Hana: Happy New Year~!
Richie: You call this a happy new year!?
Allen: We're in trouble here...
Richie: Exactly.
Hana: Party poopers. Y'all know the drill. I don't own DGM. Richie is my OC, and enjoy the new chapter~!
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+ - Chapter 58 – Escape of the Traitor and Accomplice - +
Road, Allen and I started at the creature dubbed 'Apocryphos'. None of this boded well, but between that, and the Noah…well, at the current moment in time, it was Apocryphos that was the biggest of dangers.
"So we finally meet." Road spoke up, "I have been searching for you…for seven thousand years. A clue to the Heart."
"Clue?" Apocryphos no longer looked the Cardinal that came in here moments ago. His whole form pure white, almost glowing much like the Innocence that we Exoricsts used when invoked. "No, to Noah, my existence, is equal to that of the Grim Reaper."
It made a point to attack Tyki, but the Noah of Pleasure was quick to dodge. "Hah, you fell right into the trap!" He taunted, "Stupid Grim Reaper."
He changed from defense to offense, kicking the sentient Innocence in the middle.
"Richie, your eye, is it okay?" Allen asked, taking notice of just how bad my eye must've been crying blood.
"If I don't try anything, I should be fine, I think…" I said, quickly wiping the blood from my cheek, though it must've been smeared from the action instead.
"I think that eye is a bit of a nuisance." Road said, eying my face. "Not just to us, of course."
"I dunno, I've always thought it was useful." I shrugged. "…why are we being civil at all?"
The fight between Tyki and Apocryphos was still raging on. A loud crash suddenly alerted us, and we saw Tyki get thrown at the wall. Apocryphos had pinned his hands to the wall with its sheer strength.
"Don't think." Apocryphos almost growled, "That I'm the same as all those inexperienced Innocence fragments you've destroyed so far."
"Bastard…"
I heard the shatter of metal before I could register that Allen had broken free of his binds. "YOU KILLED MY MASTER?!"
The image from before flashed in my mind.
General Cross.
Apocryphos with Judgment pointed at his head…
The trigger getting pulled…
Cross falling listlessly to the window seat…
"You…" I made to get up, but Road placed a hand on my shoulder, stopping me.
"ALLEN! YOU CAN'T GET NEAR APOCRYPHOS!"
"I SAW IT! HE BESTOWED JUDGEMENT ON MASTER CROSS!" Allen bellowed.
"Ahh, I see." Purred the sentient Innocence. "So, when I was about to erode you, you looked inside me. You're a parasite type, and have been influenced for many years…"
"What are you talking about…?!"
"Don't worry though, I'll erase you from this world." Apocryphos continued. "Allen. That man tried to make a victim out of you for the sake of the Fourteenth."
I saw Crowned Clown acting weird again, the material the Innocence took the form of was becoming feathery…reaching towards the new enemy before us.
"What's wrong, Crowned Clown?!"
"You can't hurt me with Innocence." It almost preened, "Crowned Clown wanted this too, for Allen…he wished for our union!" It grabbed hold of Allen's face just as Crowned Clown began to go crazy.
"YOU WILL NOT TOUCH MY BROTHER!" I screamed, ignoring Road's warnings. I made a beeline for the creature, Raposa invocated, ready for battle. "RAPOSA DE FOGO!" I called out, the compressed balls of fire were shot out faster as I had sprinted, but they were quickly extinguished, when the Innocence being raised its free hand. I wasn't able to dodge in these closer quarters, and in the next instance, I found myself caught, struggling in vein to get free.
"'Brother', you say?" The monster's eyes were now on me and found myself freezing at the gem-like eyes that were now on me. "Interesting…would siblings not wish for the best of each other, young man?"
"Th-that's not…!"
"But you see, even with this, an even stronger power, would be able to suppress the memories of the Fourteenth. I'm trying to help Allen."
"THAT'S NOT HELPING AT ALL!" I managed to scream, "You're taking him away from me, you shit-faced bastard!"
"I'm…Cross Marian's pupil…" Allen grunted, "It makes me wanna puke…the very thought of uniting with you!"
I snorted at the comeback, and grinned. "RAPOSA! LANÇA BALA, LET'S GO!" I aimed my left arm, shooting it at point blank towards the Innocence. The attack wasn't accounted for by it, and I fell to the floor, rolling out of the way.
"Puke, you say?" It almost growled, "ALLEN!"
In that instant, I saw familiar candles whiz by attack Apocryphos, and freeing Allen. What wasn't expected was to see Road get in the way of a physical attack meant for my brother.
"Road?!" Both Tyki and I shouted. Why would she do something like that?
