Hey guys!

New chapter here! Now, if any of you are curious, this isn't just about IF and Nico's reunion, which is why I didn't state whether it was IF and Nico's reunion in the title. I tried to make that apparent with the last chapter. We'll be going deeper into their backstory in this chapter, but not all the way. There's a whole can of worms i'm going to be opening up soon enough, just you wait and see. There'll also be hints of something i'm including in the future,ufufufufu

Anyways, if you haven't realized. These two Ghouls are actually Hol Horse and the Hanged Man from Jojo P3 - Stardust Crusaders. They're minor villains, but I felt like I could make them into better villains with more impact on the story than they do in their original franchise. Though, I highly recommend the Jojo series, it is freaking awesome. JOOOOOOJOO!

Now then, let the chapter begin!


Chapter 87 - The Reunion PT2

Hell…

This was…

What hell Looked like.

No doubt about it.

That was the sole thing running through his mind as his unarmored form took in everything at once… something that he found quite difficult to do in all honesty. Who could blame him, either?

Knowing his experiences, a lot of officials would…

Flames burned all around, scorching the air around them. It illuminated the area they were in with a crimson orangish hue, like molten hot lava. Heat burned against his skin, and if this were anything else, he would have made a comment about how his would likely give him sunburn, or something similar. However, in this case, those were far from the thought that were having a field day within his head right now.

The ground around them, once filled with nothing but the lush green grass, the faint signs of scuttering insects that just minded their own business, had been reduced to nothing but a sea of charred soot. The soot filled the air like the smoke from the flames that made visibility near impossible, almost making breathing difficult for him had he not had experience with volcanic areas in Gamindustri.

Corpses, corpses of so many people, all of them Spec Ops, Guild Agents and even a few of them bystanders that got dragged into the conflict, were scattered all around him like pieces of rubbish in a junk yard, a hard indication of what had transpired this day. These corpses, they filled his nostrils with the scent of their decaying flesh, the recent events setting his mind spinning.

Why?

How?

How could this happen?

He'd been so cautious, he'd kept an eye for any suspicious activity!

He had been making sure that something like this wouldn't have happened, that something like this could have been prevented! Yet, before his eyes, the very thing he'd tried to stop ended up happening in all its gory splendour. Not only that, but the stench of blood was so thick in this area, this place which had once served as their resting point after a rather difficult mission, that he could almost choke to his death on it.

It definitely didn't do his condition any favours, that's for sure. He'd been forced out of his armour during the onslaught, and it was fairly early on. He had been so blindsided by the initial beginning, that his armour was damaged to a significant degree since the beginning, and he had no idea how long it had been since then, but his internal clock made a god guess that it had been more than an hour. His Armour had been damaged to a degree where it had to activate one of its last resort functions, which was to lock itself from being used until it could properly fix itself, which took time. True, his Armour had been self-regenerative, but so much damage had been dealt to it at once that it just couldn't maintain itself anymore. Which took away his Plasma Claws and a lot of his protection… and not just protection from attacks either. He could feel IT inside of him quivering with delight, begging for release. The blood, the death, the smells, everything around him just acted like one big bout of stimulus for THAT side of him. That one monster that he could only hope nobody saw him use.

Not to mention that he was far from pristine condition, himself.

Lying sprawled on the ground, one Nico used his right forearm, which had its forearm Bracer damaged to the point where he couldn't use its functions for a while until it would be repaired, to support his upper body. He leaned upwards, grimacing at the numerous injuries his body had sustained. His body was littered with varying degrees of cuts, burns and his left arm seemed to be barely hanging onto his shoulder. There were only a few muscle fibres supporting it, with the rest of the shoulder practically a large, gaping hole. If that injury wasn't bad enough, Nico had a piece of his neck being ripped out, along with a left hip, right calf and his entire left foot was gone.

