Disclaimer: Don't own pretear places/characters, only Han & the puppets!

Chapter 4 – Puppets of Darkness

Several weeks after the event that almost resulted in Han's demise, Himeno and Han had had to fight off numerous Demon Lava but Han had not been attacked mentally again by the voice. Still, Himeno insisted that someone should stay with Han all hours of the day, just in case. Goh offered to look after her for most of the time and thus after school/college one day, Han was sitting outside Bistro Blanche eating an ice cream sundae and doing homework whilst Goh was working. Han was peacefully reading through 's 'Grave of the Fireflies' for her Japanese work when she noticed the people around her started to collapse without reason.

"Goh!" Han called out as she stood up.

"What's wrong?" Goh asked as he ran out of the restaurant.

"Something's wrong…" Han replied. Goh looked around as saw the people collapsing, agreeing with Han's diagnosis of the situation.

Goh grabbed Han's hand and ran off to try and find the source of the problem. Soon enough they came to it; three demon lava. Han grabbed her cell phone from her pocket and dialled Himeno's number without hesitation. She told her about the demon lava and Himeno told her that she would be there as soon as she could.

In the meantime, Han and Goh had no choice but to prêt. They started to attack the nearest Demon Lava, Han constantly looking for its core. Han, on finding the core, then had the problem of finding a way to get to it, since this Demon Lava had a very good protection system in the way of ladybird-like shell/wings on its back.

"Don't worry, Han." Goh comforted Han, who was getting unsure of her own abilities, "You can do it."

Han nodded and took a deep breath, focusing on the movement of the Demon Lava's wings/shells, getting her mind in rhythm with their movement. After ten seconds she felt more confident and prepared to attack. She waited until the wings/shell was close before preparing her attack.

"Fire Axe!" She shouted as she launched the flaming axe at the Demon Lava, the attack hitting just as the Demon Lava's wings/shell opened. The demon Lava screeched and disintegrated.

By this time, the other two Demon Lava had moved away from their original spots and were causing havoc around the city. Han and Goh set out after the closest one and started to attack it. They were making a pretty good job of defeating it when Himeno, preted with Hayate, arrived, followed by the other knights. Together, they made short work of the second Demon Lava.

"Are you okay?" Himeno asked Han once the second Demon Lava was gone.

"Fine." Han replied, wiping the sweat from her brow, "But there's still another Demon Lava out there, we've got to get it!"

"Do you know where abouts it is?" Sasame asked.

"No." Han replied shaking her head.

"Split up?" Kei suggested. Himeno nodded.

"Sasame, you take Hajime and Shin, Han you go with Kei and we'll go with Mannen." Himeno ordered assertively.

"Right." Everyone agreed before splitting up and taking to the air.

After searching for most of the city, Han and Kei met up with Himeno and Mannen again.

"Anything?" Han asked, Himeno shook her head, "Damn."

Suddenly, from below them, Han and Himeno both sensed a Demon Lava. They looked at each other, nodded and flew down, landing on the ground beside each other, Kei and Mannen on either side of them. Sasame and the other two kids quickly joined them having sensed the Demon Lava's location also.

This Demon Lava looked much stronger than the previous town and, just as Shin was about to summon a containment field, four men appeared, standing on the Demon Lava. One of the men has jet-black hair and cruel eyes, with an evil grin spread across his face. The second had black hair also and looked a lot younger than the others. The third had silver hair and was severely scared. Both Han and Himeno recognised him as the man that they saw running away from their first battle. The fourth man had long, red-hair and piercing green eyes that seemed to look straight into your soul. His looks alone put fear into Han.

"So these two are the Pretears." The first man commented.

"It would seem so." The second agreed.

"Who are you?" Himeno yelled at the men.

"Puppets of Darkness…" Sasame stated, "Not like the puppet that Fenril tried to use Mawata as but actual beings of darkness."

"They are just pawns. There is someone else pulling their strings." Kei agreed.

"How do you know?" Han asked curiously.

"Because Puppets of Darkness like these have to be created by someone." Kei told her.

"Clever, aren't you?" The red-head said, smirking.

The minute the red-head spoke, Han froze up. The voice, his voice, was the one that had been encircling her mind, it had been controlling her, almost killed her. It was HIS voice, HIS doing. Freaking out a little, Han de-preted with Goh, surprising everyone. She then fell to her knees, holding her head in her hands.

"Han?" Goh asked, "Are you okay?"

"Aww, look Akumu, she remembers you." The silver-haired man said to the red-haired man, Akumu (Akumu means 'nightmare' in Japanese).

"Seems so," Akumu agrees, "But I haven't even properly introduced myself to her yet…" To everyone else, he went silent but to Han he continued to speak, in her head, "I am Akumu, the nightmare bringer, the one with telepathic and telekinetic abilities. Fear me girl, for I will show you now what I am capable of."

In Han's mind and image of one of the puppets shooting Goh appeared. In the premonition, Goh's body fell to the ground and he started to bleed and fade. Han opened her eyes to find herself covered in a cold sweat, Himeno and the other knights were all gathered around her, especially Shin and Goh. She quickly got to her feet, the others followed her lead.

"Who…Who are you?" She asked the men, "Who sent you?"

"I am Malicious." The first man told her, blowing courteously.

"Rei." They young one told her.

"The name's Valor." The silver-haired man grumbled.

"You already know me." Akumu smirked, "As for your second question, I can't tell you that, it would spoil all our fun!"

At that same moment, Malicious raised a gun and fired a shot, aimed straight for Goh.

"Goh! No!" Han cried out, launching herself into the line of fire and taking the bullet in her left shoulder. She fell to the ground, quickly finding her feet once more. Her focus was blurred and she realised that she was loosing a lot of blood.

"GET BACK HERE YOU BASTARDS!" Han heard Himeno yell and assumed that the puppets and Demon Lava had fled.

"Guys, help me!" Goh pleaded, holding Han in his arms. She was bleeding profoundly and was barely conscious.

"Goh…" She managed to murmur, "I stopped it from coming true…" She then blacked out in his arms. Goh was almost in tears but managed to hold them back, unlike Shin who was crying bucket loads.

"Come on Goh, we'll use the gateway of light to take her to Leafenia to heal her." Sasame suggested. Goh nodded and followed the others through the gateway and to the place where they healed Sasame in the series. Goh placed Han inside the chamber and the knights started to heal her. Himeno sat by with a worried look on her face.