"The ninth disciple…" He didn't say anything else, as seals were quickly sent his way, preventing movement.
I felt a great sense of relief, quickly knowing who was using them. "LINK!"
When I turned took at the CROW, he was barely kneeling, and his face was facing down. It honestly looked as though he was having difficulty keeping the seals up. "Tim. I'm going to remove your…bonds…"
"You're still…" The bindings were tightened, and when he looked up, I saw the feathery pieces of Innocence covering his eyes. To have been able to find his target like that…!
"RUN!" He bellowed the order, just as a loud explosion resonated throughout. I wouldn't have been surprised if everyone heard that. This…was not good.
"But—!" I was interrupted, when someone grabbed my arm, hoisting me over his shoulder. "H-hey! Put me down!"
"Deactivate your Innocence, Prata. Or I'll destroy it right now." Tyki growled, already chasing after a freed Timcanpy. The oversized Golem had managed to fly out of there, the moment Link freed it.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't strike you down now!"
"This isn't the time for that!"
"Agora é a altura perfeita par isto!" I argued in annoyance.
Tyki almost growled, but answered in turn, "Não, não é. Agora corta - o!"
"Devia ter - te dado um pontapé com mais força!" I retaliated, glaring at the man the best I could. My comment caught him off guard, and there was a dangerous silence.*
"Prata, did you just say 'I should've kicked your genitals in harder'?"
"Of course I didn't." I sneered. "I said, 'Devia ter - te dado um pontapé com mais força!'" Take that for what it was, bastard.
"You were that little brat." Tyki grumbled in annoyance. "Do you have any idea how much strife I went through because of you!?"
"Please. You're not the one who had a 'caretaker' that was hellbent on making you miserable enough to call back either dead parent they themselves killed."
"…you win."
"Do I though?" I asked in disbelief. "Seems more like a loss." By then we caught up with Tim, and much to my annoyance, I found myself deactivating Raposa once Tyki landed on the golden Golem.
"Hey, are the both of you alright?" Tyki asked.
I could just barely make out Allen mutter Tim's name… "…they're in Tim's mouth?!" There was a sudden rummaging in my shirt, and Escuro popped out. "Escuro, what's going on?"
[Attention! We are now in a state of emergency. A Noah has been discovered within HQ. Currently, the enemy is running toward the East Beach with two Exoricsts. One is Allen Walker, and the other is reported to be Richie Linhagem.]
"Oh shit…" I realized. "Look at what you did, you arsehole!"
"What I did?!" Tyki almost growled. "You should be thanking me if anything!"
[At 22:00, we will meet up for an emergency strategy meeting.] The broadcast continued through Escuro, [At 22:10, all Exoricsts will be given a mission with no time limit.]
"…Richie, is that a live broadcast?" Allen called from below.
"Probably…yes." I answered back.
[Due to the situation, the Pope will be issuing an imperial order. It will be delivered to everyone.] I swallowed the lump in my throat. [As of now, we will be freezing Allen Walker's rights as an Exorcist.]
"No way…"
[From here on, he shall be classified as a Noah…and until proven Innocent, Exorcist Richie Linhagem will also have his rights as an Exorcist frozen and be classified a sympathizer to the enemy.] I felt an overwhelming numbness kick in.
"You should've left me." I whispered, grasping the back of Tyki's shirt. "Why? What did I do to end up in this situation?!"
"…if you had stayed. That thing would've most likely do to you, what it did to the boy's guard dog."
[Exorcist and CROW units, commence pursuit.]
[Confirming strategic chain of command.]
[Chief Officer Lee will be taking control of both units.]
"Irmão…"
[The highest priority of this joint operation is to capture Allen Walker, and bring Richie back."] Komui's voice sounded, ["Don't worry about the other Noahs. As soon as you find the targets, work together to capture them within a barrier.]
"Capture them…" I muttered. So…did this mean…
[We absolutely cannot let them leave this island!]
We were now fugitives to the eyes of our home?
*R – "Now is the damn perfect time for this!
T – "No, no it isn't. Now cut it out."
R – "I should've kicked you in the genitalia harder!"
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A special thank you to a commenter on AO3 who made the fun squabble between Richie and Tyki a thing~ Also, another thank you to my friend who happens to be from Portugal,and was nice enough to give me the correct version of the language...I may or may not have a few bits of dialogue to change now...^^; (I most likely won't, but know for the remainder of this tale, Euro-Portuguese will be used)
R&R doesn't stand for Rest and relaxation! Leave a review and lemme know how I'm doing~! Show this story some love by favoriting, and feel free to follow so you never miss a new chapter when it goes live! Until next time, I"ll see you again on...
Clean Slate!