Nico groaned quietly to himself, though part of him wondered what that point was since most of his comrades were dead right now, as his regeneration began kicking in. For the lesser injuries, thin red Tendrils slithered out from his fibres, stitching themselves over the scratches while the skin covered the damaged areas. The larger the gash, as well as deeper, the longer the time took. For the holes in his body, crimson flesh poured out from the wounds, filling them up as flesh began to grow over the areas, soon filling them and rendering these injuries non-existent, leaving only unblemished skin. The longest injury he had to regenerate from was his shoulder, as not only flesh but bone had to be reconstructed. While his regeneration was quite potent, abnormally so amongst those of his kind, Nico's body required more time to repair broken bones, as they were slightly more difficult to repair.

Peering into the distance while his regeneration worked its magic, the young Spec Ops Agent DEATHSTROKE identified the figures that were responsible for this destruction, shrouded by the dark smoke that covered the landscape. That is, until they emerged from it looking like they had been taken to a candy store and told they had it all for free. The figures, shrouded by the smoke at first as well as blurred slightly in his vision, soon revealed themselves to be two men… two men that made the teen grit his teeth in unbridled rage. "You two…!" he growled under his breath. Even with his current state, Nico remained defiant as he glared at the two figures.

The only thing he could make out clearly from them were two pairs of glowing red eyes, eyes that belonged to Ghouls.

"Wow, you survived? Well, that's interesting."

"Hey bro, this guy looks like he's a tasty delight. I wanna eat him, can we?"

"Not yet, my dear. It's intriguing that this one possesses a healing factor this potent. None of his other Agent comrades had that ability."

The two figures, completely uncaring of the rage Nico aimed at them, discussed with each other via glances. They didn't feel too threatened by the boy at all, and why would they? Most if not everyone of the Spec Ops Agents that took this job were dead or dying, none of them having their communication equipment. Said equipment had been destroyed thanks to their efforts. This wasn't an instantaneous thing, this was planned from the very beginning.

It had been a long time coming, but it was goddamn GLORIOUS.

The carnage.

Slaughter.

Meat.

Flesh.

Feasting.

It was nothing but glorious.

"Just…"

Slowly, the figures turned towards Nico, whose injuries had halfway healed already as he stood on all fours, his head hanging low to allow his hair to cover his eyes. Darkness concealed them from view, but considering their surroundings, the need for this action could be questioned. Though not by them, since they were in the thick of this situation. "Just one question… why? Why do all this? Why now?"

Nico asked them that, his volume just barely above a whisper. His tone was empty, void of all emotions as he gripped the ground with his gloved hands. Ironically while his body had been injured severely, his clothes looked barely ruffled. An interesting factor to note about the Spec Ops Agent's apparel. Memories flooded his mind, memories of the past… of what they did together. It only succeeded in making the stinging sensation in his chest all the harder to grasp, however.

"Oh, its simple really. We just felt like it."

"Yeah, what he said."

The bluntness of their replies, combined with the simplicity and the lack of care they gave about butchering all these Agents, good men who had done nothing to these two, was like a fist to the face to the teen. His teeth clenched so tightly that under normal circumstances, a dentist would be concerned when they saw cracks in them. His fists clutched the ground so roughly, with his nails digging through the ground that his fingertips began to bleed from the pressure. None of that registered to his mind however, all that he was thinking at this moment, as his vision slowly gained red dots throughout the sight range, was…

Rip.

These.

Fuckers.

TO SHREDS!

"I see… well then, that clears up a lot of things, actually…" he muttered under his breath, his form stilling. This caused the two figures to raise their brows at his motions, curiosity filling those devilish red eyes of theirs. "No matter what kind of reasoning you had, you just betrayed a community that considers everyone within their ranks to be as important as brothers and sisters-in-arms. That, my future corpses…"

Raising his head, the two figures eyes widened in surprise at what they saw, but before they could say anything as to what that was, Nico was already on them, his form like a rabid animal on a blood frenzy. Any injuries he had before had been long gone at this point, as he let out a furious bellow. "IS TESTAMENT TO YOUR DEATHS, YOU FUCKERS!"


This felt so freaking familiar, that it was insane.

