Greetings readers! I've kind of been letting this story sit for a while, so let's keep it going! I just realised that I never added two more powers to the phone, so I've rectified that here, both by adding them to the list and putting them to good use! Can you remember who they were? Well, hopefully the way I've used them here makes sense. Anyway, let's go!
Super hero time!
Issei: The power of Pandora is in your hands! Bauen, it's time to build up!
Bauen: A Tower of Ai, hmm? Certainly something quite interesting, especially the powers it holds.
Issei: AAHH! What on earth are you!?
Bauen: Looks like you have a much bigger problem to deal with. Watch out!
I + B: Phone up the future! Rider once more!
The tower of Ai: a place spoken of in legend, thought to hold the key to securing a future without strife for the entire world. Many had spent their lives trying to find the mythical building, eyes filled with images of the nine blessings held within that could make a man a messiah, but it had, for some strange reason, always eluded the grasp of man-kind.
Until Generation was formed.
It had been a simple agreement at first between group of basic adventurers; travellers looking for a little bit of excitement and direction to their lives. Their bonds were forged upon a single promise; that they would travel the world and gather hints upon where the tower of Ai was and combine their knowledge in order to find the location. As time carried on however, the way they gathered those hints grew as more and more people pledged their assistance in the discovery. What was once done through word was done through science, incredible machines formed in order to try and detect any form of anomaly. Magic helped alter the perspective of those without it, new discoveries completely altered by the way the arcane interacted with it. It wasn't too long before an entire organisation had been formed, titled Generation.
However, just as any other organisation, there was those within it that wanted something different than the others. While the original intention was to be able to claim that they discovered the greatest mystery the world could say it owned and bring the end to conflict, there were people who instead wished to claim the blessing held within and rise to ultimate power. "The power to end conflict should not be diluted." They claimed. "It should be held by those worthy to watch over the rest."
"And who are you to decide who is worthy?" Generation had answered back to those few, and those few were not to have any backchat. In a place full of scientists, engineers and researching magicians, the brought in warriors and soldiers had little opposition when they wanted their desires enforced until ultimately, only those who were deemed the most useful had been kept; while not searching for the Tower of Ai, many members had pooled together on various revolutionary projects, but to the new leaders, that meant nothing. Now, this was a militant operation; while before, Generation had sent scientists when they first located the mythical tower, now it would be force that took the blessings. Having moved without a single trace, it was a task of locating and brutally making their way in.
To think that Liu Wei knew of the location of the Tower of Ai, even after it had mysteriously disappeared after consuming those first sent to explore the bowels, Rider was left speechless. While the research taken by the new Generation had hypothesised about how one would be able to potentially find the new location, the change in leadership hadn't exactly made it seem as if they were going to make any progress soon.
"It would be a case of me taking you to a location nearby to the Tower; should I be gone for any longer than necessary, then questions will be raised." Liu Wei explained, rubbing his fingers together nervously. "Cong-Fan would have my head if he knew what I was giving to someone who ran away from Generation, but… your group, that boy… There is something that convinces me that I should tell you, even if fate has made it clear we must fight once more."
"Why don't you just leave Cong-Fan and join us then?" Rider urged, the pink haired girl leaning forward. "If you know the location of the Tower of Ai, then maybe we can make the world a better place together! We can do what the original generation wanted!"
She was answered by the boy shaking his head, the red crystal placed within his vambrace before she could even reach out to stop him.
"I'm sorry Starway rider, but I can do little at the moment. Follow the hints; they shall guide your way." And in a flash of fire, Liu Wei was gone from the medical bay, only the scorch marks marring the bed telling of his time there. All the pink haired inventor could do was ponder the blue haired boy's words, at least until Issei poked his head through the door.
"Rider, are you okay? Thought I heard… where did Liu Wei go?" the boy asked with Kunou appearing above his head. "Didn't you want to ask him some questions or something?"
