"Thank you for listening to me" Skull said as he wiped at his eyes and stood up starting to stretch.
"You're welcome" Oracle said as she smiled up at Skull. Skull slowly made his way over to the ventilation duct opening and looked down to see Diva staring up at him with the lusty haze still shrouding his eyes. Deep down he knew that Diva was going to get through this. He just had to keep believing.
"You Pig" Panther yelled as a shadow slammed into her causing her to fall back on her butt. She quickly hopped back up onto her feet and called for Carmen as the shadow was set ablaze by Carmen's agilao skill. The shadow screamed out as it was burned and disappeared.
"There are so many shadows here" complained Fox as he dusted himself off after another countless battle the group had gotten into.
"Well he is a producer, so this might be a representation of the lackeys that he has keeping his secret" Queen surmised as she took a look around the hallway to see if there were any more shadows. Not having Oracle focusing on the schematics of the room they were in was proving to be difficult.
"That is possible considering we are getting closer to where his treasure is located" Mona added in as he looked around at everyone.
"How is everyone doing?" Joker asked trying to get an assessment on the team.
"I can feel my stamina draining with these endless battles" Panther started as she stretched herself out, "and without Skull, Diva, and Oracle it has been pretty difficult."
"I would have to agree, I think it best if we find a space to rest for a bit until the others are able to catch up with us" Fox suggested as the group shared an agreeing look.
"I just hope the others are okay" Ann said as she trailed off and looked down the hall hoping they would just magically appear.
"It's best if we not focus on that right now and try and regain some of our stamina before the others get here" Queen stated as she looked for a potential save room that might be in the area. Mona and Fox followed her leaving Panther standing and staring. Joker was about to follow as well until he saw that Panther wasn't moving yet. He walked over to her and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
"They'll be here as soon as you know it" Joker reassured her as she turned and looked up at him a little teary eyed.
"Deep down I know that, but I've never seen Skull so shook up before" As she said this, Panther looked away from Joker and wiped the wetness from her eyes before the tears started to run down her cheeks.
Joker, not knowing exactly what to say, continued to give her a look and squeezed her shoulder again in a reassuring way before pulling her close and walking down the hallway with her. Ann has known Skull far longer than him, so he was not sure what words would truly cheer her up.
"Down here!" Queen yelled as she popped her head out of a door and waved at Joker and Panther. The two of them made their way to the room and entered awaiting the return of their other team members.
The sound of keys clicking rapidly tore Skull from his slumber as he started to wake and rub the sleep from his eyes. Oracle looked over at him and couldn't help but giggle.
"What's so funny?" Skull questioned as he stretched and scratched at his flat stomach.
"Oh nothing sleeping beauty" Oracle joked as she closed her laptop and stood up.
Skull looked around, temporarily forgetting where they were, and took in his surroundings. He quickly jumped up to his feet when he recognized the ventilation duct and looked around for the opening into the room below. He quickly ran over to the opening and peered out to see a lifeless form sprawled out on a couch bellowing sleeping. In the dim light of the room you could just make out which way Diva's head was on the couch. Unfortunately, he was lying face down, so it was going to be hard for Oracle and Skull to tell if the trance was over or not.
"How long has he been out?" Skull questioned as he turned back towards Oracle who was studying something on her phone.
"Roughly about the same amount of time as you" Oracle stated without looking up from her phone.
"That doesn't help me" Skull moaned in annoyance as he turned back around and looked at the boy below.
"If I had to guess and give a number, you've both probably been out for half an hour or so" Oracle said as she put her phone in her pocket and walked over to the opening in the ventilation duct. Skull looked over at her and sat back down waiting for any movement to happen below.
"So, why did ya put your computer away?" Skull asked trying to keep the conversation going. Oracle just looked over at him before leaning up against the opposite wall.
"The others haven't moved in about ten minutes, so there was no need to waste the battery. They probably found a safe room to wait in."
Skull nodded before looking over and seeing Diva now sitting up on the couch and holding his head. It appeared that he was looking around the room in confusion. Without giving the boy any time to get his bearings, Skull started calling out to him.
"Heya Diva, you okay?"
Diva looked up to see where the voice was coming from until he saw an opening in the wall. He squinted a little for the dim lighting and could just make out a figure waving to him.
"Skull is that you?" Diva asked as he made his way up onto shaky legs. For some odd reason he hurt all over and his head was pounding as if he had a hangover.
"Yeah it's me" Skull shouted as he leaned down and reached out over the edge of the ventilation duct, "If you plan on joining us up here, you're going to have to run up this make-shift ramp and jump."
Diva just nodded as he tried to get his footing and took a chance to really take in the room. There was broken furniture all over the place and any furniture that was still intact had gouges and marks covering them. The walls also were marked up as he made his way over to the far side of the room from the ramp. He closed his eyes and breathed slowly, mentally preparing his body for what was sure to be a bit painful for it in its most recent state. Once he felt that he was ready, Diva's eyes flew open and he made a mad dash for the ramp. As he ascended up it, he jumped with all of his might and reached out grabbing both of Skull's hands. Skull pulled the light boy up into the duct and looked over at Oracle, who was now pulling her laptop back at.
Diva sat off to the side on his knees and laid his head down on Skull's shoulder. "I don't know if I have the energy to keep going Ryuji." Hearing his real name stated caused the boy to look over at Diva. He grabbed Diva's arm and put it around him on his opposite shoulder before picking the boy up onto his feet and grabbing him around the waist to hold him upright and close. Skull could feel just how lethargic the boy was in his current state and gave a concerned look over to Oracle.
"Do you know if we have a clear path from here to the others?"
"I can't tell" Oracle stated as she started typing away at her keyboard and studying her screen intently. "My best guess is that we shouldn't encounter much. It looks like the others took out a great deal of the shadows leading up to the save room."
"That works for me, just stay behind us and get us to them quickly" Skull said as he started walking towards the hallway carrying Diva to the best of his ability. It's not that Skull couldn't do it, it was just awkward to be more so dragging someone along then carrying them. Diva was so tired that he couldn't even take his own steps, so his feet would just drag as Skull made his way down the hallway.
"Turn right here" Oracle said breaking the sound of Diva's feet dragging across the duct. Skull nodded and made the right walking a little further down the duct until they emerged into the middle of a hallway.
"This place is so confusing" Skull groaned as he hoisted Diva back up and made sure that the boy was still with them.
"Are we almost there?" Diva asked in a low tone.
"We should be there in a few minutes according to my navigation" Oracle chimed in before Skull could say anything.
"Thank goodness, I'm sorry for being such a bother Skull" Diva said as he rested his head back down on the boy again.
"No worries Diva, I'm just happy you're safe" Skull said as he started leading the small group down the hallway. They were making good time despite Diva being unable to control his body properly. Oracle knew this was probably due to the activity that his body sustained while induced by the drug that was in his system. She wasn't sure how long it would take for it to completely leave his system for him to recover properly, but once she got with the rest of the group she was going to suggest they leave for the day and continue tomorrow.
