"Wwhat is this?" - Lala asked while trembling.
"Damn! The Akuma evolved! We'll have to take you to safety." - Toma pulled them, making sure Guzol can keep up.
"Why are you so slow?! Hurry up, you are useless here either way Finder!" - Kanda shouted and attacked the Akuma.
'Idiot! You don't leave potential Exorcists or Innocence shards alone! What if there's another Akuma hiding nearby?!' - Robin glared at Kanda.
Robin ran with all he had, he even used some of his superhuman speed to reach the samurai. Kanda was about to engage the Akume when Robin shot himself at him and tackled him. They both fell to the grownd and folled for a few metres.
"Gahaha! Lil Exorcist runnin' away from me? Oh, my, I must be sooo scawy! HAHAHAHA!" - the Akuma teased from the sky.
Menwhile Robin had gotten up and dragged Kanda behind a wall, hiding from the Akuma temporaryly.
"I think we're safe for now." - he wiped a bit of dust from his face.
"What the hell do you think you're doing stupid Moyashi?!" - Kanda scream-whispered.
"I'm saving your and everyone's life Bakanda! Don't you know that once an Akuma evolves it not only gains new skills but becomes more cunning?! He could easyly take you out by self-destructing! Trust me, I've seen those. They detonate themselves before being slain in last effort to take whomever is close with them!"
Kanda thought about it for a bit but glared again.
"You may know a lot but that doesn't mean you'll survive till this year's end! Don't get in my way and make sure to take the Innocence! Nothing else matters."
"Damn you Bakanda! Don't you care about the lives of the others?! Doesn't saving lives mean anything to you? It's an Exorcist's duty!"
"Some Finder and two others, one is not even a real human, why should I worry over them. I kill Akuma, that's all. You go with them and make sure the Innocence is brought to the Order."
He then ran out of their hiding spot to look for the Akuma that had hidden itself by now. Robin cursed and opened his cursed eye.
(Yes, his eye activates automatically when close to Akuma, just like in the original. The difference is that he can also open it by his will, even if there are no Akuma nearby, this comes from the pilot chapter. He doesn't do it because it exhausts him to keep it open on his own. If he forces it open for too long, he will start to hurt there, in extreme cases bleed and be unable to open it at all untill it has healed/rested properly.)
He had to find the others and keep them safe while looking for the Akuma. His eye could see a longer distance now, hence seeing the Akuma from far away, he knew it'll probably be sore for a while but the most important thing for him was making sure the others were safe. He found Toma leading two other people inside a half-destroyed building, no Akuma could be seen nearby, so he deactivated his eye and followed them inside.
"Who's there?!" - Toma asked, taking a defencive stance in front of the girl and puppet?, man?.
Robin didn't know how to call it but he was sure it was human.
"It's me, Robin. Are you alright?"
Lala gasped seeing his weapon but was quickly calmed by Toma.
"We are fine, for now. And this are Lala and Guzol, the ghost of Mater." - Toma introduced them.
"It's nice to meet you Mr, miss..." Robin bowed quickly "Now it's not a good time. Follow me and I'll make sure to keep you safe. I can see Akuma and can lead you to a safer place. All I ask you to trust me and help with the layout of the town, after all you had lived here for a long time."
"As long as Lala's safe, I'll do whatever I !" - Guzol started coughing violently behind his mask.
"We don't have much time! Where is the safest place you can think of?" - Robin asked Lala.
"Tthe undergrownd! The city built undergrownd is the safest place in here. There's an entrance a few hundred metres west from here."
"Good, lead the way! Toma, please take care of Guzol, I'll be watching for the remaining Akuma. Go!"
They followed Lala, hiding, ducking behind low walls and stopping at crossroads. When Robin activated his eye they looked at him a bit strangely but when he explained they accepted it.
===With Kanda===
He was jumping from rooftop to rooftop, trying to find the Akuma. he suddenly saw a glimpse of it and stopped. It was too dangerous to attack it from air, so he jumped down on the road and snuck towards it. He stuck as close to the wall as possible. He peeked behind the corner and saw the clown-like Akuma there. He got ready to attack.
"Come out, come out, where ever you are~...I'll cats youuu threeee!"
At this moment Kanda attacked and slashed the Akuma in two. He saw about to sigh but a clawed hand attacked him from the back. He dodged but got scratched, nothing serious.
"Ooooh! Is the widdle Exorcist bleedin'?"
"What?! How the hell are you even alive?!"
Just then Kanda noticed that on the grownd was just a skin of an Akuma and a bunch of rocks.
"Hehahahaha!" - it laughed maniacally with glee.
