WARNING! This story contains SPOILERS and YAOI! Also a few minor OCs, so don't kill me.
SO SO SO sorry this took a while to update! I've gotten started with classes and all and it's been so hectic. I'll try to update more often I promise! I will admit that after finishing this chapter I was rather disappointed with how it turned out. Something's missing but I can't seem to figure out what...
As promised, there are cookies to give out! xD I asked in which episode of the anime does Tyki say "Mr. Kitchen Knife". Ulqy-chan, ..3000, and LavisterKrory24 all got the question right! The answer was episode 73. ^_^
Huge thanks to all of my amazing reviewers. You guys rock! ^o^
Rated: T [for violence and language] Bold: Used only in dreams or flashbacks to indicate the main character's lines. Italics: Used to indicate dreams, flashbacks, and thoughts.
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Chapter Thirteen: Tyki
"Play with me!"
A demanding young voice rang out through the deathly silent air, echoing off walls that existed somewhere in the endless expanse of black.
"Kukuku...we're busy! Ya, busy, busy, busy! Grah, get off my head! I can't write straight! Busy, busy!! I said get o-...oh that looks good, 'Dero...BUT NOT ON MY PAPER!! Teehee!!"
Two more voices stumbled over each other, combining with the first, and there was a disturbance of paper rustling as well as hints of a brawl.
"You two are so booooring~!"
Again came the first voice, laced with the sound of a pout. From some unknown source, a fluorescent light shone, illuminating a polished ebony wood table, stretching ten feet long. At one end of the table, papers were strewn everywhere, fluttering to the floor as the forms of two boys wrestled, half on the chair and half on the polished ground. One of them was a blonde, long hair flowing in twisting tresses about his shoulders and mouth sewn together by black thread, completing his awkward clothing and arm bandages. The other had hair as black as the table, reaching only to his cheek bone and cut in a punk style fitting to his attire, thick black rings around his eyes. Both had limbs hopelessly tangled within the other's and were swearing colorfully at each other, contradicting the huge grins that adorned their faces.
Opposite the two fighting youths was a pouting young girl with hair that stood up in spikes at all angles. She was sitting on her knees on the chair and leaning forward onto the table, head resting on her hands, staring at the twins with disdain.
"Someone play with me!"
She demanded again, bringing one hand down and slapping her palm to the surface of the table. The pout turned into an angry frown and her voice rose in volume and pitch.
"Where's Tyki?! I'm lonely!!"
A cracked chuckle came from the large person sitting at the head of the table; he was a rather fat man with a top hat and a perpetual grin plastered onto his face. At his side floated a lavender umbrella with a jack o' lantern topper, also grinning. The twin boys stopped mid-brawl, hopelessly entangled within each other, to look his way. The girl looked lazily at him and spotted the umbrella, face instantly lighting up into a mischievous smirk.
"Oh well, I'll just have to play with Lero then!"
She made a lunge for the umbrella, snatching it up by the handle, and it gave a loud exclamation of protest.
"R-Road-sama! Don't grab me, lero!"
Road paid him no mind and began twirling him around in circles, laughing at the pumpkin's distressed face. The twins giggled and extracted themselves from each other, both sitting on the same chair. The blonde was draped unceremoniously over the tabletop, pointing a gold-plated revolver up at the black-haired one perched gracefully on his back, who held an identical revolver and aimed downwards at the boy under him. The boy above spoke.
"Hehe, oi Earl-sama, how long are we gonna hafta do this boring paperwork? I thought Noahs didn't hafta deal with this kinda shit!"
The man in the top hat chuckled again, wiggling the fingers of one of his gloved hands.
"Patience, Devitt. It's all part of our game. Planning, then moving, that's the key~!"
Devitt's face scrunched up into an annoyed expression.
"But how come Tyki gets to be first? He doesn't hafta do paperwork! It's no fair!"
Jasdero's head bobbed up and down from below, the glowing orb attached to a wire strapped to his head bouncing with the movement. His stitched-shut mouth frowned in agreement.
"No fair~!"
