ways inside are probably guarded. They'll sound the alarm the moment we're spotted," I turned back to Serena and said, "Every entrance is secured, right?
Serena sighed. "Pretty much. When Ikuchi got Sinon, he ordered everyone else to clear the mall out and turn it into this."
"Heavily fortified, guards on every entrance, and a big interior filled with every last man he has. All to hold one girl," I said, peering through the binoculars again. "He doesn't do things halfway, I'll give him that."
"So, what are you thinking?" she asked.
"One thing's for sure, we have to even the odds. We slow down for even a second and they'll slaughter us," I said, drumming my fingers on the binoculars. "We need to hit them so hard that by the time they manage to pull themselves together, we'll already be right on top of Ikuchi."
"Scramble them," Rei said. "Then we get Sinon out in the confusion, right?"
"That's the gist of it, yeah. But to do that, we need one hell of a sucker punch," I said, lowering the binoculars again. "We need backup. Just the three of us isn't going to cut it."
"Do you have any other friends, like that info broker girl?" Serena asked. I opened my menu and scrolled through my contacts, grimacing when I reached Argo's name.
"She's offline. I don't even have Noya's contact info so he's not an option," The rest of my admittedly short contacts list didn't fare much better. Either someone was offline or they were mere acquaintances at best, not someone who'd go out of their way to help me, and even if they would, I didn't have time to explain the situation and then wait for them to come to my rescue.
"So we're on our own," Serena said.
"For now," I said. I shut my eyes, thought furiously, drew on all the knowledge of GGO that I possessed — items, weapons, locations, game mechanics, every single thing that could give me the slightest edge, and came up short.
Not good enough, I growled to myself. Focus. The answer is close.
I furrowed my brow and concentrated, but instead of focusing on the game itself, I directed my attention elsewhere: inwards. Towards myself. I consulted my skills as a treasure seeker, where I learned to pick out clues hinting towards invaluable wealth. It took a good eye and even better observational skills. Fortunately, I had both.
When I opened my eyes, I scanned the area for anything that stood out. Nothing new stood out. I didn't let it discourage me. I checked the inside of the truck, the area around the mall, and the buildings surrounding us, until finally my attention was drawn to the mottled grey sky above, where the rain fell in a torrent, pattering against cracked concrete where it would seep through the tiniest crevices to be absorbed by the fertile ground beneath or collect into a puddle deep enough to drink from.
Aha. That was it. How could I have missed it? I've said it before, monsters act differently when it rains. Including a certain kind we brushed past on the way to Royal Gallery Mall.
"Anything nearby that goes underground?" I asked. Serena looked at me, eyebrow raised.
"There was a subway entrance a bit further back," Rei offered.
I grunted and handed Serena the binoculars, "C'mon then, Rei. Let's go check it out."
"Wait, what are you doing?" Serena asked.
"Getting reinforcements. Stay in the truck just in case. If I mess up, you don't want to be next in line to get eaten," I said.
Serena's eyes went wide. "You're joking. That was a joke, right?"
"Lock the doors, too," I said. Rei and I climbed out of the truck and together we hurried down the deserted street away from the mall.
Looking for treasure wasn't the only thing I used to do in GGO; I also made a living hunting down monsters of every stripe. Books scrawled with notes were filed away in the wire shelves back at my apartment, right next to the glass case containing the chassis and head of a high level robot I killed. In fact, the first time the bounty hunters came after me was when I was trying to kill the Ignominious Wolf, in the very city I was in now. I may not have been a high ranked player, but I knew my way around a bestiary.
Knowledge is power. Learn everything you can about a monster and it's a pretty safe bet you can kill it without too much trouble. Of course, it also came with a helpful side benefit. I knew how to use their behavior to my advantage.
About halfway down the street we reached the narrow concrete staircase leading down to Old South's subway. The entrance proper was closed off by one of those grill-style roll up shutters, the latch next to it secured by a padlock.
"Not ideal," I murmured to myself, going down the stairs two at a time. "But let's not throw in the towel yet." I peered through the grating. What little light there was from outside made it only several feet past the security curtain before being consumed wholly by imperceptible darkness. Next to me, Rei leaned forward until her forehead nearly touched the gate, squinting her eyes.
"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon," I whispered, listening intently for any sound. Then I caught it, a faint, almost wheezing chuffing noise. "There you are. Step back a bit, Rei. And don't make a sound."
She did so, clasping both hands over her mouth. Whatever works, I guess. I took a couple of steps back myself, then I licked my lips, put a pair of fingers in my mouth, and let off a sharp whistle.
The chuffing sound morphed into an enraged hiss. Tense seconds passed, then a humanoid figure lunged out of the darkness with an almost superhuman speed. It slammed into the security shutter with a throaty scream, reaching one of its gangly arms through the space between the metal bars to try to claw at my face with its long, sharp nails. I kept my face stony and didn't dare say a word.
Rei gasped through her nose and backed away, almost tripping on the stairs behind her. My chest twisted in apprehension, but she managed to right herself before taking a tumble. I thanked my lucky stars. The noise could have been fatal for us both.
The monster fell silent. Its kind hardly ever came to the surface and I was thankful for that. They weren't any pleasant to look at. The creature couldn't have been much taller than five feet if it were standing upright, and though it looked human, it was anything but. It was naked, and its hairless skin was torn off in some places, exposing the raw muscle and sinew underneath. Both shoulders were swollen with pus-filled boils the size of golf balls and half of its face was gone, melted beyond recognition, with only a lump of pink flesh where its ear used to be.
The thing's undamaged eye was clouded with a rheumy white film, but it still looked around as if it still had its sight. Its misshapen head tilted from side to side, drool leaking out from a lipless mouth as it gnashed its sharp yellow teeth, then it climbed down from the gate and crawled around on all fours, dragging its long tongue over the puddles of rainwater on the ground.
The creature was a Zerker. Old South's own boogeymonster.
There's a ton of theories about what they are exactly, and depending on who you talk to, you'll get a different one each time. Some people think they're escaped lab experiments from an undiscovered dungeon. Others think they're survivors of the Great War, mutated and driven mad by generations of radiation exposure. I've heard some people claim them to be aliens, too. Or mole people.
But whatever they were didn't matter so much as what they could do. Though they were blind, their other senses more than made up for it. Their ability to detect vibrations bordered on the supernatural and the scent of an open wound could drive them into a blood drunk frenzy, buffing their already dangerous stats, which made them particularly dangerous in their lairs deep underground. If even one spotted prey, they'd alert the others in its pack with a high-pitched wail, before they'd all swarm whoever was unlucky enough to step into their territory. One Zerker on its own was nothing to write home about, but a whole scourge of them in a confined space? That was another story. Throw in the fact that their attacks had a chance of causing a bleeding effect and a propensity for hit and run tactics, and even the most seasoned player would be given pause.
