Hello everyone! Been a while hasn't it? Sorry for the wait, but I've been super busy lately. I hope you all found other stories to occupy yourselves with! I recommended some good ones, remember? Mmm'yes. You'd better all be reading them!
Anyway, I'm glad that all you patrons have returned to read the next chapter! This one is a DOOZY and as I begin typing, I can't help but be a little intimidated by my plans for it. No negative thoughts allowed, right? Let's hop to it!
Chapter 17 – A Fall From Grace
Kalen –
I have bad news. In my research, I found an energy surge that I haven't seen for five years. It seems that "The World" has picked up on our ten hackers.
That's right. Cubia's back. Its job is to destroy any abnormalities in "The World", and it seems the Knights count as abnormalities. I can only assume that the ten of them are in extreme danger at the moment.
You very well know that Cubia and Kite's bracelet, the bracelet of the Twilight, are one and the same. Cubia is infested with the divine power of Aura the same as Kite. Which is probably why, now that Aura is the Goddess of the system, Cubia has left all those with the bracelet of the Twilight be.
But it seems Aura isn't going to or can't dictate to Cubia not to attack the Prism knights. It's gathering energy. The attack will definitely come soon.
Destroying Kite's bracelet again is not an option, and I suggest you don't inform him of this. If I know my friend, he will undoubtedly sacrifice the bracelet for those ten. If the Prism Knights fall, he might be our last chance against the Prism Wave.
Not all hope is lost, though. I've found another way, put into the system by Prisma. An Anti-Cubia, of whom I have named X-Cubia. X-Cubia is directly manifested of Prism energy, but is currently in hibernation. I see no hope of waking X-Cubia as our team is now.
A bit ago, you messaged me about the Prism Bracelet Wielder. I have a feeling that he or she is our only hope for waking X-Cubia. So tell those ten this:
They have a limited amount of time. Find the Prism Bracelet wielder as soon as possible. Without him or her, Cubia will constantly hunt the Prism Knights until they are destroyed.
I'll explain the details of the battle to you later. I still have a few kinks to work out, and as soon as I'm finished, I'll send you a message.
Good luck,
Wiseman
"I don't get it," Chikoro murmured to Kalen. "So this thing…Cubia…is trying to delete us?"
"We've been reduced to viruses," Achean muttered. "It's a little embarrassing."
"A little?" Gabriella exclaimed, slamming her fist on a pillar near the Chaos Gate. "This is ridiculous! Why isn't Prisma doing anything?"
"She can't," Kalen told her sternly. "And how the hell am I supposed to know why Prisma does what she does?"
"You're the big hacker, aren't you?" Gabriella snapped back. "You know everything, right?"
"No one knows everything," Kalen snapped back. "If I knew everything, I wouldn't be here right now!" There was a deafening pause.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Barai asked sternly. Kalen looked at him, then shook his head.
"Nothing," he sighed. "Anyway, this is no time to be arguing. Cubia's on the move, and you guys don't have much time to find the Prism Bracelet wielder."
"We're doing everything we can," Tiyra insisted. The others nodded in consensus as to agree with their white clad teammate. "But we don't know where to start searching. It could be anyone, right?"
"Tiyra-san has a point," Zaiten brought up, stepping forward. "This search seems fruitless. We've yet to find any clues towards the identity of our Prism Bracelet wielder. Isn't there anything you can tell us?"
"Look, this is a team effort. I can't do everything," Kalen said.
"Stop being such a dick!" Gabriella snapped, stomping up to Kalen and grabbing his shirt collar. "We don't know what the hell we're doing out here! We're about to become virus protection food!"
"Gabriella, stop it!" Iam insisted, stepping forward and catching Gabriella's eyes. She stopped and took a step back to see that it was not anger that was on Gabriella's face, but fear. Iam looked around to see an expression matching Gabriella's on many of the faces. Chikoro, Tiyra, Barai, Vizota, and everyone else were expressing their own form of dead fear.
"I-If we get deleted…" Chikoro murmured, shaking slightly. "If we get deleted, we're dead, right? W-we don't stand a chance unless we can find something that we don't even know how to look for!" Chikoro looked at the ground and clenched her fists.
Vizota bit her lip. "Chikoro's right…we have no clues at all!" She slammed her foot on the ground and shouted desperately. "This seems hopeless!"
"Don't say that!"
Iam looked up to see Orizo stepping forward, taking out his two blades and pointing one of them at Chikoro. "This isn't over!" Chikoro looked up, a shocked expression on her face. The others gathered slowly around Orizo and he sheathed his blades and clenched his fists. "I didn't believe in our abilities this long just to give up half-way! We have to believe in ourselves, don't we? We didn't know how to look for the Prism Ryu Books either, but we found those too! We'll find this Bracelet wielder."