Just as they were entering the hallway that Oracle marked as the location where the rest of their group was, a shadow popped up and charged at the small group. Oracle yelled, causing Diva to open his eyes up wide and see the charging shadow. Skull cursed under his breath as he realized that he only had a few seconds to make a decision. He knew he needed to defend the weaker two, but he would have to drop Diva to the floor in order to do that and the boy had already been through so much. His decision was made quickly as the shadow swung and Skull put his arms up to block the hit. By doing this he let Diva go, and the boy fell down to the floor in a heap.
"Get him out of here!" Skull yelled back at Oracle as the girl stood there petrified.
"I can't lift him up" Oracle yelled out finding her courage and running over to Diva desperately trying to pull him away from the fight.
"God damn it" Skull yelled out again as he pulled out his weapon and surmised a new plan. "Go and get the others Oracle. I will keep this shadow busy and away from Diva long enough for you all to get back here."
"But you can't possibly defeat this enemy on your own" Oracle wailed in disbelief.
"I know that" Skull said as he whipped his arms around getting them loose, "but I can at least buy you some time to get to the others and get them here. Now, stopping fighting me on this and get going!"
Oracle nodded and started running off towards the safe room that everyone else was in. Skull locked eyes with shadow before it transformed into a stronger being.
"No way am I going to give up" Skull started as he looked briefly over at Diva, "I'm not just protecting myself at this point. Lets do this captain!" Skull shouted as his persona emerged out of nowhere on its ship. Skull called out to Captain Kid and lighting came crashing down on the shadow causing it to wail out in pain. Luckily, the shadow was shocked from the attack, so Skull took the opportunity to grab Diva and put him up against a wall a safe distance away from the fight. By the time Skull had turned around and was heading back towards the fight, the shadow had regained its composure and had started singing causing Skull to fall asleep.
Oracle burst through the doors of the safe room startling the inhabitants. She was breathing heavily and looked quickly around the room to see all eyes were on her. Panther was clutching her chest as she jumped up to her feet.
"What the hell Oracle" she stated as she started walking towards the shorter girl.
"Skull….shadow…Diva…trouble….now" Oracle sputtered out between breathes leaving the group confused.
"Wait what about Skull and a shadow?" Queen asked as she approached Oracle and put a hand on her back in a comforting way hoping it would remind the poor girl to breath.
Oracle took a deep breath and looked over at Joker. "Skull was leading Diva and I here when a shadow came out of nowhere and attacked us. He sent me ahead to get you all while he stayed behind to distract the shadow and protect Diva." The group all shared a look before grabbing their things and heading out of the door.
"Awwwwww fuck" Skull yelled out as he went reeling backwards into a wall as the shadow landed a hard hit. "Is that all you got you bastard" the blonde taunted as he made his way back up onto shaky legs. "I've taken harder hits to my ego than that." Skull charged at the shadow and missed getting knocked back again.
Diva started coming to and looked around the room to find himself in a different room. He was scared that he was alone until he heard a loud thud and looked over to see Skull laying on the ground trying to make his way back up onto his two feet. Diva started to make his way up onto his own two feet and noticed that some of his strength was coming back. He was started to get his bearings down when he heard a loud yell come from Skull. He looked over to see the remnants of a powerful wind attack disburse critically injuring his friend. Skull laid there for a few minutes before slowly crawling towards the closest wall to get himself back up onto his feet. No way was he going to let some shadow annihilate him. The shadow gave a cocky grin and watched the pathetic blonde intently. He decided to wait for him to reach the wall and get up on his feet.
Surprisingly, it didn't take Skull long to make it to the wall and stand back up. He walked a few feet away and turned around to see the shadow staring daggers at him. Before he could do anything, Skull watched as the shadow prepared another strong wind attack and sent it flying at him. Bracing himself for the attack, Skull closed his eyes and waited for the attack to hit, except it never did. He decided to peek and open up one eye to see Diva standing in front of him facing him. With the rest of the strength that he could muster, Diva charged out in front of the attack and endured the damage. Diva falter and did a quick step towards Skull before completely falling forwards. Skull threw his arms out to catch him as the two collide and Skull fell down to the floor.
"How sweet of him to take that hit for you, but why take out one when I could take out both at the same time" the shadow said as he started approaching the two boys.
"The hell you will!" a voice shrieked out causing the shadow to turn around. Before he had time to act he was being shot at by various different guns. With the element of surprise on their side, Panther, Joker, Queen and Mona all attacked causing the shadow to scream out in agony before disappearing. Fox and Oracle ran over to Skull and Diva trying to assess the damage that the two had sustained. The last thing Skull remembered before passing out was the concerned look on Panther and Joker's faces as they approached the two.
Ryuji woke up and looked around to find that he was somewhere he had never been before. He could hear the light chatter of the others close by as he sat up and stretched out. Evan was laying on another cot next to him, but he was still sound asleep. Ryuji got up out of the cot he was in and made his way towards the voices. He pulled back the blanket covering the doorway and shielded his eyes as the light poured in and blinded him.
"Look who decided to join the land of the living" Makoto said as she looked over at the blonde.
"How are you feeling?" Yusuke asked as he took a sip of tea from the glass he was holding.
"I mean, I've felt better, but where the hell are we?" Ryuji asked as he scratched at the top of his head.
"That would be my place hunny" came a familiar voice from the next room over. As if on cue, Lala-chan emerged from the doorway carrying another cup of tea. "Make yourself comfortable for the time being if you insist on waiting for Evan to wake up like the rest of them." As Lala-chan said this she offered the tea to Ryuji, who thanked her and sat down on the couch next to Ann. The minute Lala-chan left the room and went into the kitchen, Ryuji turned to the rest of the group confused.
"How the hell did we end up hear?" he whispered so that Lala-chan wouldn't hear him.
"Well, after you and Evan passed out we needed to make an immediate evact out of the palace" Makoto stated before looking back to see if Lala-Chan was still busy in the kitchen. "You and Evan took a lot of damage Ryuji and when we left the palace we ended up in the next alley over. It wasn't easy but we managed to get the two of you back to Crossroads and lied to Lala-chan so she would allow us a place to let you both rest. In all actuality we all needed a rest. What were you thinking Ryuji?"
"If you think I wasn't, you'd be wrong" Ryuji started before stretching out again and feeling just how sore his body was from the palace. He though Kamoshida's practices were rough when he took over the track team, but this felt five times worse.
"My thought process was to protect Futaba and Evan no matter the cost" as Ryuji said this he looked back at the room he had just left where he knew Evan still was. Ann was about to say something when they heard Lala-chan's voice from the next room over. She was having a conversation with another over the phone, but they couldn't hear who the other individual was.
"Hello?"
"That would be me. How can I help you?"
"Yes Evan is one of my workers. He is a little busy at the moment, so can I have him give you a call a little later?"
"I know he didn't go home, he was very busy and asked to stay over and insisted on working today after he went to school."
"No worries hun, I'll be sure to send him home when he wakes up."
