Izaya coughed on his spot on the ground. The wind had been knocked out of him and his side hurt from the impact. But even though he hurt, he forced himself to sit up.

'Shizu-chan...'

Someone ran around the corner, screeching to a stop when he saw Izaya.

"A-are you okay?" The person knelt down by his side.

Izaya looked up and his eyes widened.

"Shizu..."

'...No. Wait, this isn't—'

Ear-piercing screeches echoed down the hall, followed by the sound of heavy metal scraping on metal.

Izaya's eyes widened, recognizing it automatically.

The raven grabbed 'Shizuo's' hand and pulled him toward the double doors across the yard. The blond stumbled but Izaya forced him to keep his bearings. The raven looked over his shoulder, terrified to see that Red Pyramid was indeed walking towards them—although slowly due to him dragging a large sword behind him.

'Shit!'

"Hurry!" Izaya tugged 'Shizuo'.

The two burst through the double doors.

And came to a halt.

The three creatures in the leather outfits from before stood in front of them. However, they were all in the middle of a mass of the over-sized tree lice. They were all screaming and thrashing wildly, trying to get the insects off them. One fell on the ground in his thrashes, getting enveloped with the swarm.

"Oh god..." 'Shizuo' began to shake and he took a few steps back.

Izaya quickly looked around and automatically spotted a room with the doors wide open.

"Here!"

He tugged 'Shizuo' again.

The two ran into the room as the bugs swarmed toward them. Izaya pushed on the door, the metal heavy.

"Help me!"

the blond jolted then quickly rushed over and pushed on the doors. The bugs were right outside, attempting to crawl through the space that was growing ever smaller. Finally the two slammed the door shut, squishing a couple of insects while one fell in, landing on it's back and wriggling. Izaya looked down at it and was horrified to see it had a human face that glared at him while screeching. Then he glared back and stomped on it, crushing it under his shoe in a splattering mess of green. He breathed out a sigh of relief.

But it was short-lived as the door was pushed the insects were trying to open it.

"Shit!"

Izaya pushed against the door, looking around. There was no way out of the room, the side walls were made of grate and the wall across from them was blocked by a fan that was spinning fast enough to—most-likely—chop off someone's limb. However, there was a loose pipe that ran across it to block it off.

"That pipe!" Izaya yelled, smacking 'Shizuo's' arm to get his attention. Then he pointed at it. "Give me that pipe!"

"O-Okay."

'Shizuo' rushed over while Izaya blocked the doors with his body. He pushed the bar up, struggling to do so.

"Hurry!"

"I am."

"Quickly! Come on!"

"I got-got it." 'Shizuo' strained to lift the pipe above his head, swinging it around and slamming it against the door above Izaya's head.

Izaya reached up and pulled the bar down to the door handles. Izaya slowly backed away and was relieved when the doors stayed shut. He let out a breath and stepped back until he was almost pressed to the wall.

"Is there a way out?" 'Shizuo' asked.

"No." Izaya unsheathed his hunter's knife.

"Is-is that the only weapon you have?"

"Yeah." Izaya looked at him. "What about you?"

"I-I don't have anything."

Shit.' "Okay. Say close then."

'Shizuo' nodded.


Shizuo couldn't stand the noises he was hearing. The screeching, the scratching, the banging. It was sending chills down his spine and making him sweat. He finally decided to cover his ears in hopes to block them out.

"Oi!" Izaya grabbed Shizuo's wrist. The blonds eyes widened as he looked up at him. "Don't crap out on me. I ain't gonna fucking carry you ass, got me?"

Shizuo was more than surprised by Izaya's abrasive statement. That didn't sound like Izaya at all. The raven always spoke properly, with correct grammar and nearly never cursed. He wouldn't talk like lower class gangbangers even when flustered.

"Oi!" Izaya tugged on Shizuo's shirt. "You fucking listening or did you already turn fucking dumb?"

'This doesn't seem like...'

"Izaya...?" Shizuo questioned, turning on his flashlight to shine at the raven's face.