Iam smiled warmly and nodded to him, feeling a warm sensation rise up within her body as Orizo spoke the encouraging words to the team. "It's true," Kalen murmured to Iam and she turned to look at him. "You guys have to believe in your abilities. It's too late to give up. "The World" is in danger and you guys are the only ones that can stop the threat." Kalen looked at Iam and nodded to her.
"Right," Iam nodded back, stepping forward. "All right guys!" She called, and the nine other Prism Knights turned around to face their red clad companion. "This is where we break out the big guns! We're scouring every server, checking for reactions or energy surges! Split up and go!"
There was a pause as the group looked at Iam, confused. However, Orizo smiled and stepped forward to her. "Let's check out Delta Iam. Chikoro, Zaiten, can you check out here?"
"R-right!" Chikoro nodded. "You've got it Orizo-sama! We'll find the wielder for sure!"
"We'll get Lambda!" Gabriella said, grabbing Achean's elbow and pulling him towards her.
"We'll handle Sigma!" Tiyra and Sersen nodded to each other. "This'll be a breeze."
"That leaves us with Omega," Barai said to Vizota, and she nodded. "After that, we can find a B player to scour Beta and Tiyra and Sersen can check out Alpha again."
"We're on it," Tiyra nodded to the two. "Let's go Sersen! We've got some searching to do!" Sersen nodded to his companion and the two walked briskly over to the Chaos Gate, new energy evident in all ten of the warriors.
"We'll be off then," Iam said to Kalen and he smiled at her. "You get in contact with Wiseman and get all the details on this fight coming up."
"She's right," Orizo said, stepping forward. "Something tells me that a fight's coming up, even if we find our mystery wielder. So can we trust you to get us the info we need to fight?"
Kalen looked at the two, shook his head, and smiled at them, shaking his hair slightly backwards. "Please. If I can't at least do that, I really am useless, aren't I?"
"Heh, no way!" Iam grinned. "Anyway, we've got work to do! See you later Kalen!"
"See you around," Kalen smiled, waving as two by two, the pairs divided out towards their separate assignments. He looked at the Chaos Gate after the last pair and smiled up at the sky of Dun Loireag. "If only I did know everything…"
"This is pointless! I'm logging out!"
"Fine! We don't need you anyway!"
"C'mon you two, stop fighting! We're not going to get anything done if you two just keep biting each other's heads off like this," Mia scolded her two friends, Ryu and Ryo-Oki as the two walked through Mac Anu. It had been a long time since the three had split up from Iam and the others, and so far, no sign of the Prism Bracelet wielder had been found.
"He started it!" Ryo-Oki grimaced.
"Look at the facts," Ryu said sharply, stomping his foot on the ground. "We've scoured every server and found nothing! We're looking for a needle in a haystack! No, more like a needle in a continent!"
"But we said we'd help them!" Ryo-Oki said anxiously. "I can't just break my promise like that! Iam and the others are counting on us!"
"They're counting on you, not me!" Ryu snapped. "Pay me if you want me to keep walking in circles like this."
"You're walking in circles?"
The three looked up to see none other then Ouka, Hotaru, Mireille, Shugo, and Rena standing in front of them, looking quite tired out after a long search. "We haven't found anything either," Rena said, frowning. "Onii-chan's bracelet hasn't had a reaction."
"Neither has mine," Ryo-Oki said, lifting up her bracelet.
"Mine too."
The groups jumped three feet in the air as the sudden voice came from behind them. "Ack! Don't do that Kite! That was scary!" Ryo-Oki snapped, clutching her chest as she stared at Balmung, BlackRose, and Kite standing in front of them.
"My bracelet hasn't had any reaction either," Kite said, lifting up his wrist. "It's already been so long. No clues."
"Darn straight!" BlackRose sighed, shaking her head. "This is hopeless!"
"We shouldn't give up yet," Balmung assured them all. "We simply have to keep our eyes open."
"We have been keeping our eyes open," Ryu snapped at Balmung. He turned to face the winged blademaster, a genuine expression of frustration growing on his face. "And nothing has come up! I'm starting to think this guy doesn't even exist!"
"Just shut up!" Ouka snapped from across the road.
"Make me!" Ryu shouted back.
"Stop fighting you two!" Mireille scolded them, stepping forward.
"Everyone be quiet!" BlackRose commanded.
"Don't start giving orders!"
"Hey! Get out of our way or I'll PK you!"