"You too, bye-bye"
As she hung up the phone, everyone went back to drinking their tea and casually chatting. She emerged from the next room with her own cup of tea and sat down in a chair where she could face everyone. "I know you all were listening to me, and for the record that was Evan's boyfriend. I assume he is the one that you all are after?" The group shared a nervous look as Lala-chan gave them all a knowing look before she chuckled. "I thought so. It's okay though, your secret is safe with me. I would like to know the truth behind what happened to my Evan. He is such a hard worker and with the way things are happening at home I feel a little protective over him. I was very shocked when you brought him to me unconscious, but I was happy to see that the rest of you were okay."
Everyone just looked at each other before all eyes directed themselves at Makoto. "Oh, come on guys, don't do this to me." Makoto begged not wanting to be the one to explain everything to Lala-chan. Makoto took a deep breath before looking over at Lala-chan and started explaining everything. The entire time Lala-chan just listened and nodded causing everyone to get a little more anxious as to what was going through her head.
"So you all are the Phantom Thieves that everyone, including Ohya, are obsessed with?" As Lala-chan asked this, she looked around the room at all of the defeated faces as they all shared a nod.
"It's okay, your secrets are safe with me. It's just nice to see that Evan has a group of such caring friends. Makes me happy even if some of the work you guys do is dangerous, but it can't be as dangerous as the living situation he is in right now."
"Thank you Lala-chan" Makoto started before everyone else joined in with thanking her. She just smiled and heard the clock start to go on the other end of the room.
"Well kiddies, that chiming means that it is getting late and you all have school tomorrow. I know you all wanted to stay and be here when Evan woke up, but it would be best if you head home. I'll be sure to tell Evan to message when he wakes. Do we have a deal?" She looked around the room again and, like before, was met with defeated looks. Everyone grabbed their bags and started to head out as Ryuji went back into the room where Evan was to grab his things. He gave one last look at the boy before picking up his bag and heading to join the others.
Evan woke up to a dark room and stretched out. He didn't know where he was as he shuffled out of bed and walked towards the doorway. He pulled the blanket back and walked out into the open area where there was a note on the table.
"Evan,
Your friends brought you over and wanted to wait to talk when you woke up, but you were pretty tired and ended up sleeping past the last trains. I had to send them all home. They are expecting you to text them when you wake up, and I told them I would make sure that you did. Unfortunately, you also managed to sleep past my own sleep schedule. Your boyfriend called, and I told him I would send you home after you woke up. Please be careful and I will see you later.
Sincerely,
Lala-chan"
Evan smiled at the note and went back into the next room to grab his things. Everything felt so surreal, and his head was still a little fuzzy from the palace. He blacked out a lost a good chunk of time. He remembered Ryuji helping him along, but the last thing he remembered was take that hit for Ryuji before passing out. As he left, he made sure to lock Lala-chan's door before closing it. He slid his shoes back on and started heading home. He pulled out his phone where he had some unopened text messages and a few missed calls. A majority of the missed calls were from his boyfriend, but he had one miss call from Ryuji, and two from Mishima. The text messages were mostly from his boyfriend, like the phone calls, but the others were from the group text. He quickly texted in the group chat that he was awake and fine knowing that everyone would wake up to the message later in the morning.
His voicemails were mainly his boyfriend wondering where he was and listening to the intensity of them change as the number of messages increased. There was only one left from Mishima and it was about them meeting up to hangout. Evan noted to make sure he planned a day to hang out with Mishima as he pulled out his keys and opened up the door to the apartment. As he entered, he started to take his shoes off and noticed a light on the far side of the room turn on. There sat Shikora in his usual attire for work. The clothes were wrinkled from the usual wear of the day, and the ashtray next to light had several butts in it. There was also a bottle of whiskey on its side next to the chair as Evan took in the entire area before meeting the gaze of Shikora.
"Where the hell have you been?" the man asked with a harsh tone.
"School and work were rough, and I wasn't able to sleep between the two so Lala-chan let me crash at her place for a while" Evan stated as he put his phone in his bag and started heading towards his room.
"Where do you think you're going?" Shikora slurred as he stood up and stumbled a little towards Evan. The taller man quickly loomed over him and caused Evan to cower towards the wall. "I've been worried about you, and the first thing you want to do is make a run for your room" Shikora stated as he forced Evan to look up at him. His steel cold glare made Evan's blood boil and freeze at the same time. How could this man treat him so shitty?
"I have to get a little more sleep" Evan stated pushing the drunken man away from him trying to gain a little bit of courage. Although the push gave him a little bit of space, he wasn't out of Shikora range and the man sent a backhand flying that caught Evan across the face. The contact of skin on skin rung out through the room as the stinging sensation caused Evan to become of center and stagger against the wall. He brought his hand up to his face to cover the inevitable mark that he knew was going to form as he looked over at Shikora with tears starting to well up in his eyes.
"Don't you ever tell me what you need to do" Shikora spat at him as he grabbed the boy and pulled his hand away from his face. "There isn't anyone in this world who knows what you need except me, so deal with it and get your ass to your room. I'm tired of you." With that Shikora pushed the boy away causing him to hit the wall behind him. Shikora made his way to his room and slammed his door shut. Evan, standing on shaking legs, fixed his bag on his back and kept himself composed until he got to his room. He threw his bag down on the floor and fell back against his door finally letting the tears fall.
"Just a few more days" he whispered to himself as his head dropped into his hands. He listened as there was noise in the next room over. Angry sounds of things being thrown, and the faint murmur of curse words filled Evan's ears. He pulled his phone back out of his pocket and was surprised to see a text from Ryuji.
"Happy to hear you're finally awake. Before leaving Lala-chan's, we all decided that we need to stock up and regroup to figure out how to advance in Shikora's palace. We will see you at school."
Evan rubbed the tear streaks from his cheeks before texting back.
"I know that this is something that we need to do, but he is getting worse and I don't know how much more I can take." Evan's phone lit up in seconds and he looked down to read the message.
"What do you mean he is getting worse?"
"His drinking is escalating, he hit me across the face and threw me up against the wall. According to him, he is the only one that knows what is best for me. I can't take these beatings anymore Ryuji." As he clicked send, Evan felt more tears start to roll down his cheeks. Regardless of what the others decided, Evan knew he needed to go back to the palace and find Shikora's treasure. It was the only way for him to be free of all this.
"Are you okay?" Ryuji texted back. Evan didn't bother texting the boy back because he should clearly know that answer. Deep down he knew that Ryuji was most likely pacing around in his room fuming about all of this. Knowing someone cared so much about his well-being made him feel a little better though. Evan picked himself up off of his floor and made his way to the bathroom. He washed his face clear it up a little and assessed the damage from the latest fight with his boyfriend. His entire right cheek was red and the top of it where the cheek bone was most prominent was starting to bruise.
He dug through the medicine cabinet to find that all his reserve make-up was gone. No doubt Shikora gave it to one of the girls he had over while Evan was either working or at school; however, this meant he had no way of hiding the mark at school and would most likely have to deal with stares and questions from professors. He walked back into his room and checked his phone one last time to see another message from Ryuji.
"It was stupid of me to ask if you're okay, but don't you worry. We will take care of that bastard Shikora and these things will stop so you can be okay. I'll see you at school later, I gotta try to at least get some sleep before school." Evan plugged his phone in to charge and climbed into bed. He stared up at the ceiling and let the seconds past to minutes until he drifted back off to sleep again.
