(Vexatious worm!) Neku dove to the right as the massive man swung his fists in an attempt to smash him to dust. Konishi stayed frozen in her spot as the man moved past her and after Neku. Neku reached into his pocket, glad to find his Player pin there but shocked to find his Planet Pins missing and a small hole in its place. (No!)
"Stand still!" The monster yelled swinging his fists down onto the floor of the school. The floor shook violently, making Neku and Konishi stumble and fall. Neku rolled back onto his feet as the man rushed at him like a bull. (I can't keep dodging forever. But in this space, even if I had my pins, I'd be outmatched.) Neku dodged the oncoming hit before rushing for Konishi to help her up.
"What is happening boy?" Konishi asked sounding more annoyed than worried.
"I'll explain later. For now, I need to know if you have any pins on you." Neku asked.
"Of course not. I am not a child or a player." (Damn…hang on.)
"Is it safe to say you've confiscated pins?"
"Anytime I catch someone playing that ridiculous game." (Good enough.)
"Come on, we have to get to your classroom." Neku grabbed Konishi by the arm and pulled her along as they rushed down the hallway. The large man rushing after them as they did. The footsteps of the behemoth seem to shake the school around them as they ran, even rattling the lockers they passed by. (What is this dude!?) After coming to Konishi's classroom, Neku threw open the door and headed straight for the teachers' desk at the front of the room.
"What is going on!?" Konishi demanded as Neku riffled through her drawers.
"That's not exactly an easy question to answer." Neku replied, finally opening the drawer full of confiscated pins. (Man, she is ruthless in her Pin-Tin war.) As he quickly rifled through the pins, he opened his phone, hoping to call someone to make their way over. (Alright, it's only 10:02. I should be able to call any of them and get them to hurry over and help.) Neku pulled out the best pins he could find and placed them on his Vampire costume suit. As he finished, the door flew off its hinges and slammed against one of the classroom windows before falling to the ground. (Damnit, no time!) Konishi had fallen to the ground in shock and retreated into a corner as the hulking man stomped towards Neku who had shoved his phone back into his pocket. (I don't have a great set but at least I can fight back now!) Neku held his palm out, sending a force round at the man who threw his arms up like a shield to block the oncoming hit. The rounds knocked his defensive stance away and Neku rushed forward, connecting his fist with the man's chest and creating a burst that blast the man out of the room. Neku rushed towards him and pointed, creating three icicles that zeroed in on the large man. Before they could connect though, he slammed his fist into the ground, bringing up a large grey feather that blocked the ice, shattering upon contact. He swung his arm and the feather rushed at Neku, making contact and pushing him back into the classroom. He knocked against the desk, making the open drawer clatter out and spill the small pile of pins onto the floor. (What the-) Neku's eyes caught the glint of a player pin among the other basic pins. (How did this end up here!?) The sound of the large man getting back onto his feet made Neku scramble to get up himself, hastily shoving the player pin and a handful of other pins into his pocket in haste.
"I shall not be defeated by you!" Neku looked around the room, realizing that fighting here would be bad for him and Konishi who was still in the classroom. (I need a more open space….maybe I can lead him to the gym.) Neku rushed over, grabbing Konishi again and rushing out the back entrance to the classroom, "You cannot run from me!" The sound of him slamming his fist against a surface was all they heard as they kept running. As they came to a spilt in the hall, the pair was shocked as a wall of grey feathers blocked one of the paths. (He's trying to block us in!)
"Feathers…are you being hunted by an Angel!?" Konishi asked in shock.
"We need to get to the gym." Neku said trying to keep control of the situation.
"…*sigh* Follow me." Konishi took the lead, running ahead and down the other hall as Neku followed. Feather's shot out from various walls and floors, trying to block them from their path. Luckily Neku and Konishi were able to weave around, over, and under as they kept moving, the sound of the massive man's footsteps keeping up with them. (How can she run so fast in heels?)
Eventually, they came to the gym entrance, slamming open the double doors and rushing toward the middle of the large open room.
"…Made…it." Neku said panting from the intense parkour they had just pulled off. Konishi gave off a quick huff and turned to the open doorway.
"…Where did he go?" (What?) Neku turned around to look out the same doorway they had come in to find the trail of destruction from earlier had not followed them.
"Wasn't he right behind us?"
"More than that, something is wrong." Neku stared down the empty hallway trying to find what she was referring to. (Hang on…)
"What happened to the destruction?" The path they had taken to get there, the feathers and ruptures of ground they had crossed over seemed to have disappeared without a trace, leaving only a clean school hallway behind. (No. That hallway was destroyed before we bust down the doors, I'm sure of it.)