The groups turned from their fight to see a player with long green hair in high bangs and wearing baggy pants with a tight violet top was staring at them. He was a twin blade with blades jutting from wrist devices. He was grinning maliciously, and Kite, BlackRose, and Balmung stepped aside to let the player through.
"C'mon Dekai!" he grinned again, motioning to his friend.
The adventurers turned as the twin blade ran through to see another twin blade following him. This one looked much more pleasant with orange messy hair and a teal top and white shorts. He had a brown belt across his shirt and rough looking boots on his feet. He smiled at them as he followed his friend.
"What the--?" Shugo exclaimed.
What happened next was like a slow-motion sequence appearing right before their eyes. Before any of them could understand what was happening, Kite, Ryo-Oki, and Shugo's wrists were raised high in the air and were pointing at Dekai. Dekai stopped in the middle of the three groups and gasped, looking around as the bracelets all glowed with a white light. His eyes were almost as wide as the people in the large crowd that was staring at him along with the three bracelet holders. "W-wait!" Ryo-Oki gasped. "Our bracelets are glowing! That must mean--"
"That must mean--!" Mia exclaimed.
"That must mean--!" Rena gasped.
The lights shot forward and illuminated Dekai's character in a shining beam of silver light. However, the minute it hit him, it repelled off of him by a black shimmering stream of energy and ricocheted off in hundreds of directions throughout the sky. "What the heck?" Dekai asked, looking at the flying lights above him.
The three bracelet wielders looked at each other and smiled widely. "That must mean we found the Prism Bracelet Wielder!"
"Hey, what's that?" Iam looked up from the back alleyway of Mac Anu to see the shimmering silver light shoot up in to the sky.
"It's beautiful," Orizo observed, stepping forward. "Is it an event? I'm going to take a screenshot!" he smiled at Iam and she smiled back.
"Oh, we've got a message!" Iam said as a small "plink!" sounded and a piece of mail appeared above her head. "Maybe they found something!"
Iam paused and Orizo looked at her as the silver streams continued to fly over their heads. He was obviously curious, and Iam took a long time reading the message. Finally, she turned her head to Orizo and smiled extremely widely. "Orizo! Ryo-Oki found something! Here in Mac Anu! They found him!"
"What?" Orizo asked, his eyes as wide as saucers. "They found him?"
"Yeah!" Iam nodded. "Right here in Mac Anu! They said they're in the road near the Chaos Gate! Let's go!"
"What do you think he's like?" Orizo asked as the two sprinted off down the alleyway. Iam was grinning widely, obviously ecstatic. The two picked up their strides regularly, as if growing more excited as they came closer.
"How am I supposed to know?" Iam laughed, her feet still high. "But this is the best! We've found him! The wielder is finally on our side! We're one step closer to winning Orizo!" She took a deep breath and she rounded the corner on to the street. "We're one step closer to saving "The World!""
"Iam," Orizo looked at his best friend and smiled as they slowed down. "I'm…really relieved…"
"I am too, Orizo," Iam smiled at him and looked at the still shimmering sky. "I'm so happy! This is…amazing!" She finished her sentence and spun around in pure bliss. "I'm so happy I'm a Ring Holder! I'm so happy I met all of you!" She turned to him and threw her arms around his neck. He blinked slightly, and then slowly hugged her back, smiling slightly. "And I'm so happy…that we're not going to die. I'm so happy that we found the Prism Bracelet wielder…"
"Iam!" Ryo-Oki called to the two, and they immediately broke, blushing a soft pink. Iam gave Orizo one last smile before turning to the blonde girl in front of her. "Look! Come meet him!"
"What's his name?" Orizo asked as the crowd parted to reveal their find. As Rena and Ouka moved and the young man stepped forward, Iam gasped, her eyes wide with shock and dejection. She stepped back, as if shell-shocked, or unable to grasp what stood in front of her.
"Mai?" Dekai asked, his eyes wide. "What's going on?"
"You're meaning to tell you that…the Prism Bracelet wielder," Barai began, "is your brother?" The entire group was back at Midnight Ring, gathered in the house and all sitting on the couches and chairs. Over twenty people were crammed into the house, Dekai sitting on a chair being grilled by the Prism Knights.
Iam had not said a word for the past half an hour. Orizo sat next to her, looking at her anxiously, as if afraid of what she might say. Dekai, however, had been asking a million questions. "So you guys are hackers? That's awesome! Why didn't you tell me M—Iam? Am I hacker too? Can I give myself lots of money or something? Why did your bracelets glow?"
"One question at a time, kiddo," Sersen remarked, shaking his head and sighing.
