UNLEASHED

"And so the beast got released from it's tethers. He rampaged all night, exhibiting his unhindered powers. I ought to be afraid. I ought to cower. But all I could do is marvel in wonder." - Original Translation of the classic "Samurai Beast's Vengeance" by Genji

Sora Busujima

I am frozen in mid-air. Well, my body is. My wings are still keeping me, no, us airborne. But, I am just hovering now, completely stunned to say the least.

Miu just relayed to me the plan through our unique way of communication and I could not wrap my head around it no matter how I tried.

Me: Seriously?

Miu: Y

Me: You are joking

Miu: N

Me: For real?

Miu: Y

"-you listening? Hey! Bangs! Vamp!" Someone is shouting at my ear, but it sounds muffled, as if underwater. "Sora!" The mention of my name snapped me out of my daze and instantly, I started moving forward again. Did Dynamight just use my name? He finally gave up the nicknames?

Then, it sunk into me. I froze in the middle of a deadly rain. What foolishness.

"Sorry," I whispered to Dynamight. I guess I must thank Lady Luck for not deciding to drop trees or rocks on our heads while I was frozen.

"Why did you even stop?" he said, still shouting. I am really going to need to have my ears checked after this.

Please take note that my ears are not normal. I can hear high frequency sounds that are well above average human hearing, so imagine the torture I am in right now.

"Please, do not scream anymore. It is interfering with my echolocation," I calmly told him, which was a lie. I am perfectly capable of using my abilities even if I was surrounded by a thousand Dynamights, but he does not need to know that.

He grunts, but thankfully he keeps silent. That did not last for long though. At that moment, Deku calls out to him, "Kacchan! Copy me!"

The two of us look over to where Miu and Deku are executing the plan.

I already knew what to expect, thanks to Miu's warning. So, that prepared me, at the very least. Dynamight, on the other hand…

"HAAAAAA?!"

I think my ears might bleed. It did not, but it certainly felt like it.

"What are you doing, idiot Deku?!"

This time, I can not really blame him for screaming his lungs out though. I might have done the same, if only I did not find it to be a total waste of energy that I would very much need for this crazy plan.

Still, I can not help but watch with enlarged eyes as Deku shifted his position from the perfect pretty bride to an overly clingy tarsier; arms around my sister's neck, legs circling my sister's hips, body extremely too close for comfort.

Suddenly, the man I am carrying started vibrating with suppressed anger? surprise? disgust? I can not really read it. Truthfully, I have never been good at reading emotions. One thing is certain though. All that he is feeling are negative emotions.

"Trust me!" Deku calls out from beside my sister's head. He really is too close. Why did Miu ever agree to this?

Seeing that his comrade is hesitating, which is an understatement, Deku speaks again, firmer this time. "If this plan works, if my theory is correct, we may turn this battle around and return home. Do you hear me? Back to our own time, Kacchan!"

Kacchan. That is what Deku calls Dynamight. They must really be close, I thought before my thoughts got invaded, no, bombarded with something else entirely. Not shouts, no. I expected that. What I did not expect is for Dynamight to follow and copy Deku.

He placed his bulky arms around my neck, nearly covering half my face, and then he swung his long legs around my hips, locking them together at the small of my back.

"W- wait-" I managed to say despite my fluster. Unconsciously, I placed my arms around him like I would a child saved from a burning building or an old lady who can not run from danger. I have never carried anyone like him before, though. He is neither a crying child nor a helpless old lady. That much is clear as my senses got engulfed by his developed muscles and overwhelming masculinity.

"I'm just doing this because I need to go back," Dynamight whispers in my ear. I almost could not recognize his voice, it was calm and, well, not shouting. "Besides, I'd never see you again after this," he adds.

"Of course," I replied simply, but my treacherous brain is whispering something else. Is that disappointment? Can not be. I have never crossed paths with anyone I have saved before. He will be just like them.

Miu approaches me, sending a wink my way. "Sora, are you ready? This will be fun!"

There she goes again. How can she think of fun when we would literally be flying for our lives?