Any plan involving Zerkers was going to be dangerous by design. They were just as liable to kill me as the bad guys. However, I couldn't afford to be choosy about my options. Risk was part of the game. No avoiding it.
I patted Rei on the shoulder and headed back up the stairs, taking light steps to minimize the risk of the Zerker detecting the vibrations. Rei caught on pretty quick and did the same. We raced down the street to the truck and I jumped up on the rear bumper with my menu open. After pressing a few keys, I pointed a finger at the bed and in a brilliant flash of light, all the C4 I'd taken from the hotel appeared in a neat stack, the truck's suspension sagging under the sudden weight. I circled around the truck to the driver's side door and knocked on the window.
Serena rolled it down and said, "I'm probably gonna wish I didn't ask, but why are all those explosives in the back?"
"I know how to get inside the mall," I said, adding in a completely serious tone, "I'm going to knock."
Serena's mouth fell open. She blinked several times. "That's what you came up with?"
"I'm going to knock really hard," I said. I took a breath through my nose and caught a whiff of the exquisite perfume Serena used to short circuit brains like mine. "And I need you to get out of the truck."
"But it's raining."
"Exactly."
"Are you even gonna bother explaining things to me?"
"I will. When you're out of the truck."
Serena made a displeased noise in the back of her throat. "Do you always do this lame smart ass routine?"
"Some say it's my best feature," I said. "I'd do it to Sinon instead, but she's not here so…"
"Jeez, tell her I'm sorry for what she has to go through."
Ouch. Some people.
I climbed into the truck bed and began laying out the bricks of C4 so that they covered its entire length. That's when I heard Serena let out a girlish squeal.
I tried not to grin. 'Tried' being the key word.
Serena peeked into the truck bed a moment later with her shoulders hunched and her arms crossed over her chest, the picture of misery as the rain plastered her hair flat and made her clothes sag.
"This is the worst thing you've ever had me do," she muttered.
"Look on the bright side, it can only go up from here," I said, and kept working. The nice thing about handling explosives in GGO was that you didn't need to worry about going through a tedious process to set the blasting caps and arm the main fuse. The mere act of touching a brick of plastic explosives was enough to link it to my person and once I summoned the detonator in my hand, they'd be armed and ready to blow. It took a little over a minute to prepare all but a few. The rest would come later. "I needed you to wash off that perfume of yours. The Zerkers would smell it."
"You mean those things we went past in the tunnel? What do they have to do with this?"
"Zerkers are your basic blind enemy type. They can't see anything, but they're sensitive to pretty much all other kinds of stimuli. The second they catch something that can lead to prey, they'll alert the whole pack and rush in. Normally, they don't come close to the surface," I said as I gathered three bricks of inert C4 in my arms. "unless it's raining, when they come up to drink the water. We're going to rig the truck to explode, ram it straight at their barricade, and blow it up. If we time it right, the Zerkers will hear the racket and charge head first right into the mall. They'll take care of any Yokai inside."
"Wouldn't that put Sinon in danger too?" Serena asked.
"Yeah," I confirmed. "It's a risk, but I trust her. She's capable enough."
Rei poked her head over the tailgate. "So, how are we going to get out?"
"We aren't," I said. I bent down and gave the remaining C4 to her. "You're not going."
Rei's eyes widened. "What? But why not?"
"Because I need someone to unlock that subway gate and let the Zerkers out," I pointed at the explosives in her arms. "Obviously we don't have a key, so that's going to have to do. Don't use the whole thing, just a small bit to blow up the lock. Open the gate, then get the hell out of there."
"Then I go in with you?" she asked.
"No. You're staying out here during the whole thing," I said gently, hopping off the truck bed. She looked like she was about to protest until I took her by the arm, giving it a firm squeeze to stop her before she could. "I know you want to help more directly, but I need you for something way more important. Getting to Sinon won't mean a thing if we don't have an escape route. And you're the one who's going to make it."
I opened up a map of Old South on holographic display, and zoomed in until the entirety of the Royal Gallery Mall was in view. "I don't know where we'll be when we grab Sinon, so to be on the safe side, you'll plant an explosive charge...ah, here, here...and here," I pointed at three points on the map. "A, B, and C. They don't know about you, so I bet every Yokai posted outside is going to move in on me once I start making noise. That'll give you the chance to sneak around and do your thing. When we rescue Sinon, I'll tell you to blow whichever charge I'm closest to, then we all get out. Sound good?"
Rei straightened. She pressed the explosives tightly against her chest then made them disappear with the same hand motion I used to dissipate my equipment. She looked between Serena and I, then bowed her head by way of compliance.
"Thank you," I told her.
I grabbed one final brick of C4, lifting it up and down, testing its weight, and said, "We'll stay in contact through the party. Let me know when you have each charge planted. And watch your back."
"You too..." Rei said.
I turned to climb into the truck when a pair of slender arms wrapped themselves around my waist from behind, holding me tight against the press of another body. I sucked in a breath on reflex. It was comforting and warm and so close to the real thing that I didn't know any better, I'd have mistaken the embrace coming from an actual person in the real world. I looked over my shoulder. Rei had her face buried into the collar of my jacket, her short white hair sticking to her forehead underneath the hooded cloak she wore.
"Um, Master? When you find Ikuchi, stay cool, okay?" she asked in a meek voice. I thought the request strange at first, then the memory of the argument I had with Serena earlier entered my mind. She saw the whole thing play out. She witnessed first hand how worked up I got at the notion of getting my hands around Ikuchi's neck. Rei was afraid. For me.
I bowed my head and placed a hand over one of hers. "I'll try," I murmured back to her. "Thank you for caring, Rei."
She nodded. "Of course. I'll always care, Master. Forever and ever."
I forced a laugh. Serena must have read the mood, because she stepped further away to allow us some privacy. After a moment, I said, "There's something I should probably know before I go in there."
"What is it?"
"Is there any chance I could, well, lose you? Permanently?"
Rei released her hold on me, and when I turned around, she wore a pensive expression, her head tilted to one side. "I'm bound to you, Master. The only way that will change is if you willingly release me. Or trade me to someone else."
Which meant she wasn't leaving my side anytime soon. I breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, "Okay, cool. That won't happen any time soon," I said.
Rei gave me a tiny smile. "I know. I trust you."
I sent Serena an invite and we piled into the truck with me in the driver's seat. I settled into the cracked leather seating and held the brick of C4 out to her. "Hold onto this, will you?"
She took it with a noticeable amount of caution, and I focused on the street ahead.
I turned the key. The truck sputtered to life. Black smoke billowed from the tailpipe, the engine wheezed and coughed, but the determined hum coming from four thousand pounds of steel was unmistakable as I gripped the steering wheel hard, my knuckles creaking, my gaze fixed on the barricade standing between me and Ikuchi. Sinon was in there. I was going to get her out. Even if I had to raze half the city to do it.