"Oh, don't worry about that! I got all I needed after all!" Rider answered with a cheerful wink, clapping her hands together as a smile forced its way onto her face. "Did something come up on the radar or something? I thought I told you I could handle this alone!"
"Ah! Yes, there was something happening in Kuoh, something that Yasaka wanted us to go check out with Rias." Issei recalled, lifting the small kitsune from the positon she had climbed up to on her back before returning to the main control area. Rider merely gave a sigh.
Pretending to be happy is always difficult when you just want to scream in anger.
A crude combination of oddly sharpened stone and steel pieces rotated as it tore through flesh, a gory mess being all that remained of the stray before him. What had once been bulky flesh now was utterly decimated until the blood could barely be told from the shredded muscle and skin. A maniacal laughter filled the air as the monster being such a terrifying act turned around, the crafted weapon goring into the stomach of a priest, his screams of pain choked by the blood flooding his torn lungs. A liver was crushed beneath the monster's feet as the heart still beating held in his hands was crushed, the blood within being eagerly lapped up as it messily fell upon the beast's face.
Initially, the priests had been brought over to deal with the devil that was attempting to kill their allies, who had arrived for unknown reasons, but as soon as they arrived and begun battle, a fierce roar had been their only warning before their enemy had been decimated by the utter psychopath Issei and his group eventually came across. Now, as Rias and her peerage arrived upon the scene as well, no bodies could be distinguished as the pooled upon the ground as barely more than mince.
"You have certainly proved elusive, haven't you?" the red haired princess of destruction mused aloud as she let her power of destruction dance around her fingers. "Unfortunately, I can't have you continue your senseless rampage. Had it just been stray devils, then perhaps we could've vaguely tolerated you, but your attack on priests has meant that we must act before you instigate a war beyond your comprehension."
Stood before them was a vague imitation of a man. Not because he wasn't human, but it was clear that this human had been altered into a pure unadulterated killing machine. Rippling muscles bulged unnaturally under their coating of blood, completely exposed due to the fact that the monster refused to wear any sort of clothing save for tattered old boots and odd orange shorts. His skin held an unnatural colour indescribable, looking as if he was ill but the fury held behind the jury rigged mask that covered all but a single eye on a bald head. He held the makeshift weapon in massive hands, a purple handle leading to the spinning edges of stone and steel in a strange combination of an axe and a buzz saw.
"God of BLADDERS! Steel my SOUL'S FACE!" The vicious attacker cried out, face contorting unnaturally as he began to scream. "Possess them not with CAKE; take from them now the YOUNG GUTS, if the BLOOD BATH pluck their hearts from them! Not to-day, O Lord, O, not to-day, think not upon the ACID FACER made in compassing the SAUSAGE KING! I have SWALLOWED THEM WHOLE and on it have KISSED THEIR GRAVE than from it issued MURDER PARTIES: five hundred SKULLS I have in MEAT POUNDING, who twice a-day their SMOTHERED BABY hold up toward heaven, to pardon blood; and I have built A CASTLE OF YOUR AGONY, where the sad and solemn BABY STEAKS still for FILTH AND SOUR CREAM! More will I HIT YOU WITH THE PAIN PINATA! Though all that I can do is SURF THE BLOOD OCEAN, since that my OPERATIC DIVA OF FLESH AND STEEL comes after all, Imploring pardon WITH A HAMMER TO THE CHIN!"
"The hell is up with this guy?" Issei asked, fingers trembling as he wrapped them around his golden phone. "This doesn't look like anything I could even imagine, let alone see in real life!"
"An experiment I would assume. Someone who has been tested on until their mind reaches the breaking point." Kiba answered, his face grim as a held out hand was quickly filled with a sword. "Someone who was experimented on, permanently changed… perhaps we are more similar than I thought."
Before any could question the boy's statement, he was already moving forward, barely more than a blur as the dull thud of metal hitting flesh came from where the psychopath stood. Hitting, meaning not slicing for barely a cut was made within the crazed killer's skin; the only noise it elicited from the attack was one of frustration before an unnaturally muscular arm began swinging its makeshift weapon crazily. The psychopath was either incredibly lucky or skilled; even with his random swings, he still managed to clock the blond without Kiba even noticing.