A bitter, angry chuckle escaped Nico's lips, his helmet making hearing this sign of audio practically impossible, as he deflected one Ukaku Tail strike while flipping over a Koukaku stab from his other adversary. The teen landed on top of an iron cage that has been toppled during the initial conflict, before jumping off it when a shower of long, crimson crystalline Ukaku Shards flew from Hol Horse's Kagune, most prominently from the Wings. His Pistols fired a rapid volley of RC Cell bullets that were aimed towards Nico's vitals.

The teen managed to deflect some with his Plasma Claws, and his Armour's Plasma Shields took care of the others. Hol Horse raised a brow in curiosity at this, for a few seconds though then a smirk formed on his features. "Huh, well aren't we the naughty ones..." He mused, intrigued as he watched the Shields disintegrate his bullets. "Someone's apparently gotten themselves some better fangs."

Ignoring him, Nico made a quick response. He deployed his Plasma Cannons and made to retaliate, when he noticed J Greil jumping at him with his Koukaku Lance in a reverse swinging motion. The tip was already near his right shoulder, so Nico only had a split second to react by bending backwards into a flip that ended up in him kicking his deformed foe. Though, that did nothing to hinder his combat prowess as his Koukaku's arm Armour formed a long, flat looking protrusion that concealed his jaw enough to negate some of the damage. It receded after the attack, though.

Before Nico could counter, the teen saw how Hol Horse was flanking him on his left, shooting organic bullets at his side. The teen swiftly flipped about, dodging and deflecting what he could until he saw Hol Horse jump towards him, swinging his right wing like it was an appendage all on its own. In a sense, it was as it reshaped its blades so that it could be used as a stabbing tool, but it couldn't penetrate the Armour's Plasma Shields. Hol Horse didn't look discouraged however, as he had simply distracted the teen.

Distracted him for his partner that is, to strike from Nico's right rear flank.

But, if they thought THAT would be enough to catch him by surprise, then they really underestimated him. Pivoting around on his left heel, Nico barely avoided the fast swing of a Koukaku before it could tear off one of his arms. Even so, though, the male still found himself getting hit in the stomach by J Greil's foot when he kicked him there. Nico grimaced, sensing his Shields plummeting from the impact as he was sent flying. His Plasma Shields, they were quite good at blocking ranged attacks, but when it came to short range, like CQC, he'd discovered that they fell pretty short. It appeared that they were built more for ranged combat than CQC.

Sliding to a halt, the male held out his Plasma Claws to parry several tail slashes, curtesy of Hol Horse. The versatility of that Kagune never ceased to annoy him. This was one of those few times where he fought against a being who had similar versatility to himself and knew how to counter his tactics. Hol Horse and J Greil were a dynamic pair alright, bisexual, rough, vicious… and also efficient at working as a team. The former stuck to ranged attacks, only coming in close when the right opportunity presented itself. That was their game plan for most of their encounters on the battlefield…

And a highly annoying one.

Nico had experienced tactics like these before, whenever he sparred with the girls back ion Lastation, an activity they even partook in when they returned to Planeptune. Sparring was a great way for the body to develop its muscles needed for combat, and it was the basis for the girls gaining new Skills. Even at the risk of bodily injury, of which most participants of this method didn't make it out alive, they had Compa who was a wiz at Healing Skills, being a Nurse-In-Training after all.

Nevertheless, none of them had the ruthlessness and brutality that these two possessed, the differences made clear as day from the initial beginning this battle had. Hol Horse and J Greil showed no hesitation, nor mercy in their attacks, and it became nigh impossible for Nico to call on any of his Devil Arms. Usually, he'd be able to weave in a couple seconds to do something like call on a Devil Arm, like he'd done in the past. But these guys struck with such a short time gap between their blows that it made summoning one from his Void Storage an impossibility. True, he still had Rebellion on his back, as well as Ebony and Ivory strapped to his waist, but it wasn't like he had the time to draw them either, these guys struck too fast and if they saw him trying to reach for them Hol Horse would fire organic bullets towards his hands to blast them off. That was something he KNEW would be the case, from past experience and all.

Worse still, was that his Ukaku Kagune had a special ability, one that makes him all the more dangerous.