Ryuji ran as fast as he could to the train station mumbling and panting the entire way. He made it just in time and took a seat to catch his breath. Looking up he noticed that there were a few other Shujin students on this train with him. Normally it was just him, so he figured he wasn't the only one running late.
The halls were buzzing with chatter as he and several other students started strolling in. A lot of the chatter was still about Kamoshida and the Phantom Thieves, but one conversation he overheard between two girls made his blood boil.
"Did you see the new kid from Kawakami's class this morning?" the shorter girl asked the taller of the two.
"Which one? The criminal or the drag queen?"
"The red-head is a drag queen?" another student asked joining the two girls.
"Yeah, I overheard a couple students from the area seeing him coming out of Crossroads in drag. Doesn't shock me though. Nothing against him, but he is very feminine and from what the students said he look good in drag."
"Well back to my main questions" the shorter girl stated and the other two both shrugged and said no.
"Well, I saw him this morning and he had a bruise on face. According to a few of his classmates, this isn't the first time he has come to school with a bruise or mark" the girl explained as the other two shared a look and they continued to talk until the warning bell sounded.
Ryuji decided to be late for class by making a pitstop at Evan's classroom. He peered in through one of the window's and saw Evan sitting in his chair talking with Mishima. The two seemed to be having a good conversation and every now and then Evan would cover up the mark with his hands. From what he could tell, the others in the room would look over and look causing Evan to cover the mark and blush in embarrassment. With that Ryuji made his way to his class and prepared himself for the attitude he knew he would be getting from his teacher.
"Is it okay?" Mishima asked seeing Evan reach up and cover the mark for the fifth time since they got into class.
"Yeah, for the most part. Just feels so weird having everyone stare at it" Evan said loud enough for his nosy neighbors to hear and look away. Without warning Mishima reached out and pulled Evan's hand away from the mark. The movement caused Evan to flinch and stare Mishima in his eyes. Mishima's eyes were transfixed on the mark on his cheek as he reached up and gently caressed Evan's cheek softly touching the mark.
"Do you want to see if we can grab some ice to put on it and maybe get some of this swelling taken care of?" Mishima asked as he pulled his hand away and blushed realizing what he had just done. Evan gave him a warm smile and stood up asking him to lead the way. Mishima smiled back and stood up to direct him. As they were leaving they ran into Kawakami. They informed her of what they were doing and were reward with a heavy sigh and told to hurry back. The two casually talked as they made their way to the nurse's office to grab some ice, or maybe even an ice packet.
Once they got the ice, they lingered out in the hall a little while Evan pushed the cold pack up against his cheek. The freezing sensation sent a chill throughout his body and he shivered a little causing the boy next to him to start giggling. Evan started to chuckle as well as the two of them made their way back towards Kawakami's room. Most of the walk back was surprisingly quiet so they didn't disturb the other classes that were in session, but Evan felt like the silence was also due to something else. He pushed those thoughts aside as they reached the classroom.
"Here let me see" Mishima stated as he turned around and reached for Evan's face again. Reluctantly, Evan pulled the ice pack down and he felt Mishima lightly stroke his thumb across his mark. Evan looked at Mishima's face and saw a serious look come across it as it stared at his mark. "The swelling has gone done, but unfortunately the mark isn't gonna go away yet. I was hoping maybe some of it would at least disappear."
Evan smiled and grabbed Mishima's hand pulling it away from his mark. The gesture caused the boy to look directly at Evan instead of his mark. The boy blushed and looked away starting to smile as well. "Thank you Mishima" Evan stated before opening the classroom door for them to both head to their seats. Kawakami gave them an approving nod for getting back so quickly and not causing too much of a ruckus upon re-entering the classroom. With that she reminded the students that they would be leaving for Hawaii in a few days and too make sure that they were prepared and had everything take care of. Evan looked down at his phone and saw a text from the group. It was Ryuji.
Can you believe that we are going to be heading to Hawaii soon? (Ryuji)
Shouldn't you be paying attention to what is happening in your classroom? (Futaba)
I have to agree with Futaba on this one Ryuji (Makoto)
You should be paying attention and not on your phone (Makoto)
True but Hawaii is going to be so much fun! (Ann)
Not you too Ann! (Makoto)
We can discuss this more later, right now we need to focus on school and the palace (Evan)
At least one of you has their head on straight (Futaba)
Go figure it just happens to be the gay one (Evan)
The nancy-boy has jokes (Futaba)
What exactly is a nancy-boy? (Yusuke)
Not now Inari (Futaba)
Will you all just pay attention and focus on what you are supposed to be doing please? (Makoto)
Evan chucked as he put his phone back into his pocket. As much as he wanted to go to Hawaii, chances are he probably wouldn't be going. If Shikora has this change of heart, the police are going to be questioning him and they can't exactly do that when you are in a different time zone. He felt like he should tell Kawakami, but how would he explain all of it, so instead he opted to just tell her after the palace was destroyed.
As the day dragged on, Evan become less and less attentive to his classes and more aware that he needed to get back into the palace. The sooner everything was over, the better, and they only had a few days left before everyone would be gone for Hawaii. The minute his final class dismissed, Evan grabbed his things and made his way out of the room. He didn't even bother waiting for Akira and Ann to catch up to him. Ryuji wasn't in the hall waiting for him either, so Evan decided to make his way to the train station and head to Crossroads. Everyone else could stock up and regroup, but he wanted, no needed to get farther along in the palace.
The train ride was pleasantly quiet, and he managed to find a nice comfortable seat. It was surprising to him to see so few people on the train because they were usually packed. On the far end of the train car there was a young girl wearing a Shujin Academy outfit, which to him was very odd because he had never seen her before. He made sure to get a good look at her before feeling the train coming to a stop. He most likely was going to have to figure out who she was, but he could tell that she definitely was not in his class. She was older and had a ruggedness to her that he was unfamiliar with. He exited the car and made his way to the apartment where there was a note from Shikora on the fridge.
"Landed a big deal so gonna be out for the night.
Shikora"
Evan shook his head and threw the note in the garbage. Another day, another poor unfortunate girl or guy was going to find themselves in the clutches of that bastard. He went to his room and picked it up before starting his laundry. As he was throwing stuff into the washer he saw the familiar red shirt and black boxer briefs that Ryuji had let him borrow. He smiled to himself as he threw the items into the washer with the rest of his stuff. He made sure that things were neat and tidy for him to come back to before leaving the apartment and heading towards Crossroads. Just as he was entering he felt his phone starting to go off.
Where is Evan? (Ryuji)
I'm not sure (Ann)
He ducked out of class pretty quickly. Akira and I didn't have any time to catch up to him (Ann)
Well this meeting isn't going to go as well if everyone isn't here (Makoto)
We're not his keeper! (Ann)
I'm not saying that you are, but how are we supposed to create a plan for the palace without one of our key players here (Makoto)
Hey Futaba is there anything that you can do? (Ryuji)
I could try and see if I can locate his phone through my computer (Futaba)
After Evan had read Futaba's last message, he turned his phone off. The movement didn't go unnoticed by Lala-chan, who looked up from Ohya to see Evan walking in with a new shiner.
