There was a handprint in the middle of the city.

That guy. That terrible guy! He had made that handprint when he smashed her into the ground. He had been trying to kill her. She had been trying to kill him. They were even. They were evenly trying to kill each other. He was…he was terrible. She was…she was also terrible. Mob thought that they were terrible, anyway, and she was not coming out of her shell any time soon.

Energy formed around her like a shield. No, shields were solid. This was more like…a second skin. A second skin of blue and pain. It hurt their vessel, no, their soul to have so much of themselves out of it. For Shigeko to have so much, too much, of herself out of her vessel. Blue. Not pink. Mob was hiding.

And she was not about to come out.

She felt the vessel starting to break apart. There. The cracks were forming in the skin of it. Pain. Pain was something that Shigeko was becoming more and more well acquainted with. She could feel it in every single inch of the vessel. She wondered what Mob could feel. She didn't know. Mob wasn't answering. She was ignoring Shigeko and ignoring what was happening.

Useless.

"Keep it together." Said Shigeko as she curled up. She was up high in the air, now, and the air was cold and thin. That was also becoming normal. A blast of pure energy hit her. Pain. That was normal as well. She smelled burning. More clothing damage. She was almost naked at this point. She knew that it should have bothered her, that he could see so much of her, but she didn't care beyond keeping it together.

The vessel could break.

"You're so unstable." Said Suzuki as he immobilized her in his telekinetic grasp. She was coming apart at the seams, it seemed, and that was good. Then she'd give this ridiculousness up once and for all. His son wasn't dead so, really, he had no more reason to try and kill her. Even though she had defied him. Even though she continued to defy him. There, that near naked shivering child just would not stop no matter what happened.

"Shut up." Said Shigeko as she tried to drink up the energy that surrounded her. it was…no good. The closest word that she had for it was hot. Like the time Mob burned their tongue on hot chocolate at Teru's house while they were watching that movie about….she couldn't remember. The thought of Teru keeps her going. Even if she can't remember what they did, exactly, she does remember him. For him she keeps drinking no matter how much it hurts.

"When are you going to give this up? You've lost. Face it." Said Suzuki as she tried to take him in. Not going to happen. He'd make a meal out of her before she made a meal out of him. He was too much for her, anyway, and if they hadn't been hovering thousands of kilometers in the air then he would have let her overload herself until she exploded.

No.

That would have been bad strategy. He would have lost her that way. She may have been a pain in the ass but she was a rare and valuable pain in the ass. He kept it together. Exorcised all the emotions that she was stirring within him. Anger that he was being defied. Elation at finally, for once in his life, meeting someone who could have been his equal. Relief that he wouldn't have to go through the trouble of making another son. Disappointment that she was so very young. They might have even gotten on, him and her, had they met under different circumstances. He allows himself to, briefly, indulge in thoughts of them meeting under different circumstances. She could have been a very useful tool had had known of her.

But she had flown under the radar for her entire life.

Even the name, Mob, suggested someone without an ounce of ambition in their body. That would have made sense, before, but now he had the measure of her. She must have had some ambition. She was taking on the man who held the world in his hands. She was losing, losing terribly, but she still fought. For what she fought he could not begin to know. This world was not for them. They had to hide in the shadows and skitter about like insects simply because normal people had the numbers advantage.

She never tired did she? Of being Mob?

"I-I haven't lost. You…you will die here…" said Shigeko as she tried to keep the vessel together. She pulled herself tight, her resolved buoyed by the energy that she had stolen from this man, and the cracks started to seal themselves shut.

"By your hand, girl?" asked Suzuki with a laugh. There, another spike of yellow in his aura. His own yellow. The man, the empath, lived but he did not have that kind of range it seemed. He would not be allowed to live. Nobody who stood a chance of challenging him would live. Nobody but this girl.

"Y-Yes…you will die by my hand…" said Shigeko

"The same hand you tried to offer me not so long ago?" mocked Suzuki

"Yes…no. That…that was Mob's hand. You will…you will die by my hand for what you did." Said Shigeko

"Oh? And what, exactly, have I done that warrants my death? Spend the better part of my life, longer than you have even existed, trying to make this a world worthy of us?" asked Suzuki

"No. You…you ruined everything. You….you will die for killing him." said Shigeko. She lashed out again. Her energy, pure energy, didn't even gather. She just erupted. There was a flash of blue and she was hurdling through the air. She struggled to right herself, to slow her momentum and get back on her feet, when something grabbed her by the forearm.

A pop.

Pain.

"I seem to have dislocated your shoulder. Pity. Not fatal, though, and I will allow you to live, though I cannot say the same for-" Said Suzuki as he held her by one arm. She glared at him. Her aura, totally blue now, projected more murderous intent though she did nothing more than kick her legs out at him.