Seeing several bullets come his way, Nico swiftly tilted his head to dodge them letting them fly by harmlessly past his important area. His eye narrowed at the victorious smirk on Hol Horse's lips. It didn't take him long to figure out why, not wen he glanced behind him and show the bullets, as if reflecting from an invisible surface, sharply twisted a full circle to co me at him again. This time from above. Nico quickly dodged them again… only for them to repeat the process over and over until J Greil came in for a thrust to his chest. Nico barely raised his claws to deflect in time, sparks flying from the collision between their two weapons… but suffered a few bullet wounds to the left shoulder.

Armour and all.

'Tch!'

Nico stumbled backwards, but other than that he didn't let the new injury affect him. J Greil cackled as he pressed his assault, swinging his Lace and thrusting in a deadly dance of blood and death. With one arm temporarily down, Nico became hard pressed to block and deflect them, forcing himself to put in more energy to successfully hold his foe back. He then found a small opening and took it by kicking his glowing leg upwards to launch a PHANTOM WAVE, knocking J Greil backwards, a move he remembered doing against Arfoire back in the Monster Cave. Though, that turned out to be costly when Hol Horse swiftly fired more bullets, each of them shifting directions erratically as they flew through the air, before slamming into the armoured limb and penetrating it, as well as the skin underneath like they did his shoulder.

"You haven't forgotten, have you?" Hol Horse remarked, his grin turning ever so smug as he eyed the bloody trails coming out of Nico's shoulder, just as they regenerated along with the armour. The holes in his leg did the same with the armour there following suit, though he didn't feel worried. Not when his hits had landed against their prey. Even now, everything for their plan seemed to be falling right into place, all he had to do now was wait for J Greil to have his fun before the REAL joy begins. His dearie wasn't the only one who wanted a piece of Nico's flesh, after all. Nearly ANY of their kind would be salivating at the thought of sampling a taste of the extravagant meat that is this particular Spec Ops Agent. "My Bullets little 'extra' kick to them."

'Heh, how could I forget…' Nico thought to himself, not bothering to answer the cowboy-themed Ghoul as he reared his Plasma Claws backwards, feeling his shoulder regaining some functionality. Not 100% yet, but that was mostly thanks to te bullets lodging themselves deep into his system. They'd evaporate shortly, though, so he didn't feel TOO concerned with their presence. Though, he would wish they evaporate already, it didn't feel too comfortable having them ledged within his shoulder and leg like they were. 'Each bullet Hol Horse fires, unlike those Shards from his wings, are actually a detachable Kagune. He controls them with his mind, manipulating them like puppets so that they always hit their targets. Makes dodging them all the more annoying.'

One of the abilities a Kagune can possess is the ability to detach itself from a Ghoul and operate independently. Though researchers were still unable to explain, some ghouls possess a rare ability to detach part of their Kagune. This detached piece maintains its traits for some time and continues to function separate from the main body. There have been various uses reported by Spec Ops Agents who survived encounters with Ghouls, like how these pieces form walls that bury into the ground, and sprout like a thorn bush or other organic barrier. It then extended itself to fill the entire area, making passage impossible. This ability was recorded from when a Ghoul was being hunted by a whole group of 10 Agents, only to use this ability to escape capture.

Second, a detachable Kagune could be used to form traps that can be buried within any surface, coiling up on themselves. These traps would then lie in wait until nearby movement triggered them. The result: them bursting from their hiding place to impale what had set them off. From what reports told them, it appeared to be possible to set more than a half-dozen traps at a time, though the exact limitation was unknown.

Third, a detached Kagune can send out distress signals, through a means that researchers weren't sure of. It could reveal the Ghoul's position, potentially, but the fact on whether it could be used both ways wasn't known at the moment. There were so many things about a Ghoul's Kagune that they didn't understand, mostly thanks to how elusive the Ghoul species were. They took to hiding in plain sight way too literally, and what was more worrisome…

Was that they WEREN'T the only humanoid Abnormals recorded.

