Mate of Fate
Chapter 12: Caught in a Hard Place
Even though the group was on guard for trouble, nothing had still come up. At least other things were going well like training and studies. And of course things with all the clubs had continued, including the Newspaper one. "There, I think Nekonome Sensei should be pleased by today's work," Nicholas stated one day after the time for this club was finished.
"Ugh… I'm beat," Kurumu grumbled, slumped onto the desk. "This better be worth it."
"I gotta say I'm impressed at how you wrote that last article," Yukari said to the long-haired male. "You ever consider writing as a career?"
"Nah, it's more a hobby of mine if anything," he replied while stretching to ease the tension in his muscles. "I've done it for a long time and that's why I'm good even if I'm always improving."
"Well if not that, what do you want to do?"
"I'm figuring that out and have started narrowing it down. I say before we graduate I will have a solid idea."
Just then Nekonome came in with snakes for the group. "Ah, perfect, I was needing a break," Nicholas stated with a grin.
The sensei who had come in was pleased with all the hard work. "You know, I'm really gonna miss you guys after graduation," she then said, frowning a little. "It's gonna be hard to see you leave…"
"Oh come on, don't; you're gonna make me cry," Kurumu told her with a smile, but also being serious.
"I know it's gonna be hard for a number too," Nicholas then said. "I may not have been here for even a year and my friends too. But I know for our entire school life, this one will no doubt be the best." Here the long-haired male got a bit of a sheepish grin and scratched the back of his head. "I don't want to sound corny or anything, but even if some of us may never see the other, we'll still be together due to the memories and friendships we have."
Everyone else, but especially Kurumu were once again surprised by how this guy was able to handle a situation. They had been thinking the same thing at points. "And how is it that you're so wise, hmmm?" Kurumu asked with a teasing grin.
Before Nicholas could answer, the door to the room flew open with a crash. Hatsuharu came in, and from the way he was breathing hard and looking flustered, the guy had ran all the way here. "Wha… Dude, what happened?" the guy with glasses asked., instantly telling something was wrong as did the entire club.
"The… the…" the male with grey spiked colored hair and ear piercings gasped.
"Okay, take a breath, then tell us what happened," Nicholas said. "I can't even begin to understand a single word you're saying."
Hatsuharu managed to get his breath back enough to speak. "There's trouble! A few students have just gone missing!"
It didn't take long for the group to be out of the classroom and at the scene that was being roped off. Looking showed the building has some evidence of a struggle from the broken window, to the smash glass laying in shards on the ground and glinting in the light. "This… this doesn't look good," Ayame said.
"I hope this isn't a repeat like last year," Kurumu added.
"What happened then?" Liliana nervously asked and the ones who had been here during the time when criminals came into the grounds last year explained enough to say what had happened.
"Hmmm… so we're either dealing with a similar pain in the ass situation or something else," Nicholas said once the explanation had been finished.
"I just hope Kokoa hasn't done anything reckless and tried to find them," Moka commented.
"And let me guess; she went after the ones that did it last time," Takeshi said.
"Yeah, although I guess looking back on it, it wasn't so bad," went a familiar voice. The group turned to see the said female standing there but frowning. It wasn't to them, but rather the situation.
"There you are, I wondered where you had wandered off to," said her sister.
"Relax, I'm fine," Kokoa grumbled, as she was the kind who didn't like to be treated as a baby or kid.
"So then… what do you think of this situation?" Nicholas asked the sibling.
"Wait… you're not suggesting we find these guys?" Kurumu replied as she remembered last time.
"No, but I'm curious as it doesn't hurt because we might figure something out the ones in charge may have missed."
"I've got nothing this time," Kokoa answered.
"That so? Then I guess there's nothing to do." The long-haired male began to walk away.
"Hold on, you're not worried at all?" Kurumu asked him, surprised by Nicholas's actions.
