A/N: A new ally posing as an adversary. Does our young hero stand a chance against this deadly foe? We shall see.
Disclaimer: I do not own Persona.
Chapter XXIX: Bad Blood
Friday, 4/18 20XX, After School
"I don't care that you helped us back there, or that you're friends with the White Rabbit and Revenant. Anybody who hurts me or my friends is an enemy to me. So I'm going to take my scythe and strike you down," said Takuya.
Blackened chuckled. "Oh, this is going to be fun. Don't hold back on me now. Because you know I won't." Then he rushed towards Takuya, revving up his chainsaw and preparing for another attack. Takuya rushed in as well, preparing to swing his scythe back.
The teeth of Blackened's chainsaw were caught by the blade of Takuya's scythe and a flurry of red sparks erupted from the fierce metal on metal contact. The two Reapers struggled for a few moments, each one trying to push the other back and break their stance. But then Blackened quickly pulled back his chainsaw and then swung it at Takuya's side. Luckily, Takuya quickly maneuvered his scythe and blocked the chainsaw with the scythe's staff. Blackened quickly moved his attack to Takuya's other side, but Takuya managed to block the attack again by using his scythe's blade. And to make sure that Blackened couldn't attempt another quick counter attack, Takuya kicked him hard in his chest and pushed him back.
Blackened backed off and held his chest in pain. Then a few moments later he chuckled. "You're fast. I think you could give that bastard Raven a run for his money no problem with speed like that. But I still haven't seen that power that rivals Prospero yet." He revved up his chainsaw again. "So it looks like I'm going to have to keep cutting you down to size until you show me something worth seeing!" Then in a surprising turn of events, he threw his chainsaw with great force at Takuya. The blood-thirsty weapon quickly closed the gap between the two Reapers. Takuya had no time to block, so instead he quickly dodged out of the way. "You need to be more aware of your surroundings!" Blackened shouted as he administered a strong uppercut to Takuya's jaw, knocking him off his feet. The fiendish Reaper had used the split second interval Takuya was focused on dodging the chainsaw to sneak up and sucker punch him. Then to add insult to injury, Blackened punched Takuya in the chest, pinning him down on the ground and knocking the breath out of Takuya's lungs.
"Takuya!" Ryuta exclaimed in horror.
Takuya was left gasping for breath on the hard pavement, while Blackened collected his fallen chainsaw. A few moments later, Blackened was standing back over Takuya with his chainsaw in hand. "Your speed doesn't mean shit if you don't have any fighting sense to go along with it. You seem to be under the impression that I'm not coming at you with the intent to kill you," said Blackened. Then he raised his chainsaw above his head. "But let me assure you, I most definitely am. Now, die!" Blackened brought down his chainsaw, trying to chop Takuya in half, but at the very last moment Takuya used his scythe's staff to block the gnawing teeth of the Sanguine Devourer and prevent it from drawing blood. Takuya struggled to push Blackened off of him, but after administering a pair of swift, hard kicks to Blackened's shins, Takuya managed to knock his opponent off of his feet.
Takuya used the opportunity to get back on his feet and get some distance between him and Blackened. "At a boy, Takuya! Quick let's both take him down while…!" Ryuta was about to use this opportunity to overpower Blackened, but Takuya cut him off.
"No, don't!" Takuya exclaimed
"Huh?!" Ryuta exclaimed.
"He wants me, not you! You shouldn't have to get involved in it! Just let me handle this!" Takuya replied.
"Dude, what are you saying?! We can beat this guy easily if we work together!" Ryuta replied.
Takuya turned to look at Ryuta. "I'm not going to let another friend of mine get hurt by pointless violence! Not when I can do something about it!" he shouted at Ryuta. "This is different from fighting the Shadows! I just…! I just…!" Takuya looked down at the ground. "I just need to do this one alone! Please stay out of it!"
"…" Ryuta didn't know what to say.
Blackened chuckled. "And here I thought you were all talk when you said you were going to strike me down! You may not be anywhere close to my level, but at least you have the balls to face me one-on-one like a man!" He stood back up off the ground.
"Shut up! This isn't a matter of pride!" An image of Chris flashed through Takuya's mind. "You and your almighty attitude just piss me off! You're just like them! Just like those assholes who made my friend's life miserable! Picking fights for bullshit reasons! Acting like this is your world and the rest of just live here! You're just like them!" Takuya shouted at Blackened, while glaring and gritting his teeth at him.
'Takuya?' Ryuta thought to himself.
Blackened continued to chuckle. "I have no idea what the hell you're talking about. Frankly, I don't care. But I like that look in your eyes. I know that look all too well. Unadulterated hatred. You hate me, don't you? You wanna kill me, Sin Eater?"
"…" Takuya stayed silent.