Kanda growled and attacked but it dodged. He slashed again and the Akuma countered with it's sharp claws. Due to the force of the impact all the dust and sand on the street was propelled up, forming a thick cloud. The Akuma disappeared in the dust, leaving Kanda looking around, trying to find the monster. Suddenly a hand of someone appeared, it had the Exorcist uniform on.
"MOYASHI! Why are you here?!"
He was going to shout more but stopped due to shock. There was another him standing there, the only difference was the crazed smile. Kanda was too shocked to react on time as it attacked. He was stabbed in the stomach by a clawed hand, it then swiped to the side, cutting half his torso open. He cursed in his mind and slashed Mugen at the impostor but didn't even scrape him. Clutching his torn stomach he swayed, poot leaking on the old pavement.
"Aya...I missed? But I guess it'll be an easy job killing you now. After you're gone, I'm gonna kill the other two and get the Innocence. The Millenium Earl will be sooo happy with me!" - the imostor commented.
"What the hell are you?"
"I'm a level 2 of course! You are so stupid for an Exorcist! Hehaha! Don't you know an Akuma gains a special ability after evolving? yet yu attacked me head on? After I evolved from my previous, slow and dumb form, I've gained the ability to copy the appearance of everything and wear it like a second skin! Thanks for making my job easier Mr Ex-or-cist!"
'So that's how it wasn't hurt! I destroyed a masked pile of stones instead if it! Damn!'
The Akuma was about to decapitate him when suddenly a long and glowing bullet was shot at it's direction. It dodged the fatal blow but it's leg got nicked, the flesh and fake skin there burned.
"Hisss!" - it hissed, agony on the fake Kanda's face.
It jumped up and escaped to heal it's injury. It wouldn't have been able to move as well with the back of it's leg like that, so it choose a strategical retreat for a moment.
'Damn! I'll kill em all when I fix my leg. Just wait you'll all die, you damn EXORCISTS!'
Kanda was confused as he looked at the now evaporating projectile and the direction it came from.
'Is there another Exorcist here? No, it's impossible! There were no other free Exorcists, only the...the Moyashi! But his arm is a claw!'
He got his answer came in the form of a slightly panting Robin, his claw now transformed in a canon.
"You BAKA! Idiotic bastard with a candy cane up your ass! I warned you but NO! Mr. Experienced didn't listen to me! I've seen what a level 2 is capable of for Christ's sake! At least try to listen!" - all traces of fatigue and worry disappeared from his face.
Robin whacked him a few times on the head and bitch slapped him on his left cheek, he made sure to use enough force to make him hurt but not kill him or open his injuries even more.
He, as an Akuma had inhuman stamina and strenght. Even a light hit of his could kill a human on spot, that's why Robin was forced to control his strenght and fake fatigue when needed. He could still get tired after using too much energy up or run at max speed for a week due to his special condition. But don't worry, after a meal and 2 hours of sleep tops he would be fully recovered.
Robin sighed, tore a piece of Kanda's cloak and bandaged him. Kanda scouled.
"Oh, take a break! Be glad I'm even saving you. I'm bringing you to the others, so try not to move too much."
"How..."
"I can see the souls of Akuma, baka. Now shut up."
Robin hauled Kanda on his back and carried him. Kanda was clinging to Mugen like a lifeline. His eyes slowly began to fog up, everything was a blur of sounds and figures to the samurai. He was so out of it by the time he was brough to the undergrownd that he didn't even notice the green sparks Mugen made as it touched Robin's right arm's bare skin. Robin just ignored the light sting and headed for the undergrownd chamber Toma and the other two were hidden. Timcampy had been left to watch over them. Robin knew Tim can get them out safely if needed.
"I brought him! How are you? How's Guzol holding up?"
"Not well. He's getting weaker...I don't know how long he'll last." - Toma said grimly.
Lala had removed her cloak to make a more comfortable place for Guzol to lay, his head in her lap.
"Hold on just a bit more, Guzol." - she was on the verge of tears.
On the way down he had tripped on a loose stone and fell down. After that he couldn't stand up and had to be carried to the chamber by Robin.
"Kanda's wounded and needs better treatment. Toma, I leave him in your hands! I'll keep watch for that level 2. Trust me, I won't let you die on me, I promise!" - Robin said.
He stood up and started circling them in case the Akuma launched a surprise attack. And it did. Toma had jusr re-patched Kanda's wounds as a rumbling sound came from above. Robin activated his weapon as the ceiling broke and fell down. Robin swatted whatever came their way when suddenly his eye activated. The Akuma had disguised itseld as a boulder but that didn't work on Robin. His claw turned to its gun form and he shot. The monster abandoned it's second skin, dodging all the bullets.