The guy stopped and then spoke. "It's not that I'm not worried. It's more like there's nothing that can be done at the moment. This seems to be the work of a group but we don't know how many there are in it or anything else."
"I'm with you on that," Michael said. "Isn't it better sometimes to wait until the right moment rather than chagrining blindly in head first?"
"Yeah, something like that."
"So what do we do?" Mizore asked.
"I'm going to keep my eyes open like what happened with being watched. I also don't want to jump to conclusions, but they might be connected to this."
There was silence for a few seconds. "That's actually very possible," Ayame who was also here stated.
"Takeshi…" Liliana whispered, looking to the blue-haired male, and even more scared.
The guy let out a defeated sigh. "C'mere…" he grumbled, and held out his arms to give her a reassuring hug. Even this person could tell the Leried needed to be comforted. She was happy to him for that and even more to feel his arms around her body. He in turn wouldn't say this out loud, but Takeshi also enjoyed it too.
He then glanced up to glare at the others. "Don't even say it," he warned them.
"Dude, relax, I wasn't," Michael replied with a roll of his eyes.
"Anyways," Nicholas said after clearing his throat and brought people back to reality. "Just stay on guard, okay?"
Over the next few days while there were no more disappearances, what had happened was buzzing all over the academy. Security had also been tightened but nothing more had been found out about the missing students. But as with all things, something then came up. "So how was class for you guys?" Nicholas asked as he, Kurumu, Moka, Tsukune, and Michael were heading to their next class.
"Other than hearing the students still talking about what's happened, not much," the former human replied.
"Well, in any case-" The long haired male then noticed out of the corner of his eye a figure in the shadow who then moved and the former stopped.
"What is it?" Kurumu asked.
Nicholas didn't answer but instead ran after the figure when seeing them disappear. "Wait; where the hell are you going?!" Michael exclaimed and went after his friend.
"Should we…?" began Tsukune, not sure if he and the rest should follow too.
"Do we really have a choice?" Moka asked and then went after the other two.
Nicholas in the meantime managed to make it to the area where the figure had disappeared to. He did see the person duck behind another corner and went after them. But when the long-haired male rounded the corner, the male saw they had vanished. "Damn! He got away!" Nicholas grumbled.
The guy with glasses closed his eyes and concentrated. Like others, he also knew how to use the ability of Yoki Detection. It allowed one to sense the demonic aura of other monsters. While not on the same level as Moka's father who was far more advanced, Nicholas was a bit better than Tsukune with the technique. The rest then caught up to the long-haired male. "Shit, next time don't take off like that man!" Michael said after getting his breath back from running.
The long-haired male opened his eyes and looked back at the rest. "Sorry about that," the guy with glasses said. "But there was something about that figure I saw in the shadows that didn't seem right."
"Well even so, there's nothing here," Kurumu pointed out.
"No, there's something here."
"So what?" Tsukune asked. "Do we just start checking every inch?"
"Nope, watch this; but stand back."
The rest did and Nicholas fired a blast of wind from his hand to the ground. The result caused a hidden section to move like a sliding door and revealing stairs that led down. "Wait, how did you figure that out?" Moka asked, surprised.
"Yoki Detection," Nicholas replied but then got a funny look. "You can use it or have heard of it, right?"
"Yeah… and I'm still working on getting better," Tsukune answered.
"Okay, good; Moka scared me for a second there."
"Anyways… bigger question, how long has that been hidden?" Michael said.
The group looked to see the stairs leading down into darkness below. "You don't think there's any record of this somewhere?" Tsukune asked.
"I doubt it," Nicholas answered. "When it comes to secrets like this people tend to want to keep the secret to themselves."
"Now what? We're not going down there, are we?" Kurumu asked, uncertainty in her voice.
"We could… but we have no idea what's down there." Nicholas frowned. "Then again there might not be enough time to inform before something happens."
"Guess we've got no choice; I'm heading down with you," Michael stated.