But before he could get a proper look—or for the raven to reply—the sound of wood splitting made the both of them jump. They heard a metallic groan as more wood was broken.

"Shit!" Izaya cursed and quickly looked around.

Shizuo shined his light down the stairwell, able to hear the insects screeching and scurrying up the steps.

"Shit, shit, fuck..."

"Hey, dumbass!"

Shizuo jolted and quickly turned around.

"Help me!" Izaya pointed to the ceiling. Shizuo quickly shined his light to the roof to see a small hatch.

"But...we'll be trapped on the roof—"

"Do you wanna be trapped on the roof or in this fucking room?! Cuz sure as shit, I'm not dying because of you!"

The screeching and scurrying only got louder. Shizuo decided not to question Izaya and rushed over to him. He let the flashlight dangle around his wrist as he cupped his hands together. Izaya put his foot into the blonds hands. With no effort at all, Shizuo hoisted Izaya up, the raven holding onto his shoulders till he was high enough to touch the ceiling. Izaya pushed, straining to open the hatch. Which only put Shizuo on edge as the insects were only getting closer. He glanced over and sure enough he could see a black mass heading up the stairs. It wasn't a man—'Thank god'—but a giant swarm of crawling blackness heading straight towards him.

"Come on, Izaya!"

"Shut up! I'm trying!"

"Try harder!"

Izaya strained. The door only budged but didn't open.

"SHIT!" Izaya yelled. "Fu—waaah!"

Shizuo let Izaya down, who almost fell to the sudden movement. Then he pushed the raven away from the stairs.

"Stand back!" He yelled and grabbed the metal chair.

Shizuo lifted it and threw it at the window. The glass shattered. Shizuo looked over his shoulder to see the insects were inches away before he grabbed Izaya's wrist.

"Come on!"

The two dashed for the window, Shizuo making Izaya go first then following after him to stand on the ledge.

"What now, genius?"

"Climb to the roof."

"How the fuck am I supposed to do that?!"

"The Izaya I know wouldn't have a problem!" Shizuo turned so he was facing the window, ready to reach up and pull himself up.

"You're fucking crazy—"

The raven's scream was cut short as something dripped onto the ledge. The two looked up to see a male figure leaning over the edge, his hands sticking to the wall as he slowly climbed down head first. Shizuo's eyes widened in horror.

'The corpse from the other tower?'

The corpse hissed and opened its mouth, liquids dripping out.

"Jump!" Shizuo turned, grabbed Izaya's wrist and leaped off the edge.

Izaya screamed and grabbed onto Shizuo tightly. Green liquids splattered on the window ledge, the liquids spraying every which way. But neither of them payed any mind as they were falling. Shizuo grabbed Izaya and pulled him close, the raven still holding onto his arm.

Shizuo landed on the ground without a problem, his ankles hurting slightly. But he didn't stop to think about that as he took off in a run with Izaya still in his hold.


Izaya shivered at the breeze of the fan. He still held his hunter's knife tightly, ready for whatever would be coming his way. 'Shizuo' was close to him, looking scared and vulnerable. Any other time Izaya would have laughed and poked fun at him but now was definitely not the time.

Something metallic scraped against the ground, loud and ear-piercing. It made the two men jolt and look to the door.

"Oh god, what is that?" 'Shizuo' whimpered.

Izaya didn't answer. Instead, he brandished his knife and hunkered into a defensive position.

The noise repeated itself three more times, every time getting closer and closer. It only stopped when it was right outside their door.

The sudden silence was deafening.

Then all too fast, the metal of the door was split by a giant sword which looked like a scaple that came thrusting towards them. 'Shizuo' screamed as Izaya grabbed him and pressed them both to the wall behind them.

The sword couldn't reach them. They were barely safe from being cut, no matter how many times the sword swung back and forth. The two turned their heads with every swing, the tip inches away from slicing their cheeks. Izaya noticed that the hole the sword had created was only getting wider with every swing. And those damnable insects were coming through.

'Shit.' He thought. 'Shit!'

The sword finally retracted. Quickly, it was pulled away and—seeing through the hole—was stabbed into the wall.