The Earl ghosted a hand over the tabletop in front of him, gesturing to a chess board that was set up and in play. The black pieces had been moved all about the board, leaving spaces everywhere. The white pieces were much more strategically set, most remaining in their original squares.
"The game is in play already. You will have your chance to move soon."
Road stopped twirling around and laid an exhausted Lero over her shoulder, draping herself over the Earl's shoulders from behind to peer at the board. The man was hovering a hand over the white pieces.
"Which one is Tyki?"
Devitt, who'd been watching his brother scribble with blue crayon on some important file or another, glanced up at the Earl to hear the answer to Road's question. His black-rimmed eyes widened as he caught the look on the Earl's face and a small smirk crossed his own.
If his plastic grin could get any bigger, it just did.
The Earl selected the white knight and picked it up between gloved fingers, moving it in its "L" path and setting it down again in place near the black king and queen, both of which hadn't moved from their original positions. Road's face broke into a smile and Jasdero paused in his scribbling to chuckle along with Devitt, echoing his quiet comment along the lines of "good move". The Earl sat back in his chair with satisfaction.
"Check."
::
Shit.
Why now?!
Allen stared at the snickering face of Tyki Mikk, who had changed since he'd last seen him in the Ark. His hair had grown out, gathered into a low curly ponytail at the base of his neck, a few stray curls falling about his face. The seven crosses of the Noah Clan were visible across his forehead and his golden eyes shone brightly with amusement. Instead of the typical tailed suit and top hat, he now wore a white ankle-length cloak, left arm long-sleeved, right arm sleeveless. There was a white armband around his right upper arm, and a white wristband around his right wrist. Black leather pants and black boots that reached above the knee clothed his bottom half. Lingering scars from his previous encounter with Allen were visible along his left arm and across his chest, the opening of the cloak revealing a good portion of it.
He felt movement beside him and turned to look as Kanda grunted and adjusted himself into a kneeling position, wounds still bleeding sluggishly. The samurai's hand was still wrapped tightly around Mugen and his tattoo was sprawled in a large intricate design on his body. His torn muscles rippled as his upper body tensed. Kanda was going to stand up.
A-Are you an idiot?!
Allen raised his claw and placed it on Kanda's forearm, eyes conveying his plea for the exorcist to remain stationary. Kanda's eyes never left Tyki, but he seemed to receive Allen's silent words nonetheless.
"Che. I won't let you hog the pleasure of killing him yourself."
Tyki's eyebrows raised and he let out a chuckle.
"Killing me? How foolish. You honestly think that someone in your condition could even put a mark on me?"
That annoyed the raven-haired boy enough and he glared angrily, legs tensing as he pushed up to stand. Allen's claw tightened around his forearm and he also stood, helping Kanda to his feet and forcing the samurai to lean on his shoulder, sliding his left arm to encircle the older boy's waist. He knew there was no use arguing with Kanda about this now.
"How pathetic. The samurai still wants to fight? He must really want to die."
Shut up...he isn't like that. He refuses to die and I...I admire that about him.
"Is that why you value him even when he clearly is of no use to us?"
Allen's right hand clenched into a fist as a wave of pain seared up his left arm.
"Let me take over. If you insist on saving the samurai's life, I'll deal with the Noah."
No! You already have control over half of me, I don't need more! I...want to be strong. On my own. Like...
Kanda...
The white-haired boy kept one eye on the clearly amused Noah and studied Kanda's face, keeping his left arm wrapped around the boy's waist to hold him steady. Kanda appeared to be just as stubborn as ever, stunning eyes locked on Tyki. His forehead was creased and mouth turned down into a challenging scowl, but there was a twinge every now and again of pain as he gripped Allen's shoulder and tried to lean off of him as much as possible. It was below the exorcist's standards to accept help; Allen knew that, but Kanda said nothing in response and allowed the boy's arm to remain about his waist in support.
...This is the closest we've ever been to each other.
The fleeting thought flew through Allen's head and he immediately stowed it away in the back of his mind, turning his gaze and his attention wholly on Tyki with a glare. How dare he show up now!