"I'm ready to blow the lock, Master," Rei said over my earpiece. I nodded and set the truck into drive.
"Do it on my signal," I said. I took a slow, deep breath, gathering my willpower, shaping it into what I needed it to be. A weapon. A driving energy. A quiet, unyielding strength potent enough to see me through even the worst situations. This one would be no different.
The racing of my virtual heart accelerated with the fast, harsh beats of a war drum as whatever passed for adrenaline in the Amusphere pumped itself through my veins. The anticipation of battle. Pre-fight jitters. Whatever you want to call it, it seized my body and refused to let go. But there was a familiarity to the tension. Like an old friend that always got you into trouble.
"You sure you want to come with me? Ride's going to get rough." I said. Serena nodded.
"I'll try to keep them from hitting you. Just focus on driving," she said. "You do know how to drive, right?
"Nope," I said. Which was the truth. I could tell one pedal from the other, but everything else was from another planet. On the bright side, it's not like I had to be an expert for what I was about to do.
Serena frowned. "Uh, maybe I should take over. I'm pretty sure I can —,"
I swallowed the lump in my throat, and gunned it.
Two thoughts occurred to me when I hit the gas.
The first was that the pedal was way more sensitive than I expected. The slightest pressure was enough to make the truck jerk, and when I slammed the pedal all the way down, the tires squealed and spun in place for a half-second before gaining traction. The ancient vehicle shot forward at a breakneck speed. My stomach lurched and the unexpected shift of inertia catapulted me back into my seat, my fingers almost slipping from the steering wheel. The truck raced across the main street and hit the curb hard, jouncing off of it with enough speed to send sparks flying from the undercarriage as we bounced and roared into the parking lot.
The second thought was that I wasn't wearing a seatbelt, and several painfully clear images flashed in my mind of crashing and flying through the windshield to become a wet smear on the ground.
"Slow down. Slow down! We're going way too fast!" Serena braced a hand against the dashboard, her eyes wide with terror like she had a front seat on a runaway roller coaster.
"No! Faster! No weenie speed. Only warp speed," I shouted, more than a little terrified myself.
The sniper on the rooftop noticed us first, but it didn't take long for the other Yokai to realize what was happening. They spread out behind their wall of parked cars, took aim with their numerous automatics and rifles, and tore through the steady pattering of rain with a cacophonous wail of gunfire. The windshield broke in an instant under the heavy onslaught and I ducked my head to avoid the shards of safety glass flying. I veered the truck from side to side, avoiding as much gunfire as I could as the sharp, jerky swerves threatened to toss me around in my own seat. Serena pushed her nausea down and poked her head out the window, letting loose with her own roar from her Uzi, trying to suppress their fire.
Bullets pinged off the truck in a shower of sparks, a hideous grinding noise started coming from the engine, and smoke coughed up from underneath the hood. I kept my head down, practically peeking out over the steering wheel.
"Serena, the C4, now!" I yelled. She dove back inside and fumbled for it in her lap, practically shoving it into my outstretched hand. I took my foot off the pedal and replaced it with the explosive brick in a hurried toss. "Out the truck!"
"No! We're going to break our necks like this," she hollered back. I grimaced, steering the truck to the right to avoid the full brunt of another wall of lead.
"Tuck and roll. Don't move a muscle until I get you. Not a muscle!" I said. A bullet ricocheted off the dashboard and I winced as it burned the spot right next to my left eye. You can't get much more motivation than that. I threw open the door.
And then I dove out of a moving truck going a bajillion miles per hour.
You can't fully appreciate the extent of what momentum can do until you're left to her tender mercies. For example, people who ride motorcycles tend to wear leather jackets, vests, and pants when they're out on the street. It's not a fashion statement. They wear them so a bad crash doesn't turn into an impromptu flaying when they start skidding across the asphalt. After all, you could be the most gifted, most powerful person to ever walk the earth, but the moment your two feet leave the ground, physics takes the figurative wheel. You don't stop until it says so.
I hunched my shoulders and used my arms to shield my head, but it didn't prepare me. Not the least bit. Everything whirled around. The ground scraped and tore and ripped at my body, mauling me like a pack of rabid wolves. My knee struck something hard and all the feeling in my leg went numb. One of my arms was wrenched away from my head and a burning sensation savaged my cheek not even an instant later. Somewhere in my mind, in the last shreds of coherent thought, I worried that the Zerkers would smell the blood.
I tumbled for what felt like an eternity. Then it was over. I slowed to a stop, lying on my back, staring straight up at the dark grey sky, cold water splashing my face. The world was still spinning. Everything was fuzzy. I couldn't remember what I was supposed to be doing.
Then I heard a heavy metal crash, and snapped back into the moment. I raised a shaking arm, summoned the ten ton detonator in my hand, and rasped, "Rei, blow it."
I turned my head to see the truck had crashed dead center against the wall of cars blocking the mall entrance. The cloud of smoke pouring from its hood turned thick and black. A steady stream of gas leaked from somewhere underneath the vehicle. Yokai climbed over the wreck to take aim at me.
From somewhere off in the distance, I heard a distinct, sharp pop. The gate was unlocked. The Zerkers were coming, I was sure of it. Rei's explosion would alert all of them. To them, loud noises meant prey.
So I squeezed the detonator's trigger, and gave them an even louder racket.
It wasn't an explosion. The word often conjures up images of a ball of fire, a shockwave hard enough to throw you back a little, a one and done kaboom. The word simply didn't do justice to what happened. Just one ounce of C4 has enough punch to break steel. The truck was loaded with pounds of it.
All I knew was shattered. The very air itself was split in half. The world trembled like an earthquake, a volcanic eruption, and a meteor strike all happened at once, shaking me so hard and so violently that my guts turned to water and rushed up my throat. I would have curled onto my side and puked if a heavy wave of pressure didn't smash me flat.
Ground Zero of the blast was a level of destruction and chaos few have ever experienced in their lives. Car parts, metal, stone. Asphalt, shrapnel, bodies, limbs, and blood. All of it flew into the air in a shower of pure violent mayhem. The outer wall of cars turned into a flaming heap as one vehicle after another had its gas tank blown, setting off a disastrous domino effect that pulverized any Yokai unlucky enough to survive the initial hit. The mall's windows disintegrated and rained down shards of glass. The sniper perched at the top of the roof didn't even have time to run when the entire front of the mall's entrance collapsed from the blast's overpressure. The ground crumbled underneath his feet, swallowing and burying him whole under the debris gathering behind the wall of fire that set half the parking lot alight with a sullen orange glow.