Blackened scoffed. "Well, even if you do that doesn't change anything. I'm not going to stop coming at you until you show me what I want. What makes you so special? What makes you rival Prospero?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. I've never even met Prospero," Takuya replied.
"I don't doubt that. Hell if you knew him, you'd know what you need to do. As of now, you two idiots are just stumbling around in the dark. You have no idea what's really going on. I hate Prospero more than life itself, but I'll give him this. He knows what he has to do. He's a natural-born leader. He has direction." Blackened pointed at Takuya. "You don't know shit. So any people you lead, well they have to be as clueless as you."
"I know enough for now. The natural order of things is off balance. Spirits aren't passing on like they're supposed to. We've been chosen by a higher power to correct that issue. As such the positive and the negative is at our control. We are beings of neutrality, gods of order who are meant to stamp out the chaos. Everything else, I'll learn eventually. And I don't know if I would call myself a leader, but I would do anything to protect my friends and see them through this darkness." Takuya tightly gripped his scythe. "So don't you dare stand there and insult them like that!"
"…" Ryuta was speechless.
Blackened chuckled again. "I still haven't seen the power that rivals Prospero yet, but you two are definitely alike in one regard. Congratulations, you piss me off too. No, you might even piss me off more than Prospero. At least he has power to back up his words. What do you have? Just looking at you right now, makes my blood boil." Blackened raised his left arm and his Summon Tattoo shone from underneath his hoodie's sleeve. "I'm through playing around. If you thought I was out to kill you before, you haven't seen anything yet. I'll show you the true difference of power between us. Feed, Count Drac!" Answering Blackened's call, Count Drac appeared behind him and let out his malevolent laugh. "If you don't want to die, I suggest you summon your own Persona!"
"Come forth, Zenbyou!" Takuya shouted. Then the sinister Shinigami appeared behind Takuya, cackling as it did so.
"Dark Harvest!" Blackened shouted, causing Count Drac to let loose his energy absorbing tubes, which flew towards Zenbyou and instantly latched onto him. In a matter of moments, Zenbyou appeared to be growing skinnier and paler, while Count Drac appeared to be growing bigger and more muscular. The Grim Reapers also appeared to be changing. Takuya was growing weaker by the moment and began breathing heavily, while Blackened's animal instincts grew and he began cackling like a maniac. "Count Drac doesn't just absorb Shadows dumbass! It can absorb Personas just fine too! Sorry, I lied! Whether you summoned your Persona or not, you'd be dead either way!"
"I…I'm…not…going to…make it…so…easy for…you," Takuya said in between breaths. "Shinigami…Shroud!" he barely yelled out. In response to his master's command, Zenbyou summoned his familiar force field, and suddenly all of Count Drac's energy-sucking tubes were destroyed. Count Drac stopped growing and Zenbyou stopped shrinking.
"What the hell?! A cancel skill?!" Blackened exclaimed.
Within a few moments, Takuya had regained some of his lost energy. "My turn. Zenbyou, Soul Collector!" In response to his master's command, the blade of Zenbyou's scythe grew five times in size and exuded a dazzling blue aura. Zenbyou flew towards Blackened and Count Drac and swung back his scythe. Takuya ran after his Persona and followed his actions, swinging back his scythe as well. "Don't underestimate us, you bastard!"
"Eiga!" Blackened shouted, giving his Persona another command. In response, Count Drac fired two reddish-black beams of energy from his eyes which hit Zenbyou, but did not faze him at all. Zenbyou continued zooming towards Count Drac, preparing to strike and cackling mischievously. Blackened growled. "Curse-resistant, huh? Fine then. Blood Lust, now!" Count Drac then shifted into his monstrous Blood Lust form and flew towards Zenbyou, preparing to devour him. Then Blackened revved up his chainsaw again and rushed towards Takuya.
Zenbyou swung his Soul Collector scythe at Count Drac's neck in an effort to decapitate him, but Count Drac countered by catching the scythe's blade with his clawed hands. Count Drac's hands began to burn from direct contact with the shining blue blade, but he paid it no mind and simply bore his monstrous fangs at Zenbyou. However, Zenbyou did not relent and continued to push back against the other Persona. Meanwhile, the Persona users were having a similar battle of willpower as the blades of their weapons once again met in a clash of red sparks. Takuya and Blackened were once again trying to push each other back. "I'm getting tired of this evenly matched show of force. If you won't show me something worth seeing than I have no reason to keep this battle going any longer," said Blackened. Then without any hesitation, he kicked Takuya hard in the stomach, making him drop his guard, and then he quickly slashed at Takuya's legs, finally drawing blood with his chainsaw. Takuya screamed in pain as he fell to the ground.