"And we can let the others know too." The long-haired male whipped out the communication ruin shown during that summer vacation.
"This I gotta see how it works," Kurumu stated with a grin.
"Watch this." Nicholas then said a word. But it was from some language nobody had heard of but Michael. The way it sounded carried power, but also being very ancient too. The rune glowed green, a kind of light and dark mixed together. The long-haired male then spoke into it like a communicator. "Hey Kureno."
There was a pause and then his voice could be heard like the guy was right here. "Oh it's you. I thought it might be like last time."
"Not at all. Now listen closely…" Nicholas then went on to say what had been found and the plan of action.
When the guy finished explaining, Kureno spoke. "Got it. You and the others go on ahead down. I'll get the help needed. We can't let this opportunity pass."
"And if it's a trap?" Tsukune asked, as he figured the male Nicholas was contacting could hear him too. And the former human was right.
"Spring the trap."
"Sounds like a plan," went a new voice, and it was Akito. "You guys go ahead; me and my guy will catch up with the others."
"Okay, see you in a bit," Nicholas concluded and then said another word, sounding similar to the first one that activated the ruin.
"What was that just now? That word you spoke?" Kurumu asked.
"A good question… for another time." The guy with glasses shrugged before anyone could say anything. "Look, I know that's not an answer, but to explain right now would take too long. We've got more pressing matters at hand."
"Yeah, but there's no light at all," Tsukune pointed out. "I'm not stumbling lost down there."
"I wish I had known to bring that, it would have helped," Michael grumbled.
"Let's just go down and slowly," Nicholas stated.
This guy led the way and Kurumu found herself behind him, with Moka, Tsukune, and then Michael bringing up the rear. The male with long hair was using his hands to feel the wall and surroundings as the group went down the stairs. It wasn't a long flight, and soon they had made it to the bottom. The hole was letting enough light in to see the stone floor at the bottom of the stairs. Nicholas paused a moment and then placed his feet onto the floor. Looking up showed something was giving off light no too far away. "Looks like we have some light here," he whispered to the others, pointing it out.
"We should still watch out step," Tsukune said at the same volume. The group made it down the stairs and slowly began to move forward. They could fully stand up as there was more than enough space to do so.
They slowly began to move forward. But at one point Kurumu tripped on some uneven stone and actually had to bring up her hands and run into Nicholas to steady herself. He did feel that and jumped, but only because it was so unexpected. "Whoa, easy there Kurumu!" Nicholas whispered to the succubus, turning to look at her. The others in the group stopped when that happened to make sure things were okay. "You alright?"
She didn't reply at first, just realizing how muscled this guy's back was. Kurumu had seen Nicholas without a shirt but feeling his body was different. The succubus actually blushed, her heart racing for a very different reason that wasn't fear or anticipation. "Uh, yeah!" Kurumu mumbled fast, pulling away faster than she had run into the male.
Tsukune was looking at her oddly; he had been around this female and knew this wasn't her normal behavior at all. Michael just had a smirk on his face and Moka didn't seem to care either way just yet. "Good," the long-haired male told her. "We wouldn't want any of us to get a sprained leg before the fight if there is one to be had."
The guy then led the way and Kurumu had no choice but to keep moving so as to not hold up the line. But in her head, her mind was in a whirl of confusion and questions. "Why did I act like that again?" the succubus wondered. "It's just like all the moments up to now ever since meeting Nicholas. I know I love Tsukune, I really do. So then why…?"
"Hey do you guys hear that?" Tsukune then asked softly, putting those thoughts on hold.
They were close to the light source now. And the group could hear mumblings and grumbles. The group saw that at the light source there was a corner they could maybe peep around to see who was talking. Everyone nodded as they knew now was the time to keep quiet. All five then could make out two male voices talking when they were almost there at the corner. "And you weren't followed," went one, the voice rumbling a little like stone. "Are you sure?"
"Please, they won't find this," the second answered with a snort.