"Mm...now this is something new indeed."
Tyki regarded the two of them with a hint of disdain, gaze sweeping towards the place where Kanda and Allen's hips were fractions away from touching, Allen's arm fitting perfectly into the small of Kanda's back and Kanda's arms wrapped around Allen's shoulder. Instead of making a comment, he yawned, lazily leaning over to pick up the innocence orb on the ground, and fiddled with it in his fingers. His golden eyes locked onto Allen's own, a smirk crossing his features.
"You should remember this...let's play a game, shall we?"
His hand clenched around the orb.
"I call this game: 'Find the Heart~'."
The younger exorcist choked down a gasp and glanced at Kanda. The other released Allen's shoulder, standing up by himself and pulling away from Allen's grip. The boy took this as a "go-ahead" and let go of Kanda's waist, jumping forward and lifting his claw to strike at Tyki's arm that held the innocence. The Noah of Pleasure smiled and his gloved hand constricted swiftly.
There was a sharp cracking sound and green glow of the innocence suddenly disappeared, shrouding the room in darkness.
...No!!
"Aww~ too bad. It wasn't the Heart."
Tyki's voice cut through the darkness and Allen skidded to a stop, unable to see.
"Nigentou."
Suddenly, the harsh azure glow of Mugen's power illuminated the room, brightening the underside of Kanda's face as his sheath transformed into an exact copy of his anti-akuma weapon. A lightning bolt of blue shot out of the original's hilt and zig-zagged behind his back to connect with the hilt of the other sword, completing the activation of Twin Illusion Blades.
Allen's eyes widened. The taller exorcist hadn't even waited until his wounds stopped bleeding, and they began to bleed anew, red liquid seeping down his chest as the last remaining remnants of his red and black coat tore away. The tattoo was sprawled dangerously far and the room almost felt heavy. Innocence leaked from the swords to surround his whole body and further brighten the room. There was a spark in the Japanese boy's eyes and with a startled gasp, Allen recognized the atmosphere.
Oh shit...oh shit, oh shit...
Kanda had given off the same aura just before he broke in the forced synchronization session with Hevlaska.
"Interesting..."
Tyki's amused chuckle made the cursed boy snap his head towards him, golden eyes narrowing. The Noah smirked and a purple blade of energy shaped on his arm, several oddly patterned butterflies emerging from his body to hover around him. Allen tensed and grabbed his wrist.
There's no way I'm letting Kanda get any more hurt.
The three white strips on his back grew into a long flowing cape and the mask on the white fur hood floated up to cover Allen's eyes. As he gripped his wrist, he pulled, a circle of glowing energy flickering, and the Sword of Exorcism began to emerge in place of his left arm. With a stifled gasp, the exorcist ignored the intense pain that flared through him as the Fourteenth protested.
"Ow!! Stop that! You're hurting yourself as well!"
I have a battle to fight.
"Just let me handle it! The Noah of Pleasure is no match for the Musician."
Screw you.
"Something the matter, boy?"
Tyki snickered and Allen's eyes narrowed sharply.
The bastard...he knows!
"But of course."
You shut up.
There was a harsh singing sound of metal through air.
"Hakka Tourou!"
Barely able to turn around in time, Allen caught sight of the eighth slash in Kanda's Eight Flowers Praying Mantis technique. The eight slashes rent blue lines of energy into the air that almost instantaneously came together to form the shape of a flower. It spun and expanded rapidly to fly straight towards Tyki, crashing hard against his arm as the Noah brought up his blade to block the attack. Tyki's face held a smirk but it soon disappeared as he found himself skidding backwards, obviously underestimating the force of Kanda's blow.
Allen snapped back to attention and took the opportunity Kanda had opened for him. He leapt into the air, white cape of Crown Clown swirling around him, and swung his thick blade down at Tyki's unprotected head. The man glanced up and his eyes widened. Just as it looked as if the sword would cleave his head in two, Tyki's body seemed to shrink.
What?!