Luckily, it looked like Sanguine Devourer didn't separate Takuya from his legs completely. It left two deep gashes, but didn't cut through his bones. However, blood was now seeping out of Takuya's two open wounds at an alarming rate. To make matters worse, Takuya's damage was transferred over to Zenbyou and the Persona entered a weakened state, allowing Count Drac to finally overpower him. Count Drac dug one of his clawed hands through Zenbyou's torso, creating a large bloody hole in the Shinigami's chest. And a similar wound appeared in Takuya's chest, making the wounded Reaper cry out in agony once again. Then to add to Takuya's pain, Count Drac sunk his fangs into Zenbyou's neck, making Takuya's pained cries louder as he reflexively held onto the side of his neck.
"Takuya!" Ryuta exclaimed in horror.
Blackened walked up to Takuya and looked down at him. "Looks like you haven't experienced the downside of that connection you have with your Persona yet. Most mindless enemies will target you directly, but people in your same circumstances know that a Persona is the embodiment of your true self. It's connected to you. Everything you feel, it feels. And vice-versa." Blackened stepped on Takuya's chest and dug his boot into the wounded flesh, making more blood seep out of Takuya. Takuya kept whaling in agony as the sadistic Reaper took his time to torture him. A few moments later, Takuya had grown to such a weakened a state that Zenbyou and Original Sin disappeared, leaving Takuya defenseless.
Ryuta knew he had to do something. 'To hell with his wishes. I'm helping that stubborn asshole, whether he wants me to or not!' he exclaimed to himself, before running off to save Takuya.
Blackened chuckled as he looked down at Takuya's sorry state. "What's the matter tough guy? Where'd all that spirit you had earlier go? I thought you were going to kick my ass. What happened to that?" Blackened continued to dig his boot into Takuya's chest wound, eliciting more screams from Takuya. "Yes, that's it! Suffer! Suffer as much as humanly possible before I finally destroy you! A worm like you has no right to think that they're on the same level as me!"
"Leave him the hell alone!" Ryuta shouted before pouncing on Blackened and trying stab him with his naginata. But Blackened was too fast and immediately grabbed hold of the naginata's staff with his empty hand, before chucking it and Ryuta away from him.
Blackened looked at Ryuta. "I thought I already told you that you weren't worth my time. Stand back and stay quiet or I won't hesitate to carve you into pieces as well."
"Like hell I will! Let the fear take hold of them, Kuebiko!" Ryuta shouted as he summoned his Persona to aid him. And as soon as the wheel-bound scarecrow god appeared, Ryuta gave him a command. "Psi!" Kuebiko launched his pink, mental energy beam at Blackened.
"Eiga!" Blackened shouted in reply, causing Count Drac to fire his dark eye beams at Kuebiko's mental beam. The two attacks canceled each other out, but Ryuta wasn't finished yet.
"Murder Mayhem!" Ryuta shouted, causing Kuebiko to summon a murder of crows. The crows swarmed Blackened and Count Drac and prepared to peck and claw at them.
But Blackened wasn't having any of it. "Dark Harvest!" Blackened shouted, causing Count Drac to summon his dark, energy-draining tubes. The tubes latched onto each one of the crows and drained their energy, causing them to disappear.
"Dammit! Hyaaaaaaaaa!" Fed up with the futility of his actions, Ryuta charged at Blackened, preparing to fight him head on.
Blackened growled and stepped off of Takuya, preparing to face Ryuta head on. "You're starting to piss me off!" Takuya's blood that coated Sanguine Devourer was sucked up its tubes and injected into Blackened's right arm, giving Blackened a boost in strength and insanity. "Fine then! You want to die so badly?! I'll let Sin Eater watch while I cut you in two!" Blackened revved up his chainsaw and then swung it downwards as Ryuta got close to him.
Ryuta quickly braced himself with his naginata's staff and tried to push Blackened off of him. Then just as it seemed Blackened was about to overpower him, Ryuta quickly released his guard and sidestepped Blackened's thrust, before stabbing Blackened clean through his chest with Bloody Naginata. Then Ryuta removed his naginata and quickly jumped away from the psychotic Reaper.
Blackened howled in pain and brought his left hand to his chest to stop the bleeding. "Damn you! You're dead! You hear me?! Dead!" Blackened's eyes had become bloodshot and he stared at Ryuta with extreme murderous intent. The hatred in his eyes was unimaginable, but the same could be said for Ryuta as well. His eyes were filled with just as much hate as Blackened's were. Blackened breathed heavily for a few moments before speaking again. "You. You really aren't like Sin Eater, are you? No, you're darker. Much darker. Those eyes. I know those eyes all too well. They're the eyes of a killer."
"…" Ryuta said nothing.
"…!" Takuya watched on, unable to speak, much less intervene.