"You killed him and you will die!" shouted Shigeko. It hurt, her arm hurt, the vessel's arm hurt…but she would make him hurt more! She kicked and screamed but he held her at arm's length. He was so much bigger than she was….

"Who? The empath? Did I really kill him?" asked Suzuki sardonically. The girl was too unstable and unfocused to realize that the man she was ready to kill for, to avenge, was very much alive and making his way through the city with a group of children and traitors. The city was dark now, he had taken out all the streetlights himself just for the fun of impeding their journey down there, but they still walked sure footedly through the ruins of man's achievement.

"I saw you!" screamed Shigeko. She screamed so loud that it hurt. It tore through her throat and she knew, then, that she had messed her voice up even more. It had been messed up from all the screaming and choking and now this would be her voice and this would be her vessel because Mob was gone, not gone, but given up and now she had to be this thing on her own without even Master Reigen and she was all alone at the top of the world with this madman and-

More cracks formed along her vessel.

"Are you sure you saw what you think you saw?" asked Suzuki. His eyes bore into hers. So unfocused. So unstable. Such a waste of a person.

"You killed him! You killed Master Reigen! You killed him! Him! I loved him and you killed him!" screamed Shigeko. She flared out, her powers flared out, and it didn't even seem to faze him. His chest was bare and covered in raised blisters…she had done that…but still he did not let got. He was just staring at her…always with the goddamned staring!

"You'd really waste yourself on someone so pathetic?" asked Suzuki. Another flare of his own aura. Stupid. This stupid girl. She could have been something great…but she was just this. This person. This person who called herself 'Mob' and proclaimed her love for a man that had barely any power to his name. What he had, what little he had, was terrifying under the right conditions but he still had very little. The thought of someone like her wasting herself on someone like that…

For a moment he sees himself in feminine miniature. All of his mistakes laid there, bare, like the pale expanse of her skin for the world to see.

He doesn't like it.

So he lets go of her, lets her hover for a moment, before kicking her down to Earth. Back down to her beloved Master.

"Whatever you do, do not look up!" said Reigen as he tried to corral everyone into the world's most terrifying conga line. They were all breaking formation again. That would not do. Panic would do them no good in this situation. He could feel himself shaking in a cold sweat…no. He pulled what little aura he had close to himself. He had to have this under control.

Because no one else did.

"Mob!" screamed Rei as she covered her eyes. She was in front. She didn't want to be in front but she was in front. She was the only one who knew what to do. Where to go. She had the power to save them. Her. Rei. She was like some kind of magical girl.

She didn't want this.

"I said don't look up!" said Reigen. He could see it. Behind his eyelids he could see it. The sky was exploding like the end of a summer festival. Blue and red and some yellow constantly burst into existence above them. The night sky would have made for a good backdrop for all of this but he was not looking. He knew better than to look. He knew for a fact that he would not like what he would see if he were to take his eyes off of the kid in front of him and turn them up to…to whatever it was that was happening up there.

He knew fully well what was happening up there.

"No! I mean…shields! Now!" screamed Rei. She didn't like to look at death. Whenever she tried to see it, whenever she tried to see it before, she saw hundreds of deaths stretched out in front of her and ever shifting. She had never seen a certain death before, not even when they went to visit grandma and the other old people, but now she was seeing it. She saw it behind her eyes clear as day.

They would all die in an explosion caused by Mob as she fell onto them.

"You all heard her! Get close and put those shields up!" shouted Reigen nice and loud so the people in the back could hear him. He had the kids close to him, well most of the kids anyway. Ritsu was in the back helping to carry his friend. That tall guy in the pajamas who saved him from being burnt to a crisp was there too along with the plant user of indeterminate gender and no eyebrows. Ritsu's girlfriend, Rei, was in front leading them all hopefully to safety.

All of their hope rested on a thirteen year old girl.

And a fourteen year old girl.

And a man who didn't feel much older than the kids around him.

He felt so small, then, and so helpless…but that might have been because the kids around him felt small and helpless. A couple were crying. One was trying to look tougher than he was. One in the back, Mob's boyfriend, was about ten seconds away from pissing himself even though he tried not to look it. He was trying to be strong, trying to keep the others from running away, even though this was definitely one of those times when they should have run away.

That would have been certain death.

There was no light. None. It was easy to forget how dark the night truly was. The streetlights were all out. They had all exploded in a shower of glass a few minutes ago. The sun was set. There were no lights from what few buildings still stood. There was just darkness. They could move somewhat quickly. There were enough telekinetic individuals to clear out a path for them and Rei knew what to do and where to go.

They were going to make it out of this.

Failure was not an option.