I just sent her a nod, then whispered to my passenger, "Hold tight, but do not strangle me to death. Understood?"

"Wait! You haven't told me the plan-

"All you need to do is hold on tight. When the plan succeeds, you will know. Or so I believe" -and hope. I really hope it succeeds.

I know I said the plan was crazy, I am not taking that back, but it is smart as well. Somehow, I understand what Deku is thinking of and I respect him for coming up with such a theory. In the past days of our fruitless investigation, Miu and I have never really thought of it that way.

But other than smart, it is also dumb, extremely so. He came up with a plan that relies on the fact that my sister and I, complete strangers to him, would deliver. How can he trust us like that? What if we can not do it?

I have to admit, I would never dare trust my life to someone else like this. It is too risky. Still, he exudes an aura that makes me want to follow and I hate it.

To console myself, I just thought that whether this plan succeeds or not, it could bring our investigation forward. I could gain more information on the island. That much is worth the risk.

I stayed still, waiting for Deku's signal. That is when I noticed that Dynamight's arms were loose around my neck. Too loose. One quick turn and he would fall right away. So, I urged him to tighten his arms around my neck with a little push.

Zap! I guess we really were too close, close enough to generate electricity with friction. I ignored it and Dynamight did, too. There are more important things at the moment.

When a particularly large tree comes barrelling down, Deku shouts, "Up!" Here goes the signal.

Miu and I moved without hesitation, up towards the clear night sky, and hopefully up towards our freedom.

Deku picked a great time to move because when we came out of hiding, the one called Gigantomachia was distracted in uprooting a new tree to throw at us, giving us a few seconds of smooth ascending to our goal.

"Wormhole!" The one who seems to be the leader notices us first. I prepared for a hole to come out of nowhere instantly, but it came slower and smaller than the ones before. I am not complaining, though. It made dodging them easier.

"The guy's reaching a limit," Dynamight's gruff voice comes from my left ear. Straining my eyes, I could see that the one called Wormhole is indeed near breaking point. The small hooded figure is on his knees and pounding his head on the ground.

I thought this meant our escape would be easier, but I thought wrong.

When another hole appeared in front of me, it also came with pink fog. Gasping with surprise, I would have inhaled it if not for Dynamight's hand clamping down my mask-covered mouth. So, this hole can teleport other things too, not just humans.

"Don't breathe! Fly up!" Deku's voice comes from somewhere.

I have lost sight of them! Not only did the fog slow us down, but it impaired my vision, too. I hate it so much. So, using my wings, I spiraled to fan some of the fog away and breathe even just a little bit for a burst of energy to continue flying.

There! I see the moon. Making my way to it, I dodged every tree, rock, and hole thrown my way. Thankfully, this Gigantomachia's aim is not as good as his power. If it was, we would have been struck down easily long ago.

Higher! Higher! Higher! I repeated it again and again in my brain, like a chant or a prayer.

Then, it hit me. After dedicating my whole being into keeping us alive and flying I do not know how many miles up, I finally felt it. Like being doused with warm silky water, it was relaxing. An invisible weight I did not know I was carrying was lifted.

The moment I felt that, Dynamight must have felt it too because he immediately pushed off of me like I was a hot iron rod burning his skin.

"Dynam-" My call got cut short when instead of falling to his death like I expected, he blasted through the sky like a rocket, explosions bursting out of his hands.

That must be his meta ability; Explosions… Even if I have only known him for no more than three days, less than half of it he was conscious, I somehow felt like this ability suits him well. Loud, unapologetic, and bold. Yes, it is indeed a perfect match.

But even if that surprised me, his explosions were not what caught my attention. It was actually his smile and the look in his eyes. Not because it was beautiful, no. It was actually terrifying yet exciting at the same time. No beauty in it, just pure, unadulterated power. He seems so exhilarated at getting his power back. It was confusing yet hypnotizing to watch.

No matter how much I tried, I could not keep my eyes off of him.

Miu Busujima

Deku was right! The island's nullifying effect did have a certain reach. When we fly high enough, the effects of the island do wear off. Damn, this man is smart!