"Sweety, did Shikora do that to you?" Lala-chan asked as she put her cigarette out and made her way towards the boy.
"Is it ever anyone else?" Evan stated looking up at Lala-chan as she assessed the damage.
"It doesn't look as bad as I thought it was going to" Lala-chan inspected as she traced a knowing finger over the bruise making Evan wince a little.
"Mishima had me ice it in school this morning." As Evan mentioned this he saw Lala-chan's demeanor change and she stepped back to look at the boy again.
"The dark-haired boy who is usually in here looking for you?" she asked as she made her way back behind the bar to start cleaning some classes for later tonight.
"He's not here that often Lala-chan" Evan defended as he started to head towards the hangout.
"As if you knew" Lala-chan called after him as she chuckled. Evan put his bag down and started to curse at himself for turning his phone off. He completely forgot that he was going to need it to get to the palace. He reluctantly turned his phone back on unaware that it created a pinging sound off of a computer far away from him.
"Guys I got a location finally on Evan" Futaba said as she clicked away at her keyboard in her room.
"Finally!" Ryuji exclaimed as he moved closer to the girl to check out her screen.
"Do you mind!" Fubata berated as she pushed Ryuji away.
"Where is he?" Makoto asked as the others also got up and made their way towards Futaba.
"The signal is coming from somewhere in the Red-Light District. Best guess it he is most likely either home or at Crossroads" Futaba surmised as she turned to face the others.
"I don't like this," Ann stated looking at the screen where the pinging was highlight, "what if he went in on his own?"
"Then we have to go after him" Ryuji interjected as the others looked at each other.
"We obviously have to, but we haven't even worked out a plan yet. This palace is dangerous, and the enemies are constantly getting stronger. You and Evan were knocked out for Christ sakes" Ann exclaimed as she looked over at Akira. He in turn looked at Makoto, who was holding her hand up to her face in one of her thoughtful trances.
"It's best if we come up with a plan on the way there. This isn't how I planned our brainstorming session, but we can't let him get himself into danger again. Grab your things, we're heading to Crossroads" Makoto stated as she grabbed her bag and made her way downstairs. The others quickly followed suit and met her at the entrance.
"My my my, what a foolish boy you are" came an eerie voice from behind Diva as he finished taking down yet another shadow.
"I'm a lot of things, but foolish isn't one of them" Diva stated before whipping one of his chakrams backwards towards where the voice was coming from. "You would know that if you didn't spend all your time beating me" Diva finished as he caught the chakram and faced a projection of Shikora's shadow.
"Why spend time with one when there are so many just waiting to be with me" Shikora's shadow's projection said as he approached the boy. "Besides, all you're good for is a good lay. Still one of the best if I do say so myself."
"Enough of the idle chatter you pig, where are you cowering? Too scared to come out and fight like the man you claim to be, or do you prefer when I'm weak and you can easily manhandle me?" Evan kept pushing these questions towards the projection while keeping an eye on his surroundings so as not to be attacked by any surprise shadows.
"Oh, you think I'm scared of a whore like you. How precious and stupid of you. For the record, I'm not hiding. You're just not worth my time so I have the others deal with you instead. Maybe someday you'll be worthy of my time" Shikora's shadow laughed as his projection disappeared and a new shadow reappeared. This one was different from the others as it started to approach Diva. To the boy's astonishment, the shadow was a reflection of him, he was dressed in ragged clothes and covered in both love marks and bruises.
"It's about time I took your sorry ass down" Diva seethed between pierced lips.
"Try as you might, but Master Shikora treats me so good. I have a roof over my head, food in my belly, and a love like no other" The shadow stated blatantly at Diva.
"How could he think that I'm nothing more than a doormat for him to walk all over?" Diva whispered to himself as he felt his heart clutch in his chest.
"Defeating you will please my Master, and I'm not one to let my Master down, so please prepare yourself for your own demise" the shadow Evan stated before pulling a vial from one of his pockets.
"No!" Diva exclaimed too late as the shadow opened up the vial and inhaled the contents that were inside. Within seconds a glossy haze started to show over the shadows eyes as it started to change form.
"None shall make it to my Master" the shadow wailed as it threw itself at Diva.
"This plan doesn't sound half bad" Ryuji confessed as the group made their way into Crossroads.
"Hello Lala-chan" Makoto started as she looked around, "you haven't happened to see Evan around have you?"
"About half an hour ago he went to your meeting spot. Haven't heard from him and I was starting to get worried and was about to check on him" Lala-chan responded as she dried her hands off and faced the teens.
"No need to worry, we will go and check up on him for you" Ann quickly said before rushing the others towards their meeting area. Once their they all found Evan's bag, but no Evan.
"That is one crazy guy" Futaba stated as she pulled her phone out to get them ready to head into the palace.
"Stupid is more like it" Ann corrected and threw he bag down on the bench. "I mean why would he think he could go into the palace all alone. He is bound to get hurt again."
"Watch it Ann" Ryuji warned setting his stuff down as well.
"He may have just awoken to his power, but he is by far as powerful as the rest of us" Morgana said trying to defuse the situation.
"Morgana is right. He is capable of taking care of himself, but he is smart enough to know when he has met his match" Yusuke added as he waited for Futaba to get them into the palace.
"Is everyone ready?" Futaba asked as she put in the coordinates and waited to hit the enter button.
"As ready as we'll ever be" Makoto responded as they started to into the metaverse. Joker took charge and led the group through the palace trying to find Diva. While making their way through, they passed by several shadows who were incapacitated and lying around the palace floors.
"Did Diva do all of this?" Panther asked as the made their way through and reached the save room that they waited in last time for Skull, Diva and Oracle.
"It's hard to think that the enemy would turn on itself, so I think it is safe to say that he has taken out all these guards" Oracle stated typing away at her laptop as the group took a quick break in the save room to get their bearings. "The sensors aren't picking up anymore shadows on this floor." As Oracle relayed this information to the rest of the group, she started to look further into the map to see if she could find Diva.
"How is this possible Mona? Even we didn't have this much strength when we awoke to our powers" Panther asked and turned to look at him.
"In all honesty, I'm not sure Panther. This is beyond my comprehension" Mona responded and looked away from everyone. He always felt so embarrassed when he didn't have all the answers.
"Guys I'm getting a strong reading from the floor below us" Oracle exclaimed as she pulled up the map to show everyone.
"What are those markers on the map?" Skull asked as he peered at the two dots on the map.
"If I had to guess, one of them is Diva and the other is a power shadow" Oracle surmised before shutting her laptop. "If we leave here and head to the end of the hall, we should be able to find a way down to the next floor. If the rest of this floor is like what we have seen so far, we shouldn't have any issues with shadows."
Everyone prepared themselves and took off out the door making their way towards the stairs to the lower floor. Each of them was worried about what was taking place, but they needed to get there to properly assess the situation.
"God damn it" Diva exclaimed as he parried another hard blow from his shadow. He dropped down onto one knee and started to pant trying to get his bearings.