"We'll see. Now let's go; those two are waiting."
The group heard these males walk away. "Now what?" Moka whispered.
"Keep going, as long as we can," Nicholas replied in the same volume for the voice. "I'll lead to make sure we're not spotted or detected."
"Maybe this is why next time we should come prepared," Michael stated softly.
"Can't help it unless you'd like to back out now."
There was no reply to that. "That's what I thought," Nicholas whispered with a smirk.
The small group crept forward, seeing that they had to be in perhaps what once had been part of the academy when first built. Thanks to the light, they could see despite only god knew how old this place was, still was solid in terms of being a structure. There was no danger of this caving in despite seeing how run down and old the walls and floors were. This was seen with the age and cracks in the material. The five were so quiet, their footsteps barely made any sound on the stone floor. But then they came to a split in the path to the right and left. "Now what?" Kurumu softly hissed.
"You're with me Kurumu down the left," Nicholas said in the same volume of voice. "The rest, take the other."
"I'll keep Tsukune and Moka safe," Michael replied softly.
Kurumu looked like she was against it, and Nicholas shook his head, guessing what was on her mind. "Look, there's only five of us," he told her. "So we were going to split up into two groups. I know you are a succubus and with your powers of illusion, that will help me since I can't do that. But Michael there will work better if he stays with Tsukune and Moka. Plus, if you and her start bickering, that is going to be a bad thing."
The succubus the long-haired male liked romantically couldn't argue with that logic. Nicholas was just stating facts, and this wasn't due to him wanting to spend more time with her. Plus he and the ones who had come to this academy knew what the ones in Tsukune group could basically due thanks to all that training time since getting back. So Nicholas did know what he was talking about. "Yeah… I understand," Kurumu told him, still feeling disappointed but truly getting it.
"Don't worry; you'll be in good hands with me. I promise."
Here it was again that the succubus couldn't help but trust and know Nicholas was telling the truth and meant her no ill will. Unlike what had happened with one person who had won Tsukune's trust and then only to reveal he was an enemy, the long-haired male had shown he wasn't like that. "Yeah, you better make it back," Michael told the two with a smirk.
"Hey; this is me you're talking about here," Nicholas replied with the same look on his face. The two groups then split and began to walk down each path.
"Get ready to move at any point," the guy with glasses said to Kurumu as those two continued down their hallway.
She nodded and the two slowly made their way forward. And then it wasn't much longer until they reached what looked like a doorway. Nicholas held up his hand to signal to stop and go even slower just in case. They were breathing in out of their mouths as that could be silent unlike through the nose. The long-haired male and Succubus made it to the door frame and flattened themselves against one of the walls. Nicholas peeked around the doorframe and saw nobody in there. He signaled again with his hand and the male and female entered. "Wha…?" Kurumu whispered when seeing what was here.
"My god…" Nicholas softly stated in horror.
What the two saw was a small room, square in shape. There was only a chair in the middle, but surrounding it on the floor appeared to be what looked horrible like blood. And from these stains, they were quiet fresh. There was also a flight of stairs that went down. "What the hell?!" the long-haired male whispered.
"Well what do we have here?" went a different male voice. Nicholas and Kurumu whirled around, the former bringing forth the wind to attack.
Meanwhile with Tsukune, Moka, and Michael were walking down their hallway. By this point their pathway took a slope downward like a gentle incline. This didn't last long as soon the hallway stopped slopping down and was straight again. Like with Nicholas and Kurumu, the three were going slowly, just in case. "Still nothing…" Tsukune muttered, wondering how much longer this hallway went on for.
"We've gotta reach something, right?" Moka asked.
Michael closed his eyes, just like Nicholas had when using Yoki Detection. "It's faint, but I think there's something up ahead," he whispered.
They then came to a corner and took a careful look around it. "Looks like a room is up ahead," the former human said, still being quiet.