"Thooose bullets! Youuuuuu, you shot me!" - it screeched in anger, none of the previous taunting in its voice.
"Yes, and I'll free your soul! Rest in peace!"
He shot at the Akuma and it dodged most of the light bullets, some hit it and slowed it down. Robin turned his arm into a sword and used his superhuman speed to appear in front of the Akuma in an instant. he knew he risked it by using aven a bit of his Akuma abilities but he had to finish the fight as quickly as possible.
"What the-!" - the sword slammed into the Akuma, sending it crashing through the wall.
It crashed through several more, although unseen by the others, before skidding on the floor of what looked like an underground park. The Akuma's left hand was missing and it's torso and right one were badly cut.
'What the heck?! This strenght isn't one a human should posses!' - it thought as it slowly rose to it's feet.
It suddenly heard the light tap of feet landing on the floor behind it. it was turning around to cut down whoever it was before a sword light flashed. The Akuma was frozen for a few seconds before it's two halves split and it disintegrated, it's soul free. In the park the only figure left was Robin. Due to the high speed and sudden stop, his hair and hood had covered his head. He fell to his knees and panted. Using his Inocence, cursed eye and Akuma powers so much in a short amount of time had exhausyed him and weakened the seal on his forehead a bit. His stitched left side had opened a bit more than it would when using the eye. The faint trace of black-gray flesh and a small tip of a horn peeking a fer milimetres from his human skin. He breathed deeply and calmed himself. Slowly the horn retracted and the stitched scar looking like it always did.
"Phew! It's over, finally!" - he breathed out in relief.
Robin stood up on shaky legs and stumbled back to the chamber where the others were waiting.
With relief he saw Kanda sleeping, still recovering from his injury. how he had survived almost being cut in half was a mystery to the whitehaired Exorcist. Seeing him return safely Toma sighed in relief and called HQ. He couldn't get them to send medics due to the lame excuse of 'Leave him sleep and he'll be fine in a few days.' . Robin had also heard their answer even though Toma tried to be quiet.
'How can they say something like that?! That guy may be a monster when it comes to fighting but he's still human!' - Robin fumed.
"Lala..."
"Guzol! Don't talk, you'll be fine!"
"...can you please sing me? One last time, please?"
"OK! I will sing you untill the end." - she looked at Robin and he nodded.
She then began to sing a beautiful song that almost made Robin cry. he didn't because the sound was lightly laced with Innocence, which made him have a dull headache.
His Innocence might no longer hurt him and he had a certain imunity towards Innocence but it still made him uncomfortable. His hairs would raise when he's closer that 1 metre from an activated Innocence, how much they raised depended on how powerful it was, it would also sting him if he touched it with bare skin. Especially attacks that affected a large area like soundwaves were a pain for him. He would always feel them as long as he was within their range. His Innocence and imunity made sure he wouldn't die or start bleeding but it still hurt him.
He went to the surface under the guise he wanted some fresh air. After he went out, he could no longer feel the headache but still heard the song. Robin sat on the stone steps and listened as Lala sang her last song for Guzol into the starry night. By the time the sun rose she had stopped. Guzol had died in peace with a smile on his face. Lala had also lost her life-like appearance. With regret Robin opened her and took the Innocence out with his gloved had and put it in a special contained. With Toma's help he made a grave and buried Guzol and Lala together. By noon they were done and returned to check on Kanda. To their surprise he was awake and standing, waiting for them on the chamber's entrance. After explaining to him what happened Kanda just ched.
"If we're done, why are we here then?! Let's go!"
Robin and Toma sighed and shook their heads. In three more hours the three of them boarded the train that would take them to HQ.
"Moyashi."
"Yes, Bakanda."
"Thanks." - he mumbled.
"Ah? What did you say again Bakanda? I couldn't hear youuu!"
"I won't repeat it again, stupid Moyashi!"
===In the Black Order===
As soon as they arrived Kanda and Robin were dragged off by Komui towards the Infirmary. Robin managed to get out of there first after Komui looked him over for injuries. Kanda on the other hand was strapped on a hospital bed, yelling and cursing Komui.
On Komui's instructions Robin went to deliver the newly aquired Innocence to hevlaska for storage.
'Thankfully escaped! Who knows what might have happened if he decided to take blood or something...' - Robin thought.
He went down and delivered the Innocence. As soon as he was done, he gorged himself on Jerry's tasy cooking, returning a mountain of empty plates. After that he returned to his room and prompty collapsed on his bed, falling asleep instantly. An angry Tim came out of his hood and settled on his makeshift nest on the nightstand.