But that's not all folks. Because amidst the burning wreckage, the crackling flames, the crumbling building, and the deafening ringing in my own ears, came a horrid, otherworldly screech so utterly wrong that my basest animal instincts urged me to run and hide in the nearest hole. Then there was another shriek. And another. And more still, until a nightmarish chorus echoed through the streets of the dead city. I fought against the animal impulse to run, instead curling into the fetal position, wincing as the cheek that got torn up touched the wet ground. I held my breath, waiting, until a rumble that sounded like a stampede of bison came from the direction of the subway entrance, followed by the all-too-familiar sound of the Zerkers' angry hissing.
The first one rushed past me with a bloodthirsty howl. More followed on its heels, dozens of feet pounding against the concrete at once. The cry from the lead Zerker spurred several more in kind, and I watched in stunned silence as the horde of mutated monsters bounded through the fire without stopping. Gunfire erupted from somewhere inside the mall, and the Zerkers answered it with a sadistic glee, rushing into the mall, ready to hunt.
The ground shook again as a Zerker far larger and meaner looking trudged past me on all fours. Its every limb hulked with muscle. Green scales covered its arms, legs, and chest, and its gnarled face looked vaguely reminiscent of a bat. I'd never seen its kind before, only read about them in some bestiaries. It was the Alpha. The top dog of the pack. Faster, stronger, and more experienced than its smaller kin. An Alpha's temperament varied from one to another and no two fought the same, but each of them was dangerous in their own right. Evidently, the one passing me by was just as unconcerned with the fires as the rest of its pack, because it climbed over the flaming hood of a sedan, crushing it like it was an empty beer can, before disappearing behind the flames.
I waited for a couple of heartbeats to pass, then allowed myself to breathe again. Every fiber of my being thrummed with a bone deep ache. I ignored it and got to my feet without falling over, which isn't saying anything impressive because I had to brace my hands against my knees to keep from collapsing again.
"Master, are you okay?" Rei asked through my earpiece.
My answer wasn't much more than a tired rasp. "Banged up a bit, but I'm still in one piece," I looked around and found Serena lying on her side a bit further away, surrounded by pieces of metal and glass. Her health had taken a hit almost as hard as mine did, less than half still remained. I limped over to her, my head on a swivel looking for any incoming threats, then I dropped onto my knees next to her and rolled her onto her back, "Hey, you still with me?"
Serena blinked at me, bleary-eyed. Then she mumbled, her voice hoarse, "You're insane. You're actually straight up crazy."
"Guilty," I said. Serena had a large red pixelated hole on the left side of her chest, most likely from the sniper. She was lucky. The Zerkers must have been too distracted with the explosion — along with the smell of fire, oil, and the blood of several other dead or dying Yokai — to notice her open wound. I rooted through one of the pouches on my belt, and produced a medical syringe.
"That was the stupidest thing I've ever done and it's because of you," she said.
"Also true." I held her still and applied the syringe directly to the gunshot. Serena flinched a little as the syringe worked its magic. The edges of the wound slowly closed and knit themselves together until it disappeared without a trace. She wasn't at full health, but at least she wouldn't attract any undue attention from the monstrosities now wreaking havoc inside. "C'mon. Zerkers have started the party. We don't have a lot of time."
Serena took my hand. She swayed a little when I helped her up to her feet, but when I moved to support her, she waved me off. "Where are we going?"
"Same way they did," I said. We went around the wall of demolished cars until we found a spot where the fire was thin. I clambered over the roof of a car with Serena behind me. The sweltering heat intermingled with the chilly rain, creating little puffs of steam that reminded me of a sauna. We climbed over another set of cars until we reached the mall's entrance, which was, to put it lightly, blown the hell out, leaving one big crater where the walls and doors used to be. Whatever Yokai were left to guard it were either dead or pushed back further inside by the Zerkers' assault.
"Let's go," I said. A ravenous roar bounced off the walls of the mall's dark interior, accompanied by the popping of more gunfire. I grimaced and pulled my sawed-off free. "We aren't going to be short on targets. Stay on your guard, but check your shots. Sinon could be anywhere in here."
"Got it."
I gathered my nerves, doing my best to shove aside the dull pain raking over my body, and ran head first into the mess I created.
The wide open halls were surprisingly clean and free of debris despite the literal generations that had passed since the war. Bestial wailing and sporadic gunshots echoed through the air like we were in a yawning cavern. The fighting was going on everywhere, or in one place, close or far away, I couldn't be too sure. It wouldn't have been a good idea to run into the middle of an ongoing fight, though, so I broke off into another corridor to my right. Royal Gallery was a big place and in the chaos of things, people were going to be moving in every direction to get away from the horde of monsters I unleashed on them.
We turned a corner and, sure enough, found two Yokai with their backs to us about twenty feet away. One had his arm around the other's shoulder as they limped away. Their armor was scorched black and the injuries they sustained didn't look like something a Zerker would have done to them, burns and shallow cuts, mostly. Survivors from the blast, then.
"Hold it!" I raised my sawed-off at their backs. The one carrying his limping friend cursed and a pistol suddenly appeared in his hand. He drew fast, but the weight of his friend slowed him down when he turned to aim at me.
My sawed-off belched, and a dozen pellets tore into him. His damaged armor did little in the way of protecting him. Pixelated blood flew into the air and he flopped to the ground dead before the shot finished echoing off the walls. His injured comrade, now without a means of support, landed right beside him, trying to scramble to his feet.
"Behind," Serena half-shouted. I looked over my shoulder at a pair of Zerkers coming towards us from the way we came. I grit my teeth, broke open the sawed-off, and replaced the spent shell while Serena yanked her twin Uzi's free, her face strained with apprehension. She shifted her aim towards the nearest Zerker and her guns became literal lead hoses, the magazines of both her Uzis emptying in less than five seconds. Guns like hers and mine don't do so hot when it comes to sustained fire — which is why short, controlled bursts worked best — so for every bullet that struck the creature dead on, three more hit the ground around it, and five went off in random directions. Serena was probably aware of her...lackluster aim. Maybe that was why she opted for a pair of bullet-guzzling Uzis as her quick and nasty option of getting rid of people.
One of her shots hit the creature's right arm. It took a nasty tumble, but the other Zerker didn't slow down, unconcerned about its downed companion. Serena focused her aim on it, but fate decided right then and there to throw a curveball. Her guns clicked empty.
"Get back," I said, throwing an arm in front of her.
In that moment, the Zerker let out a ululating battle cry and took three long strides before lunging at me, claws extended.
I raised my sawed-off, waited until the Zerker was within spitting distance, then pulled the trigger. The gun roared its defiance, catching the monster right in the center of its chest, throwing it back a good dozen feet in a spew of red pixelated viscera, yet somehow it managed to roll itself back into a crouch to take another swing at me. I fired again, hitting it in its shoulder, rending flesh and bone apart with a hideous wet pop. Its arm fell to the ground. The Zerker howled in pain and rage, and ran at us again in an unrelenting fury.