"Let me go ahead," Michael whispered and crept forward. The white-haired male took a peak and saw nothing in this one except for some stairs that lead up to the area where Nicholas and Kurumu had just reached. But there was another flight that went further down.
Before he could say anything, the three here heard the sound of fighting, a nose that shattered the silence like a canon blast despite nobody having exploding powers. "Uh-oh," Moka said, no longer needing to be quiet.
"Sounds like Nicholas and Kurumu found trouble!" Michael stated and the three went into the room.
"It sounded like it came from above!" Tsukune added.
It turns out the former human was right as right above Nicholas jumped and had used wind to move fast, holding onto Kurumu to avoid an attack from an enemy. "Damn!" he snarled.
Due to the adrenaline rush and what was going on, the succubus didn't notice how it felt to be held by Nicholas in the moment. When they got into the room, the male let go of the female, both jumping back a little and ready. "I knew that dumbass was wrong," the same voice went. "He's clumsy as always." It was the first male the group of five had heard before.
"Now what?!" Kurumu hissed to Nicholas.
He glanced behind them and saw the stairs. "Get the hell out of here and rejoin the others," he stated softly back.
"You two aren't going anywhere…" the enemy that had snuck up on the two stated, his voice starting to sound a little rough and tough like stones grinding together.
"Yeah, I figured you'd say that," Nicholas replied, smirking as it was a typical enemy line. "I figured that attack of mine would at least knock the breath out of you."
"It takes more than that to do so."
The person then emerged in the rom revealing a male that was powerfully built. His small black eyed pupils were glaring at the succubus and long-haired male. On his head with grey colored spikes of hair, the color of stone. His clothing was simple, a regular shirt and jeans. Looking showed he was bigger than Nicholas in terms of height and built. But he was someone Kurumu would never want to be with. "Come on, let's beat this joker and get back to the others," she told Nicholas, her nails extended. This was something the female had learned to do during her training and that was partially go through her transformation.
"I suppose we might have to since this guy's not going to let us get away," the guy with glasses agreed, and took a ready stance.
"So then how would you like to die?" their opponent asked, his body hunching over and his demonic monster energy spiking. "Quickly or painfully?"
Kurumu took a step back, but Nicholas held his ground as they saw this male suddenly bulk up and the sound of clothes being violently ripped tear through the silence. His whole body took on the same color as the spikes on the hair but now they were turning to stone. "Nicholas…" she gulped, getting a bit of worry that this guy wasn't fazed.
"No wonder this guy's solid," the long-haired male said as the enemy fully transformed and revealing his true monster form. "We're dealing with a monster with stone powers. He's definitely a different kind, a Stone Golem."
"Got any info on it from the book?"
The male let out a breath to concentrate and once again in her mind the tome appeared again with a brief description of the Yokai. It went as follows: The Stone Golem is an amalgamation of several beasts in terms of appearances. They use their tails for attacking, but their greatest strength is merging any part or all of their body with any type of stone.
The image of the book disappeared from her mind and the succubus looked and saw what the information meant when seeing the enemy's true form. "I think they will like you two once I drag you to them after you stop breathing!" the Stone Golem stated, his voice distorted like a beast, rumbling like stones.
His tail struck the ground, creating a creator in the floor. "This is not good…" Kurumu whispered seeing that and taking in his full features. What the two saw was that the eyes had not change but everything else had. There was a large shell covering the whole back like a tortoise, the arms were positioned in a knuckle walk position like an ape, the feet having clawed toes like a dinosaur, while the segmented tail was like that of a snake. His face was spiked, tusked and had a primitive face with the spikes of stone acting like hair. His underbelly, though, was soft and has the appearance of abdominal muscles.
Just then the others came up the stairs from the room below and saw what was going on. "What the?!" Michael exclaimed.
"What's going on?!" Tsukune asked.
"Ah, more friends for me to crush!" the stone golem stated. He then made a suggestion. "Why don't all of you attack me at once? Then the last one left won't feel lonely!"