Blackened chuckled maniacally. "It didn't happen here either, did it? You killed a real breathing person, didn't you? Interesting. Very interesting. To think you and I would have so much in common."
"I'm nothing like you," Ryuta replied.
"Well I should say so. I haven't actually killed a real person yet. You two would be my firsts. But you. You've already taken a life," Blackened replied. "Looks like you've got me beat in one area."
"Shut up! And get away from my friend!" Ryuta shouted.
Blackened cocked his head to the side and gave Ryuta a vacant stare. "Why don't you make me, murderer?"
"Festival of Knives!" Ryuta shouted, causing Kuebiko to summon a downpour of sharp knives that began to rain down upon Blackened.
Instead of trying to dodge it, Blackened took the attack head on and simply used his chainsaw to block the knives raining down upon him. Of course this wasn't full-proof, and a few knives did nick him in several places, but that didn't seem to faze Blackened at all. He just kept laughing maniacally as he danced around in the knife rain. When the attack finally ceased, Blackened turned to face Ryuta again. He growled menacingly as blood dripped from his body. "If that's the best you can do, then this battle is already over," he said in a dark tone. "Bloodborne Recycle." A blood red aura enveloped Count Drac, and then a bizarre thing occurred. The blood that was dripping out of Blackened's many wounds seemed to change direction, and flow towards his right arm and onto the chainsaw that it held. The blood was absorbed by Sanguine Devourer and recycled back into Blackened's body. Then a blood red aura enveloped Blackened's right arm and he took a menacing pose. "Since you too know my bloodthirst, I will deign to show you my full power. I was saving it for Sin Eater, but he doesn't seem to be able to continue our battle, much less show me his true power. So you'll have to do. I am a vampire, I feed on the blood of my victims. I take their power and absorb it to further my own. My power comes from blood. But I bet you didn't know, that I can use my own blood to power me up as well."
"What the hell?!" Ryuta exclaimed as his eyes widened. His body automatically moved a few steps back. "What is this?!" Ryuta could feel it. Blackened's spiritual power jumped to impossible heights. Besides the aura that enveloped his right arm, he didn't look any different, but Ryuta could tell that this was not the same person he had wounded a few minutes ago. 'My body…it's shaking. What…what is this fear?' he asked himself.
"This is the end for you. Let my true power be the last thing you witness. Lycoris Radiata," Blackened said as he swung down his chainsaw in a diagonal manner. Ryuta was confused by Blackened's actions, all the vampiric Reaper had done was cut the air with his weapon. But after ten seconds of waiting, it became clear that this was not the case.
It happened so suddenly, that Ryuta couldn't even brace himself. An intense pain engulfed his body, as he was split in two. Blood seeped out from the giant diagonal slash wound like a gushing geyser and sprayed everywhere. Then Ryuta fell down to the ground as his weapon and Persona vanished without a trace.
Takuya struggled to get up, but with great effort he managed to do so. Unfortunately, he was then greeted with the horrible sight of his friend being violently bisected and falling to the ground defeated. "…!" His eyes went wide, and the color drained from his face. He got a good look at Ryuta's eyes when he landed on the ground; his eyes were empty, all sign of life in them had been extinguished in an instant. Takuya wanted to scream, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to make a sound. He was too terrified and stunned to do anything. Then another horrifying sight caught his eye. Ryuta's body began to slowly decay. Small pieces of him began to break away from his body and crumble like ash. This wasn't a dream or a hallucination, Ryuta was dead and his body was being destroyed. That realization still had not fully struck Takuya yet. All he could do was look on in horror.
"So that's what happens when a Reaper really dies, huh?" Blackened asked himself. "To think it would be so easy. If I keep training, killing Raven and Prospero should be no problem either. And if the others get in my way, they'll be on my chopping block too." Blackened walked up to Ryuta's decaying body and gave him a once over. "So weak. So utterly weak. How a weakling like you actually managed to kill someone is beyond me." Blackened chuckled. "Consider yourself lucky, at least I ended your life quickly. Who knows? Further down the line you might've met an even more gruesome fate. Yeah, as a matter of fact you should thank me for ending your pitiful life for you."
"…" of course there was no response from Ryuta.
"Hey, I'm talking to you. Wake up!" Blackened shouted as he kicked Ryuta's decaying corpse.
"…" there was still no response.
"Pfft, guess you really are gone. When our Personas kill us we just resurrect as Reapers, but I wonder where we go when we really bite the dust. Heaven? Hell? Heck, do we just become a ghost here in Limbo? And for that matter, would this happen if we died in the world of the living too? There are still so many questions. Oh well, not that it really matters. Dead is dead." Blackened chuckled again.
"…kill you…" Blackened heard a voice mutter.
"Hmm?" Blackened turned around and locked eyes with Takuya. "Oh, I almost forgot you were here."