CALL!
NUMBER SIX – SPIRIT SCRIPTER!
CALL TO ARMS!
It would take a moment for Issei to notice that he hadn't called upon a number he was used to, only realising by the time he was ready to transform; a foreign power flowed through his veins as he smacked his thumb against the central button, the energy forming a paintbrush that was soon brandished with confidence.
"Where am I? The last I recall, I was being contained and watched for being a dangerous person." A voice questioned, Issei giving a small shiver. So the two children they had apprehended from Mozaik were still being tended to by Yasaka? Who knows what the woman was doing to them considering how mischievous her smile could get at times. "It seems like you've gotten yourself in a bit of trouble though, so I guess I can help out!"
"Thanks Kai." Issei replied as he dodged out of the way of the man train that was the psychopath before them. The brush clearly wasn't suited for combat, so the brunette was left to fruitlessly dodge around like a maniac to avoid having his head chopped clean off, but a brief flash of inspiration was all he needed before his hand started sharply flicking back and forth. In mere seconds, the word 'fire' was emblazoned in energy in the air before Issei, a second flick having that energy morph into literal flames before it was sent directly towards the monster attacking the rest of the group.
"Take it." Koneko was kind enough to somehow grab a hold of the rampaging person as well, a timed toss sending it directly into the flames and Akeno's addition of lightning had the inhumane human twitching upon the ground. None of the group were kidding themselves; after watching the psychopath's impressive speed before, it was almost as if they were allowed to strike him, but why would the monster have let that happen? The answer was given as the burning body stood up.
"I EMBRACE THE FLAME, CAUTERIZE THE WOUND!" rather than be cowed by the fire, the psychopath continued on as if it were completely unaffected, electricity and fire alike coursing along his skin as if it were rubber – completely insulated. Now, with a burning, electrocuted psychopath rather than a normal psychopath after them and now completely unwilling to hold back once more, it was a simple case summed up in Kai's words perfectly.
"Run for it!"
Kiba and Akeno were the ones designated to confusing and delaying the beast thanks to their pieces granting them much higher speed than the others, tough the mutated man looked to be more than a capable rival to their abilities. Neither had been expecting the fireballs that the beast shot at them nor the lightning that coursed through his weapon, but as soon as Akeno accidently let herself be struck by it, her scream had the others pausing in what was close to being a fatal mistake.
The fire flared out and if it wasn't for Issei quite literally pushing himself onto Rias, they wouldn't have had the chance to make it behind the stone wall, the sound of cracking only adding to their fear. Kai, only a child, was almost verbally shivering, his words rapid and desperate as he spoke to Issei.
"If you were able to call upon my own power, you should be able to call upon Alice's as well, right!? You can use her power to stop that weird man! It would be way quicker than having to write out my stuff, even if it is less powerful!" the boy urged, Issei nodding as he opened the phone once more. While the six button showed a young boy's face, the other held the same blonde that they had encountered back in Mozaik; there was no time to waste while the others were being beaten up.
CALL!
NUMBER FIVE – DREAMER!
CALL TO ARMS!
The paintbrush faded away at the same time the feeling of power left Issei veins, but it was soon replaced by a completely different experience. Alice, the blonde's ability being tied to her voice, took not the form of a paintbrush like her friend, but a silver megaphone. The tool was quickly held before Issei's mouth, a moment needed for him to fully register the odd sensation within his throat before he could actually speak.
"Woah, this is so weird! Who is that weird man?" Alice questioned, not at all bothered by the form she had taken. Perhaps there was some sort of soothing mechanism within the phone that prevented it from freaking people out, the boy mused. It was just as likely that the girl from Mozaik simply didn't care a single jot.
"I'm not too sure myself. We just need to stop him." Issei declared before he yelled directly down the megaphone.