"Hurry!" shouted Rei. She knew that Reigen had said not to look up but she did so anyway. There was…it looked like a comet. A blue comet. It was like in that movie Ritsu really liked about the boy and the girl who body swapped through time and it turned out that she had died when a comet hit her home town. That was how they were going to die. They were going to die and she would never, ever, watch that movie or any other movie with Ritsu ever again…and he wasn't even there! She wanted Ritsu! She wanted to spend her last moments with the person she loved! She wanted him there with her while they-

Someone yanked her backwards. A hand was thrown over her eyes. She felt the hair on her arms standing up…there was a lot of psychic energy around her, now.

"I said not to look!" Said Reigen as he covered Rei's eyes. He could feel…he was going to die. His heart was beating out of his chest and he knew, then, that death was coming and he…more than anything else he wanted to be held. He wanted to be held close in his last moments of life because he-

He did not let go of her.

These were feelings that nobody, let alone a thirteen year old girl, should have had. She should not have been….she should not have been in this situation. None of these kids should have. The adults…he didn't care much about the adults. The man who saved him was alright in his book but right now he had kids to worry about. They could not die. They hadn't even started to live! There were still a million things that none of these kids has done…and it was not too late. He didn't know what would happen once they got out of the ruined city but he knew, for a fact, that they were going to make it out of the ruined city alive…

They had to.

"Sister!" shouted Ritsu as he tried to keep his barrier up as best as he could. This was…it was a lot. They were surrounded on all sides by what could only be called psychic fire. It was red and yellow and blue and hot…and he was going to…he couldn't keep this up…

"Don't panic….if-if you panic then you'll br-break…" said Sho as he tried to help as best as he could. Even with the power boost he had gotten from Ritsu's big sis…it wasn't enough. Not after the beating he had taken. Not after falling out of that tower. Minegishi could have done a better job of catching him. That fall…and being caught by those vines…whatever had broken inside of him was worse…he could feel it.

He couldn't even walk.

That coward. That traitor. That rat bastard who dared to call himself Sho's friend was carrying him. Ritsu had been trying to but Serizawa was bigger and stronger. Objective fact. Serizawa was also a terrible person. Also an objective fact. Good people did not just stand idly by while their friends got beaten almost to death! Serizawa had stood with dad until the very end!

He hadn't even come back for Sho.

He had come back for that guy. Reigen. That was who he had saved. Not Sho. Not the guy that he was supposedly friends with. Not the guy who he supposedly cared about. No. He came back for someone who he didn't even know. Ritsu…Ritsu had done more for him in a few days than Serizawa had in all the years that they had known each other…

And now they were all going to die together.

"Sho, stop. Don't try to help. Save your strength." Said Ritsu. Sho had one hand raised, his one working hand, and he was trying to help them keep the psychic fire at bay. Sho did not need to help at all. He looked half dead. He couldn't even walk! He couldn't even stand! He was in a bridal carry, now, and that….that did not suit Sho. Being broken and battered and helpless did not suit Sho one bit. Sho had seemed like…like he had this. Like he had strolled into Ritsu's life with all the answers and a foolproof plan for saving the world money back guarantee. That was the Sho he had met, then, but this was the Sho that he had gotten to know.

Gone was the Sho that could get a bunch of adult espers to do his bidding.

Gone was the Sho who Ritsu thought could challenge the world and win.

Gone was the Sho that had effortlessly kicked him ass on the night they met…formerly the worst night of his life…

This new Sho was so helpless…so helpless that he didn't even seem like the same person even. Ritsu could barely see him in this darkness. His aura, this auras, the psychic fire around them lit him up. Lit up the blood and the bruises that Ritsu could see marring his skin. There were probably more, a lot more, but that was all that Ritsu could see. He wanted the old Sho back. He wanted his…he wanted his friend back.

If this was how it ended then he wanted it to end…he wanted to end it with his friend.

"D-Don't talk to me like I'm a baby or something….I can still kick your ass you know…" said Sho. He could hear and feel the rattle when he breathed. He needed Fukuda to see to him. He knew that he was hurt badly...and he did not want to go like this. With Ritsu looking at him like that. He wanted to live long enough, to get patched up enough, to go out in a blaze of glory. That was how he was going to go out. That was how he wanted Ritsu to remember him.

How he wanted everyone to remember him.

Sho meant leader. That was why dad had named him Sho, because he wanted him to be a leader someday. Well Sho had not lived up to his namesake one bit. He was no leader. Where had he led these guys? To this. To certain death. He had been a moron to think that he had any hope of taking on dad. Even though he had saved up that charge bomb…it still hadn't been enough. Dad had been saving up energy since before he had even been born. Dad had people on every continent backing him up…and all Sho had were these guys…

He couldn't do it alone.

He hadn't done it alone.

And now he, at least, wasn't going to die alone.

He reached out and took Ritsu's hand in his. He needed to touch someone. He wanted to touch someone. He wanted to touch someone who had stuck by him, who had believed in him, and who had wanted to keep him safe. Ritsu had been there for him like no one else…Fukuda and the others had also been there for him….but Ritsu was different. Ritsu was…he didn't have words for what Ritsu was. Everything. Everything and…and more. Everything and a day.