"I will…kill…bastard," Takuya muttered.
"Huh? What was that? Speak up, I can't here you," Blackened replied as he cocked his head.
Takuya looked up at Blackened, with a tear-stained face. His eyes were full of hatred and killing intent. "I said, I will kill you, you fucking bastard!" he shouted.
"Oh?" Blackened replied and then chuckled. "I really doubt that, but I like that new look in your eyes." Blackened walked back to Takuya. "Why don't you come and try? Who knows? You might get a few lucky hits in before I kill you just like your pathetic friend over there."
"SHUT UP!" Takuya shouted at the top of his lungs. Suddenly, a dazzling, fiery blue aura enveloped Takuya's body, kicking up a dust storm in the process.
Blackened braced himself. "Wh-What the hell?!"
Takuya slowly stood up off the ground and summoned Original Sin, while still glaring daggers at Blackened. "I will make you pay! I will make you suffer! I won't stop until I reduce you to ashes! You will die!" The blue aura grew and grew until it became momentous in stature. The aura began to rapidly heal Takuya's wounds, until there was no trace of them at all. "Come forth, Zenbyou!" he shouted as he summoned his Persona. Then Zenbyou appeared behind Takuya and let out a mischievous cackle.
"Sin Eater, thou hast gained new power through this inner turmoil. The power to cheat death and alter fate. If thou so wishes you may use it to save thy ally," Zenbyou whispered in Takuya's ear.
Takuya nodded. "I accept this new power and all the responsibilities that come with it. Please, save my friend. Reality Reaper!" Zenbyou cackled at the command and then rose up into the air. Then he raised his scythe high above his head and brought his empty hand up to meet it. And then Zenbyou brought his scythe down slowly at a counter-clockwise angle. He kept turning his scythe counter-clockwise until a loud, ghoulish-sounding chime could be heard. Then a large monstrous-looking clock appeared out of thin air in front of Zenbyou. The clock's frame was designed to look like it was held up by two tiny scythes, and the clock's face was designed to look very similar to Zenbyou's own face. The clock continued to chime until it sounded twelve times and then a cuckoo door at the bottom of the clock opened and out popped a miniature toy version of Takuya.
"What the hell are you doing?! What is this?!" Blackened shouted.
"I will rewrite this reality," Takuya simply replied.
And then the world began to warp and shift. Time began to flow backwards. Everything occurred in reverse. Ryuta was revived and his battle with Blackened stopped, their conversation was undone and there was no longer any need for Ryuta to get involved. Time continued to flow backwards until it reached a defining point, Takuya's defeat at the hands of Blackened.
Time began to flow normally again and Takuya's battle with Blackened continued. All but Takuya were unaware that these events had already transpired. Just like before, Zenbyou swung his Soul Collector scythe at Count Drac's neck in an effort to decapitate him, but Count Drac countered by catching the scythe's blade with his clawed hands. Count Drac's hands began to burn from direct contact with the shining blue blade, but he paid it no mind and simply bore his monstrous fangs at Zenbyou. However, Zenbyou did not relent and continued to push back against the other Persona. Meanwhile, the Persona users were having a similar battle of willpower as the blades of their weapons once again met in a clash of red sparks. Takuya and Blackened were once again trying to push each other back. "I'm getting tired of this evenly matched show of force. If you won't show me something worth seeing than I have no reason to keep this battle going any longer," said Blackened. Then without any hesitation, he tried to kick Takuya in the chest. But Takuya wasn't having any of it.
"Not this time!" Takuya shouted and grabbed ahold of Blackened's leg. Then Takuya used all his strength to hurl Blackened to the ground.
"What the hell?!" Blackened shouted, clearly surprised that Takuya had managed to predict his attack.
Then Takuya swung his scythe back with his other hand and aimed for Blackened's neck, trying to end the fight immediately. But Blackened quickly moved his head, and Takuya's scythe instead struck his hockey mask, leaving a big gash on it. "Son of a bitch! Damn you!" Blackened shouted, before getting a good kick in and making Takuya release him. Takuya stumbled back, and Blackened used the opportunity to get back up on his feet. "You were aiming for my neck, weren't you? So you're finally getting serious, huh? Do you want to kill me now?"
"…" Takuya silently glared at Blackened.
"What's with the silent treatment all of a sudden? Did I hit a nerve?" Blackened asked.
"…" Takuya ignored him and then looked over towards Ryuta. "Ryuta, are you okay?"
"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. The sucker punch he gave me earlier didn't hurt that much. Don't worry about me, focus on him," Ryuta replied.
Takuya smiled. 'Thank God, he's alive. And it doesn't look like he or Blackened know what happened. This is surreal, I actually went back in time. Reality Reaper. What an extremely powerful skill,' he thought to himself.