And cute.

Now, why did I have to think that? I don't know! I can't stop my brain from thinking what it wants to think! And when I reached the goal a mere .97 seconds after Sora, I didn't have much to think about anymore anyways. It was just surprise after surprise.

First, Dynamight started rampaging with his ear-shattering explosions, overjoyed with getting his meta ability back. Then, Deku also jumped out of my clutch and floated like it was nothing.

That's when I realized that both of them have no use for us anymore. I mean, they're perfectly capable of being airborne without us silly bats, right? I'm not bitter or disappointed or anything. Nope, perfectly fine.

So, Sora and I didn't really have much to do after that. We just watched as the two decided to take the enemies on.

Don't get me wrong! Since the nullifying effect was gone, we could have used it and dealt with the enemies ourselves, but we thought that it's time to sit back and see what they can do.

Dynamight attacks first as I expected since he seems to be the only one capable of long range attacks. To be honest, after I saw that Deku's meta ability was floating in the air, I thought Dynamight would have to handle the second part of Deku's plan all by himself; that is to capture Wormhole. Why? We believe that Small Hood is the one responsible for their sudden trip to the past, and so must take responsibility in giving them the roundtrip ticket.

But, no. Boy, was I wrong! Floating was apparently not the only meta ability Deku had, surprising Sora and I.

After Dynamight sent a huge explosion in the direction of the cliff where the hooded figures are…

"Kacchan, wait! We need to get the small guy- Wormhole!" Deku shouts from beside Dynamight, or, uhm, Kacchan.

"I know! I left that for you," he replies. And at first I thought, Really? Did you? That's a pretty big explosion, you could have taken them all down and the whole cliff with them.

Then, I saw. Somehow, Dynamight was able to control his explosion so much so that Wormhole was indeed out of range while taking out all the other four. Impressive control, if you ask me.

Next, I thought, But how will Deku get him? He can't fly down and grab Wormhole because as soon as he passes the imaginary barrier he will lose his meta ability again.

Ha! That's when my eyes grew as big as ping pong balls and my jaw dropped. Out of nowhere, a black energy-rope-whip thing shoots out from Deku's hands and stretches out to where the target is.

He has two meta abilities. He has two meta abilities? He has two meta abilities!

I was seriously losing my mind, but before the black energy-rope-whip thing reaches Wormhole, he uses his own meta ability at the very last second and disappears into a hole.

Ugh! Did we just fail?

When the smoke from Dynamight's explosion dissipates, we got a clear view of what had become of the cliff; almost bare from Gigantomachia's violent harvesting and scorched from Dynamight's attack. Trees weren't the only things missing from it, though.

The other four hooded figures who should have been lying in wait for our taking were not there. No Somi. No Gigantomachia. No Tall Hood or Average Hood. They have disappeared, just like Wormhole.

"Nerd," Dynamight calls glumly and I can't blame him. What might just be their only way back slipped through their fingertips. And speaking of fingers, he uses his to point at a spot on the cliff where a small fire is starting with a few trees.

Deku understands immediately. "No worries. I got it, Kacchan."

And now this is when my eyes grew as big as tennis balls and my jaw went to the depths of hell. Deku punches, then, the air pressure that built from the strength of that one punch blew the flames away. You know? Like it was nothing. Easy peasy.

Me: Deku

Sora: Three

Me: WTF

Sora: Y

Unconsciously, while communicating with her, I inched my way to Sora. I don't know what I'm feeling. Scared? Amazed? I don't know! I just know that whoever these heroes are, they are not normal. What did we get ourselves into?

"Miu, Sora. Great work taking us up here! We're sorry if- Uhm… Why are you backing away?" Deku said innocently, like he didn't just generate a freaking whirlwind with his arm, and make a black energy-rope-whip thing, and fly!

"I think you scared them," Dynamight comments casually, like he didn't just freaking nuke the cliff!

I stopped myself from backing away and with a trembling voice that I swear I was trying to control, I said, "Who- What the hell are you guys?!"