He'd tell Ritsu that, maybe, if they made it through this and onto the next day.

"Sho…?" asked Ritsu. He could feel his barrier getting stronger. He was…he was less afraid. Even though Sho was bloody and broken and beaten Ritsu still…Sho was there for him and the…the thought was enough to lift him off of the ground. With Sho's hand in his he literally felt like he could do anything. Even hold this up. It felt like it weighed a thousand tons but…but he could still hold it up. He was not alone.

"You've got this…ok? You've got this and…and if you don't then…then I'm going to have to kick your ass later…no choice." Said Sho. He would have said more but a coughing fit started up. He wished that he had the luxury of being able to pretend that he was coughing from all of the dust being kicked up or whatever but he did not. He knew why he was coughing. Broken ribs.

He shuddered to think of what else could have been broken inside of him.

"Like you even could." Said Ritsu shaking his head. Sho was ridiculous. This whole thing was ridiculous. Sister was up there fighting a shonen villain and he was down there on the ground running for his life instead of helping her…ridiculous. He should have been helping sister. He couldn't help his sister or his friends. He was…he was helping his friends. He was helping his friends not get crushed by whatever it was that was pressing so hard down on his barrier.

"C-Could too…" said Sho before he fell into another coughing fit. He wondered if he would end up putting his ribs back into place if he coughed hard enough. Heh. That would have been pretty neat. A story he could tell when this was all over and done with.

"Sho be-be careful…you-you're hurt…" said Serizawa as he struggled to keep his barrier up. He could see the President, there, clearly. He had his hand around that magical girl's…Mob's throat and he was trying to force her to the ground…she looked so hurt…Sho was so hurt…the President was so hurt….

He needed to stop thinking about the President.

Even though he was going to be so mad that Serizawa had betrayed him. He hadn't thought about it at all when he saved the man. He just knew that he could not stand to just wait and watch while all of that bad stuff happened. He wanted to do something courageous for once in his life so he moved as fast as he could and stepped between the President and that man. Reigen. He knew Reigen from the memories of true friendship that the magical girl, Mob, had shown him. Reigen was one of the most important people in the world to her, kind of like the President was to him, and he could not let that man die.

He'd seen too many people get hurt before.

He'd seen too many people die before.

And enough was enough. He had done something courageous and saved that man…and then as he plummeted to the Earth he was wracked with guilt for betraying the President. Even though the President had only used him, treated him like a tool instead of a human being, he still felt bad for betraying the man who had saved his life…and wasn't that just the most messed up thing in the world? Even now as he held his friend, his bloody and hurt friend, he still thought of the President and how hurt he must have been-

No.

He was a bad man. He was the bad guy in this story. It was easier to think of this as a story, as one of the plots he had seen replayed over and over and over again. Mob was a magical girl and this was the final boss fight and she was going to win. The magical girl always beat the bad guy. That was how the story went. Since this was a magical girl's story that must have made the President the bad guy…even if he had saved Serizawa from the hell that had been his life…the President was still a bad man.

Look at what he had done to his own son.

"Don't talk to me. Don't ever talk to me again." said Sho. Broken ribs be damned he was going to speak his mind. Serizawa had betrayed him and he had no use for betrayers. He wished that Ritsu had still been carrying him. Ritsu carrying him was even better than walking around on his own. Anything was better than being carried by Serizawa.

Sho had no use for traitors.

"Sho, please, I-I'm so sorry-" said Serizawa

"I said shut up"! shouted Sho loudly enough that he could be heard over the chaos. People were crying, and praying and cursing and all kinds of stuff but his voice rang out high enough and loud enough that he could be heard. The anger fueled not only his voice but his powers, too, and the barrier above them turned red, his shade of red, for just a moment. Dad had said, before, that he only awakened when he was really pissed off.

They were just two of a kind, weren't they?

"Don't make me come back there!" shouted Reigen. Oh hell no! They were not going to start fighting each other. Nope. Not on his watch. United they stood and divided they feel and other such fortune cookie wisdom. They all needed to keep it together, all of them, or they would all end up falling apart…and to fall apart in this situation was to die.

"Stop it! Stop yelling!" screamed Rei. She didn't want this! She wanted to…to be at home! In her bed! Watching TV or drawing or something! Something other than this! She didn't want to die and she didn't want her last moments on Earth to be filled with the sounds of her friends fighting!

"Shhh….you're ok. They're ok. We're all ok. You're doing ok. Everything is ok." Said Reigen. He pulled her close and rocked her back and forth. Her back was to his chest and for a moment he thinks of Mob. How he should have been there to comfort her way back when…when everything had gone wrong. How he shouldn't have pushed her away when…when they had come back after the Asagiri job. How, now, she was so…and it would be even worse when this was over…if she made it out…

Of course she'd make it out of this alive.