But it was soon replaced with a reaching, grabbing hand. 'Shizuo' screamed again, pressing himself close to Izaya. Izaya could only glare at the arm, remembering all the times this bastard had run him through. Hatred was boiling in his system. He wanted to hurt this guy too. He had to hurt this man. So, he decided he would.

Rushing forward, he sliced at the arm, which caused it to draw back.

"What are you doing?! Ge-get back!" 'Shizuo' called.

Izaya ignored him and continued to cut that damnable arm. The same arm that had choked the life out of him, snapped his neck, skinned him, gutted him. So many times this thing had killed him over and over and over.

The arm reached to grab him. But Izaya would have none of it. He stabbed his hunter's knife into the palm of the hand and jammed it into the pipe that was keeping the door shut. The hand became stuck.

"HA!" Izaya teased as he stepped back.

It was then that he noticed the room had a good amount of insects in it. 'Shizuo' was kicking and swiping as many off him as he could, screaming all the while. And he was quickly being overwhelmed.

Izaya rushed over to help the flailing blond.

"Hold on!" Izaya yelled. "Stop moving!"

Izaya grabbed two bugs off 'Shizuo's' chest and threw them away. He could feel insects climbing up his legs so he quickly shook his leg off to try and get them off. 'Shizuo' was doing the same.

"Shit!" Izaya yelled.

Then everything turned for the worse. With a metallic roar, the pyramid head pulled his arm up and freed himself—knocking the bar out of place. The door bursted open, the pyramid head charging forward.

"Look out!" Izaya pushed 'Shizuo' out of the way.

The pyramid head—Red Pyramid, Izaya recognized when he noticed the shape of the metal head—slammed shoulder first into the fan. Black blood splattered from the creature, the metal blades braking and flying off in different directions—which exposed a hole to escape through.

With the door gone, the swarm of insects flooded into the room. Izaya looked around for his knife but couldn't find it, most-likely under the mass. So instead, he pulled one of the fan blades and swung it into the triangular head as hard as he could. Red Pyramid screamed—the roar inhuman and loud—as he fell away.

"Go, go, go!" Izaya yelled, grabbing 'Shizuo's' arm and pulling him to his feet.

He pushed 'Shizuo' into the exit, pulling any remaining insects off him. Then quickly tried to climb in after him.

However, he didn't make it very far as the Red Pyramid grabbed his ankle. Izaya screamed as he was pulled out.

"No!" 'Shizuo' called, turning around.

"Get out of hargh!"

Red Pyramid wrapped his arm around Izaya's neck, pressing the raven to his naked flesh, to put him in a choke hold. Izaya grabbed the arms that held him, his windpipes being constrained. He kicked and tried to squirm as insects began climbing up his legs. He saw 'Shizuo' was torn between helping or obeying Izaya and running. In the end, 'Shizuo' grabbed one of the fan blades and threw it. It bounced off the triangular head without any effect.

'I can't...die...here. Shizu...'

Izaya's vision was starting to fade, his lungs aching, his limbs going weak.

"Let him go!" 'Shizuo' yelled, throwing another fan blade.

'...Shit...' Izaya thought, falling into the habit of resigning himself to his fate.

Then all too suddenly, Izaya was released. He fell to his knees and began hacking and coughing, rubbing his throat.

'Wha...'

Izaya saw the insects on him fall off and lay belly up. They twitched then blatantly died. The raven quickly looked over his shoulder to see Red Pyramid had turned away, slowly walking over to grab his giant blade.

'Is it...'

Red Pyramid pulled his sword out of the wall as the dead insects turned to ash and raised to the sky. The walls began returning to their original state, the door melding back together so the hole was gone. 'Shizuo' rushed out of the exit as the fan mended itself and put itself back into place.

"Ar-are you okay?" 'Shizuo' knelt in front of Izaya, grabbing his shoulders.

Izaya looked over his shoulder one last time to see the Red Pyramid turn to ash. He finally relaxed and fell forward, fatigue finally hitting him as his lungs worked overtime to undo the effects of his strangulation.