Zenbyou cackled. "Yes, Reality Reaper is one of the strongest abilities I have at my command. However, I'm afraid using it is not a simple matter. Such power cannot be taken lightly, manipulating time and space can cause more problems than it fixes. Which is why there are set rules for this ability."
'Rules, huh? What kind of rules?' Takuya replied to the voice in his head.
"First of all, I can only send thee back in time, never forward. To do that would mean traveling on just one of many future possibilities. It is simply impossible to do so. Time is not linear, it is ever-changing. I can only take thee back to a period of time that thou hast already experienced. Secondly, only thee will be aware when this happens, to everyone and everything else around thee, they will be experiencing this phenomenon for the first time. Thirdly, I can only send thee back five minutes at most. Thine ally died within that time limit so he was able to be rescued. But if a similar situation occurs in the future, and more than five minutes pass, thou shalt be unable to do anything. Keep that in mind. Lastly, I can only use this power three times for all of eternity. Thou just commanded me to use it once to save thy ally's life. Therefore thou may only request its use two more times," Zenbyou replied.
'I see, and what exactly happens if I try and use it more than three times?' Takuya replied to the voice in his head.
"It should be within my power to grant thy request, however there's no telling what would happen if we decide to push past the limit. We could very well destroy the fabric of space and time," Zenbyou replied. "I would advise against further uses after the limit is reached."
Takuya sighed. 'Figures there would be rules about using such a powerful skill. Makes sense I guess. If I could turn back time so easily, there would be no need for me to gather allies to help me fight the Shadows. Alright, I'll keep those rules in mind for the future. For now though, my only concern is getting revenge on this guy for what he did to Ryuta.'
"Hey?! Don't ignore me!" Blackened shouted as he lunged at Takuya, trying to slice him with his chainsaw. Takuya didn't flinch and easily blocked the chainsaw's swing with his scythe's staff, and then when Blackened was forced back, Takuya administered a roundhouse kick to the right side of Blackened's head. Blackened slunk back in pain and held his head with his free left hand. "Bastard, I will…!" Takuya cut off Blackened by swinging his scythe back around and administering a deep slash wound to Blackened's abdomen. Blackened screamed in pain and coughed up blood.
"Soul Collector!" Takuya shouted, causing Zenbyou to summon his Soul Collector scythe. Then Zenbyou sliced up Count Drac's abdomen as well, making the vampiric Persona shriek in pain. "Follow it up, Garu!" Takuya shouted. In response to the command, Zenbyou kicked up a series of green whirlwinds and fired them at Count Drac, inflicting even more pain to him, and causing Count Drac to disappear.
Blackened panted heavily, as blood seeped out of his abdomen wound. "You're…dead. You're so…fucking…dead. I'm going…to bathe in your…blood! Feed…Count Drac!" he struggled to get out. Then Count Drac reappeared behind Blackened. "Bloodborne Recycle!" In response to the command, a blood red aura enveloped Count Drac. The blood that was dripping out of Blackened's deep wound began to change direction, and flow towards his right arm and onto the chainsaw that it held. The blood was absorbed by Sanguine Devourer and recycled back into Blackened's body. Then a blood red aura enveloped Blackened's right arm and he took a menacing pose.
Ryuta flinched. "Takuya! Watch out, he seems really different somehow!"
'This is the same skill he used before,' Takuya thought to himself. He thought back to the horrid event that had transpired before. Blackened dissected Ryuta with one stroke. 'He didn't even touch Ryuta and yet this skill managed to kill him so easily. I doubt blocking it or dodging it would make any difference, and I have a feeling that Shinigami Shroud isn't powerful enough to stop it either. What can I do? How can I beat him?' Then an image of a tarot card flashed through Takuya's head, it was No. VII, the Chariot. Takuya's eyes widened. 'This power. Yes, with this I can beat him. The proof of my bond with Ryuta will help end this!'
"Too bad, I really wanted to see that potential that Revenant and Rabbit were talking about, but you pissed me off too much. I'm ending this right here, right now. Now die! Lycoris Radiata!" Blackened shouted as he swung down his chainsaw in a diagonal manner.
"Takuya!" Ryuta screamed, sensing the impending danger.
But Takuya remained unfazed. He stared down Blackened and simply shouted, "Persona!" Then a familiar dazzling, fiery blue aura enveloped Takuya. "Come forth, Zenbyou!" Zenbyou quickly appeared behind Takuya, and then Takuya threw up his scythe and chopped off Zenbyou's head. "You want to see my true power so bad?! Fine, I'll show you right now! I'll crush you and make you pay for what you've done!" Takuya shouted. "Let loose a thunderous roar, Thor!" And then it appeared, Takuya's new Persona, Thor. He was a giant, tan, muscular man with Norse tattoos on his arms and legs, and long black hair. He wore a white tunic, a pair of white gauntlets, a pair of white boots, a white cape, a gold, scaly chest plate, and a spiky, horned gold helmet. He also carried a large hammer and brandished it threateningly.