"C'mon, stay down," I muttered. I pulled my pistol clear and put a bullet right between its eyes, ending it for good.
I slammed fresh shells into the sawed-off. The surviving Zerker wobbled to its feet, hurting but not out of the fight.
"Leave it," I said to Serena, holstering my weapons. She threw me a surprised glance.
"Seriously?" she asked.
"Fighting it is just going to draw more attention and we can't get bogged down," I said. We ran past the wounded Yokai, and I didn't have to look back to know the Zerker would decide to go after the easier prey.
We passed into a seemingly empty food court. The light fixtures hanging from its high ceilings were either dead or flickering, and it left the food stores along the walls sitting in deep shadows. I squinted my eyes, but couldn't see anyone hiding in them. Of course, that didn't mean there weren't any.
There was a sudden flicker of a bullet line that danced across my vision. I didn't stop to look for the source, instead throwing myself to the side while giving a shout of wordless warning. The air turned hot as bullets zipped by.
Serena dropped to the ground and crawled after me behind the safety of a nearby pillar. I got up and peeked around our cover to where a pair of Yokai stood behind a waist high wall on the other end of the food court.
I pulled back and fell into a crouch, replacing the sawed-off with my MP7. When a break in the gunfire came, I leaned out, firing in short bursts, but the two Yokai were competent, laying down a barrage of suppressive fire on me the moment I stuck my head out. Every shot I fired went wide, and I took a bullet in the arm for my trouble.
I spat out a curse, then injected myself with another medical syringe from the pouch on my belt. Serena's eyes met mine, and I gave her a short nod. We both whirled around our respective covers, sighting down our guns, but then another Zerker came charging at the Yokai from the hallway behind them. It roared ferociously, drawn in by the sound of our fight. One of the men tried to face the source of the yell, but he only managed a half-turn before the monster threw its weight into a full body tackle, taking the Yokai up and over the wall he used as cover and falling to the floor with a loud clatter. The two rolled over each other, a mess of limbs and bodies trying to stay on top, but the Zerker's sinuous strength won out and it pinned the man to the ground, yellowed fangs sinking into his neck.
Its teeth broke skin and pixelated blood oozed out. Then the Zerker started to change. The scent alone would have caused it to happen, but the disturbing cherry on top of this slaughterhouse cake was the fact that the Zerker got a mouthful of gore to boot. Its skin turned pale, almost translucent, and the ridge of its spine protruded out further and further until it broke through the surface, each individual bone tipped with a long black quill as thick as a couple of my fingers. Smaller, more hair-fine quills grew from its forearms and legs.
The thing looked like a porcupine from Hell.
The other Yokai unloaded his entire magazine into the creature's back. It backed away, snarling in contempt, then it raised an arm and brushed a hand over it like it was wiping off a layer of dust. The needle thin quills flew through the air and stuck themselves into the Yokai's body armor. There was a sizzling noise like grease on a hot pan and thin trails of smoke wafted from the points of contact. The quills were acidic, and they were eating through the kevlar and steel plate like it was a wet tissue.
Lucky for me, then. I took the opportunity to shoot him with one long burst while he was distracted. Without the suppressive fire, my shots were true, all of them hitting him at center mass. His ruined armor became the death of him. He toppled over and didn't get back up.
The Zerker snapped its head towards us, its tongue lolling out, the spikes along its back quivering like a rattlesnake's tail.
"Don't suppose you're willing to let us walk?" I asked. The Zerker hissed and launched another cloud of quills at us. Serena and I hid behind the pillar and the malodorous stench of its acid filled my nostrils. I grimaced. "Fine, Cuddles, we'll do it your way."
Without preamble, I dove out of cover into a roll, sprinting around the beast as soon as I got my feet under me. The Zerker roared and gave chase, moving to intercept me. Even on a good day, I'd have no hope of outrunning it, but I had no intention to. I changed course, and instead ran right for it. Grabbing one of the chairs scattered about the food court, I picked it up and flung it hard at my pursuer. The Zerker tensed its legs and hopped over it like it was an award winning hound in a dog show.
But like I said, it doesn't matter how powerful you are. Once your feet leave the ground, physics is your master.
In the time it took for the Zerker to make its leap, I dropped into a baseball slide. The Zerker flew over me as it writhed in the air, trying in vain to change its trajectory. My sawed-off appeared in my hand in a blur and I emptied both shells straight into its vulnerable stomach. The Zerker howled in pain as it crashed into the counter of one of the surrounding fast food stores, where it floundered and twitched, trying to rise again. I turned, got to one knee, and emptied the remaining bullets in my MP7 at it. It went still.
"Holy crap," Serena said breathlessly. I turned to face her, reloading my weapons.
"I can sing and dance, too," I said.
She rolled her eyes. "Ugh, you made yourself lame again."
I jerked my head towards the nearest hallway, and Serena and I bolted down it in a mad dash. It was only a matter of time before either the Yokai or the Zerkers were completely wiped out. We couldn't afford to be slow.
"The first charge has been set, Master," Rei chirped in my ear piece.
"Good. Is there anyone out there with you?" I asked. She took a moment to respond.
"Nobody. It's like you said, they all went inside after you made that big boom happen," she said. I chewed on my lip.
"Alright. Keep doing what you're doing, we're still looking for Sinon," I said.
"Roger that!"
We turned another corner, and at the far end of the hall was a wide open space as big as a concert hall. It was circular in shape, and still lit by lights I couldn't see. In the middle was a raised portion of the floor, and a large fountain stood in its center. Benches surrounded it, and the statue of a woman dressed in an elegant gown poured a steady stream of crystal clear water into its basin from a pitcher on her shoulder.
One of the benches sitting against the fountain faced me. A man sat there. His arms rested over the bench's backrest on either side of him, the silver hilt of a photon sword in one hand, his thumb on the activation switch, ready to ignite the blade. White hot fury burned inside my chest.
Ikuchi.
"Stay back, Serena," I told her, and my tone made it clear it wasn't a request. "He shouldn't see you with me."
She hesitated, but ultimately nodded. My vision tunneled in on Ikuchi, the man responsible for everything, and my body moved on its own, every step filled with grim determination. I didn't have to walk far for him to see me.
"Don't be shy, now," he said, loud enough for his voice to echo. "You came all this way. Surely you'll agree that it's your duty to see this all the way through."
I made it to the very edge of the room and pulled out my pistol, aiming it right between his eyes, my every word dripping with pure malice, "You got five seconds to tell me where she is before your brains get splattered all over that fountain."
"Say please."
I fired.
The bullet buried itself into the gut of the womanly statue. Ikuchi didn't flinch.
"Three seconds," I said.
Ikuchi pursed his lips, then he gave a cold laugh and said, "Lost all your humor, have you? No more childish comebacks or asinine jokes. If I'd known that this is what I needed to do in order to draw out your serious side, I'd have done it ages ago."