They all would.

"I want…I want to go home!" cried Rei. She was being held and rocked…and this was not the person who she wanted to be held by! She wanted Ritsu! She needed Ritsu! She wanted to spend the last moments of her life with Ritsu! She needed to be with him! She loved him and he loved her and they should have been together at her house instead of apart out here!

"Shhh….I know. I know you do. When this is over…when this is all over…then you'll go home." Said Reigen even though he had no idea when all of this would be over. They were pinned. He could feel it. They were pinned down under that massive amount of psychic energy. The air was on fire around them. Blue fire. He was hot. This shield…all of these barriers were like a sauna. He tried his best to keep his aura close. He could not lose it. This kid was losing it, all the kids were losing it, and he could not lose it too. If he lost it then they were fucked.

"I don't want you! I want Ritsu!" shouted Rei. She thrashed against Reigen until he let her go. He had no choice, the more she moved the harder it was to stay out of her aura. No matter what happened orange could not meet yellow or vise versa. He could not lose it. He could not freak out.

He could already feel himself freaking out.

"Ritsu! You're needed!" shouted Teru as he tried to keep his barrier up. He did it for her, for Shigeko and that was how he knew that he had this. Even though it was hot. Even though it was heavy. Even though he was still weak from the fight with that teleporter even with the energy that Shigeko had shared with him. He had to have this. He had to save them. He had to be the kind of person that she wanted him to be.

He had to make it back to her.

"I can't move or I'll drop my barrier!" shouted Ritsu. He knew that it was Sho was giving him the strength to do this. If he tried to make his way to the front not only would his barrier fall but the barriers of the people that they had to pass. Reigen had…it pained him to the core of his being to admit it…Reigen had a point when he said that they needed to stay in one line holding onto the person in front of them. It made it easier to move around and…and it helped spread out the people who could put up barriers, too.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's why you can't move!" said Teru sarcastically. Rei did not deserve that. They stood a real chance of dying…getting very hurt…and her boyfriend was back there figuring himself out. No. Rei was….to him, then, Rei was like Shigeko and he knew that he would never have put Shigeko through something like that. He knew that he had been a piece of shit to girls in the past…but never to that extent. He had never led someone on to that extent…and he never would…and it wasn't fair!

It was not at all fair.

His girlfriend, the girl he loved most in the entire world, was up there fighting for her life…her life and all of theirs…and he had no way of knowing if she would ever make it out of there…and Ritsu was taking his girlfriend for granted! Love, genuine love, was the most precious thing that another human being could give you and Ritsu was throwing it away with both hands! When someone loved you, wanted you, wanted to stay by your side at all times and through all things it was the most precious gift that you could have been given…and Ritsu was just throwing it away!

It wasn't fair!

"Shut up! You know that if I move I don't just risk dropping my barrier but messing everyone else's up too!" said Ritsu

"What did I just say?!" shouted Reigen

"That's a risk that you're going to have to take! She wants you! Your girlfriend wants you and you…you have no idea how lucky you are to be able to go to her! How you feel does not matter! She matters and she wants to be with you and you need to be with her!" said Teru

"I can't! If I move then we all could die!" said Ritsu

"If she can't lead us out of here then we'll all definitely die!" said Teru

"Look around you, Teru, we're pretty much dead already!" said Ritsu. As soon as the words passed his lips he came to the realization that maybe, just maybe, that hadn't been the thing to say. Because now Rei was sobbing. Takeshi, who had already been sobbing, was sobbing even louder. The Shiratori brothers were holding hands and crying silently, which was somehow worse, and Go was beside them biting back tears…

He could feel himself starting to cry, too, and wasn't that great? Now they could all go out crying together.

"Enough of this!" shouted Reigen though his pleas fell on deaf ears. He was crying. He was…he had no idea whose tears these were. His. The kids'. Those adult espers. He did not know. All he knew was that it hurt. He could feel his aura pushing against his body, his vessel, and he wondered if this was how Mob felt all the time. Being unable to keep it together. He had tried, he had tried so hard but now he just could not. He saw his aura push past the limits of his body. It passed over everyone. He shuffled through their emotions like playing cards.

Fear.

Terror.

Despair.

Hopelessness.

Self-loathing.

And then anger. A murderous sort of anger that set his blood on fire. He got to his feet. He was going to kill whoever was responsible for this. He was going to find that Suzuki guy and rip him apart molecule by molecule until there was nothing left. Then he was going to take a piss all over his atoms. This was all that madman's fault! All of this! He was so mad he could just-

Mob.

No.

His aura was moving upwards. It was…that was and was not Mob. The other Shigeko. That was…as soon as the realization hit him, who his aura was touching, murderous rage was replaced with…he did not have words for this. Warmth. Love. Happiness. Joy.