"You see," Tiyra sat down next to Dekai and started to explain, "you're a hacker like us. We're the Prism Knights, and you're the Prism Bracelet wielder. Or…at least we think."
"What does that mean?" Dekai asked. "Is this a game thing?"
"No," Tiyra shook her head. "You see…right now…there are hackers out there--"
"Aren't you hackers?" Dekai asked.
"These are bad ones. They want to destroy "The World". We have to stop them," she said. "That's our—your job."
"So you mean I'm a hero!" Dekai asked, a huge grin on his face. "That's so cool! I'm a hero of the Internet! So you guys need me to stop these hackers, right?"
"But what I don't get…" Ryo-Oki began. "How can he be the 'Prism Bracelet Wielder' if he doesn't have a bracelet?"
"Too bad Sora logged out," Dekai frowned. "I could've told him. He'd be totally stoked about this! It's awesome! I'm a hero!"
"Shut up, will you?"
Dekai looked up to see Iam staring at him with a dark glare. The others looked at her and saw a side of Iam none of them had ever laid eyes on. Her black eyes were overclouded with darkness, and her mouth was puckered. Her cheeks were pale, and her eyebrows were narrowed dangerously. It was obvious that Iam was angrier then any of them had ever seen her.
It was more of an uncontrollable rage.
"Your voice irritates me," Iam snarled. "Just be quiet. You're no hero. This is obviously a fluke."
"Iam…are you okay?" Chikoro asked, putting her hand on Iam's shoulder, only to have it batted away.
"I'm fine," she snapped, standing up. "C'mon guys. We've got to keep looking. This is obviously a mistake."
"You're just jealous!" Dekai taunted. The others looked at him, then at Iam with anxious faces. Dekai had snapped a nerve.
"Shut the hell up," she turned slowly around to face her younger brother. Dekai flinched and looked at her with a fearful expression. His smirk had disappeared from his face, and was replaced with a slightly gaping mouth. Iam licked her lips and finished her statement. "I hate the sight of you."
"Iam!" Orizo stood up and spun her around to face him. "Take that back! What the hell's your problem?"
"Orizo-sama's right!" Chikoro said, stepping forward. "We found the Prism bracelet wielder, didn't we? Why aren't you happy? Just because he's your little brother?"
"He shouldn't even be here!" Iam snapped cruelly. "He's not the wielder! If he is, where's his bracelet? ANSWER THAT!"
"You've got it."
The group's eyes widened as none other then Kalen materialized in a whoosh of golden rings in front of them. He landed on his feet as gracefully as a cat and stepped forward to face them.
"Wh-what do you mean?" Iam asked, her eyes wide. "We've got the bracelet?"
"Yeah," Kalen said sternly. "You guys…the Prism Knights…are only the first step in the fight against the Prism Players. This guy," Kalen nodded to Dekai, "is the second."
"I don't get it," Gabriella said. "What do you mean?"
"Come with me," Kalen said, motioning to them all. "You Aura folks too," he said to Kite and the others. "This isn't a good place to do it. We're going to the Chaos Gate."
"Why'd you bring us here?" Sersen asked Kalen as all twenty two people stood in the small niche that led to the Chaos Gate. Kalen typed a few things on his keyboard and sighed. "What's the big idea? A little explanation would be nice."
"This is how it works," Kalen said. "X Cubia needs the Prism Bracelet, remember?"
"Y-yes…" Iam nodded.
"And we need to have the two cancel each other out, right?" Kalen said to the group. "Like negative and positive polarities. So that means they have to be equal in power."
"This is making no sense!" Gabriella exclaimed. "What do you mean?"
"Perhaps I can explain."
The group turned as none other then Wiseman stepped through the Chaos Gate, staff in hand, a severe expression on his face. "Kalen…I think that now would be a good time."
"Right," Kalen nodded. He went to his keyboard and began to type. Clear green tinted screens appeared and he pressed small sections on them, making them disappear. After around a minute of work, he pressed the "enter" key.
The group gasped as the other players in the world suddenly disappeared right before their eyes. Silence erupted in Mac Anu, and there was not a sound to be heard except for the breathing of the twenty three gathered around the Chaos Gate. "Wh-what happened?" Vizota asked, her eyes wide, sweat on her brow.
"I just crashed the server," Kalen grinned, putting his keyboard behind his back. "Simple enough. But it won't work for long. We've got to get this done quick."
"What do you mean?" Rena asked. "Get what done quick? Mind explaining to us everything?"
"I suppose with my friends here," Wiseman nodded towards Aura's group, "it would be best to explain everything about Cubia and our Prism wielders."