"Enough of the damn melodrama. Where is she?" I took another step, gripping the pistol so tightly my knuckles creaked. I stepped into the room and took a quick look around.
We were in the mall's three story high rotunda. The second and third floors were empty, and the light, I realized, was coming through the large glass dome at the top, along with rows of high intensity LED lamps affixed to the ceiling of each floor. As far as I could tell, Ikuchi was alone. But I wasn't about to take any chances with him, and stayed right where I was rather than walking out into the open room.
Ikuchi tilted his head up with an air of haughty arrogance, a smile playing on his lips. He rose off the bench, raising his free hand in a silent command. I caught a flicker of motion from behind and far up above him. Two figures stepped out into the light from the second level. One of them was Gozu, dressed in cutting edge military gear and a thick kevlar vest.
The other was Sinon.
My breath got caught in my throat.
Gozu had her arms twisted in a painful knot behind her back. Her clothes were soiled with dirt and mud, her light blue hair was disheveled, and the white muffler she wore was gone. She blinked a few times, her eyes trying to adjust to the light, then she spotted me two stories down. I must have been quite a sight to her, because she scowled and bucked against Gozu's grip, swinging one leg back in a futile attempt to kick him off her. It was a small relief, but a relief nonetheless. Sinon was still fighting.
"You have the full attention of Yokai, now. An admirable feat all things considered. Usually people like you are beneath my notice," Ikuchi said.
"Bet you feel pretty stupid right now, huh?" I asked.
Ikuchi smiled. It didn't reach his eyes. "I will admit I underestimated you. And your loyalty. You must hold Sinon in high regard if you came all this way to save her. Frankly, I'm impressed. Your talents, your survival skills — I can't help but admire them tremendously. You're no ordinary GGO player, that's for sure."
I glared at him. "Make this easy for both of us, then. Let her go. I'm only asking once."
Ikuchi held his hands out, palms facing upwards. "And if I don't?"
"Yokai's gonna need a bucket and a mop to pick up what's left of you."
"Hmm. Resorting to idle threats now. You really have been shaken up," Ikuchi walked slowly towards me, his eyes never leaving me and my gun never leaving him. "Look at yourself. You've been chewed up and spit out. The fact that you even made it here is a miracle in and of itself. You really believe you'll stand a chance against me in a fight?"
"Still got a few tricks up my sleeve," I said.
Ikuchi shrugged, the gesture rife with indifference. "I can see. Using Zerkers to do the work for you. Inspiring," he said, eyes narrowing. "Yet, as I said, you're hardly in the condition to fight me. You're exhausted. Probably low on ammo as well. It'd be suicide."
"Probably. But I'm not backing down. You're holding my friend. Not about to just let that go. I'm ending this one way or another," I said.
"Oh, this will end, but not by your initiative," he said with more gentleness than I thought possible for a man keeping my best friend hostage, "This is how the game is played. You fight with everything you have to prove you're the better man. As long as you comply with me this one time," Ikuchi shot a glare in my direction. "we'll all leave here with hardly a scratch."
"Yeah, right after you take what you want, to hell with me and Sinon," I said, "What happened to you in Aincrad, man? Is this really the best way to deal with it?"
Something flickered across her face. I expected him to lash out at me, like when we confronted each other in Reif Apartments, but all he did was turn around, his back to me, apparently unconcerned that I still had a gun trained on him.
"I'm playing the cards I was dealt. As are you. That's all anyone can do with their lot in life. We do what is in our best interests. Sometimes that means stepping on other people's toes," he said, putting his hands behind his back.
"Do you really think that?" I demanded, the bullet line of my pistol shaking on the back of his head. Anger pulsed beneath my words, but I remembered Serena's request and forced the rising heat in my voice to die down to a more measured tone, "We've beaten each other to a pulp for something that can be fixed in a thousand different ways. You don't need to do this. There's got to be people out there who care about you. Your team, hell, your family, do you really think they want to see you like this? There's no power in this."
"Really? I have to disagree. There's plenty of power to be found here. After all, you're the greatest piece of evidence."
"What?"
Ikuchi turned to face me. "Where were you before this all started? Hunting basic monsters? Eking out a living on scraps the Wastes deigned to give you? A meager existence, yet look at yourself now. You've assaulted a stronghold belonging to one of the greatest squadrons GGO has ever seen. You've beaten every man who stood against you, crushed every obstacle in your path. How many people have you killed to get to this point? Dozens? You yourself have grown stronger through opposition. That is exactly what I'm talking about."
"Are you serious? You're trying to compare me killing people in a game to you trying to hurt my friend?" I said.
"The only people who thrive in GGO are the ones who do whatever it takes to win. You can rationalize it all you like, but we're both guilty of it. This is just another turn of the cog," His said, then added in a dangerous whisper. "I'm in control now. I refuse to just roll over and let things happen to me again. From now on, I decide what happens."
"No, not this time. I'm stopping you, right now," I said.
Ikuchi fell silent. He tilted his chin up slightly, like he was listening for a sound I couldn't hear, then he gave a small sigh, putting his photon sword away. "We shall see. Fact is, everything had been decided the moment you walked in here."
The way he said it set my nerves alight and set off warning bells in my ears. Something didn't feel right. Ikuchi wasn't a fool. He knew I was smart enough to evade legions of bounty hunters, to turn his scheme against him, and to dodge his men long enough to track him down once he attacked me directly. I'm one guy, but I proved to be slippery as all hell.
Which was why he had to switch up his tactics.
A cold realization hit me. One that I never caught because I'd been too hung up on finding Sinon. Serena said there were twenty five Yokai in the mall at most. There were only a handful at the entrance when I blew it up, plus a couple more inside.
Where the hell were the others?
Far up above, Sinon narrowed her eyes, then she sucked in a breath and her shout echoed off the cavernous room, "Behind you!"
Every muscle in my body violently contracted at once. A sudden, sharp pain like thousands of needles scratching my skin tore through my body in less than a second. My eyes screwed shut on pure reflex, convulsions ransacking my avatar's form, the pistol slipping to the ground. Then without warning, gravity shifted, I fell forward, and my head cracked hard against the floor. My vision drowned in stars.
Voices came from somewhere around me. Metal stakes pounded themselves into my head, and my body refused to move no matter how much effort I put into it, like someone had just shut off all connection I had with my Amusphere's motor functions. I tried piecing together what happened when a pair of hands grabbed me and dragged me to Ikuchi's feet.
It took me a few seconds to get my head back in order, and longer to realize what had happened. I'd been shot by a stun bullet.
They were hard to come by and any merchant that sold them could burn a nice big hole in your wallet, but what they lacked in availability they sure made up in effectiveness. In the wise words of the GGO playerbase, you could only do three things when a stun bullet hit you. The three B's: Blink, Breathe, and a word that you shouldn't say in front of kids. Until they wore off, I'd be a sitting duck, easy pickings, a fish in a barrel, and various other states of screwed.