No, not shrink. Lower. Into the floor.
The white-haired exorcist was forced to release his Clown Belt, shooting the white material out and snagging onto one of the rafters to halt his attack. His body was jerked to a stop and he hung from the support beam, belt wrapped around his waist.
That was close...
If he'd followed through with the attack, he would have leapt right in the way of Kanda's slashes, which continued past the area Tyki had been and crashed headlong into the metal wall with a ground-shaking tremor. The wall couldn't stand the pressure and split into eight long tears, metal creaking as a huge blue glow took over the room momentarily. Allen squinted and when the light subsided, a large hole was cut clean through the building to the outside, where it had grown dark. Cool night air rushed in, breaking through the stuffy air that mingled with the stench of sweat and blood. Allen was beside himself.
Whoa...
He glanced back at Kanda, who was panting, hands still clenched tightly around his twin hilts, body still encompassed by a blue light. The exorcist was pushing himself too far. Allen could feel the power radiating off of him in waves. The increased power of his attack had definitely been due to a higher synchronization rate and before the younger boy could even call out, Kanda gave out a sharp cry of pain, gritting his teeth against it. Allen gasped.
"Kanda!!"
A purple butterfly hovered just behind the taller exorcist, unnoticed. Quickly, the boy lowered himself from the ceiling and the Clown Belt coiled again about his waist. But he was too late to warn Kanda as the butterfly bit down on the Japanese's shoulder.
"Uhn...ss..."
The noise erupted from Kanda's throat but it was short-lived. The instant the Tease clamped down on his shoulder, it hissed and burst into dust as the innocence surrounding Kanda's body disintegrated it.
Apparently I had nothing to worry about...
"Interesting...yet again! I'm beginning to like you, Kanda Yuu."
Both exorcists turned to stare at Tyki's grinning face as he stepped out of the wall behind Kanda like it was the most casual way to enter a room. With a wave of his hand, a swarm of Tease surrounded the exorcists. Allen tensed and instinctively directed his cloak to billow out into a protective shield.
"It's unfortunate about your situation. You would have made a great eighth Noah."
Kanda's eyes narrowed and Allen choked another gasp.
"What?!"
Tyki's attention was immediately drawn towards the stammering boy and his grin got wider. Allen could see the amused laugh the Noah was holding back. Sure enough, it came bubbling out in a musical chuckle.
"Oh? You didn't know? I would have thought Mr. Kitchen Knife would tell his precious little shrimp."
The boy in question flushed despite himself. Kanda let out an annoyed "che" and there was a crushing wave of force as he spoke the hissed words Allen had hoped not to hear.
"Shouka: Sangenshiki."
The exorcist crossed his twin swords in front of him and his innocence spiked out to form the shape of wings coming off the ends of each blade. Tyki raised his eyebrows and flicked a finger. The Tease surrounding Allen abandoned him to join the horde around Kanda. Allen's fingers clenched around his own sword.
"Wait, BaKanda!!"
If he's going to do this, we'll do it right.
Kanda halted just short of his attack to glance at Allen. The white-haired boy caught his eyes and narrowed them, half-thrusting his exorcism blade into the air to send the message. The Japanese nodded and faced Tyki again, innocence growing further. Allen swung his sword around and his own innocence increased as he prepared the attack. Tyki looked on in amusement and sighed, the large Tease perched on his left glove fluttering off it as its master gave the command.
"Oh well. Attack, my pretty pets."
The butterflies all dive-bombed. Just before Allen leapt forward, he caught sight of Kanda once more. His facial features were wrenched in pain as sparks began to fly from the swords. Golden eyes widened, but Allen forced himself to ignore the sight as well as a horrible searing pain of his own as Crown Clown enveloped him in white, contrasting the Noah power he was currently still using. There was a strangled cry as Kanda pushed himself to one hundred percent synchronization.
...NOW!
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Hoo, so the big showdown with good ol' Tyki is finally here. The next two chapters could throw all you faithful readers for a nice twist though. As always, R&R is appreciated!
Next chapter...Berserk.