'Another Persona?!' Ryuta inwardly exclaimed.
"What the hell?! Two Personas?!" Blackened exclaimed in surprise, momentarily caught off guard. Then he chuckled again. "Ugh, whatever. It doesn't matter, you're dead anyway!"
Then Takuya quickly braced himself by holding up his scythe in a defensive manner. Thor followed suit and guarded himself with his hammer. The very next moment, a loud clanging sound echoed throughout the area. The sound came from Thor's armor, which had been badly scratched, but remained sturdy and unbroken. Takuya came out of his defensive stance and revealed that he too had been cut. His hoodie now had a big diagonal gash over the outside of it. Blackened's attack had ripped apart Takuya's clothes right down to his skin. But miraculously, his body remained intact, there wasn't even a wound.
"What?!" Blackened shouted in utter surprise. "I-Impossible! That's my ultimate move! Nothing survives it! Lycoris Radiata cuts through anything! How the hell are you still alive?!"
"Thor has an extremely high resistance to physical skills and attacks. I had a feeling that Zenbyou's Shinigami Shroud might not be a match for your Lycoris Radiata in its current condition. I'll need to enhance it somehow further down the line, that's for sure. But luckily, Zenbyou's not my only Persona; and my good buddy Thor here outmatched your stupid skill in every way possible," Takuya explained. Then he smirked. "Oh and by the way, Thor can also use High Counter to deflect some physical damage back at his opponents."
Blackened gasped and looked down at his torso. A fresh, deep diagonal wound had appeared on his body. It wasn't life-threatening but a lot of blood was pooling out of it. The pain finally caught up to Blackened and he fell to his knees. "D-Damn…you!" he exclaimed.
But Takuya didn't stop there. "Thor, let's teach this guy a lesson. Skull Cracker!" Takuya shouted. Thor lunged at Blackened and then prepared to swing his hammer down upon him.
"Don't…count me out! Feed, Count Drac!" Blackened shouted as he summoned his Persona again. "Blood Lust, now!" In response to his master's command, Count Drac went into his feral mode and grew large claws and fangs, and then lunged at Thor, managing to stop his hammer's downswing and push him back.
"This isn't over! Zionga!" Takuya shouted. Then in response, Thor's hammer began to emit a strong electric charge. Thor aimed his hammer at Count Drac and let loose an electric beam, which shocked Count Drac and inflicted great pain to both him and Blackened. "Now one more time, Skull Cracker!" Takuya shouted. Then Thor once again prepared to crush his enemies with his hammer, this time aiming for Count Drac. In his dazed state, Count Drac could not counter the giant's hammer and it smashed into his head with ease, knocking him and Blackened to the ground.
Ryuta could see that the battle had taken a dramatic turn. Takuya was easily over-powering Blackened and his victory was assured. But he couldn't help but notice that his friend's behavior seemed off. It was almost like he was enjoying creaming Blackened. It was like he wanted him to suffer. Could it be? Takuya actually wanted to kill the psychotic Reaper. "Takuya, that's enough," he called out to his friend in a low voice, unsure of what else to do.
Ryuta's voice didn't carry at all. "Change-up! Send them to the afterlife, Yatagarasu!" Takuya decapitated his new Persona and then summoned the Persona that embodied his bond with Shinichi, Yatagarasu. When he appeared, Yatagarasu let out a menacing caw. "Triple Shot, now!" Takuya shouted, and in response Yatagarasu flew towards Count Drac at breakneck speed. Yatagarasu slammed into the Count Drac once and then circled back around and did it again, and then did the same thing one more time, landing three serious blows on Count Drac.
"That's enough!" Ryuta exclaimed.
"Agi!" Takuya shouted, making Yatagarasu fire a fireball at Count Drac, inflicting even more pain.
"Stop it!" Ryuta shouted as tears began welling up in his eyes.
"I'm not finished yet! Change-up! Come forth, Zenbyou!" Takuya decapitated Yatagarasu and then re-summoned Zenbyou. "Garu!" In response to the command, Zenbyou kicked up some green whirlwinds and shot them at the badly-beaten Count Drac and Blackened. This last attack finally caused Count Drac to disappear along with Blackened's chainsaw. Blackened barely managed to pick himself up off the ground, but standing wasn't an option at all. It was clear, he couldn't fight anymore.
"Stop it, Takuya!" Ryuta shouted even louder.
"Soul Collector!" Takuya shouted, causing Zenbyou to summon his Soul Collector scythe and lunge at Blackened. Takuya followed after his Persona, brandishing his scythe with killing intent. "I will destroy you!" Takuya shouted at the top of his lungs.