"You took your time," Ikuchi said, addressing someone I couldn't see.
"Busy routing the Zerkers. We managed to push them back to the south side of the mall, but no further. We need to wrap this up quick before the line breaks," a deep voice said. I recognized it.
"Oh, Mezu, that's where you've been," I croaked. I heard him snort, then a hand, probably his, grabbed me by the hair and lifted. I winced. My chin hung a few inches off the ground and I got a good view of Ikuchi standing over me.
"As I said," he murmured. "I decide what happens."
Before I could throw out some scathing reply, he looked to his right with a deepening frown, crossing his arms over his chest, "I didn't want to believe it, but there's no denying it now. You betrayed me, Serena."
The bottom of my stomach dropped. I could barely see her out of the corner of my eye, but it was without a doubt Serena. Mezu had dropped her paralyzed form right next to me. Ikuchi knelt down in front of her with something like disappointment written on his face, then he took her twin Uzi's from their holsters and rose to toss them into the fountain's water basin with an air of contempt.
"You...k-knew," I said, struggling to form the words.
Ikuchi stopped, and looked at me the way one looks at a particularly bothersome fly buzzing around their head. "It appears you underestimated me as well. When the keycard disappeared, I knew someone had to have picked it right out of my pocket. I had my eye on you and Sinon the entire time, so it had to be someone closer. Someone right behind me," Ikuchi said, his eyes flat and utterly devoid of life. "I began to suspect Serena was a traitor since that day. Today was my chance to see if my suspicions were correct."
Which was why he sent her to pick me up when I'd been allegedly captured. He expected her to help me, even bring me here to rescue Sinon. A ball of ice formed in my stomach. A growing sense of dread manifested itself as another realization dawned on me. He showed her the Black Star for the same reason. He expected her to tell me, and I raced in here desperate to save Sinon from possible trauma without considering the possibility of a trap waiting for me. He dangled the bait and I took it — hook, line, and sinker.
More Yokai appeared from the dark corners of the rotunda. Some walked out of dark stores on the ground level while others pointed their guns at me from the second floor, propping the bipods of sniper rifles and light machine guns on the guardrails. Two more came to Mezu's side and at his command, they both stripped me of my weapons and tossed them into the fountain — even my knife was thrown into the drink.
They patted me down until they were sure I had nothing hidden away, then retreated for Ikuchi to crouch down in front of me, his face remote.
"I didn't want things to come to this," he said. "We can both agree that our spat has spiraled completely out of control. You tried to be a hero because of some misguided ethos, and your insistence on following that ethos led to this. The consequences should have been obvious, and now they're inevitable," he raised his voice loud enough for everyone to hear. "Gozu, bring Sinon down here. It's time we get to work."
Gozu dragged Sinon back into the darkness, and I heard her struggle against him the whole way there.
Ikuchi leaned in closer and patted the front of his long coat, on the left side, "It's right here. She doesn't know about it. What's going to happen when she sees the Black Star again?"
"Don't," I snarled, my teeth bared. "If you go through with this, you'll be making a big mistake."
Ikuchi gave a dry laugh. "Still trying to intimidate me?"
"No, I'm warning you. Straight up. I wanted to avoid conflict, work things out without fighting. I'm still willing to do that. But if you pull that gun on Sinon, you make this personal, and no amount of men, guns, or bullshit schemes will keep you safe from me."
I didn't raise my voice at him. There was no venom or boiling anger. It was all mere fact. As unavoidable as the sun rising in the morning.
Ikuchi looked from me to Serena then back again. He inhaled and exhaled through his nose with a contemplative frown, then rose. He seemed to ponder it for a moment. This wasn't the first time we've butted heads or the first time I've told him off, but it was the first time I told him in no uncertain terms that I was going to wage war against him if he didn't break off from his stupid plan. And by God, I'd do it. Without an ounce of regret.
Ikuchi pursed his lips and looked away, his gaze distant. Then he shook his head, "Stubborn. Brave, but stubborn."
Gozu appeared in that moment, hauling Sinon with him. Her struggling hadn't died down in the slightest. In fact, now that we were mere feet away from each other, she thrashed all the harder, kicking at the air and throwing her weight against her captor in an attempt to throw off his balance. Sinon was no pushover. Her petite, lean figure hinted at an undercurrent of physical strength and sharpened skill. I mean, she carried around a sniper rifle almost as long as she was tall, and she did it effortlessly, with the same dexterity one handles a cheap pistol. One time she punched my lights out for making a crass joke and I spent the next few minutes just trying to remember what my name was. When we fought the Ruined Prototype, she protected me by blocking one of its attacks cold. And that thing was strong enough to snap tables in half and punch through concrete.
But all of Sinon's strength didn't mean squat. Her arms were twisted behind her back. Gozu had all the leverage. It had to have pissed her off.
Gozu kicked the back of her knees to force her down, but he didn't relinquish his grip on her, forcing her shoulders up and out. Sinon snarled, though I knew she only did it to keep herself from crying out.
"Hey," I said.
Gozu arched an eyebrow at me.
"You're hurting her. Lay off."
"I don't believe you're in a position to make demands," Ikuchi said.
"And you can wait your damn turn. I'll get to you in a minute," I said, and turned my attention to the Sinon. "You holding up?"
She peered at me through the bangs of her light blue hair, panting slightly "It's nothing. I'm fine."
"Just stay with me, alright? I'm going to get us out of here," I said. She swallowed and gave a firm nod.
"We shall see," Ikuchi said, stepping in between us. "Now that we're all here, it's time we address the crux of the matter."
I lifted my chin in defiance, though the effect was somewhat lost since Mezu still had a firm grip on my hair, "I'm not playing along with your game so you can forget it."
"Oh, but you have to. You're holding Sinon's fate in your hands."
I stayed silent, wary. Ikuchi stepped away and circled around Sinon like someone admiring a new car. She glared at him the whole time, wearing the coldest expression I'd ever seen her make.
"It's all rather simple. Tell me what it is you got out of the vault and hand it over. If you don't," Ikuchi made a show of reaching into his coat. "You know what will happen."
A flash fire of wild rage rose up the back of my neck. He wanted me to give up Rei. If I didn't, he'd pull the Black Star on Sinon, and whatever happened next would be my fault. I wanted to wring his neck. The urge to rain down every conceivable punishment I could think of almost became too much to bear.
"What the hell are you thinking?" I demanded.
"I'm thinking that you care more about Sinon than whatever you got out of the vault. You don't really value some material thing over your friend, do you?" he asked. "This should be an easy choice. You have one minute to decide."