However, it is possible for Ghouls to use their detached Kagune in more destructive and offensive ways. One Ghoul learned how to detach a Kagune to use it as a sword, or another form of weapon. Another could detach fragments of their Kagune to use as projectiles, shredding through the enemy in makeshift Ukaku barrages. It makes their base knowledge about the RC Types for Ghouls practically near-useless. Then, there were Ghouls that could make detachments that could restrain and manipulate opponents, trapping them and immobilising them for the Ghoul to finish them off.

If his smirk was large before, it almost split his face in half right at that moment, drawing Nico's attention after he summersaulted over a particularly vicious wide swing from J Greil's Lance Koukaku. The man then twisted around, swinging his Koukaku Kagune in an upward arc, forcing the teen to quickly parry with his Plasma Claw. Sensing an opportunity, a raging sensation came to him, and Nico felt it coming from his back. He reflexively reacted, deactivating his Plasma Claws and quickly drawing out Rebellion in one sift motion, just in time to block another lunging strike that would have pierced his gut.

Koukaku Kagune were extremely robust and hard to wield, but if one had the proper training with it, that issue lost its severity significantly. Something J Greil took advantage of in his ability to handle that Kagune Lance of his. However, now that Nico ad a Devil Arm in his possession, the teen felt much better about his chances, especially when he noticed that snarl that escaped J Greil's lips. Seeing that just brought a LARGE sense of satisfaction to the male, as he knew from past experience how sharp Rebellion was. The Devil Arms didn't count as ordinary weapons, counting themselves as some of the few weapons that could pierce through a Kagune like warm tofu. While other Devil Arms like Alastor, Absolution or Harvester would have been preferable with how versatile they were, it wasn't like Hol Horse would allow him to summon them.

As soon as Nico thought that, he noticed another Volley of Shards coming his way.

"PHANTOM WAVE!"

Out of reflex, the teen kicked diagonally in their direction, launching a PHANTOM WAVE to deflect the incoming attack. The Shards and the Skill attack flew through the towards each other, shooting across the atmosphere like lasers making collision an inevitability. Like Nico expected though, the PHANTOM WAVE practically disintegrated the Shards the moment the attack made contact with the small projectiles, before proceeding to its next target: their wielder.

Hol Horse merely scoffed… before using his right Ukaku wing to bat the PHANTOM WAVE aside like it was nobody's business. The Skill attack slammed into a piece of railing and exploded, showing the space between them and the spectating girls in smoke.

'Even for an Ukaku, his defences are as formidable as before… no, with the lack of damage to the Kagune's surface, I'd say its gotten even tougher to crack…' Nico thought, narrowing his lone eye narrowing at the wing that was used for that manoeuvre. I the past when a PHANTOM WAVE hit it, the Kagune would sport a little more damage than that, like a bunch of cracks or even a hole or two. Now though, it barely looked like it had done a thing to it. Either this man has increased his RC Cell count, something that Ghouls do a lot in order to fight more efficiently and evolve their Kagune. Or he had reinforced them with more RC Cells than he did before. Nico was willing to bet it was the former though, Hol Horse's attack strength, agility and other physical traits seemed to be greater than the last time they fought. Same with J Greil, and he had just stuck to using his baser abilities so far. Was he hiding some form of trump card? Nico wasn't sure, but he wasn't willing to find out.

It was time to end this.

Nico landed on the ground, quickly gripping Rebellion's hilt as he activated one of his Demon Skills. The Devil Arm's blade glowed a fierce crimson reddish hue, before he went and yelled out the Skill's name. "DEMON SAW!" The familiar sensations of Demonic Energy coursed through his being, electing a small smile beneath Nico's helmet as he saw it transform his Rebellion into the familiar 6 Shark-tooth energy construct. The teen then swung it about in a wide arc, before bringing it down and causing a massive explosion of power.

"Whoa, what the fuck?!" J Greil exclaimed in surprise, quickly ducking under the first swing lest he lose his head. His gut instincts screamed that he didn't want that energy construct to hit him, for if it did then he would likely have his goose cooked. That feeling more than proved itself true when he felt the immense energy concentrated to form the construct as it sailed over his head, just barely nicking him in the nose. As for the second strike, J Greil barely avoided the full brunt of that onslaught but the shockwave sent him flying back towards his Partner. "What the heck was that?!"