Blackened weakly chuckled. "Go…ahead…do it," he replied, egging Takuya on.
Then a surprising development occurred when Ryuta suddenly got in the way of the two Reapers' fight and tried to protect Blackened. "I SAID STOP IT, TAKUYA!" Ryuta screamed at his friend.
"…!" Takuya's eyes widened and he let out a gasp before skidding to a halt. "Zenbyou, stop!" he shouted at his Persona, making him stop his attack completely.
Ryuta held out his arms in a protective manner, making sure Takuya couldn't get past him and hurt Blackened anymore. "Stop. Just stop, Takuya. You win, so please stop," said Ryuta as his eyes began to water.
"…!" Takuya didn't know what to say.
"I don't like seeing my friend like this. You're scaring me. You're better than this asshole, so don't stoop to his level," Ryuta continued. "Please, just stop."
Takuya finally came to his senses. The whole reason he wanted to kill Blackened was because of what he did to Ryuta before Takuya went back in time, but of course Ryuta couldn't have known that. That reality wasn't real anymore. Ryuta was still very much alive, and currently pleading for Takuya to spare the life of his killer. "I…I…" Takuya didn't know what to say. Zenbyou and his scythe disappeared and then Takuya rushed towards Ryuta and hugged him. He was crying too. "I…I'm just glad…you're here… with me. I'm so happy…I was able…to save you," he said in between his tears. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that I made you worry."
"…?" Ryuta was confused. He didn't know exactly what Takuya was talking about, but he could feel that this battle had drained Takuya. Ryuta lowered his arms and then wrapped them around Takuya, hugging him as well. "It's okay buddy, I'm not going anywhere," he said to Takuya. After a few more moments, the boys let go of each other. "That new Persona? Thor, was it? He was pretty badass. How did you manage to get that guy?"
Takuya chuckled. "He's like Yatagarasu. He was there when I needed him the most. Though if I had to explain it better, I think it's sort of like a gift. A gift from a friend."
"A gift, huh?" Ryuta replied. Then he smirked. "Well whatever the case, he should come in handy."
Takuya nodded. "Yeah, I couldn't agree more."
"Hey?!" a familiar voice called out to the two Reapers. Takuya and Ryuta looked back to Blackened. "Don't ignore me bastards!" he shouted, managing to stand up again. It appeared that he had regained some of his strength. Then he wasted no time in summoning Sanguine Devourer and trying to cut down Takuya and Ryuta.
"Peacemaker!" someone else shouted. Then six silver bullets flew through the air at great speed and hit Blackened dead center, incapacitating him and making him fall back to the ground defeated. Takuya and Ryuta looked in the direction of the shots, and Takuya was surprised to see two familiar faces. The White Rabbit and Revenant, the two other Harbinger Reapers that Takuya had previously come into contact with. The one who stopped Blackened appeared to be Revenant, or to be more specific, Revenant's Persona. He was a dark black skeleton-man who wore a pair of dark brown pants, a pair of dark brown cowboy boots, a fuzzy white vest, and a black cowboy hat; he wasn't wearing a shirt so you could see his ribs underneath. The Persona was holding a demonic-looking black Colt Revolver, which was currently smoking from the barrel. A few moments later, the Persona blew at the gun barrel to get rid of the smoke and then holstered it in a dark brown gun holster that was attached to his right hip.
"White Rabbit. Revenant. You guys are here too?" Takuya asked.
Revenant tipped his hat to Takuya and Ryuta. "Howdy there, partners. Sorry about the abrupt entrance but something had to be done about that annoying dust devil behind you. I do apologize for everything I'm sure he put you through. He's a curly wolf, no doubt." Revenant chuckled. "But for you two to be above snakes after taking him on, is nothing short of a miracle."
"Blackened is tougher than both of us. We usually have to team up to take him down," White Rabbit explained. "You must have gotten a lot stronger if you were able to beat him, Sin-kun."
"Umm, thanks. But to be honest, I think you were the ones who finished him off," Takuya replied, looking back at Blackened's bullet riddled body.
"Oh no, don't be fooled now. Billy the Kid's six shooter is nowhere near as strong as it looks. Ol' Blackened could walk off them lead plumbs easily if he was at full strength. They only took because you weakened him so much," Revenant replied. "Of course, he's only going to be out for a little while. He'll be huffing and hollering again in no time. Now then, onto business. A lot of things have happened since you first entered our world, Sin Eater. And I think it's about time we had ourselves a good little chat, don't you?"
A/N: Our young hero has survived the vicious onslaught of the maniacal Reaper, but what will come of his continued interactions with the ones called the Harbingers? Only time will tell.