"Now what?" Moka asked.
"I'll fight him," Michael stated and stepped forward.
"Are you sure?" Tsukune asked him, concerned a little as he knew that ice could be broken by stones.
"It's better if one of us does instead of us all attacking at once and not knowing his powers," Nicholas said.
"You want to die one by one?" the enemy said. "I can do that too."
"Wouldn't it be better to lure him elsewhere?" Kurumu asked Nicholas.
"That would take too long," he answered. "This whole area we're in from the moment we entered appears to have stone. There's no escaping this enemy. But you're also underestimating Michael as you may think stone can beat his ice. But you guys have yet to see what he can do and why out of all the friends who came with me, he's the one I prefer fighting by myside the most when it comes to that."
"I don't know about this but… okay," Tsukune said.
The male with white hair was now face to face with the enemy, but still had distance between the two. "Now then, let's do this," Michael told the stone golem, who just chuckled evilly in response.
Nobody moved for some moments. But then Tsukune noticed something going on with the enemy. The former human noticed that the stone golem's tail was going through the floor. It was like the substance was made of water. "Hey look out!" he warned Michael. "He's doing something with his tail!"
Michael whipped around and saw from behind the tail emerging. It lunged forward like a snake and the white-haired male moved. But he wasn't fast enough and got hit on the left side. The tail was moving so fast, the stone cut the guy. "Ugh!" he grunted and managed to land on his feet.
"Are you okay?!" Moka asked.
The male with white hair clutched the area with his right arm, the blood starting to seep out. "Just give me a moment," Michael grunted. He then noticed he wasn't healing. The guy looked up in shock to see the enemy's tail had returned to its normal length.
"Thanks to my power, I can become one with any stone!" the stone golem boasted. "With a little rearranging, I can make any stone my tail. And since this whole room is made of the stuff, I have you surrounded! There's nowhere to run!"
Michael slowly rose up, the blood from his wound still leaking out. It wasn't a serious injury, but noticeable. "Wait… he's not healing," Nicholas stated, noticing this.
"You're right, and not good," Tsukune said. "He should have by now."
"Should we help him?" Kurumu asked.
"I'll be fine," Michael replied as he had heard all of that. "He may have gotten me, but I won't be caught off guard by him again. Besides, I can't be reliant on my ability to heal all the time."
"Wait until you see the full extent of my power!" The enemy stated. "Then you won't be so confident!"
"Look who's talking…" Kurumu grumbled under her breath.
The stone golem began to sink into the floor with his whole body, just like he had with his tail. "Now he's going into the floor!" Tsukune said.
"Do something Michael!" Moka told the white-haired male. But it was too late, the enemy completely went through it and disappeared.
"Now he could be anywhere!" the succubus in the group stated.
Michael's eyes were glancing back and forth, on guard and ready for the enemy to emerge. "Let's see how you handle this…" Nicholas said softly and crossed his arms, having faith his friend would still win.
The white haired male then turned to the left and just in time to see the stone golem emerge from behind. "Same old trick!" the former stated.
He jumped back to avoid the enemy's fist that tried to squash him. That part of the opponent hit the ground and at the same time, his tail began to emerge. "Watch for his tail!" Kurumu shouted.
The enemy reared his other fist back with the tail still coming in to get Michael. "A double attack from both sides!" Tsukune stated.
Michael was able to avoid both blows and landed on the ground. Looking up, the enemy had hidden themselves in the stone again. "Where did he go now?!" Moka asked.
The white-haired male then realized where when looking down at the ground. "Bellow!" he stated and jumped back and just in time too. The enemy missed grabbing the former. The tail extended but Michael managed to dodge that. But just barely.
The male landed and saw the enemy retreat again. "You will never defeat me if all you do is keep running!" the stone golem stated, his voice able to be heard even when in stone.