REIGEN: 100% EUPHORIA

MOB/SHIGEKO: 1000000% EUPHORIA

An explosion of white.

Pain. That was fine. Flying through the air. That was fine. Cold air against their skin. That was fine. All of this was fine. Everything was fine. How could it not be? How could anything in the world not be fine? How could something be wrong when…when he was still alive?!

Master Reigen was still alive.

Mob laughed. Shigeko laughed. They laughed together. It all just melted away. They were…the barrier between the two of them melted away. They laughed as they went flying through the air and into, no, through a window. One of those window wall things that skyscrapers had. They didn't care that they were all cut up and bloody. No. They didn't care about anything at all anymore. Anything beyond the fact that Master Reigen was still alive!

He's alive!

I know!

He's back!

He was never gone!

I'm back!

You are.

We're together!

We are.

We're here!

We are.

We're….we're in our underwear….

I know.

We can't be like this!

Yes we can.

No way! Everyone saw us in our underwear!

I don't care.

Well I do!

Now you care?

Yes!

Why?

Because people are not supposed to see us in our underwear!

Teru can.

There were more people there than just Teru!

I know. I know who was there. I just don't care. I don't know why you care, now, that we're in our underwear. You didn't seem to care when we were, when I was, fighting for our lives! Life. Our life. You didn't care at all. You just stayed here hidden away and let me do all the work. You're only coming out now because Master Reigen is still alive. Now that the bad part is over you're going to be taking control again, aren't you Mob?

No, Shigeko, I won't be…because the bad part isn't over yet. He's down there. The bad guy is down there with our friends. He's down there with Master Reigen and everyone else. You wanted to be this thing together but I couldn't, then, because I was too sad. That was before. This is now and now I…I'm ready to be this thing together, Shigeko, I'm ready to be this thing with you.

Are you really? Or are you just going to take complete control of the vessel and dictate what we do. We are this thing together, now, but I know you. You're going to spare that man. You're going to let him go on to hurt others. Just because he did not kill Master Reigen before does not mean that he won't try to again. I have no idea how Master Reigen managed to live through that but I would not count on it happening again. I cannot lose him. I will not lose him.

I don't want to lose him either.

Then don't take control.

I'll share control with you then.

In all times.

What?

Not just now, not just when bad things are happening, but in all times. I don't want to just know fear and pain and anger. I've had enough of those emotions for two lifetimes. I want to know joy and happiness and pleasure. I want more than the ghosts of those feelings. I want to feel them myself. So far the only feelings which I have ever felt on my own have been fear and anger and pain.

That sounds awful.

You have no idea.

I can…we can try to…to work something out…but not now! Right now we need to put on clothes and go down there and save everyone! If we…we have no choice but to hurt that guy. I know this to be true. I know that we're going to have to…that we have no choice but to hurt him despite the way I feel…and that's ok….but we have to go right now before it's too late!

And then you promise to share control with me more equally?

…..you hurt people when you're in control.

Because I have to keep us safe.

You only come out when we're in danger.

Then let me out when we're not in danger. I don't want to know pain, I want to know pleasure. I don't want to know anger, I want to know joy. I don't want to know fear, I want to know safety. That is not a lot to ask at all, Mob, and you know it. Why is it that you get to experience all of the good things that life has to offer but I do not?

That's not fair. You're right. When this….when it's over then we can…we can switch places more often. Deal?

Deal.

Mob and Shigeko opened their eyes. Something had broken their fall. Something soft and silky and poofy…they stood up. It hurt to stand bu they willed their vessel to heal. They had to. They had a fight to win! They had…they had to find something to cover themselves with. They were undressed and that wouldn't do at all…

Mob's thought.

Luckily there were clothes all around them. Dresses. They were surrounded by white dresses. All sorts of white dresses, it seemed, from tight to poofy, from lacy to silky, and even some that looked like kimonos. Shigeko dragged them across the room. It was on it's side, sort of, because this was only part of a building…and the floor had sharp things on it that cut their feet…but Shigeko saw shoes. Shoes and…and a very nice dress. It was like the kind of thing that Teru was always getting them…and Shigeko remembered how Teru had looked at them…and she wanted to be looked at like that again. She wanted to be with him again. She wanted….she pulled the dress on with her powers. The shoes, too. They were…they fit sort of. White with sparkles. She did the buckles with her powers and tried to stand. The heels were tall on these….she floated. There. Much better.

Mob reminded them that they could not forget their bag.

It would have been no use saving the world if they lost their phone and all of their money. She could think ahead like that. Shigeko just wanted to look pretty, pretty enough for Teru to tell them that they were so damn pretty and-and…and then their vessel turned red. Right. This was not the time to let their mind wander to such things. They had a fight to win.

Mob is resigned to fighting.

Shigeko wants to fight.