And so, Wiseman explained to the eleven of Aura's group exactly what had been going on underneath the fabric of "The World". Cubia's return and hunt for the Prism Knights, the Prism Players and their plans with the Epitaph of the Prism, and his plan to stop Cubia using X Cubia.
"So X Cubia and Cubia will cancel each other out?" Ouka asked, raising an eyebrow. "And that's why you need both bracelets? To summon both?"
"Yes," Wiseman nodded. "If the two energies, pure Prisma and pure Aura, meet at the battlefield, the two powers will collide and destroy each other."
"That sounds heavy," Ryu remarked.
"Yeah," Ryo-Oki nodded, biting her lip. "So we have to go to the battlefield and fight Cubia? With these ten? And Dekai?"
Wiseman looked at Kalen and Kalen sighed, adjusting his goggles. "You always leave me with the tough subjects, don't you Wiseman?" he smiled at his Wavemaster friend, who simply bowed back.
"Forgive me," he smiled slightly and Kalen nodded and turned towards Aura's group.
"This is where I have bad news," Kalen said, moving his head around the circle of people. "For all you. Well," he paused at Dekai, "for most of you."
"What's…the bad news?" Chikoro asked, anxious.
"To create the pure energy needed…and to give Dekai his bracelet," Kalen said to the group of Prism Knights. "You guys have to add your energy to create it."
"No problem!" Orizo stepped forward and showed off his handguard. "We'll just combine our powers to make it!"
"You don't understand…" Kalen murmured and Orizo looked up, along with the others. "What I mean by "add your energy"," he said, looking very upset and trying to find the right way to say it, "is…what I really mean is that you'll…"
"We'll what?" Vizota asked.
"You'll have to give up your rings."
The Prism Knights' eyes all widened in shock, and Orizo stepped back from surprise. Many of them raised their hands and looked at their rings with an odd expression on their face. Iam was the only one who stepped forward. "No way! I won't do it! We'll fight Cubia without the bracelet!"
"Then you'll die," Kalen said coldly and Iam winced slightly.
"What about us…?" BlackRose asked. "What do we have to do?"
"It's the same," Wiseman stepped forward to face them. "Two of you," he motioned to Shugo, Ryo-Oki, and Kite, "will have to give your bracelet to the other one."
"That's crazy!" Ouka exclaimed. "Shugo's bracelet is his own! He's not giving it away!"
"Onii-chan needs the bracelet!" Rena said sternly. "What if…what if we ever get attacked again?"
"And what about Ryo?" Mia asked Wiseman, pulling her friend forward. "Ryo and I have problems to deal with too!"
"This thing has gotten us out of lots of situations," Ryu remarked, blowing a stray hair out of his face. "I'm not giving it up easily."
"And Kite's bracelet saved "The World" before!" shouted BlackRose. "He can't give it up either! You know that!"
"I don't want to do this anymore then you guys do," Kalen remarked. "But it's the only way to beat the Prism Players. If we don't get rid of Cubia and X-Cubia, then we're dead meat."
"What if I destroyed the bracelet?" Kite asked, stepping forward.
"Too risky," Wiseman shook his head. "If these ten should happen to fail, who would stop the Prism Players? A move like that is just what the Prism Players want us to do."
"I don't care what you say!" Iam snapped sharply, making both Kalen and Wiseman turn to face her. Her face was red, and tears were threatening to fall at the corners of her eyes. "Th-there is no fricking way I'm giving this up!" she motioned to her right hand. "This is mine!"
"Stop being selfish!" snapped Kalen. "We don't have much time!"
"Don't talk to me about being selfish!" she shrieked, tears now falling down her cheeks. "This is mine! I'm the Prism Hacker, not him!" she pointed savagely at Dekai. "Th-this is all I've got," she cried, "to keep me seeing th--" She stopped abruptly, and then looked down at her shoes. "Guys…you're with me on this right?"
"I don't…know what to say," Tiyra said.
"I'm speechless as well," Zaiten said.
"I know that if we don't…we'll die," Chikoro murmured. "But I still don't want to. I don't want to give it up."
"I don't either…" Gabriella said.
There was a pause between the knights and Aura's warriors. Kalen looked at them, then sighed and shook his shaggy black haired head. "Guys, we don't have a lot of time. Make your choice."
"I'm doing it!" Ryo-Oki exclaimed, stepping forward. Mia and Ryu looked at her with odd expressions. "I'm going to give up the bracelet!"
"Ryo!" Mia stepped forward. "You can't!"
"They're in trouble," Ryo-Oki said, shaking her head. "It's a small sacrifice. I…" she smiled weakly and looked at Mia, as if trying to make the situation better then it was, "I never liked being famous anyway…right?"