Narrowing his eyes under his cowboy hat, Hol Horse eyed the glowing form of the energy construct while it reverted back into Rebellion, the Devil Arm's blade still crackling with demonic energy. Not unlike that of a Khorne Demon's Hellblade. Just looking at the Devil Arm gave him the sensation of looking into the eyes of his killer about to end his life, something that nearly made him shudder in dread. The eyes of its Skull looked especially ominous, but hey it wasn't like it was actually trying to shoot lasers from there… right? "It looks like this is the 'Demonic Power' that our client was telling us about. It lives up to the hype." He remarked, observing the energy crackling throughout the blade. The longer the seconds passed, the more volatile and unstable it became.

'Client? I guess the person they're talking about is the same one whose running the shots here…' Nico thought to himself, remaining silent as he prepared his next move. He knew it was next to pointless asking them anything, as these guys were scumbags, but they were also professionals. They didn't give anything regarding their client's secrets to the enemy, that was one of the few rules they DID follow without exposing loopholes, as it would make their 'dealings' harder to come by if they didn't. He knew this from experience, one of the best ways to know about something in his opinion.

"It does seem a lot calmer, less volatile than the unstable energies of the Khorne Demons… Probably due to him being a DPU." The man mused, and if he wasn't using his Kagune Nico swore he would have been using his hands to cup his chin. Though, one thing that did set off alarm bells in his mind was that this guy knew that he was a DPU. Not a lot of people knew that about him, and he had kept that tightly under wraps save for those he trusted.

Nico doubted that IF or any of his comrades, even Neptune, would have spilled the beans about something as important as that. So, how the fucking hell did these two know about it? Did that have connections? Most likely, these two were well versed in te knowledge of the four Nations, travelling through them just like Nico had. "In the end though, it will be pointless, for our plan has already succeeded." Hol Horse admitted, showing a shark-like grin on his lips as he pushed the front of his hat downwards with his Ukaku's Tail. "Should be feeling it right about…"

Raising his brow, Nico wondered what he meant by that, wat did he mean by their attack having already succeeded? He was still standing, and his demonic energy was thrumming unimpeded. They hadn't done anything to him, so why…

"Now."

SPLATTER!

His answer came seconds later, along with a roaring pain that was like a lion screaming full blast within his eardrums. Nico's eye shot open wide, wider than dinner places along with his mouth falling open in a silent gasp when all of a sudden, his leg and shoulder suddenly… exploded in a shower of spectacular blood and gore. Blood showered the ground where he once stood, various gory sounds filling his ears with the teen soon toppling over and falling to the ground in a heap. Worse still, he couldn't even use his remaining limbs to form some kind of stability. The reason? Several Shards were released from Hol Horse's Ukaku wings, slicing through his other arm and leg too, leading to him having no limbs to protect himself with.

"Hehehehe HAHAHAHAHA!" It was all too much for the deformed-looking man, just seeing how stupefied Nico looked through the sole eye socket in his Helmet, it just got a splendid (for him and his partner) J Greil let out a sinister, deranged cackle, almost falling over with how hard he was cackling. "Hahahaha! Looks like you fell for it, brat! Ohohohohohoho! You should see your face, man! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" In the end, the man lost the battle to remain upright, falling onto his backside while kicking his legs in the air. It looked… honestly disturbing to see, a grown ass man kicking his legs like a cuddly kitty cat…

Ugh, Nico mentally swore he'd need brain bleach for that one.

Soon enough though, Nico's injuries brought him back to the matter at hand. The teen gritted his teeth behind his helmet as a message popped up on his HUD. It said:

WARNING: DAMAGE EXTENSIVE

THREAT LEVEL: MAJOR

ENTERING HIBERNATION MODE

'Fucking shit!' Nico cursed in his mind as he was covered in Datastreams, and when they were gone his human form could be seen lying in the exact same position. This was just like what happened back then, too! His Armour took extensive damage and was forced to recede into the Armour Module for repairs. Hibernation mode, a reference to how animals would sleep during the winter to keep warm. This was a similar feature. It was a feature that was developed in case of emergency situations where the Armour wouldn't be able to repair itself in time. For while it was self-restorative, its speed in which it did that varies depending on the injury the Armour sustained. The greater the injury, the longer it took to restore. Thus, if it was too extensive, then the Armour would retreat inside its Module to repair itself. The cons about this was that he was left exposed for the duration, and that any weapons equipped onto the Armour like his Plasma ones, were basically unusable.