"Your efforts are futile, just accept your fate" the shadow stated before launching another attack at Diva. Diva jumped back and whipped his chakrams at the shadow cutting through his attack. The sudden cuts caused the shadow to revert its attack and defend. Diva caught both of his chakrams and staggered a little before he was standing up right again. He smirked a little and looked the shadow in his glossy eyes.
"If you think I'd accept my fate that easily, you're sorely mistaken. I've accepted my fate for far too long until I was given the chance to change that fate. Accepting it now would mean that all of this was for nothing. No way in hell am I just gonna throw in the towel and let you win." With that Diva called for Nataraja and had him use diarama. With more of his energy restored, Diva stood up even straighter and had a devilish glint in his eyes. Diva launched himself at his shadow and managed to knock him back before he got his bearings again and moved away from the shadow.
The others came running up in time to see Diva standing back up with his back facing them. Skull and Joker were the first two on the scene and quickly jumped back when a huge blow knocked Diva back a few feet. The two looked at where the blow came from and saw a distorted Evan on the other side of the room.
"There's two of them?" Skull exclaimed in disbelief.
"No that's obviously his shadow and the way that Shikora views Evan in the real world" Mona interjected mocking the boy for his ignorance.
"Well, I knew that" Skull stated trying to play it off.
"You're hopeless" Mona sighed and was frightened when Diva went running passed them.
"Less talking and more fighting" Diva stated before he called for Nataraja again and used hysterical slap against the shadow.
"Right, what's the line-up for this one boss?" Skull asked as he whipped his fighting arm around preparing it.
"Queen, Skull, Diva and myself will take point. Fox and Panther make sure to keep Oracle safe" Joker responded as he lined up with Diva and prepared himself for the fight.
"Anything you can tell us to help?" Queen asked as she walked up next to Diva.
"He hits as hard as I do, and he inhaled something out of a vial before the fight. It makes him a crazed fiend that is hell bent on hurting anyone who opposes him." As Diva said this, Skull thought back to yesterday when Diva practically whipped the floor with him.
"He's inhaled that substance that affected Diva yesterday" Skull stated before parrying a blow from the shadow and buckling a little. Queen and Joker shared a concerned look before focusing all of their attention on the shadow.
"Oracle can you tell us if it has any weaknesses?" Queen asked as she called for Johanna and raised the party's defense.
"None what so ever, so you all are going in blind" Oracle replied back.
"Great, so we are just basically gonna have to beat the shit out of it until it drops" Skull sighed out before preparing himself to attack. "Let's go Captain" Skull called out as his persona appeared. Skull hit the shadow with a hard hit causing it to buckle a little under the impact. Joker added to the onslaught by pulling out his gun and shooting the shadow with a trick shot. The shadow screamed out and fell down giving the group the opportunity to surround it.
"It'd be best if you just gave us now that everyone else is here" Diva said to the shadow who in turn looked at him with an evil glint in his eyes.
"I would never give up on my Master that easily. He has treated me better than my own parents and for that I am eternally grateful and in his debt."
"Shut up!" Diva screamed before the group performed an all-out attack on the shadow. The shadow just chuckled before hurling itself at Joker and wrapping him in a vice like grip and squeezing him tight. Joker groaned in discomfort trying to break free all while the shadow continued chuckling and tightening around him more.
"Joker!" Diva exclaimed before whipping his chakram at the shadow and cutting him like before. Once again this caused the shadow to recoil back and he released Joker who dropped down onto one knee. "Are you okay?" Diva asked as he checked one the group's leader. Joker just nodded and took a deep breathe before standing back up.
Queen yelled for Johanna before jumping onto her persona and using frei on the shadow intensifying the damage dealt since Diva's chakram's had caused a burn on the shadow. The Shadow wailed a little and grinned.
"This pain feels amazing, but not as good as the pain that my Master inflicts on me" the shadow exclaimed before charging at Diva. Diva braced himself for the impact and slide back a little before regaining his footing. Diva called out for Nataraja to use whine up resulting in Diva's accuracy and attack to be increased, as well as him getting another turn without the need for a baton pass. It was a move that he had recently learned while making his way this far into the palace. He was going to try and save it for when they finally got to battle Shikora's shadow, but they were going to be in deep trouble if the group continued trading blows with this shadow.
"You're nothing more than a pathetic excuse for a shadow if you think that all that taunting is going to get to me. You're right, I used to just endure the beatings, but I never enjoyed them. Now, you're just a shell, more so a cocoon if I may surmise, because you are the life I used to live before I got the courage to break free and fly away. I'll just you just how strong I have become." As Diva rambled on, he watched as the shadow balled up it's fists tighter and tighter.
"Enough!" The shadow screamed before hurling himself at Diva again. "Enough is right," Diva started while lifting his chakrams above his head, "light them up Nataraja." With that, Nataraja appeared again and set the weapons ablaze. Diva waited for when the shadow was close and started to spin around as fast as he could. The momentum started to catch up and the flames started to rise and engulf Diva's figure. The minute that the shadow got to close, it was caught in the vortex and swallowed up into the flames. After a few seconds, Diva stopped and sent the shadow flying away from the group.
"That was fucking sweet" Skull raved as he picked his heavy rod up and maneuvered over to the stunned shadow, giving it a hard hit against its body. Joker followed that up with another trick shot resulting in the shadow being surrounded again.
"Why do you oppose him when he was nothing but kind to you?" the shadow asked trying to get back up on its feet. Diva put the barrel of his sniper rifle under the shadow's chin and made him look up at him so that their eyes met.
"He was kind in the beginning, but what he has become now is not kind." With that the group did an all-out attack and finished the shadow off.
"Now that that is taken care of, it's time for us to have a little chat" Queen said while turning her attention to Diva. To her surprise, the boy was already halfway down the corridor. Queen called out to the boy to wait and started chasing after him with the rest of the group in tow.
"What the hell is he thinking?" Panther complain aloud getting hardly any attention from anyone but Skull.
"Well, what would you be thinking if you were getting beat on a regular basis by someone who is supposed to love and protect you?" The boys question surprised her and made her stop in her tracks. The sensibility to the statement was one that no one was expecting from Skull as the others stopped and turned around to face him.
"Now isn't the time to dwell on this," Fox stated, "our best course of action is getting caught up with him so that he doesn't get himself hurt, or so that we don't get ourselves hurt because it's dangerous to have conversations in the middle of the hall when there could be shadows lurking around."
"Exactly, so let's catch up to him and convene in the next safe room so we can all chat" Queen stated bringing an end to the conversation and hurrying down the hall towards Diva. The others all followed suit and hurried along after her. They went down a few different halls without any success with finding Diva.
"The cognition is weak here" Oracle explained before walking up to a door and opening it.
"Well at least we found a safe room" Panther stated. "And we found Diva" Oracle added as she made her way into the room and over to the boy. The rest of the group made their way into the safe room before closing the door and taking seats around the table in the middle of the room.
"You can save your lecture for another time," Diva started before Queen could even start speaking, "I knew what I was doing and the dangers that was going to come with it. I'm just sorry that I got the rest of you wrapped up in all of this."
"Dude, there's no need to apologize. We end up doing stuff like this all the time" Skull offered as he sat down next to the boy. "Besides, you're kinda one of us now, so we couldn't let you go and get yourself killed."