"You do have a point there," Michael agreed. "I think it's time to strike back."
The white-haired male clenched his right fist and something that looked like a tiny ice spike began to materialize into his hand. "Er… I don't think a tiny icicle is going to work," Kurumu said while seeing this. Moka and Tsukune weren't also sure as well.
"Heh, just watch him," Nicholas told those three.
"He's right, this will be how I end this," Michael said. With a flick of his wrist, the tiny icicle transformed becoming a long, double ended javelin like weapon. Everyone felt an instant change in the temperature as the Yokai who could use ice was affecting it with his power. But not enough to the point this would be uncomfortable.
The enemy stone golem hidden in the stone let out a booming laugh. "You still don't understand your problem!" the enemy stated. "What good will a fragile thing of ice tell you where I am?"
"Yes, finding you is a problem," the white-haired male replied, still calm, and closed his eyes. It was like he was trying to sense something.
"You just can't be scared, can you? Well I'll soon change that!"
"I don't have fear of you," Michael said. "After all, I plan to always make it back to a special someone."
"Wait… huh?" Kurumu asked, confused. She of course, like Tsukune and Moka, had no idea about how Michael felt about Mizore. But Nicholas who did could relate when it came to him and the succubus.
Suddenly the white-haired male's right wrist twitched and his head whipped up and to the right. "Found you!" he stated.
The enemy emerged from the ceiling and Michael drew his arm back to attack. The stone golem saw his mistake but it was too late to stop. "It's over," Nicholas told the others. "That ice he formed is sharp enough and strong enough to break through solid stone."
"Eat on this!" the male with ice powers said and using it like a double bladed sword, he sliced the golem up while jumping forward to get close. His attack took of the head, limbs, and tail from the main body.
The parts landed behind Michael, the head rolling a little. "How did you find me?" the enemy demanded.
"Your temperature," Michael explained. "I made it a bit colder so I could trace the much warmer temperature your body produces. I have that ability seeing as how I can control ice. I can sense a person's body temperature."
The enemy's head then went silent. "Well that was smooth," Kurumu stated. "I was a bit worried there for a moment."
"C'mon, something like this isn't too tough," the guy with white hair replied.
"Yeah although… what was that about a special someone?"
"Er, now's not the time to ask," Nicholas told the succubus, saving his friend some embarrassment. "Besides, we came here to see what's going on. And maybe even find those missing people."
"Yeah, better move then," Tsukune agreed.
Most of them began to walk away but Michael. He had hardly turned around when he sensed something with his opponent. "Wait, I don't think my fight's over yet," he stated.
"Say wha?" Kurumu asked as the rest all stopped.
Everyone then watched in shock as the pieces of the enemy began to wiggle and then put themselves back together. The enemy let out a laugh and his body picked up the head last of all. With a simple movement, the stone golem was whole once again. "Who's going, not me," the enemy said.
"You're kidding; he put himself back together!" Tsukune exclaimed.
"You can dissemble me all you like; I'll come back each time! Actually it makes for a very nice attack!"
The enemy raised his arms off and fired all of those limbs and even his head in chunks at Michael. The white-haired male drew his arm back that was holding his weapon made of ice. With a shout, the guy struck, slicing the incoming stone to harmless bits so he didn't get hit. "Right in the head!" Kurumu stated.
"I doubt he'll be back after that!" Tsukune added.
The enemy chuckled and began to reform. "Want to try again?" he taunted Michael.
"Er… okay that was luck!" the succubus in the group said, trying to figure out why this stone golem kept coming back.
"Let's end this!" the one fighting Michael stated. "How'd you like to be stoned to death?!"
The enemy did the same attack again. But this time the latter noticed something he hadn't before. Among the flying pieces of stone, the guy spotted one that was very different. It was much a much smaller rock, able to fit in the palm of one's hand. And given the fact it was red and glowed with that color made it stand out like a sore thumb. "Wait… I think I know what to do!" Michael thought in his head.