He had to admit as well, that this was the first time in a long while that Nico had sustained so much damage. Very few of his opponents, aside from the Demon Prince and maybe Ganache, had pushed him this far. Beaten and battered him, maybe, but nothing like this. His limbs blown off, his weapons unusable, and his Demonic Energy rushing to repair everything along with IT. It felt like he was in one of those critical conditions patients on death's door, only this was the closest he had ever been to it. It honestly… felt a little scary. He didn't like this feeling, not one bit. He remembered the last time the male had felt the sweet embrace of death, that moment in the Monster Cave against Arfoire. How devastated his comrades were afterwards, how his 'death' before his rebirth as Crimson Soul affected his comrades mentality. He didn't think it would have been that much, Compa maybe, but Neptune as well? Nope, did not see that coming. Poor girl must have been horrified to see just what the real world was like, that it was possible that her friends could die on this little quest of theirs.

'B-Biko… can I use it yet…?'

'Unfortunately, no. This time, its not the demonic energy's instability that's causing it, attempting a transformation in your current state of dismemberment will only cause you more harm than necessary. Harm that I am unsure even your regeneration would heal. Remember, this power respects control. If you are weakened by mere willpower alone, then it will try to take control.'

'Heh, well… couldn't blame me for asking. Not sure if my regeneration will make it in time, either.'

A brief chuckle escaped his lips, for Nico to spew out blood seconds later, via a sharp pain in his chest. It hurt to laugh, and his limbs were already starting to regenerate. However, his ears picked up sounds of heavy footsteps, and when he glanced upwards the teen saw how Hol Horse and J Greil were standing over him, looming over him with sick grins on their faces. He didn't like those looks, not one bit.

"Haah, that went easier than expected. Its' almost disappointing. But then again, I guess he didn't consider how he wasn't the only one hat has developed some new tricks since we last fought."

"Aw man, and here I was hoping for a good fight, this guy's a total wuss now! What happened to all that good shit all those years ago?"

Both man sighed as the crossed their arms, while Hol Horse then looked towards his partner. "You have to understand, it has been reported that he has been around some… colourful companions for a while. Its likely that they stunted his cold fangs for a long time now. He is not completely to blame."

J Greil's eyes widened in realisation at that, before he looked down to the weakened Nico with a snort of disgust, his eyes alight with furious anger. "Oh, I see… so that's how it is…" he let loose a feral snarl and kicked the wounded boy in the side. "You fucking weakling! What, is this all that you have to offer?! Huh?! Pathetic! Back when we fought before, you were much fiercer! Your fangs were way sharper! How could you let all that lethality go to waste over a couple of bitches, huh?!"

If he could move just now, then Nico would utterly rip that jaw right off that asshole's face for that one. insulting his comrades, whom were slowly getting closer and closer to him as the days went by, made him want to flip a couple tables. However, his regeneration was taking longer than normal for some reason. No, he knew the reason: a Kagune's wounds always, ALWAYS, took longer to heal for his regeneration ability. It DID come from THAT side of him after all.

"Now that the boy is in this pitiful state, why don't we… do what we want with him?" Hol Horse suggested with a matching smirk on his lips. His eyes shined with sinister intent, as well as a certain perverse look a pervert would give to a hot woman… only his eyes were wandering over what remained of his form. Could it be counted as necrophilia? Desecration of a corpse? By all means, Nico should be dead if he were a normal person, but considering what he was…

A matching expression formed on J Greil's face as he licked his lips hungrily. He always wanted to know what it felt like to dominate this particular specimen, preferably after a tough fight where he asserted his dominance, but beggars can't be choosers. "Heh, well I guess so, but I get fucking first bite, you got that?!" he bellowed, gesturing to the downed male. Hol Horse rolled his eyes with a chuckle, but didn't argue back. He may e the dominant one in their sessions, but J Greil could be THAT type of beast when he wanted to be.