"As touching as that is, I'm afraid the abuse is to the point where I either die trying to change him in here, or I die trying to get away from him in the real world." Diva put his head in his hands not wanting to look up at anyone for fear that they might see the tears welling up in his eyes. He needed to be strong and help everyone secure a route to the treasure. Diva shook his head and gave out a long sigh before standing up and stretching out.
"No time to rest now though, right?" Diva finished his stretching and made his way over to the door.
"By the way, Mona are sensing the treasure's whereabouts close by?" Diva asked as he passed by the cat.
"I can sense it better than last time, so we have to be close to it at this point" the cat responded following the boy out of the room.
"Then how about we go secure the infiltration route before leaving?" the boy asked as he turned around to face the others.
"We all have enough energy to get there since you took out a majority of the shadows leading up to this point" Fox stated making his way over to the door next to Mona and Diva.
"Don't think you're going without me you crazy inari" Oracle added as she closed up her laptop and stood next to Diva.
"Well if the hermit is in, then I guess I'm going too. Can't have a hibernator show me up" Skull chimed in as he gave Oracle a playful look. Panther, Queen and Joker all looked at one another contemplating what they should do. Unfortunately, Diva wasn't going to give them the time they wanted because he hit them with an ultimatum. Either they were in or they were out. The group technically had enough members to continue on and one of them would hang back to protect Oracle.
"My hands are tied" Joker started as he made his way over to the door. "In or out ladies?" He asked as he faced Panther and Queen like everyone else.
"Come on Queen" Panther grunted as she stood up and stretched out. "I hate when they gang up on us."
"If we are going to do this, I want Diva off the front lines for a little bit. You've taken a lot of damage and we can't risk you getting hurt again like last time" Queen delegated. Diva rolled his eyes but agreed with her, so she was appeased, and the group could officially head out. The group decided on Joker, Queen, Skull, and Fox taking point with Panther, Diva, and Mona on reserve to protect Oracle. The main group encountered several stronger shadows that they were not used to but managed to prevail without much fatigue. Everyone was feeling pretty good about the progress so far, but there was one individual who was having a hard time concentrating on everything. When the option was available, Panther would glare daggers at the back of Diva's head trying to figure out how to question the boy. She couldn't wrap her head around everything that had taken place.
"The more you let it fester, the worse your emotions are going to get" came a very calm voice from in front of her.
"What are you talking about?" Panther asked as she stopped walking and Diva turned around.
"I can feel your eyes on me Panther, call it a gay boy's intuition" Diva chuckled as he made his way over to the blonde. "Whatever it is, you can talk to me about it. At this point in life I've heard it all."
"It's just…." Panther trailed off and looked away from the boy clutching her hand into a fist. Before the boy could say anything, Panther threw her hand out to the side in a defensive pose and spoke. "I don't understand how you could possibly think going into a palace by yourself was such a smart idea! You know the dangers just as well as we do, and you did it deliberately without consulting the rest of us. You even tried to be sneaky and turn your phone off, but when you had to enter the palace you had to turn it on and it signaled us of where you were. You didn't even consider the kind of dangers we were going to have to face when coming to get you and it could have ended badly for all of us."
Diva closed his eyes and listened patiently while Panther yelled at him. Her yells also caught the attention of both Oracle and Mona. The duo stared at her before looking over at Diva, who was trying to control his breathing before looking up and opening his eyes. He made sure his eyes connected with Panther's, so he could properly read her emotions and making his vulnerable for the blonde to read. A small tear rolled down his cheek as Diva looked away from her.
"I wouldn't expect you to understand Panther," Diva whispered as he brought his hand up to wipe away the stray tear. "My time spent at home is a living hell. My parents didn't want me and threw me out onto the streets when I came out. Here I was, a vulnerable and stupid teen, scared about trying to make a living at such a young age without the support of my family when a caring and charismatic man came into my life and offered me hope. That hope was short-lived the first day that he wrapped his hands around my neck. That hope continued to be crushed when the man who brought me such joy told me that I had to pay him back for the thousands of dollars he spent on me to make sure I was fed, to make sure I was clothed, and to make sure that I had a roof over my head. The last ounce of hope that I was retaining was finally crushed when he brought over another and cheated on me in the bed that we used to share together as a happy couple. Everyday I have to put a smile on my face and fake it in front of the kids at school and pray to god that I remember to pick up more makeup to cover the damage this man does to me every night. So Panther, I am sorry that I didn't think about the well being of all of you when I selfishly decided to come in here alone. I was carelessly thinking about how my body cannot take much more of this pain and suffering. I apologize for any destress this must have caused you and the others, but I would never wish for any of you to be in my shoes and understand the urgency that finishing the palace means to me."
As hard as he tried, Diva was unable to hold back his tears as he stated all of this to Panther. The blonde watched her teammate crumble before her eyes and made an attempt to approach him. Diva simply pushed her away and continued to wipe at the tears streaming down his cheeks.
"Diva, I'm so sorry" Panther apologized as she lowered her head in shame.
"Save the emotions for Shiho hun, she needs you more than I do. Besides what's a few more tears huh?" Diva replied before cupping the girls chin and making their eyes connect again.
"Besides, that's not the real thing that is bothering you" Diva stated surprising the girl and pulling his hand away. Before Panther could say anything, Skull came running back to them and informed them that they found a door with a crazy lock on it. Panther and Oracle ran off with him, but Mona stayed behind with Diva as the boy looked off into the distance.
"You know, you're one smart kid" said Mona as he looked up at the boy to comfort him.
"Not smart enough apparently since I came in here all alone and you guys had to come and rescue me" Diva responded back looking back down at the cat.
"If you ask me, I feel like you didn't only do it for yourself, but you did it knowing full well we would come in here after you" the cat surmised smiling up at the boy.
"And if you ask me, I think you're too smart for your own good" Diva said back with a smile before offering to pick Mona up and put him on one of his shoulders. "But, you have to promise to keep it between you and me" Diva stated while making his way towards where the others were.
"My lips are sealed" the cat replied with a chuckle.
"None of the pictures on the wall are working" Queen complained as she stood there pondering what to do next.
"There aren't any control rooms around here either to unlock the door either" Oracle explained as she searched her computer for any solutions to the door. The teens felt like they had truly come to an impasse until they say Mona and Diva appear.
"What took you so long?" Skull complained looking at the two in frustration. "We've been struggling to figure out how to unlock this door, and you two have lead feet."
"You know Skull, lead feet, more commonly stated as lead foot, is used for drivers who speed. It's not used on individuals who walk too slow" Fox inquired making the boy turn around and start yelling at him. The yelling started to infuriate Panther, who joined in and started yelling at the two of them. With all the commotion going on, Diva slowly made his way up to the door and studied it intently. He noticed a small hole in the door that looked big enough to pass a bank note through. He studied the hole and started to contemplate what it would represent to a man like Shikora.
"You onto something?" Mona asked as he watched Diva's expression change.
"I think so, but I'm not exactly sure" Diva stated before pointing at the hole in the door to show Mona. "This hole is small enough to slip bank notes through, but what would Shikora be after in a fantasy world like this?"