"Don't feed me that bull!" Ryu stepped forward next to Ryo. "How can you do this?"
"I'm going through with it…" she nodded to herself. "I'll be fine."
"Ryo…" Mia murmured.
"I'll do it too!" Shugo said, stepping forward next to Ryo-Oki. The group looked at him and he nodded to Rena. "Don't worry Rena. I have to become a hero without this thing, right?" He smiled slightly, shrugging. "No skin off my nose, right?"
"So Kite's the wielder," Wiseman said sternly, stepping forward. Kite, who looked sincerely touched, stepped forward.
"A-are you sure?" he asked.
"You bet," Shugo nodded, giving him a "thumb's up" sign. "I've had this thing for only a year! You've had it for what, five? Seniority rules!"
"Shugo…" Kite smiled. "Thank you…I'll do my best." He turned to Wiseman. "Isn't there a way to get their bracelets back to them?"
"No," Wiseman shook his head. "Not that I know of. Unless…we fail. Which we can't do," he said. "Now, all three of you, get in a circle. Kite, hold out your bracelet wrist."
The three did as they were told, walking very slowly towards the center of the niche. Kite held out his bracelet wrist, and the others waited instruction. "Now…I want you two to grab his wrist." Ryo nodded to Shugo, and the two grabbed Kite's wrist, not allowing themselves to let go.
Golden and white streaming energy began to swirl around the three's wrist as their bracelets began to glow. The three gasped, as did the spectators, as the energy formed a column around the three.
"I-I think I know what to say…" Ryo said to Shugo. "Are you ready, Shugo?"
"Yeah," he nodded, smiling at her and then Kite. "Well Kite, you ready?"
"You've got it," he smiled warmly at the two of them. "Thank you…for the sacrifice."
The two of them took a large breath, closed their eyes, and gathered more energy around them. Their bracelets radiated energy once more, and they opened their eyes and shouted together:
"DATA TRANSFER!"
An explosion of bright white light erupted from the three, and the group shielded their eyes as a huge sound echoed through their ear. The light cleared almost immediately and the group saw Ryo-Oki and Shugo being thrown back into the wall. The group gasped as they ran to the two fallen warrior's sides to help them up.
"Th-thanks Mia…" Ryo-Oki murmured, standing up. Iam's eyes widened as she saw that Ryo-Oki's pure white dress had been released by a white outfit that was the same design as Gabriella's. Her hair was still blond, but her top had turned into a crop top instead of her normal ensemble. In her hand was a Level One axe and her wrist was devoid of a bracelet.
Shugo's character had remained the same, however, his wrist also had been stripped of his bracelet. "Onii-chan…" Rena murmured, helping her brother to his feet. "I'm so sorry…"
"No problem Rena," Shugo smiled, wiping off his brow. "And look at Mr. Hotshot over there."
The groups turned their heads and had to contain their gasps at what the saw.
Once again, Kite's character had changed. Instead of his usual red outfit, he now was sporting white with golden trim where his bright yellow had been before. His boots were now golden colored, as was the design on his hat. Kite could hardly believe the change himself, and his eyes were wide as he looked over his white and gold sleeves. On his right wrist, instead of the usual invisible bracelet, there was now a large blocky bracelet that was made up of a pure pearl white substance with golden designs covering it.
"Aura's true warrior," Kalen murmured. "Kite's become the ultimate bracelet holder. And now…" he turned to the Prism Knights and Dekai. "You ten are all that's left."
"We'll fight with Kite!" Iam insisted. "Maybe we don't have to combine our rings and have a bracelet wielder!"
"But I want to be the wielder!" Dekai interjected. "This is my job, Iam! Why are you butting in?"
"You're the one who's butting in!" Iam retorted. "This is our turf! Get out of my face and find your own thing!"
"This isn't the time for sibling rivalry!" Wiseman said sharply, and Iam glared darkly at him. He returned her glare, and neither broke eye contact. "Either Dekai wields the bracelet or we have little to no chance against the Prism Players. You'll all to reduced to a comatose state, or worse!"
There was silence. Dekai was still glaring at Iam, and Iam and Wiseman were still staring each other down. All three were headstrong in their decision and side. Neither would budge an inch. There was a horrible silence that seemed louder then any form of noise that could have filled the small clearing.
"I'll do it."
Iam's eyes widened and she spun around to see Sersen stepping forward and holding out his black handguard, looking at it forlornly. "I-I…I'll give it up."
"Sersen…" Iam murmured to her werewolf companion. "No, don't. Th-this isn't the only option."