"Sakurba!" Konishi's shout of warning hit Neku too late as the ground thumped slightly below his feet before bursting open, sending Neku flying across the gym floor as the large man rose out. When his feet touched the ground, he slowly brought his hand out towards the hole he had created. As though the world around them seem to fizzle like an old TV, the hole seemed to disappear, leaving the clean floor Neku had been standing on before. (What the hell?)
"Leave no trace." (So it was him.) Neku quickly got back to his feet, ignoring the pain to his side from bouncing across the floor.
"Who are you?"
"Daburu Chikara. Feared fallen angel." Neku rushed forward, going for another burst round blast only to be suddenly slammed by another person, knocking him into the far wall. When Neku got back up to see what had hit him, his eyes widened in shock at the second version of Daburu that stood next to the first. "Your victory against my comrade was not something I will allow to happen to me. In a fight of numbers, I shall not lose to you."
Both brutes rushed at Neku, forcing him to roll to the side as they connected with the wall and threw up a cloud of smoke from the debris. Neku rushed to the other end of the gym and shot as many force rounds as he could muster into the dirt cloud, hoping for the sound of impact. He was met with both of his enemies rushing at him again. Neku shot his arm froward, sending three icicles out at the Daburu double. One pulled forward, blocking the brunt of the attack as the other rushed in and swung at Neku who barely dodged out of the way. (Damnit! I can't handle both of them on my own! If this keeps up I'm just gonna end up exhausted.) When Neku came to a stop, he looked around frantically for anything to turn the odds in his favor, his eyes landing on his teacher and former Reaper enemy Konishi who seemed unsure of what to do in this situation. As he did, his mind called back to the reaper pin he found in her desk drawer. (is that really my best option!?) Another swing from Daburu interrupted Neku's contemplation. (Gah! No time to way the odds!)
"Konishi!" Neku yelled, making her turn to him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the player pin he had swiped up, launching it at her with as much speed and power as he could. When she caught it, her eyes looked at in shock before a sadistic grin came to her face.
"I'm not sure where you got this Sakuraba, but I'll gladly accept it." Static filled the air, surrounding Konishi before bursting in all direction, and leaving behind Tigris Cantus in its wake.
"Reaper…" Daburu said coldly, turning his attention to the noise form Konishi. Tigris waved her arm, creating a vortex in the center of the gym that pulled at both Daburu who struggled to resist it. As they were distracted by the new addition to the battle, Neku rushed in blasting one of them with his palm and sending him flying towards the center. Daburu reached out towards his double, grabbing him by the arm before throwing him of Tigris Cantus who glared at the oncoming projectile before a legion of clones rose from her shadow and moved between her and the flying man. She launched her clones at him, making them clash together, dissipating her doubles and making him crash to the ground and slide towards the vortex. The original let out a bloodcurdling yell, "I WILL NOT BE BEATEN BY THE LIKES OF YOU!" His double quickly got back up and seem to vanish, shocking both Tigris and Neku before appearing next to Tigris and smacking her into the air, making her vortex vanish and her clones disappear. Neku rushed in quickly to assist. Launching force rounds at him and making him back up as Tigris fell back to the ground.
"You okay?" Neku asked as the noise grabbed his wrist and got back up. It didn't respond, but gave him a sly grin as it held the pins Neku had swiped from the desk. (How did she get those!?) She threw her arms out, and the ground around them shook violently, sending both Daburu off their feet and giving Tigris an opening to extended her hand and send a volley of swords at them. Daburu countered with a feather shield, blocking the swords before launching the feathers at the two. Neku followe4d up with by bringing his hands together before widening them apart, creating a water barrier that stopped the feather and seem to absorb them into the pair. Tigris screamed into the air, louder than possible for anyone and only making both Daburu hold their ears closed in pain. Neku rushed in, extending both his palms towards the duo and sending both of them flying back. Tigris followed up quickly by reaching her hand out to the far cage of basketballs and lifting it with Psychokinesis and slamming it into the pair. As he slowly got back up, his double began to static and shift slightly. (We're wearing him down, just a little more and we've got him!) Daburu gave out another guttural roar, making the entire room shake. His wings extended out to their fullest, before rising both of them into the air. They glared down at Neku and Tigris who looked up at them without any fear in their eyes. He roared again before flying down and grabbing Neku as the other grabbed Tigris. They flew around, slamming the pair into walls, ceilings, floor, anything they could collide with before slamming them into the center of the gym floor. Neku got up shakily, touching the Lolita Angelique pin on his outfit and extending his hand to touch the exhausted Tigris Cantus who shakily got back up. (We need…one more…good hit…that it…) Suddenly, the fusion pin next to Neku's Player Pin begin to glow. (…You've gotta be kidding me…) Neku looked over at Tigris who silently nodded.