"STOP!"
The words brought the psychotic man to stop for a brief moment, but a second later, he was back to his rampage. Now that they were aware that the ability actually functioned however, Issei was already formulating a plan, a nod given to Rias having the girl starting to bark out orders.
"Kiba, Akeno, watch out for the flinches! Those are your chances to attack! Koneko, whenever you see a flinch, grab a hold of the man and keep him still as long as you can!" Before the silver haired rook could speak with her concerns, Akeno's hands brought forth a torrent of water to flow towards the man, completely drenching the psychopath and dousing the fires that had decorated his body. The electricity had already been transferred into Akeno's body when she was struck however, meaning the attack wasn't as completely effective as it could've been.
"STOP!"
Each time Issei called it out, the psychopath paused in his steps for longer periods of time, once even going so far as to smack himself in the head with his weapon in rider to break the control upon his mind.
"I know what I have become… I am the inside of the world… I KISS THE GORE AND BID THE CRYING GOOD MORNING AND I WANT MORE!" the psychopath screamed, pausing completely in his actions as he repeated pounded against his mask incredibly violently. Issei was surprised that he couldn't see any blood coming from behind it; was the mask preventing his injury or was his body that strong on its own? "I can't see them any more… OPEN MIND, OPEN HEART, BOTH POISONING ME WITH ITS PURPLE FLUID! MY EYES ARE RIVERS, THEY BRING FORTH THE CRIES OF BABIES TO THEIR BROKEN MEATSACKS!"
"He's vulnerable! You know what to do!" The Gremory peerage were quick to respond to their King's orders, immediately hearing the order to stop from Issei as he had given so many times before when all of a sudden, it was as if their bodies couldn't move, no, refused to move no matter what. All they could do was turn their eyes to where Issei was steadily walking towards the psychopath, megaphone held lazily in his hand as he approached the incredibly dangerous person. "Issei!? What on earth do you think you're doing!?"
"Rias, these abilities deal with working with the mind." The brunette carefully mentioned, kneeling down to the man as the never ending strikes to the psychopath's own sternum never ceased. "It's clear that there is something wrong with him, but if we just kill him like you wanted to do, we can never find out just what's made him this way."
"Issei, do not forget. This… man, could potentially be possible for starting a war humanity wouldn't be able to comprehend. It's better for everyone if we end his life here and now; it's clear he is suffering." The redheaded princess of destruction explained softly, starting to move towards the boy if it wasn't for the held out hand. that was the moment when their eyes met and the determination held within those brown orbs had Rias freeze, a slow nod given to the troublesome boy.
"Well then, I don't know your name, but let's see what we can do to find out a bit more…" the brunette mumbled, looking to the megaphone. "Alice, do you think I could get someone to speak about something even if they think they've forgotten it?"
"It couldn't hurt to try, right? I want to see what happens!"
"Alright then…"
"TELL THE TRUTH: WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU AND HOW DID YOU END UP THIS WAY?"
"Stop it, keep the memories down with a knife in its throat, slash it until it bleeds thought juice across the dirt and it's absorbed into nothingness... HERE COMES THE BAD TIMES!"
And let's put it on hold for now! There are times where I write during my school free periods on the school computer, meaning that sometimes my friends can see what I'm writing. Now imagine what they were thinking when they read my attempts at writing for a psychopath. I figured, might as well brutalise Shakespeare because then it looks like I'm actually doing some proper work.
1 - Dragon (Ophis: scale slicer)
2 - Kitsune (Kunou: Kit o' nine tails)
3 - Technomancer (Starway Rider: .EXE(but!)cuter)
4 - Demon (Onihime: Royal straight crush)
5 - Dreamer (Alice: Psychic shouter)
6 - Spirit Scripter (Kai: Super Ultra Painter of Power deluxe EX of Doom)
7 - ?
8 - ?
9 - ?
0 - ErRoR (woman: ErRoR)
Super hero time! See you next time