"We don't know that Iam," Sersen said simply. "From what I've heard…everyone's in danger if we don't do this." He looked up at her and sighed, shaking his head. "I don't want to give it up anymore then you do. But…I couldn't go on calling myself a 'hero' if I didn't do this." Sersen gave a weak smile and shrugged. "If I can't sacrifice something I want for something others need, then what kind of hero am I?"
"Sersen…" Iam mumbled, looking hurt and anxious.
"I will too," Tiyra said, stepping forward next to Sersen and grabbing his hand. Sersen, strangely enough, wasn't surprised. "If Sersen is going to do this, so will I."
"Tiyra, not you too?" asked Iam, her eyes widening.
"They're right Iam…" Barai said, also stepping forward with Vizota. "If we can give up our powers for the people of 'The World', then we wouldn't be heroes anymore anyway. It's a no win situation."
"Barai's right," Vizota nodded. "Iam…this isn't a time to be proud or to think of ourselves."
"Guys!" Iam turned to the remaining five. "You aren't going to do this, are you?" The remaining Prism Knights were silent. "You've had the rings longer then these guys have, you know what they mean to us!"
"Sucks to be us. But that's the way it goes."
Achean stepped forward and Iam raised her eyebrows. "Wh-what? What did you say?" He shook his head and looked at her with dark eyes. It was obvious he was not about to repeat himself.
"Damn it!" Gabriella bit her lip. "I didn't think it would be like this…" she shook her head and also stepped forward, much to Iam's surprise. "Sorry Iam…but I've got to do this. There are so many reasons to keep it," she said, looking at her handguard and violet ring, "but so many more to give it up."
"Zaiten, Chikoro, Orizo!" Iam turned to the last remaining ones in the line. "C'mon! Help me talk some sense into these guys!"
There was a pause. Chikoro looked at her feet, and Orizo stared at his guard. Zaiten, however, was looking at Iam with sad eyes. Finally, the samurai spoke up. "F-forgive me…Iam-san."
Zaiten stepped forward, and Iam looked at him with a betrayed expression on his face. "I must do this," he told her. "For my own honor if nothing else."
"Guys!" Iam ran over to Chikoro and Orizo and grasped their ring hands. "W-we were the original party! The original hackers! You can't want to give our powers up!"
Chikoro and Orizo looked at her with saddened expressions, and, finally, Chikoro shook her head and took a step forward. "Iam…I'm scared." Iam looked over at her and raised her eyebrows. "If I don't do this now…people…people are going to get hurt…or die. Not only other people. But us!" She turned around and closed her eyes. "Call me a coward if you want! But I don't want to die! I don't want my friends to die, so I have to give up my powers!"
"Chikoro…" Iam looked at her, but Chikoro averted her eyes from Iam's face and stared at the floor, her face red and her eyes watery. Iam turned to Orizo slowly and grabbed his hand again. "Orizo…I…we've…we've been through so much!" she said, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Orizo was avoiding her glance, refusing to look at her. "We were the first to meet Moyotu! We were the first hackers! You were," she took a sharp intact of breath as she choked back tears, "my first friend! You were my first friend that I ever had! My first ever true friend! And it's all because of these!" She held up her handguard and motioned to it furiously. "These!"
Orizo paused, looked up, and shook his head. "That's why I have to do this."
Iam gave a shocked expression as Orizo stepped past her to join the forming line. It was over. It was everyone against her. She was the only one holding on.
"How can you do this?" She spun around savagely, her face red and tears freely running down her face. "HOW THE HELL CAN YOU DO THIS?" She walked to the front of them and stared at them all, naming names and calling fouls against her position. "You don't want to be a 'false hero'," she sneered at Sersen, Tiyra, Vizota, and Barai. "And you don't even want to face such a subject!" she shouted at Achean. "Gabriella, you're giving in too soon! You're just going with everyone else!"
"Hey!" Gabriella spoke up, but Iam was quick to move on to her next victim.
"Zaiten! What the hell is with this 'honor' thing?" she snapped. "All you care about is image! You're so shallow!"
"Iam stop!" Chikoro said, stepping forward as if to shield Zaiten from the blows that Iam was laying on him.
"And you!" she rounded on Chikoro. "You're just scared out of your mind! You're always like this! Never taking any risks! Just a pampered little princess hoping "Orizo-sama" will take care of you!" she shrieked. "It makes me sick! Grow a backbone!"
"Iam…" Orizo began. "Just stop…"
"And you!" she rounded on Orizo. "I thought you, of all people, would understand how I felt! But it turns out that you never really cared about our relationship at all!" she barked, tears once again rolling down her face. "I BET YOU NEVER EVEN CARED ABOUT ME!"