Damn it. Damn it! If I didn't cooperate, I would never forgive myself if something happened to Sinon. I'd never be able to look her in the eye again. Worse, if she ends up blaming me for whatever happens, then I didn't know what I'd do. I would have already betrayed her not even a week after our relationship changed.
Of course, if I did what he wanted, Rei would be put in his sights too, and there was no guarantee he'd never use the Black Star to his advantage again. I thought about lying, but at best it would only delay him. He'd run out of patience if I didn't give him something. My options were limited, and none of them were good.
"Don't tell him a thing," Sinon urged me. "I'll be fine. There's nothing he can do to me."
She couldn't see it, but Ikuchi smiled.
I couldn't think straight. I didn't see a way out. The stun bullet's paralyzation effect wouldn't end anytime soon and even if it did, I wouldn't be able to do a thing with Mezu on me and my weapons gone. Time was slipping away, and the more I wasted trying to think of a masterstroke plan, the less I had to act.
"Thirty seconds," Ikuchi purred.
"Forget about me," Sinon said. I couldn't.
"U-uhm...the second charge is ready, Master," Rei mumbled into my earpiece. Her voice was tinged with confused worry. She had no idea what was going on.
She didn't deserve to be hunted down like I was. It didn't matter that she was an AI and not a real person, she trusted me with every part of her being and I was her master. Her safety was my responsibility. I didn't ask for it, but I couldn't abandon it.
But even still...Sinon was important to me. I couldn't hurt her. I'd hate myself for it.
"Ten seconds," Ikuchi said.
What was I supposed to do?
I tried to look around, desperate for help, but Mezu's grip held firm. I couldn't see anything past Ikuchi, Sinon in Gozu's clutches, and the fountain right behind the three of them. There wasn't anything that could help me.
Where was my ace in the hole?
"Five."
There wasn't any. I didn't have anymore more tricks.
"Four."
I messed up. I led myself into a trap. I let my emotions get the better of me.
"Three."
Someone I cared about was going to suffer for my mistakes.
"Two."
I failed her.
"One."
I'm so sorry, Rei.
...
"AKIRA!"
I didn't so much hear the voice as felt it, all the way down to the bits of data that made up my avatar. It was a voice that commanded absolute attention from everyone, even the rain seemed to die down like it was bowing its head out of respect. The mall turned deathly still. The various Yokai positioned around us all seemed to hold their collective breath. Even Sinon herself had her lips parted as she stared at the one responsible for it all.
But the person most affected out of all of us was Ikuchi. He froze, so still he was like the statue feeding water into the fountain behind him. Shock wouldn't even begin to describe the expression he wore, or the way his face turned ashen, or how the hand reaching halfway into his coat went limp and fell to his side. When he turned, it was with a stiff, mechanical motion, like a corpse's imitation of a man still living.
"What...did you call me?" he asked quietly.
There, lying on the ground, her body paralyzed, Serena met his gaze with tears in the corners of her blazing gold eyes. "I called you Akira."
Ikuchi's gaze wavered and he took a step back, shaking his head. "This is some kind of a joke, isn't it? Another one of his stupid tricks," He glared at me.
"No. It's really me," Serena said. "It's been me this whole time."
"You're lying."
"I'm not!"
"Prove it," Ikuchi snapped.
Serena flinched and lowered her eyes. "I told you. I swore that I'd always look after you. Do you remember that? I held onto that promise. Always. Even when it hurt," she said through the tears falling down her cheeks. "I never missed a day, you know. I sat by your side every day at the hospital, worried sick that you were going to die right there in front of me. I had nightmares about it, and when you finally woke up, I cried harder than I've ever had in my life, right there on your shoulder."
"You're lying," Ikuchi's voice shook. "You...you have to be. It doesn't…"
"I couldn't do anything then, but I can now. Please, stop this. You don't need to hurt them," The look Serena gave me sent a pang of remorse through my chest. "I'm the one that asked for his help. Don't punish him for it."
"No, damn it, this isn't —" Ikuchi covered his face with his hands, balling them into tight fists. "No. No, no, no, you can't. You don't understand."
"Then let them go and talk to me. Just this once, Akira," Serena pleaded with him, her voice tight to the point of breaking. "That's all I ever wanted."
"There's nothing to talk about," he said. "I don't need to spill my guts out to someone. I'm handling things just fine on my own."
"Listen to her, Ikuchi," I said as gently as I could. "You aren't the only one trying to work past what happened in SAO. There are people out there who can support you."
Ikuchi whirled on me and before I knew it, his photon sword sprang to life and I found myself staring at the tip inches from my nose. "Shut your mouth. Now."
I ignored the threat. "You can't change what happened, Ikuchi. The only thing you can do now is move on. There's plenty of other survivors who are managing. You can join them. You're not alone in this."
"Who do you think you are, trying to act like you're doing me a favor?" he sneered.
"I'm trying to help you," I insisted.
Ikuchi flicked a hand. The hand grabbing my hair lifted me up along with a fistful of the back of my jacket. I cried out, struggling against Mezu's grip, but his brute strength was impossible to fight against. With a twist of his wrist, Ikuchi held the scarlet blade against my throat, the sullen red glow lighting both our faces. "You can't even help yourself. SAO is dead and buried, but it took away any semblance of power I had left. I'm going to get it back, even if I have to tear it bit by bit from wherever I can find it. Starting with you."
There was nothing for it. I wasn't going to convince him with meaningless motivational talks. As far as he was concerned, I had nothing worthwhile to say. All I could do was be crushed under his heel. To him, I was an outsider. I could never understand what he went through in that floating castle in the sky.
Fine, then.
I didn't have any other choice.
I had to show him how wrong he was.
"You wanna know something? There were people in SAO who had it just as bad as you. I'd even wager some had it worse. They're all trying to live their lives again. It's going to be hard, yeah. But you can do it. There's lots of people who are. Lily, Kain, Philia, Riki, people like them, they accepted what happened, and they're putting their lives back together. It's not too late to do the same," I said.
"How would you know?" Ikuchi growled.
I stayed silent and met his gaze with my own.
Then I saw it, the spark of comprehension behind his dark eyes. His grip on the photon sword quivered, and Ikuchi stumbled back as if in a trance. For the second time today, shock hit him like a runaway semi.
"You're not..." he choked. My face betrayed no emotion.
"Yeah...I am."
"But that's…"
I shook my head. "Think about it for a second. Those survival skills you admire so much, you think I just got them out of thin air?"
Ikuchi simply stared at me, too surprised to say anything.
The world can be a cruel place. It often is. SAO survivors learned that when they were forced to fight for their lives and push themselves to their absolute limit. Some succeeded, too many didn't. There was a reason I detested anything to do with that wretched game and why sometimes I had to make an effort to remind myself I wasn't in it. That was the nature of the beast. It's hard to move on, but not impossible.
SAO survivors find ways to keep living.
I should know.
I'm one of them.