Neku tapped the pin and watched as the noise that had enveloped Knoshi begin to surround him like a twister before crawling up onto his back and bursting out with a pair of reaper wings. Another set of noise crawled up onto his hands, enveloping them and piercing out into a pair of tiger claws, as sharp as the tongue of the woman who originally wielded them. Neku launched into the air on his new wings and rushed at the Daburu double who met his speed. Neku took a quick spin, brandishing his claws and tearing through them with a flurry of strikes and slashes too fast for them to react to, before coming out the other side and landing onto the floor, the noise power dissipating from his body as the doubles crashed into the ground in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, only the original remained, completely worn out and defeated.
(Ugh…that felt weird.) Neku held his head with a groan, feeling a rushing headache from the intense power he had just used. Turning to Tigris Cantus, he watched as she was enveloped in another whirl of static noise, before it dissipated, leaving behind Konishi who gave out a deep breath.
"I haven't done that in a while." She looked over at Neku, not with any specific look…just stared at him for a moment before turning to the man they had taken down, "Angles. I was told they were a much more difficult breed than this." (Considering we almost got our teeth kicked in, I'd give him a little more credit than that.)
"He's a fallen angel." Neku elaborated.
"Interesting…" Suddenly, Daburu began to move. Prompting Neku to move back into his battle stance as Konishi backed up slightly with a look of worry.
"Ngh…agh…you…are truly powerful…Neku Sakuraba…but you will pay…I WILL MAKE SURE OF IT." The world around them seem to static once again, leaving only Konishi and Neku behind, in a spotless gym alone. (Hmm? What's that?)
After a quick check up on all of the areas they had passed to ensure that the school really was back to normal, both Neku and Konishi had agreed that after tonight, detention was the last thing either of them wanted to sit through.
"Seems even after returning to reality, you're getting caught up in something you shouldn't." Konishi commented as the both of them left the school.
"Not like I want to be." Neku replied. (The alternative just isn't something I want either.)
"…I see why I lost to you now." (Huh?)
"What do you mean?"
"You have a strange ability to resonate with others. Even with a reaper like me who hates you." She came to a stop and turned to Neku. "You were the reason I was unable to take over Shibuya, the reason I'm stuck in this position…and yet we were able to do…whatever that was. For a moment we resonated…and you were able to pull that off." Konishi reached into her pocket and grabbed something before shoving it into Neku's hands. It was his black planet pin set. "You were right…I underestimated you…but that is not a mistake I will make next time Sakuraba."
"Next time?"
"Don't go losing before then." As she said that, she walked off. "See you in class." (…Guess I still have to watch out for her.)
"Very interesting." Neku looked over to see Joshua looking out at Konishi over his shoulder. "Can't say I expected that out of her."
"Then why did you leave the Player Pin in her desk drawer?" Neku asked.
"Accusing me already?"
"Not an accusation. Just a fact." (She knew what it was the minute I tossed it to her.) "There was no way she would have confiscated it without knowing what it was." Joshua just gave him a smirk. "…So who was that?"
"Another fallen angel…although from what I could gather, seems like it wasn't a planned attack. Our fight in the museum must have personally ruffled someone's grey feathers." (He did seem more unhinged…he also mentioned Sobi-Sha.)
"…How did I do a fusion attack with her?"
"You tell me Neku. Seems like you bonded with her, if only for a moment."
"I thought you needed a pact in order to pull off a fusion attack."
"Says who?" (W-Well…I assumed…) "Ever stop to notice you've been using psyche without a partner this whole time?" (Now that you mention it…)
"Yeah, I have. We were in danger the whole time so I didn't stop to notice it, but you're right."
"Seems you've been pulling off some pretty crazy stuff already. What's a fusion attack or two between enemies on your scale?" Neku looked to the player pin on his coat, "Now, I wouldn't expect it to work all the time. It's better to think of it as a danger response anyway."
"Yeah, that's fair."
"Speaking of, you got that player pin back from her right? It would be a shame if she suddenly attacked us." Neku reached into his pocket and pulled out a player pin broken into pieces. "Oh?"
"I think it broke apart after the fight. The reaper abilities must have been too much for it to handle."
"That's a relief." (A…relief…from mister plans everything out?)
"Hey, who did you expect me to give the pin to?" Joshua looked down pensively at this before going back to his signature smirk.
"I suppose it doesn't matter in the long run." (Nice deflect jerk.) "Anyway, come on. I told the others I was going to try and spring you from detention to join our watch party." (Oh…right…horror movies.)
"Can I convince you to say you couldn't do it?"
"Not this time dear Neku. Eri and Shiki promised me a favor if I brought you back."
"Sleazy salesman."
"Oh Neku…all salesman are sleazy. I'm just smarter than them." Neku turned back to look at the school one more time, finding his mind turn to the strange way Daburu had erased the damage he had caused, almost like he had rewound the clock before the school took any damage.
"…" Neku pulled out his phone and checked the time. (…10:02.)