The guy landed on the ground, wincing a little as it had been a tiny bit of a rough landing. He looked up above to see the enemy was now a floating mass of rocks, ready to strike again. "They're coming back!" Moka said.
"Do something man!" Tsukune exclaimed.
The stones lunged forward again. But Michael looked and spotted the strange glowing rock among the others. This time he was ready. The guy stood up, bracing himself for a barrage. "What the hell is he doing; he's going to possibly get killed!" Kurumu said.
The rocks found their mark on the white-haired male. But he didn't back off and managed to reach out and grab the glowing red stone. Even with getting more hurt and beat up, the guy had done it. Michael went to one kneed, panting, and wincing from the pain. "You're not even fighting back now!" the enemy stated. "Those blows must have made you insane!"
Michael began to chuckle. He got up on his feet and looked back to see the enemy reforming, actually laughing a little. "Yes, I'm sure of it," the stone golem said. "Now you're laughing at nothing-" The enemy then stopped when realizing his view of Michael was flipped upside down. "Wha-What; wait a moment! I'm in the middle of the ceiling!"
The rest of the group saw what was going on and were stunned as the sight before them was so bizarre. "What's wrong?!" the opponent asked. What he didn't realize was that he had resembled all mixed up. His arms and tail were in the wrong places, his head upside down and right at the crouch area.
Nicholas made a funny face and gave up, just roaring with laughter as this was one of the funniest things he'd ever seen. "I've heard of brass balls before, but come on!" the guy with long hair managed to choke, his eyes watering.
Even Tsukune was laughing too. "Yeah, let's see him try to fight now!" the former human said.
"What did you do to me?!" the enemy exclaimed.
Michael held up the stone he had caught. "I took this," he said with a smirk.
"Aggh… what's that?!"
"I believe this is your real weakness and an obvious one. My guess is that this is what regulates all the functions of your body, including the process of how to put yourself back together. It seems to relay an energy signal when you separate; making it very easy to find."
"You can't do this!" the stone golem said. "GIVE IT BACK TO ME!"
"Nope!" Michael replied with his eyes closed, lazily tossing the stone up in the air to get rid of.
"GIVE IT BACK!"
"Farewell," the white-haired male stated in a tone cold as ice and sliced the red rock in half with his ice weapon.
With a groan, the enemy exploded into a bunch of shards, some being disintegrated into nothing. "I don't think he's coming back after that," Tsukune said.
"Great work man," Nicholas told Michael. "You doing okay?"
"Yeah, my wounds from earlier aren't bad." The guy was still bleeding but checking showed the wounds weren't bad at all.
"Say how come you haven't healed?" Moka asked.
Nicholas looked over at the remains of the enemy. "I wonder…" he said and went over to the pile. He picked up one of the remaining stone and squeezed it. A very fine black powder emerged from his clenched fingers.
"What is that?" Kurumu asked, seeing the powder.
"Black stone; it's one of the things that can cut off his ability to heal. Mine as well." Nicholas paused a beat. "It's from where I come from."
"Like on earth?" Tsukune suggested.
The male with long hair shook his head. "Where I come from is a completely different dimension… It's called the Abyss."
The three who had never heard of it were puzzled. "The… Abyss?" Kurumu asked, wondering if this was a joke or something.
"What is that, hell?" Tsukune suggested.
"Not quiet," Nicholas replied. "It's more like a different realm."
"It's different in ways than earth or the human world," Michael then said. "But there are similarities like the fact humans can go there. But you need someone to help get there by a portal."
"We could tell you more, but we've got some more investigating to do," Nicholas then said. "But I'm sure we'll be going to that place. Call it a gut feeling."
"Yeah, I guess we should head down," Tsukune agreed, the heads in the group turning to where they would head down further.
"You lead," Moka told Nicholas.
"Fine with me." Now it was time to end this and head further down to put an end to this little thing once and for all.