And this is making their movements slow. They falter as they hover, even, and that simply will not do. Shigeko corrects them as they hover. Mob tried to, too, and they end up overcorrected and hovering upside down. Their NERV bag smacks them in the face. It doesn't hurt. Shigeko and Mob have both had worse hurts. Right now they need to figure out how to move together…

This way is left.

Now which way is right?

I think that we'll be circling in circles all night.

So this is forward, no problem.

They untangle themselves from their bag…their bag. It's lighter, now, because they had used some of the things they toted around as projectiles….and they'd had some luck doing that. Yes, it doesn't count as fighting if you…if you don't use your hands. Or your powers. It wasn't you that was doing that, then, like the time with the toy gun…..and they wished that they hadn't lost it. That guy with the glasses….he fought using toys….things that he had cursed. They had no idea how to curse something. When they put, when Mob put, her energy into the gun it had turned pink…the energy that had come out of it had been pink…like an energy blast. But better because…because it had not been Mob doing it, it had been the gun.

They didn't have a toy gun.

The only toy they had was the yo-yo that Sophia had given them….

Ok then. That would work.

"All of my traitors all lined up in row…yes. This will work." Said Suzuki. It had taken him a moment to find them again. That explosion, the girl's explosion, had sent him flying but he was fine now. Just a bit dazed, still, but fine. Well enough to take care of some loose ends, anyway.

"Fuck you, dad!" shouted Sho as best as he could. He tried to break free of Serizawa, to get to his feet, and to fight with all that he had left in him but Serizawa held tight. So tight that all he did was squirm like a little kid. All he had succeeded in doing was embarrassing himself. Wonderful.

"Again with this, Sho? No matter, no matter. You're lucky that you're more valuable to me alive than dead. I wish I could say the same for the rest of you. Replacing the Ultimate Five, and all of you Scars, will take time but time is something that I soon will have an abundancy of. Time and manpower." Said Suzuki

"My offer to join you still stands, you know." said Reigen. He tried, desperately, to latch his aura onto that guy's…and he was repelled at every turn. The man…he was pushing Reigen away. Even Mob had trouble pushing him away and this guy…this guy who he'd almost had falling to his knees before, was shrugging him off like he was nothing.

"Seriously?!" shouted Teru. He was about to…he would kill Reigen. He would murder Reigen where he stood for betraying all of them! For betraying Shigeko! She had…that explosion had bene her…and now Reigen was there betraying them!?

"But…he's the great Master…." Said Muraki. The children around him nodded in agreement. How could the great master just…just surrender himself like that? After leading them through all of that he was just…just going to let the President win?!

"Let me join you and I promise that I can get all of these people, including Mob up there, to stand down and then we can all just end this." said Reigen trying to sound calmer than he felt. More in control than he felt. He was coming off of…whatever that was…and now he could see, once again, how dire this situation truly was.

"Hey! He doesn't speak for us!" shouted Go. No. He had come this far and he…they were supposed to win! They had super powers and the power of friendship! What more did they need to beat the bad guy!? What ingredient were they missing!?

"Shut up. He's trying to save us." Whispered Daichi into everyone's minds. He took Go's hand. Go took Takeshi's hand. Takeshi reached back and took Teru's hand. It took Teru a moment but he managed to reach far enough back to take Ritsu's hand, the one that wasn't holding Sho's. He knew what this was, it was easier to have a conversation telepathically when you were touching someone…and those idiots had better not have been planning on doing something stupid like rushing-

No.

Apparently Reigen was trying to buy them some time. Well then. That was nice of him.

"He isn't going to listen. He's going to say no. After that…I don't know." Said Rei. She watched the man in front of her. His clothes were all ripped up, they were barely on, and he was covered in blood and blisters and bruises…but he was still standing there in command. He felt like…like he was the boss…even though he was not the boss of her…there was just something…something scary…like every single teacher and babysitter she had ever had rolled up into one scary person….

"Another female esper. Another rare thing. Tell me are you telepathic or clairvoyant? Not that you'd have to be either to know that I, of course, would refuse such an offer." Said Suzuki. Barely any aura to speak of but still useful. There were so few female espers in the world…so very few…and he was not in a positon to throw away good talent. The adults were too far gone but the children…the children would have their uses…

Or maybe he should just wipe them out where they stood and start over again.

"Don't talk to her!" said Ritsu. He may not have been able to protect his sister but he could at least protect Rei….no he couldn't have. There was no way that he could even manage to protect himself. None whatsoever. Not against that guy….

"Ritsu…" said Rei. She felt….he was there and he…he could keep her safe. He was strong and he was brave and he could keep her safe. They loved each other and…and he would always be there for her just like she would always be there for him…

"Let's just call it a draw, ok? It's getting late and these kids have school in the morning. You and Mob had been beating the shit out of each other since before the sun went down. Why not just cut your losses and move on? We already said that we'd join you and, frankly, you and I both know that there are not a lot of espers in the world. Forget female espers like Mob and this girl here, espers in general are rare and you want to rule the world, right? Well then you're going to need a whole lot of man power to do that." Said Reigen taking a step forward. The closer he got the better his powers worked. He took a step, and then another step, until he was stopped by a hand on his suit coat.