"TAKE THAT BACK!"
Iam stepped back as Orizo threw his fist at her face, only to have Iam dodge at the last second. Zaiten stepped forward and restrained Orizo as he tried to throw another punch. "You'd better take that back!" he screamed. "HOW DARE YOU! You're the one who doesn't care!"
"What the hell do you think I've been fighting for?" Iam asked savagely. "I'm not like all of you guys, just ready to give up our bond!"
"We never said we were giving up that!" Sersen snapped, and Iam turned to him. "We're giving up our rings, not our friendship."
"We'll always be friends," Vizota assured Iam. "Even if we don't have the rings."
"That's not true!" Iam said desperately. "Sure, we might try to see each other a few times, but soon, we'll all get busy! We won't see each other as much if we don't a reason!" She was crying uncontrollably, but trying to keep her composure unsuccessfully. "Soon we'll just drift apart! These rings keep us together!"
"That's what I mean!" Orizo screamed and Iam turned to him. "Obviously our relationship doesn't mean much if we need some stupid rings to keep us together!"
Iam froze to her spot, shocked speechless.
"I-I…" she murmured, but nothing came out.
"Iam! I want to be the bracelet holder!" Dekai snapped, and Iam turned to her little brother. "Why can't you accept that I'm the hero and you're not? Are you that jealous?"
"Just shut up!" she snapped. "You don't even know what you're getting in to!"
"What I do know is this:" Dekai began, "I'm finally in the spotlight at something that you started! You can stand it that I'm better then you!"
"Dekai, hold down," Wiseman said sternly and stepped forward. "Iam…even if you don't comply, the other nine can perform the Data transfer. Dekai is the wielder," he explained. "I understand how you feel, but this isn't the time for petty feelings. I implore you to help us."
"Do it without me," she said, standing still. "I won't stop you."
"Iam…" Chikoro murmured. "Are you…"
"I'm not giving my consent," she growled, looking at Dekai. "Especially to this worm of a human being." Dekai frowned, a little hurt by the comment. "I hope…" she gritted her teeth and spit out her next words with the most spite she could muster. "I hope you never come back!"
"Fine!" Dekai remarked, stepping in front of the other nine. "Who cares about you? I know I don't! Heroes don't have to worry about regular people who are just wannabes."
Iam was about to reply, but she was too humiliated to continue. The nine circled around Dekai and held out their wrists, just as Ryo-Oki and Shugo had done before. They grabbed Dekai's outstretched wrist and looked at Iam. She slowly put her hand on his wrist and squeezed with a little bit too much force. Dekai and she exchanged one last look and Wiseman nodded to the group. "You know what to do. Dekai, are you ready?"
"Damn straight," he said, not leaving Iam's glare.
"Watch your mouth," she muttered.
The group took a deep breath, and the nine of them all screamed out the telling words: "DATA TRANSFER!"
The rings turned into glowing colored lights and soared into the sky, circling one another and creating a giant pillar of energy. The group looked up in awe as the energy shot down in a sharp stream and hit Dekai's bracelet. All ten Prism Hackers were thrown against the walls and towards the stairs, much like Ryo and Shugo before them.
When the colored beams and light faded, the group looked up and Iam's eyes immediately went to her right pointer finger.
Her right pointer finger…
"It's gone…" she murmured, frowning and clenching her now completely bare hand. She looked around as her comrades rose, also looking at the fingers where their rings once were. It was if they were in a daze, and couldn't exactly believe what had just transpired.
"Woah! This is awesome!"
Everyone looked up to see the speaker, Dekai, reveling at his new form. His once teal headband was now black, as was his teal shirt. There were sharp silver designs on the shirt that replaced the soft white once there. His pants were silver with black designs, and his boots were now a shiny black with silver soles. His belts had changed silver as well, with silver buckles. His hair had remained orange, and on his wrist was a thick black bracelet inscribed with silver runes.
"The Prism Bracelet wielder," Wiseman announced as Dekai turned to face him, "Dekai."
Iam frowned at the smug expression on her brother's character's face. She thought back to the scarf she had torn in half. A cruel glare came over her face. "I should have shredded it."
Oh man! What's going to happen now? Our ring-holders are ring-less! I hope you'll all give me a review! I really appreciate each and every review:D
P.S. Dear Sailorstar, don't worry! I'm not stripping you of your powers! Everything shall come back to order:D Forgive my use of cameo molding, but I just thought you'd appreciate your character being a bigger part of the story!
Review please!
Until then,
Ciao for now!