None of their later banter registered to Nico however, his attention flew off the rail when hee saw those looks the two had given him.

Those looks…

Those looks.

THOSE FREAKING LOOKS!

His lungs tightened, and his breath hitched. His eyes shook, pupils dilating while their irises shook violently. If his body would respond properly, it would have been quivering just as violently. His head began to ache, like it was in a vice-like grip that threatened to rip it in two. Black dots danced across his vision as his own mind reduced itself gradually to a… more chaotic mental state. His mind felt like it was slowly, deliberately like when one of those sadists try to prolong the torment as much as possible, ripping itself into pieces, stich itself back together, and then repeat itself in some form of vicious cycle. Images, so clear yet unclear at the same time, as well as ones he both didn't recognise, yet also he did in some manner, flashed through his mind, However, each one left more of an impact on him than the last.

Each Image looked so familiar yet so foreign to him… because they involved him when he was younger, between 6 to 11. He looked to be suffering in some form, with his form stripped bare of any clothing while moving as if something was thrusting. His form was chained, his eyes wide open with tears of blood streaming down them, hoarse screams ripping from his lips. blood dripped from his younger self's many cuts, bruises and other injuries, some even having knife-like protrusions sticking into them still. Like they had been left there on purpose, to cause as much pain as they could.

Such a sight only sent Nico further into the abyss that was the deepest corner of his mind, not something he wanted to do, but it was happening whether he liked it or not.

'No…! Not now…. why?! Why is this happening now?!'

'Nico, calm yourself! Don't let him take you! Pull yourself together, Nico! NICO!'

His Demon Persona's words, words that were shouted with a rising level of panic he didn't hear from him very often, gradually became more and more distant, until finally his presence completely faded away. Away into the darkness and oblivion that he was being dragged into. His voice could not utter a sound, his pleas were unheard as he felt the shadowy hands of oblivion grabbing onto his psyche… with horrific results. His chaotic mind no longer registered Biko at this point, anymore, it was already slipping back into the darkness. It was slipping into a place that Nico dared not venture, for if he did, he feared he'd might never come back again.

Nico wondered if this could get any worse...

He shouldn't have asked.

'HEHEHEHE…. HAHAHAHA…"

The sound of maniacal laughter echoed throughout the void, filling the once eerie silence with insanity and madness. Nico's wide eyes, if possible, got even wider in shock and horror, while the limbs restraining him to pull him deeper into the pool seemingly clutched him even harder, as if they too got shaken by the mad laughter.

No...

He knew who had this laughter...

The teen knew this laughter all too well.

Part of him wondered where the hell Biko was, but that part of him became silent the next millisecond.

Then, as if to taunt him further, the source of the laughter began to reveal itself. First, a lone shadowy figure started to form in the darkness, his form so dark that it even cast a shadow on darkness itself. It made chills go down his spine, and the figure hadn't even fully formed yet. That was how much this figure impacted Nico's mind. Just the sound of his voice always got him on edge in the past, but seeing him face to face like this? When he always rejected his secret unless they were alone? Yeah, he'd flip his lid, and not in the angry way either. A pair of crimson red eyes with veins coming out opened from within the darkness in front of him like the gates of hell themselves. Following was the mouth, which was twisted into a sinister grin that released a spec of misty vapor, until finally he could see the face of the one that personified his deepest, darkest secret.

In the next moment, there he stood.

The full form of an exact copy of Nico himself, looming over him like a last game boss would a weakened adventurer. The two stared at each other, one looking down with sinister, twisted glee. The other, with eyes filled to the brim like a nigh overflowing bath tub with shock and grim disbelief. Tilting his head to the side, the white copy opened his mouth to start off the turning point... to everything.

Including Nico's mind.

'LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE IN A PICKLE, KING!'