"He's not going to say yes…" said Rei softly.

"I know." Said Reigen just as softly. He pushed her back just a little, soft enough that she got the message and stood with the others. The adults back there should have been able to by the kids enough time to get away. That was how it went, wasn't it? Women and children first?

"No. The answer is no. I'm going to destroy all of you where you stand. Serizawa, you too. Just as soon as you put Sho down. Sho, you're lucky that it's more trouble to raise another child than it is to correct the failure that you have become so you get to live. Step away from those traitors and you'll live." Said Suzuki. He said it coldly. Logically. Because it was logic, pure logic, without the barest hint of emotion to poison it. His emotions had been threatening to break free…and he could not let them. The girl…she would show herself again and she would be dealt with…but first he would exterminate these insects where they stood.

"Sir…" said Serizawa. The President was going to kill him. The man who had saved him…who he had followed for all of these years…who had had maybe, even, loved was going to kill him. Not only him but all of these other people….including the children….he had seen the President kill before but never children…

He put up a barrier.

And the President batted it away like it was nothing.

"Honestly. You're done. You've been beaten. It's over. There's no point in trying anymore." Said Suzuki. The man took another step towards him. Their auras tried to bond…no…the man tried to invade his aura. His metaphysical self. Suzuki shoved his aura away. Such a usefully useless power. Terrible when used properly. A bit like a form of mind control. Suzuki hated telepathy in all it's forms. He would have killed them all but Sho would not move…or be moved. He had rooted himself in that spot….well then.

"That's what you think." Said Reigen getting even closer. He could see his own aura, now, and he knew that he was burning energy that he did not have. Mob…where was Mob? Hell, he would have even taken Dimple possessing him at this point but the little snot glob had fucked off to stabilize himself, he'd said….

Reigen had this.

"It's funny that you think you're going to win this fight, here, when you're strongest attack is your own fear." Said Suzuki

"Second verse same as the first." Said Reigen with a laugh. He sounded downright bratty there. Good. Let him piss this guy off so badly that all of his attention was on Reigen where it belonged. Yes. That was what Reigen was good at, being the center of attention.

"It looks like." Said Suzuki. Suicidal or insane? Or maybe just stupid. This was the man that she called master? This man right here? The only worthy opponent that he had ever met in his life served this….this….Suzuki did not even have words for how truly irritating the fact that this man had the nerve to still be alive, to have even been born in the first place, to not have had the good grace to have ended his own pathetic existence, was.

"We don't have to fight, you know. You can just give it up." Said Reigen getting as close as he could before he hit a barrier. He couldn't….he had stood zero chance of stopping that man. Zero. Now all he could do was…was buy them some time…and hopefully they were going to take it!

"He wants us to run away while the bad guy is busy killing him." said Kaito telepathically. He tried to reach Rei. It was harder when she was outside of the comment chain, as Go had named it when they communicated telepathically like this. She would…oh, ok. Teru said that he'd use his powers to pull her to safety…and also that he would stay behind with the Scars and other adults and fight off this guy….and now everyone was telling him how truly stupid that was….and now someone was spamming them with…well of course they were going to die! They could at least try to run away!

"Really, we don't. I mean, you're pretty outnumbered…." Said Reigen

"I may be outnumbered but you're out of your depth." Said Suzuki taking a step forward.

"You'd think that-" said Reigen trying, again to do…something. Anything.

"You're annoying. Goodbye." Said Suzuki. He charged some energy on the tip of his finger. He didn't want to hit Sho. He looked like he was not long for this world and one more hit could have killed him…and then he would have to make a new son and that would have been such a monumental pain…so he needed to go for precision. He didn't want to damage the children, either, because they might have had their uses. They could have been useful for turning Sho back to his side…especially the one he was holding on to. The one he was, presumably, enamored with…and that was a bridge that Suzuki would tear down when he came to it. That boy would be allowed to live, for now, since he could be used to keep Sho in line…

The Scars could go, though, and the disgraced members of the Ultimate Five. Shibata and Shimazaki….they were either dead, hiding, or turncoats. He'd figure it out later. Right now he had a pest to take care of.

The man was an easy target, he just stood there ready to die, and Suzuki would oblige him. Well he would have, anyway, if not for the two ton smack that to the side of the head. It made his vision swim. It sent him flying into what was left of a wall. It made him dizzy. It made his nauseous. It made him…

Pissed off.

It pissed him off.

This whole thing really pissed him off.

And he knew exactly who to take it out on.

"Leave my friends alone!"