"I mean he is greedy, so maybe he expects to be paid or compensated before being allowed in" Mona surmised as he started to study the hole as well.
"His actors and actresses compensate him with sex in order to get them what they want, and this hole obviously isn't something sexual" Diva pondered aloud while looking around at his surroundings. On the walls, there were pictures that framed images of him and Shikora together, but as you progressed down the wall the pictures leading to the doors started to show the distance happening between him and Shikora. Eventually the last photo that was next to the door was a picture of Diva standing alone. Eventually, Diva put everything together and figured out what was needed. He calmly approached Joker and managed to get his attention over the shouts of the rest of the team. While him and Mona were studying the door, Oracle and Queen joined the shouting match with Panther, Fox and Skull.
"Joker, I know that you and Mona are in charge of the group's finances, but do you happen to have 150,000 yen on you?" Diva asked causing the boy's eyebrows to shoot up.
"Why such a high amount?" Joker asked back.
"Just trust me on this one" Diva pleaded looking the boy in his eyes to show he was being sincere. Joker decided to put his trust in Diva and forked over the amount the boy requested.
"Thank you" Diva said before walking back over to the door. Without another word he slipped the money through the hole on the door. Loud humming sounds started coming from the door and caused the group to stop arguing and turn to look at what was happening. After a few more hums, there was a loud popping sound and the door started to slowly move inwards revealing that the lock was removed.
"How did you do that?" Skull asked in amazement as the boy stood their calmly.
"More important, how did you know the exactly amount needed to open the door?" Mona asked looking up at the boy yet again.
"I pieced everything together" Diva started before his explanation. "This door is a representation of something he his decided to lock away. Something he now views as property. The photos on the wall show the progression of my relationship with Shikora with the one farthest away being from when we first got together. The one closest to the door is our current status."
"But that's a picture of just you" Queen interrupted causing Skull to turn around and shush her.
"Precisely" Diva stated. "I'm no longer seen as a lover by Shikora, but I'm seen as his property. When you put all of that together, you realize that he keeps a heavy lock on this door because the property behind this door is truly one of his guilty pleasure."
"None of this explains how you knew the exact amount needed to unlock the door though" Panther interjected this time causing the whole group to shush her.
"I was getting to that" Diva stated irritated. "The reason why I knew the exact amount is because that is precisely how much I own him for everything he has done. The amount covers the clothes on my back, the supplies he got me for school, the manual labor that he put into turning the guest bedroom into my room, and the pain and suffering I have apparently caused him. Symbolically, unlocking this door is like revealing his guilty pleasure to the freedom he so desperately wants. Now, with the door unlocked, there is no way to keep his pleasure from escaping, and I'd bet my life that his treasure is something inside this room."
Everyone shared a look before staring at the boy. Through his explanation, Diva's fists started to clench up into balls as his irritation rose. His irritation was not from the others interrupting him, but from the significance of everything. In his head, it seemed okay but the minute he started explaining it out for everyone and himself to hear, his blood started to boil.
"What are we waiting for?" Skull asked before grabbing Diva by his arm and pulling him into the room followed by the rest of the group.
"The distortion in this room is crazy" Mona breathed out looking around at everything in this room.
"It's because his control over his guilty pleasure has started to break and he had to change this room to my liking instead of his" Diva explained while also taking in the view of the room.
"Hey, there is a save room over there!" Oracle exclaimed while pointing at a door off to the far wall.
"And I'm sensing the treasure up ahead towards the far end of the room" Mona added as he looked up at the others.
"Lets secure this route and get out of here" Joker stated getting nods from the rest of the group. The made their way over to the save room to mark it on their map. Once marked, they headed towards the far end of the room that Mona mentioned. The floor seemed to stretch on forever due to the distortion in the room. Eventually they made it to the end of the room where there was a second door.
"What's this?" Fox asked as the group watched Diva raised his hand up and run it down the frame of the door.
"Shikora's bedroom door" the boy whispered before reaching for the handle and pushing it open. Inside, over the bed, floated a gleaming ball that confused the newest group member as everyone else started to get excited.
"I don't understand, I thought you said you could sense the treasure, and this is nothing" Diva exclaimed gesturing to the floating ball.
"Don't you remember that we also said that the treasure won't properly materialize until the calling card is sent" Mona stated hoping to ease the boy's confusion.
"I was so focused on getting here, I completely forgot" Diva stated cupping his head in his hands. Skull came over and put a supportive hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, it's okay. Just think, it's almost over." As Skull said this, Diva's emotions got the best of him and he turned around and buried his head in Skull's chest. He had shed so many tears earlier in front of too many in the group, that he didn't want everyone to see him in tears. The worse part was, the emotions hit him spontaneously. He thought tears like this would come when he finally defeated Shikora, but just the thought of how close they were to freeing him from this pain caused him tears of relief.
Skull was completely thrown off at first by the action, but eventually wrapped his arms around the boy and hugged him. He did it mostly to reassure him that the end was in sight. Diva continued to silently cry into Skull's chest as the others made notes on securing their route and when would be the best time to send the calling card. They still had a few days before they were going to be leaving for Hawaii, and the calling card would most likely be made the next day and be given to Diva the day after to give to Shikora.
"I think we're good for now" Queen started before looking over at Skull. "Do you think he's ready to head out?" Skull gave Queen a nod before they all made their way back to the entrance and left the palace. They found themselves back at Crossroads before Makoto walked out and asked Lala-chan for a pitcher of water and some glasses. Once she had them, she came back into the road and poured a glass of water for everyone.
"So what's the plan again?" Evan asked trying to hide how physically and emotionally exhausted he was.
"Ryuji and Makoto are going to work on the calling card tonight after we all go home" Ann started.
"Once it is done they will give it to you and you need to make sure that Shikora sees it and reads it" Futaba finished for her.
"I can do that" Evan assured them as he took a sip from his water.
"Are you sure you'll be able to?" Ryuji asked trying to gage Evan's mindset.
"I've waited for this day for a long time Ryuji. Trust me when I saw I'm ready" Evan stated looking the boy in his eyes.
"I believe you" Ryuji responded with a small smirk before downing his water. "If we are going to get this calling card made before the trains are done running, we should probably head our separate ways for now." Makoto agreed with Ryuji's statement and the group started to say their goodbyes and be on their way. Evan cleaned up the glasses and brought the pitcher back out to Lala-chan.
"Sweet jesus hun, you look horrible" the queen gawked as she saw Evan's for the first time since he arrived earlier in the day.
"My emotions got the best of me today Lala-chan, but rest assured things are going to be better soon" the boy responded with a smile. Lala-chan reached out and held onto Evan's hands.
"Evan, please tell me you're safe" the queen stated plainly looking into the boy's eyes for any red flags. Evan chuckled softly before giving Lala-chan's hands a reassuring squeeze and releasing them.
"It's not like that Lala-chan. I finally am starting to feel safe again, and it is only a matter of time before I am actually safe." With that Evan said goodbye and started to head home leaving the poor queen perplexed with his statement. The wordage of his statement did not have her confused, it was what he meant by there only being a matter of time before he is actually safe.